Con-centric cocktail shrimp container

Abstract

The present invention provides a con-centric cocktail shrimp container including: an outer container comprising an outer base, an inner container comprising an inner base, and a cover, wherein the outer base comprises an outer base serving member having a substantially planar central portion, an outer sidewall extending generally upwardly and outwardly therefrom and an outer flange portion extending outwardly from the inner side wall, wherein the inner base comprises an inner base serving member having a substantially planar central portion, an inner sidewall extending generally upwardly and outwardly therefrom and an inner flange portion extending outwardly from the inner side wall, wherein the cover may be adapted to releasably engage the outer container.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to food containers and, more particularly, to cocktail shrimps food containers.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Food packaging in general are low in cost, and easy to use. Commonly used food containers comprise a base body and a cover, wherein the cover maybe partially attached to the base body, or the cover may be completely detachable from the base. For the majority of the food containers, the base bode defines one compartment wherein the food contents will be enclosed. The conventional food container for packaging the cocktail shrimps are similarly configured that the shrimps are arranged in one compartment, and a cup of shrimp sauce is loosely placed in the container. When the container is shaken, the sauce cup may be moved, so the arrangement may be disturbed and the sauce be sprinkled out.

The food container of the present invention is an improvement over conventional cocktail shrimp containers in that it features an inner container affixed to the outer container and the outer container and inner container are con-centric. In this configuration, the annular space defined by the outer container and inner container may be filled with shrimp sauce, and the heads of the shrimps will be dipped into the sauce while the tails of the shrimps will be collected in the space defined by the inner container. The con-centric configuration enables the most possible capacity of the container and provides stability of the packaging.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

Accordingly, the present invention provides a con-centric cocktail shrimp container including: an outer container comprising an outer base, an inner container comprising an inner base, and a cover, wherein the outer base comprises an outer base serving member having a substantially planar central portion, an outer sidewall extending generally upwardly and outwardly therefrom and an outer flange portion extending outwardly from the inner side wall, wherein the inner base comprises an inner base serving member having a substantially planar central portion, an inner sidewall extending generally upwardly and outwardly therefrom and an inner flange portion extending outwardly from the inner side wall, wherein the cover may be adapted to releasably engage the outer container.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The invention is described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein like numerals designate similar parts and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of con-centric cocktail shrimp container produced in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional diagram of con-centric cocktail shrimp container illustrating the relative dimensions and shapes;

FIG. 3 is a sectional detail showing an inner sidewall integrated connected with the outer base in accordance with one alternative embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a sectional detail showing an inner base removably affixed to the outer base in accordance with one alternative embodiment of the present invention;

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As seen in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the present invention provided a container 10 including an outer container 20 comprising an outer base 21, an inner container 30, and a cover 40, wherein the outer container 20 comprises the outer base 21 having a substantially planar circular portion, an outer sidewall 22 extending generally upwardly therefrom and an outer rim portion 24 extending outwardly from the outer side wall 22; wherein the inner container 30 comprises the inner base 31 having a substantially planar circular portion, an inner sidewall 32 extending generally upwardly and outwardly therefrom and an inner rim portion 33 extending outwardly from the inner side wall 32, wherein the inner base 31 is affixed to the outer base 21, preferably by glue, wherein the inner base 31 and the outer base 21 is con-centric, wherein the cover 40 may be adapted to releasably engage the outer container 20.

As seen in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, in a preferred embodiment, the outer sidewall 22 further comprises an annular portion 23 extrudes outwardly at the upper portion of the outer sidewall 22 connected with the outer rim portion 24 wherein the outer rim portion 24 is in reversed U shape. Cover 40 has a cover circular central flat surface 43 raises from a dome portion 42 which is connected to a U shaped cover annular portion 44, which is in turn connected with a reversed U shaped cover rim portion 41. The outer rim portion 24 and the cover rim portion 41 can be pressed against each other to seal the container 10, and then can be release from each other release the cover 40 from the outer container 20.

