Firkin

Abstract

A paper pouch that holds sugar pouches to a side wall of a disposable beverage or food container, namely but not limited to, a conventional paper coffee cup, when it is attached to said container by way of a peel-and-stick action. The pouch has flexible front and rear walls attached together, along opposite vertical edges defining and supporting an open top. Respective bottom edges of the front and rear walls are connected by a medial strip extending from a medial portion of a bottom edge of the front wall across that extends to the rear wall. The opposite side of the medial strip contains a pressure sensitive adhesive to affix the pouch to a disposable beverage or food container. When the paper pouch is filled with condiments, the front and rear walls of the pouch bow apart so that the lateral sides lift away from the side of the disposable container so that food or drink that spills over the top of the container does not come into contact with the condiments, ie. coffee does not spill on and damage the sugar packages.

Description

FIELD OF INVENTION

This invention is a condiment pouch that is able to be attached to disposable beverage cups and food containers.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention is to provide a place to temporarily store condiments on the side of individual disposable beverage cups and/or food containers for transport by the final customer from the point of sale to the point of consumption.

The invention attaches to exterior wall of temporary food storage containers such as, but not limited to, paper cups, paper food service boxes, Styrofoam cups, cardboard sleeves for hot beverage containers. The invention is not intended to come into contact with either food or beverage that is to be consumed by the final customer.

The invention is to provide temporary storage for condiments such as, but not limited to, packages of sugar, salt, pepper, ketchup, mustard, soy sauce, etc.

Before it is used, the invention will be stored in a continuous rolled strip of the invention, for it to be peeled from the strip and placed on disposable beverage or food container. Alternately, the invention can be stored individually with a wax paper covering the pressure sensitive adhesive. Before invention can be affixed to the disposable food container, said wax paper must be manually removed to expose the pressure sensitive adhesive.

The invention is attached to the external wall of the disposable container by simple finger pressure and held into place by a layer of pressure sensitive adhesive.

The invention can be loaded with condiments either before or after it has been attached to the disposable container.

The outwardly facing side of invention can be printed with various logos or advertisements and can be torn off from the remainder of the pouch and retained by the final customer without adversely effecting the beverage or food container.

Any beverage or food that spills on the invention will drain through the bottom of the invention thus minimizing any damage to the packages of condiments.

It is intended that the invention will reduce waste in the following ways:

• • Eliminating the need for a bag to carry a single disposable food container and its condiments, ie. cup of coffee and packages of sugar or a single container of Chinese food and packages of soy sauce.
  • Eliminating the need for the final consumer to take or request additional condiments to compensate for the damage the condiments may sustain while in a take away bag.

DRAWING DESCRIPTION: BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a close up illustration of the present invention fully assembled.

FIG. 2 illustrates the present invention unassembled.

FIG. 3 offers an alternate illustration of the present invention fully assembled, loaded with sugar packages, and affixed to the wall of an uncovered disposable beverage container.

FIG. 4 offers an alternate illustration of the present invention that looks down onto the present invention, fully assembled, loaded with sugar packages, and affixed to the side of a covered disposable beverage container.

DESCRIPTION

As indicated in FIG. 1, the first embodiment of condiment pouch #1 comprises a flexible front wall, #2 and a flexible rear wall, #3 attached together in face-to-face relation along opposite lateral (vertical) edges fold portions #4, #5 to provide an open top #6. The front wall #2 is formed by a panel of #7 of single thickness and a majority of the rear wall #3 is of double thickness being formed by two flap portions #9 and #10 bent rearwardly over each other from the front panel about the respective folds #4 and #5 and secured by adhesive in overlapping relation. The front wall #2 and the rear wall #3 are bridged by a medial strap portion #12 which extend in slack condition across an open bottom edge of the front panel #7 and up a medial portion of the outer surface of the rearmost flap portion #9, to which one face of the strap portion #12 is attached by adhesive. The other, opposite face #15 of the strap is coated with a layer of pressure sensitive adhesive.

A front panel #7 can be printed with advertisements or logos and is bounded by two vertical lines of perforations forming lines of weakness thus permitting the advertising message/logo to be torn away from the pouch and the cup to be retained by the final consumer.

As indicated in FIG. 1, such pouches are supplied located seriatum by the pressure sensitive adhesive on a rolled carrier strip #16 which forms an adhesive protecting release layer.

