A container

Abstract

A recyclable container 1 for storing food or drink, comprises a main body 2, typically formed of paper or card, and an insertable and removable aluminium liner 8, both of which can be recycled separat

Description

The present invention relates to a container for holding food a drink and particularly, but not exclusively to a replacement for a standard paper cup. For the purposes of the present specification, the term “coffee cup” is used below to generally refer to a disposable cup suitable for storing a beverage, and more particularly, a hot beverage such as coffee, tea, or hot chocolate. Every year, hundreds of billions of disposable coffee cups are thrown away and not recycled. Disposable coffee cups are typically made of paper, meaning that hundreds of millions of trees are cut down every year to produce these coffee cups. Most coffee cups are not recycled because the interior of a typical coffee cup is coated with either polyethylene film or a bio-based coating such as polylactic acid in order to make the inside of the cup liquid impermeable. This prevents the beverage within the cup from permeating into the paper material of the cup, which would both make the cup soggy and ruin the taste of the beverage. Removing the coating from the coffee cups is not an economically viable process and cannot be done by many recycling facilities. It is an object of the present invention to provide a recyclable container suitable for use as a coffee cup and more broadly for holding a wide range of food and drink. According to the present invention in a first aspect there is provided a container for holding food or drink comprising: a main body having a liquid-permeable interior surface, a closed end, an open end opposite the closed end, and a peripheral wall extending between the closed end and the open end of the main body, the peripheral wall and the closed end defining an interior surface of the main body; and an insertable and removable, single piece, aluminium inner liner which, when inserted into the main body, wholly covers the interior surface of the main body, the liner having a closed end, an open end opposite the closed end, through which open end food or drink may be placed into or removed from the interior of the container, and a peripheral wall extending between the closed end and the open end of the liner; wherein the liner is composed of a first portion and a second portion, the first portion comprising a circumferential band of the peripheral wall of the liner proximal to the open end of the liner and the second portion comprising the remainder of the peripheral wall and the closed end of the liner, the thickness of the aluminium forming the first portion of the liner being greater than the thickness of the aluminium forming the second portion. Aluminium is a liquid impermeable material, and thus any food or drink within the liner will not come into contact with the main body of the container, and therefore the main body no longer needs to be liquid impermeable. This allows paper coffee cups, for example, to be made without the liquid impermeable coating that prevents them from being recycled. Once the user of the container has finished his or her food or drink, he or she can remove the liner from the coffee cup and recycle each component separately. The liner being a single piece (homogenous) means that it is unitarily formed, and it therefore does not have any joints which could be weak spots in the liner which could fail and through which fluid could leak. A unitarily formed liner is also cheap to manufacture at scale. The thicker first portion of the liner strengthens the liner and increases its rigidity, thereby lessening the likelihood of the liner losing its shape or collapsing, especially when the container is gripped by a user or when the liner is being dispensed from a dispenser, discussed below. The thicker first portion acts to maintain its shape when inserted into the main body and thus conforms more easily to the shape of the main body than the thinner second portion, thus creating a firm grip between first portion of the liner and the main body and preventing relative movement between the liner and the main body. The thicker first portion is also the portion that a user will normally engage with when removing the liner from the main body and here the thicker portion is more resistant to tearing during the removal process. The second portion is thinner than the upper portion to reduce the total amount of aluminium required in the liner, thus reducing manufacturing costs. Preferably, the second portion of the liner has a smooth outer surface and a smooth inner surface. This makes manufacturing the liner cheap and simple. It should be noted that no ridges or other surface features are required in the second portion of the liner to strengthen the liner, as the liner does not need to be wholly rigid; rather, it need only be rigid enough to prevent collapse of the liner within the main body of the container, and this is sufficiently realised by the thicker first