Technical Field

The present invention relates in general to a packaged and dried instant food such as packaged or cupped instant noodle and, more particularly, to a structural improvement in such instant food for allowing the dried instant food to have a specific configuration suitable to increase the volume of the food without increasing the amount of food. The above structural improvement is also for packaging the dried instant food by an aluminum foil pack suitable to be easily crushed into a small volume and recycled after taking the instant food and thereby to reduce the amount of trash and to save resources. The present invention also relates to a cooking cup suitable for receiving such instant food while cooking and taking the food.

Background Art

As well known to those skilled in the art, most of instant food such as packaged or cupped instant noodle is precooked and dried prior to packaging for distribution. Such instant food may be eaten without further cooking. Alternatively, the instant food may be variously cooked or boiled with water and spices in accordance with consumer's preference prior to taking the food.

The packaged instant food has been typically packaged in a vinyl pack, while the cupped instant food has been typically packaged in a synthetic resin cup such as a styrofoam cup. When cooking and taking the packaged

instant food, the vinyl pack is torn to take the food out of the pack into a pot filled with water. The food in the pot is, thereafter, boiled for a time with spices according to consumer's preference. Meanwhile, when taking the cupped instant food, the cup with instant food is opened on its top cover prior to being filled with boiled water. The instant food in the cup is thus well cooked by the boiled water. The typical vinyl packs or synthetic resin cups for instant food are thrown away as trash after taking the food.

In this case, as the typical vinyl packs for instant food are not naturally decomposed, the vinyl packs cause environmental pollution when they are thrown away as trash after taking the food. When taking the packaged instant food such as packaged instant noodle, the food has to be cooked in a cooking pot with spices prior to filling bowls with the cooked food. In this case, the cooking pot and bowls have to be washed using a washer after taking the cooked food, thereby causing water pollution. On the other hand, cupped instant food such as cupped instant noodle has been typically packaged in a synthetic resin cup. When taking the cupped instant food, a predetermined quantity of boiled water is filled in the cup for cooking the food prior to taking the food. The cupped instant food does not thus require any container for containing the food when cooking the food, thus being convenient to the consumers. However, the typical cups for the instant food cause environmental pollution as the cups are typically made of synthetic resin which are not naturally decomposed. In addition, each typical cup for instant food has a predetermined volume enough to contain the voluminous food and is simply thrown away as trash without crushing after taking the food. In this regard, the above

voluminous cups increase the amount of trash.

Furthermore, the typical vinyl packs or synthetic resin cups for instant food are not recycled, so they not only cause environmental pollution but also waste resources, thereby running counter to antipollution and resource saving campaign.

Disclosure of the Invention

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a packaged and dried instant food structure in which the above problems can be overcome and which allows the packaged instant food to have a specific configuration suitable to increase the volume of the food without increasing the amount of food.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a packaged and dried instant food structure which is packaged in an aluminum foil pack suitable to be easily crushed into a small volume after taking the instant food and thereby to reduce the amount of trash.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a packaged and dried instant food structure whose pack can be recycled thereby saving resources and being prevented from causing environmental pollution.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a cooking cup having a specific configuration suitable for receiving such packaged instant food when cooking and taking the food.

In an aspect, the present invention provides a packaged and dried instant food structure comprising; an instant food body having a predetermined molded configuration with a concentrical cavity for increasing the outer volume of the food body without increasing the

amount of food, the cavity being formed on the bottom of the food body in order to open downward; and an aluminum foil pack tightly packaging the instant food body, the foil pack tightly covering the side surface of the food body while being regularly folded prior to being regularly puckered on the top of the food body in order to concentrate the edge of the foil pack on the top center of the food body.

The above instant food structure may further comprise a thermal shrinkage film airtightly packaging the food body packaged in the aluminum foil pack.

In another aspect, the present invention provides a cooking cup having a configuration and volume fitting the above packaged instant food structure. The above cooking cup is provided with a groove which is formed on the internal side surface of the cup for exhausting air from the cup while inserting the food body packaged in the aluminum foil pack into the cup.

Brief Description of the Drawings

The above and other objects, features and other advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing the specifically-molded configuration of an instant food body of the packaged instant food structure of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the instant food body of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing the packaged instant food structure of this invention;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view showing the construction of the above packaged instant food structure;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view showing the instant food while being cooked in a cup filled with water; and Fig. 6 is a sectional view showing the instant food of this invention after cooking-

Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

Figs. 1 and 2 show the specifically-molded configuration of an instant food body of the packaged instant food structure of this invention. As shown in the drawings, the cylindrical food body 10 has a concentrical cavity 12 which opens downward. The above cavity 12 is a very important element of the food structure of this invention and will be described in detail later herein. Fig. 3 shows the packaged food body of this invention. When packaging the food body 10, the body 10 is primarily packaged by an aluminum foil pack 20. When packaging the food body 10 by the foil pack 20, the food body 10 is laid on the foil pack 20 such that the bottom of the body 10 with the cavity 12 is directed downward. Thereafter, the aluminum foil pack 20 tightly covers the food body 10. In this case, the foil pack 20 tightly covers the side surface of the food body 10 while being regularly folded prior to being regularly puckered on the top of the food body 10 in order to concentrate the edge of the foil pack 20 on the top center of the food body 10. As shown in Fig. 4, the food body 10 packaged in the aluminum foil pack 20 is preferably packaged again by a thermal shrinkage film 30. The above film 30 airtightly packages the food body 10 packaged in the aluminum foil pack 20.

Figs. 5 and 6 show a cup 40 which receives the instant food body 10 with the foil pack 20. The above cup 40 has an internal space 46 which has a configuration suitable to receive the molded food body 10 packaged in the foil pack 20. In accordance with the present invention, it is preferred to form the cup 40 using a metal and to provide a pair of handles 42 on opposite sides of the cup 40. Due to the above handles 42, the cup 40 is convenient to the users when cooking and taking the instant food. The top of the above cup 40 is covered with a top lid 44 which prevents foreign substances from being inserted into the cup 40 while cooking and taking the food. In addition, it is preferred to form an air exhaust groove (not shown) on the internal side surface of the cup for exhausting air when inserting the instant food body 10 packaged by the foil pack 20. Due to the above air exhausting groove, it is easy to insert the food body 10 into the cup 40 as the air is exhausted from the cup 40 through the groove. The above cavity 12 of the food body 10 is a means for enlarging the outer volume of the food body 10 without increasing the amount of food. That is, the cavity 12 is formed in the food body 10 in order to allow the aluminum foil pack 20 packaging the body 10 to have a sufficient internal space suitable for containing a predetermined amount of boiled water when secondarily cooking the food. Due to the above cavity 12, the outer volume of the food body 10 is enlarged without increasing the amount of food, thereby enlarging the internal space of the aluminum foil pack 20 packaging the food body 10.

For example, when letting the net volume of the precooked and optimally-dried instant noodle be about 300 cc, it is basically required to use about 300 cc of boiled

water when secondarily cooking the noodle. An additional volume of about 100 cc has to be provided in the cup 40 for taking care of boiling expansion of water when secondarily cooking the noodle. In this regard, the internal volume of the cup 40 should not be less than 700 cc. That is, the internal volume of the cup 40 is twice or more than the net volume of the dried noodle. In accordance with the present invention, the dried instant noodle is provided with the cavity 12 for enlarging the volume of the noodle from the net volume of about 300 cc to about 700 cc, thereby allowing the aluminum foil pack 20 to be tightly fitted in the cup 40 having the internal volume not less than 700 cc.

Of course, the enlarged volume of the instant noodle may be achieved by loosening the curled noodle. However, the loosened noodle has a following problem. That is, the strength of the loosened noodle is reduced thereby being easily cracked when the outer surface of the noodle is depressed while packaging the noodle using the aluminum foil pack 20 and thermal shrinkage film 30 and labelling the packaged noodle. The loosened noodle may be also cracked when the users depresses the top of the packaged noodle into the cup 40 in order to secondarily cook the noodle. In order to overcome the above expected problem, the downward opening cavity 12 is formed in the noodle body 10 thereby enlarging the volume of the noodle body 10 while remaining density and strength of the curled noodle.

The aluminum foil pack 20 received in the cup 40 has to not only stably contain boiled water but also efficiently transfer heat when cooking the food. In order to achieve the above object, the pack 20 is tightly received in the cup 40 while being brought into close

contact with the cup 40.

When cooking the instant food of the invention, the thermal shrinkage film 30 is removed from the packaged food body 10. Thereafter, the food body 10 packaged in the foil pack 20 is received in the cup 40 such that the concentrated portion 22 of the pack 20 is directed upward. In this case, it is easy to insert the packaged food body 10 into the cup 40 as the air is smoothly exhausted from the cup 40 through the air exhausting groove formed on the internal side surface of the cup 40. As the packaged food body 10 in the above state is received in the internal space 46 of the cup 40 having the configuration corresponding to the outer configuration of the packaged food body 10, the packaged food body 10 is scarcely moved in the cup 40. The puckered portion of the pack 20 is, thereafter, opened prior to turning back the edge of the pack 20 on the top edge of the cup 40 as shown in Fig. 6. As the aluminum foil pack 20 is intrinsically folding, the pack 20 is brought into close contact with and stably supported in the cup 40. In the case of packaged instant food, an appropriate quantity of water is filled in the pack 20 prior to boiling the water in order to well cook the food. In the case of cupped instant food, the pack 20 received in the cup 40 is filled with boiled water in order to well cook the food.

As the food is cooked, the food gradually collapses in order to be immersed in the boiled water while enlarging its volume. The food in the above state can not run over the pack 20 or cup 40 as the pack or cup has the sufficient volume as described above. In the case of instant noodle, the user may eat the well cooked noodle with chopsticks. In the case of soup, the user may take the cooked soup while directly lipping the edge of the cup

40. The lip in the above state is brought into contact with the aluminum foil pack 20. Therefore, the aluminum foil pack 20 of the above instant food structure is not only sanitary, it also maintains as it was. After taking the food, the aluminum foil pack 20 is took out of the cup 40 and crushed into a small volume and, thereafter, collected for recycling. The cup 40 along with the top lid 44 is kept without washing in order to be reused the next occasion.

Industrial Applicability

As described above, the container for the instant food structure according to this invention is not required to be washed thereby being convenient to the users. As it is not required to wash the container using washer as described above, the instant food structure of this invention cause neither environmental pollution nor water pollution. As the aluminum foil pack of the instant food structure of this invention can be easily crushed into a small volume and recycled after taking the food, the present invention reduces the amount of trash and prevents environmental pollution.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims.