Field of the invention

This invention relates to a chocolate product which can be consumed, can be used as an advertising, commemorative, and/or gift item, and can also be used as a semifinished product as well as a tool for preparing hot beverages, especially those made from hot milk and/or chocolate.

Background of the invention

There are various known products made of chocolate. For example chocolate poured into forms and candy boxes, shell-shaped cast chocolates for pralines, chocolate products that form heterogeneous mixes with nuts, almonds, dried fruits, jellies, etc.

Given the fact that chocolate is produced from cocoa butter, chocolate products are very sensitive to heat, which may lead to devaluation of quality of the product. Soft chocolate products make other objects dirty quickly, which is why chocolate product manufacturers wrap them into packages to prevent them from getting other objects dirty; once removed from the packaging, however, the heat is transferred from the hand to the chocolate. Moreover, chocolate may soil the consumer by dripping.

There are frozen chocolate products known, e.g. popsicles (ice lollies) with a chocolate coating; these are also subject to spoilage caused by heat from the human hand, and for this reason are resolved by their placement on a holder. The holder is produced from a material which is a poor heat conductor, resulting in more comfortable consumption without soiling. There are also chocolate products known for preparing hot chocolate drinks that are placed on a round or flat shaped holder which serves for handling the products during direct consumption or during their dissolution in a hot liquid. The holder in this example of the products has no other function, and its potential is thus not fully utilized.

l The objective of this invention is to create a multi-functional chocolate product which would remove the deficiencies of the individual known design, and which would moreover satisfy an advertising function, being usable as an advertising, commemorative, and/or gift item.

Summary of the invention

This objective is resolved by creation of a chocolate product according to the present invention.

The subject-matter of the invention consists in that chocolate product comprises a solid chocolate mass, or a chocolate mass formed by a praline with a filling, and fitted with a flat holder which is partially embedded into the chocolate mass and which bears a printed text or image.

An added function of this chocolate product is that it can be consumed directly or by using a holder to mix it in hot milk, for example. After being consumed, or after the chocolate mass is dissolved, the printed text or image appears. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, at least the first printed text and/or image is located on the part of the holder extending from the chocolate mass, and at least one second printed text and/or image which is, by content or meaning, related to the first print and located on the part of the holder which is embedded into the chocolate mass. An advertising, commemorative, and/or gift function is significant in this embodiment, since the first printed image and/or text prompts the consumer towards a purchase while at the same time awakening his curiosity and interest in acquiring the information contained in the other printed image and/or text, which is visible after the chocolate mass is dissolved. In one preferred final form, the chocolate mass is shaped as a block, cube, or a regular n-polygon profile.

In another preferred final form, the chocolate mass is shaped as a cylinder or other rotational body. The holder basically has a rectangular shape with straight lateral edges, or it can have an elongated shape with S-curved side edges like a stirrer.

The advantages of the chocolate product according to the invention are that it satisfies several functions. It can serve as an ordinary chocolate sweet intended for direct consumption; it can simultaneously serve as a semi-finished product and a tool for preparing hot beverages, e.g. a milk beverage with chocolate; and it can mostly serve as an advertising, commemorative, and/or gift item bearing various prints, slogans, dedications, etc.

Description of the drawings

The invention is further explained by means of drawings which show the following: Fig. 1 is a view of the chocolate product in the shape of a cube, with a shaped holder bearing an advertising logo and an advertising slogan assigned to it; Fig. 2 shows a cross-section of the chocolate product according to Fig. 1 ; Fig. 3 is a view of the chocolate product in the shape of a cylinder with a shaped holder with a message and dedication; Fig. 4 shows a longitudinal cross-section of the chocolate product according to Fig. 3; Fig. 5 shows a chocolate product made from praline in the shape of a cube with a straight holder without printed matter; Fig. 6 shows a longitudinal cross-section of the chocolate product made from praline according to Fig. 5; Fig. 7 is a view of the chocolate product made from praline in the shape of a cylinder, with a straight holder without printed matter; Fig. 8 shows a longitudinal cross-section of the chocolate product made from praline according to Fig. 7.

