WO2000069728A2

WO2000069728A2 - Food container

Info

Publication number: WO2000069728A2
Application number: PCT/GB2000/001786
Authority: WO
Inventors: Susan Marie Barnes
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1999-05-17
Filing date: 2000-05-16
Publication date: 2000-11-23
Anticipated expiration: 2001-11-17
Also published as: WO2000069728A3; GB9911332D0; GB2365406A; EP1180086A2; GB2365406B; US6688469B1; AU4769500A; GB0129057D0

Abstract

A moulded plastics pot (10) for containing food has a base (13) and a side wall (14). A plastic utensil such as a spoon (16) to assist the consumption of food contained in the pot (10) is moulded integrally with the pot, and is hinged by the end of the handle (17) to the upper or lower end of the pot. The length of the utensil is more or less equal to the depth of the pot and the side wall (14) of the pot has a recess (15) in which the utensil can be accommodated, nibs (20) serving to retain the utensil in the recess until required for use. Then, the utensil (16) may be pulled out of the recess (15) and broken away from the hinge (18).

Description

FOOD CONTAINER

This invention relates to a food container, and in particular to a container which is adapted to facilitate the consumption of the contents of the container. Many food products including snack foods are marketed in moulded plastics material containers. When a snack food consists of easy to handle pieces, the consumption of that food is relatively easy, by using the fingers. Semi-liquid, pastes or cream-like food-stuffs, such as cottage cheese, yoghurt, and so on, though eminently suitable for use as snack foods, are not so widely purchased for this purpose, in view of the difficulty of consuming them as an informal snack. Such food-stuffs cannot be eaten with the fingers, and a consumer has to provide a spoon or other utensil. Consequently, the likelihood of, say, a pot of yoghurt being purchased as an impulse-buy snack food is much reduced as the purchaser will not have a spoon readily available for the consumption of the yoghurt. Similar issues apply for certain types of savoury foods, such as those which merely require the addition of hot water - for example, noodles, pasta and soups.

To address the above problem, a shop may provide a free moulded plastics spoon or perhaps a wooden spatula. It is also known, for example with ice-cream tubs, to secure a spoon or other utensil to a container for example with self-adhesive tape so that a purchaser may have readily available a suitable utensil for consumption of the contents of the container. However, this proposal is inconvenient for the supplier, in that the attachment of the utensil to the container is difficult to achieve on a mechanised basis, and so tends to be costly. Moreover, there is a significant risk that the utensil will be detached either deliberately or inadvertently before the product is consumed.

The above problem has been addressed by securing a spoon internally within the lid of a container, so that access to the spoon may be gained once the container has been opened. However, this has the disadvantage that the length of the spoon is restricted to be less than the diameter of the container, which often is very significantly less than the depth of the container. In addition, and particularly for liquid or semi-liquid foodstuffs, the handle of the spoon is likely to have the foodstuff adhering thereto, and so will be unpleasant to use.

There have been other proposals, but generally the spoon is too short, or a folding spoon is employed, but this is very expensive to implement. Further, these solutions may have complex arrangements for retaining the spoon to the container.

In an attempt to address the above problems, this invention provides a food container in the form of a moulded plastics material pot having a base and a side wall upstanding from the base, in combination with a moulded plastics utensil to assist the consumption of the contents of the container when sold, the utensil being connected at one end to the container and the length of the utensil substantially corresponding to the height of the container, the external surface of the side wall having an inwardly-directed depression moulded therein to extend substantially from the rim of the container to the base wall of the container the shape of which depression generally corresponds to that of said utensil so that prior to use the utensil may be located in the depression, and there being means to retain the utensil in the depression.

It will be appreciated that with the food container of this invention, a utensil is provided with the container, located in an inwardly directed depression in the container wall. The utensil is hingedly connected to the container at one end thereof (i.e. at the top or at the bottom) and extends for essentially the full height of the container. Thus, a purchaser of the product will have a suitable utensil immediately available for the consumption of the container contents, which utensil may easily reach to the bottom of the container. This will enable the purchase of a product as an impulse-buy snack food, even though that product cannot be eaten simply with the fingers. The utensil is produced integrally with the container in an automated manner and so is relatively cheap to implement. Also, as the utensil does not project outwardly beyond the container to any great extent, the likelihood of any inadvertent or even deliberate unauthorised detachment is much reduced.

The utensil will have a handle, and it is highly preferred that the free end of the handle of the utensil is hingedly connected to the container. In one embodiment, that free end of the handle is hinged to the container at or adjacent the junction of the side wall with the base. In the alternative, the free end of the handle may be hingedly connected to the container at or adjacent the rim of the container. The hinged connection advantageously is by way of a moulded frangible hinge, whereby the utensil may be broken away from the container when the utensil is required for consuming the content. After manufacture by simultaneously moulding the container and the utensil, the utensil may be hinged around so as to be located within the depression in the side wall, for storage there until the utensil is required for use.

Preferably the utensil is a press-fit in the depression in the container side wall, so that the utensil will be retained in the depression until required for use. To this end, the utensil may be a close fit within the edge of the depression, or there may be one or more inwardly directed nibs formed around the edge of the depression and behind which the utensil may be pressed, so as thereafter to be located and retained in the depression.

In addition, or as an alternative means for retaining the utensil in the depression, a label may be applied to the container wall, which label extends over the depression and so also over the utensil in the depression. Such a label may comprise a pre-printed self-adhesive panel, or may be in the form of a preprinted shrink-wrap sleeve which is fitted to the container after the location of the utensil in the depression, the sleeve then being shrunk by the application of heat so as to grip the container.

Though the utensil provided with the container will usually comprise a spoon, for the consumption of semi-liquid or cream or paste-like food-stuffs, other utensils could be provided - for example, a fork, knife, stirring rod or a pair of chop sticks. Indeed, it would be possible to provide the container with more than one depression, spaced around the periphery of the container wall, with a different utensil located in each such depression. This invention extends to a packaged food-stuff in a combination of a food container and a utensil of this invention as described above. By way of example only, two specific embodiments of container of this invention will now be described in detail by way of the accompanying drawings, in which:-

Figure 1 is a side view of the first embodiment of container; Figure 2 is a further side view, taken at 90° to the view of Figure 1 , but with side of the side wall cut away for clarity;

Figure 3 is a further side view, corresponding to that of Figure 2, but of a complete product;

Figures 4A, 4B and 4C show three alternative utensils which could be used with a container;

Figure 5 is a side view, partly in section, through the second embodiment; Figure 6 is a vertical section through the hinge region of the container of Figure 5;

Figure 7 is a plan view on the detail of Figure 6; Figure 8 is a partial perspective view of the container of Figure 5, showing the utensil in the depression; and

Figure 9 is a detail view on the container rim.

Referring initially to Figures 1 to 3, there is shown the first embodiment of a moulded plastics container 10, for food-stuffs. This container is generally of a conventional shape, and is suitable for the accommodation of a wide variety of semi-liquid or cream like food-stuffs, such as yoghurts, sundaes, soft cheeses and so on, as well as savoury foods which might need heating or the addition of hot water, such as noodles, pasta and soups. After filling with the food-stuff, the container is sealed by a plastic or metallic lid adhered to the rim 11 around the mouth to the container, in a manner well known in the art.

The container of this invention has a lower rim 12 with a base wall 13 extending across the bottom of the container, the rim projecting downwardly to a small extent beyond the base wall. Moulded in the side wall 14 of the container is a depression 15 generally in the shape of the spoon, the wall defining the depression thus projecting internally of the container. Moulded integrally with the container, at the time of manufacture thereof, is a spoon 16. This spoon is connected at the end of the spoon handle 17 to the container at the junction 18 of the base wall to the side wall, above the lower rim 12 of the container. The connection is by a line of reduced section plastics material such that it forms a frangible hinge which may be broken by hinging movement of the spoon with respect to the container, the weakened line ensuring that the break takes place therealong, without causing inadvertent splitting of the junction between the base and side walls of the container.

The shape of the depression 15 in the side wall 14 closely corresponds to that of the spoon, as best seen in Figure 1. The clearance between the spoon and the side wall is exaggerated in Figure 1 and in fact the spoon should be a press-fit in the depression so that the spoon will be retained in the position shown in Figures 1 and 2 until a user positively wishes to extract the spoon. Alternatively, or in addition, the edge of the depression may be provided with two or more inwardly directed nibs 20, arranged to retain the spoon in positioh in the depression until the spoon is deliberately pulled outwardly, for use. A container for food-stuffs as described above is normally labelled. This may be achieved by direct printing on to the container wall, though a pre-printed self-adhesive label (not shown) may be applied to the container wall, and in this case that label may extend over the spoon so as to retain the spoon in the depression. Alternatively, a shrink-wrapped sleeve (not shown) may be fitted to the container and shrunk on to the container wall, that sleeve then serving to hold the spoon in the recess.

Figures 4A, 4B and 4C show respectively a moulded plastics material knife, fork and stirrer, which may be used in conjunction with a container having a suitably profiled depression, instead of the spoon shown in Figures 1 to 3. Of course, the container may have two depressions spaced around the wall of the container, with a different utensil in each depression.

Figures 5 to 9 show the second embodiment of container, which differs from that of Figures 1 to 3 in that the utensil (in this case, a spoon 25) is hinged to the container at the upper rim thereof, rather than adjacent the base. The container shown in Figure 5 is a simple moulded tub having a side wall 26 and a convex base 27, when viewed from above. The upper end of the side wall 26 has an outwardly turned flange 28 forming a rim for the mouth of the container, there being a plurality of outwardly directed stacking projections 29 (Figure 9) formed around the rim of the container, to assist the mould cavity eject operation and also to prevent jamming together of stacked empty containers. Thus far, the container is essentially conventional. A depression 30 is moulded integrally in the side wall 26, so as to extend from immediately beneath flange 28 downwardly to the base 27. The depression is of essentially the same shape and dimensions of that of spoon 25, moulded integrally with the container and connected thereto by a frangible hinge 31 which connects the free end of the spoon handle portion 32 to the flange 28. As best seen in Figures 6 and 7, that free end 32 is profiled so that when the spoon has been hinged downwardly to lie in the depression 30, the free end fits closely under the flange 28 of the container and then in the depression 30. The material thickness defining hinge 31 is significantly thinner than that of the flange 28 and free end 32 of the spoon handle, whereby the hinge may easily be broken through, to free the spoon from the container.

As moulded, the spoon will project generally radially from the flange 28, as shown in Figures 5 to 7. In this configuration, the containers may be stacked one within the other and with the spoons either aligned and so partially nesting with each other, or may be stacked with each spoon angularly spaced from its neighbours. At the time of de-stacking the containers for filling, the spoons may be hinged down, so as to locate in the respective depressions 30, as shown in Figure 8.

In Figures 5 and 8, there are shown two inwardly directed nibs 35 approximately mid-way along the edges of the side wall 26 which define the depression 30. These nibs are arranged so that the spoon handle may be snap fitted behind the nibs, thereby to retain the spoon in the depression.

As with the first embodiment, the container of this embodiment may be decorated or labelled as appropriate, for the intended contents.

The two embodiments of container described above have the respective spoon moulded integrally with the container, so that the hinge is formed during the moulding step. This requires a significantly larger mould than is the case for the moulding of just a container. To address this, the spoon (or other utensil) could be moulded separately, perhaps from a different plastics material, and then be connected to the container by means of a hinge. Such a hinge conveniently is formed in the utensil at the time of its moulding, a part of the hinge then being attached to the container, for example by means of an adhesive, or by chemical or heat fusion.

Claims

1. A food container in the form of a moulded plastics material pot having a base and a side wall upstanding from the base, in combination with a moulded plastics utensil to assist the consumption of the contents of the container when sold, the utensil being connected at one end to the container and the length of the utensil substantially corresponding to the height of the container, the external surface of the side wall having an inwardly-directed depression moulded therein to extend substantially from the rim of the container to the base wall of the container the shape of which depression generally corresponds to that of said utensil so that prior to use the utensil may be located in the depression, and there being means to retain the utensil in the depression.

2. A food container as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the utensil is moulded integrally with the container.

3. A food container as claimed in claim 2, wherein one end of the utensil is connected to the container at or adjacent the junction of the side wall with the base.

4. A food container as claimed in claim 2, wherein one end of the utensil is connected to the container at or adjacent the upper end of the side wall, remote from the base.

5. A food container as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the utensil has a handle and the free end of the handle is connected to the container.

6. A food container as claimed in claim 5, wherein the utensil is connected to the container by a frangible hinge.

7. A food container as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the utensil is a press-fit in the depression.

8. A food container as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the edge of the side wall around the depression includes at least one nib directed inwardly of the depression whereby the utensil may be pressed behind the nib into the depression to be retained therein by the nib.

9. A food container as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein a label is attached to the container and extends over the utensil, thereby holding the utensil in the depression.

10. A food container as claimed in claim 9, wherein the label is in the form of a self-adhesive pre-printed panel or a pre-printed shrink-wrap sleeve.

11. A food container as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the utensil comprises one of a fork, spoon, knife or stirring rod.