Patent Application
20220354284
The disclosure relates generally to containers for food service, especially containers that may be disposable.
Typical containers for quick food service are standalone items that are provided to customers on a tray or in a bag. A container for container system that could be easily attached to another item and thereby eliminate the need for separate tray or bag would be an improvement in the art. Such components or assemblies that had different conformations for different uses would be a further improvement in the art.
This disclosure extends to systems, apparatus, and methods related to food serving containers that may be mountable on a drinking straw in a beverage cup in a first conformation. A body portion formed as a cup for receiving food has an elongated tab extending upwards to a distal end. A straw mounting recess passes through the tab near the distal end. The elongated tab may be sized and configured to allow the body to dangle alongside a beverage container when the container is placed over a straw in the beverage container lid. The elongated tab may have predetermined folding lines, and the container body may include a connection feature, such that in a second conformation, the elongated tab may function as a closure for retaining food in the container. The closure may allow for retaining the food with a portion thereof visible.
In some illustrative embodiments, the containers in accordance with the present disclosure may be formed from a suitable material that can be cut as a single sheet to form a blank that can be folded to form a finished container in accordance with the present disclosure. This may be useful for single use versions of such containers.
The features and advantages of the disclosure will be set forth in the description, which follows, and in part will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by the practice of the disclosure without undue experimentation. The features and advantages of the disclosure may be realized and obtained by means of the instruments and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims. Any discussion of documents, acts, materials, devices, articles or the like, which has been included in the specification is not to be taken as an admission that any or all these matters form part of the prior art base or were common general knowledge in the field relevant to the disclosure as it existed before the priority date of each claim of this disclosure.
Non-limiting and non-exhaustive implementations of the disclosure are described with reference to the following figures, wherein like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout the various views unless otherwise specified. Advantages of the disclosure will become better understood with regard to the following description and accompanying drawings where:
The disclosure extends to methods, systems, and devices for food containers, especially drinking straw mountable food containers. In the following description of the disclosure, reference is made to the accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof, and in which is shown by way of illustration specific implementations in which the disclosure may be practiced. It is understood that other implementations may be utilized, and structural changes may be made without departing from the scope of the disclosure.
Before the methods, systems and devices of the present disclosure are discussed and described, it is to be understood that this disclosure is not limited to the particular configurations, process steps, and materials disclosed herein as such configurations, process steps, and materials may vary somewhat. It is also to be understood that the terminology employed herein is used for the purpose of describing implementations only and is not intended to be limiting since the scope of the disclosure will be limited only by the appended claims and equivalents thereof.
In describing and claiming the disclosure, the following terminology will be used in accordance with the definitions set out below.
It must be noted that, as used in this specification and the appended claims, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.
As used herein, the terms “comprising,” “including,” “containing,” “characterized by,” and grammatical equivalents thereof are inclusive or open-ended terms that do not exclude additional, unrecited elements or method steps.
Further, although specific implementations of the disclosure have been described and illustrated, the disclosure is not to be limited to the specific forms or arrangements of parts so described and illustrated. The scope of the disclosure is to be defined by the claims appended hereto, any future claims submitted here and in different applications, and their equivalents.
A first illustrative example of an embodiment of a container 10 in accordance with the principles of the present disclosure is depicted in
An elongated tab generally indicated at 200 may extend upwards from the body 100. In the depicted embodiment, the elongated tab 200 may extend upwards from the back side panel 1002. The elongated tab 200 may include a middle or hinge portion 2002 and a distal or connection portion 2004. Folding or crease lines 2003 and 2005 may respectively separate the middle portion 2002 from the back panel 1002 and connection portion 2004 from the middle portion 2002.
The connection portion 2004 extends to a distal end 2006. A straw mounting recess 2008 passes through the tab near the distal end. As depicted, the straw mounting recess is sized and configured to be placed over a drinking straw, as by having a similar round shape with a slightly larger diameter than the drinking straw with which it is intended to be used. The straw mounting recess 2008 is spaced away from the distal end 2006 into the body of the tab 200 to provide sufficient strength for mounting use. The elongated tab 200 may be sized and configured to allow the container body 100 to dangle alongside a beverage container when the container is placed over a straw in the beverage container lid
As depicted in
As depicted on
In some embodiments, containers in accordance with the principles of the present disclosure may be constructed form a from a suitable paper or cardboard material, such as artboard with food safe coated surfaces, to serve as a disposable service item. In some illustrative embodiments, such containers in accordance with the present disclosure may be formed from a suitable material that can be cut as a single sheet to form a blank that can be folded to form a finished container.
Additionally, methods of serving food to customers using containers in accordance with the present disclosure may include assembling such containers, placing food in them and attaching the container to the straw on a drinking cup and then providing the container and drinking cup to a customer.
It is to be understood that the above-described arrangements are only illustrative of the application of the principles of the disclosure. Numerous modifications and alternative arrangements may be devised by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure and the appended claims are intended to cover such modifications and arrangements. Thus, while the disclosure has been shown in the drawings and described above with particularity and detail, it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that numerous modifications, including, but not limited to, variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use may be made without departing from the principles and concepts set forth herein.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/184,027, filed May 4, 2021, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety,
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63184027 | May 2021 | US |
