FOOD STORAGE CONTAINERS
In some embodiments, a food container for retaining and displaying a plurality of food items includes a base having triangular overall perimeter. The base includes a bottom wall portion and a sidewall portion extending upwardly from the bottom wall portion such that the bottom wall portion and the sidewall portion together define three interconnected substantially circular cavities each configured to retain a substantially circular food item. The container further includes a lid configured to couple to the base and cover the substantially circular cavities of the base and the food items retained in the substantially circular cavities of the base. The lid is also configured for uncoupling from the base to uncover the cavities of the base and provide access to the food items retained in the substantially circular cavities of the base.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/672,018, filed May 15, 2018, which is incorporated herein in its entirety.
TECHNICAL FIELDThis invention relates generally to containers for storing food items and, in particular, to containers for storing and displaying multiple food items.
BACKGROUNDIt is well known to store individual food items such as pies in single product containers that include a tray or pan and a transparent lid, and provide for both storage of the food items and display of the food items to the consumers. Generally, a consumer interested in buying a variety of such food items would have to buy and transport multiple containers, which is not always convenient for the consumer. Since each container is individually manufactured, both the amount of materials required and the manufacturing costs of such containers can be substantial.
Disclosed herein are embodiments of containers for storing and displaying multiple food items to the customers and methods for opening and closing such containers. This description includes drawings, wherein:
Elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions and/or relative positioning of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of various embodiments of the present invention. Also, common but well-understood elements that are useful or necessary in a commercially feasible embodiment are often not depicted in order to facilitate a less obstructed view of these various embodiments of the present invention. Certain actions and/or steps may be described or depicted in a particular order of occurrence while those skilled in the art will understand that such specificity with respect to sequence is not actually required. The terms and expressions used herein have the ordinary technical meaning as is accorded to such terms and expressions by persons skilled in the technical field as set forth above except where different specific meanings have otherwise been set forth.
DETAILED DESCRIPTIONGenerally speaking, pursuant to various embodiments, containers for storing and displaying multiple food items to the customers and methods for opening and closing such containers are provided.
In some embodiments, a food container for retaining and displaying a plurality of food items includes a base having a bottom wall portion and a sidewall portion extending upwardly from a perimeter of the bottom wall portion. The bottom wall portion and the sidewall portion together define three interconnected substantially circular cavities each configured to retain a portion of a substantially circular food items. The base includes a multi-faceted central protuberance extending upwardly from the bottom wall portion. The container further includes a lid having a top wall portion and a skirt portion depending downwardly from a perimeter of the top wall portion. The top wall portion and the skirt portion together define three interconnected substantially circular cavities configured to cover the interconnected substantially circular cavities of the base. The top wall portion includes a central protuberance extending downwardly therefrom. The portions of the central protuberance of the base, together with the portions of the sidewall portion located opposite the portions of the central protuberance of the base, define a plurality of channels that interconnect the three substantially circular cavities of the base.
In some embodiments, a base for a food container for retaining and displaying a plurality of food items includes a bottom wall portion having a perimeter and a sidewall portion extending upwardly from the perimeter of the bottom wall portion. The bottom wall portion and the sidewall portion together define three interconnected substantially circular cavities each configured to retain a portion of a substantially circular food item. The base also includes a central protuberance extending upwardly from the bottom wall portion and including a plurality of facets. Three of the facets of the central protuberance each define a part of a respective one of the three interconnected substantially circular cavities of the base.
In some embodiments, a lid for coupling to a base of a food container for retaining and displaying a plurality of food items includes a top wall portion having a perimeter and a skirt portion depending downwardly from the perimeter of the top wall portion. The top wall portion and the skirt portion together defining three interconnected substantially circular cavities configured to cover matching substantially circular cavities of the base. The lid further includes a central protuberance extending downwardly from the top wall portion and including a plurality of facets. Three of the facets of the central protuberance each define a part of a respective one of the three interconnected substantially circular cavities of the lid.
In some embodiments, a food container for retaining and displaying a plurality of food items includes a base having a bottom wall portion and a sidewall portion extending upwardly from a perimeter of the bottom wall portion. The bottom wall portion and the sidewall portion together define three interconnected substantially circular cavities each configured to retain a substantially circular food item. The container further includes a lid configured to substantially cover the substantially circular cavities of the base. The base comprises at least one of a polymer material and a plastic material. The outer perimeter of the base forms a generally triangular shape having rounded corners and inwardly curved side portions.
