BAG CONVERTIBLE TO TRAY
A bag convertible to a tray. The bag incorporates a tray portion made from a first material, with a second, more flaccid material extending the walls of the tray portion. Score lines along the more flaccid material enable a user to tear the walls from the open end of the bag to the tray portion. With the tray portion of the bag on the lap of the user seated on a seat, the walls of the bag, now separated, may be placed over the abdomen and legs of the user, for example, to intercept spillage, with intervening walls placed underneath the legs of the user to anchor the tray portion on the lap of the user.
The present invention relates to bags, and more particularly, to a bag which converts to a tray having splash protective bibs projecting therefrom.
BACKGROUNDPurchasing fast food has been popular for years. Many customers choose to order fast food from available drive-in service, and then eat the food in their vehicles. Typically, a customer will retrieve each food item from a paper bag in which the food was placed when delivered to the customer. Types of food contained in the paper bag vary, but typically include hamburgers and other sandwiches, french fries, and beverages, among other offerings. Fast food retail outlets may provide paper trays to support these foods. However, providing trays entails additional costs and increased storage space burdens to the fast food retail outlets. There exists a need to reduce usage of food containers and ancillary items such as trays.
SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSUREThe present disclosure addresses the above stated situation by providing a bag which is readily convertible to a tray. The bottom of the bag is reinforced with paper or cardboard which is significantly stiffer than typical paper bags used in fast food outlets, and serves as a tray. The paper portion of the bag above the bottom is torn along pre-existing score lines and peeled away from the tray portion of the original bag. The panels generated by tearing the bag are usable as coverings to intercept spillage, or splashed or dropped foods. The panels may include a malleable wire or other malleable material within the panels such that said panels can be molded to a plurality of fixed positions or shapes. The panels so generated may be placed beneath the thighs of a person and molded to the person's thigh shape to securely anchor the tray on the lap of an occupant of a motor vehicle. If a person is desirous to eat a portion of the meal and save the remainder for later, the panels can be tied or twisted together creating a makeshift bundle for the food to be secured for later consumption when being transported thereby reducing the risk of spillage, splashed foods, or dropped foods. Thereafter, once a person has finished consuming the foods, the two panels can be tied or twisted together to create a makeshift bundle to discard the remnants of a meal in a convenient and efficient manner in which spillage, or splashed or dropped foods can be intercepted.
Thus, customers are provided with trays which include anchoring elements for stability, and sanitary coverings to protect against spilled or dropped foods. The trays are inexpensively incorporated into bags which bags also serve to transfer a collection of foods, beverages, and ancillary items such as condiments, napkins, straws, and the like to customers of fast food retail outlets in their motor vehicles.
It is an object of the invention to provide improved elements and arrangements thereof by apparatus for the purposes described which is inexpensive, dependable, and fully effective in accomplishing its intended purposes.
These and other objects of the present disclosure will become readily apparent upon further review of the following specification and drawings.
Various objects, features, and attendant advantages of the present disclosure will become more fully appreciated as the same becomes better understood when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters designate the same or similar parts throughout the several views, and wherein:
Referring first to
Bag 100 includes an extension member 116 projecting upwardly from standing walls 106 of the tray portion 102, periphery 112 being part of extension member 116 as well as walls 106. Extension member 116 has a proximal end 118 in contact with tray portion 102 and an opposed distal end 120 away from tray portion 102. Extension member 116 is continuous about periphery 112 of tray portion 102.
Extension member 116 comprises one panel 126 (
Panels 126 are present in bag 100 in the deployed configuration of
Extension member 116 further comprises a scored seam 128 between each one of panels 126. Scored seams 128 are seams treated to promote tearing along a predetermined path. Treatment may be severe folding, perforations, and other effects which weaken the treated seam such that when a person pulls panels 126 apart, a resulting tear occurs along a scored seam 128 between each of the panels 126 which are being pulled apart.
In the example of
Tray portion 102 is made entirely or partially from a first material such as paperboard or another cellulosic material. Extension member 116 is made from a tearable material, such as paper, having rigidity less than that of the first material from which tray portion 102 is made.
Bag 100 has a height 122 along axis 110 when erected in the deployed configuration shown in
Exemplary dimensions of bag 100 are as follows. Bag 100 may be eight to sixteen inches in height 122, and five to ten inches in width and in thickness, width and thickness being designated using the same reference numeral 134. Tray portion 102 may have a height 136 of two to three inches. A ratio of height 122 of bag 100 to height 136 of tray portion 102 may be for example three to about eight.
Turning now to
A similar situation exists for thickness. Thickness 142 of panel 126B of bag 100 (see
Significance of these different dimensional relationships will be explained in the context of use of bags 100 and 200.
Where panel 126 or 226 placed beneath the leg of the user is a first panel, method 300 may further comprise placing a second panel 126 or 226 opposed to first panel 126 or 226 beneath the other leg of the user (block 308). With opposed panels 126 or 226 secured beneath the legs of the user, tray 102 or 202 is well stabilized or constrained from being dislodged from the lap.