In use, after purchasing a cup of coffee at a take out counter, for example, the customer peels an individual pouch from a reeled strip of pouches provided at a condiment station exposing the pressure sensitive adhesive, stuffs the pouch with a number of sugar packets #17 (approximately four) and simply presses the stuffed pouch against the cup wall #18 of a conical paper cup #19. The front and rear walls of the pouch are bowed apart by accommodating the sugar packages such that only the adhesive covered strap actually engages the cup wall, the remainder of the rear wall of the pouch actually bowing away from the wall as shown in FIG. 4 so that coffee which leaks through the vent in the cup lid or between the lid and the tip lip of the cup vent and runs down the cup side wall usually does not contact and wet either the rear wall of the pouch or the sugar packets, preserving the sugar in free flowing condition. It should also be noted that three layers of paper stock separate the closest of the sugar packets from the cup wall so that even if liquid running down the cup directly onto the strap portion adhered to the cup wall is unlikely to contact the sugar packages.

The pouch is stamped and formed from the once piece blank showed in FIG. 2 in which precursors of the pouch structure are indicated by primed reference numerals.

Any spilled beverage leaking into the pouch will not pool therein but drain through the openings at the bottom on each side of the strap.

It will readily be appreciated that it is merely necessary to fold flaps #9 and #10 about fold lines #4 and #5 into overlapping position in which they are adhered together thereby defining a flat tube open at the top and bottom and bending the strap precursor 12′ upwards and adhering the major part to the medial outer surface of flap portion #9 to form the basic pouch structure.

Empty pouches may also be attached to empty cups which can still be stacked as a result of the conical shape of the cup and low profiles of the empty pouches which will lie flat against the cup side wall, well within the profiles of the rims.

The pouch dimensions shown are suitable for use with a conventional disposable paper cup.

In another embodiment, front and rear walls are attached together along opposite lateral edges by expansion gussets and top closure flap is provided on the pouch for increased protection.

Claims

1. A condiment pouch for attaching items such as individually packaged sugar packages to a side wall of a disposable beverage or food container, namely a conical beverage cup, by a peel and stick action comprises:

A) A flexible front wall and a flexible rear wall attached together in face-to-face relation along opposite lateral edges to define and open top;

B) A layer of pressure sensitive adhesive on the rear wall;

C) A protective release layer covering the adhesive;

D) A removable protective layer that covers the adhesive;

E) The invention can be printed with logos or advertisements;

F) And, the outwardly facing wall of the pouch can be removed and retained by the final consumer without impacting the structural integrity of the beverage or food container.

2. A condiment pouch described in claim 1 wherein the pressure sensitive adhesive is placed on only a medial portion of the rear wall so that when the sugar packet stuffed pouch is adhered to the side wall of the cup, opposite lateral sides of the rear wall located between the pressure sensitive adhesive and the lateral edges are spaced apart from the cap sidewall.

3. A condiment pouch described in claim 1 wherein the front and rear walls are bowed apart by stuffing with the plurality of individual sugar packets and the pressure sensitive adhesive is placed on only a medial portion of the rear wall so that when the sugar packet stuffed pouch is adhered to the side wall of the cup, opposite lateral sides of the rear wall located between the pressure sensitive adhesive and the lateral edges are spaced apart from the cap sidewall.

4. A condiment pouch described in claim 1 is stamped and formed from a one-piece black of single thickness paper stock and wherein respective bottom edges of the front wall and the rear wall are bridged by a medial strap which extends in slack condition across an open bottom of the pouch from a medial portion to a bottom edge of the front wall and up a medial portion of an outer surface of the rear wall to which on face of the strap is adhered, another face of the strap carrying the pressure sensitive adhesive so that the strap separates the rear wall from the cup side wall when adhered thereto.

5. A condiment pouch according to claim 1 wherein the front wall has a portion for carrying advertising indicia which portion is bounded by at least on line of weakness to facilitate manual removal thereof for retention and reference by the final consumer.

6. A condiment pouch according to claim 2 wherein the front wall has a portion for carrying advertising indicia which portion is bounded by at least on line of weakness to facilitate manual removal thereof for retention and reference by the final consumer.

7. A condiment pouch according to claim 3 wherein the front wall has a portion for carrying advertising indicia which portion is bounded by at least on line of weakness to facilitate manual removal thereof for retention and reference by the final consumer.