Patent Application
20240336398
This invention relates generally to packaging and more particularly to serving dishes or trays, and more particularly to serving dishes or trays which when not in use can be nested together with other identical serving trays for transportation and storage, and when separated can be used to serve items, such as foods, and which can be connected together to form containers or boxes for enclosing and holding such items.
Quick-service restaurants (QSR) commonly use some form of disposable tableware and take-out containers as the primary means of serving customers their food. Dine-in guests will use plastic or paper plates, utensils, cups, wraps, etc. Take-out/delivery guests will find their food in plastic or paper containers, cups, bags, etc. There are hundreds of options for the restaurateur to consider when purchasing their disposables. Furthermore, different foods have different needs regarding their packaging, depending if the food is cold, hot, fried, wet, dry, salad, pizza, etc. Adding to this the many sizes, prices, suppliers, etc. creates a management headache for the restaurateur trying to juggle their ordering, inventory, training, and costs.
For dine-in guests, most foods are commonly served on disposable open trays or plates so the guest can eat the food directly from it without removing or opening a superfluous lid or cover. By serving the food on just a plate or tray, costs can be kept to a minimum, without any unnecessary waste.
The criteria for take-out/delivery containers are more complicated inasmuch as it is desirable that the food be enclosed and protected within the container. To that end, for take-out/delivery applications, food will often be packed in a hinged clamshell container or a lidded container. As is well known, a so-called clamshell container basically comprises two components, namely, a hollow base for holding the food, and a lid which is hinged to the base and pivotable into engagement with the base to enclose the food within the container. A lidded container also includes a base and a lid, but those components are separate and not hinged or otherwise connected to each other. In use food is placed into the base and then the cover in placed on the base and secured to it to enclose the food within the container.
There are a multitude of various designs for lidded containers and clamshell containers. Irrespective of the details of the construction of such containers they should be designed for portability and durability. For example, a hinged clamshell container should have some type of locking mechanism, so it doesn't burst open during transit. It should also have a sealed edge so that wet foods don't leak out of the container. Moreover, it is desirable that the container include at least one vent hole so that fried foods held therein can be kept crisp. Further still, the box container should be structurally strong since it will likely get stacked and jostled inside a delivery bag.
One common thread amongst all disposable packaging is the need for simplicity. Restaurants face a continuing skill shortage, so training the staff on what food to pack in what container is an ongoing challenge. Logically, a dine-in guest should get their sandwich on a tray instead of a clamshell or lidded box, since a box is superfluous, more expensive, and generates more trash. While every restaurateur endeavors to save money and the environment, their staff is generally less mindful. As such, that sandwich could likely wind up in an unnecessary clamshell box since it was the easiest one for the cook to grab from the kitchen shelf, despite being trained to put it on a tray.
Another design goal of disposable packaging for dine-in or take-out applications is that those types of packaging be nestable or stackable so that a plurality of them can be nested or stacked into a compact space, thus enabling such packaging to be transported economically and stored on premises economically.
Accordingly, a need exists for disposable packaging that meets the needs of the QSR industry and overcomes the various disadvantages of the existing packaging for dine-in and/or take-out applications. The subject invention addresses that need by providing a serving dish or tray, whose construction enables it to be nested or stacked when not in use, but which can readily be used to hold an item of food for a dine-in application, and which can also be used for take-out applications by readily attaching it to an identical dish or tray to form a take-out/delivery container or box holding the food.
One aspect of this invention is first serving dish or tray configured to be stacked with a second serving dish or tray of identical construction when not in use and configured when in use to be connected to the second serving dish or tray to form a container or box for holding an item of food therein. The first serving dish or tray is a separate component and comprises a base wall, a sidewall, a male hermaphroditic connector, and a female hermaphroditic connector. The sidewall is upstanding from the base wall and flares outward from the base wall. The side wall has an upper edge. The male hermaphroditic connector is located at a first portion of the upper edge of the sidewall. The female hermaphroditic connector is located at a second portion of the upper edge of the sidewall. The male hermaphroditic connector is configured to mate with the female hermaphroditic connector of the second serving dish or tray, whereupon the first serving dish or tray and the second serving dish or tray are connected together to form the container or box and hold the container or box in a closed state to enclose and protect the item of food therein. The first serving dish or tray of the container or box being configured to be completely separated from the second serving dish or tray of the container or box.
