REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

[0001] This application claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) of United States provisional application serial number 61/660,091 filed on June 15, 2012, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

FIELD

[0002] This application relates to packaging containers and, more particularly, to sidecar containers and associated methods for coupling sidecar containers to a primary container, such as a pizza carton.

BACKGROUND

[0003] Packaging containers for foods, such as packaging containers used for enclosing a pizza for carryout or delivery purposes, can be rather large and unwieldy. Therefore, a holder (e.g., the end consumer or a delivery person) maybe required to use two hands to hold the packaging container. As a result, the holder may not have a hand available for carrying other items, such as side dishes (e.g., breadsticks), beverages (e.g., soda bottles), condiments (e.g., sauces or dressings) and the like, that are commonly offered by restaurateurs as an addition to a main entree.

[0004] Prior attempts to remedy this deficiency have resulted in sidecar-like apparatus that attach to a side wall of the packaging container and offer support for the other items. However, these sidecar-like apparatus include vertically positioned hooks for attaching to the side wall of the container, which lead to imprecise connections, the requirement of an edge upon which to attach the apparatus, the lack of a secure hooking engagement, and a generally imprecise and non-aesthetically appealing connection between the packaging container and the sidecar-like apparatus.

[0005] Accordingly, those skilled in the art continue with research and development efforts in the field of packaging containers. SUMMARY

[0006] In one embodiment, the disclosed sidecar container may include a container body and at least one hook member extending outward from the container body.

[0007] In another embodiment, the disclosed sidecar container may include a container body comprising at least one side wall and an upper wall connected to said side wall, and a hook member extending outward from said upper wall.

[0008] In another embodiment, the disclosed sidecar container may include a container body comprising at least one side wall and an upper wall connected to said side wall, and a hook member extending outward from said container body, wherein said hook member is generally flat and coincident with a first plane, and wherein said upper wall is generally flat and coincident with a second plane, said first plane being substantially parallel with said second plane.

[0009] In another embodiment, the disclosed container assembly may include a primary container, the primary container defining an opening, and a sidecar container comprising a container body and a hook member extending outward from the container body, wherein the hook member extends at least partially through the opening to couple the sidecar container to the primary container.

[0010] In yet another embodiment, the disclosed container assembly may include a primary container, the primary container defining an opening, and a sidecar container comprising a container body and a hook member extending outward from the container body, wherein the hook member extends at least partially through the opening to couple the sidecar container to the primary container, wherein the hook member includes a first portion connected to the container body and a second portion that extends outward from the first portion and defines a gap between the second portion and the container body, and wherein a portion of the primary container is positioned in the gap.

[0011] Other embodiments of the disclosed sidecar container and assembly will become apparent from the following detailed description, the accompanying drawings and the appended claims. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0012] FIG. 1 is a front and side perspective view of one embodiment of the disclosed sidecar container;

[0013] FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the sidecar container of FIG. 1;

[0014] FIG. 3 is a rear elevational view of the sidecar container of FIG. 2;

[0015] FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of the sidecar container of FIG. 3;

[0016] FIG. 5 is a top plan view of a blank used for forming a sidecar container in accordance with another embodiment;

[0017] FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a sidecar container constructed from the blank of FIG. 5 being coupled to a primary container; and

[0018] FIG. 7 is a side elevational view of a portion of the primary container shown in FIG. 6.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0019] Referring to FIGs. 1-4, one embodiment of the disclosed sidecar container, generally designated 100, may include a container body 104 and one or more hook members 105 extending from the container body 104. The hook members 105 (two hook members 105 are shown in FIG. 1 ) may facilitate coupling the sidecar container 100 to a primary container (see primary container 505 in FIG. 5), as is described in greater detail herein.

[0020] The container body 104 may be constructed as a generally rectilinear body having a plurality of walls 110, 115, 120, 130, 135, 185 that define an internal volume 111. Opposed walls 130, 115 may define the first (e.g., left) and second (e.g., right) side walls, respectively, of the sidecar container 100. Opposed walls 110, 135 may define the third (e.g., front) and fourth (e.g., rear) side walls, respectively, of the sidecar container 100. Opposed walls 120, 185 may define upper and base walls, respectively, of the sidecar container 100.

[0021] The base wall 185 may extend between the side walls 110, 115, 130, 135 to enclose, at least partially, the lower end of the container body 104. Likewise, upper wall 120 may extend between the side walls 110, 115, 130, 135 to enclose, at least partially, the upper end of the container body 104.

[0022] Optionally, one or more of the walls 110, 115, 120, 130, 135, 185 of the container body 104 maybe omitted. For example, the first side wall 130 (i.e., the side wall proximate the hook members 105) may be omitted. Thus, a void may be present where the first side wall 130 would, if present, be positioned.

