US20250011071A1

US20250011071A1 - Multi-purpose food container device

Info

Publication number: US20250011071A1
Application number: US18/704,950
Authority: US
Inventors: Niccolo PINZAN
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2021-10-29
Filing date: 2022-10-28
Publication date: 2025-01-09
Also published as: IT202100027788A1; WO2023073623A2; WO2023073623A3; EP4422988A2

Abstract

The present invention fits into the field of devices suitable for containing food, in particular devices suitable for containing food in bulk or having a pulverized/broken consistency. In particular, the present invention aims to improve the conservation and dispensing of the product thanks to innovative systems of dispensing and conservation.

Description

SCOPE OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is within the scope of devices suitable for containing food, in particular devices suitable for containing food in bulk or having a pulverized/broken consistency.

STATE OF THE ART

Today on the market there are various types of containers for foods of these consistencies mainly in plastic material in the form of an envelope or tray in plastic material or glass (mainly).
Here the so-called envelopes are of interest: such envelopes in the most complex versions can also include a “freshness-keeper” closure that can be opened and closed several times guaranteeing the seal of the atmosphere inside. Although this certainly brings advantages to the user, it also introduces a large non-negligible defect: once the package/envelope is opened for the first time, the atmosphere initially present inside is inevitably mixed with the external one. The moisture level that at the beginning, at the first packaging of the food, had been controlled to ensure the best preservation of the same, undergoes a variation. This variation in humidity leads to the formation of unwanted agglomerations especially with regard to the products to be dispensed finely: a typical example is the envelope of pregrated cheese that is extracted from the envelope to be dispensed finely on a plate or for a recipe. The presence of lumps considerably alters the dosage of the food contained in said containers or bags since the main characteristic for which the product is purchased in this crumbled/grated form is expressly lost, since it is no longer able to guarantee, due to lumps or agglomerates, a homogeneous dosage.
Of course, it is always possible to crush the bag (typically grated cheese) with your hands, before pouring it, however often the dosage, if carried out directly on the plate, is uneven, or you can create accumulations where the moistest product is more agglomerated and/or in any case the dispensing takes place in a centered and not widespread way. In any case, these bags are suitable for dispensing products that have already been crushed/pulverised.
The same problem can occur with the dispensing of flour from a bag: typically the flour is pressed in its casing, in pouring it into a container it is often necessary, precisely for the success of a dough, to “pour in the flour” in a uniform way, to do this to date a sieve is necessary, with the risk however that the product is also dispersed around because the sieve is simply suspended under the packet of flour and/or other similar product such as breadcrumbs etc.
In a disadvantageous way, therefore, there is always a risk of dirtying and wasting the product to be dispensed and it is necessary to use a sieve in more or less small sizes.
This also applies for example to coffee, sugar, cocoa powder and/or any other ingredient of fine consistency such as a powder or the like.
Again, returning to the cheese and its dispensing, often to solve the problem of the “freshness” of the grated cheese, a whole piece of cheese is purchased and grated at the moment using a special grater (another tool), this implying an additional kitchen tool and other means of preserving the product.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to describe an innovative multi-purpose container for food or food substances that can be crushed or crushed, powders or in a fine format that can guarantee a homogeneous distribution of the content.
A further object of the present invention is to describe an innovative multi-purpose container that can eliminate the problem of agglutination or agglomeration of the material contained therein without the use of chemicals.
A further object of the present invention is to describe an innovative multi-purpose container that can independently produce a crumbling of the contained material even if packaged in larger parts.