With reference to
Each of the substantially circular cavities 118, 120, and 122 of the base 110 of the container 100 illustrated in
In the embodiment shown in
With reference to
The exemplary base 110 further includes a flange 134 extending outwardly from the raised perimeter portion 132 of the peripheral rim 124. In some aspects, the flange 134 includes features (e.g., recesses, projections, etc.) that facilitate the interlocking of the base 110 and the lid 111 when the lid 111 and the base 110 are coupled together as shown in
In some embodiments, each of the three linear sidewall portions 114d-f interconnecting the substantially circular sidewall portions 114a-c includes a strengthening rib 170a, 170b, 170c integrally formed therein. The strengthening ribs 170a-c are formed such that they provide the linear sidewall portions 114d-f with greater rigidity than the substantially circular sidewall portions 114a-c of the base 110. The strengthening ribs 170a-c may be formed from a material identical to the material forming the substantially circular sidewall portions 114a-c, but may have a greater thickness, resulting in a greater rigidity and strength of the strengthening ribs 170a-c as compared to the substantially circular sidewall portions 114a-c of the base 110. The strengthening ribs 170a-c of the linear sidewall portions 114d-f contribute to the overall strength and rigidity of the base 110, restricting the base 110 from bending and/or buckling when the base 110 is picked up and/or carried by a consumer, even when the base 110 bears the weight of three food items 90 retained therein. It will be appreciated that the thickness of the three linear sidewall portions 114d-f does not have to necessarily be greater than the thickness of the substantially circular sidewall portions 114a-c, since the strengthening rib 170a-c provided by the linear sidewall portions 114d-f increases the overall strength and rigidity of the base 110 even when the linear sidewall portions 114d-f and the three substantially circular sidewall portions 114a-c all have an identical thickness.
With reference to
In some aspects, each of the three major facets 144, 146, and 148 of the central protuberance 142 includes a strengthening rib 156a, 156b, and 156c integrally formed therein. In the embodiment shown in
In the embodiment shown in
In some embodiments, the three spaces between the major facets 144, 146, and 148 of the central protuberance 142 and the three linear sidewall portions 114d-f define three channels 180, 182, 184 that interconnect the three substantially circular cavities 118, 120, 122 of the base 110. In particular, as can be seen in
The exemplary central protuberance 142 of the base 110 includes a top-most upwardly-facing surface 162. The top-most upwardly-facing surface 162 may be entirely flat, or may have one or more surfaces and/or edges that are curved and/or beveled. For example, in the exemplary embodiment shown in
The top-most upwardly-facing surface 162 of the central protuberance 142 includes a lid-coupling aperture 164, as can be seen in
In some aspects, each of the strengthening ribs 156a-c of the respective major facets 144, 146, and 148 of the central protuberance 142 extends away from the upwardly-facing surface of the bottom wall portion 112 at an angle that is not 90 degrees relative to the upwardly-facing surface of the bottom wall portion 112. In other words, the strengthening ribs 156a-c are not perpendicular to the upwardly-facing surface of the bottom wall portion 112. Similarly, each of the strengthening ribs 170a-c of the linear sidewall portions 114a-c, respectively, extends away from the upwardly-facing surface of the bottom wall portion 112 at an angle that is not 90 degrees relative to the upwardly-facing surface of the bottom wall portion 112.
In some embodiments, each of strengthening ribs 156a-c is oriented at an angle that is from about 95 degrees to about 120 degrees relative to the upwardly-facing surface of the bottom wall portion 112. Similarly, each of strengthening ribs 170a-c is oriented at an angle that is from about 95 degrees to about 120 degrees relative to the upwardly-facing surface of the bottom wall portion 112. In some aspects, each of the minor facets 150, 152, and 154 is oriented relative to the upwardly-facing surface of the bottom wall portion 112 at the same angle as the strengthening ribs 156a-c, namely, from about 95 degrees to about 120 degrees. In other aspects, each of the minor facets 150, 152, and 154 is oriented relative to the upwardly-facing surface of the bottom wall portion 112 at a greater angle than the strengthening ribs 156a-c, namely, from about 100 degrees to about 130 degrees.