The seal formed by the cover rim portion 41 and the outer rim portion 24 is substantially liquid-proof, whereas the materials forming the outer container, inner container and the cover are resilient and flexible. These materials are also preferably selected so as to be suitable for heating or re-heating the contained food, for example, by way of a conventional or microwave oven or by heat lamps and so forth. The containers of the invention may be made by any suitable technique, that is, techniques employed for forming plastics. The outer container 20, the inner container 30, and the cover 40 generally have wall calipers of from about 10 to about 50 mils, whereas a wall caliper of from about 15 to about 25 mils is somewhat typical.

As seen in FIG. 2, the outer sidewall 22 further comprises outer sidewall inner surface 222 and outer sidewall outer surface 221. The inner sidewall 32 further comprises inner sidewall inner surface 322 and inner sidewall outer surface 321. The inner sidewall inner surface 322 and the inner base upper surface define an inner cavity 300. The inner sidewall outer surface 321, the outer sidewall inner surface 222 and a part of the outer base upper surface form an outer annular space 200. In a preferred embodiment, the food container 10 of the present invention will be used for containing cocktail shrimps. When in use, the lower portion of the outer annular space 200 will contain sauce and/or spices, and the heads of the shrimps will be dipped into the sauce, while the tails of the shrimps will be sustained in the inner cavity 300. The advantage of the configuration of the present invention is to provide a convenient packing arrangement, so that the tails of the cocktail shrimp will be kept from the sauce so when the user pick up the shrimp by the tail, their hands will be clean, while the heads of the shrimps will be able to contact the sauce for the flavors.

The article made according to the present invention may have any particular size as desired by the user so long as the relative outer container, con-centric inner container and cover features are present. FIG. 2 is an exemplary illustration of the possible dimensions of the container 10, wherein the outward diameter of the outer container Ro1 is 4⅝″, wherein the outer base diameter Ro2 is 4″, wherein the outward diameter of the cover Rc2 is 4⅝″, wherein the outward diameter of the cover annular portion Rc3 is 4¼″, wherein diameter of the cover circular central flat surface Rc1 is 2½″, wherein the outward diameter of the inner container Ri1 is 2½″, wherein the inner base diameter Ri2 is 1¾″, wherein the height of the outer container Ho is 1¾″, wherein the height of the inner container Hi is 1¼″, wherein the height of the cover Hc is 1″, wherein the height of the cover rim portion Hc1 is 3/16″, the height of the cover annular portion Hc2 is 7/16″.

FIG. 3 presents an alternative embodiment of the present invention, wherein the inner sidewall 32′ is integrated connected with the outer base 21′, wherein the inner sidewall 32′ and the outer base 21 are con-centric.

FIG. 4 presents another alternative embodiment of the present invention, wherein the outer base 21″ further comprises a bump 211″, wherein the inner base 31″ further comprises a recess 311″, wherein the bump 211″ and recess 311″ match each other and can be pressed together to fix the inner base 31″ to the outer base 21″.

Although only a single or few exemplary embodiments of this invention have been described in detail above, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that many modifications are possible in the exemplary embodiment(s) without materially departing from the novel teachings and advantages of this invention. Accordingly, all such modifications are intended to be included without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention as defined in the following claims.

Claims

1. A food container comprising:

an outer container comprising an outer base having a substantially planar circular portion, an annular outer sidewall extending generally upwardly there from and an outer rim portion extending outwardly from the annular outer sidewall;

an inner container comprising an inner base having a substantially planar circular portion, an annular inner sidewall extending generally upwardly and outwardly there from;

a cover having a cover rim portion;

wherein the inner container is affixed to the outer container, wherein the inner base is con-centric with the outer base;

wherein the cover rim portion are adapted to releasably engage the outer rim portion.

2. The food container according to claim 1, wherein the outer rim portion of the outer container is in reversed U-shape, wherein the cover rim portion of the cover is in reversed U-shape.

3. The food container according to claim 1, wherein the inner container further comprises an inner rim portion.

4. The food container according to claim 1, wherein the cover further comprises a cover circular central flat surface, a dome portion, and a cover annular portion.

