U.S. patent application number 10/102682 was filed with the patent office on 2003-04-03 for container for carrying hot pizzas and the like.
This patent application is currently assigned to FILIPPO LIZZIO. Invention is credited to Lizzio, Filippo.
Application Number | 20030062406 10/102682 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 11459229 |
Filed Date | 2003-04-03 |
United States Patent
Application |
20030062406 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Lizzio, Filippo |
April 3, 2003 |
Container for carrying hot pizzas and the like
Abstract
A container for carrying hot pizzas and the like, comprising a
box (1) made of cardboard or of a similar material, having a base
(2) and a lid (3) connected to the base (2) in such a way that it
can be opened and re-closed. The lid (3) has breather openings (16)
and at least one pair of raised parts (13) set at a distance apart,
which project upwards and have the function, during use, of spacer
supports for a similar box superimposed in a stacked condition on
the lid (3). The raised parts conveniently consist of elongated
tubular elements (13) which are integral with the lid (3).
Inventors: |
Lizzio, Filippo; (Volpiano,
IT) |
Correspondence
Address: |
SUGHRUE MION, PLLC
2100 PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE, N.W.
WASHINGTON
DC
20037
US
|
Assignee: |
FILIPPO LIZZIO
|
Family ID: |
11459229 |
Appl. No.: |
10/102682 |
Filed: |
March 22, 2002 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
229/120 ;
206/509; 229/149; 229/906 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65D 5/0015 20130101;
B65D 5/4295 20130101; B65D 2205/00 20130101; B65D 2585/366
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
229/120 ;
229/149; 229/906; 206/509 |
International
Class: |
B65D 021/032 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Oct 1, 2001 |
IT |
T02001A000929 |
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A container for carrying hot pizzas and the like, comprising a
box (1; 101) made of cardboard or of a similar material, having a
base (2) and a lid (3) connected to the base (2) in such a way that
it can be opened and re-closed, said lid (3) having breather
openings (16) and at least one pair of raised parts (13; 23) set at
a distance apart, which project upwards and have the function,
during use, of spacer supports for a similar box (1'; 101')
superimposed in a stacked condition on said lid (3).
2. The container according to claim 1, wherein said base (2) is
without breather openings.
3. The container according to claim 1, wherein said raised parts
(13; 23) are formed integrally with the lid (3).
4. The container according to claim 3, wherein said raised parts
(13; 23) consist of side flaps (11, 12; 24, 25, 26) folded so as to
define elongated tubular elements.
5. The container according to claim 4, wherein said flaps (11; 12)
are folded towards the inside of the lid (3) and have respective
marginal appendages (14) engaged through the corresponding
retention slits (16) of the lid (3).
6. The container according to claim 4, wherein said flaps (24, 25,
26) are folded towards the outside of the lid (3) and have
respective marginal appendages (28) engaged in corresponding
retention slits (27) of the base (2).
7. The container according to claim 1, further comprising arrest
sides (10; 29) which project upwards beyond said raised parts (13;
23) for containment of the aforesaid similar box (1'; 101') set in
a stacked condition on top of said lid (3).
8. The container according to claim 7, wherein said arrest sides
(10) are formed by flaps integral with the base (2).
9. The container according to claim 7, wherein said arrest sides
(29) are formed by flaps integral with said raised parts (23).
10. The container according to claim 1 formed by a single dinked
and creased plate.
11. The container according to one claim 1, wherein said base (2)
has a bottom wall (33) in which a dish (19) is integrally formed,
said dish (19) being separable from said bottom wall (33).
12. The container according to claim 11, wherein said base dish
(19) has a plurality of projecting parts (21).
13. The container according to claim 1, whereinsaid breather
openings of the lid (3) consist of a set of slits (16) arranged in
the form of spokes.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to containers for carrying hot
food, in particular pizzas and the like.