In some aspects, the sidewall portion 114 of the base 110 is oriented relative to the upwardly-facing surface of the bottom wall portion 112 at the same angle as the minor facets 150, 152, and 154 of the central protuberance 142. As such, the structures of the base 110 (i.e., the segments of the sidewall portion 114 located in the circular cavities 118, 120, 122 and the minor facets 150, 152, 154 of the central protuberance 142) that come in contact with and support the packaging material (e.g., metalized pan) holding the food items 90 are all oriented at the same angle relative to the horizontal plane (and relative to the upwardly-facing surface of the bottom wall portion 112 of the base 110) to correspond to the angle of the sidewalls of the packaging material, which facilitates a stable cradling of the packaging material that holds the food items 90 (or food items 90 that do not have individual packaging) by the base 110.
In the embodiments illustrated in the drawings, the strengthening ribs 156a-c of the central protuberance 142 and the strengthening ribs 170a-c of the sidewall portion 114 are oriented such that they diverge from each other as they extend in a direction from the bottom wall portion 112 toward the top-most upwardly-facing surface 162 of the central protuberance 142. In other words, the distances between the bases of the strengthening ribs 156a-c and the bases of the respective opposing strengthening ribs 170a-c are less than the distances between the upper edges of the strengthening ribs 156a-c and the upper edges of their respective opposing strengthening ribs 170a-c. To put it another way, in the embodiment of
In some aspects, the minor facets 150, 152, and 154 of the central protuberance 142 each extend upwardly from a base of the central protuberance 142 in a direction away from the upwardly-facing surface of the bottom wall portion 112 and each terminate in upwardly-facing lips 166a, 166b, 166c. As can be seen, for example, in
With reference to
Each of the substantially circular cavities 119, 121, and 123 of the lid 111 illustrated in
In the embodiment shown in
The skirt portion 115 of the lid 111 extends downwardly from the perimeter 117 of the top wall portion 113 to a peripheral rim 125 including three substantially circular portions 125a, 125b, 125c extending along the three interconnected substantially circular cavities 119, 121, 123 of the lid 111. Within each of the cavities 119, 121, and 123, the top wall portion 113 of the lid 111 includes recessed peripheral portions 113a, 113b, 113c and raised central portions 113d, 113e, 113f. In the illustrated embodiment, the outer edges of the recessed peripheral portions 113a-c coincide with their respective substantially circular perimeter portions 117a-c from which the skirt portion 115 of the lid 111 extends, and the inner edges of the recessed central portions 113a-c are sized and shaped such they are substantially identical to the size and shape of the perimeter portions 116a-c of the base 110. As a result, the upwardly-facing surface of the top wall portion 113 includes central recessed portions (corresponding to the raised central portions 113d-f) at least in part surrounded by a raised portion (corresponding to the inner edges of the recessed central portions 113a-c), with the central recessed portion being substantially identical in diameter to the perimeter portions 116a-c of the base 110.
This resulting relieved configuration of the upwardly-facing surface of the top wall portion 113 of the lid 111 facilitates the stacking of the base 110 of another container 100 on top of the lid 111, for example, during transportation of the containers to retail locations, or during display of the containers 100 on shelves at retail locations. In particular, when another container 100 is stacked on top of the lid 111 of the container 100, portions of the base 110 corresponding to the underside of the perimeter portions 116a-c of the bottom wall portion 112 are nested within the central recessed portions of the upwardly-facing surface of the lid 111 that correspond to the raised central portions 113d-f while being partially surrounded by the raised portions of the upwardly-facing surface of the lid 111 that correspond to the inner edges of the recessed central portions 113a-c. This nested arrangement resulting in from the relieved configuration of the upwardly-facing surface of the lid 111 advantageously restricts the base 110 of one container 100 from inadvertently slipping off the lid 111 of another container on top of which it is stacked.
Each of the peripheral rim portions 125a-c of the lid 111 includes a downwardly-facing surface 127 having an inner edge 129 and an outer edge 131. In the illustrated embodiment, a flange 135 extends outwardly from the outer edge 131 of the peripheral rim 125. In some aspects, the flange 135 includes features (e.g., recesses, projections, etc.) that facilitate the interlocking of the lid 111 and the base 110 when the lid 111 and the base 110 are coupled together as shown in
In particular, as discussed above, the flange 134 of the base 110 includes three curved portions 134d-f that extend outwardly from the raised perimeter portion 132 of the peripheral rim 124, interconnect exterior-facing portions of the raised perimeter 132 of adjacent cavities 118, 120, 120 and include three recesses 140 configured to receive complementary protrusions 141 of the lid 111 when the lid 111 and the base 110 are coupled together. In the embodiment illustrated in
In some embodiments, the downward-facing surface 137 of the flange 135 of the lid 111 may include 6 protrusions 141 configured to mate with all 6 of the complementary recesses 140 of the base 110. For example, while the three curved portions of the flange 135d, 135e, 135f of the exemplary lid 111 that extend outwardly from the peripheral rim 125 while interconnecting exterior-facing portions of the raised perimeter 133 of adjacent cavities 119, 121, 123 do not include any protrusions 141 (that could mate with the recesses 140 in the corresponding curved portions of the flange 134), it will be appreciated that in some embodiments, each of these curved portions of the flange 135 could include an additional base-coupling protrusion 141, bringing the number of protrusions 141 of the lid 111 to six total.
The exemplary lid 111 of
With reference to
In the embodiment shown in
In the embodiment illustrated in
In some aspects, each of the three major facets 145, 147, and 149 of the central protuberance 143 is curved and has a radius of curvature substantially identical to the radius of curvature of the skirt portions 115a-c. As can be seen in
In some embodiments, when the lid 111 is coupled to the base 110 as shown in
The central protuberance 143 of the lid 111 includes a bottom-most downward-facing surface 167. The bottom-most downward-facing surface 167 may be entirely flat, or may have one or more surfaces and/or edges that are curved and/or beveled. For example, in the embodiment shown in
In the illustrated embodiment, the bottom-most downward-facing surface 167 includes a base-coupling projection 169 extending downwardly therefrom. As shown, for example, in
In some aspects, each of the major facets 145, 147, and 149 of the central protuberance 143 extends downwardly from the downward-facing surface of the top wall portion 113 at an angle that from about 95 to about 120 degrees relative to the downward-facing surface of the top wall portion 113. Similarly, the minor facets 151, 153, 155 of the central protuberance 143 extend downwardly from their respective strengthening ribs 157a-c at an angle that is from about 95 to about 120 degrees relative to the strengthening ribs 157a-c. In some aspects, the skirt portion 115 is oriented relative to the downward-facing surface of the top wall portion 113 at the same angle as the major facets 145, 147, and 149 of the central protuberance 143. As such, the segments of the skirt portion 115 that form the substantially circular cavities 119, 121, and 123 and the major facets 145, 147, 149 of the central protuberance 143 form a part of the same circle and are all oriented at the same angle relative to the downward-facing surface of the top wall portion 113. With reference to
In use, the exemplary container 100 may be used to store three substantially circular foot items 90, as shown in
A customer desiring to open the container 100 of
After the customer removes pieces of one or more of the food items 90 from the base 110, or removes one or more food items 90 in their entirety from the base 110, the customer can then close the container 100 by generally aligning the protrusions 141 of the lid 111 with the recesses 140 of the base 110 and the base-coupling projection 169 of the lid 111 with the lid-coupling aperture 164 of the base 110 and applying a downward force to portions of the lid 111 and/or an upwardly force to portions of the base 110 in order to snap the protrusions 141 of the lid 111 into their complementary recesses 140 of the base 110 and the base-coupling projection 169 of the lid 111 into its complementary lid-coupling aperture 164 of the base 110.
While the exemplary container 100 is configured with the lid 111 and the base 110 being detachably coupled such that the lid 111 can be opened by being completely detached from (i.e., fully out of contact with) the base 110, it will be appreciated that, in some embodiments, the container 100 may be configured such that the lid 111 is non-detachably attached to the base 110. For purposes of this disclosure, “non-detachably attached” means an attachment that is not meant to be detached. For example, in some aspects, the lid 111 may be movably attached relative to the base 110 at one or more locations (e.g., hinges, pivots, swivels, adhesive attachments, etc.) that permit portions of the lid 111 to move upwardly relative to the base 110 (while remaining non-detachably attached to portions of the base 110) in order to open the container 100 and permit the customer to gain access to the food items 90 therein.
One difference between the base 110 and the base 1110 is that in the exemplary base 110 shown in
Another difference is that, as discussed above, in the base 110, the space between the edges of the sidewall portions 114a-c (i.e., the space, where the circle formed by the sidewall portions 114a-c is incomplete) defines portions of three channels 180, 182, 184 that interconnect the three cavities 118, 120, 122 of the base 110. Since the three sidewall portions 1114a-c of the base 1110 form a complete circle, the three cavities 1118, 1120, 1122 of the base 1110 are not interconnected by large open channels akin to the channels 180, 182, 184 of the base 110. The three cavities 1119, 1121, 1123 of the base 1110 are interconnected, however, by a U-shaped recess 1175, 1177, 1179 in each of the sidewall portions 1114a-c of the base 1110, with the space between the interior-facing sides of each “U” defining a channel 1181, 1183, 1185 that interconnects the cavities 1119, 1121, 1123, as can be seen in
Notably, while the height of each of the channels 180, 182, 184 of the base 110 extends from the perimeter 116a-c of the bottom wall portion 112 to the upwardly-facing surface 126 of the peripheral rim 124 of the sidewall portion 114 (see, e.g.,
Yet another difference between the base 110 of
In the exemplary embodiment illustrated in
Given that the wall portions 1114a-c of the cavities 1118, 11120, and 1222 of the base 1110 are separated from one another due to being shaped as complete circles, it is possible that the space between (or the area of attachment) between the adjacent wall portions 1114a-c may create a natural crease that may facilitate undesired bending and/or buckling of adjacent cavities 1118, 1120, 1122 relative to one another when the base 1110 (bearing the weight of the food items 90 therein) is picked up and/or carried by consumers. As discussed above, the base 110 overcomes this potential disadvantages of the base 1110, since the substantially circular cavities 118, 120, and 122 of the base 110 are interconnected via continuous channels 180, 182, and 184 each flanked by a pairs of strengthening ribs (i.e., 170a-156a, 170b-156b, and 170c-156c.)
Still another difference between the base 110 and the base 1110 is that, in the base 110, the flange 134 extending outwardly from the raised perimeter portion 132 of the peripheral rim 124 extends around the entirety of the perimeter of the base 110, but the flange 1134 extending from the raised perimeter portion 1132 of the peripheral rim 1124 does not extend around the entirety of the perimeter of the base 1110. In particular, as discussed above, the flange 134 of the base 110 includes three curved portions 134d-f that extend outwardly from the raised perimeter portion 132 of the peripheral rim 124, interconnect exterior-facing portions of the raised perimeter 132 of adjacent cavities 118, 120, 120 and include three recesses 140 configured to receive complementary protrusions 141 of the lid 111 when the lid 111 and the base 110 are coupled together. The flange 1134 of the base 1110 includes three curved portions 1134a, 1134b, 1134c (including three recesses 1140) that are substantially identical to the above-described three curved portions of the flange 134 of the base 110.
However, as discussed above, the flange 134 of the base 110 includes portions 134a-c that extend outwardly from each of the cavities 118, 120, and 122 of the base 110 and form three handle-like structures each of which may be used by the consumer to pick up and carry the base 110, and each of which includes a recess 140 (providing the flange 134 of the base 110 with 6 recesses 140 in total) that is configured to receive the matching protrusions 141 of the lid 111 when the lid 111 and the base 110 are coupled together. The flange 1134 of the base 1110 lacks such handle-like, lid-coupling recess-including portions (and thus has 3 recesses 1140 in total). It will be appreciated, however, that the base 1110 may be configured in some embodiments to include a flange 1134 that is identical to the flange 134 of the base 110.
One difference between the lid 111 and the lid 1111 is that in the exemplary lid 111 illustrated in
Another difference is that, as discussed above, the lid 111 includes three channels 181, 183, 185 that interconnect the three substantially circular cavities 119, 121, 123 of the lid 111. In particular, the channel 181 is formed by the space located between the linear skirt portion 115d and the minor facet 151 and the strengthening rib 157a, the channel 183 is formed by the space located between the linear skirt portion 115e and the minor facet 153 and the strengthening rib 157b, and the channel 185 is formed by the space located between the linear skirt portion 115f and the minor facet 155 and the strengthening rib 157c. Conversely, as can be seen in
Yet another difference between the lid 111 and the lid 1111 is that the lid 1111 does not include a multi-faceted central protuberance akin to the central protuberance 143 of the lid 111. In particular, as discussed above, the exemplary lid 111 includes a multi-faceted central protuberance 143 including three major facets 145, 147, and 149 and three minor facets 151, 153, and 155, with each of the three major facets 145 147, and 149 forming a part of a substantially the same circle with their respective circular skirt portions 115a-c and respectively including a rounded pillar 165a-c extending therefrom (with each substantially circular portion 115a-c of the skirt portion 115 respectively including three additional rounded pillars 165d-m). The lid 1111 does not include a multi-faceted central protuberance akin to the central protuberance 143 of the lid 111 and instead simply includes a central triangular-shaped space between the circular skirt portions 1115a-c. Notably, like the lid 111, the lid 1111 includes twelve rounded pillars 165, but while three of the pillars 165a-c extend from the central protuberance 143 of the lid 111 and nine of the pillars 165d-m extend from the circular skirt portions 115a-c of the lid 111, all twelve of the pillars 1165a-m extend from their respective circular skirt portions 115a-c of the lid 1111.
Still another difference between the lid 111 and the lid 1111 is that the lid 111 includes a flange 135 extending outwardly from the outer edge 131 of the peripheral rim 125 and includes three handle-like structures each of which includes a downwardly-extending protrusions 141 configured to mate with matching recesses 140 of the base 110 when the base 110 and the lid 111 are coupled together as shown in
The systems and methods described herein advantageously provide for containers that include lids and that are configured to retain and simultaneously display multiple food items.
Those skilled in the art will recognize that a wide variety of other modifications, alterations, and combinations can also be made with respect to the above described embodiments without departing from the scope of the invention, and that such modifications, alterations, and combinations are to be viewed as being within the ambit of the inventive concept.
Claims
1. A food container for retaining and displaying a plurality of food items, the food container comprising:
- a base having a bottom wall portion and a sidewall portion extending upwardly from a perimeter of the bottom wall portion, the bottom wall portion and the sidewall portion together defining three interconnected substantially circular cavities each configured to retain a portion of a substantially circular food item;
- the base including a multi-faceted central protuberance extending upwardly from the bottom wall portion; and
- a lid having a top wall portion and a skirt portion depending downwardly from a perimeter of the top wall portion, the top wall portion and the skirt portion together defining three interconnected substantially circular cavities configured to cover the interconnected substantially circular cavities of the base, the top wall portion including a central protuberance extending downwardly therefrom;
- wherein portions of the central protuberance of the base, together with portions of the sidewall portion located opposite the portions of the central protuberance of the base, define a plurality of channels that interconnect the three substantially circular cavities of the base.
2. The food container of claim 1,
- wherein the perimeter of the bottom wall portion includes three substantially circular perimeter portions and three linear perimeter portions interconnecting the substantially circular perimeter portions;
- wherein the sidewall portion includes three substantially circular sidewall portions and three linear sidewall portions interconnecting the substantially circular sidewall portions; and
- wherein none of the three substantially circular perimeter portions forms a complete circle; and
- wherein none of the three substantially circular sidewall portions forms a complete circle.
3. The food container of claim 2,
- wherein each of the three linear sidewall portions includes a strengthening rib extending upwardly from a respective one of the three linear perimeter portions of the bottom wall portion.
4. The food container of claim 3,
- wherein the central protuberance of the base includes three major facets each including a strengthening rib, each of the strengthening ribs of the three major facets of the central protuberance of the base being located directly opposite a respective one of the strengthening ribs of the three linear sidewall portions; and
- wherein the three major facets, together with their respective three linear side wall portions, define the channels that interconnect the three substantially circular cavities of the base.