5. The food container according to claim 1, wherein the inner base is glued to the outer base.

6. The food container according to claim 1, wherein the outer base further comprises a bump, wherein the inner base further comprises a recess, wherein the inner container is affixed to the outer container when the bump is pressed into the recess, whereby the inner base is con-centric with the outer base.

7. The food container according to claim 1, wherein said base serving member is fabricated from a thermoplastic material.

8. The food container according to claim 4, wherein the outward diameter of the outer container is 4⅝″, wherein the outer base diameter is 4″, wherein the outward diameter of the cover is 4⅝″, wherein the outward diameter of the cover annular portion is 4¼″, wherein diameter of the cover circular central flat surface is 2½″, wherein the outward diameter of the inner container is 2½″, wherein the inner base diameter is 1¾″, wherein the height of the outer container is 1¾″, wherein the height of the inner container is 1¼″, wherein the height of the cover is 1″, wherein the height of the cover rim portion is 3/16″, the height of the cover annular portion is 7/16″.

9. A food container comprising:

an outer container comprising an outer base having a substantially planar circular portion, an annular outer sidewall extending generally upwardly there from and an outer rim portion extending outwardly from the outer sidewall;

an inner portion comprising an annular inner sidewall integrated connected with the outer base and extending generally upwardly and outwardly from the outer base;

a cover having a cover rim portion;

wherein the annular inner sidewall is con-centric with the outer base and the outer sidewall;

wherein the cover rim portion may be adapted to releasably engage the outer rim portion.

10. The food container according to claim 9, wherein the outer rim portion of the outer container is in reversed U-shape, wherein the cover rim portion of the cover is in reversed U-shape.

11. The food container according to claim 9, wherein the inner portion further comprises an inner rim portion.

12. The food container according to claim 9, wherein the cover further comprises a cover circular central flat surface, a dome portion, and a cover annular portion.

13. The food container according to claim 9, wherein said base serving member is fabricated from a thermoplastic material.

14. A food container for containing cocktail shrimps and sauce, comprising:

an outer container comprising an outer base having a substantially planar circular portion, an outer sidewall extending generally upwardly there from and an outer rim portion extending outwardly from the outer sidewall;

an inner container comprising an inner base having a substantially planar circular portion, an inner sidewall extending generally upwardly and outwardly there from;

a cover having a cover rim portion;

wherein the inner container is affixed to the outer container, wherein the inner base is con-centric with the outer base;

wherein the cover rim portion may be adapted to releasably engage the outer rim portion;

wherein the outer sidewall further comprises outer sidewall inner surface and outer sidewall outer surface, wherein the inner sidewall further comprises inner sidewall inner surface and inner sidewall outer surface; wherein the inner sidewall inner surface and the inner base upper surface define an inner cavity; wherein the inner sidewall outer surface, the outer sidewall inner surface and a part of the outer base upper surface form an outer annular space; wherein the lower portion of the outer annular space contains sauces, and the heads of the shrimps are dipped into the sauces, wherein the tails of the shrimps will be sustained in the inner cavity.

15. The food container according to claim 14, wherein the outer rim portion of the outer container is in reversed U-shape, wherein the cover rim portion of the cover is in reversed U-shape.

16. The food container according to claim 14, wherein the inner container further comprises an inner rim portion.

17. The food container according to claim 14, wherein the cover further comprises a cover circular central flat surface, a dome portion, and a cover annular portion.

18. The food container according to claim 14, wherein said base serving member is fabricated from a thermoplastic material.

19. The food container according to claim 17, wherein the outward diameter of the outer container is 4⅝″, wherein the outer base diameter is 4″, wherein the outward diameter of the cover is 4⅝″, wherein the outward diameter of the cover annular portion is 4¼″, wherein diameter of the cover circular central flat surface is 2½41, wherein the outward diameter of the inner container is 2½″, wherein the inner base diameter is 1¾″, wherein the height of the outer container is 1¾″, wherein the height of the inner container is 1¼″, wherein the height of the cover is 1″, wherein the height of the cover rim portion is 3/16″, the height of the cover annular portion is 7/16″.