Method 300 may further comprise placing bag 100 or 200 on the lap of the user, with a floor (e.g., floor 104 or 204) of the bag against the lap and one panel (e.g., panel 126 or 226) of the torn walls covering the abdomen of the user (block 310). By this expedient, an otherwise unused wall of bag 100 or 200 finds utility as a shield or bib protecting the abdomen and perhaps part of the chest against spillage of food.
Method 300 may further comprise placing a panel (e.g., panel 126 or 226) opposed to the panel covering the abdomen over legs of the user (block 312). Thus, both the abdomen and the legs of the user may be protected against spillage.
It should be understood that the various examples of the apparatuses disclosed herein may include any of the components, features, and functionalities of any of the other examples of the apparatuses disclosed herein in any feasible combination, and all of such possibilities are intended to be within the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. Many modifications of examples set forth herein will come to mind to one skilled in the art to which the present disclosure pertains having the benefit of the teachings presented in the foregoing descriptions and the associated drawings.
Therefore, it is to be understood that the present disclosure is not to be limited to the specific examples presented and that modifications and other examples are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims. Moreover, although the foregoing description and the associated drawings describe examples of the present disclosure in the context of certain illustrative combinations of elements and/or functions, it should be appreciated that different combinations of elements and/or functions may be provided by alternative implementations without departing from the scope of the appended claims.
Claims
1. A bag which is convertible to a tray, comprising:
- a tray portion including a floor and a plurality of upstanding walls projecting from the floor, wherein each two adjacent walls meet one another at a corner of the tray portion, an axis along and central to the upstanding walls, and a periphery along which each of the walls is joined to two adjacent walls along respective seams, and
- an extension member projecting upwardly from the upstanding walls of the tray portion, wherein the extension member has a proximal end in contact with the tray portion and an opposed distal end away from the tray portion; the extension member is continuous about the periphery of the tray portion, and the tray portion is made from a first material and the extension member is made from a tearable material having rigidity less than that of the first material.
2. The bag of claim 1, wherein the bag has a height along the axis when erected in a deployed configuration, the tray portion has a height along the axis when the bag is erected in the deployed configuration, and the height of the tray portion is less than half the height of the bag.
3. The bag of claim 1, wherein the extension member comprises
- one panel for each one of the upstanding walls of the tray portion, each panel extending upwardly from one of the upstanding walls of the tray portion, the extension member further comprising a scored seam between each one of the panels.
4. The bag of claim 3, wherein the scored seams are on opposed panels of the extension member, and each one of the scored seams includes a first leg extending parallel to the floor of the tray portion, and a second leg intersecting the first leg, projecting perpendicularly therefrom, and extending to a corner of the bag.
5. The bag of claim 3, wherein the scored seams extend from the corners of the bag from the tray portion to the distal end of the extension member.
6. The bag of claim 1, wherein the tearable material of the extension member is paper.
7. The bag of claim 1, wherein the first material of the tray portion is cellulosic.
8. The bag of claim 1, wherein at least one of said panels further comprises a malleable material.
9. The bag of claim 8, wherein the malleable material is a wire.
10. A method of converting a bag to a tray, comprising tearing walls of the bag from a distal end of the bag to a point leaving an untorn zone of each wall of the bag proximate a floor of the bag.
11. A method of using a bag converted to a tray, wherein walls of the bag have been torn from a distal end of the bag to a point leaving an untorn zone of each wall of the bag proximate a floor of the bag, the method comprising:
- placing the bag on a lap of a user, with a floor of the bag against the lap and one panel of the torn walls covering the abdomen of the user.
12. The method of claim 11, further comprising placing an opposed panel of the torn walls over legs of the user.
13. A method of using a bag converted to a tray, wherein walls of the bag have been torn from a distal end of the bag to a point leaving an untorn zone of each wall of the bag proximate a floor of the bag, the method comprising:
- placing the bag on a lap of a user, and
- placing one panel of the torn walls beneath a leg of the user.
14. The method of claim 13, wherein the panel placed beneath the leg of the user is a first panel, the method comprising placing a second panel opposed to the first panel beneath the other leg of the user.
15. A method of converting a bag to a tray, wherein the bag includes a tray portion and wall portion, the method comprising the step of removing the wall portion from the tray portion.
16. The method of claim 15, wherein the method of removing the wall portion from the tray portion is done by tearing.
17. The method of claim 15, wherein the tray portion is reinforced relative to the wall portion.
18. The method of claim 16, wherein the tray portion is reinforced relative to the wall portion.
19. The method of claim 15, wherein the wall portion and the tray portion are separated by perforations.
20. The method of claim 19, wherein the step of removing the wall portion from the tray portion is accomplished by utilizing said perforations.
Type: Application
Filed: Sep 18, 2014
Publication Date: Mar 24, 2016
Inventor: Jonatan Padan (Vestavia, AL)
Application Number: 14/490,471