portion of the liner. Preferably, the first portion of the liner has a smooth inner surface and a serrated outer surface for gripping the interior surface of the main body. The serrated outer surface ensures a firm grip with the interior surface of the main body, preventing relative movement between the liner and the main body. Preferably, the thickness of the aluminium forming the first portion of the liner is uniform across the whole of the first portion, and the thickness of the aluminium forming the second portion of the liner is uniform across the whole of the second portion. This allows for cheap and simple manufacturing of the liner. Preferably, the closed end of the main body has a small hole of less than 4 mm diameter through which air can escape from the interior of the main body upon insertion of the liner into the main body during assembly of the container. The small size of the hole allows for the closed end of the container to better support the closed end of the liner across its whole surface area. Preferably, the peripheral wall of the liner is rolled back on itself to form a rim defining the open end of the liner and, when the liner is fully inserted into the main body, the rim and a first part of the first portion extends out of the open end of the main body. This ensures that there is not a sharp edge of the liner at the open end of the liner, provides a reinforced rim which acts to maintain the shape of the open end of the liner, provides an edge which a lid can snap fit to and, where the container is a cup, provides a comfortable feel to the user drinking from the container. The container preferably further comprises a lid arranged to be attached to the rim of the liner, the lid having a groove in which the rim of the liner is arranged to be inserted with a tight fit so as to form a liquid tight seal at the open end of the liner. The lid is preferably made of a recyclable plastic or a plant-based fibre. Upon disposal of the cup, the lid, liner and main body can be easily separated and recycled separately. The peripheral wall of the main body is preferably rolled back on itself to form a rim defining the open end of the main body, the rim of the main body being in contact along substantially its entire circumference with the rim of the liner. The rim of the main body strengthens the main body at its open end, further supporting the container when it is gripped by a user. The rim of the main body being in contact with the rim of the liner further supports the liner and allows for the correct positioning of the liner within the main body. Preferably, the closed end of the liner is flat, and the closed end of the main body has a flat inner surface. Preferably, the closed end of the liner is in contact with the closed end of the main body across substantially the whole area of the closed end of the main body. In this way, the closed end of the liner is supported by the closed end of the main body. Furthermore, the closed end of the liner being flat (as opposed to a dome shape or similar) permits it to be very thin, as the closed end would need to be relatively thick and rigid to maintain a non-flat shape. Preferably, the peripheral wall of the liner is in contact with the peripheral wall of the main body across substantially the whole area of the peripheral wall of the main body. In this way, the main body further supports the liner. Furthermore, this arrangement ensures optimal usage of the space within the main body for holding food or drink. The main body may be made of paper or cardboard or a similar recyclable material, as is the case currently with conventional coffee cups, to permit both a low manufacturing cost and widespread recyclability. Each of the peripheral wall of the main body and of the liner may be shaped as a conical frustum, which is a simple and cheap shape to manufacture, and which allows for multiple main bodies to be stacked nested together and for multiple liners to be stacked nested together. In the particular case where the container is a cup for holding a drink, the peripheral wall of the main body and of the liner is shaped as a conical frustum as described above, with the material forming the first portion of the liner preferably having a thickness of between 0.2 and 0.25 mm, the material forming the second portion of the liner preferably having a thickness of between 0.075 and 0.15 mm, and the circumferential band of the peripheral wall of the liner has a width of between 10 and 30 mm. According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an aluminium liner suitable for use as the insertable and removable, homogenous aluminium inner liner in the container described above. According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a dispenser for individually dispensing a stack of nested liners, each as described above, the stack comprising a distal end and a proximal end, the dispenser being arranged to dispense the proximal-most liner from the stack of liners, the dispenser comprising a frame, a sliding member within the frame, the sliding