Patent Application
20220119159
The disclosed inventive subject matter relates in general to a containers and packages used for food, perishable items, and other items, and more specifically to a tamper-resistant container for use with carry-out, pick-up, and delivery systems and services used for food and other items.
Carry-out, pick-up, and delivery systems and services used for food and other items are commonplace in modern society. However, such systems and services necessarily involve multiple individuals handling, packaging, and in some circumstances delivering, the food or other items. Customers and consumers of such systems and services are often understandably concerned about the integrity of the packaging that the food or other items is stored in prior to pick-up or delivery and about the accuracy and contents of an order. A purchase receipt is often attached to or included with food packaging that is picked-up or delivered. However, this receipt may become lost, detached, or otherwise separated from the food packaging. Additionally, the food packaging may be opened, damaged, or otherwise tampered with prior to delivery, resulting in customer concern and/or dissatisfaction. Accordingly, a food packaging system that utilizes or includes tamper-resistant features is highly desirable.
The following provides a summary of certain example implementations of the disclosed inventive subject matter. This summary is not an extensive overview and is not intended to identify key or critical aspects or elements of the disclosed inventive subject matter or to delineate its scope. However, it is to be understood that the use of indefinite articles in the language used to describe and claim the disclosed inventive subject matter is not intended in any way to limit the described inventive subject matter. Rather the use of “a” or “an” should be interpreted to mean “at least one” or “one or more”.
One implementation provides a first tamper-resistant container. This container comprises a body having a closed lower portion, a middle portion adapted for storing various contents, and a closeable open upper portion; and an item adapted to cooperate with the closeable open upper portion, wherein the item includes identifying indicia regarding the stored contents, and wherein the item cooperates with the closeable upper portion to make the closeable upper portion tamper-resistant after closure thereof. The container may be an envelope, sack, or bag, wherein the closeable upper portion includes an adhesive deposited thereon for sealing the closeable upper portion against the middle portion. The item adapted to cooperate with the closeable open upper portion may be a strip of paper or similar material that is placed partially within the middle portion of the body and then folded at a predetermined angle to extend out of the middle portion of the body through the closeable open upper portion such that the identifying indicia is visible when the closeable upper portion is sealed against or to the middle portion. The item adapted to cooperate with the closeable open upper portion may be a receipt. The container may also be a paper or plastic bag or similar item, wherein two opposing slots have been formed in the closeable open upper portion to accommodate the item that includes identifying indicia regarding the stored contents. The item adapted to cooperate with the closeable open upper portion may be a strip of paper or similar material that includes an outer surface on which the identifying indicia has been printed and an inner surface on which an adhesive has been deposited on opposing ends thereof or adhering the opposing ends to one another. The strip of paper may be looped through the opposing slots and the opposing ends thereof adhered to one another to close the closeable upper portion of the container. The strip of paper may include or may be a receipt.
Another implementation provides a second tamper-resistant container. This container comprises a body having a closed lower portion, a middle portion adapted for storing food or other consumable items, and a closeable open upper portion; and strip of paper or similar material adapted to cooperate with the closeable open upper portion, wherein the strip of paper includes identifying indicia regarding the food or other consumable items, and wherein the strip of paper cooperates with the closeable upper portion to make the closeable upper portion tamper-resistant after closure thereof. The container may be an envelope, sack, or bag, wherein the closeable upper portion includes an adhesive deposited thereon for sealing the closeable upper portion against or to the middle portion. The strip of paper may be placed partially within the middle portion of the body and then folded at a predetermined angle to extend out of the middle portion of the body through the closeable open upper portion such that the identifying indicia is visible when the closeable upper portion is sealed against middle portion. The container may also be a paper or plastic bag or similar item, wherein two opposing slots have been formed in the closeable open upper portion to accommodate the item that includes identifying indicia regarding the stored food or other consumable items. The strip of paper strip may be adapted to cooperate with the closeable open upper portion and include an outer surface on which the identifying indicia has been printed and an inner surface on which an adhesive has been deposited on opposing ends thereof for adhering the opposing ends to one another. The strip of paper may be looped through the opposing slots and the opposing ends thereof adhered to one another to close the closeable upper portion of the container. The strip of paper may include or may be a receipt.
