Abstract: A packaging container particularly suitable for retail sale of pre-prepared foodstuffs comprises an inner generally cup-like portion (2) located substantially entirely within an outer portion (3). The inner portion is formed of a microwave compatible plastics material and is retained within the outer portion e.g. by flaps (12) formed integrally with the outer portion which engage barbs provided on the inner portion. The air gap provided between the inner and outer portions prevents the outer portion from being heated by contact with the food product and accordingly the container can readily be handled after microwave heating of the contents.

Abstract: A microwave cooking tray for microwave ovenable foodstuffs which usually display browned or crisped areas upon conventional oven cooking. The container is formed from a one piece blank of dielectric material, such as paperboard, which is bent and folded to form a trough shaped tray. A microwave interactive component included in the blank provides thermal heating effects such as browning and crisping for foodstuff placed in the tray and heated in a microwave oven. The tray is foldable to a flat configuration to facilitate shipment and storage. In one embodiment, the tray is flat on its entire upper portion when cooking.

Abstract: An improved sleeve receptacle for microwave browning and crisping of a generally flat food article, such as pizza, in a microwave oven is provided. The receptacle is constructed from a sheet of microwave susceptor stock which preferably includes an outwardly exposed dielectric support layer and an inwardly facing heating layer of microwave interactive material allowing passage of microwave energy as it is heated thereby. The sleeve is initially provided as a flat sheet which can be easily fitted within the frozen food package. The consumer folds the flat sheet into its sleeve configuration by joining the top portions of the sleeve together in a manner whereby the top portions of the sleeve can be later pulled apart to permit easy removal of the heated foodstuff.

Abstract: A microwave food carton having two integral layer-divider panels, and a one piece blank which may be erected to form the carton. Surface areas of the top and bottom walls of the carton, and the integral layer-divider panels, are each provided with a layer of microwave susceptor material so that they are directly heated thereby upon application of microwave energy. Such a carton is particularly useful in a microwave food package for microwave heating oppositely facing surfaces of each of a plurality of food pieces disposed in three layers in the package. In such a package, one of the integral layer-divider panels is disposed between each two adjacent layers of food pieces; the food pieces are preferably uniformly thick and have planar upper and lower surfaces; and the carton is preferably sized, relative to the sizes of the food pieces, to ensure a snug contacting relation between the microwave susceptor covered walls and panels of the carton, and the planar surfaces of each of the food pieces.

Abstract: A disposable container for heating seeds, kernels, nuts, grains, popcorn or the like items, using microwave radiation. The container comprises a can-shaped package having a floor where the items are placed and held in a clump. As the items are heated with microwave radiation, the items pop, the cover panel and/or container walls expand to form a new shape wherein the walls are inclined toward the floor. As the items pop, the unpopped items continue to be directed into a clump. Alternatively, a ferrite and metal material may be placed on the floor to enhance the heating process.

Abstract: A food heating and serving package for elongated food products such as french fries and fish sticks is described which includes partitions formed from microwave energy absorbing material positioned in parallel relationship to define a honeycomb-like array of cells, each adapted to receive one of the food sticks and to crisp, toast or brown the surface of the food sticks. The partitions preferably enclose and heat the food sticks on at least three sides. A pair of opposed retaining tabs lock the susceptor in place within the package with a wedging action. The package includes a removable upper portion connected to a bottom portion with a severable panel. When the bottom portion is removed the food sticks slide out of the cells within which they are held in place within the top portion of the package. The back panel of the package has an upwardly extending portion which serves as a carrying handle to facilitate safe removal from the oven after heating.

Abstract: A disposable food container that is particularly suited for microwave ovens includes a base and at least one upright container wall. The container wall forms with the base an open-topped food container for eggs and other foods, which can be placed into a microwave oven for cooking the food. The container wall is separately attachable to the base. The base and container wall can intially be provided as a single card, where serrations or other suitable structure permit the separation of the card into base and container wall portions. Tabs can be provided in the container wall to engage slots provided in the base, and can be folded under the base to attach the container wall to the base. Interlocking structure can be provided at the free ends of the container wall to secure these ends together and to thereby form with the base a closed-perimeter container for the food.

