Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a food container.

Background

[0002] Food containers are commonly used to contain takeaway food. Most takeaway food containers are disposable and are typically made from cardboard or foam. Nowadays, as more consumers are eco-friendly, they prefer bio -degradable options for food containers and would prefer paper-based ones that are bio-degradable to foam ones that are not.

[0003] While it is eco-friendly to use paper-based food containers like the cardboard containers, it is not possible for the consumer to consume hot food from a cardboard container while holding the food container in his or her hand. As the consumer prefers to consume piping hot food on the go, it would be difficult to do so with the cardboard food container.

[0004] Furthermore, consumers would prefer to consume the food in one hand when they are on the go. Compared to food that requires both hands to be consumed, e.g. noodles, rice, food which allows the consumer to consume single-handedly, e.g. sandwiches, wraps, rolls, is preferred. It would not be possible for the consumer to single-handedly hold the hot food if the cardboard container is used.

[0005] Therefore, it is beneficial to come up with a solution to allow the consumer to hold the cardboard container with hot food single-handedly so that the consumer can consume the hot food on the go.

Summary

[0006] According to various embodiments, the present invention provides a food container adapted to contain a piece of food dividable into a front portion and a rear portion. The food container includes a distal portion adapted to contain the rear portion of the piece of food, a proximal portion adapted to contain the front portion of the piece of food, the proximal portion adapted to be detachable from the distal portion, such that the proximal portion when detached from the distal portion is adapted to be pivotally connected to the distal portion.

[0007] According to various embodiments, the food container may further include a base panel, such that the proximal portion and the distal portion each may include a proximal base panel and a distal base panel respectively, such that the base panel may include the proximal base panel of the proximal portion and the distal base panel of the distal portion, such that the proximal portion may be adapted to be pivotally connected to the distal portion at the base panel when the proximal portion is detached from the distal portion.

[0008] According to various embodiments, the food container may further include a pair of side walls spaced apart from each other and extending upwardly from opposite sides of the base panel, such that the proximal portion may include a pair of proximal side walls extending from opposite sides of the proximal base panel and the distal portion may include a pair of distal side walls extending from opposite sides of the distal base panel, such that the pair of side walls may include the pair of proximal side walls and the pair of distal side walls, such that the pair of side walls may include a pair of perforated lines dividing the pair of side walls into the pair of proximal side walls and the pair of distal side walls, such that the proximal portion may be detached from the distal portion along the pair of perforated lines.

[0009] According to various embodiments, upon detaching the proximal portion from the distal portion, the proximal base panel may be adapted to be disposed against the distal base panel and the pair of proximal side walls may be adapted to be disposed against the pair of distal side walls.

[0010] According to various embodiments, the proximal portion may include a proximal end wall extending from one end of the proximal base panel and connected to the pair of proximal side walls, such that the proximal end wall may be adapted to fold onto the proximal base panel when the proximal base panel is disposed against the base panel. [0011] According to various embodiments, each of the pair side walls may include a fold line extending from the proximal end wall, such that each of the pair of side walls may be adapted to fold along the fold line when the proximal end wall is folded onto the proximal base panel and when the pair of proximal side walls is disposed against the pair of distal side walls.

[0012] According to various embodiments, the food container may further include a top panel disposed above the base panel and connected to the pair of side walls, such that the top panel may be detachable from at least one of the pair of proximal side walls and the pair of distal side walls.

[0013] According to various embodiments, the top panel may include a proximal top panel connected to the pair of proximal side walls and a distal top panel connected to the pair of distal side walls.

[0014] According to various embodiments, the top panel may include a top perforated line disposed between the proximal top panel and the distal top panel, such that the proximal top panel may be detachable from the proximal top panel along the top perforated line.

[0015] According to various embodiments, the food container may further include a sleeve adapted to receive the food container therein.