Still another implementation provides a third tamper-resistant container. This container comprises a body having a closed lower portion, a middle portion adapted for storing food or other consumable items, and a closeable open upper portion; and a pre-printed paper receipt adapted to cooperate with the closeable open upper portion, wherein the strip of paper includes identifying indicia regarding the food or other consumable items, and wherein the strip of paper cooperates with the closeable upper portion to make the closeable upper portion tamper-proof after closure thereof. The tamper-resistance container may be an envelope, sack, or bag, wherein the closeable upper portion includes an adhesive deposited thereon for sealing the closeable upper portion against or to the central portion. The pre-printed paper receipt may be placed partially within the middle portion of the body and then folded at a predetermined angle to extend out of the middle portion of the body through the closeable open upper portion such that the identifying indicia is visible when the closeable upper portion is sealed against middle portion. The tamper-resistance container may also a paper bag or similar item, wherein two opposing slots have been formed in the closeable open upper portion to accommodate the item that includes identifying indicia regarding the stored food or other consumable items. The pre-printed paper receipt may be adapted to cooperate with the closeable open upper portion and include an outer surface on which the identifying indicia has been printed and an inner surface on which an adhesive has been deposited on opposing ends thereof for adhering the opposing ends to one another, and he pre-printed paper receipt may be looped through the opposing slots and the opposing ends thereof adhered to one another to close the closeable upper portion of the tamper-resistance container.
It should be appreciated that all combinations of the foregoing concepts and additional concepts discussed in greater detail below (provided such concepts are not mutually inconsistent) are contemplated as being part of the inventive subject matter disclosed herein and may be implemented to achieve the benefits as described herein. Additional features and aspects of the disclosed system, devices, and methods will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon reading and understanding the following detailed description of the example implementations. As will be appreciated by the skilled artisan, further implementations are possible without departing from the scope and spirit of what is disclosed herein. Accordingly, the drawings and associated descriptions are to be regarded as illustrative and not restrictive in nature.
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated into and form a part of the specification, schematically illustrate one or more example implementations of the disclosed inventive subject matter and, together with the general description given above and detailed description given below, serve to explain the principles of the disclosed subject matter, and wherein:
Example implementations are now described with reference to the Figures. Reference numerals are used throughout the detailed description to refer to the various elements and structures. Although the following detailed description contains many specifics for the purposes of illustration, a person of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that many variations and alterations to the following details are within the scope of the disclosed inventive subject matter. Accordingly, the following implementations are set forth without any loss of generality to, and without imposing limitations upon, the claimed subject matter.
As previously stated and as used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the,” refer to both the singular as well as plural, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. The term “comprising” as used herein is synonymous with “including,” “containing,” or “characterized by,” and is inclusive or open-ended and does not exclude additional, unrecited elements or method steps. Although many methods and materials similar or equivalent to those described herein can be used, particular suitable methods and materials are described herein. Unless context indicates otherwise, the recitations of numerical ranges by endpoints include all numbers subsumed within that range. Furthermore, references to “one implementation” are not intended to be interpreted as excluding the existence of additional implementations that also incorporate the recited features. Moreover, unless explicitly stated to the contrary, implementations “comprising” or “having” an element or a plurality of elements having a particular property may include additional elements whether or not they have that property.
Underlined and/or italicized headings and subheadings are used for convenience only, do not limit the disclosed subject matter, and are not referred to in connection with the interpretation of the description of the disclosed subject matter. All structural and functional equivalents to the elements of the various implementations described throughout this disclosure that are known or later come to be known to those of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and intended to be encompassed by the disclosed subject matter. Moreover, nothing disclosed herein is intended to be dedicated to the public regardless of whether such disclosure is explicitly recited in the above description.
There may be many alternate ways to implement the disclosed inventive subject matter. Various functions and elements described herein may be partitioned differently from those shown without departing from the scope of the disclosed inventive subject matter. Generic principles defined herein may be applied to other implementations. Different numbers of a given module or unit may be employed, a different type or types of a given module or unit may be employed, a given module or unit may be added, or a given module or unit may be omitted.
It should be appreciated that all combinations of the foregoing concepts and additional concepts discussed in greater detail herein (provided such concepts are not mutually inconsistent) are contemplated as being part of the disclosed inventive subject matter. All combinations of claimed subject matter appearing at the end of this disclosure are contemplated as being part of the inventive subject matter disclosed herein. While the disclosed inventive subject matter has been illustrated by the description of example implementations, and while the example implementations have been described in certain detail, there is no intention to restrict or in any way limit the scope of the appended claims to such detail. Additional advantages and modifications will readily appear to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the disclosed inventive subject matter in its broader aspects is not limited to any of the specific details, representative devices and methods, and/or illustrative examples shown and described. Accordingly, departures may be made from such details without departing from the spirit or scope of the general inventive concept.