It is still an object of the present invention to reduce the waste of products in the form of powders or fine or suitable for being crushed/pulverized.
It is an object of the present invention to reduce the need for copious and bulky kitchen utensils.
It is an object of the present invention to keep the worktop and the kitchen itself cleaner.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The innovative multi-purpose container object of the present invention comprises at least one envelope-type container body of any material suitable for the purpose, said envelope comprising at least one hermetic opening/closing in order to be able to insert into said envelope the food to be used and stored in a containment volume of the envelope, said multi-purpose envelope being characterized in that it further comprises at least one mesh/filter placed inside it between said opening and the bottom of the container, said mesh is fixed to the inner edges of the envelope on a plane substantially parallel to that of opening of the envelope, in proximity to said opening, in this way opening the envelope the product to be dispensed will be forced to pass between the meshes of said mesh being unbunded.
Said mesh or filter is made of any material and has more or less wide meshes depending on the needs (described later).
Said mesh being welded or in any case fixed in a stable/irreversible manner along a first part of its perimeter within said envelope (as mentioned above) and being removably/repositionably fixed on a second remaining part of its perimeter within said envelope, therefore said mesh, when disconnected in the second part of the perimeter allows the loading of the material into the container by passing it directly from the opening to the bottom. On the other hand, when the second part of the perimeter is connected to the envelope, said mesh acts as a filter on the material leaving the envelope i.e. forcing the material to necessarily pass through the meshes of the mesh. This is achieved by filtering or screening the material to be extracted from the container in addition to a better dosing and distribution of the same.
Said multi-purpose container comprising at least one envelope body in a variant further comprising on the internal surfaces of the containment volume a plurality of inserts protruding from said internal surface (wedge-shaped couplings, hook-shaped etc.) capable of creating a high roughness zone in order to rub with the material contained in said volume and thus be able to further shred/crush/crumble finely it. Therefore, in a completely advantageous and innovative way, the material once loaded into the container, crossing the filter mesh in this manoeuvre being “unhooked”, will be stored here, if the ambient humidity present at the time of transfer determines, for example, an agglutination or a thickening of the same material, advantageously before being used, it can be filtered by the mesh but also further shredded by said protruding inserts.
In a variant, said multi-purpose container comprising two distinct functional areas, i.e. two envelope bodies: a reservoir-operating envelope having a hermetic closure both outwards and towards a second functional area, i.e. second envelope, connected to it.
The division of the container into two envelope bodies joined together but separated by a closure between the parts allows to substantially create a multi-purpose container with on one side an airtight reservoir where said reservoir is represented by the first functional area. This is in a completely innovative and advantageous way to allow a lower exposure of the material to unprotected environmental conditions: once the food is loaded it will come into contact with the ambient atmosphere only twice: when it is placed in the reservoir and when, after having passed the distribution area, it will be used.
Advantageously, only the material necessary for temporary use will be passed into the second functional area, i.e. the distribution area, when making the passage, the material will not come into contact with the external atmosphere since the passage takes place by opening only the connection area between the two envelopes, thus remaining the container advantageously hermetically closed.
Again, in a variant in which the container body comprises only one envelope, said envelope may comprise an opening for each end side so as to insert the product from a first side and have the mesh fixed in a non-removable manner near the second end side just before the second opening for dispensing the product.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows the innovative multi-purpose container in a preferred basic embodiment.