Brief Description of Drawings

[0016] Fig. 1 shows a perspective view of an example of a food container adapted to contain a piece of food (not shown in Fig. 1).

[0017] Fig. 2A to Fig. 2D show perspective view of the food container of Fig. 1 with the proximal portion being detached from the distal portion and wrapped around the distal portion.

[0018] Fig. 3A shows the food container in Fig. 1 being slotted into a sleeve.

[0019] Fig. 3B shows the food container in Fig. 1 being extracted from the sleeve. [0020] Fig. 4 shows an elevation view of the food container in Fig. 1.

[0021] Fig. 5A shows a perspective view of another example of the food container.

[0022] Fig. 5B shows a perspective view of another example of the food container.

[0023] Fig. 6 shows a perspective view of another example of the food container.

[0024] Fig. 7A to Fig. 7B show perspective views of the food container in Fig. 6 being detached and folded to be wrapped around the distal portion of the food container.

[0025] Fig. 8A and Fig. 8B shows a perspective view of an example of the food container.

Detailed Description

[0026] Fig. 1 shows a perspective view of an example of a food container 100 adapted to contain a piece of food (not shown in Fig. 1). Piece of food may be dividable into a front portion and a rear portion. Food container 100 includes a distal portion 110 adapted to contain the rear portion of the piece of food and a proximal portion 120 adapted to contain the front portion of the piece of food. As shown in Fig. 1, the food container 100 may be formed by two portions, i.e. the distal portion 110 and the proximal portion 120. Proximal portion 120 is adapted to be detachable from the distal portion 110. Proximal portion 120 when detached from the distal portion 110 is adapted to be pivotally connected to the distal portion 110 (as shown in Fig. 2). Distal portion 110 and the proximal portion 120 may be formed as a single integral unit. Food container 100 may include a compartment 100C enclosed by the distal portion 110 and the proximal portion 120 and extends into the distal portion 110 and the proximal portion 120. While it is shown that the food container 100 has a single compartment 110C, it is possible for the food container 100 to include a plurality of compartments. [0027] As shown in Fig. 1, the food container 100 may include a base panel 102, a pair of side walls 104A,104B spaced apart from each other and extending upwardly from opposite sides of the base panel 102. Food container 100 may include a pair of end walls l06F,l06S at opposite ends of the base panel 102 extending between the pair of side walls 104A,104B. Pair of side walls 104A,104B and the pair of end walls l06F,l06S may form a continuous peripheral wall around the base panel 102. Peripheral wall may be of uniform height. Proximal portion 120 may include a proximal base panel 122 and may include a pair of proximal side walls 124A,124B extending from opposite sides of the proximal base panel 122. Distal portion 110 may include a distal base panel 112 and may include a pair of distal side walls 114A,114B extending from opposite sides of the distal base panel 112. Base panel 102 may include the distal base panel 112 and the proximal base panel 122. Distal base panel 112 and the proximal base panel 122 may be connected at its respective connecting ends H2C,l22C. Distal base panel 112 and the proximal base panel 122 may be connected along a base folding line 102F. Pair of side walls 104A,104B may include the pair of distal side walls 114A,114B and the pair of proximal side walls 124A,124B. Proximal end wall 106F may extend from one end of the proximal base panel opposite the connecting end 122C and connected to the pair of proximal side walls 124A,124B. Distal end wall 106S may extend from one end of the distal base panel 112 opposite the connecting end 112C and connected to the pair of distal side walls 114A,114B. Distal end wall 106S may be detached from the pair of distal side walls 114A,114B and be pivotally connected to the distal base panel 112 to allow the distal end wall 106S to be pushed inwards against the piece of food to push the piece of food out of the distal portion 110 to allow the consumer to consume the remaining portion of food in the distal portion 110.