member comprising a first support platform and a second support platform, and an actuator having a first position and a second position, wherein: the first support platform is arranged, in an engaged position, to sit beneath the rim of the proximal-most liner to prevent removal of the proximal-most liner from the stack of liners; the second support platform is arranged, in an engaged position, to sit beneath the rim of the second liner from the proximal end of the stack of liners to prevent removal of the second liner from the proximal end of the stack of liners from the stack of liners but to allow removal of the proximal-most liner from the stack of liners; and when the actuator is in the first position, the first support platform is in its engaged position and the second support platform is not in its engaged position, and when the actuator is in the second position, the first support platform is not in its engaged position and the second support platform is in its engaged position, the sliding member being arranged to slide when the actuator is moved from the first position to the second position to slide the first support platform out of its engaged position and to slide the second support platform into its engaged position so as to dispense the proximal-most dispenser. In use, the main body of a container will preferably be placed over the proximal-most liner, with a firm grip being formed between the first portion of the liner and the main body, before the liner is dispensed. The main body can then be moved away from the dispenser with the dispensed liner within it. In this way, the liner may be dispensed and inserted into the main body without being directly handled by a user. This is preferable because it greatly reduces the likelihood of the relatively thin liner, particularly the second portion, being damaged prior to insertion, or upon insertion, into the main body. Preferably, the dispenser comprises a rigid blank over which the distal-most liner is nested in order to support and rigidify the liners towards the distal end of the stack once the other liners in the stack have already been dispensed. Non-limiting embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is an exploded perspective view of a coffee cup in accordance with the first aspect of the present invention; Figures 2a is a front view of the liner of the coffee cup of Figure 1, and Figure 2b is a cross-sectional view along the line A-A in Figure 2a; Figures 3a is a front view of the coffee cup of Figure 1 without the lid, and Figure 3b is a cross-sectional view along the line B-B in Figure 3a; Figures 4a is a front view of the whole coffee cup of Figure 1, and Figure 4b is a cross-sectional view along the line C-C in Figure 4a; Figure 5 is an exploded front view of a food container in accordance with the first aspect of the present invention; Figure 6a is a front view the assembled food container of Figure 5, and Figure 6b is a cross-sectional view of the line DD in Figure 6a; Figures 7a to 7c are perspective views of parts of a dispenser in accordance with the third aspect of the present invention; and Figure 7d is a perspective view of the assembled dispenser of Figures 7a to 7c. With reference to Figures 1 to 4b, here there is shown a coffee cup 1 comprising three separate parts: a main body 2; an aluminium liner 8 within the main body 2; and a lid 17 placed over the liner 8. The liner 8 is insertable within and removable from the inside of the main body 2, and it wholly covers the interior surface of the main body. As aluminium is a liquid impermeable material, the beverage within the liner 8 is prevented from coming into contact with the main body 2. The main body 2 is made of an insulating widely recyclable material, most typically paper. The liner being made of aluminium, is also widely recyclable. The lid 17 is made of a of a recyclable plastic or plant-based fibre. Therefore, each component of the coffee cup 1 is recyclable, unlike conventional coffee cups. Once the present coffee cup 1 has been used, the user simply needs to separate the lid 17, liner 8 and main body 2 and recycles each of these components separately. Each of the main body 2, liner 8 and lid 17 of the coffee cup 1 is described in turn below. The main body 2 is manufactured and shaped like a conventional paper coffee cup, except it doesn’t have a liquid impermeable coating. The main body 2 has an open end 3, a flat closed end 7, and a peripheral wall 5 extending between the open end 2 and the closed end 3. The main body 2 is tapered, such that its shape is that of a conical frustum, to permit a set of several main bodies to be nested together (e.g., for the purposes of distribution). The peripheral wall is rolled back on itself to form a rim 4 around the open end, as best shown in the detail Y of Figure 4b. The rolled-back rim provides a comfortable rim for the user of the cup 1 to drink from. The peripheral wall 5 is relatively thick compared to the liner 8 discussed below, and this provides for greater thermal insulation of the beverage, both