WO2009020411A1

WO2009020411A1 - Container for carrying a take-away meal

Info

Publication number: WO2009020411A1
Application number: PCT/SE2007/050540
Authority: WO
Inventors: Fredrik Jacobsson
Original assignee: SCA Packaging Marketing NV
Current assignee: DS Smith Packaging Marketing NV
Priority date: 2007-08-06
Filing date: 2007-08-06
Publication date: 2009-02-12
Anticipated expiration: 2010-02-06

Abstract

The present invention relates to a container for carrying a take-away meal including a top wall (2) and a bottom wall (1) having long sides extending in a 5 longitudinal direction and short sides extending in a transverse direction, and side walls (3, 4) extending between the respective long sides of the top and bottom wall, said container being erectable from a planar state by swinging said side walls (3, 4) upwards around the edges of the long sides of the bottom wall (1) from a start position parallel to the top and bottom walls to an end 10 position perpendicular to the top and bottom walls. According to the invention the bottom wall (1) extends beyond the short sides of the top wall (2) in a longitudinal direction, a swingable locking lid (6, 7) is extending from each short side of the top wall and is dimensioned to cover the opening between the top wall (2), the bottom wall (1) and the side walls (3,4) when said walls are in 15 the end position and the locking lid is swung down from a start position parallel to the top wall to a closing position perpendicular thereto, and the top wall includes an opening (12, 13) adjacent to each short side thereof.

Description

Container for carrying a take-away meal.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a container for carrying a take-away meal including a top wall and a bottom wall having long sides extending in a longitudinal direction and short sides extending in a transverse direction, and side walls extending between the respective long sides of the top and bottom wall, said container being erectable from a planar state by swinging said side walls upwards around the edges of the long sides of the bottom wall from a start position parallel to the top and bottom walls to an end position perpendicular to the top and bottom walls.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In hamburger restaurants the different components of a meal are placed on a flat tray and the tray is taken away by the customer. On a different location in the restaurant table napkins, coffee spoons and spices and the like are available to the customer. Since it is hard to balance the tray with the meal in one hand, most customers carry the tray to their table and then fetch table napkins, etc. The customer may also carry a handbag or a briefcase together with the tray. There is thus a need for a tray or the like that can be carried by one hand thereby enabling the customer carrying the tray to fetch the table napkin, etc. on his way to his table.

A pouch of chips is usually a component of such a meal. When such a pouch is laid onto the tray or during the transport of the tray to the table, one or several chips often fall out of the pouch and onto the tray. It is therefore a need for a tray or the like on which a pouch of chips can be placed without any risk for chips to fall out of the pouch.

The trays used in hamburger restaurants are usually reusable and must be cleaned between successive uses by different customers. A tray or the like which is made of cheap material so that it can be disposed of after one use will reduce the staff needed to take care of used trays and will also be more hygienic than reusable trays. Such a tray or the like can also make it possible for the customer to take the tray with him away from the restaurant if she/he for example intend to have the meal outdoors in a park or the like.

It is an objective of the present invention to provide a container for carrying take-away meals, which can accommodate usual components of a take-away meal, easily can be grabbed by one hand, stored in a flat state, being easy to erect from a flat state and which can be made of cardboard or carton.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This objective is accomplished by a container for carrying a take-away meal including a top wall and a bottom wall having long sides extending in a longitudinal direction and short sides extending in a transverse direction, and side walls extending between the respective long sides of the top and bottom wall, said container being erectable from a planar state by swinging said side walls upwards around the edges of the long sides of the bottom wall from a start position parallel to the top and bottom walls to an end position perpendicular to the top and bottom walls, characterised in that the bottom wall extends beyond the short sides of the top wall in a longitudinal direction, a swingable locking lid is extending from each short side of the top wall and is dimensioned to cover the opening between the top wall, the bottom wall and the side walls when said walls are in the end position and the locking lid is swung down from a start position parallel to the top wall to a closing position perpendicular thereto, and the top wall includes an opening adjacent to each short side thereof. In such a container, the risk for the locking lid to lose contact with the bottom wall in the closing position is very small which means that the container is very stable in the erect position.

In a preferred embodiment, said container has means for releasably attaching said container to an identical container. Thereby, take-away meals for several persons can easily be carried by one person carrying several containers coupled to each other. Said means are preferably hooks protruding from one side wall and slits in the side wall opposite to the side wall having hooks.