[0023] While the container body 104 is shown and described has having a generally rectilinear shape, container bodies having various shapes and configurations may be used without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0024] In one implementation, the upper wall 120 of the container body 104 may define a beverage carrier 125, as shown in FIGs. 1 and 2. The beverage carrier 125 may be formed as an opening 126, such as a generally hexagonal (or circular, etc.) opening sized to receive an object (not shown) therein. For example, the object may be a standard cylindrical or frustoconical beverage container (e.g., a soda bottle). Optional tabs 127 may protrude inward from the opening 126 to engage and reduce shifting of the object received in the opening 126.

[0025] At this point, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the shape and size of the opening 126 may be dictated by the shape and size of the object intended to be placed in the beverage carrier 125. Furthermore, while the opening 126 is shown and described being located in the upper wall 120 of the container body 104, other locations are also contemplated, and will be dictated by the type of object intended to be supported by the sidecar container 100.

[0026] In another implementation, the upper wall 120 of the container body 104 maybe hingedly connected to one of the side walls 110, 115, 130, 135. Therefore, the upper wall 120 may function as a lid that maybe opened to provide access to the internal volume 111 of the container body 104.

[0027] For example, referring to FIG. 1, a first edge 140 of the upper wall 120 maybe attached to the first side wall 130 of the container body 104, while the other edges 145, 150, 155 of the upper wall 120 may remain detached from their respective side walls 110, 115, 135. Therefore, the first edge 140 may function as a hinge, thereby allowing the upper wall 120 to swing upwards relative to the remainder of the container body 104 to open the sidecar container 100, thereby providing access to the internal volume 111 of the container body 104. While the first edge 140 acts as the hinge in the present example, those skilled in the art will recognize that any of the edges 145, 150, 155 may function as a hinge without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0028] Optionally, the upper wall 120 may extend beyond the edges 145, 150, 155 in a generally downwards direction in an overlapping manner over the respective side walls 110, 115, 135, creating flaps (not shown) to provide a user with an easier method of swinging the upper wall 120 open to access the internal volume 111. The flaps may further contain any number of interlocking members, flanges and/or the like to securably hold the upper wall 120 in a closed position.

[0029] The hook members 105 may facilitate connecting the sidecar container 100 to a primary container (see FIG. 5), such as a pizza carton or the like. While the sidecar container 100 is shown having two hook members 105, sidecar containers with only one hook member (see FIGs. 5 and 6) or three or more hook members are also contemplated.

[0030] Each hook member 105 may protrude outward from the first edge 140 of the upper wall 120. While the hook members 105 are shown being integral with the upper wall 120 (i.e., the upper wall 120 of the hook members 105 are formed as a single, monolithic body), it is also contemplated that the hook members 105 may be separately formed and then later attached to the upper wall 120 or, alternatively, to one of the side walls 110, 115, 130, 135, such as with adhesives (e.g., glue) or mechanical fasteners (e.g., staples).

[0031] A first portion 106 of each hook member 105 maybe connected to the upper wall 120, while a second portion 107 of each hook member 105 may protrude outward from the first portion 106. The second portion 107 of the hook member 105 may define a gap 108 between the container body 104 and the hook member 105 , thereby allowing the hook member 105 to engage (e.g., lock onto) the primary container (FIG. 5) to form a multi- container assembly, as is described in greater detail herein. While the hook members 105 generally extend from the first edge 140 of the upper wall 120, those skilled in the art will recognize that the hook members 105 may extend from any of the edges 145, 150, 155 without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. [0032] The hook members 105 are not limited by shape and/or size in this disclosure. Thus, those skilled in the art will recognize a wide variety of shapes and/or sizes of hook members that may be used without departing from the scope of this disclosure.

[0033] Referring to FIG. 3, the hook members 105 may generally horizontally extend outward from the upper wall 120 a distance beyond the first wall 130. The hook members 105 may be generally co-planar with the upper wall 120, and may have a vertical height H. The vertical height H may generally correspond to the vertical height of an opening (see opening 510 in FIG. 7) located within the primary container, such as the primary container 505 shown in FIG. 5. The vertical height H may further be no larger than the opening (see opening 510 in FIG. 7) within the primary container, so as to allow the primary container to receive the hook member 105. For example, the vertical height H may be about 5 mm to about 100 mm. In certain embodiments, the vertical height H may be 5 mm, 10 mm, 15 mm, 20 mm, 25 mm, 30 mm, 40 mm, 50 mm, 60 mm, 70 mm, 75mm, 80 mm, 90 mm or 100 mm

[0034] As shown in FIG. 4, the hook members 105 may horizontally extend a length L along the edge 140. The length L may generally correspond to a length of the opening (see opening 510 in FIG. 7) located within the primary container, such as the primary container 505 shown in FIG. 5. The length L may further be a length that is no larger than the length of the opening (see opening 510 in FIG. 7) of the primary container, so as to allow the primary container to receive the hook member 105. In an embodiment, the length L may be about 5 % of the length of the edge 140 to about 100 % of the length of the edge 140. In certain embodiments, the length L may be 10% of the length of the edge 140, 20% of the length of the edge 140, 30% of the length of the edge 140, 40% of the length of the edge 140, 50% of the length of the edge 140, 60% of the length of the edge 140, 70% of the length of the edge 140, 80% of the length of the edge 140 or 90% of the length of the edge 140.

