Holder for food containers in the form of a frame
A nestable plastic food container holder with cut-outs addresses the inefficiency of transferring salads by enabling direct presentation and reducing waste, enhancing elegance and efficiency in large gatherings.
Patent Information
- Authority / Receiving Office
- US · United States
- Patent Type
- Applications(United States)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- GILBERT DANIEL PAUL SCOTT
- Filing Date
- 2025-01-30
- Publication Date
- 2026-07-30
AI Technical Summary
Transferring salads from small plastic containers to elegant dishes for large gatherings is time-consuming and burdensome, degrading the elegance of the meal while generating plastic waste.
A nestable plastic food container holder in the form of a frame with cut-outs that define a source identifier and allow content viewing, enhancing presentation without transfer, and facilitating stacking and hanging for decorative display.
Saves time, enhances meal presentation, reduces plastic waste, and maintains elegance by allowing salads to be presented directly from their containers, promoting efficient and reusable solutions for large gatherings.
Smart Images
Figure US20260217418A1-D00000_ABST
Abstract
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The invention is in the field of holders for plastic containers that contain food, and in particular methods and apparatuses for preparing and presenting salads and other foods in an enhanced and more efficient manner, for example for festive meals for significant numbers of people.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] When a salad is purchased for a festive meal, it typically is purchased in a plastic container. Many different types of salads, for example ten or fifteen, may be purchased for the meal, thus resulting in many different plastic containers. This is because the host wants to satisfy the different palates of the guests. Accordingly, each container may be relatively small and the host may prefer to offer fifteen different types of salads rather than one or two large containers of salads.
[0003] Normally, in order to present the contents of the plastic containers to those partaking of the meal, which may a large number of people, it is necessary transfer each of the salads or other foods into appropriate presentable bowls or other culinary utensils. Many people transfer the salads or other foods into semi-rigid plastic semi-elegant containers which they then discard after use. Whether they do this or transfer them to regular dishes, for those who regularly, for example weekly, prepare festive meals for significant numbers of people, this is a time-consuming and burdensome task each time it is executed. Yet to dispense with this step and keep the salads in their original purchased containers would degrade the elegance of the festive meal.SUMMARY OF THE EMBODIMENTS
[0004] One embodiment is a holder of nestable plastic food containers in the form of a frame, comprising:
[0005] walls including
[0006] a bottom wall;
[0007] at least one sloping side wall;
[0008] wherein one or more of the walls has a cut-out, each particular cut-out of the one or more cut-outs occupies at least 40% of a surface area of a particular wall of the walls that the particular cut-out is cut out of,
[0009] the one or more cut-outs are shaped so as
[0010] (a) to define a source identifier associated with the holder and
[0011] (b) to allow a user to view contents of one of the food containers held by the holder,
[0012] wherein a size of the holder matches a size of the nestable plastic food containers that the holder holds.
[0013] In some embodiments, the at least one sloping side wall is round. In some embodiments, at least one of the one or more cut-outs occupies at least a majority of the surface area of the particular wall of the one or more of the bottom wall and the sloping round side wall. In some embodiments, one of the one or more cut-outs is situated in the bottom wall. In some embodiments, the bottom wall has one of the cut-outs and the sloping side wall has one of the cut-outs. In some embodiments, the bottom wall has one of the cut-outs and two additional cut-outs of the one or more cut-outs are situated in opposite portions of the sloping side wall.
[0014] In some embodiments, at least one of the one or more cut-outs occupies at least 60% of the surface area of the particular wall of the one or more of the bottom wall and the sloping round side wall,
[0015] In some embodiments, the one or more cut-outs are situated in the bottom wall and in the at least one sloping side wall.
[0016] In some embodiments, at least one of the one or more cut-outs is shaped as a single crown or as a double crown.
[0017] In some embodiments, at least one of the one or more cut-outs comprises a logo or an alphanumeric character.
[0018] In some embodiments, at least one of the one or more cut-outs of the at least one sloping side wall is located closer to a rim of the holder than to the bottom wall.
[0019] In some embodiments, at least one of the one or more cut-outs occupies at least a majority of the surface area of the particular wall of the one or more of the bottom wall and the at least one sloping side wall.
[0020] In some embodiments, at least one of the one or more cut-outs occupies at least two-thirds of the surface area of the particular wall of the one or more of the bottom wall and the at least one sloping side wall.
[0021] In some embodiments, each of the one or more cut-outs that define the source identifier is a single continuous cut-out. In some embodiments, for each wall, the rest of the wall other the cut-out is a single solid unit.
[0022] In some embodiments, the holder is configured to be lifted by grasping the at least one sloping side wall.
[0023] In some embodiments, the bottom wall of the holder is substantially rectangular.
[0024] Another embodiment is a holder of nestable plastic food containers in the form of a frame, comprising:
[0025] a bottom wall;
[0026] a sloping left side wall;
[0027] a sloping right side wall;
[0028] a sloping front wall; and
[0029] a sloping rear wall,
[0030] wherein one or more of the walls comprises a cut-out, each of one or more cut-outs occupying at least 40% of a surface area of a particular wall of the one or more of the walls,
[0031] the one or more cut-outs shaped so as
[0032] (a) to define a source identifier associated with the holder and
[0033] (b) to allow a user to view contents of one of the food containers held by the holder,
[0034] wherein a size of the holder matches a size of the nestable plastic food containers that the holder holds.
[0035] In some embodiments, one of the one or more cut-outs is situated in the bottom wall.
[0036] In some embodiments, one of the one or more cut-outs is situated in the bottom wall and one of the one or more cut-outs is situated in one or more of the sloping walls. In some embodiments, each of the one or more cut-outs in the one or more sloping walls is located closer to a rim of the holder than to the bottom wall.
[0037] In some embodiments, one of the one or more cut-outs is situated in the bottom wall and one of the one or more cut-outs is situated in each of two of the sloping walls.
[0038] In some embodiments, at least one of the one or more cut-outs occupies at least 60% of the surface area of the particular wall of the one or more of the walls.
[0039] In some embodiments, at least one of the one or more cut-outs occupies at least two-thirds of the surface area of the particular wall of the one or more of the walls.
[0040] In some embodiments, the one or more cut-outs that define the source identifier is a single continuous cut-out. In some embodiments, for each wall, the rest of the wall other the cut-out is a single solid unit.
[0041] In some embodiments, the holder is configured to be lifted by grasping the at least one sloping side wall.
[0042] A still further embodiment is a stack of nestable holders, each of the holders configured in a form of a frame and configured to hold a nestable plastic food container, the stack comprising:
[0043] a series of the at least three holders, wherein each holder in the series comprises:
[0044] a bottom wall;
[0045] at least one sloping side wall;
[0046] wherein the bottom wall has a cut-out that occupies a majority of a surface area of the bottom wall,
[0047] the cut-out shaped so as
[0048] (a) to define a source identifier associated with the holder and
[0049] (b) to allow a user to view contents of one of the food containers held by any of the holders.
[0050] In some embodiments, the cut-outs in the walls of the holders in the stack are aligned such that the stack as a whole is configured to be hung by the cut-outs on an element projecting from a wall, the wall and the element not part of the stack, such that the source identifier can be advertised to onlookers while the stack is hung.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0051] Various embodiments are herein described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:
[0052] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a holder for a food container, in accordance with one embodiment;
[0053] FIG. 2 is a front view of the holder of FIG. 1, in accordance with one embodiment;
[0054] FIG. 3 is a rear view of the holder of FIG. 1, in accordance with one embodiment;
[0055] FIG. 4 is a left side view of the holder of FIG. 1, in accordance with one embodiment;
[0056] FIG. 5 is a right side view of the holder of FIG. 1, in accordance with one embodiment;
[0057] FIG. 6 is a top view of the holder of FIG. 1, in accordance with one embodiment;
[0058] FIG. 7 is a bottom view of the holder of FIG. 1, in accordance with one embodiment;
[0059] FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a holder for a food container, in accordance with one embodiment;
[0060] FIG. 9 is a front view of the holder of FIG. 8, in accordance with one embodiment;
[0061] FIG. 10 is a rear view of the holder of FIG. 8, in accordance with one embodiment;
[0062] FIG. 11 is a left side view of the holder of FIG. 8, in accordance with one embodiment;
[0063] FIG. 12 is a right side view of the holder of FIG. 8, in accordance with one embodiment;
[0064] FIG. 13 is a top view of the holder of FIG. 8, in accordance with one embodiment;
[0065] FIG. 14 is a bottom view of the holder of FIG. 8, in accordance with one embodiment; and
[0066] FIG. 15 is a perspective view of a stack of holders of the type shown in FIG. 1.DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS
[0067] The following detailed description is of the best currently contemplated modes of carrying out the invention. The description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, but is made merely for the purpose of illustrating the general principles of the invention, since the scope of the invention is best defined by the appended claims.
[0068] Applicant has discovered that it is possible to save time and effort, to enhance the presentation of the salads and other foods and to reduce plastic waste.
