BUTTER AND CONTAINER SET

Abstract

A container and butter assembly comprising a stack of butter sheets (1) and separators (5) enclosed in a wrapper (10), characterized in that at least one separator (5) is located between the butter sheets (1).

Description

BUTTER AND CONTAINER SET TECHNICAL SECTOR Food. Dairy products. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Humans have always sought comfort, and within this pursuit lies the task of facilitating the act of spreading butter, especially when it has hardened due to the low temperatures of a refrigerator. Attempts have been made to introduce margarine, made from vegetable fats, which is even less healthy for the human body. Additives such as vegetable fats, water, fiber, etc. have also been added to butter to make it easier to spread. EXPLANATION OF THE INVENTION This invention proposes that, instead of packaging butter in block form or in a transparent container, it be packaged in thin sheets stacked but separated from each other by some type of separating element, such as a sheet or foil, to prevent them from sticking together and forming a uniform mass, or from returning, over time, to a state similar to that found in current packaging, forming such a uniform mass. The material of the separating element will preferably be flexible, such as plastic, food-grade paper, or any other material compatible with food contact, and its size will preferably be larger than that of the butter sheets. In this way, instead of scraping or cutting portions of butter with a knife and spreading them, for example, on toast, it would be enough to detach one or more of the sheets from the set, depending on the size of the sheets and the toast, and the amount desired by the consumer, and preferably with the help of a separator next to each sheet, and place them on top of said toast or any other desired food. For this butter packaging, it is necessary to cover the entire set of butter sheets and separator elements with a wrapper that protects it during transport and even storage at the final point of consumption. Each sheet of butter may be constituted as a continuous and substantially homogeneous solid. The difficulty that could arise, from a production point of view, is that a reasonable amount of butter for a piece of toast might require such a reduced thickness that it would hinder its automated manufacture. In that case, each sheet could have a thicker, grid-like shape instead of a uniform one. This way, the same amount of butter would cover the same surface area, but with gaps or areas not covered. Statistically, the same amount of butter would be ingested with each bite, and the user experience could even be enhanced by eating areas with a higher concentration of butter. One way to achieve a grid pattern is to make a series of discontinuous cuts in a single direction, repeating this pattern perpendicular to the cuts, within the plane of the butter sheet. In other words, a matrix of cuts in one direction. When these cuts are staggered, stretching the butter sheet perpendicular to the cuts results in a diamond-shaped grid pattern. To facilitate stretching the butter sheet for the consumer, while maintaining the compact size of the packaging during production and transport, the butter sheet can be placed on folded dividers. For example, the fold axis can be perpendicular to the direction of stretching required to create the grid pattern, meaning it should be parallel to the cuts in the butter sheet. During storage before use, these folds do not come into contact with the butter sheet being stretched. Thus, when the edges of the divider are pulled, the butter sheet will stretch, resting on the folded areas which will align with the unfolded areas of the divider. To make it easier to peel one of the sheets from the rest, separators, with or without folds, can be included on both sides of each sheet, or, considering one between sheets, an additional one can be included on the outer faces of the end sheets of the stacked set, so that they are not in direct contact with the wrapping. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1.- Schematic representation of the container and butter assembly, which includes a separator (5) for each of the butter sheets (1). Figure 2.- Schematic representation of the container and butter assembly, which includes two separators (5) for each of the butter sheets (1), one on each side. Figure 3.- Schematic representation of the butter sheet (1) when it has a grid shape and is made up of a butter mesh (2) and gaps (3). Figure 4A.- Schematic representation of the butter sheet (1) when it is formed as a continuous and homogeneous solid and has a matrix of longitudinal cuts (4) in a single direction and arranged in a staggered pattern, and is located on a separator (5) with folded areas (6). Figure 4B.- Schematic representation of the butter sheet (1) when it is formed as a continuous and homogeneous solid with a matrix of longitudinal cuts (4) in a single direction and arranged in a staggered pattern, and is located on a separator (5) with folded areas (6), and of the grid shape obtained by stretching it with a force F in the direction perpendicular to the longitudinal cuts (4), as well as the necessary unfolding of the separator (5) with folded areas (6). Figure 5.- Schematic representation of the container and butter assembly, which includes, for each of the sheets of butter (1), a separator (5) with folded areas (6). Figure 6.- Schematic representation of the butter sheet (1) , when its shape is a grid, applied on a piece of toast (15). PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION The proposed packaging and butter assembly will consist of a stack of butter sheets (1) separated from each other by separators (5), whose size will preferably be larger than that of the butter sheets (1), and all of this covered by a wrapper (10). As shown in Figure 1, there can be one separator (5) for each sheet of butter (1). Another implementation option is to place a separator (5) on each side of each sheet of butter (1). This would result in a set of two separators (5) between each sheet of butter (1), as shown in Figure 2. In the case of having one separator per sheet of butter (1), additional separators (5) can also be added to the sheets of butter (1) at one end of the stack to avoid direct contact with the wrapper (10). According to figure 3, the butter sheets (1) can be grid-shaped, consisting of a butter mesh (2) and gaps (3). Butter sheets (1) can also be shaped as a substantially homogeneous continuous solid. In this case, they may have a matrix of longitudinal cuts (4) in a single direction along the sheet, with these cuts arranged in a staggered pattern, as shown in Figure 4A. This staggered arrangement of the cuts results in a rhomboid grid shape when the butter sheet (1) is stretched by a force F in the direction perpendicular to the cuts, as shown schematically in Figure 4B. The separator (5) can be a flat, thin sheet or plate. It can also have one or more folded areas (6) that are not in contact with a sheet of butter (1), but which could be in contact with another sheet of butter (1) or another separator (5), as shown in Figures 4A to 5. These folded areas (6) in the separators (5) may have their folding axis in the same direction as the longitudinal cuts (4) of the butter sheets (1), i.e., perpendicular to the direction of the force F. In addition, the material of the separators (5) will preferably be non-rigid, such as plastic, food-grade paper, or any other material compatible with contact with food. Figure 6 shows how a sheet of butter (1) in the form of a grid covers the surface of a piece of toast (15).

Claims

1. A container and butter assembly comprising a stack of butter sheets (1) and separators (5) enclosed in a wrapper (10), characterized in that at least one separator (5) is located between the butter sheets (1).

2. A container and butter assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that at least one of the faces of the butter sheets (1) adjacent to the wrapper (10) has a separator adjacent to it.

3. A container and butter assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that a separator (5) is located adjacent to each face of each butter sheet (1).

4. A container and butter assembly according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the butter sheets (1) are grid-shaped, consisting of a butter mesh (2) and openings (3). 5.A container and butter assembly according to any of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the butter sheets (1) are formed as a substantially homogeneous continuous solid.

6. A container and butter assembly according to the preceding claim, characterized in that it has a matrix of longitudinal cuts (4) in a single direction.

7. A container and butter assembly according to the preceding claim, characterized in that said cuts are arranged in a staggered pattern.

8. A container and butter assembly according to any of claims 6 to 7, characterized in that each butter sheet (1) is in contact with at least one separator (5) containing at least one folded area (6) that is not in contact with said butter sheet (1) and that may contact another butter sheet (1) or another separator (5). 9.A container and butter assembly according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the folding axis of the folded areas (6) is in the same direction as the longitudinal cuts (4).

10. A container and butter assembly according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the material of the separators (5) is plastic.

11. A container and butter assembly according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the material of the separators (5) is food-grade paper.

12. A container and butter assembly according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the separators (5) are larger than the butter sheets (1).