This application is for a non-provisional patent, and supersedes a previous application for a provisional patent application numbered 60/921,253 and filed on Apr. 2, 2007. This though is not a request for conversion of that prior provisional patent application, but rather the new submission of a separate, non-provisional patent application.
Popcorn containers with individual-use, moist towelette packages semi-permanently affixed to their surfaces, though easily removed for use, for providing users with a means of personal hygiene inherent within each container.
BACKGROUND 1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to food containers, and particularly to paper popcorn bags, popcorn boxes, and popcorn buckets or tubs for commercial use in places such as movie theaters. The invention relates specifically to improvements in disposable popcorn containers for the selling, containing, enjoying, and personal clean-up after use of, popcorn. The containers (bags, boxes, and buckets or tubs) are produced in disposable paper form and offer a means of personal hygiene inherent within those containers, to address users' soiled hands from the residue of the popcorn containers' contents.
2. Prior Art
There are numerous examples of prior art referencing popcorn containers in bag, box, and bucket or tub form, more specifically for the containment, cooking and then serving of popcorn in microwave ovens. Some examples of such are U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,326,576 and 5,488,220 which reference bag forms, 5,214,257 and 6,126,976 which reference tub forms, and 6,960,748 which refers to a box form. All of these items are focused on the containers as they apply to the home user of such containers as they are designed for the cooking and presentation of popcorn in association with microwave ovens. These then do not have the commercial application of popcorn containment as is presented by the artwork in the associated application being presented.
There are also numerous examples of food container bags which offer external containment attachments and pockets for complimentary purposes such as U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,630,544, 6,419,153, and 6,719,140, all of which offer food containment with each including a variation regarding some external accessory. Each offers some form of an appendage inherent to the bag container, be-it for condiment packages, utensils, or a pocket for condiments. These then do not address the need for clean-up after use of the food container contents.
There is a need in the art for commercial use popcorn containers such as bags, boxes, and buckets or tubs, for use in public facilities such as movie theaters, wherein the containers not only allow for convenient containment and consumption of popcorn inside a movie theater, but also inherent within that packaging, provide the advantage of facilitating easy, efficient, and thorough hand cleaning of the popcorn residue from the consumers' hands while remaining seated in the theater.
SUMMARY This invention provides commercial grade paper material popcorn containers in the form of bags, boxes and buckets or tubs similar in shape to those found in movie theaters, and provides these containers with personal hygiene packages inherent in those containers. Affixed to these containers are individual-use moist towelettes to aid consumers with personal hygiene. Small, sealed, individually packaged, moist towelettes are affixed to the popcorn containers, discreetly on the bottoms, overtly on the external sides, or semi-discreetly on an internal surface of the containers during the manufacturing stage so that each bag, box, and bucket or tub, provides as a single unit, a popcorn container with the means to clean consumers' hands after consuming the contents of the containers. The moist towelette packages are themselves self-contained in their own wrappers and attached to the containers using rubber cement so that the towelettes, while attached semi-permanently, can be readily accessed and easily removed for use by peeling the towelette package away from the container and tearing opened the package to remove the moist towelette with the intention of wiping any popcorn residue from one's hands.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS FIG. 1-1 illustrates the primary rendering of the popcorn bag with moist towelette affixed to the external bottom, were it desirable to be unobtrusive and discreet FIG. 1-2 is another embodiment of the popcorn bag with the moist towelette affixed internally, were it desirable to have nothing on the outside of the container FIG. 1-3 is another embodiment of the popcorn bag with the moist towelette affixed to the external front face, were it desirable to have the towelette overtly highlighted
FIG. 2-1 illustrates the primary rendering of the popcorn bucket or tub with the moist towelette affixed to the external bottom, were it desirable to be unobtrusive, and discreet
FIG. 2-2 is another embodiment of the popcorn bucket or tub with the moist towelette affixed internally, were it desirable to have nothing on the outside of the container
FIG. 2-3 is another embodiment of the popcorn bucket or tub with the moist towelette affixed to the external face, were it desirable to have the towelette overtly highlighted
FIG. 3-1 illustrates the primary rendering of the popcorn box with the moist towelette affixed to the external bottom, were it desirable to be unobtrusive and discreet
FIG. 3-2 is another embodiment of the popcorn box with the moist towelette affixed internally, were it desirable to have nothing on the outside of the container
FIG. 3-3 is another embodiment of the popcorn box with the moist towelette affixed to the external front face, were it desirable to have the towelette overtly highlighted
FIG. 4-1 is an exploded view of the three basic elements of the assembly: the moist towelette, the adhesive rubber cement, and the popcorn container
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS With reference to the drawing in FIG. 1-1 there is shown a bag container 12 which is a container of thin, paper construction, non-transmissive to butter and oils, which is collapsible and foldable, with an opened top, much like those bag popcorn containers found in movie theaters. Affixed to the outer surface bottom 22 of this bag popcorn container 12 is an individual-use, sealed moist towelette package 10 for the purpose of hand cleaning. This sealed moist towelette package 10 is affixed to the bottom of the container 22 using an adhesive rubber cement. The sealed moist towelette package 10 remains in this position while the popcorn contents of the bag popcorn container 12, are consumed. Any time that the consumer wishes, the sealed moist towelette package 10 can be peeled away from the container bottom surface 22 for the purpose of personal hygiene (i.e., to clean one's hands of any popcorn residue). This positioning of the sealed moist towelette package 10 on the bottom surface 22 of the bag popcorn container 12 offers the most discreet packaging location and is the most unobtrusive application of the improvement. This then does not encroach upon or impede any graphics or advertising space on the other surfaces of the bag popcorn container 12.
