Lollipop and Messaging System

CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims a priority benefit to US Provisional Application No. 61,113,330 entitled "Lollipop and Messaging System", and filed in the United States Patent and Trademark Office on November 11, 2008 by a common Inventor to this instant application, Paul Leonhardt.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH Not Applicable

REFERENCE TO APPENDIX Not Applicable

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a candy product for delivering content in a new and unique way, and more particularly to a lollipop having a hollow cylindrical handle within which a document, small gift, trinket, booklet, scroll or message contained on electronic media may be inserted, stored, transported, and or extracted.

Lollipops in their basic form have been well-known for at least several decades. The conventional basic form of a lollipop is a thin usually cylindrical cardboard stick that has a piece of hard candy attached to one end. In known lollipops, the candy may be substantially spherical, disk-like, or various other shapes. The candy is eaten by a person holding the stick to position the candy in one's mouth for licking, chewing and/or biting. Once the candy has been consumed, the stick is discarded.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A subject of the invention is a lollipop comprising typically an edible food product such as a ball of hard candy, chocolate, or taffy and a preferably non-edible hollow stick handle. The handle has a first end extending into a cavity of the ball of candy and an opposite gripping end. The lollipop comprises pressed candy or other food product such as chocolate or taffy and a hollow handle for receiving, storing, transporting, and extracting a message or prize in various media forms including either paper, plastic and or electronic media.

The hollow handle is designed in two configurations. In the first the message is accessible to a consumer without eating the candy first. In the second configuration, the candy must be consumed before the consumer can access or open the hollow handle. Thus the consumer can be strongly motivated to consume the candy immediately upon acquisition.

The advantages and features discussed above and other advantages and features will become apparent from the detailed description of the best mode for carrying out the invention that follows.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the invention:

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 illustrates a cross-sectional view of a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is the same view as Fig. 1 with a message scroll partially inserted into the lollipop handle;

FIG 3 is the same view as Fig. 1 with a message scroll fully inserted into the lollipop handle; and

FIG. 4 is the same view as Fig. 1 with an umbrella messaging device about to be inserted into the lollipop handle.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENT

Although the words 'candy' and 'lollipop' are used throughout, it should be noted that these words are to be interpreted liberally and in a broader context. For example the use of the word 'candy' in this application includes any food product such as ice cream, taffy, cotton candy, or fruit bars which are all often packaged upon some stick or 'handle'. Therefore it should be understood this invention includes any food product which is packaged on a hand-held structure.

Detailed reference will now be made to the preferred embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Referring to Figure 1, the messaging lollipop 10 of the present invention comprises a candy or food product 24 and a handle 12 for such product, said handle 12 including a hollow core 14 which is comprised by an upper handle portion 16 and a lower handle portion 18. Extending away from the hollow core 14 on the upper handle 16 is a stem 20 terminating in a small ball 22 for mounting or affixing the candy product 24 to the ball 22. In the preferred embodiment, the handle 12 comprises a cylindrical lollipop handle 12 while the candy product 24 is a hard candy for the lollipop 10.

The stem 20 on the upper handle 16 is of solid manufacture and affixed to a roof 26 of the upper handle 16. The roof 26 seals the hollow core portion 14 of the upper handle 16 so as to prevent any candy or other outside agent from entering the hollow core 14 from the upper handle 16. At the bottom of the lower handle 18 is an opening 28 for receiving the message or prize that will be stored in the handle 12.

As will be shown below, a rolled up message scroll 30 when fully seated in the hollow core 14 will extend out of the opening 28 in the lower handle 18 by approximately 0.50 inches. This will facilitate manual extraction by a consumer.

In the preferred embodiment the overall length for a fully assembled lollipop 10 would be approximately 5.0 to 6.0 inches.

The preferred diameter of the candy ball 24 is approximately 1.25 inches. The preferred diameter of the ball 22 is 0.22 inches and the ball 22 is located approximately 1.0 inch from the roof 26. The preferred inside diameter of the handle 12 is 0.47 inches and the outside diameter is 0.59 inches. All of these dimensions are approximate and may vary in accordance with other considerations such as packaging, candy product size and message size.

The material used to manufacture the stick 12 is FDA grade clarified polypropylene (PP) using an injection mold process in one piece with a slide mold. It is recommended to use the minimum draft angle in the molding process.

Referring now to Fig. 2 a message scroll 30 is shown partially inserted into the handle 12 through the opening 28. The scroll 30 may be manufactured from a variety of materials and contain a printed message such as a comic strip or prize coupon. The scroll 30 is rolled up into a tight cylinder for insertion into the handle 12 during the manufacturing process.

Referring now to Fig. 3 a message scroll 30 is shown fully inserted into the handle 12 through the opening 28. Note that the scroll end 32 protrudes slightly from the handle 12. This facilitates easy removal by a child or other consumer. Once the scroll 30 has been fully assembled into the handle 12, a shrink wrap enclosure (not shown) may be formed about the handle 12 or the entire lollipop 10 so as to secure the scroll 30 to the handle 12 until such time that the consumer opens the lollipop 10, that is, removes the shrink wrap.

Fig. 4 shows a further embodiment of the message or prize 40 contained by the lollipop messaging system 10. A small foldable umbrella 40 having a series of foldable arms 41 hingedly attached at the umbrella top 43 will collapse as is known in the art and slide into the handle 12 through the opening 28. A paper shade 44 or other flexible material connects the foldable arms 41 so that when the umbrella 40 is extracted by pulling on its handle 42, the umbrella 40 opens into a fully shaped umbrella 40. Messages can be printed on or attached to the umbrella shade 44.

It should be appreciated that other means for sealing the bottom 18 of the hollow handle 12 are possible, including a plug or a one-time seal.

Referring now to Figs 2 & 3 a message scroll 30 is shown. The content of a message, advertisement, comic strip or the like is printed on a suitable sheet of material, circularly rolled up into the message scroll 30 and inserted within the hollow core 14 at manufacture. The preferred embodiment of the content comprises a comic book or joke page. Of course, any document that may be rolled up to fit inside the hollow core 14 may be inserted. It should be noted that any part of the handle 12, such as the upper portion 16 or the lower handle 18 may be fabricated from clear plastic. This would allow the consumer to see the shape and form of the message contents, before actually gaining access to such, in whatever form that maybe, such as printed or electronic, and such transparency of the handle 12 may further enhance the motivation and intrigue of the consumer to acquire and enjoy the product.

It should also be noted that the manufacture of the present invention must comply with certain governmental regulations as candy is a food product and the food product as well as any ancillary delivery portion thereof such as the stem 20, ball 22, handle 12, and message roll 30 may have to comply with such regulations for direct food and oral contact with consumers.

It is also further envisioned that the handle portion 12 may be made entirely of an edible material so that the entire lollipop excepting the message portion may be edibly consumed by a purchaser.

As to an electronic message, a USB memory stick is manufactured with a predetermind content including software, text files, movies, pictures, music and any other content storable in an electronic format. The USB stick is then inserted into the cavity in the handle portion and sealed by a mechanical plug or shrink-wrap material. The candy product may have to be consumed prior to removing the seal further increasing the anticipation of the child or consumer.

The foregoing description of the embodiments of the invention has been presented for the purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching. It is intended that the scope of the invention be limited not by this detailed description, but rather by the claims appended hereto.