Food storage container

Abstract

Disclosed is an apparatus for storing food articles. The apparatus comprises a body having a plurality of cavities each being formed to have a size and shape corresponding to a food article to be stored therein and a cover engageable on the body so as to sealably enclose the plurality of cavities so as to form a plurality of compartments therewith.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of Invention

The present invention relates to containers in general and in particular to a method and apparatus for forming individual sized food storage freezer compartments.

2. Description of Related Art

Freezing food is a common method of preserving such food for later consumption. Commonly frozen food articles include meats such as poultry, pork, beef, fish or meat alternatives. One common difficulty with freezing food is freezer burn in which the food may become dehydrated or oxidized due to contact with air. Therefore, in order to preserve the quality of the food article as much as possible it is desirable that the food article be stored in an air-tight compartment so as to prevent air from coming into contact with the food article. An additional difficulty with storing such food articles is that they are often purchased in quantities that are greater than an individual or family would consume during a single meal. Therefore, it is frequently desirable to store such food articles in quantities less than were originally purchased and therefore, it is necessary to repackage them from the form in which they were purchased.

Current freezer storing methods often use non-reusable packaging such as vacuum packaging, plastic or paper wrapping. Such storage methods may be less environmentally friendly and it is expensive to provide replacement vacuum packages as well as to purchase vacuum sealers.

Existing reusable containers have attempted to address the above difficulties by providing a compartment in which to store the food articles. However, these current containers are often impractically large for individual portions of meat items that have distinctive shapes. Examples of such containers may be shown in US Patent Application Serial No. US2005/0284171 to Harl et al. published Dec. 29, 2005. Freezing distinctive shaped items in these current food storage containers leaves room for air pockets which contribute to freezer burn. Additionally, placing more than one meat item into a compartment to reduce the air pockets may create other problems such as, it is difficult to separate items from each other once frozen together and it takes longer to defrost more than one item when frozen to each other verses items that are individually frozen. Users are also more likely to waste food if they defrost more than what is required for a particular meal. Single compartment containers having empty space therein are also impractical as they occupy an excessive amount of space within a freezer.

Other solutions have attempted to provide a plurality of freezing locations to create individual sized portions such as disclosed in Canadian Patent Application 2,065,820 to Hamielec published Oct. 11, 1993 for an ice cube tray. Such devices however do not adequately keep excessive air from the food article. Such containers are designed for use with a variety of food articles and are therefore a compromise when used with each of these food articles.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to a first embodiment of the present invention there is disclosed an apparatus for storing food articles. The apparatus comprises a body having a plurality of cavities each being formed to have a size and shape corresponding to a food article to be stored therein and a cover engageable on the body so as to sealably enclose the plurality of cavities so as to form a plurality of compartments therewith.

The plurality of cavities may be formed in a top planar surface of the body. The plurality of cavities may be formed in the size and shape of a food article selected from the group consisting of a chicken part, a chop, a pattie, a steak, a sausage, ribs, a fish or a fillet.

The body may be formed from a substantially planar sheet of material. The cavities may be defined by vessels integrally formed with the sheet of material wherein the vessels extend out of a plane defined by the sheet of material. The vessels may be flexible.

The body may include a peripheral edge having a support extending therefrom for supporting the body on a surface. The support may comprise an annular wall extending in a generally downward direction from the peripheral edge of the body. The wall may extend around substantially all of the peripheral edge of the body. The support may comprise corner supports extending from corners of the top surface.

The cover may include indexing locations corresponding to a bottom surface of a body to be stacked thereon. The indexing locations may comprise depressions corresponding to the bottom surface of the body to be stacked thereon. The indexing locations may comprise ridges located so as to position the bottom surface of the body to be stacked thereon.

The cover may include fasteners for securing the cover to the body. The fastener may comprise a lip on peripheral edge of the cover, the lip being adapted to surround a peripheral edge of the body. The fastener may comprise an upstanding rigid wall extending from the body perpendicular to the top surface, the cover being receivable and engageable by the rigid wall so as to retain the cover therein. One of the cover or the rigid wall may include a rib extending therefrom wherein the other of the cover or the rigid wall including a groove corresponding to the rib.