[0069] Certain embodiments generally provide a holder for food containers, the holder comprising a frame in which the food container sits. Generally, the size of the holder matches the size of the food container that it holds. The food containers themselves may be of the type that are nestable one within the other such that the food container also nests within the holder and also such that a stack of holders nests one within the other.
[0070] The holder may comprise a bottom wall and at least one side wall. The side wall may be sloping (i.e. wider at the bottom). If the holder is round then the side wall is a round side wall. If the holder is rectangular or square (or another shape) then its side walls may include a front, rear, left and right side wall.
[0071] The holder has at least one cut-out. In some embodiments, the cut-out is large enough that the remainder of the wall is essentially a frame. The cut-out may be situated on the bottom, on a side wall, on both the bottom and one or more side walls or only on the side walls or some of the side walls. The one or more cut-outs may be shaped (a) to define a source identifier associated with the holder and (b) to allow a user to view contents of one of the food containers held by the holder. This provides a way of enhancing the presentation of the salads or other food in the food containers without transferring the food contents into regular china or other elegant dishes. In addition, elegant decorative coverings such as color coded coverings may be made and placed on the remainder of the side walls of the holder. In some embodiments, the existence of the cut-out in the shape of a source identifier or logo makes it more elegant and encourages further transformations involving adding two-dimensional graphically elegant wrappings of the non-cutout portions of the side walls or bottom wall. In one non-limiting example, a crown-shaped conveys the impression of something exalted.
[0072] The holder may be stacked such that the bottom cut-outs are aligned and thereby used to hang the stack on something protruding from a wall of a room.
[0073] The holders are reusable.
[0074] The holders are configured for preparing and presenting salads and other foods in an enhanced and more efficient manner, for example for festive meals for significant numbers of people.
[0075] The principles and operation of a Holder for Food Containers in the Form of a Frame may be better understood with reference to the drawings and the accompanying description.
[0076] As shown in FIG. 1, one embodiment is a holder 10 of nestable plastic food containers (not shown) is in the form of a frame as a result of one or more cut-outs in the walls of the holder 10. Holder 10 includes walls including a bottom wall 20 and at least one side wall (30, 40, 50, 60, 70). If the holder 10 is round then the at least one side wall comprises one round side wall 30, as seen from FIG. 8. If the holder 10 is rectangular or square, or another quadrilateral, then the at least one side wall may comprise a left side wall 40, a right side wall 50, a front wall 60 and a rear wall 70, as shown in FIG. 1. If the holder is triangular or pentagonal then the at least one side wall may be comprised of three or five side walls, as the case may be, and so on.
[0077] As shown in FIG. 1 through FIG. 5 and FIG. 8 through FIG. 13, these side walls of the at least one side wall may be sloping and the below discussion will refer to the side walls as sloping side walls. The sloping nature of the side wall or side walls allows for the holder to hold the food container snugly and for the holder itself be nestable and stackable. The plastic food container itself (not shown) is one that is nestable and stackable.
[0078] The size (and general shape such as round versus rectangular) of the holder 10 matches the size (and general shape) of the food container that the holder 10 is designed to hold. This allows the food container to nest within the holder 10.
[0079] One or more of the walls, for example one or more of the bottom wall 20 and the at least one sloping side wall (30, 40, 50, 60, 70) has a cut-out 80. Accordingly, the holder 10 comprises one or more cut-outs 80.
[0080] As shown in FIGS. 1-3, 6-10 and 13-14, one or more of the walls (whether bottom wall or sloping side wall) has a cut-out 80. each particular cut-out 80 of the one or more cut-outs 80 occupies at least 40% of (or in other implementations at least a majority or in other implementations at least ⅔ or ¾ or ⅘ of, or in other implementations about 40% or about 50% or about 60% or about 75% or about 80% of, wherein “about” means plus or minus five percent of the quantity such that “about 50%” would mean from 47.5% to 52.5%) a surface area of the particular wall that that particular cut-out is cut out of.
[0081] For example, as shown in FIG. 6 (top view of holder 10 showing bottom cut-out) and in FIG. 7 (bottom view of holder 10 showing bottom cut-out), the cut-out in the bottom wall 20 may occupy at least 40%, or in other implementations, at least a majority or at least 60% or at least ⅔ or at least ¾ or at least ⅘, of the surface area of the bottom wall 20 from which it is cut out.
[0082] In some embodiments, each of the one or more cut-outs 80 in the holder, not just in the bottom wall 20 but also in the sloping side wall(s) (30, 40, 50, 60, 70) occupy 40%, or a majority, or 60% or ⅔, or ¾ or ⅘, of the surface area of the particular wall from which it is cut out.