Abstract: The present invention provides a food package useful for heating a food product in a microwave oven. The package has a tray with an opening for introducing the food product therein. Once the food has been introduced into the tray, the opening is sealed using a microwave releasable adhesive. The microwave releasable adhesive seal includes a microwave interactive material in close proximity to a heat-releasable resin containing a blowing agent. The microwave interactive material preferably is composed of metallic flakes which become hot when exposed to microwave energy. Consequently, when the package is heated in a microwave oven, the microwave interactive material becomes hot, causing the blowing agent to decompose and form a gas. The gas formation destroys the integrity of the seal between the tray and the closure, permitting the seal to be opened easily after heating in a microwave oven.

Abstract: A simple coffee bean roasting device as disclosed which can be used as a container to store coffee beans in an airtight condition and is also capable of roasting the coffee beans easily and quickly by use of a home-use gas heater. The coffee bean roasting device is simple in structure and it is composed of a container of aluminum foil, a cover of a transparent cellophane, and a handle.

Abstract: A tray-type food container for food which is to be heated or re-heated in the container comprises both a flat outer lid heat-sealed to a horizontal flange on the tray and a perforated inner lid of substantially rigid and preferably transparent material which is supported on a step in the wall of the tray and is shaped so as to extend above the level of the step and to provide finger holes whereby it may be grasped and removed after the outer lid has been removed. The inner lid may support the outer lid flush with the flange. The flange may have a peripheral groove to form a guide for a knife for removal of the outer lid. The flange may also carry heating instructions in a machine readable code. A vending machine comprising a microwave oven may be provided with means for selecting a container from a number of stacks and with means for reading the coded heating instructions and regulating the energy supply to the microwave oven accordingly.

Abstract: A food package, which is particularly useful for preparation of a food contained in the package by microwave heating, is embodied by a container for the food and by a cover. The cover is made of material which is transparent to microwaves and is removably connected to the container and provides a receptacle adjacent a first surface of the container for containing and for surrounding a second surface opposite the first surface with a fluid which absorbs microwaves.

Abstract: A package for holding food for cooking in a microwave oven has a flat central panel for supporting the food, which has at least three linear panel edges. A flat side wall is attached at a fold line to at least two of the panel edges of the central panel. Each side wall has an inner panel and an outer panel affixed against the inner panel. The outer panel has a maximum width as measured perpendicular to the fold line connecting the side wall to the central panel that is greater than the width of the inner panel, also measured perpendicular to the fold line. The invention also encompasses a flat blank that can be folded and locked or glued into the preceding package configuration. For microwave oven use, the blank is made from paperboard material having a layer of microwave interactive material that heats to browning temperatures when exposed to microwaves.

Abstract: A container constituted of a microwave transparent material for the heating or cooking of foods or comestibles through the intermediary of microwaves at a high degree of efficiency and with an enhanced temperature uniformity. The container base is configured in a manner to produce generally wavilinear or undulating bottom wall and side wall configurations which will disperse the food or comestible within the container to an optimum extent so as to increase the heating and cooking efficiency thereof, and to provide a more uniform temperature distribution throughout the container contents, thereby enabling the rapid and even heating and/or cooking of the food by microwave energy.

Abstract: A disposable, collapsible, sleeve-type, microwave carton, formed from a unitary blank of foldable paperboard, at least partly coated with a discontinuous layer of electrically conductive material, and comprising top, bottom, side and end walls foldably joined to each other, wherein the top wall is substantially wider than the bottom wall and is partially supported by a pair of retaining panels extending laterally from upper edges of the side walls.

Abstract: A food storage carton for the microwave cooking of a foodstuff packaged therein which is to be crispened or browned upon cooking. The carton is fashioned from a one piece blank of paperboard, one panel of which supports a foodstuff, such as a frozen pizza, and which panel is provided with a layer of microwave interactive material which becomes hot upon absorbtion of microwave energy. The construction of the carton is such that the frozen foodstuff is elevated above the carton bottom on a false bottom. Before microwave cooking, the top panel of the carton is ripped off, the carton placed in the oven and the foodstuff cooked.

Abstract: A disposable, collapsible, sleeve-type, microwave carton, formed from a unitary blank of foldable paperboard, at least partly coated with electrically conductive material, and comprising top, bottom, side and end walls foldably joined to each other, with the bottom wall being elevated above the surface on which the carton is supported by legs extending downwardly below the bottom wall.