In accordance with one preferred aspect of the first serving dish or tray of this invention, the first serving dish or tray additionally comprises an opening and a tab. The opening projects outward from the sidewall of the first serving dish or tray adjacent the upper edge. The tab projects outward from the sidewall of the first serving dish or tray adjacent the upper edge and spaced from the opening. The tab of the first serving dish or tray is configured to be releasably received in the opening of the second serving dish or tray to releasably secure the first serving dish or tray to the second serving dish or tray.
In accordance with another preferred aspect of the first serving dish or tray of this invention the male hermaphroditic connector is located at an opposite portion of the upper edge from the female hermaphroditic connector.
In accordance with another preferred aspect of the first serving dish or tray of this invention one of the tab and the opening is located between two portions of the male hermaphroditic connector and the other of the tab and the opening is located between two portions of the female hermaphroditic connector.
In accordance with another preferred aspect of the first serving dish or tray of this invention the male hermaphroditic connector forms approximately one half of the upper edge of the sidewall, and wherein the female hermaphroditic connector forms approximately one half of the upper edge of the sidewall.
In accordance with another preferred aspect of the first serving dish or tray of this invention the male hermaphroditic connector includes a portion having a convex cross-section, and the female hermaphroditic connector includes a portion having a concave cross section configured to receive the convex cross section portion of the male hermaphroditic connector.
In accordance with another preferred aspect of the first serving dish or tray of this invention the male hermaphroditic connector is configured to snap-fit within the female hermaphroditic connector.
In accordance with another preferred aspect of the first serving dish or tray of this invention, the first serving dish or tray additionally comprises at least one vent.
In accordance with another preferred aspect of the first serving dish or tray of this invention, the sidewall includes at least one tab bent out of said sidewall to form said at least one vent.
In accordance with another preferred aspect of the first serving dish or tray of this invention, the upper edge of the sidewall includes a jut in which the opening is located.
Another aspect of this invention is a container or box for holding an item of food comprising a first serving dish or tray and a second serving dish or tray, each of the serving dishes or trays being a separate unit configured to be stacked with another serving dish or tray of identical construction when not in use, but releasably connected together to form the container or box. Each of the serving dishes or trays comprise a base wall, a sidewall, a male hermaphroditic connector, a female hermaphroditic connector, an opening, and a tab. The sidewall is upstanding from the base wall and flares outward from the base wall. The side wall has an upper edge. The male hermaphroditic connector is located at a first portion of the upper edge of the sidewall. The female hermaphroditic connector is located at a second portion of the upper edge of the sidewall. The male hermaphroditic connector of the first serving dish or tray mates with the female hermaphroditic connector of the second serving dish or tray, whereupon the first serving dish or tray and the second serving dish or tray are releasably connected together to form a container or box, said first and second serving dishes or trays being configured to be separated from each other so that said first serving dish or tray and said second serving dish or tray are completely separated from each other.
In accordance with one preferred aspect of the container or box of this invention, the container or box additionally comprises an opening and a tab. The opening projects outward from the sidewall of each serving dish or tray adjacent the upper edge. The tab projects outward from the sidewall of each serving dish or tray adjacent the upper edge and spaced from the opening. The tab of the first serving dish or tray is releasably received in the opening of the second serving dish or tray to releasably secure the first serving dish or tray to the second serving dish or tray.
In accordance with one preferred aspect of the container or box of this invention the male hermaphroditic connector of each serving dish or tray is located at an opposite portion of the upper edge of each serving dish or tray from the female hermaphroditic connector.
In accordance with another preferred aspect of the container or box of this invention the male hermaphroditic connector of each serving dish or tray forms approximately one half of the upper edge of the sidewall, and wherein the female hermaphroditic connector forms approximately one half of the upper edge of the sidewall.