FIG. 2 shows the innovative multi-purpose container in a variant.

FIG. 3 shows the innovative multi-purpose container in a further variant.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 therefore shows the innovative multi-purpose container 1 comprising here a container body 2, such as an envelope of any material suitable for the purpose, comprising at least one hermetic opening/closure 3 to be able to insert into said container food 4 to be used and stored and a containment volume.
A mesh/filter 6 is then irreversibly connected along the first perimeter part 7 and reversibly connected along the second perimeter part 8. As can be seen from the representation, the food is introduced through the opening of the closure 3 and through the release of the mesh in the portion 8. Once the container is filled, it is closed and the food remains isolated from the external atmosphere, potentially able to make it agglutinate or thicken due to greater air humidity. In any case, should the food present inhomogeneities or agglomerations, it will be easy, by passing it through the filter mesh 6, to restore the desired particle size (in relation to the mesh size of the mesh), obviously after said mesh will be reconnected along the perimeter part 6 to the inner wall of the container 2. The connection between the mesh and the inner part of the envelope takes place, for example, by means of a snap closure (a well-known type of coupling that will therefore not be re-described).
FIG. 2 shows the multi-purpose container 1 in a further embodiment variant: in this variant the container body 2 of the multi-purpose container device 2 comprises a plurality of protruding inserts 10 from the inner surface of the containment volume 5, i.e. from the inner side of the envelope, it should be noted that in one or more preferred embodiments these inserts can be included in the screening mesh to optimize their work.
Said inserts 10 create a high roughness area in order to rub with the material contained in said volume and thus be able to further shred/crush/crumble finely it. This variant, therefore, allows to perfect the screening effect of the mesh 6 favouring the crumbling of the food 4.
On the other hand, FIG. 3 shows a further embodiment variant of the present invention already mentioned above: this variant comprises two distinct functional areas that are identified here in two envelopes connected to each other: an envelope that acts as a reservoir 30 having a hermetic closure 3 b both outwards and having a hermetic closure 3 c towards a second functional area 20, i.e. here a second envelope, connected to said reservoir 30 envelope.
Said second functional area (or envelope 20) and said first functional area 30 being included in said container body 2 of said device 1, this substantially realizing a multi-purpose container with hermetic reservoir 30 where said reservoir is represented by the first functional area or first envelope.
In this configuration, the further advantage is realized of always keeping the food 4 hermetically closed in the reservoir 30 and passing it towards the dispensing container 20 only to the extent necessary for use, leaving exposed to contact with the ambient atmosphere only the part of food 4 that comes to be found in the dispensing bag 20.
It should be noted that said container device 1 is advantageously suitable for the insertion, storage and dispensing of any product suitable for being shredded/broken up with the aforementioned characteristics.
In a further advantageous manner such a device can be purchased per se and used with any suitable product for the purpose.
Also advantageously, this product can be made of any material suitable for the purpose.
Also advantageously, such a device can be made in any form or format suitable for the purpose.
It is therefore evident that the present invention makes it possible to solve all the said technical problems, making it possible to solve well-established situations that have never been adequately solved before, these and other variants in the form of containers, materials, type of mesh, material, methods of attachment to the envelope, dimensions, type of opening/closure and anything else have to be considered variants included in the subject of the present invention as better defined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A multi-purpose container (1) comprising at least one container body (2) of the envelope type, said envelope comprising at least one hermetic opening/closure (3) to be able to insert food (4) into said envelope suitable for the purpose of use and storage in a containment volume of the envelope, said multi-purpose envelope being characterized in that it further comprises at least one mesh/filter (6) placed inside the container body (2) between said opening and the bottom of the container, said mesh (6) being fixed to the inner edges of the envelope on a plane substantially parallel to that of the opening of the envelope, near said opening (3), in this way by opening the envelope the product to be dispensed will be forced to pass between the meshes of said mesh being unbunded.

2. The multi-purpose container (1) according to claim 1, wherein said mesh (6) or filter is made of any material suitable for the purpose and having more or less wide meshes depending on the crushing needs.

3. The multi-purpose container (1) according to the preceding claims, wherein said mesh (6) being welded or in any case fixed in a stable/irreversible manner along a first part (7) of its perimeter inside said envelope and being removably/repositionably fixed on a second part (8) of the perimeter inside said envelope, therefore said mesh, when disconnected in the second part of the perimeter allows the loading of the material into the container by passing it directly from the opening (3) to the bottom.

4. The multi-purpose container (1) according to the preceding claims, wherein instead said mesh when the second part of the perimeter (8) is connected to the bag, acts as a filter on the food (4) leaving the bag or obliging the food material to necessarily pass through the meshes of the mesh (6), this realizing for all purposes a filtering or screening of the material to be extracted from the container (2) in addition to a better dosing and distribution of the same.

5. The multi-purpose container (1) according to the preceding claims, wherein said multi-purpose container (1) comprises at least one envelope body (2) further comprising on the inner surfaces of the containment volume (5) a plurality of protruding inserts (10) from said inner surface (cuneiform couplings, unciniforms, etc.) capable of creating a high roughness zone in order to rub with the food (4) contained in said volume (5) and thus be able to further shred/crush/crumble finely it.

6. The multi-purpose container (1) according to the preceding claims, wherein said multi-purpose container comprising two distinct functional areas, i.e. two envelope bodies (20,30): an envelope (30) acting as a reservoir having a hermetic closure (3 b) both outwards and towards a second functional area (20)—closure (3 c)—i.e. second envelope, connected to it, allowing a lower exposure of the food (4) material to unprotected environmental conditions.

7. The multi-purpose container (1) according to the preceding claims, wherein the container body comprises only one envelope, said envelope may comprise an opening (3) for each end side so as to insert the product from a first side and have the mesh (6) fixed in a non-removable manner near the second end side just before the second opening (3) for dispensing the product.