[0002] The containers for carrying away food that are currently in
use traditionally consist of boxes made of cardboard or of a
similar material, having a base and a lid connected to the base in
such a way that it can be opened and re-closed. The side wall of
the box is usually provided with breather openings for outflow of
the steam that is developed by the pizza during transportation. The
said side openings are, however, inadequate for ensuring effective
and complete exit of the steam, the natural tendency of which is
evidently upwards, the steam being intercepted and condensing
against the lid of the box. In addition to the fact that this
causes the pizza to go cold very fast, it also produces
contamination of the pizza by the steam that condenses against the
inner wall of the lid, and consequently the organoleptic
characteristics of the pizza or the like inside the container are
rapidly degraded, often without any possibility of restoring them
even if the food undergoes re-heating.
[0003] A further serious drawback of conventional boxes lies in the
possibility, which is far from rare, of exit of fluid substances
typical of a pizza (oil, melted cheese, tomato juice) through the
side breather openings, with evident consequences.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0004] The purpose of the present invention is to overcome the
above-mentioned drawbacks.
[0005] According to the invention, the above purpose is achieved by
providing a container of the type specified at the beginning of the
present description, the main characteristic of which is defined in
the ensuing Claim 1.
[0006] Further secondary characteristics of the container are
defined in Claims 2 to 14.
[0007] The arrangement of the breather openings on the lid of the
container, instead of on the side walls, enables the steam, which
is generated by the pizza or the like inside the container during
transportation, to come out of the container effectively in a
natural way, with an appreciable reduction of phenomena of
condensation on the walls of the container, and hence of
contamination and organoleptic degrading of the pizza. The presence
of raised parts projecting from the lid makes it possible to
maintain the above effect unaltered also in the case where the
container is transported stacked together with other identical
containers.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0008] Further advantages of the present invention will emerge from
the ensuing detailed description, with reference to the attached
drawings, which are provided purely by way of non-limiting example
and in which:
[0009] FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a container
according to a first embodiment of the invention, represented in
the closed condition for transportation of a pizza or the like;
[0010] FIG. 2 is a view similar to that of FIG. 1, with the
container in the open position;
[0011] FIG. 3 is cross-sectional view according to the line III-III
of FIG. 1;
[0012] FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view according to the line IV-IV
of FIG. 1;
[0013] FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view at a larger scale according
to the line V-V of FIG. 1;
[0014] FIG. 6 is a view similar to that of FIG. 1 of a variant of
the container according to the invention;
[0015] FIG. 7 illustrates the container of FIG. 6 in the open
condition;
[0016] FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view according to the line
VIII-VIII of FIG. 6; and
[0017] FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view according to the line IX-IX
of FIG. 6.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0018] With reference initially to FIGS. 1 to 4, number 1
designates, as a whole, a container according to the invention for
carrying hot pizzas and the like, the said container consisting in
a box made of cardboard or of a similar material obtained from a
single dinked and creased plane plate.
[0019] The box 1, which in the example illustrated has a generally
quadrangular shape, comprises a base 2 with a bottom wall 33
surrounded by walls projecting at right angles upwards, namely,
side walls 4, a front wall 5 and a rear wall 6, and a lid 3
articulated to the top side of the rear wall 6 of the base 2 in
such a way that it can turn between the closed position,
represented in FIG. 1, and the open position, represented in FIG.
2.
[0020] The front wall 5 has a double thickness and is formed
centrally with an elongated receptacle 7 designed for engagement of
a tongue 8 which projects from the front side of the lid 3 for
retention thereof in the closed position, in the way that is more
clearly visible in FIG. 1.
[0021] The side walls 4 have, at their respective top edges, pairs
of flaps 9 which are folded parallel to the plane of the bottom
wall 3 of the base 2, and between which respective flaps 10
directed upwards in the plane of said side walls 4 project.
[0022] The lid 3 is formed, at its side margins, with respective
flaps 11, which are in turn provided with respective folded end
tabs 12, normally set in the condition represented in FIGS. 1, 3
and 4 and in FIG. 2 for the left-hand flap 11, with reference to
the drawing. The right-hand flap 11 in said drawing is instead
represented in a condition prior to its final placing, during
assembly of the box 1. In said final placing, the flaps 11 with the
corresponding end tabs 12 are folded towards the inside of the lid
3 and onto the top face of the latter, in such a way as to define
two elongated tubular raised parts 13 with a substantially
triangular cross section. For fixing of the tubular raised parts 13
in their operative condition, two tongues 14 are provided which
project centrally from the free edges of the marginal tabs 12 of
the flaps 11 and which are inserted through corresponding slits 15
present in the lid 3. The conformation of the tongues 14, one of
which may be seen in greater detail in FIG. 3, is such that their
engagement inside the slits 15 is substantially irreversible.
[0023] The lid 3 is moreover formed with a plurality of slits 16,
arranged, for instance, like spokes, as in the case of the example
illustrated, which define respective breather openings.
[0024] In the closed condition of the box 1 represented in FIGS. 1,
3 and 4, the rear wall 6 of the base 2 is set in the upright
position, with rear appendages 17 of the flaps 9 engaged inside
corresponding openings 18 in the way represented in detail in FIG.
5, and with the tongue 8 inserted inside the receptacle 7. The
tubular raised parts 13 extend parallel to the side walls 4 of the
base 2, and the flaps 10 project above the maximum level of said
tubular raised parts 13.
[0025] Thanks to the arrangement described above, and in particular
to the configuration of the breather openings 16, the steam
produced during use by the pizza or the like inserted inside the
container 1 is able to come out effectively and naturally upwards,
appreciably reducing the formation of condensate on the inner face
of the lid 3, and consequently reducing any risk of degradation due
to hydration of the pizza itself.
[0026] The tubular raised parts 13 enable, during use, positioning,
on the lid 3 of the box 1, of a similar or identical box, which is
shown partially and is designated by 1' in FIG. 4, in such a way
that the two boxes are stacked one on top of the other. The base of
the box 1' set at the top is thus kept at a distance from the lid 3
of the underlying box 1, and any possible obstruction of the
breather openings 15 is in this way prevented. The side flaps 10 in
this case conveniently act as arrest sides for lateral containment
of the overlying box 1'.
[0027] According to another aspect of the invention, the base 2 of
the box 1 may conveniently be formed integrally with a circular
dish 19, which is formed integrally with the bottom wall 33 by
simple pressure forming, and the circumferential edge of which is
joined to the remaining part of the bottom wall 33 of the base 2
conveniently by means of a pre-dinked perimetral line 20 designed
to render extremely convenient the separation of said dish from the
base 2.
[0028] The dish 19, which is designed to enable the user to consume
at his own convenience the pizza previously housed in the container
1, can be formed with a series of ribs 21 in relief, which are also
made by pressure forming and which have the function of keeping the
pizza at a distance from the bottom 33 of the base 2 during
transportation.
[0029] The variant of the container represented in FIGS. 6 to 9 is
conceptually similar to the embodiment described previously with
reference to FIGS. 1 to 6, and in what follows only the differences
will be described in detail, using the same reference numbers for
the parts that are identical or similar.
[0030] In the aforesaid variant, the container, designated as a
whole by 101, is also provided with breather slits 16, which are
present only on the lid 3, and said lid 3 is also formed with a
pair of integral raised parts which are set at a distance from one
another and which, during use, have the function of supports for a
similar box 101' (FIG. 8), which is stacked on top of the lid 3.
Also the said raised parts, designated by 23, consist of a pair of
elongated tubular elements, in this case having a generally
quadrangular cross section, and are defined by flaps 24, 25, 26
which are folded towards the outside (instead of towards the inside
as in the previous case) of the lid 3. The end flaps 24 are in turn
provided with respective tongues 28 which, in the closed condition
of the lid 3 with respect to the base 2, engage inside
corresponding slits 27 formed between the side walls 4 of said base
and the corresponding flaps 9.
[0031] The sides for lateral arrest of the box 101' stacked on top
of the box 101 are formed, in the present case, by dinked tabs 29
of the flaps 25 of the tubular raised parts 23, which project
upwards parallel to the side walls 4 of the base 2.
[0032] Of course, the details of construction and the embodiments
may vary widely with respect to what is described and illustrated
herein, without thereby departing from the scope of the present
invention. The arrangement and configuration of the breather
openings 16 of the lid 3, as well as the arrangement, number and
conformation of the tubular raised parts 23, may thus differ, from
the constructional standpoint, from what has been described purely
by way of example with reference to the drawings.
* * * * *