The cover may include raised portions extending from a bottom side of the cover, the raised portions corresponding to the cavities so as to extend thereinto. The body and the cover may be formed of a material selected from the group consisting of plastic, heat resistant glass, ceramics, metal and silicone. The cavities may include indicators therein corresponding to a quantity of the food article to be stored therein.

Other aspects and features of the present invention will become apparent to those ordinarily skilled in the art upon review of the following description of specific embodiments of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In drawings which illustrate embodiments of the invention wherein similar characters of reference denote corresponding parts in each view,

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of an apparatus for storing food articles according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the body of the apparatus of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view of the apparatus of FIG. 1 showing an edge interlock according to a first embodiment of the present invention taken along the line 3-3 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional view of the apparatus of FIG. 1 showing an edge interlock according to a further embodiment of the present invention taken along the line 3-3.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the body of FIG. 1 having perimeter supports according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the body of FIG. 1 having corner supports according to a further embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of an apparatus for storing food articles having a pivotally connected cover according to a further embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIG. 1, an apparatus according to a first embodiment of the invention is shown generally at 10. The apparatus comprises a body 12 having a plurality of cavities 14 formed therein and a cover 40. The cavities are sized and shaped to correspond to a particular food article 8 that is intended to be contained therein. The cover 40 is selectably securable to the body so as to form sealed compartments with each of the cavities 14 as will be more fully described below.

The cavities 14 have a size and shape corresponding to a food article to be stored therein. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the cavities 14 may have a size and shape corresponding to a chicken breast. It will be appreciated that other sizes and shapes may also be useful as well for storage of other food articles, such as, by way of non-limiting example, chicken parts such as thighs, legs, wings, breasts, drumsticks, chops such as pork, lamb or veal, steaks, sausages, ribs, whole fish, fillets such as fish or chicken, patties such as beef burger, turkey burger, veggie burger, cakes, fish patties or potato patties as well as any other type of meat, meat alternative or other food article. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the cavities 14 may have irregular shapes and may therefore be arranged in a pair of parallel interconnected rows. It will also be appreciated that the cavities may comprise regular shapes arranged in a regular or offset array. It will also be appreciated that any number of rows or columns of cavities may be included on a single body 12.

The body may be formed of a substantially planar sheet 16 of material defining a plane 17 as illustrated in FIG. 3. As illustrated, the sheet 16 may be substantially rectangular in outline having first and second long edges, 18 and 20, respectively, and first and second short edges, 22 and 24, respectively, defining a peripheral edge 25. Although the sheet 16 is illustrated and described herein as rectangular, it will be appreciated that other outline shapes may also be possible as well, such as, by way of non-limiting example, round, square, octagonal, triangular, or irregular.

The sheet 16 of material has a top surface 26 and the cavities may be formed by suspending desired vessels 28 of material below a plane defined by the top surface 26. As utilized herein, the term vessel applies to any hollow, open topped receptacle, such as a cup shaped, bowl shaped, irregular shaped, thin or thick walled. Although the vessels 28 are shown extending downwardly from the top surface 26 of the body, it will be appreciated that if the body is rotated to other orientations, the vessels will extend in other directions corresponding to the orientation of the top surface. The vessels 28 may be integrally formed with the sheet 16 of the same material or may be formed of a different material and secured thereto by any known conventional means such as by way of non-limiting example, adhesives, thermal bonding, welding, fasteners and the like. Although the body 12 is illustrated as being formed of a sheet 16 of material, it will be appreciated that other body types may also be useful such as solid bodies having cavities formed therein. The cavities 14 may also include indicators 27 such as embossed lines indicating a quantity of the food article to be stored therein, such as a weight for that food item as illustrated in FIG. 5. By way of non-limiting example, the indicator 27 may correspond to a single chicken breast or ¼ lb or ½ lb of ground beef or turkey. It will be appreciated that the indicator 27 will be positioned at a different location according to the food article to be stored therein. The indicator may be located on the interior surface of the cavity or may be optionally, formed of a different colour into the sidewall of the vessel 28. Each cavity 14 may include one or more indicators 27.

The cover 40 comprises a substantially planar sheet of material of an outline corresponding to the outline of the body 12 as described above and having first and second long edges, 42 and 44, respectively and first and second short edges, 46 and 48, respectively. The cover 40 includes a body interlock (not shown in FIG. 1) for engaging the body so as to sealably secure the cover thereto.