[0083] In some embodiments, there is a cut-out in the bottom wall 20 and in one or both of the front wall 60 and rear wall 70. In other embodiments (whether round, square, rectangular or otherwise), there is a cut-out in the bottom wall 20 and one or both of the side walls (30, 40, 50, 60, 70). In still other embodiments (whether round, square, rectangular or otherwise), there is a cut-out in the bottom wall 20 and in all (or all except one) of the side walls (30, 40, 50, 60, 70). In some embodiments, there is no cut-out in the bottom wall and one or more cut-outs in the side wall or walls.
[0084] In the case of cut-outs in the sloping walls (left and right side walls 40, 50 or front wall 60 or rear wall 70 or round side wall 30), in some embodiments, the cut-out 80 is positioned higher than the middle of the height of the wall from which it is cut out-that is, closer to the rim 18 (FIG. 1) or top of the holder 10 than to the bottom wall 20 of the holder 10.
[0085] In some implementations, there is no more than one cut-out in any particular wall of the holder 10.
[0086] In general, the one or more cut-outs may be shaped so as:
[0087] (a) to define a source identifier associated with the holder (meaning that the shape of the cut-out is itself in the shape of the source identifier (such as a logo or name or symbol or word etc.) and
[0088] (b) to allow a user to view contents of one of the food containers held by the holder.
[0089] As shown in FIG. 6, FIG. 7, FIG. 13 and FIG. 14, in some implementations, the cut-out in a particular wall of holder 10 is in some embodiments shaped as a double crown (when the cut-out appears in the bottom wall 20) and as a single crown when the cut-out appears in one of the sloping side walls.
[0090] In some embodiments, as shown in FIGS. 1-3, 6-7, 8-10 and 13-14, each of the cut-outs that defines the source identifier (and allows viewing the contents of the food container) is a single continuous cut-out in that one can trace the border 82 (FIG. 6) of the cut-out 80 with a marking implement (for example a pencil) with a single continuous motion without having to lift the marking implement and resume tracing the border.
[0091] In some implementations, for entertainment of children, the bottom cut-out 80 may be used as a stencil.
[0092] In some embodiments, the rest of the wall (any such wall that has a cut-out) is a continuous solid piece.
[0093] In some embodiments, the holder 10 is configured to be lifted by grasping the sloping wall or walls of the holder 10. So, for example, in some embodiments, the holder 10 does not have a handle.
[0094] One advantage of the cut-outs is the drainage of water from the holder 10 after they have been rinsed during cleaning of the holder 10.
[0095] An additional function of the cut-outs is that in some implementations the bottom cut-out 80 for example can be used to render the remainder of the bottom wall 20 as a frame such as if a decorative sheet containing a decorative design is placed at the bottom of the holder 10 with the decorative side facing the cut-out. Then the holder can be placed on it side (right side or left side) and the decorative design functions as a picture wherein the cut-out in the bottom wall 20 allows the remainder of the bottom wall 20 to be the picture frame for the decorative design.
[0096] The cut-outs appearing in the walls of holder 10 may comprise shapes than those shown in the drawings FIGS. 1-14.
[0097] Another embodiment is a stack of nestable holders, each of the holders configured in a form of a frame and configured to hold a nestable plastic food container, the stack comprising:
[0098] a series of the at least three holders, wherein each holder in the series comprises:
[0099] a bottom wall;
[0100] at least one sloping side wall;
[0101] wherein the bottom wall has a cut-out that occupies a majority of a surface area of the bottom wall,
[0102] the cut-out shaped so as to
[0103] (a) define a source identifier associated with the holder and
[0104] (b) allow a user to view contents of one of the food containers held by any of the holders.
[0105] In some implementations, the cut-outs in the walls of the holders in the stack are aligned such that the stack as a whole is configured to be hung by the cut-outs on an element projecting from a wall, the wall and the element not part of the stack, such that the source identifier can be advertised to onlookers while the stack is hung.
[0106] Furthermore, even holders 10 of the same shape that are of different sizes (for example different lengths but the same width) can also be stacked and the cut-outs aligned.
[0107] While the invention has been described with respect to a limited number of embodiments, it will be appreciated that many variations, modifications and other applications of the invention may be made. Therefore, the claimed invention, as recited in the claims that follow, is not limited to the embodiments described herein.
Claims
1. A holder of nestable plastic food containers in the form of a frame, comprising:walls includinga bottom wall;at least one sloping side wall;wherein one or more of the walls has a cut-out, each particular cut-out of the one or more cut-outs occupies at least 40% of a surface area of a particular wall of the walls that the particular cut-out is cut out of,the one or more cut-outs are shaped so as(a) to define a source identifier associated with the holder and(b) to allow a user to view contents of one of the food containers held by the holder,wherein a size of the holder matches a size of the nestable plastic food containers that the holder holds.