An intermediate wall having the same longitudinal extension as the top wall is to advantage affixed to the side walls and located between the top wall and the bottom wall parallel thereto, said intermediate wall comprising two openings co-axial to the openings in the top wall. Such an intermediate wall will indicate a stop position for the downward swinging of the locking lids, thereby facilitating the bringing of the container from a planar state to an erect state. Furthermore, a drinking cup held in the openings in the top wall and the intermediate wall will be held steadily in the container without risk for overturn of the drinking cup.

The openings in the top wall have preferably a wider transverse extension than the openings in the intermediate wall. Thereby a pouch of chips can be inserted through the openings in the top wall but not through the openings in the intermediate wall. The same openings can thus be used for both a drinking cup or a pouch of chips which will facilitate the loading of the container by an assistant in a hamburger restaurant or the like. Each side wall includes preferably two holes located in the middle of the side walls in a longitudinal direction, one located adjacent to the bottom wall and the other located adjacent to the intermediate wall, said holes being dimensioned to allow fingers to be inserted therethrough. Such holes enables the container to easily be carried by one hand.

The locking lids are each provided with a hole for facilitating swinging of the locking lid from the closing position to the start position.

A flap is extending from the free end of each locking lid, which flap is resting on the bottom wall and disposed perpendicular to the locking lid in the closing position thereof. Such flaps enhance frictional forces between the locking lids and the bottom wall in the closing position of the locking lids which contributes to the stability of the container in its erect position.

The container is made of corrugated cardboard and to advantage of a single piece of corrugated cardboard.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

The invention will now be described with reference to the enclosed Figures, of which;

Fig. 1 shows a blank for the manufacture of a container for carrying a takeaway meal according to a first preferred embodiment of the invention,

Figs. 2-6 illustrates different steps in the manufacture of a container according to the first embodiment, Fig. 7 shows the container according to the first embodiment folded to a planar state, and

Fig. 8 and 9 illustrates the coupling of two identical containers to each other.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Figure 1 disclose a blank for the manufacture of a container for carrying a take-away meal according to a first preferred embodiment of the present invention. Said blank includes a bottom wall 1, a top wall 2, a side wall 3, a side wall 4 comprising two parts 4a and 4b, respectively, an intermediate wall 5 and two locking lids 6 and 7. As can be seen in Figure 1, the bottom wall 1 extends beyond the ends of the short sides of the top wall 2 and the intermediate wall 5 which has the same extension in a longitudinal direction, i.e. a direction parallel to the long sides of the bottom wall 1, as the top wall.

In a first step of the manufacture of a container from the blank in Figure 1 , the side wall 3 and the part 4a of the side wall 4 are swung up so they are perpendicular to the bottom wall 1. Thereafter, the intermediate wall 5 is swung downwards so that it is perpendicular to the part 4a and thereby also perpendicular to side wall 3 and is then affixed to the side wall 3 by gluing two flaps 8,9 running along the long side of the intermediate wall to the inside of side wall 3. The container will after these steps have the configuration shown in Figure 2.

Then part 4b is swung downward so it will be perpendicular to the top wall 2 as is illustrated in Figure 3. Thereafter, the top wall 5 is swung downward so that it will be perpendicular to side wall 3. In this position, a portion of part 4b is overlapping part 4a, as can be seen in Figure 4. This overlapping portion of part 4b is affixed by gluing to part 4a and the parts 4a and 4b then together form the side wall 4.

When the parts 4a and 4b of side wall 4 have been affixed to each other the actual manufacture of the container is ended and the side walls 3 and 4 will be swung back around the edges of the long sides of the bottom wall to a position in which the side walls are parallel to the bottom wall and thereby also to the top wall. The container will then have a planar configuration in which it is delivered to a user. The planar configuration of the container is shown in Figure 7.