Turning now to FIGS. 3 and 4, a cross sectional view of the apparatus is illustrated as taken along the line 3-3 of FIG. 2. The vessel 28 may have a thickness substantially similar to the thickness of the sheet 16 as illustrated in FIG. 3 or may have reduced thickness as illustrated in FIG. 4. As described above, the vessel 28 may be formed integrally with the sheet 16. Accordingly where the vessel 28 has a constant thickness with the sheet, the vessels will be rigid and substantially non-deformable. It will also be appreciated that where the vessels 28 are formed to have a lesser thickness than the sheet 16, that the vessels 28 may be deformable whereas the sheet remains substantially non-deformable so as to permit a user to deform the bottom of the vessel so as to facilitate removal of food articles therein. It will also be appreciated that the vessels 28 may be formed of a different material than the sheet 16 so as to permit the vessels 28 to have a different strength or rigidity than the sheet. In such embodiments, it will be appreciated that the vessels 28 may be secured as opposed to integrally formed therewith.

The vessel 28 may have a substantially flat bottom surface 30 as illustrated. Optionally, the bottom surface 30 may be round or any other suitable shape depending upon the food article to be stored therein. Additionally, as illustrated, the bottom surface 30 may include optional surface protrusions 32 for forming a surface pattern in the food article to be stored therein. The protrusions 32 may be parallel spaced apart ribs or a circular or other shaped bulge. By way of non-limiting example, the protrusion 32 may comprise ribs sized and spaced so as to create impressions on the surface of a hamburger patty. The cavity 14 may also include a taper angle indicated generally at 62 to facilitate removal of food articles from the cavity.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, the body 12 may include supports 34 extending downwardly from sheet at a location proximate to the peripheral edge 25 thereof. The support has a bottom distal end 35 adapted to extend beyond the vessels 28 so as to support the body when rested upon a horizontal surface such as a counter top or a lower cover 40 when successive storage containers are stacked. The support 34 may comprise a continuous wall 36 extending around the entire peripheral edge 25 of the sheet as illustrated in FIG. 5 or corner supports 38 as illustrated in FIG. 6, by way of non-limiting example. It will be appreciated that other forms of support projections may also be utilized as are well known in the art.

The cover 40 may optionally include a groove 50 or other similar depression in a top surface 52 thereof corresponding to the location of the bottom end 35 of the supports 34. The top surface 52 may also include a ridge 54 or other similar protrusion located at a location inside of where the bottom end 35 of the support 34 is intended to rest on a cover below it. The groove 50 and/or ridge will assist in positively locating the bottom end 35 of a support 34 onto a cover below it to facilitate stacking of storage containers. It will be appreciated that the cover may include one, both or neither of the groove or ridge 54. In an optional embodiment, the ridge 54 may be located to surround the bottom edges of the vessels 28 of a body to be stacked thereon.

The cover 40 also includes a body interlock 56 for securing the cover to the body. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the interlock 56 may comprise a peripheral wall 58 surrounding the peripheral edge 25 of the body 12. The peripheral wall may extend in a downward direction and include a bottom lip 60 adapted to extend under and engage upon the bottom side of the sheet 16 so as to secure the cover 40 thereto. The bottom lip 60 may extend partially or around the entire circumference of the cover 40. Optionally, the cover 40 may be pivotally mounted to the base, such as along second long edge 20 wherein the bottom lip 60 is located along an opposite side of the cover so as to engage the first long edge 18 of the base as illustrated in FIG. 7.

The cover 40 may also optionally be sized to be internally surrounded and engaged by a portion of the body 12 so as to retain the cover within a recessed portion thereof as illustrated in FIG. 4. The body may include a distal upturned wall 70 located proximate to the peripheral edge 25 of the body. In such an embodiment, the cover 40 will be sized to be retained within a recess 76 formed by the upturned wall 70 such as through the use of a compression fitting therebetween. Optionally, one of the cover 40 or upturned wall 70 may include an annular rib 72 extending therearound adapted to be received within a groove 74 on the other of the cover or upturned wall. Such an annular rib 72 may assist with retaining the cover within the recess 76 as well as for sealing the cover 40 within the recess 76.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, the cover may also include protrusions 64 sized and located to be located into a top portion of the cavities 14. The protrusions 64 reduce the volume of the cavities and complete the sealing of the compartments. The protrusions 64 will also provide additional structural rigidity to the cover 40. It will be appreciated that other surface treatments for increasing the rigidity of the cover 40, such as ridges or ribs may also be utilized as are known in the art. It will also be appreciated that seals such as wipers or o-rings may also be located around the protrusions 64 so seal them against the cavities 14.