maintaining the temperature of a warm beverage within the cup 1 and allowing the user to comfortably hold the cup 1 without burning his or her fingers. There may be a sleeve (not shown) around the peripheral wall 5 to further insulate the user’s fingers from the heat of the beverage within the cup 1. More importantly the thickness of far cheaper paper of the peripheral wall 5 and the flat closed end 7 of the main body 2 of the cup 1 provides the rigidity to the cup 1, necessary so that the cup 1 can be safely picked up, held and handled by a user. As is conventional, the peripheral wall 5 may include a bottom portion 6 which extends vertically below the closed end 7 of the main body 2, to form a lower rim around the closed end 7 of the main body 1. As the closed end 7 may be hot to the touch if the cup 1 is holding a hot beverage, the bottom portion 6 of the peripheral wall 5 prevents the closed end 7 from coming into contact with a table or other surface on which the cup 1 may be placed. Furthermore, only the bottom portion 6 of the wall 5 being in contact with the table or other surface instead of the whole closed end 7 prevents any wobbling of the cup 1 which may arise due to any unevenness or imperfection in the flatness of the closed end 7. There is a small hole 21 (shown in Figures 3b and 4b) through the closed end 7 of the main body 2, to allow air to escape from within the main body 2 as the liner 8 is inserted. The size of the hole 21 is not sufficient to permit the liner 8 to be deflected to any significant extent into the hole, when the liner 8 has been inserted into the main body 2 and has been filled with a liquid. Turning now to the liner 8, the liner 8 has an open end 9, a closed end 16, and a peripheral wall 15 extending between the open end 9 and closed end 16. The liner 8 is homogenous and unitarily formed. The beverage held by the cup 1 is held wholly within the liner 8 and is poured into and removed from (i.e. drunk from) the open end 9. The liner 8 can simply be put into and pulled out from the interior of the main body 2, with there being no adhesive between the liner 8 and the main body 2 or any mechanical fastening means. The liner 8 is tapered so as to be a conical frustrum, allowing multiple liners to be nested together (i.e., for distribution). The profile of the liner 8 is the same shape as and is only slightly smaller than the internal profile of the main body 2, so that the liner 8 can fit tightly within the main body 2 and can closely hug the interior surface of the main body 2. The closed end 16 of the liner 8 is flat and, when the liner 8 is fully inserted into the main body 2, the closed end 16 rests on top of and is supported by the flat interior surface of the closed end 7 of the main body 2, withthe hole 21 being sufficiently small (4mm in diameter or less) so that the hole 21 does not effect, to any material extent, the support provided to the liner 8 by the flat interior surface of the closed end 7 of the main body 2. It is desirable that the liner 8 be as thin as possible to minimise the quantity of aluminium used. The lower portion of the liner 8 is fully supported by the paper main body 2 and so the liner is formed to have a thickness in this lower region of between 0.075 mm and 0.15 mm, as shown in Figure 2b. However, the upper portion extends out of the paper main body 2 of the container 1, so this needs to be thicker to support the rim of the liner 10, to make a reliable and snug fit with the open end and rim 4 of the main body 2, and to resist tearing when the liner 8 is pulled out of the main body 2. The peripheral wall 15 of the liner 8 is therefore formed to include a horizontal band 13 extending between 10 and 20 mm from the open end 9 of the liner 8, where the aluminium of the band 13 has a thickness of between 0.2 and 0.25 mm. The band 13 is not a separate component but simply a thicker portion of the homogenous liner 8. The thicker aluminium of the band 13 increases the rigidity of the liner 8 to prevent the liner 8 from collapsing and losing its shape, especially when the cup 1 is gripped by a user or when the liner 8 is dispensed from a dispenser (discussed below When the liner 8 is fully inserted into the main body 2, the band 13 fits particularly tightly within the main body 2, securing the liner 8 within the main body 2 and preventing relative movement between them. The band 13 also has a serrated outer surface to increase grip between the main body 2 and the liner 8. Aside from the serrated outer surface of the band 13, the outer and inner surfaces of the liner 8 are smooth, decreasing the manufacturing cost of the liner. When the liner 8 is fully inserted into the main body 2, the band extends above the rim 4 of the main body 2. Here the liner 8 has a rolled back portion forming a rim 10, as best shown in detail X of Figure 2b which stiffens the rim of the liner and preferably the aluminium forming the rim has the same thickness as the first portion of the liner 13. Turning now to the lid 17, this is similar to the lid of a conventional