[0028] Pair of side walls 104A,104B may include a pair of perforated lines 108A,108B dividing the pair of side walls 104A,104B into the pair of proximal side walls 124A,124B and the pair of distal side walls 114A,114B. Pair of perforated lines 108A,108B may be formed on the food container 100 such that the proximal portion 120 may be detached from the distal portion 110 of the food container 100 along the pair of perforated lines 108A,108B. Referring to the example in Fig. 1, the pair of perforated lines 108A,108B may be formed along the pair of side walls 104A,104B such that the proximal portion 120 may be detached from the distal portion 110 only at the pair of side walls 104A,104B but is connected to the distal portion 110 at the base panel 102. In this example, the proximal portion 120 may be connected to the distal portion 110 after being detached from the distal portion 110. The base folding line 102F may be a perforated line formed on the base panel 102 such that the proximal portion 120 may completely be detached from the distal portion 110.

[0029] Fig. 2A to Fig. 2D show perspective view of the food container 100 of Fig. 1 with the proximal portion 120 being detached from the distal portion 110 and wrapped around the distal portion 110. Referring to Fig. 2A, the proximal portion 120 is adapted to be detached from the distal portion 110. In this example, the proximal portion 120 may be hinged or pivotally connected to the distal portion 110 along or at the base panel 102 and may rotate away from the distal portion 110 in the direction as shown by the arrow in Fig. 2A. Upon detaching the proximal portion 120 from the distal portion 110, as shown in Fig. 2D, the proximal base panel 122 may be adapted to be disposed against the distal base panel 112 and the pair of proximal side walls 124A,124,B may be adapted to be disposed against the pair of distal side walls 114A,114B. Base panel 102 may have the fold line 102F to allow the proximal portion 120 to fold along it. Fold line 102F may be a perforated line.

[0030] Referring to Fig. 2B, the proximal portion 120 may be folded before being wrapped around the distal portion 110. After being detached, the pair of side walls 104A,104B may be separated to form the pair of proximal side walls 124A,124B of the proximal portion 120 and the pair of distal side walls 114A,114B of the distal portion 110. Similarly, the base panel 102 may be formed by the proximal base panel 122 and the distal base panel 112, both divided by the fold line 102F. As shown in Fig. 2A, each of the pair of proximal side walls 124A,124B of the proximal portion 120 may include a fold line l24AF,l24BF extending from the proximal end wall 106F where the pair of proximal side walls 124A,124B may be adapted to fold along the fold lines l24AF,l24BF. Fold lines l24AF,l24BF may extend from the intersection of the proximal end wall 106F and the proximal base panel 122 diagonally across the pair of proximal side walls 124A,124B. Referring to Fig. 2B, the proximal end wall 106F may be adapted to fold towards the proximal base panel 122 as shown by the arrow in Fig. 2B when the pair of proximal side walls 124A,124B is folded.

[0031] Referring to Fig. 2C, the proximal portion 120 may be rotated away from the distal portion 110 in the direction of the arrow as shown in Fig. 2C where the proximal base panel 122 is rotated towards the distal base panel 112. [0032] Referring to Fig. 2D, when the proximal base panel 122 (not shown in Fig. 2D) is adjacent to the distal base panel 112, the pair of proximal side walls 124A, 124B of the proximal portion 120 may be folded upwardly towards the pair of distal side walls 114A,114B of the distal portion 110 as shown by the arrows in Fig. 2D until the pair of proximal side walls 124A,124B is adjacent the pair of distal side walls 114A,114B. At the same time, the proximal end wall 106F (not shown in Fig. 2D) may be folded onto the proximal base panel 122 (not shown in Fig. 2D) and when the pair of proximal side walls 124A,124B is disposed against the pair of distal side walls 114A,114B. As shown in Fig. 2D, the proximal portion 120 forms an insulation layer around the distal portion 110. The insulation layer may be formed by the proximal base panel 122 disposed against the distal base panel 112 and the proximal end wall 106F disposed against the proximal base panel 122 and the pair of proximal side walls 124A,124B, which is folded, of the proximal portion 120 disposed against the pair of distal side walls 114A,114B. In this way, the folded proximal portion 120, which consist of two layers of the food container walls, i.e. the pair of distal side walls 114A,114B and distal base panel 112, are layered against distal portion 110, so that the consumer may hold the distal portion 110 of the food container 100 at the folded proximal portion 120 to prevent the consumer from being scorched by the hot piece of food therein. As shown, the insulation layer may be formed by two layers, i.e. the proximal base panel 122 and the proximal end wall 106F and the folded pair of proximal side walls 124A,124B, therefore providing an effective insulation layer.