[0035] A sidecar container 100' (FIG. 6) maybe formed from a substrate, such as, for example, the sidecar container blank 400 shown in FIG. 5. The sidecar blank 400 may include a plurality of pre-formed fold lines 402, 412, 414, 416, 420, 422, 424, 426, 428 that define the walls of the container body 104' of the sidecar container 100'.

[0036] The sidecar container 100' may be assembled by folding the sidecar blank 400 along the latitudinal fold lines 402, 412, 416, 420, 422 and longitudinal fold lines 414, 424, 426, 428 and connecting the upper wall 120' to the upper sealing panel 452 to form the fhree- dimensional body of the sidecar container 100'. Then, the front sealing panel 455 and the rear sealing panel 460 may be connected to side wall 115'. Then, the sealing panel 465 may be connected to the base wall 185'.

[0037] The sidecar blank 400 may be die-cut from a sheet of stock material, such as corrugated board or CIS paperboard, which may have a coating (e.g., clay) on a first major surface thereof, which may form the outer surface 102 (FIG. 1) of the sidecar container 100 (FIG. 1), and an uncoated second major surface. As another example, the paperboard-based material may be C2S paperboard, which may have a coating (e.g. , clay) on both major surfaces thereof. Optionally, at least one major surface of the container blank may be marked with various indicia 190 (FIG. 1), such as printed text and/or graphics.

[0038] While a specific sidecar blank 400 is shown and described, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various techniques and materials may be used to form the disclosed sidecar container.

[0039] Various products (not shown) having various shapes and configurations may be housed in or on the disclosed sidecar container. The products are not limited by this disclosure, and may include, for example, beverages and beverage containers (e.g., cups or bottles), condiments, toppings, seasonings, eating utensils, and/or food products, particularly side dishes, appetizers, desserts and/or the like.

[0040] As shown in FIG. 6, the sidecar container 100' maybe attached to a primary container 505, such as a pizza carton or the like, by way of the hook member 105 '.

[0041] As best shown in FIG. 7, the primary container 505 (e.g., a pizza carton) may define an opening 510, such as a horizontal slot, that is sized and shaped to closely receive the hook member 105' of the sidecar container 100' (FIG. 6). The opening 510 maybe formed in various locations of the primary container 505, such as in the side wall 515 of the primary container 505 proximate (i.e., at or near) the upper wall 520.

[0042] Thus, the sidecar container 100' may be coupled to the primary container 505 by inserting the hook member 105' into the opening 510 in the primary container 505 and then horizontally moving the sidecar container 100 ' relative to the primary container 505 (in the direction shown by arrow A) such that the hook member 105 ' hooks onto the primary container 505. When the hook member 105 ' is hooked onto the primary container 505, a portion of the primary container 505 may be positioned in the gap (see gap 108 in FIG. 2) between hook member 105' and the container body 104', thereby providing resistance to separation of the sidecar container 100' from the primary container 505. However, separation of the sidecar container 100' from the primary container 505 may also be possible (e.g., by horizontally moving the sidecar container 100' relative to the primary container 505 in the opposite direction of arrow A to unhook the hook member 105' from the primary container 505).

[0043] With the hook member 105 ' engaged with the primary container 505, the side wall 515 of the primary container 505 may apply a reactive force to the sidecar container 100', thereby resisting the tendency of the sidecar container 100' to pivot relative to the primary container 505. Such a reactive force may be particularly advantageous when a relatively heavy object (e.g., a soda bottle) is placed in the sidecar container 100'.

[0044] Optionally, various adhesives (e.g., fugitive adhesives), fixatives, coatings, fasteners and the like that may be employed between the sidecar container 100 ' and the primary container 505 to further enhance the connection between the sidecar container 100' and the primary container 505.

[0045] Accordingly, the disclosed sidecar container may quickly and securely connect to a primary container to form a single assembly, thereby allowing users to easily and conveniently carry more items. For example, purveyors of pizza may employ the sidecar container to connect additional side items, such as beverages, salads, breadsticks or the like, to the pizza carton, thereby potentially increasing sales.

[0046] Although various aspects of the disclosed sidecar container have been shown and described, modifications may occur to those skilled in the art upon reading the specification. The present application includes such modifications and is limited only by the scope of the claims.

[0047] What is claimed is: