Container
A container for housing granulated products is disclosed. The container has a body portion having a recessed base, at least one wall, a closure adapted to be releasably sealed on the body portion, and a circumferential channel which circumnavigates the recessed base. The channel is adapted to receive a scoop bucket so that the contents of the container can be easily removed.
This application claims priority back to U.S. Provisional Application 60/574,411 filed May 26, 2004, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of container constructions in general, and more particularly to a combination container and closure.
2. Description of the Related Art
As can be seen by reference to U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,514,379, 1,768,771 2,738,900, 2,978,142, 4,844,263, 5,699,925, 5,706,974, and D416,438, the prior art is replete with various container constructions, including those that facilitate stacking of containers.
While various prior art constructions of containers and closures are known, the prior art fails to disclose a container that (1) allows a user to easily scoop the entire contents of the container and (2) provides adequate structure to easily stack the containers.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONIt is an object of the present invention to provide an improved container. This and other objects may be achieved by a container comprising a body portion having a first at least one wall and a recessed base that defines a circumferential channel, whereby the channel is adapted to receive a bucket of a scoop so that the bucket fits within the channel. The circumferential channel circumnavigates the perimeter of the recessed base. The container further comprises a closure that is adapted to be releasably sealed on the body portion.
The scoop has a handle coupled to a bucket. A radius of the bucket is substantially equal to the radius of the circumferential channel so that the bucket can be received by the channel and allow scooping of the container contents.
The closure can also comprise a second at least one side wall, a top wall coupled to the second at least one side wall, and an upwardly extending protrusion shaped and sized to be received by a recessed base of another container.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGSA full and enabling disclosure of the present invention, including the best mode thereof directed to one of ordinary skill in the art, is set forth in the specification, which refers to the appended figures, in which:
Repeat use of reference characters in the present specification and drawings is intended to represent same or analogous features or elements of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTIONOne of ordinary skill in the art will understand that the present discussion is a description of exemplary embodiments only, and is not intended as limiting the broader aspects of the present invention, which broader aspects are embodied in the exemplary construction. A repeat use of reference characters in the present specification and drawings represents the same or analogous features or elements of the invention.
With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to
As shown in
Referring to
Still referring to
Referring to
A releasable seal (not shown) may be attached to lip 42 to seal the contents in the container. The releasable seal also allows for vacuum packaging of the contents in container 10 and provides an anti-tamper inner liner. One skilled in the art of food packaging will be familiar with such releasably attached packaging seals. Specifically, adhesive or heat may be used to attach a seal formed of polyvinyl chloride, polystyrene, foil, or other suitable material to lip 42 to form an airtight seal. Therefore, removal of closure 40 will not disturb the seal unless the releasable seal is cut or removed.
Referring to
In addition to allowing containers to be stacked, heel 28 serves a second purpose. The heel and recessed bottom wall form circumferential channel 34 at the bottom of the body portion. The circumferential channel 34 circumnavigates the perimeter of the recessed bottom wall 22. The channel is sized and shaped to receive the scoop's cylindrical bucket 64. In particular, bucket radius R2 is approximately equal to or smaller than radius R1 of the inside surface 36 of circumferential channel 34. Channel 34 has a circular cross-section, however, it should be understood that channel 34 and bucket 64 may be formed in other shapes, for example square, oval or rectangular, so long as the shape of the scoop is substantially similar to that of the channel.
Recess 30 causes the granulated contents in the container to gravitate into the channel as the product is being used up. Therefore, the bucket of the scoop fits into the channel and allows the user to scoop out substantially all the granulated contents in the container with little effort. Such a channel/bucket arrangement would also allow the container to be utilized for liquid containment and dispensing if desired. No matter what shape channel 34 is, bucket 64 should be sized and shaped to be received in channel 34. For example, a square-shaped channel would require a square bucket that would fit in the channel. In particular, the scoop bucket should be shaped to facilitate scooping the contents of the container out of channel 34 and is most often the same shape as the channel.
In another embodiment as shown in
As shown in
An inside surface 132 of the bottom wall projects upward from heel 128 and together with the heel and sidewall define an oval shaped circumferential channel 134 around bottom wall 122. It should be understood that the cross-section of channel 134 may be formed in other shapes, for example square, rectangular, round, etc. Sidewall 124 also contains an outwardly extending flange 141 (
Referring to the figures, and in particular
A generally oval protrusion 156 terminating in a horizontally flat circular surface 157 is centrally located in the horizontal top wall. Protrusion 156 is sized and shaped to fit within another container's recessed portion 130 so that multiple containers can be stacked (
A releasable seal (not shown) may be attached to lip 142 to seal the contents in the container. The releasable seal also allows for vacuum packaging of the contents in container 110 and provides an anti-tamper inner liner. One skilled in the art of food packaging will be familiar with such releasably attached packaging seals. Specifically, adhesive or heat may be used to attach a seal formed of polyvinyl chloride, polystyrene, foil, or other suitable material to lip 142 to form an airtight seal. Therefore, removal of closure 140 will not disturb the seal unless the releasable seal is cut or removed.