When the container is to be used, the user, for example an assistant in a hamburger restaurant, erects the container from a planar state to the configuration shown in Figure 4. As is clearly evident from the Figures 1-4, openings 10 and 11 in the intermediate wall 5 adjacent to opposite short side ends thereof are coaxial to openings 12 and 13, respectively, in the top wall 2 adjacent to opposite short side ends thereof. These co-operating pairs of openings 11,12 and 10,13 in the intermediate wall and top wall are dimensioned to allow a drinking cup to be inserted theretrough so that the bottom of said cup rests on the bottom wall 1. In use of the container an assistant will thus insert a drinking cup into one of the pairs of openings and a hamburger into the space between the intermediate wall and bottom wall opposite to the container end into which the drinking cup was inserted or should be inserted.

After placing of said hamburger and said drinking cup into the container, the locking lids 6 and 7 are swung downward to close the container ends. This is illustrated in Figures 5 and 6. As is evident from Figure 5, flaps 14,15 protruding from the end of the respective locking lid 6,7 are swung upward before the lids are swung downward. When the locking lids have been swung down 90 degrees, the flaps 14,15 will rest on the parts of the bottom wall 1 that extend longitudinally beyond the ends of the short sides of the top wall and the intermediate wall. Since the intermediate wall 5 has the same dimension in the longitudinal direction as the top wall 2, there is no risk that the locking lids will be swung more than 90 degrees in relation to the top wall.

When the locking lids have been swung down to close the ends of the container, the container has the configuration shown in Figure 6. In this configuration the container is very stable. By having the bottom wall extending beyond the short side ends of the top and intermediate walls the risk that the locking lids will loose contact with the bottom wall is greatly reduced. The flaps 14,15 also greatly enlarge the frictional area between the locking lids and the bottom wall which contributes to the stability of the container.

Before or after the locking lids had been brought to a closing position a pouch of chips is inserted into the opening 12,13 in the top wall opposite to the opening used for the drinking cup. As can be seen from the Figures, openings 12,13 in the top wall 2 have another shape than openings 10,11 in the intermediate wall 5, the openings 12,13 being wider in a transverse direction. Thereby it is obtained that the shape of the openings 12,13 in the top wall is adapted to the sectional shape of a pouch for chips while the openings 10,11 in the intermediate wall 5 have a smaller dimension than such a pouch. A pouch of chips inserted into one of the openings 12,13 in the top wall will therefore rest on the intermediate wall with parts of its bottom. Since such an inserted pouch will have a fairly upright position, there is no risk that chips will fall out of the pouch. The top wall 2 also comprises rectangular openings 16,17 for accommodation of sauce packages or the like in the middle region of the top wall. Furthermore, pairs of U-shaped holders 18 are cut out of the top wall, the free ends of the legs of the U-shaped holders 18 being integral with the top wall but provided with transverse folding lines. In use the holders 18 are swung up from their position in the plane of top wall 2 and a straw is inserted through the space delimited by the legs and base of the U-shaped holder 18.

In the locking lid 7 a holder 19 for napkins is cut out and its upper end is delimited from the remaining part of the locking lid 7 by a transverse folding line. The napkin holder 19 has two downwardly directed tongues projecting from a common base portion. In use, the holder 19 is swung out from the plane of the locking lid 7 and one or several napkins are inserted between the two tongues of the holder.

A pair of holes 20 and 21 are cut out in each side wall 3,4 in the middle part thereof seen in the longitudinal direction. The holes 20 are disposed adjacent to the bottom wall 1 and actually reach into the bottom wall whereas the holes 21 are disposed adjacent to the intermediate wall 5. The holes 20,21 are dimensioned to allow fingers to be inserted theretrough. When the container is to be carried a thumb is preferably inserted into hole 21 and the remaining fingers on one hand are preferably placed under the bottom wall. Lifting up of a container from a disk or the like is facilitated by inserting a finger into hole 20 as well as a thumb into hole 21. After lifting up of the container the remaining fingers are placed under the bottom wall 1. When a container is handed over from an assistant to a customer, the customer insert his thumb into hole 21 on the side wall distal from the assistant and put his fingers under the bottom wall. The container is easy to carry with one hand, the holes allowing a person to get firm grip on the container. The container described can accommodate a normal take-away meal for one person comprising a drinking cup, a hamburger and a pouch of chips. If several take-away meals are to be delivered to the same customer, several containers are used. For ease of carrying several take-away meals containers according to the present invention can be coupled to each other and carried away as one unit. For this purpose hooks 22 cut out in part 4b are protruding from one of the long sides of the top wall 2 and slits 23 are made in the side wall 3, see Figure 1 and 3, in the uppermost portion thereof for co-operation with hooks of a container identical to the container shown in Figure 6. When two such containers are to be coupled together, the hooks 22 of one container is placed in line with the slits of the other container and inserted into the slits. This is shown in Figure 8 in which the hooks 22 of a first container A are disposed opposite to the slits 23 in container B. Thereafter the hooks 22 of container A are inserted into the slits 23 of container B. Container A having the hooks inserted into the slits of the other container B is then displaced in the direction of the tips of the hooks, i.e. towards the viewer of Figure 8, so that portions of the side wall 3 (not visible in Figure 8) will enter the space between the hooks and side wall 4. In Figure 9, the two containers A and B are shown coupled to each other. Two containers coupled to each other can still be carried with one hand but if three containers are coupled to each other usually two hand are needed. To release containers coupled to each other from each other, the containers are displaced relatively to each other in a direction opposite to the direction of the tips of the hooks and the hooks can then easily be drawn out of the slits.

