Receptacles – Arrangements of plural receptacles – Receptacle having rigid – removable inner container
Reexamination Certificate
2000-08-24
2001-05-15
Pollard, Steven M. (Department: 3727)
Receptacles
Arrangements of plural receptacles
Receptacle having rigid, removable inner container
C229S108000, C229S125125, C229S906000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06230917
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed toward a lockable two-piece container, and more specifically, toward a container comprising a sleeve and a tray slidably receivable and selectively lockable within the sleeve.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The fast-food industry uses a wide variety of containers and packaging for serving various food products. One common type of container comprising a base portion and an integral lid connected by a living hinge is often referred to as a “clamshell” container. Such containers are in widespread use, especially for relatively small products such as sandwiches and chicken nugget products. While such containers are versatile and relatively inexpensive, they are not well adapted for use with larger food products.
Pizza, for example, is generally sold in square boxes formed from a relatively heavy grade of corrugated cardboard. Such containers are suitable for holding entire pizza pies, which may be 16 inches in diameter or larger. However, restaurants often sell pizza by the individual slice, or are called upon to wrap one or several slices in a “doggie bag” for patrons who have eaten at the restaurant. To make the slices easy to carry, customers may be given a pizza box large enough for an entire pizza to hold the one or several slices, or the slices may be wrapped in foil. The former method is wasteful, as a large amount of heavy cardboard is used to hold as little as one slice of pizza. This method can also be messy—a single slice of pizza is apt to slide from side to side in a large pizza box, and may be damaged when carried by a patron. The latter method provides no support for the pizza and the wrapping often sticks to the melted pizza cheese. Furthermore, a foil-wrapped slice of pizza generally requires two hands to carry, and when the pizza is wrapped and given to the customer hot, the foil provides very little thermal insulation.
Clamshell containers have also been used for individual pizza slices. U.S. Pat. No. 5,788,145, for example, shows a one-piece, triangular clamshell container useful for holding a single slice of pizza. A single pizza slice, however, is often 8 to 10 inches long. A hinged clamshell container for this slice would therefore be at least 16 to 20 inches long when open. While such containers can be nested when stored, their length makes them awkward to use and may present storage difficulties—they may be too long to fit on a shelf having a normal width, for example. Such containers can be stored in a closed configuration to reduce their length, but in this configuration they cannot be nested and they take up a large volume of space, again leading to storage inefficiencies.
It would therefore be desirable to provide a storage container for a single slice of pizza or similar food product that is easy to use and that can be stored in a space-efficient manner while still providing the benefits of an inexpensive, lockable clamshell-type container.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention overcomes these and other problems by providing a two piece, lockable container shaped to accommodate a slice of pizza. While the preferred embodiment will be described herein in terms of a container for a single slice of pizza, it will be appreciated that the container could also be used to hold multiple slices of pizza or to hold other wedge shaped items such as slices of pie or cheese, or even various non-food items.
The preferred embodiment of the invention comprises a wedge-shaped tray with upstanding peripheral walls and a blunt front end which walls and front end define a top opening for receiving a slice of pizza. The tray is preferably about one inch deep, but can be sized appropriately for different types of product—thin pizzas versus deep-dish pizzas, for example. The top opening is larger than the tray bottom wall so that multiple trays can be nested. The invention further comprises a separate wedge-shaped sleeve having a narrow front end and wide back end for receiving the tray and holding the tray in place after insertion in the sleeve. The sleeve includes a top wall slightly larger than the top opening of the tray and depending side walls defining a front opening about the same size as the tray front wall end. The side walls are located only near the front opening to reduce the amount of paperboard needed for the sleeve. The sleeve side walls include fold lines running parallel to the top wall which allow the side walls, and hence the sleeve, to collapse and be stored in a flat configuration.
The front end of the tray comprises a wall somewhat taller than the rest of the tray peripheral walls and also somewhat taller than the height of the sleeve front opening when the sleeve is in an open configuration with its top wall parallel to its bottom wall. However, the sleeve is flexible enough to permit the passage of this oversized wall portion. In use, therefore, a slice of pizza is place into the tray and the blunt front end of the tray is passed under the rear end of the sleeve and toward the front sleeve opening. As the bottom side of the tray bottom wall engages the top side of the sleeve bottom wall, the top edge of the tray front wall is pushed up against the underside of the tray top wall. The flexible top wall bows outwardly to allow the tray to pass. The tray and sleeve are sized so that the tray front wall can pass just beyond the sleeve front opening before the tray side walls engage the sleeve side walls to stop further movement. As the tray front end exits the sleeve, the sleeve top wall returns to a generally flat configuration. Because the tray front end is taller than the sleeve front opening in its relaxed state, the tray is effectively locked in place and will not slide out of the sleeve. To remove the tray, the sleeve or tray or both must be deformed to allow the tray to pass back through the sleeve front opening.
It is therefore a principal object of the present invention to provide a lockable two-piece container.
It is another object of the invention to provide an improved two-piece wedge-shaped container.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a sleeve cover for a tray which sleeve covers less than the entire bottom wall of the tray.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a passive locking mechanism for a paperboard container comprising a tray and a sleeve.
It is still a further object of present invention to provide a two piece tray and sleeve container wherein the tray portion is stackable and the sleeve portion is collapsible for space efficient storage.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3761010 (1973-09-01), Rosenburg, Jr.
patent: 4221320 (1980-09-01), Faller
patent: 4279373 (1981-07-01), Montealegre
patent: 4283001 (1981-08-01), Meyers
patent: 4779723 (1988-10-01), Focke et al.
patent: 5098013 (1992-03-01), France et al.
Dennison, Scheiner Schultz & Wakeman
Dopaco, Inc.
Pollard Steven M.
LandOfFree
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