Referring to
In addition to allowing containers to be stacked, recessed bottom portion 130 serves a second purpose. The recessed bottom portion, the rounded corner and sidewall form circumferential channel 134 at the bottom of the body portion. The circumferential channel 134 circumnavigates the perimeter of the recessed bottom wall 122. The channel is sized and shaped to receive the scoop's cylindrical bucket 164. In particular, bucket radius R20 is approximately equal to or smaller than radius R21 of the inside surface 170 of circumferential channel 134. Channel 134 has a circular cross-section, however, it should be understood that channel 134 and scoop bucket 164 may be formed in other shapes, for example square, oval or rectangular, so long as the shape of the scoop is substantially similar to that of the channel.
Recessed portion 130 causes the granulated contents in the container to gravitate into the channel as the product is being used up. Therefore, the bucket fits into the channel and allows the user to scoop out substantially all the granulated contents in the container with little effort (such a channel/bucket arrangement would also allow the container to be utilized for liquid containment and dispensing if desired.). No matter what shape channel 134 is, bucket 164 should be sized and shaped to be received in channel 134. For example, a square-shaped channel would require a square shaped bucket that would fit in the channel. In particular, the scoop bucket should be shaped to facilitate scooping the contents of the container out of channel 134 and is most often the same shape as the channel.
In yet another embodiment and with reference now to the drawings, and in particular to
As shown in
The inside surface 232 of the circular bottom wall projects upward from heel 226 and together with the heel, front, back, and side walls define a circumferential channel 234 around bottom wall 212. As shown in
The front, back, and side walls terminate at a circular top portion 238 (
Referring to
Closure vertical wall 246 defines an inwardly pointing flange 256 that releasably secures closure 240 to circular top portion 238. That is, flange 256 is wedge-shaped with the wide part of the wedge closest to a bottom edge 258 of closure vertical wall 246. Thus, the wedge forms a locking member that snaps over the outwardly projecting circumferential flange 242 so that closure 240 can be easily removed from and resealed on box portion 220.
As with the above described embodiments, a releasable seal (not shown) may be attached to an upper lip 262 of circular top portion 238 to seal the contents in the container. The releasable seal also allows for vacuum packaging of the contents in container 210 and provides an anti-tamper inner liner. One skilled in the art of food packaging will be familiar with such releasably attached packaging seals. Specifically, adhesive or heat may be used to attach a seal formed of polyvinyl chloride, polystyrene, foil, or other suitable material to lip 262 to form an airtight seal. Therefore, removal of closure 240 will not disturb the seal unless the releasable seal is cut or removed.
In addition to allowing containers to be stacked, recessed bottom wall 212 serves a second purpose. As previously pointed out, the recessed bottom wall forms circumferential channel 234 at the bottom of the box portion. The circumferential channel 234 circumnavigates the perimeter of the recessed bottom wall 222. The channel is sized and shaped to receive a cylindrical bucket 264 of dispensing utensil 260. In particular, the radius R32 of cylindrical bucket 264 (
In a further embodiment shown in
Referring to
Referring to the figures, and in particular
A releasable seal (not shown) may be attached to a lip 342 to seal the contents in the container. The releasable seal also allows for vacuum packaging of the contents in container 310 and provides an anti-tamper inner liner. One skilled in the art of food packaging will be familiar with such releasably attached packaging seals. Specifically, adhesive or heat may be used to attach a seal formed of polyvinyl chloride, polystyrene, foil, or other suitable material to lip 342 to form an airtight seal. Therefore, removal of closure 340 will not disturb the seal unless the releasable seal is cut or removed.
A dispensing utensil 380 may be a scoop having a generally flat handle 382 attached to or integrally formed with a cylindrical bucket 384. A rib (not shown) may be utilized and connected to the underside of the handle and the cylindrical bucket to provide structural stability to the scoop. Scoop 380 is similar in design to that described in the previous embodiments and a detailed discussion of the scoop is not repeated herein.