[0033] Fig. 3A shows the perspective view of the food container 100 in Fig. 1 being slotted into a sleeve 130. Food container 100 may include a sleeve 130 adapted to receive the food container 100 therein. Food container 100 may be slotted into the sleeve 130 to contain the piece of food therein. Sleeve 130 may provide protection to the food and at the same time provide a strong structure to the food container 100.

[0034] Fig. 3B shows the perspective view of the food container 100 in Fig. 1 being extracted from the sleeve 130.

[0035] Fig. 4 shows an elevation view of the food container 100 in Fig. 1. As shown in Fig. 4, the food container 100 may include fold lines H4AF,l l4BF on the pair of distal side walls 114A,114B of the distal base panel 112 (fold line 114AF on the other panel of the pair of panels) to allow the distal portion 110 to be folded to be flattened.

[0036] Food container 100 as shown in the above figures may be dimensioned to be accommodated within the hand of the consumer. As the pair of side walls 104A,104B of the food container 100 is flexible due to the material of the food container 100, the pair of side walls 104A,104B may be squeezed towards each other by the consumer to provide a grip on the food therein. In this way, the food may be prevented from sliding back into the distal portion 110 and the food container 100 allows the consumer to grip onto the food when biting into the food.

[0037] Fig. 5 A shows a perspective view of another example of the food container 200. While it is shown in the earlier example that the food container has an exposed side, i.e. with only the pair of side walls 204A,204B and the second end wall (not shown in Fig. 5), the food container 200 may include a covered configuration whereby the food container 200 may include a top panel 209 to enclose the piece of food therein. Top panel 209 may be disposed above the base panel 202 and connected to the pair of side walls 204A,204B. Top panel 209 may extend from the proximal end wall 206F to the distal end wall (not shown in Fig. 5A) to cover the food container 200. Top panel 209 may be detachable from the food container 200. As shown in Fig. 5 A, the top panel 209 may be detachable from the pair of proximal side walls 224A,224B. Top panel 209 may be detachable from the pair of distal side walls 214A,214B. Food container 200 and the top panel 209 may be formed as one integral unit. Perforation lines 209P may be formed between the top panel 209 and the food container 200 whereby the top panel 209 may be separated from the food container 200 along the perforation lines 209P. As shown in Fig. 5A, the top panel 209 may be peeled and separated from the proximal portion 220 in the direction as shown by the arrow in Fig. 5A. Top panel 209 may be left attached to the distal portion 210 as shown in Fig. 5A or be detached from the distal portion 210 along the perforation lines 209P. Upon detaching the top panel 209, the proximal portion 220 may be folded and wrapped around the distal portion 210 as shown in the above example.