5. The food container of claim 4,
- wherein the central protuberance of the base includes three minor facets each located between adjacent ones of the three major facets of the central protuberance of the base, each of the minor facets extending upwardly from a base of the central protuberance and terminating in an upwardly facing lip configured to support at least a portion of packaging material retaining the food item therein; and
- wherein the central protuberance of the lid includes three facets, each of the three facets of the central protuberance of the lid including a rounded tab extending therefrom; and
- wherein, when the lid and the base are coupled together, the at least a portion of the packaging material is retained between the rounded tab and the upwardly facing lip.
6. The food container of claim 1,
- wherein the central protuberance of the base includes a top-most upwardly-facing surface and a lid-coupling aperture formed in the top-most upwardly-facing surface of the central protuberance of the base;
- wherein the central protuberance of the lid includes a bottom-most downward-facing surface and a projection extending downwardly from the bottom-most downward-facing surface of the central protuberance, the projection being configured to mate with the lid-coupling aperture of the central protuberance of the base when the lid and the base are coupled together; and
- wherein the top-most upwardly-facing surface of the central protuberance of the base and the bottom-most downward-facing surface are in contact with each other, and the projection of the central protuberance of the lid is located in the lid-coupling aperture of the central protuberance of the base when the lid and the base are coupled together.
7. The food container of claim 1, wherein the sidewall portion extends upwardly from the perimeter of the bottom wall portion to a peripheral rim including three substantially circular portions extending along the three interconnected substantially circular cavities of the base.
8. The food container of claim 7,
- wherein the peripheral rim includes: an upwardly-facing surface having an inner edge and an outer edge; and a raised perimeter portion extending upwardly from the outer edge of the upwardly-facing surface of the peripheral rim; and
- wherein a flange extends outwardly from the raised perimeter portion of the peripheral rim, the flange including an upwardly-facing surface including a plurality of recesses configured to receive matching protrusions of the lid when the lid and the base are coupled together.
9. The food container of claim 8, wherein the skirt portion of the lid extends downwardly from the perimeter of the top wall portion of the lid to a peripheral rim including three substantially circular portions extending along the three interconnected substantially circular cavities of the lid.
10. The food container of claim 9,
- wherein the peripheral rim of the skirt portion of the lid includes an downward facing surface having an inner edge and an outer edge;
- wherein a flange extends outwardly from the outer edge of the downward facing surface of the peripheral rim of the skirt portion of the lid, the flange including: a raised perimeter portion extending downwardly from a distal edge of the flange; and a plurality of protrusions configured to mate with the recesses located in the flange of the base when the lid and the base are coupled together.
11. The food container of claim 10, wherein each of the flange of the lid and the flange of the base has a generally triangular overall perimeter.
12. The food container of claim 9, wherein at least one of the base and lid comprises at least one of a polymer material and a plastic material.
13. The food container of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of food items retained at least partially in the interconnected substantially circular cavities of the base.
14. A base for a food container for retaining and displaying a plurality of food items, the base comprising:
- a bottom wall portion having a perimeter;
- a sidewall portion extending upwardly from the perimeter of the bottom wall portion;
- the bottom wall portion and the sidewall portion together defining three interconnected substantially circular cavities each configured to retain a portion of a substantially circular food item;
- a central protuberance extending upwardly from the bottom wall portion and including a plurality of facets, three of the facets of the central protuberance each defining a part of a respective one of the three interconnected substantially circular cavities of the base.
15. The base of claim 14,
- wherein the perimeter of the bottom wall portion includes three substantially circular perimeter portions and three linear perimeter portions interconnecting the substantially circular perimeter portions;
- wherein the sidewall portion includes three substantially circular sidewall portions and three linear sidewall portions interconnecting the substantially circular sidewall portions;
- wherein each of the three linear sidewall portions includes a strengthening rib extending upwardly from a respective one of the three linear perimeter portions of the bottom wall portion;
- wherein the central protuberance of the base includes three major facets each including a strengthening rib, the three major facets extending upward from the bottom wall portion to a top-most upwardly-facing surface of the central protuberance including a lid-coupling aperture formed therein; and
- wherein the central protuberance of the base includes three minor facets each located between adjacent ones of the three major facets of the central protuberance of the base, each of the minor facets extending upwardly from the bottom wall portion and terminating in an upwardly facing lip located below the top-most upwardly-facing surface and configured to support at least a portion of packaging material retaining the food item.