Examples of the preferred embodiments of the invention

It should be understood that the following described and illustrated specific examples of the realization of the invention are presented solely for illustrative purposes and not as a limitation of the examples of the invention for the cases indicated. Experts who are familiar with the state of the art will find, or using routine experimentation will be able to determine, a larger or smaller number of equivalents of the specific realizations of the invention which are specifically described here. These equivalents shall also be included into the scope of the claims.

In the first example of the final form depicted in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, the chocolate mass 2 is roughly in a cube shape, is produced by pouring chocolate mass into a form, and is made of chocolate throughout its cross-section. When it is being poured into the form (not shown), a wooden holder 1_ is inserted which is shaped on both sides as an S-curve along its lateral edges 6. When the chocolate product hardens and is removed from the form, part of the holder Λ remains embedded and anchored in the chocolate mass 2, and part of the holder Λ remains sticking out of the chocolate mass 2. The chocolate mass is held by this part of the holder 1_ which extends from the chocolate mass, either for consumption or for dissolving and mixing in hot milk. The essence of the advertising, commemorative, or possible gift item function of the chocolate product according to the technical design is, in the first example of the final form, in the placing of a printed text and/or image 3, 4 on the surface of the holder The part of the holder 1 that extends from the chocolate mass 2 bears the first printed text and/or image 3 which forms the company logo, and the part embedded in the chocolate mass 2 bears a second printed text and/or image 4 that forms a company slogan related to the company logo (MR0ZEK... nemozne je pouze slovo). In this example of the final form, the chocolate product primarily has an advertising function, meaning that the advertisement is typically ordered by a company whose advertisement is on the holder 1.

In the second example of the final form depicted in Fig. 3 and Fig. 4, the chocolate mass 2 is in a cylindrical shape, while in its other characteristics (including the shape and the material of the holder 1) it is the same as in the first example of the preferred embodiment. The difference here is in the printed text and/or image 3, 4. The part of the holder 1 that extends from the chocolate mass 2 bears the first printed text and/or image 3 which has a prompting character (Message only for you) and which refers to its continuation hidden on the part of the holder 1 embedded in the chocolate mass 2 (I love you). This second printed text and/or image 4 appears after the chocolate mass 2 is consumed or dissolved. In this example of the embodiment of the invention, the chocolate product has primarily a commemorative or gift function, meaning that it is a product which will be purchased by customers as a gift and which can be used in association with holidays (name days), astrological signs, and other themes used on gift and commemorative items.

In the third example of the final form, depicted on Fig. 5 to Fig. 8, a wooden holder Λ with straight lateral edges 5 is used for the chocolate mass, and the chocolate mass 2 is not made of a solid chocolate mass in its full profile. The chocolate mass 2 here is made of praline 7, meaning that the chocolate shell is filled with a liquor or filling 8. In its other characteristics, the chocolate product can have the form according to the first or second example of the final form. In this example of the final form, the chocolate product may offer a wide range of taste variations for direct consumption as well as for the preparation of hot beverages, while at the same time also offering an advertising, commemorative, and/or gift item function.

All chocolate products according to the aforementioned examples of the embodiment of the invention may be sold separately or in sales packaging, may be used both for direct consumption and for the preparation of hot beverages, and may simultaneously be used as an advertising, commemorative, and/or gift item.

Industrial applicability

The chocolate product according to the invention can be used in many ways, namely: for direct consumption; as an advertising, commemorative, and/or gift item; and as a semi-finished product as well as a tool for preparing hot beverages, particularly from milk and chocolate. Overview of the positions used in the drawings

1 holder

2 chocolate mass

3 first printed text and/or image

4 second printed text and/or image

5 straight lateral edges of the holder

6 S-curved lateral edges of the holder

7 praline

8 filling