[0038] Fig. 5B shows a perspective view of another example of the food container 200. Top panel 209 may be separated into a proximal top panel 229 adapted to cover the proximal portion 220 and a top distal panel 219 adapted to cover the distal portion 210. proximal top panel 229 may be connected to the pair of proximal side walls 224A,224B and a distal top panel 219 may be connected to the pair of distal side walls 214A,214B. Top proximal panel 229 may be detached from the proximal portion 220. Top panel 209 may include a top perforated line 209Q disposed between the proximal top panel 229 and the distal top panel 219, such that the proximal top panel 229 may be detachable from the proximal top panel 219 along the top perforated line 209Q. Proximal portion 220 may include perforated lines 229P between the proximal portion 220 and the top proximal panel 229 so that the top proximal panel 229 may be removed from the proximal portion 220 along the perforated lines 229P. Top distal panel 219 may be detached from the distal portion 210 along perforation lines 219P. In this example, it is possible to leave the top distal panel 219 attached to the distal portion 210. In this way, the consumer may only need to detach the proximal top panel 229 without detaching the top distal panel 219. To access the food, the proximal top panel 229 may be removed and the proximal portion 220 may be detached from the distal portion 210 and folded as described above to provide the insulation layer. In this way, the piece of food, e.g. roll, wrap, may be exposed to be consumed and the consumer is able to hold the food container without being scotched by the heat from the piece of food. It is possible to have the perforation line 229P include a a fold line 229PA so that the top proximal panel 229 may be detached only along the parallel perforation lines 229P and foldable along the fold line 229PA. Hence, the top proximal panel 229 may be folded into the proximal portion 220 and be used to wrap around the distal portion 210. This configuration may provide one more layer of cardboard for better insulation.

[0039] It is advantageous for the proximal portion 220 to be connected to distal portion 210 so that consumer does not have to worry about the proximal portion 220 being dropped or lost.

[0040] Fig. 6 shows a perspective view of another example of the food container 300. Food container 300 may include the distal portion 310 and the proximal portion 320 attached thereto. Proximal portion 320 may be detached from the distal portion 310 along the detached lines 308. Pair of side panels 324A,324B may include fold lines 324AF,324BF for the pair of side panels 324A,324B to be folded along them. Food container 300 may include the proximal end wall 306F and the distal end wall 306S, each extending from base panel 302 and connected to the pair of side panels 324A,324B. [0041] Fig. 7 A to Fig. 7B show perspective views of the food container 300 in Fig. 6 being detached and folded to be wrapped around the distal portion 310 of the food container 300. Referring to Fig. 7A, the proximal portion 320 may be detached from the distal portion 310 along the detached lines 308 (not shown in Fig. 7A) and rotated along the fold line 302F along the base panel 302. Referring to Fig. 7B, the proximal portion 320 may be folded with the proximal base panel (not shown in Fig. 7B) and the pair of side panels 324A,324B being wrapped around the distal portion 310.

[0042] As the proximal portion 320 is substantially as long as the distal portion 310, the food container 300 is able to provide an insulation layer along a substantial portion of the distal portion 310.

[0043] Fig. 8A and Fig. 8B shows a perspective view of an example of the food container 400. Food container 400 may include the distal portion 410 adapted to contain the rear portion of the piece of food (not shown in Fig. 8A) and the proximal portion 420 adapted to contain the front portion of the piece of food. As shown in Fig. 8B, the proximal portion 420 may be adapted to be detachable from the distal portion 410. Proximal portion 420 when detached from the distal portion 410 may be adapted to be pivotally connected to the distal portion 410. Distal portion 410 and the proximal portion 420 may be formed as a single integral unit. Referring to Fig. 8A, the food container 400 may not include the proximal end wall such that the proximal portion 420 may include only the proximal side walls 424A,424B extending from the proximal base panel 422. Distal portion 410 may include the pair of distal side walls 414A,414B extending from the distal base panel 412 and the distal end wall 406S extending from the distal base panel 412 and connected to the pair of distal side walls 414A,414B. Pair of proximal side walls 424A,424B may be detached from the pair of distal side walls 414A,414B along the pair of perforated lines 408A,408B and folded along the fold line 402F along the base panel 402 of the food container 400. However, unlike the earlier embodiments, the pair of proximal side walls 424A,424B may not be folded before being disposed against the pair of distal side walls 414A,414B when the proximal portion 420 is folded against the distal portion 410. [0044] The present invention relates to a food container generally as herein described, with reference to and/or illustrated in the accompanying drawings.