Containers according to the present invention can of course be brought from an erect position to a planar position simply by moving the locking lids from closing position to a start position and then folding the side walls around the edges of the long sides of the bottom wall. In order to facilitate this, the locking lids are each provided with a hole 24 and 25, respectively for facilitating swinging of the locking lid from the closing position to the start position.

The described embodiment can of course be modified without leaving the scope of invention. For example, the container can be dimensioned to accommodate more than a normal take-away meal for example prolonged in the longitudinal direction so that it has three or more openings in the top wall and the intermediate wall or prolonged in the transverse direction so that it has four or more openings in the top wall and intermediate wall. The intermediate wall can be deleted, even if it is not preferred. The material used for the container can be other than corrugated cardboard, for example carton or plastic. The scope of invention shall therefore be determined by the language of the enclosed patent claims.

Claims

1. A container for carrying a take-away meal including a top wall (2) and a bottom wall (1) having long sides extending in a longitudinal direction and short sides extending in a transverse direction, and side walls (3,4) extending between the respective long sides of the top and bottom wall, said container being erectable from a planar state by swinging said side walls (3,4) upwards around the edges of the long sides of the bottom wall (1) from a start position parallel to the top and bottom walls to an end position perpendicular to the top and bottom walls, characterised in that the bottom wall (1) extends beyond the short sides of the top wall (2) in a longitudinal direction, a swingable locking lid (6,7) is extending from each short side of the top wall and is dimensioned to cover the opening between the top wall (2), the bottom wall (1) and the side walls (3,4) when said walls are in the end position and the locking lid is swung down from a start position parallel to the top wall to a closing position perpendicular thereto, and the top wall includes an opening (12,13) adjacent to each short side thereof.

2. The container according to claim 1, wherein said container has means (22,23) for releasably attaching said container to an identical container.

3. The container according to claim 2, wherein said means are hooks (22) protruding from one side wall (4) and slits (23) in the side wall (3) opposite to the side wall having hooks.

4. The container according to claim 1,2 or 3, wherein an intermediate wall (5) having the same longitudinal extension as the top wall (2) is affixed to the side walls (3,4) and located between the top wall (2) and the bottom wall (1) parallel thereto, said intermediate wall comprising two openings (10,11) coaxial to the openings (12,13) in the top wall (2).

5. The container according to claim 4, wherein the openings (12,13) in the top wall (2) have a wider transverse extension than the openings (10,11) in the intermediate wall (5).

6. The container according to 4 or 5, wherein each side wall (3,4) includes two holes (20,21) located in the middle of the side walls in a longitudinal direction, one (20) located adjacent to the bottom wall (1) and the other (21) located adjacent to the intermediate wall (5), said holes being dimensioned to allow fingers to be inserted therethrough.

7. The container according to any one of claims 1-6, wherein the locking lids (6,7) each is provided with a hole (24,25) for facilitating swinging of the locking lid from the closing position to the start position.

8. The container according to any one of claims 1-7, wherein a flap (14,15) is extending from the free end of each locking lid (6,7), which flap is resting on the bottom wall (1) and disposed perpendicular to the locking lid (6,7) in the closing position thereof.

9. The container according to any one of claims 1-8, wherein the container is made of corrugated cardboard.

10. The container according to claim 9, wherein the container is made of a single piece of corrugated cardboard.