coffee cup. It comprises two openings: one 18 through which the user can drink, and another 19 which serves as a vent hole for releasing pressure from within the cup 1. The lid 17 also comprises a groove 20 which fits tightly around the rim 10 of the liner 8 to form a liquid tight seal between the liner 8 and the lid 17. As shown in detail Y of Figure 4b, there is clearance between the lid 17 and the main body 2, such that the main body 2 does not come into contact with the lid 17. An alternative embodiment of the present invention, suitable for use as a food container rather than a coffee cup is illustrated in Figures 5 to 6b. Like features are indicated by the same numerals as those above for the coffee cup of Figures 1 to 4b, but each incremented by 100. The food container illustrated is similar to the coffee cup embodiment, except the food container is of a larger diameter than the coffee cup, making it more appropriate for storing and eating solid food from. However, the food container could alternatively have a rectangular footprint, instead of the circular footprint of the coffee cup. Due to the thinness of the aluminium of the liners 8 and 108, direct handling of the liners is difficult. Therefore, a dispenser 30 for dispensing liners is described below with reference to Figures 7a to 7d. Although these figures illustrate a dispenser 22 for dispensing liners 8 for coffee cups 1, this is not limiting, and a similar dispenser could also be used for dispensing liners 108 for food containers 101. The dispenser 30 comprises a frame 32, a loading tube 31, a sliding member 22, and a button 23 connected to the sliding member 22 via an actuation rod 24 that extends through shaft 29 in the frame 32. A spring 25 is coiled about the actuation rod and sits between a shoulder 33 beneath the button and the shaft 29. Note that the loading tube 31, frame 32 and shaft 29 are not shown in Figures 7a to 7c. The sliding member 22 comprises a pair of first support platforms 26 and a pair of second support platforms 27. The second support platforms 27 are spaced above the first support platforms 26, with the first support platforms 26 being further from the loading tube 31 than the second support platforms 27. Each of the second support platforms 27 has a protrusion 28 extending perpendicularly to the second support platforms 27 in the direction of the first support platforms 26. The operation of the dispenser is described below. Firstly, a proximal end of a nested stack of liners 8 is inserted through the loading tube 31. The liners 8 are stacked such that the open ends 9 of the liners 8 face towards a distal end of the stack. The stack passes through the dispenser until the rim 10 of the proximal-most liner (henceforth “the first proximal liner” 34) passes by the second support platforms 27 and comes into contact with and rests upon the first support platforms 26. The first support platforms 26 are thus vertically below the rim 10 of the first proximal liner 34 such that they support the weight of the whole stack of liners. The first proximal liner 34 extends out of the other side of the dispenser to the loading tube 31. Secondly, a main body 2 is pushed onto the closed end 16 of the first proximal liner 34, as shown in Figure 7b. The main body 2 is fully pushed onto the first proximal liner 34 until the first proximal liner 34 is fully inserted into the main body 2 and the band 13 of the first proximal liner 34 firmly and tightly grips the main body 2. Thirdly, the button 23 is pressed, and the spring 25 compresses between the shaft 29 and the shoulder 33. Pressing the button pushes the sliding member 22 via the actuation rod 24. The sliding member 22 then slides relative to the stack such that the second support platforms 27 are moved into position beneath the rim 10 of the second most proximal liner 8 in the stack (henceforth “the second proximal liner” 35) to support the weight of the second proximal liner 35 and all liners above the second proximal liner 35 in the stack. The sliding member 22 continues to slide relative to the stack until the first support platforms 26 are removed from underneath the first proximal liner 34. The protrusions 28 of the second support platforms 27 push on the rim 10 of the first proximal liner 34. The first proximal liner 34, whose weight is no longer supported by the sliding member 22, and which has been pushed out of engagement with the second proximal liner 35 by the protrusions 28, can then be removed from the stack with the main body 2 5 around it. Fourthly and finally, the button 23 is released and springs back to its original position, causing the sliding member 22 to return to its original position, with the weight of the second proximal liner 35 and the rest of the remaining stack being 10 supported by the first support platforms 26. Although the invention has been described above, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, it will be appreciated that many variations and modifications may be possible which fall within the scope of the 15 following claims.