FIG. 1-2 shows that if desired, the sealed moist towelette 18, can be affixed within the bag popcorn container 14 on one of the interior surface walls 24. This positioning of the sealed towelette package 18 provides that none of the exterior surfaces will be compromised with regard to graphics or advertising space, yet provides for the sealed moist towelette package 18 to subtly announce its presence as the contents of the bag popcorn container 14 are consumed.
FIG. 1-3 shows that if desired, the sealed moist towelette package 20 can be affixed onto the exterior face 26 of the bag popcorn container 16. This positioning of the sealed moist towelette package 20 provides the highest profile application and is utilized when the benefits and convenience of the self-contained personal hygiene wipe packaging are to be overtly highlighted and attention is intended to be focused on the added service being provided to the consumer of the product.
With reference to the drawing in FIG. 2-1, there is shown a bucket or tub container 32 which is a container of paperboard construction, non-transmissive to butter and oils, which is stiff and cylindrical, with an opened top, much like those tub popcorn containers found in movie theaters. Affixed to the outer surface bottom 42 of this tub popcorn container 32 is an individual-use, sealed moist towelette package 30 for the purpose of hand cleaning. This sealed moist towelette package 30 is affixed to the bottom surface 42 of the tub popcorn container 32, using rubber cement. The sealed moist towelette package 30 remains in this position while the popcorn contents of the tub popcorn container 32, are consumed. Any time that the consumer wishes, the sealed moist towelette package 30 can be peeled away from the container bottom surface 42 for the purpose of personal hygiene, in order to clean one's hands of any popcorn residue. This positioning of the sealed moist towelette package 30 on the bottom surface 42 of the tub popcorn container 32, offers the most discreet packaging location and is the most unobtrusive application of the improvement. This then does not encroach upon or impede any graphics or advertising space on the other surfaces of the tub popcorn container 32.
FIG. 2-2 shows that if desired, the sealed moist towelette 36, can be affixed within the tub popcorn container 34 on the interior surface wall 44. This positioning of the sealed towelette package 36 provides that none of the exterior surfaces will be compromised with regard to graphics or advertising space, yet provides for the sealed moist towelette package 36 to subtly announce its presence as the contents of the tub popcorn container 34 are consumed.
FIG. 2-3 shows that if desired, the sealed moist towelette package 38 can be affixed onto the exterior face 46 of the tub popcorn container 40. This positioning of the sealed moist towelette package 38 provides the highest profile application and is utilized when the benefits and convenience of the self-contained personal hygiene wipe packaging are to be overtly highlighted and attention is intended to be focused on the added service being provided to the consumer of the product.
With reference to the drawing in FIG. 3-1, there is shown a box container 52 which is a container of paperboard construction, non-transmissive to butter and oils, which is stiff sided, with a top that can be opened, much like those box popcorn containers found in movie theaters. Affixed to the outer surface bottom 54 of this box popcorn container 52 is an individual-use, sealed moist towelette package 50 for the purpose of hand cleaning. This sealed moist towelette package 50 is affixed to the bottom surface 54 of the box popcorn container 52, using an adhesive rubber cement. The sealed moist towelette package 50 remains in this position while the popcorn contents of the box popcorn container 52, are consumed. Any time that the consumer wishes, the sealed moist towelette package 50 can be peeled away from the bottom surface 54 for the purpose of personal hygiene, to clean one's hands of any popcorn residue. This positioning of the sealed moist towelette package 50 on the bottom surface 54 of the box popcorn container 52, offers the most discreet packaging location and is the most unobtrusive application of the improvement. This then does not encroach upon or impede any graphics or advertising space on the other surfaces of the box popcorn container 52.
FIG. 3-2 shows that if desired, the sealed moist towelette 58, can be affixed within the box popcorn container 56 on an interior surface wall 60. This positioning of the sealed towelette package 58 provides that none of the exterior surfaces will be compromised with regard to graphics or advertising space, yet provides for the sealed moist towelette package 58 to subtly announce its presence as the contents of the box popcorn container 56 are consumed.
FIG. 3-3 shows that if desired, the sealed moist towelette package 62 can be affixed onto the exterior face 64 of the box popcorn container 66. This positioning of the sealed moist towelette package 62 provides the highest profile application and is utilized when the benefits and convenience of the self-contained personal hygiene wipe packaging are to be overtly highlighted and attention is intended to be focused on the added service being provided to the consumer of the product.
With reference to the drawing in FIG. 4-1, there is shown an exploded version of the three main elements of the product, be-it in any of the three formats of bag, tub, or box form popcorn container, and any of the configurations of mounting the moist towelette packages to those containers, be-it on the bottoms, interiors, or the exteriors. The individual-use, sealed moist towelette package 70 is affixed to a surface 74 of the popcorn container 76 with an adhesive rubber cement 72 having similar adhesive properties to that which can be found holding heavy insert materials to the spines and pages of magazines with the intention of the eventual extraction by consumers. It is therefore an adhesive rubber cement that provides both the means with which to hold the elements together securely, as well as provides for the effortless peeling of the appendage from the main container when desired at any appropriate time for personal hygiene use.