In accordance with another preferred aspect of the container or box of this invention one of the tab and the opening is located between two portions of the male hermaphroditic connector and the other of the tab and the opening is located between two portions of the female hermaphroditic connector.
In accordance with another preferred aspect of the container or box of this invention the male hermaphroditic connector includes a portion having a convex cross-section, and wherein the female hermaphroditic connector includes a portion having a concave cross section configured to receive the convex cross section portion of the male hermaphroditic connector.
In accordance with another preferred aspect of the container or box of this invention the male hermaphroditic connector is configured to snap-fit within the female hermaphroditic connector.
In accordance with another preferred aspect of the container or box of this invention, the container or box additionally comprises at least one vent.
In accordance with another preferred aspect of the container or box of this invention the sidewall includes at least one tab bent out of the sidewall to form the at least one vent.
In accordance with another preferred aspect of the container or box of this invention upper edge of the sidewall includes a jut in which the opening is located.
Referring now to
Each serving dish or tray is a separate integral unit, i.e., they do not include a hinge or any other structure holding them together before usage. To the contrary, they are separate units which are configured so that two of them can be releasably connected together when desired to complete the container or box. Moreover, as will be appreciated from the discussion to follow each serving dish or tray 20 is constructed so that plural ones of the serving dishes or trays can be nested together or stacked in a compact configuration taking up minimal space until ready for use. When nested or stacked they can be transported in a minimal amount of space thereby facilitate transportation and shipping costs, in addition to minimizing storage costs.
Turning now to
As best seen in
In the embodiment of the container or box 10 shown in
In accordance with one significant aspect of the subject invention the top or upper edge 28 of each tray 20 includes a portion in the form of a male hermaphroditic connector 30 and a portion in the form of a female hermaphroditic connector 32. Those hermaphroditic connectors are provided to releasably connected to each other to secure the upper serving dish or tray 10B (the lid) onto the lower serving dish or tray 20A (the base) to form the container or box 10 as will be described later.
In the exemplary embodiment shown in
As best seen in
The securement of the lid 20B to the base 20A is achieved in a very simple matter. All that is required is to orient the two units 20A and 20B with respect to each other so that the male hermaphroditic connector of one of the units is juxtaposed opposite the corresponding female hermaphroditic connector of the other unit and then press the units together so that the male member enters the female member. Once that has been accomplished the close engagement between the male and female hermaphroditic connectors effectively seals the interface between the top edges of the two units 20A and 20B to render the resulting container or box 10 resistant to leakage at its interface.
In the interest of enhancing the releasable securement of the two serving dishes or trays 20A and 20B together, those trays each include two auxiliary connectors, namely, the heretofore identified tab 36 (which forms one auxiliary connector) and the heretofore identified protrusion or jut 40 with its opening 42 (which forms the other auxiliary connector).
The details of the construction, arrangement, and operation of those auxiliary connectors will now be discussed. To that end, as seen in
The protrusion or jut 40 and its opening 42 is best seen in
It is expected that the typical manner of assembling the container or box 10 from the two serving dishes or trays 20A and 20B will be carried out by connecting the two auxiliary connectors of each unit to each other before the hermaphroditic connectors are connected to each other, although that process can be reversed if desired. Thus, it is contemplated that in carrying out the typical assembly of the container or box 10 the two serving dishes or trays 20A and 20B are oriented so that the projecting tab 36 of the serving dish or tray 20B (the lid) is aligned with the opening 42 of the serving dish or tray 20A (the base). Once aligned the base and/or lid are moved with respect to each other so that the tab 36 of the lid enters the opening 42 of the base. In a similar manner, the projecting tab 36 of the base 20A is aligned with the opening 42 of the lid 20B, whereupon the base and/or lid are moved with respect to each other so that the tab 36 of the base enters the opening 42 of the lid. It should be noted that the sidewalls of the base 20A and lid 20B offer some degree of flexibility as do the tab 36 and the protrusion or jut 40 to facilitate the fitting of the tabs within the openings.
