Envelopes – wrappers – and paperboard boxes – Paper or paperboard cup
Reexamination Certificate
2002-02-08
2003-05-13
Kramer, Dean J. (Department: 3652)
Envelopes, wrappers, and paperboard boxes
Paper or paperboard cup
C229S004500, C229S104000, C294S055500
Reexamination Certificate
active
06561414
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Food scoops of the type normally referred to as fry scoops are widely used in coffee shops, quick service restaurants, convenience stores and other such “fast food” establishments, for the dispensing of chips, fries, popcorn, chicken nuggets and like “finger” foods.
Such known scoops are of a generally narrow rectangular configuration with a higher back wall providing for or assisting in the scooping of the fries therein.
With the conventional generally rectangular scoop, the container, when filled, will normally lie flat on its back panel with the contents tending to spill from the open mouth thereof. Alternately, the scoop may be held upright in the consumer's hand or is otherwise physically maintained in a vertical position as by being wedged in a serving tray by adjacent products. The actual holding of the scoop can be awkward because of the elongate rectangular configuration.
The conventional scoop also incorporates multiple vertical fold lines extending for the full height thereof and defining distinct narrow planar sides to the scoop which do not particularly lend themselves to a continuous surface pattern about the peripheral wall of the scoop. Problems may also arise with regard to the proper filling of the conventional scoop, and the withdrawal of foods therefrom in light of the relatively narrow elongate nature of the scoop and the angular corners provided about the interior thereof.
One improved form of scoop will be noted in Applicant's U.S. Pat. No. 6,053,403, assigned to the assignee of the present invention. This scoop is of a preformed, inverted, truncated conical configuration with the rounded lower portion of the scoop adapted for engagement within a cup holder.
It has also been suggested to form the lower portion of such containers into a cross-sectional configuration which more closely approaches a square rather than an elongate rectangle with fold lines defining the lower generally square configuration of the scoop and with the opposed sides of the scoop being substantially planar for at least a portion of the height thereof upward from the bottom. Such containers have been proposed as providing for greater stability for a self-standing scoop. However, there is much room for improvement. In this regard, a square bottom has not heretofore particularly lent itself to formation from a single blank without relying on a rather complex arrangement of fold and score lines and a corresponding use of extra material beyond that actually required to form the food chamber. This in turn also leads to an increase in the time and complexity of the actual manufacturing process. Further, problems in attempting to provide a wrinkle-free base have also been encountered.
Another significant problem noted with regard to known scoops formed from a single blank of folded paperboard or like material is the difficulty in avoiding gaps in the lower portions thereof, particularly between the bottom and side walls thereof.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention proposes significant advances in the art with regard to many aspects of the conventional fry scoop and known variations thereof.
Initially, the scoop of the invention is capable of being formed utilizing conventional equipment with the formed configuration of the scoop specifically allowing for nesting of the scoops so as to minimize packing space, resulting in both shipping and storage economies. The formed configuration of the scoop provides a base which is not only readily accommodated within a conventional cup holder, whether in a carrying tray or a vehicle mounted cup holder, but is also particularly formed to provide a stable base for a self-standing scoop.
A significant object of the invention is the incorporation in the scoop of a sealed bottom, eliminating the gaps normally associated with folded paperboard cartons of this type. Thus, the scoop of the invention is particularly capable of accommodating various condiments and flavorings as might be applied to the finger foods supplied within the scoop, for example melt butter on popcorn, salt and pepper on fries of various types, and the like, all without leakage.
Also of particular significance is the formation of the scoop using a unitary blank which provides for an improved production layout with very limited scrap area, utilizing minimal board to obtain maximum volume. The actual nature of the blank from which the carton is formed, and the configuration of the formed carton combine to allow a manufacturing system utilizing traditional equipment with the blank, with minimal fold lines, allowing for increased forming speed of the equipment, simplified and more easily performed folding steps, and blank elements which cooperate during the folding procedure, aligning on and relative to each other in achieving the desired bottom-sealed configuration.
Basically, the scoop of the invention is of an inverted slightly truncated configuration with an open upwardly directed mouth and a closed and sealed bottom. The lower portion of the scoop, upward from the bottom, is of a generally square or rectangular cross-sectional configuration which gradually expands upward into an upper portion of substantially circular configuration. The bottom panel of the scoop has no disruptive fold lines and is preferable substantially square with the continuous lower edge of the scoop wall intimately engaged with the bottom panel along the four edges with no gapping therebetween. A first pair of opposed edges of the bottom panel are integrally formed with the wall lower edge, with the second pair of bottom panel edges having integral laterally outwardly extending combined sealing and glue flaps upwardly folded therefrom to overlie opposed flattened lower outer portions of the vertical wall to seal the second pair of opposed bottom edges to the overlying wall portions along the full length of contact therebetween.
As a variation, the first pair of opposed edges of the bottom panel, those edges integral with opposed portions of the lower edge of the vertical wall, can be concave, forming a slight outward bowing of the corresponding portions of the vertical wall thereabove and providing a corresponding increase in the volume of the container or scoop. This increase in volume requires no additional blank material and retains the desired generally rectangular configuration of the lower portion of the scoop without any necessity for providing fold lines within the bottom panel. The bottom panel, formed in this manner, will actually upwardly arc along the length thereof between the arcuate edges while the second linear pair of edges remain in a common plane and define spaced support edges for the scoop. Such spaced support edges provide enhanced stability for the scoop when used as a self-standing scoop in that any slight irregularities in the supporting surface, tabletop or the like, can be more readily accommodated as compared to a completely planar base in the first described embodiment. It has also been found that the slight arcuate configuration of the bottom tends to provide an additional degree of rigidity.
The blank of the invention, utilized in the formation of the above-described scoops, comprises opposed front and rear wall panels aligned along a longitudinal axis of the blank with the panels having spaced facing lower or base edges with a rectangular bottom panel extending between the lower edges. Each lower edge of the front and rear wall panels includes a central extent and opposed edge extents. The bottom or bottom panel of the first mentioned embodiment includes a first pair of parallel longitudinally spaced end edges coextensive with the central extents of the front and rear wall panels and are integral therewith. This bottom panel further includes a second pair of side edges extending between the corresponding ends of the first pair of bottom panel edges to define a rectangular and preferably square configuration to the bottom panel. A laterally directed, triangular, combined glue and sealing flap is integral with the bottom panel along e
Chin Paul T.
Dennison, Schultz & Dougherty
Dopaco, Inc.
Kramer Dean J.
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