Container first cylindrical portion, rounded corner 322 and bottom wall 318 are sized to generally form an arcuate inner surface having a radius R40 that is substantially similar to a portion of the bucket radius R42 to allow the user to scoop out the granulated contents in the container with little effort. Although bottom wall 318 does not form a circumferential channel, the similar radius of the container walls to that of the scoop bucket assists in scooping the contents of the container. While the embodiment depicts a flat bottom wall 318, it should be understood that bottom wall 318 may also define a recessed portion as shown and described in the previous embodiments. That is, container 320 may be formed with a recessed bottom wall portion and a protruding structure on closure 340 to assist in scooping and stacking of the container as described in previous embodiments.
These and other modifications and variations to the present invention may be practiced by those of ordinary skill in the art, without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention, which is more particularly set forth in the appended claims. In addition, it should be understood that aspects of the various embodiments may be interchanged both in whole or in part. For example the embodiment of
Claims
1. A container comprising:
- a. a body portion having a first at least one wall and a recessed base;
- b. a closure adapted to be releasably sealed on said body portion;
- c. a circumferential channel defined by said body portion first at least one wall and said recessed base, wherein the channel circumnavigates the perimeter of said recessed base; and
- d. a scoop having a handle coupled to a bucket, wherein said bucket is adapted to be received by said circumferential channel.
2. The container in claim 1, wherein a radius of said bucket is substantially equal to a radius of said channel.
3. The container in claim 1, wherein a radius of said bucket is smaller than the radius of said channel.
4. The container in claim 1, wherein said body portion is generally cylindrical in shape.
5. The container in claim 1, wherein said body portion is generally oval in shape.
6. The container in claim 1, wherein said body portion has front, back and side walls which connect to each other by rounded corners and terminate at a circular top portion.
7. The container in claim 6, wherein said circular top portion connects to said rounded corners by an inwardly sloping shoulder.
8. The container in claim 1, wherein said body portion has a generally cylindrically first portion and a generally cylindrical second portion, and wherein the diameter of said second portion is smaller than the diameter of said first portion.
9. The container in claim 8, wherein the cylindrical first portion and the cylindrical second portion connect to each other by an inwardly sloping circumferential shoulder.
10. The container in claim 8, wherein the cylindrical first portion connects to said recessed base by a rounded corner.
11. The container in claim 1, said body portion further comprising a heel intermediate said recessed base and said first at least one wall.
12. The container in claim 1, said closure further comprising:
- a. at least one closure side wall;
- b. a top wall coupled to said at least one closure side wall; and
- c. an upwardly extending protrusion extending from said top wall, said protrusion being shaped and sized to be received by a recessed base of another container.
13. The container in claim 12, said body portion further comprising an outwardly extending circumferential first flange located proximate a top edge of said first at least one side wall, and said closure further comprising an inwardly extending second flange located on an inner circumference of said second at least one side wall that engages said first flange for releasably securing said closure to said body portion.
14. The container in claim 1, said closure further comprising:
- a. at least one closure side wall;
- b. a top wall coupled to said at least one closure side wall; and
- c. a recessed portion shaped and sized to receive a heel of another container.
15. The container in claim 14, said body portion further comprising an outwardly extending circumferential first flange located proximate a top edge of said first at least one side wall, and said closure further comprising an inwardly extending second flange located on an inner circumference of said second at least one side wall that engages said first flange for releasably securing said closure to said body portion.
16. The container in claim 1, wherein said recessed base is shaped and sized to receive an upwardly extending protrusion of another container.
17. A container comprising:
- a. a body portion having at least one wall and a recessed base;
- b. a closure adapted to be releasably sealed on said body portion;
- c. an arcuate inner surface defined by said at least one wall and said recessed base, wherein the arcuate inner surface circumnavigates the perimeter of said recessed base and has a radius; and
- d. a scoop having a handle coupled to a bucket, wherein said bucket has a radius that is substantially equal to the radius of the arcuate inner surface.
18. The container in claim 17, wherein said body portion has a generally cylindrically first portion and a generally cylindrical second portion, and wherein the diameter of said second portion is smaller than the diameter of said first portion.
19. The container in claim 18, wherein the cylindrical first portion and the cylindrical second portion connect to each other by an inwardly sloping circumferential shoulder.
20. The container in claim 19, wherein the cylindrical first portion connects to said recessed base by a rounded corner.
Type: Application
Filed: May 25, 2005
Publication Date: Jan 5, 2006
Inventors: Cathy Smay (Newburgh, IN), Stuart Kipperman (Evansville, IN), Hagins Fugate (Newburgh, IN), George Nukuto (Neenah, WI), Joseph Paul (Thomaston, CT), Robin Wiggins (Newburgh, IN)
Application Number: 11/137,298
International Classification: B65D 1/40 (20060101);