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Field of the invention

The present invention refers to containers expressly designed for transporting heated foodstuff typically from the place of production to the place where the food will be consumed still hot, so as to preserve heat thereof.

State of the prior art

Containers thus made, usually made of plastic material or cardboard or aluminium, usually comprise a bowl vessel provided with an openable lid for the airtight sealing of the vessel.

With such containers, during the transfer of the heated foodstuff contained therein the developed vapour within the vessel rises towards the lid and condensates on the inner wall thereof, thus precipitating in liquid state on the food product hence jeopardizing flavour and organoleptic characteristics thereof.

The solution of providing the lid with openings for venting the vapour generated during cooking is known in a different sector of the art, and in particular in the field of cooking pots and similar vessels for cooking food. An example is described in document US-2, 643, 024, which addresses the technical problem related to the discharge of the vapour produced in the pot when cooking the food product.

Summary of the invention

The present invention addresses a different technical drawback, and more in particular that related to transporting cooked foodstuff and still hot so as to preserve both the heat and flavour thereof.

Thus, the object of the present invention is that of overcoming such drawback in an extremely functional but simultaneously simple and inexpensive manner from a construction point of view.

According to the invention this object is attained due to the fact that the lid of the transport container includes an inner wall and an outer wall delimiting an intermediate interspace which, in the closed condition of the lid, communicates with the vessel through a plurality of first holes formed in the inner wall and with the atmosphere through a plurality of second holes formed in the outer wall of the lid.

Due to this solution idea, during transport the vapour generated by the heated foodstuff arranged in the container is capable of controllably venting first in the intermediate interspace of the lid, through the holes of the inner wall thereof, and then to the atmosphere through the holes of the outer wall. This allows preventing the condensation of the vapour within the vessel, without however subjecting the foodstuff to sudden cooling, thus maintaining the flavour thereof substantially unaltered at least within the period of time required for transport thereof from the place of production to the place of consumption.

Such advantageous result can be further increased, according to a preferred embodiment of the invention, by providing the second holes of the outer wall having substantially smaller dimensions with respect to those of the first holes of the inner wall. This allows a relatively quick outflow of the vapour from the vessel towards the intermediate interspace, and a slower release thereof towards the atmosphere. The heat of the vapour temporarily stored within the intermediate interspace contributes to maintain the foodstuff arranged within the transport container hot.

Further characteristics and advantages of the invention will be apparent over the detailed description that follows, with reference to the attached drawings provided purely by way of non- limiting example and wherein:

-figure 1 is a schematic perspective view of an embodiment of a container for transporting heated foodstuff according to the invention, represented in the closed condition of the lid thereof,

-figure 2 is a view analogous to figure 1 in the open condition of the lid,

-figure 3 is a an enlarged scale cross-sectional view according to line III-III of figure 1,

-figure 4 shows a variant of the transport container according to the invention, in the open condition of the related lid,

-figure 5 is a top plan view of a further variant of the transport container according to the invention,

-figure 6 is a side elevational view showing the transport container according to figure 5 stacked with an identical transport container,

-figure 7 is a top plan view of the bowl of the transport container of the figure 5,

-figures 8 and 9 are perspective views of figure 7 exemplifying two different configurations of the bowl, and

-figure 10 is a side elevational view of a detail represented in figures 8 and 9.

Detailed description of the invention

Initially referring to figures 1 to 3, the container according to the invention, expressly intended for transporting heated foodstuff typically from the place of cooking to the place of consumption, comprises a vessel 1 generally a quadrangular-shaped bowl, and a lid for airtight sealing 2 applied openable on the top part of the vessel 1.

In a generally known manner, and as illustrated in detail in figure 3, the vessel 1 has a perimeter engagement edge 3 on which there is engaged a complementary perimeter edge 4 of the lid 2 providing, in the closed condition thereof, a substantially airtight coupling. In order to further improve the airtight sealing, the opposite edges of the bowl 1 and of the lid 2 may be provided with removable pressure- fitting members, for example in form of projections and complementary recesses, mutually disengageable when opening the transport container.

According to the distinctive characteristic of the invention the lid 2 has a double structure formed by an inner wall 5 and by an outer wall 6, between which there is defined an intermediate interspace 7 (figure

3) .

The walls 5 and 6 are in turn formed with respective mutual sealing coupling perimeter edges 4a, 4b which - in their entirety - constitute the airtight coupling edge 4 on the perimeter edge 3 of the vessel

1.

The inner 5 and outer 6 walls can be formed by two distinct elements or, more conveniently, they can be made in a single piece, for example thermoformed plastic material. In such case, as illustrated in figures 2 and 3, they are joined to each other in an integral articulated hinge-like manner along one side 2a of the lid 2.

The inner wall 5 of the lid 2 is made with a plurality of through holes 8, and the outer wall 6 is in turn made with a plurality of through holes 9. The holes 8, for example circular or any other shape, have dimensions substantially larger than those of the holes 9, and they are conveniently offset i.e. non-aligned with respect thereto.

During use, the container 1 is intended to be used for transferring heated foodstuff (for example roast chicken, rotisserie products and the like) from the place of production to the place of consumption, with the lid 2 hermetically closed on the vessel 1. When transporting the heated foodstuff the vapour developed thereby, instead of remaining and condensing within the container, rising upwards, vents into the intermediate interspace 7 through the holes 8. This prevents the vapour from condensing against the inner wall 5 of the container, dripping in liquid phase on the food product hence subjecting the latter to degradation. Thus, the vapour introduced into the interspace 7 is advantageously discharged into the external environment of the lid 2 through the holes 9.

Due to the differentiated dimensions of the holes

8 and 9 the heat of the food is preserved due to the temporary permanence of the vapour within the interspace 7, which thus reduces the cooling speed of the foodstuff.

The bowl vessel 1 and the lid 2 can be made using any suitable material and preferably using plastic material for food products, for example transparent, moulded or more conveniently thermoformed . In this case, according to the variant illustrated in figure 4, instead of the lid 2 being formed by an element separate from vessel 1 it can be made in a single piece therewith. The inner wall 5 with the holes 8 is joined to a side 3a of the perimeter edge 3 of the vessel 1 through an integral elastic hinge 10, while the outer wall 6 is joined on the opposite side 3b of the perimeter edge 3 through an integral elastic hinge 11. The container is closed, starting from the open condition represented in figure 4, firstly by folding the inner wall 5 on the vessel 1 and then folding the outer wall 6 on the inner wall 5, thus providing a coupling between the perimeter edge 4b and the perimeter edge 3 of the vessel 1 and defining the intermediate interspace 7.

According to a variant (not illustrated) the inner wall 5 of the lid 2 can instead be joined, through an integral elastic hinge, to the side of the outer wall 6 opposite to the integral hinge 11 for joining to the bowl 1, and thus folded within such outer wall 6. In a further variant (not illustrated) , in which the lid 2 is also made in a single piece with the vessel 1, the inner wall 5 is integrally elastic-hinge-j oined along one side thereof to the side 3a or 3b of the vessel 1, and the outer wall 6 is integrally elastic-hinge-j oined along one side thereof to the side of the inner wall 5 opposite to the vessel 1.

In another variant (not illustrated) the inner wall 5 and the outer wall 6 of the lid can be made separately, and thus kept distinct or subsequently joined to each other, for example by welding.

Figures 6 to 9, in which parts identical or similar to those described previously are indicated using the same reference numbers, show a further variant of the transport container according to the invention, having a different shape and further distinctive characteristics.

The bowl 1, with corrugated and slightly offset lateral walls, has a bottom wall 12 slightly projecting inwards, thus externally defining a recess for the shape-coupling with the lid 2 of an identical underlying transport container, in the stacked condition represented in figure 6.

Furthermore the bottom wall 12 has a series (three in the illustrated example) of transverse grooves 13 which can be selectively used for the removable insertion of partition elements 14, one of which is represented in detail in figure 10, provided with projecting lateral feet 15. This allows the bowl 1 for example to acquire the different configurations represented in figures 8 and 9, in which the interior volume of the transport container is divided into two or three separate compartments, to accommodate respective different food products.

Obviously, the construction details and the embodiments my widely vary with respect to what has been described and illustrated, without departing from the scope of protection of the present invention as defined in the claims that follow. Thus, for example, instead of being made of plastic material the container according to the invention could be made of metal such as stainless steel or aluminium, terracotta or other material .

Lastly, it should be observed that the solution idea according to the invention can be applied to containers already provided with a perforated lid or, analogously, to perforated lids previously provided for: in this case such lid, which will define the inner wall 5 or the outer wall 6, will be completed with the additional element solely constituted by the outer wall 6 with the relative holes 9, or respectively solely by the inner wall 5 with the relative holes 8, applied to the previously provided lid in a substantially airtight manner and such to define the intermediate interspace 7 therewith .