Once the auxiliary connectors have been connected, the base 20A and the lid 20B will generally juxtaposed and aligned with each other so that with little or no further adjustment or orientation of the base and lid to enable the male and female hermaphroditic connectors to be releasably secured together as described above.
It should be noted that while the engagement of the male and female hermaphroditic connector secures base 20A and the lid 20B together, as do the auxiliary connectors, the securement between the lid and base is releasable so that they can be separated from each other to provide access to the interior of the container or box 10. That action can be readily accomplished. In particular, the lid 20B and/or the base 20A can be manipulated with respect to each other so that at least one of the tabs 36 is withdrawn from the opening 42 in which it had been located. Once that has occurred all that is required of the user is to grasp the female hermaphroditic connector of the lid 20B and lift it while holding the base 20A. That action will break the connection between the female connector of the lid and the male connector of the base. Continued lifting of the lid 20B with respect to the base will then break the connection between the male hermaphroditic connector of the lid and the female hermaphroditic connector of the base. Once that has been accomplished the tab 36 of the second auxiliary connector can be withdrawn from the opening of that connector, whereupon the lid will be completely separated from the base. As such, the user has ready access to the item of food located within the interior space 26 of the base.
It should be apparent to those skilled in the art that owing to the construction of serving dishes or trays 20 making up the container or box, if the user wishes to reassemble the container or box, e.g., to re-enclose any residual food left over, that action can be accomplished in the same manner as the initial assembly of the container or box.
In the interest of keeping foods within the container or box crispy, the container or box preferably includes a least one vent 44 in it. While such a vent is desirable, it is not mandatory, depending upon the type of food to be held. If at least one vent 44 is used, it will provide fluid communication between the interior of the container of box, i.e., the space made up of the two conjoining spaces 36 of the respective serving dishes or trays 20A and 20B, and the ambient atmosphere. The at least one vent 44 can be located at various places and can take various forms. In the exemplary embodiment of the serving dishes or trays 20, there are two vents 44, one in the sidewall section 24B and the other in the sidewall section 24C. That arrangement is merely exemplary, so that the vents can be located in other sidewalls.
In the exemplary embodiment each vent is in the form of a generally V-shaped die-cut 46 in the sidewall, so that the wedge-shaped portion 48 of the sidewall section between the V-shaped sides of the die-cut 46 can be bent out of the plane of the sidewall section at an acute angle thereto as shown in
In the interest of nestability of the serving dishes or trays with respect to each other the V-shaped die-cut is made so that faces downward toward the base wall 22. As such the wedge shaped portions 48 forming the two vents of one serving dish or tray don't interfere with the insertion of another serving dish or tray into the interior space 26. Thus, the two serving dishes or trays can be readily nested or stacked.
It should be pointed out, and appreciated by those skilled in the art, that the vents 44 can be produced using other shape die-cuts, e.g., U-shaped die-cut, circular or oval shaped die-cuts, etc. Irrespective of the shape of the die-cut it should not form a continuous loop, but rather include a discontinuous portion at the top of it which enables the area bounded by the die-cut to remain secured to the sidewall of the serving dish or tray so that it can bent out of the plane of the sidewall and directed toward the base wall. That feature is of importance to facilitate nesting or stacking of the serving dishes or trays with one another. It should also be noted, that if desired, the at least one vent may merely consist of a window or opening of any shape.
Turning now to
As should be appreciated from the foregoing, the subject invention addresses and solves various challenges of the QSR industry. It is a serving tray for dine-in guests, but it also becomes a sealed container or box for take-out/delivery orders. Training the staff to use it couldn't be easier, since it is only one item. The staff can't grab an unnecessary clamshell for a dine-in guest, because the clamshells are no longer on the shelf. Likewise, a mismatched tray and lid is a thing of the past, since now the tray is the lid. For the restaurateur, inventory is simplified since they don't need to stock a serving tray and a clamshell in a given size. Space, which is always at a premium in the kitchen, also benefits. For example, if a restaurateur stocks three different matching sizes of trays and clamshells (for dine-in and take-out), that would equal six different items. This invention would require only three items to be stocked, which saves kitchen and storage space, particularly since the devices are nestable/stackable. Furthermore, kitchen workflow would improve, since everything starts with a tray, and simply gets an identical lid if destined for take-out.
