Patent Application
20180224179
The present invention relates to food service items and, more particularly to items for temporarily retaining a food item and maintaining it in a warmed or chilled condition.
Cold bread products (toast, bagels, muffins) are a common issue for both the food service industry and domestic households. What if there was a way to keep baked goods hot and steaming from the oven/toaster to the table or guest room?
Having been in the food service industry for many years, I know that the first thing a server does is make the toast. And it's one of the first things to get cold. Or, if someone is making toast at home, it sits on the table throughout the breakfast.
As can be seen, there is a need for an improved food serving pouch that retains heat from the thermal sacks in the pouch, and subsequently keeps the food hot for at least 20 minutes.
In one aspect of the present invention a food carrier includes a pair of pouches joined along a common edge. The pair of pouches have an opening at an end thereof and are dimensioned to receive a food item. A cooperating fastener is aligned along an edge of the opening that is operable to selectively retain the opening in a closed condition. The cooperating fastener may be a hook and pile fastener or a slide fastener. In some embodiments, the food carrier also includes a thermal pack retained within a first pouch. The thermal pack may be a heating pad, which may be one of a microwaveable pad, an exothermic reacting pad, or a powered heating pad operable by an electric source. Alternatively, the thermal pack is a cooling pad, and may be one of a cold pack, a chemically reactive chill pack, or a cooling device operable by an electric source. The pouches may be formed of a laminate material, which may include an outer fabric layer and an insulating layer formed along an interior surface of the outer layer. The laminate material may also include an inner fabric layer, wherein the insulating layer is positioned between the outer and the inner fabric layers.
In other aspects of the invention, a food carrier includes a first pouch and a second pouch formed of a laminate material and joined along a common edge and having an opening to an interior cavity dimensioned to receive one of a food item or a thermal pack. The opening may include a cooperating fastener operable to selectively retained the opening in a closed condition. The cooperating fastener may be a hook and pile fastener, or alternatively, a slide fastener. The food carrier may also include a thermal pack retained within one of the first pouch or the second pouch. The thermal pack may be one of a heating pad or a cooling pack. The laminate material may include an outer fabric layer and an insulating layer and may further have an inner layer lining an interior of the interior cavity.
These and other features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following drawings, description and claims.
The following detailed description is of the best currently contemplated modes of carrying out exemplary embodiments of the invention. The description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, but is made merely for the purpose of illustrating the general principles of the invention, since the scope of the invention is best defined by the appended claims.
Broadly, an embodiment of the present invention provides an improved food service carrier pouch that keeps baked goods hot for at least 20 minutes by placing a microwavable thermal carrier into a first pouch, and the baked goods in a second pouch. The baked goods retain their crispiness and flavor instead of becoming soggy and cold. Alternatively, a cold pack may be substituted for the heat pack to keep chilled food products cold.
As seen in reference to the drawings of
In the embodiment shown in reference to
As shown in reference to
As seen in reference to
It should be understood, of course, that the foregoing relates to exemplary embodiments of the invention and that modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims.