The body 12 and cover 40 may be manufactured from any suitable material, such as, by way of non-limiting example, heat resistant glass, such as sold under the trade names Corningware® or Pyrex®, ceramics, plastics such as polyethylene, polypropylene polystyrene, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, polycarbonate, silicones, metals and natural and synthetic rubbers. It will be appreciated that in some embodiments, where the body 12 is formed of a substantially rigid material, the cover 40 may be formed to be more flexible than body so as to facilitate meshing of the two. The body 12 and cover 40 may be formed by any known method such as, machining, forging or casting, molding processes such as injection, blow and compression by way of non-limiting example

The color of the body 12 or cover 40 may be varied depending upon the shape of the cavities 14 and therefore the identification of the food article to be stored therein. The cover 40 or the body 12 may also include locations for securing labels and the like to identify the contents thereof according to methods known in the art such as a writable surface or a surface adapted to receive an adhesive label or the like.

In operation, a user may place a food article, such as a chicken breast, for example in each cavity 14. The user may then secure the cover 40 to the base 12 so as to form a compartment 78 therewith wherein each food article is sealed within the compartment 78. The storage container may then be located within a freezer until the user desires one or more of the food articles within the cavities. At such time, the user may then remove the cover and remove the desired number of food articles after which the container may be resealed and returned to the freezer.

While specific embodiments of the invention have been described and illustrated, such embodiments should be considered illustrative of the invention only and not as limiting the invention as construed in accordance with the accompanying claims.

Claims

1. An apparatus for storing food articles, the apparatus comprising:

a body having a plurality of cavities, each of said cavities being formed to have a size and shape corresponding to a food article to be stored therein; and

a cover engageable on said body so as to sealably enclose said plurality of cavities so as to form a plurality of compartments therewith.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said plurality of cavities are formed in a top planar surface of said body.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said plurality of cavities are formed in the size and shape of a food article selected from the group consisting of a chicken part, a chop, a pattie, a steak, a sausage, ribs, a fish or a fillet.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said body is formed from a substantially planar sheet of material.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein said cavities are defined by vessels integrally formed with said sheet of material, said vessels extending out of a plane defined by said sheet of material.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said cavities are formed of flexible side walls.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said body includes a peripheral edge, said peripheral edge having a support extending therefrom for supporting said body on a surface.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein said support comprises an annular wall extending in a generally downward direction from said peripheral edge of said body.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein said wall extends around substantially all of said peripheral edge of said body.

10. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein said support comprises corner supports extending from corners of said top surface.

11. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said cover includes indexing locations corresponding to a bottom surface of a body to be stacked thereon.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein said indexing locations comprise depressions corresponding to said bottom surface of said body to be stacked thereon.

13. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein said indexing locations comprise ridges located so as to position said bottom surface of said body to be stacked thereon.

14. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said cover includes fasteners for securing said cover to said body.

15. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein said fastener comprises a lip on peripheral edge of said cover, said lip being adapted to surround a peripheral edge of said body.

16. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein said fastener comprises an upstanding rigid wall extending from said body perpendicular to said top surface, said cover being receivable and engageable by said rigid wall so as to retain said cover therein.

17. The apparatus of claim 16 wherein said one of said cover or said rigid wall includes a rib extending therefrom, said other of said cover or said rigid wall including a groove corresponding to said rib.

18. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said cover includes raised portions extending from a bottom side of said cover, said raised portions corresponding to said cavities so as to extend thereinto.

19. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said body and said cover are formed of a material selected from the group consisting of plastic, heat resistant glass, ceramics, metal and silicone.

20. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said cavities include indicators therein corresponding to a quantity of said food article to be stored therein.