Benefits of this invention extend to the customer as well. Often, a dine-in guest (who was served on a tray/plate) does not finish their meal and asks to have a to-go box to take their food home. The staff will likely hand them a clamshell to transfer the food, and the original tray/plate winds up in the trash. With this invention, the staff would simply hand the guest another identical tray, and now it becomes a box. Less waste, less cost, better customer service.
It must be noted at this juncture that the embodiments shown and described above are of a square shape, and can come in various sizes, such as the conventional 5″×5″ to 10″×10″ clamshell containers of the prior art, or any other sizes and heights. Thus, the embodiments 20 and 120 are merely two exemplary embodiments of serving dishes or trays that can be constructed in accordance with this invention. In particular, they can be of various shapes, other than the square shapes shown and described above, and can be of various sizes. Thus, a serving dish or tray can be of any shape, not merely a square, such as a rectangular shape, a circular shape, an oval shape, a triangular shape, a wedge shape, etc. Moreover, the trays can be constructed to accommodate various types of products. For example, the serving dishes or trays may be triangular, or wedge shaped to accommodate a single or plural slices of pizza. In this regard, it is contemplated the long sides of the triangular or wedge-shaped tray would include the hermaphroditic connectors.
The particular, hermaphroditic connectors used in the dishes or trays is not limited to those specifically shown and described herein but may be of other constructions and shapes so long as the serve to connect the engaging edges of each other when connected together to form a relatively leak-proof seal along the abutting edges of the sidewalls of the two dishes or trays. Those connectors may be configured to snap fit with respect to each other to enhance the locking of the container in its closed condition. If the serving dish or tray makes use of a projecting tab and opening to receive the tab, like that of the embodiment 20, or some variation thereof, that arrangement will enhance the locking of the container in its closed condition so that it can be used in lieu of having the hermaphroditic connector snap connect to each other. For maximum lockability of the resulting container the use of a projecting tab fitting within the opening in the jut in combination with snap-fitting hermaphroditic connectors should result in maximum lockability of the two serving dishes or trays to hold the food item therein. It should also be pointed out that serving dishes or trays of this invention can be fabricated of various materials. Three particularly useful materials are paperboard (corrugated or otherwise), bagasse (also called megass-the fibre remaining after the extraction of the sugar-bearing juice from sugarcane) and other plant pulps. Other materials, such as polypropylene, PET, and polystyrene are also contemplated. In fact, polymeric or naturally occurring materials can also be used, depending upon the desired application to which the dishes or trays will be put, the type of food to be held, the quality and durability of the serving dish or tray, and the ability of the serving dish or tray to be printed or otherwise decorated.
The manner of fabricating the materials into the serving dishes or trays can be accomplished through various techniques, the most likely of which being injection molding. Although other techniques are also contemplated, e.g., bending and folding, etc.
Irrespective of the shape, size, material, and method of making the serving dishes or trays of this invention, such serving dishes or trays should have major advantages over the prior art, particularly when used at self-service food stations, like in cafeterias, buffets, supermarkets, etc. In such applications, the customer would use one dish or tray to gather their food, and only take another identical dish or tray to use as a lid to form an enclosed box or container holding the food if they are packing the food to-go. Such an arrangement cuts costs and waste for the merchant, and virtually eliminates misuse by the businesses staff, since they can't put out the wrong packaging (it's only one tray per size). Moreover, the customer is unlikely to take an unnecessary clamshell if they are dining-in.
One last point should be made. That is the serving dishes or trays of the subject invention are not limited for use in the food industry but can be used for holding any item not necessarily a food.
Without further elaboration the foregoing will so fully illustrate my invention that others may, by applying current or future knowledge, adopt the same for use under various conditions of service.