2. The holder of claim 1, wherein the at least one sloping side wall is round.
3. The holder of claim 2, wherein at least one of the one or more cut-outs occupies at least a majority of the surface area of the particular wall of the one or more of the bottom wall and the sloping round side wall.
4. The holder of claim 2, wherein one of the one or more cut-outs is situated in the bottom wall.
5. The holder of claim 2, wherein the bottom wall has one of the cut-outs and the sloping side wall has one of the cut-outs.
6. The holder of claim 2, wherein the bottom wall has one of the cut-outs and two additional cut-outs of the one or more cut-outs are situated in opposite portions of the sloping side wall.
7. The holder of claim 1, wherein at least one of the one or more cut-outs occupies at least 60% of the surface area of the particular wall of the one or more of the bottom wall and the sloping round side wall,8. The holder of claim 1, wherein the one or more cut-outs are situated in the bottom wall and in the at least one sloping side wall.
9. The holder of claim 1, wherein at least one of the one or more cut-outs is shaped as a single crown or as a double crown.
10. The holder of claim 1, wherein at least one of the one or more cut-outs comprises a logo or an alphanumeric character.
11. The holder of claim 1, wherein at least one of the one or more cut-outs of the at least one sloping side wall is located closer to a rim of the holder than to the bottom wall.
12. The holder of claim 1, wherein at least one of the one or more cut-outs occupies at least a majority of the surface area of the particular wall of the one or more of the bottom wall and the at least one sloping side wall.
13. The holder of claim 1, wherein at least one of the one or more cut-outs occupies at least two-thirds of the surface area of the particular wall of the one or more of the bottom wall and the at least one sloping side wall.
14. The holder of claim 1, wherein each of the one or more cut-outs that define the source identifier is a single continuous cut-out.
15. The holder of claim 14, for each wall, the rest of the wall other the cut-out is a single solid unit.
16. The holder of claim 1, wherein the holder is configured to be lifted by grasping the at least one sloping side wall.
17. The holder of claim 1, wherein the bottom wall of the holder is substantially rectangular.
18. A holder of nestable plastic food containers in the form of a frame, comprising:a bottom wall;a sloping left side wall;a sloping right side wall;a sloping front wall; anda sloping rear wall,wherein one or more of the walls comprises a cut-out, each of one or more cut-outs occupying at least 40% of a surface area of a particular wall of the one or more of the walls,the one or more cut-outs shaped so as(a) to define a source identifier associated with the holder and(b) to allow a user to view contents of one of the food containers held by the holder,wherein a size of the holder matches a size of the nestable plastic food containers that the holder holds.
19. The holder of claim 18, wherein one of the one or more cut-outs is situated in the bottom wall.
20. The holder of claim 18, wherein one of the one or more cut-outs is situated in the bottom wall and one of the one or more cut-outs is situated in one or more of the sloping walls.
21. The holder of claim 20, wherein each of the one or more cut-outs in the one or more sloping walls is located closer to a rim of the holder than to the bottom wall.
22. The holder of claim 18, wherein one of the one or more cut-outs is situated in the bottom wall and one of the one or more cut-outs is situated in each of two of the sloping walls.
23. The holder of claim 18, wherein at least one of the one or more cut-outs occupies at least 60% of the surface area of the particular wall of the one or more of the walls.
24. The holder of claim 18, wherein at least one of the one or more cut-outs occupies at least two-thirds of the surface area of the particular wall of the one or more of the walls.
25. The holder of claim 18, wherein the one or more cut-outs that define the source identifier is a single continuous cut-out.
26. The holder of claim 25, for each wall, the rest of the wall other the cut-out is a single solid unit.
27. The holder of claim 18, wherein the holder is configured to be lifted by grasping the at least one sloping side wall.
28. A stack of nestable holders, each of the holders configured in a form of a frame and configured to hold a nestable plastic food container, the stack comprising:a series of the at least three holders, wherein each holder in the series comprises:a bottom wall;at least one sloping side wall;wherein the bottom wall has a cut-out that occupies a majority of a surface area of the bottom wall,the cut-out shaped so as(a) to define a source identifier associated with the holder and(b) to allow a user to view contents of one of the food containers held by any of the holders.
29. The stack of claim 28, wherein the cut-outs in the walls of the holders in the stack are aligned such that the stack as a whole is configured to be hung by the cut-outs on an element projecting from a wall, the wall and the element not part of the stack, such that the source identifier can be advertised to onlookers while the stack is hung.