FOOD CONTAINER

Abstract

A food container includes a bowl body, a first cover, a first tear portion, and an eating utensil. The bowl body has a first opening, is made of a first heat-insulating material, and is used for accommodating contents. The first cover is made of a second heat-insulating material, and covers the bowl body, in which the first cover is connected to the bowl body, and includes a sealing portion for placing an additive into the bowl body. The first tear portion is located at a connection position between the bowl body and the first cover, and the first tear portion is torn to separate the bowl body from the first cover. The eating utensil is located at the first cover.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This non-provisional application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(a) on Patent Application No. 98216144 filed in Taiwan, R.O.C. on 2009/9/1, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Technical Field

The present invention relates to a container, and more particularly to a food container.

2. Related Art

With the development and progress of the modern society in a fast pace, people are often too busy to have dinner at dinner time in their daily life, and most people eat instant noodles for dinner in order to save their time. Nowadays, instant noodles have become an indispensable comfort food or snack for workers, students, tourists, and household food storage.

In addition to saving time and contribute to convenience, people are also concerned about how to enjoy their food quickly and conveniently. For food containers such as instant noodle containers currently available on the market, the paper cover of the container is easily torn off by mistake and causes the container to be deformed, or it is difficult to attach the paper cover to the container tightly, so that the noodles are easily undercooked or overcooked, thereby affecting the taste of the noodles. Moreover, if the noodles are too hot, the materials of instant noodle containers currently available on the market may easily burn the hands, and may also generate substances harmful to human health as a result of excessively high temperature.

Instant noodles also have an advantage of being easily carried, and being cooked by pouring hot water at any time, anywhere. However, it often occurs that in the process of cooking instant noodles a user needs to open flavoring packages one by one, which wastes time and makes the user's hands greasy, and even stains the user's clothes due to carelessness; and after the noodles are well cooked, the user cannot enjoy the noodles if they forgot to carry an eating utensil along with them. Therefore, improvement the structure of the food container, so as to facilitate the use of the food container, is a problem to be solved by the inventor and persons in the relevant industry.

SUMMARY

Accordingly, the present invention provides a food container, which includes a bowl body, a first cover, a first tear portion, and an eating utensil. The bowl body has a first opening, is made of a first heat-insulating material, and is used for accommodating contents. The first cover is made of a second heat-insulating material, and covers the bowl body, in which the first cover is connected to the bowl body, and includes a sealing portion for placing an additive into the bowl body. The first tear portion is located at a connection position between the bowl body and the first cover, and the first tear portion is torn to separate the bowl body from the first cover. The eating utensil is located at the first cover.

Moreover, the present invention further includes a second cover and a second tear portion. The second cover has a second opening, in which the second opening faces the first cover, such that the second cover covers the first cover and the second cover is connected to the first cover. The second tear portion is located at a connection position between the first cover and the second cover, and the second tear portion is torn to separate the first cover from the second cover.

Finally, the eating utensil of the present invention is located at a periphery of the first cover. The eating utensil is fixed adhesively at the first cover; alternatively, a fastening portion for fixing the eating utensil is disposed at the first cover.

In the present invention, the first cover covers the bowl body, and the hot water is poured into the bowl body via the sealing portion of the first cover without tearing the first cover, which is implemented conveniently and rapidly. Meanwhile, the present invention enables the content to be cooked thoroughly without tearing the first cover. In addition, by using the concave-convex pattern design of the heat-insulating materials, the high temperature is blocked more effectively, so as to prevent the user's hands from being burned, thereby eliminating the inconvenience in the prior art that it is difficult to hold a food container containing hot contents. Furthermore, in the present invention, since the inner surfaces of the bowl body and the cover include heat-retaining materials, heat loss in the bowl body is slowed down, thereby achieving a heat-retaining effect. Moreover, since the eating utensil is disposed at the first cover in the present invention, the user does not need to carry chopsticks along with them, thereby avoiding the inconvenience of the user forgetting to carry chopsticks.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an overall appearance of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic structural view of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of the present invention in use;

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of an overall structure of the present invention;

FIG. 5A is a cross-sectional view of the present invention;

FIG. 5B is a partially-enlarged view of the cross-sectional view of the present invention; and

FIG. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Please refer to FIGS. 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6, in which a food container according to a first embodiment of the present invention is shown. In this embodiment, the food container is an instant noodle container; however, the present invention is not limited thereto. The food container of the present invention includes a bowl body 10, a first cover 20, a first tear portion 40, and an eating utensil 60.

The bowl body 10 has an approximately rectangular cubic structure. A bowl wall extending upwards from the bottom of the bowl is formed. A first opening 11 is formed at one end of the bowl wall. The bowl body 10 is used for accommodating contents. Here, the content is preferably instant noodles and a flavoring agent. However, the present invention is not limited thereto. Moreover, the bowl body 10 may also be made into round or other shapes according to practical design requirements.

Please refer to FIGS. 5A and 5B, the bowl body 10 is made of a first heat-insulating material 12 on an external surface thereof. The first heat-insulating material 12 is preferably a first corrugated paper, which has a concave/convex pattern design to prevent the user's hands from being burned when directly contacting the bowl body, such that the user can hold the bowl body more conveniently; however, the present invention is not limited thereto. In addition, a surface of the first heat-insulating material 12 includes a convex pattern 13. When holding the bowl body with hands, the user contacts the convex pattern 13, such that the surface area of the first heat-insulating material 12 contacted by the user is reduced. Therefore, the convex pattern 13 can prevent the user from directly contacting the heat source, so as to achieve the objective of the present invention, thereby more effectively blocking the high temperature and preventing the user's hands from being burned.

The convex pattern 13 is preferably made into wave-shaped configurations with a certain interval; however, the present invention is not limited thereto, and the convex pattern 13 may also be made into other shapes. Nevertheless, the wave-shaped pattern most effectively reduces the hot surface area which the user contacts with their hands. An inner surface of the bowl body 10 includes a first heat-retaining material 14. The heat-retaining material is preferably a first aluminum foil; however, the present invention is not limited thereto, and other materials having a desirable heat-retaining effect may also be used. Nevertheless, in this embodiment, the inner surface made of the aluminum foil achieves the best heat-retaining effect, such that the user is enabled to enjoy the hot food while keeping it warm for a longer period of time. In addition, since the inner surface is made of the aluminum foil, no toxic substances harmful to human health will be generated when a hot additive such as boiling water is poured into the bowl body.

The first cover 20 is configured into an approximately rectangular sheet, which is made of a second heat-insulating material 21, and covers the bowl body. The first cover 20 is connected to the bowl body 10. The second heat-insulating material 21 is preferably a second corrugated paper; however, the present invention is not limited thereto, and other materials having a heat-insulating effect may also be used. A surface of the first cover 20 facing the bowl body 10 includes a second heat-retaining material 22. The heat-retaining material is preferably a second aluminum foil; however, the present invention is not limited thereto, and other materials having a desirable heat-retaining effect may also be used.

The first cover 20 includes a sealing portion 23, and the sealing portion 23 includes a hole 231 and a shielding portion 232, but the present invention is not limited thereto. In this embodiment, since the first cover 20 is made of a corrugated paper, the first cover 20 is not deformed at a high temperature when covering the bowl body 10, unlike ordinary paper covers available on the market. Moreover, for the instant noodles and the flavoring agent placed inside the bowl body 10, the flavoring agent may be directly placed in the bowl body 10 without being packaged, such that the user can pour the hot water into the bowl body 10 via the hole 231 without tearing the first cover 20, and the first cover 20 tightly covers the bowl body 10, thereby slowing down the heat loss. As such, the duration of cooking time is easily controlled, so as to prevent the noodles from being overcooked due to a long cooking time or being undercooked due to a short cooking time. Meanwhile, the user does not need to open the flavoring package any more, thereby preventing their hands from being made greasy.

The eating utensil 60 is located at the first cover 20. Here, the eating utensil 60 is preferably chopsticks. In this embodiment, the eating utensil 60 is fixed adhesively at the first cover 20 along a periphery of the first cover 20; however, the present invention is not limited thereto. Alternatively, in the present invention, a fastening portion 25 for fixing the eating utensil 60 is disposed at the first cover 20. With the eating utensil 60, even if the user forgot to carry an eating utensil in a hurry, they do not need to worry about the problem, thereby contributing to the user's convenience.

The first tear portion 40 is located at a connection position between the bowl body 10 and the first cover 20. The first tear portion 40 is preferably formed by a plurality of first semi-perforations, and the first tear portion 40 is torn along the first semi-perforations to separate the bowl body 10 from the first cover 20; however, the present invention is not limited thereto, and tear portions in other forms also fall within the scope of the present invention.

A second cover 30 is configured into an approximately rectangular sheet, which has an annular wall extending therefrom. A second opening 31 is formed at one end of the annular wall. The second opening 31 faces the first cover 20, such that the second cover 30 covers the first cover 20. The second cover 30 is connected to the first cover 20, so as to wrap the eating utensil 60. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and the second cover 30 may also be made into round or other shapes according to practical requirements.

A second tear portion 50 is located at a connection position between the first cover 20 and the second cover 30. The second tear portion 50 is preferably formed by a plurality of second semi-perforations, and the second tear portion 50 is torn along the plurality of second semi-perforations, so as to separate the first cover 20 from the second cover 30; however, the present invention is not limited thereto, and tear portions in other forms also fall within the scope of the present invention.

In this embodiment, when the user wants to eat instant noodles the user firstly tears the second tear portion 50 to separate the second cover 30 from the first cover 20, then tears the shielding portion 232 on the first cover 20 to expose the hole 231, and then pours hot water into the bowl body 10 via the hole 231. At this time, since the first cover 20 is still connected to the bowl body 10 and only the hole 231 on the first cover 20 is exposed, heat loss is slowed, and the temperature in the bowl body 10 drops slowly. This being the case, the duration of cooking time is easily controlled, so as to prevent the noodles from being overcooked due to a long cooking time or being undercooked due to a short cooking time.

After the noodles are well cooked, the first tear portion 40 is torn, so as to separate the first cover 20 from the bowl body 10. After the first cover 20 is separated, the eating utensil 60 is taken off from the first cover 20 for use, which is quite convenient.

While the present invention has been described by the way of example and in terms of the preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. On the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements. Therefore, the scope of the appended claims should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar arrangements.

Claims

1. A food container, comprising:

a bowl body, comprising a first opening, made of a first heat-insulating material, for accommodating contents;

a first cover, made of a second heat-insulating material, for covering the bowl body, wherein the first cover is connected to the bowl body, and comprises a sealing portion for adding an additive into the bowl body;

a first tear portion, located at a connection position between the bowl body and the first cover, wherein the first tear portion is torn to separate the bowl body from the first cover; and

an eating utensil, located at the first cover.

2. The food container according to claim 1, wherein the first heat-insulating material is a first corrugated paper.

3. The food container according to claim 1, wherein a surface of the first heat-insulating material comprises a convex pattern.

4. The food container according to claim 3, wherein the convex pattern is wave-shaped.

5. The food container according to claim 1, wherein an inner surface of the bowl body comprises a first heat-retaining material.

6. The food container according to claim 5, wherein the first heat-retaining material comprises a first aluminum foil.

7. The food container according to claim 1, wherein the second heat-insulating material is a second corrugated paper.

8. The food container according to claim 1, wherein asurface of the first cover facing the bowl body comprises a second heat-retaining material.

9. The food container according to claim 8, wherein the second heat-retaining material comprises a second aluminum foil.

10. The food container according to claim 1, wherein the sealing portion comprises a hole.

11. The food container according to claim 10, wherein the hole further comprises a shielding portion for closing the hole.

12. The food container according to claim 1, wherein the eating utensil is located at a periphery of the first cover.

13. The food container according to claim 1, wherein the eating utensil is fixed adhesively at the first cover.

14. The food container according to claim 1, wherein the first cover comprises a fastening portion for fixing the eating utensil.

15. The food container according to claim 1, wherein the first tear portion comprises a plurality of first semi-perforations.

16. The food container according to claim 1, further comprising:

a second cover, comprising a second opening, wherein the second opening faces the first cover, such that the second cover covers the first cover and the second cover is connected to the first cover; and

a second tear portion, located at a connection position between the first cover and the second cover, wherein the second tear portion is torn to separate the first cover from the second cover.

17. The food container according to claim 16, wherein the second tear portion comprises a plurality of second semi-perforations.