16. The base of claim 15,
- wherein each of the strengthening ribs of the three major facets of the central protuberance of the base is located directly opposite a respective one of the strengthening ribs of the three linear sidewall portions;
- wherein the three major facets of the central protuberance of the base, together with their respective three linear side wall portions, define the channels that interconnect the three substantially circular cavities of the base;
- wherein none of the three substantially circular perimeter portions of the bottom wall portion forms a complete circle; and
- wherein none of the three substantially circular sidewall portions forms a complete circle.
17. The base of claim 14, wherein the sidewall portion extends upwardly from the perimeter of the bottom wall portion to a peripheral rim including three substantially circular portions extending along the three interconnected substantially circular cavities, the peripheral rim including an upwardly-facing surface having an inner edge and an outer edge and a raised perimeter portion extending upwardly from the outer edge of the upwardly-facing surface of the peripheral rim.
18. The base of claim 17, wherein a flange extends outwardly from the raised perimeter portion of the peripheral rim, the flange including an upwardly-facing surface including a plurality of recesses configured to receive matching protrusions of a lid.
19. The base of claim 18, wherein the flange has a generally triangular overall perimeter.
20. The base of claim 14, wherein the base comprises at least one of a polymer material and a plastic material.
21. The base of claim 14, further comprising a plurality of food items retained at least partially in the interconnected substantially circular cavities of the base.
22. A lid for coupling to a base of a food container for retaining and displaying a plurality of food items, the lid comprising:
- a top wall portion having a perimeter;
- a skirt portion depending downwardly from the perimeter of the top wall portion;
- the top wall portion and the skirt portion together defining three interconnected substantially circular cavities configured to cover matching substantially circular cavities of the base;
- a central protuberance extending downwardly from the top wall portion and including a plurality of facets, three of the facets of the central protuberance each defining a part of a respective one of the three interconnected substantially circular cavities of the lid.
23. The lid of claim 22,
- wherein each of the three facets of the central protuberance of the lid includes a rounded tab extending therefrom and configured to overlay at least a portion of food packaging material retaining the food item when the lid and the base are coupled together; and
- wherein the central protuberance of the lid includes a bottom-most downward-facing surface and a projection extending downwardly from the bottom-most downward-facing surface, the projection being configured to mate with a lid-coupling aperture of the central protuberance of the base when the lid and the base are coupled together.
24. The lid of claim 22, wherein the skirt of the lid extends downwardly from the perimeter of the top wall portion of the lid to a peripheral rim including three substantially circular portions extending along the three interconnected substantially circular cavities of the lid.
25. The lid of claim 24, wherein the peripheral rim includes an downward facing surface having an inner edge and an outer edge and a flange extending outwardly from the outer edge of the downward facing surface of the peripheral rim.
26. The lid of claim 24, wherein the flange includes a raised perimeter portion extending downwardly from a distal edge of the flange and a plurality of protrusions configured to mate with matching recesses of the base when the lid and the base are coupled together.
27. The lid of claim 25, wherein the flange has a generally triangular overall perimeter.
28. The lid of claim 22, wherein the base comprises at least one of a polymer material and a plastic material.
29. A food container for retaining and displaying a plurality of food items, the food container comprising:
- a base having a bottom wall portion and a sidewall portion extending upwardly from a perimeter of the bottom wall portion, the bottom wall portion and the sidewall portion together defining three interconnected substantially circular cavities each configured to retain a substantially circular food item; and
- a lid configured to substantially cover the substantially circular cavities of the base;
- wherein the base comprises at least one of a polymer material and a plastic material; and
- wherein an outer perimeter of the base forms a generally triangular shape having rounded corners and inwardly curved side portions.
30. The food container of claim 29,
- wherein the base includes a multi-faceted central protuberance extending upwardly from the bottom wall portion, three facets of the central protuberance each including a strengthening rib;
- wherein the sidewall portion includes three linear portions each including a strengthening rib; and
- wherein the three facets of the central protuberance that each include the strengthening rib and the three linear portions that each include the strengthening rib are located opposite one another to form three pairs, each of the pairs defining a channel that interconnects the three substantially circular cavities of the base.
Type: Application
Filed: May 15, 2019
Publication Date: Nov 21, 2019
Inventor: Bryan W. Lane (Bentonville, AR)
Application Number: 16/413,220