Claims

1. A container for holding food or drink comprising:a main body having a liquid-permeable interior surface, a closed end, an open end opposite the closed end, and a peripheral wall extending between the closed end and the open end of the main body, the peripheral wall and the closed end defining an interior surface of the main body; andan insertable and removable, single piece, aluminium inner liner which, when inserted into the main body, wholly covers the interior surface of the main body, the liner having a closed end, an open end opposite the closed end, through which open end food or drink may be placed into or removed from the interior of the container, and a peripheral wall extending between the closed end and the open end of the liner;wherein the liner is composed of a first portion and a second portion, the first portion comprising a band of the peripheral wall of the liner proximal to the open end of the liner and the second portion comprising the remainder of the peripheral wall and the closed end of the liner, the thickness of the aluminium forming the first portion of the liner being greater than the thickness of the aluminium forming the second portion.

2. A container as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the second portion of the liner has a smooth outer surface and a smooth inner surface.

3. A container as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2, wherein the first portion of the liner has a smooth inner surface and a serrated outer surface for gripping the interior surface of the main body.

4. A container as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the thickness of the aluminium forming the first portion of the liner is uniform across the whole of the first portion, and the thickness of the aluminium forming the second portion of the liner is uniform across the whole of the second portion.

5. A container as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the closed end of the main body has a small hole of less than 4 mm diameter through which air can escape from the interior of the main body upon insertion of the liner into the main body during assembly of the container.

6. A container as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the peripheral wall of the liner is rolled back on itself to form a rim defining the open end of the liner and wherein, when the liner is fully inserted into the main body the rim and a first part of the first portion extends out of the open end of the main body.

7. A container as claimed in Claim 6, further comprising a lid arranged to be attached to the rim of the liner, the lid having a groove in which the rim of the liner is arranged to be inserted with a tight fit so as to form a liquid tight seal at the open end of the liner.

8. A container as claimed in Claim 6 or 7, wherein the peripheral wall of the main body is rolled back on itself to form a rim defining the open end of the main body, the rim of the main body being in contact along substantially its entire length with the rim of the liner.

9. A container as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the closed end of the liner is flat, and the closed end of the main body has a flat inner surface.

10. A container as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the closed end of the liner is in contact with the closed end of the main body across substantially the whole area of the closed end of the main body.

11. A container as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the peripheral wall of the liner is in contact with the peripheral wall of the main body across substantially the whole area of the peripheral wall of the main body.

12. A container as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the main body is formed of paper or cardboard.

13. A container as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein each of the peripheral wall of the main body and of the liner is shaped as a conical frustum.

14. A container as claimed in Claim 13, wherein the container is a cup for holding a drink.

15. A container as claimed in Claim 14, wherein the material forming the first portion of the liner has a thickness of between 0.2 and 0.25 mm, and wherein the material forming the second portion of the liner has a thickness of between 0.075 and 0.15 mm.

16. A container as claimed in Claim 14 or 15, wherein the band of the peripheral wall of the liner has a width of between 10 and 30.

17. An aluminium liner suitable for use as the insertable and removable, homogenous aluminium inner liner in the container of any one of Claims 1 to 16.

18. A dispenser for individually dispensing a liner from a stack of nested liners, each as claimed in Claim 17, the stack comprising a distal end and a proximal end, the dispenser being arranged to dispense the proximal-most liner from the stack of liners,the dispenser comprising a frame, an actuator, and a sliding member within the frame, the sliding member comprising a first support platform and a second support platform;the actuator having a first position and a second position, the first support platform having an engaged position and a non-engaged position, and the second support platform having an engaged position and a non-engaged position;wherein:when the actuator is in the first position, the first support platform is in its engaged position and the second support platform is in its non-engaged position;when the actuator is in the second position, the first support platform is in its non-engaged position and the second support platform is in its engaged position;the first support platform is arranged, when in its engaged position and not in its non-engaged position, to sit beneath the rim of the proximal-most liner to prevent removal of the proximal-most liner from the stack of liners;the second support platform is arranged, when in its engaged position and not in its non-engaged position, to sit beneath the rim of the second liner from the proximal end of the stack of liners to prevent removal of said second liner from the stack of liners but to allow removal of the proximal-most liner from the stack of liners;the sliding member is arranged to slide, when the actuator is moved from the first position to the second position, to slide the first support platform from its engaged position to its non-engaged position and to slide the second support platform from its non-engaged position into its engaged position; andthe sliding member is arranged to slide, when the actuator is moved back from the second position to the first position, to slide the first support platform from its non-engaged position to its engaged position and to slide the second support platform from its engaged position to its non-engaged position.

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