Abstract: In this invention, there is provided a combination of a heat resistant container containing a ready prepared meal and a secondary package providing support for the container and restricting the flow of hot air back to the container.

Abstract: This invention provides a food material-container combination which allows the food material to be cooked and solidified by simple operations without a pot, and which simplifies the work of cleaning up after cooking. Referring to FIG. 1, a self-standing container 11 has an opening 12 at the top portion thereof. A food material such as tofu material is charged in the container 11 together with water. The upper portion 13 is sealed by folding it by hand. The container and contents are then thoroughly shaken, whereafter the content of the container 11 is heated by a microwave oven. After a prescribed period of heating, the container 11 is taken out from the microwave oven and the container is cut along the line 16. The end product can then be removed.

Abstract: This relates to a carton for packaging a product which is to be processed in a microwave. The carton includes a top wall which is hinged to a portion of a rear wall and has a glue flap bonded to a removable portion of a front wall. The carton is formed of a delaminatable web with the top wall having transversely spaced score lines in opposite faces thereof whereby the carton is openable by removing the removable portion of the front wall and then peeling a major portion of the top wall from border portions thereof to open the carton. After the product has been removed, the top wall is swingable into the interior of the carton to form a support platform for the product. The support platform is positioned a predetermined distance above the bottom wall of the carton to provide for a maximum efficiency of the heating of the product within a microwave oven.

Abstract: A disposable, self-supported tray, for holding food in a microwave oven, which tray includes a paperboard center panel coated on at least one side with a conductive material and supported at the periphery and in the center by downwardly extending panels, certain of which have interlocking engagement with each other.

Abstract: An ovenable food tray formed from paperboard, the food-containing surface of which is coated with a food grade resin. The other surface of the paperboard is adhered to a paper coated with an essentially nonburning coating. This paperboard-adhesive-paper laminate yields improved flame resistance, particularly in electric ovens where the food tray may be accidentally placed very near an oven heating element.

Abstract: A package for an expandable food product and a method for manufacturing the same including an outer container, an expandable food pouch within the container and a coating on the inside surface of the container to adhere the pouch thereto when the package is exposed to a source of heat. A further embodiment of the package includes an expandable food pouch with a designed fault along its peripheral edge to facilitate the controlled release of pressure formed within the pouch.

Abstract: A scoop-type carton of thermal insulating material for containing fast food items such as French fries and keeping them hot has a body portion comprising a bottom and side panels upstanding and tapered outwardly from the bottom. The carton also has a cover that is integrally hinged to one of the side panels and is selectively movable between an open position and a closed position in which the cover covers the open end. The cover is releasably held in the closed position by interengagement of the cover and a side panel remote from the side panel to which the cover is integrally hinged.

Abstract: This relates to a tray which is useful for many purposes and wherein the tray may be shipped in a knocked-down state and is readily erected by an ultimate user manually or automatically. The tray includes a base panel having upstanding side walls which are not connected at their remote ends to one another. The side walls remain in upstanding positions by means of a simple locking flap arrangement. In the original blank state, each side wall is defined along a respective edge of a base panel by an inner sidewall panel and outer sidewall panel, the two sidewall panels being connected together along a fold line and the inner sidewall panel being connected to the base panel along a fold line interrupted at regular intervals by C-shaped caddy cuts. The flat blank is partially erected by the manufacturer by folding the outer sidewall panels beneath the inner sidewall panels and gluing them together in face-to-face relation.

Abstract: A food package for cooking popcorn in a microwave oven which comprises an inner pouch containing the popcorn kernels, oils and seasoning, an outer paperboard carton in the form of an inverted truncated pyramid and a stand therefor which is adapted to be packaged inside the carton. When the package is to be used, the outer carton is inverted and opened, the stand is removed, erected and placed in a microwave oven. The inverted outer carton is then placed on the stand which insulates the lower portion of the carton. In this position, the popping area of the package is in a position to be affected by maximum microwave energy efficiency and is protected against heat loss for maximum heat efficiency whereby, a higher ratio of popped to unpopped kernels can be obtained.