Patent Application
20080093366
Like numbers throughout the various Figures designate like or similar parts and/or structure.
The reference numeral 1 designates generally a container comprising a container bottom or receptacle designated generally 2 and a lid designated generally 3. The lid 3 includes an end cap 4 and a cover 5 and carries an eating utensil or implement 6. As seen in
The receptacle 2 is in the form of an upwardly opening cup having a sidewall 11, a bottom member 12 at a base portion 13 and an open mouth 14. The open mouth 14 includes an opening 15 defined about its perimeter by an upper lip portion 16 of the receptacle 2. The sidewall 11 and bottom wall 12 define a storage cavity or compartment 18 for the storage of a food product such as ice cream, yogurt, cereal, desserts or the like. The receptacle 2 may be suitably formed of a suitable material for example a coated paperboard in the event the contents will contain components that could migrate into the paperboard such liquids, e.g., water and/or lipids, e.g., fats and oils. The receptacle 2 may be a longitudinally side seamed wrapped paperboard having a bottom seal 20 with a depending skirt portion 21 of the bottom member 12. The sidewall 11 may be frustoconical or straight wailed. The seal can be formed by reverse bending a bottom portion of the sidewall 11 upwardly and attaching it to the skirt 21. Sealant may be provided at the junction between the bottom 12 and the sidewall 11 in the cavity 18. The receptacle 2 may also be thermoformed, vacuum formed or injection molded from a polymeric material if desired. An outwardly radially extending lip 24 may be provided adjacent the top 16 of the receptacle 2 to help in securing the lid 3 to the receptacle 2. Such receptacles 2 are well known in the art. The outside surface of the sidewall 11 may be provided with indicia such as the name of the product, the brand name, labeling information and other graphics and/or trade dress.
The lid 3 includes the end cap 4 and cover 5 and has an eating utensil 6 mounted thereto. The eating utensil 6 may be any suitable utensil and is shown as a spoon having a handle portion 31 and a receptacle portion defining a cavity 32. Preferably, the surface 33 that engages a bottom wall 37 of the end cap 4 is generally planar wherein the convex outer portion 39 of the receptacle 32 extends upwardly and away from the wall 37. The cover 5 overlies the convex portion 39 in the illustrated structure. The eating utensil 6 is preferably molded and is made from a polymeric material as is suitable for the particular type of product contained within the container 1.
The end cap 4 is also preferably molded from a polymeric material. A preferred molding method is injection molding however, thermoforming or vacuum forming may also be used if desired. The end cap 4 includes a skirt 41 connected to a recess sidewall 42 by a bight portion 43. The inside surface 45 of the skirt 41 and outside surface 40 of sidewall 42 define a circumscribing groove 44 for receipt therein of the upper lip portion 16 and the peripherally extending rib 24. A shoulder forming member 51 may be provided on the inside surface of the skirt 41 to latch under the lip 24 to help secure the end cap 4 to the cup 2 if desired. The bottom wall 37 extends partially across the end cap 4 at the sidewall 42 partially forming an open top recess 52. In the illustrated structure, the bottom surface 46 of the bottom wall 37 generally lies in the plane of the bottom edge 47 of the skirt 41. The recess 52 has a top opening 48 defined by the sidewall 42. At least one shoulder forming member is provided and projects inwardly from the sidewall 42 to form at least one shoulder 50 facing toward the bottom wall 37. As shown, the at least one shoulder forming member includes a plurality of detents 54 extending generally radially inwardly from the sidewall 42 and are in peripherally spaced apart relationship as best seen in
The cover 5 may be made of any suitable material such as paperboard or a polymeric material. The cover 5 may be molded to shape or cut to shape as for example by die cutting, laser cutting or the like. A preferred cover 5 is made of paperboard and is on the order of about 0.01 inches to about 0.03 inches in thickness. The cover 5 has an outer peripheral edge 61 defining the perimeter side shape of the cover 5. The cover 5 includes a peripheral margin portion extending inwardly from the edge 61 forming an open sided notch 62. The cover 5 has a generally planar bottom surface 63 and an opposing generally parallel and planar outer or exposed surface 64. The perimeter of edge 61 is sized and shaped to be received within the recess 52 and be adjacent to the sidewall 42 and be received under the shoulders 50 for releasable securement within the recess 52. The notch 62 extends inwardly from the outer edge 61 a distance D on the order of about ⅛ inch to about ½ inch and is adequate to provide access by a consumer to the underneath side of the cover 5 to facilitate removal of the cover 5 from its releasable mounting to the end cap 4, as for example, by placing a fingernail under the cover 5 and lifting to resiliently deform the cover 5 allowing it to be removed from under the one or more shoulders 50. The outer edge 61 is sized and shaped to fit within the recess 52 and is shown as generally circular except for at the notch 62. However, other shapes could be utilized if desired, as for example, a hexagonal or oval shape to match the contour of the sidewall 42. In a preferred embodiment, the cover 5 is generally circular and the shape of the edge 73 forming the notch 62 generally corresponds to the shape of the outer edge 61. As best seen in
When assembled, the lid 1 has an eating utensil 6 retained within the recess 52 and releasably retained in position, by the cover 5 being latched under the detents 54 wherein the outer surface 64 engages the shoulders 50 of the detents 54. The spacing between the shoulders 50 and the inner surface of the bottom wall 37 is preferably substantially equal to or greater than the thickness T of the eating utensil 6 plus the thickness of the cover 5. The cover 5, may also be provided with indicia such as packaging graphics, advertising materials, brand name, a product description and the like.
As best seen in
The present invention is better understood by a description of the method of manufacture. The receptacles 2 may be suitable formed as by molding or by suitably wrapping paperboard. Generally, the receptacles 2 are made in a facility separate from the food manufacturing area as for example at a separate manufacturing facility. The receptacles 2 are fed along a filling line and product is deposited within the cavities 18. Generally, the product is deposited by weight in a suitable manner. The filled receptacles 2, either prior to attaching a respective lid 1 or after attaching a lid 1, will be typically transported through a metal detector to determine the presence or absence of metal and if metal is present the container 1 with its contents are rejected. After depositing of the contents, the lid 3 in its assembled condition, the utensil 6 being retained by a cover 5, is placed over the mouth 14 and the lid 3 pressed into a mounting engagement with the receptacle 2. Prior to assembling the container 1, the lid 3 is assembled. It is preferred, that the lid 3 be assembled at the container manufacturing facility with its three main components, the end cap 4, eating utensil 6 and cover 5 being pre-assembled. Prior to assembling the lid 3, the end cap 4 is suitably formed as by injection molding or thermoforming or vacuum forming. Preferably, the end cap 4 is injection molded wherein the exterior surface of the skirt 41 is generally cylindrical as is the sidewall 42. The detents 54 are formed during the molding process. The end cap 4 is thus preferably an integrally molded single piece unit. The covers 5 are formed from a sheet of material and may be die cut or otherwise suitably cut from a sheet of material. The edges 61 are formed by the cutter as are the notches 62. The edge 73 of a notch 62 corresponds to an edge 61 of an immediately adjacent cover 5 allowing more covers 5 to be cut from a given length of sheet of material in proportion to the depth D of the notch from a continuation of the edge 61 contour across the notch 62. An eating utensil is placed in the recess 52 preferably flat side down. The cover 5 is then positioned over the recess 52 and pressed into position wherein the outer surface 62 is captured under the shoulders 50 releasably securing the eating utensil 5 within the recess 52. The thus assembled lid is then mounted to the filled container at the food manufacturing plant after the receptacle 2 is filled with food product.
Thus, there has been shown and described several embodiments of a novel invention. As is evident from the foregoing description, certain aspects of the present invention are not limited by the particular details of the examples illustrated herein, and it is therefore contemplated that other modifications and applications, or equivalents thereof, will occur to those skilled in the art. The terms “having” and “including” and similar terms as used in the foregoing specification are used in the sense of “optional” or “may include” and not as “required”. Many changes, modifications, variations and other uses and applications of the present construction will, however, become apparent to those skilled in the art after considering the specification and the accompanying drawings. All such changes, modifications, variations and other uses and applications which do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention are deemed to be covered by the invention which is limited only by the claims which follow.
