Suspended containers

Abstract

A disposable package for consumable contents includes a container having a surrounding wall of upstanding, generally flexible material extending from a container bottom to a wide mouth defined by a rim formation of greater relative thickness than said surrounding wall, said mouth being of greater than two inch minimum horizontal dimension and being about as wide as the horizontal cross-section of a top of the container. The disposable package further includes a removable lid at least partially closing the mouth, the lid having a rim portion extending over and removably engaged with the rim formation to form at least part of an attachment of the lid to the container, the attachment being constructed to support the container and its contents when suspended by the lid, and a flexible suspending element extending from the lid and arranged to be engaged by a thin support element, the suspending element being sized and arranged, with a length less than about 5 inches, such that when engaged by said support element, the suspending element suspends the container by its lid in a position below the support, for at least one of display and transport. In some embodiments, a single suspending element extends from a rim region of the container, the element being located to suspend the package at a tilted orientation, such that the lid of the container, so suspended, extends at a greater angle to horizontal than does the lid of the container when rested upon said bottom. Also, a display rack is provided for displaying such disposable packages.

Description

[0001] This invention relates to disposable packaging, to take out consumable products, to improved techniques for displaying and transporting products, and to novel ornamental designs for consumer packaging.INTRODUCTION TO THE INVENTION[0002] The invention provides to stores, restaurants and take-out counters, and their customers, a new form of packaging and display which features a disposable container suspendedable from a discrete suspending element associated with the rim and removable top of a disposable wide-mouth container. In many of its preferred forms the suspending element is so associated with the container that the container, when suspended hangs by gravity at an angle to the vertical axis of the container. In many preferred embodiments the container has flexible walls and a thickened rim, for instance a conventional disposable, paper coffee cup having at its rim a rolled bead. Also, in many preferred forms, the lid of the container has a clear central section enabling ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0008] Containers and products according to the invention can be efficiently displayed on single and multi-tier counter racks, tree displays or on a line of overhead hooks that, in effect, can add another display row to space-starved retail stores, counters or kiosks.

[0032] It is advantageous in many instances of all the foregoing embodiments to employ, as the flexible material of which the container is formed, paper stock, in many cases drinking cup paper stock, for instance, coffee cup paper stock.

[0038] Preferred embodiments of various aspects of the invention feature a lid which has a clear section in its center through which the goods or a seal may be viewed. In certain embodiments of this aspect, the lid comprises a colored or opaque outer rim and a central region of clear plastic. In other embodiments, the lid has a rim region and a central region integrally formed of clear plastic and a second colored or opaque rim member is attached to the clear plastic rim of the lid to render the resulting composite rim region colored or opaque.

Problems solved by technology

In the home environment, such suspended packages may occupy ordinarily unused space, as where the normal items on a shelf do not reach the height of the next shelf, e.g. in waste space of a dish or staples cabinet or a refrigerator.

The suspending element in the form of a flexible strand extends through an aperture in the lid to a formation that is larger than the aperture, the formation creating interference with structure of the underside of the lid to prevent passage of the formation through the aperture and thereby cause transfer of the load on the lid, including the load of the container, to the suspending element.

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