Abstract:
A container for food is provided, including a bowl with a base, a side wall, and a bowl brim encircling the top, as well as a tightly sealing lid, if necessary, with the lid including a soft-elastic sealing material or being provided with a soft-elastic seal in the contact area to the bowl brim. Fastening elements are provided on the lid and/or on the bowl for a detachable fastening of the lid onto the bowl while applying pressure between the lid and the bowl brim. Two or more or the fastening elements are connected to one another such that their movale parts can be moved together by one slide bar each.

Description:
BACKGROUND  
       [0001]     The invention relates to a container for food. In particular, this container comprises a bowl with a base, a side wall, and a bowl brim encircling the top as well as a tightly sealing lid on the bowl brim, when necessary. In the contact area with the bowl brim the lid comprises a soft-elastic sealing material or is provided with such. Furthermore, fastening elements are provided, to mount the lid on the bowl in a removable fashion, namely by applying a pressing force between the lid and the bowl brim.  
         [0002]     In particular, food containers serving as freshness preserving receptacles for storing and transporting foods should seal as tightly as possible in order to prevent the oozing of liquids, as well as any air exchange between the interior of the container and the environment. For this purpose the lid of a container of the type mentioned at the outset comprises a soft-elastic sealing material, at least in the area that is put onto the brim of the bowl. Alternatively, a soft-elastic seal may also be provided in the contact area between the lid and the bowl brim in order to ensure the positioning of the lid on the bowl to be air and water tight.  
         [0003]     In order to ensure in larger containers with a volume of, for example, one liter or more, for the positioning of the lid on the bowl brim to be really air tight it is mandatory that a permanent pressing force is maintained between the lid and the bowl brim. For this purpose it is known to provide separately operating mounting elements in the form of pivotal lashes on the lid, which engage the bottom of the corresponding protrusions at the exterior of the bowl in a clamping manner and thus press the lid against the bowl brim, with the soft-elastic seal being compressed in the contact area between the lid and the bowl brim. However, in rectangular and/or cube shaped containers there is the problem that the bowl side wall evades this pressure between the lid and the bowl brim, at least at the longer sides, because a container of the type mentioned at the outset is generally formed with a thin wall for reasons of weight and expenses and the stability of the side walls is therefore not always sufficient to create the counter force against the pressure at the bowl brim necessary for air tightness. Therefore, in such containers it is necessary to provided fastening elements at all four sides, which press the lid against the bowl brim.  
         [0004]     It is obvious that this considerably worsens the handling of a food container of the type mentioned herein because, in the above-mentioned known container the user must open a total of at least four clamping fastening elements embodied as pivotal lashes with his/her two hands in order to be able to remove the lid from the bowl. This is naturally not being done in a single step.  
       SUMMARY  
       [0005]     Based on this prior art, the object of the present invention is to improve a container of the type mentioned at the outset with regard to its handling.  
         [0006]     This object is attained in a container having the features of the invention. Preferred embodiments and further developments of the container according to the invention are described in the claims.  
         [0007]     A container for food, embodied according to the present invention, essentially differs from prior art in that two or more fastening elements are combined into an operating unit and that this operating unit is embodied as a slide bar. In a container having a basically rectangular shape preferably two slide bars are provided, each of which operate a multitude of fastening elements so that the fastening elements not only create the pressure between the lid and the bowl brim in the proximity of the slide bar but also distributed over the circumference at the two sides without any slide bars. Therefore, on the one hand, the invention facilitates the handling of a container of the present type such that only two operating units for operating all fastening elements distributed over the circumference are provided, in particular, thus the container can be opened or closed in a single step, and, on the other hand, such that the operating units are embodied as slide bars, which again allows a simplified handling in reference to the known pivotal lashes.  
         [0008]     As already mentioned, it is advantageous if an essentially rectangular container, i.e. a container with a bowl having two side walls and two end walls, is provided with a slide bar at each end wall, which slide bars simultaneously operate at least two fastening elements, which both engage the corresponding end wall as well as simultaneously one or both side walls.  
         [0009]     The fastening elements may comprise, on the one hand, holding surfaces essentially extending horizontally and, on the other hand, latches, which engage the holding surfaces when closing the fastening elements. Preferably the latches and/or the holding surfaces are sloped in order to each form a contact slope in reference to a horizontal plane so that when sliding the latch onto the holding surface a movement of the lid occurs in the direction of the bowl and thus the necessary pressure of the lid towards the bowl brim is created.  
         [0010]     Preferably, the latches are embodied with a hook-shaped cross-section and mounted at the lid. On the other hand, this allows the holding surfaces to be very easily formed by a projection in the area of the bowl brim and, if necessary, be provided with recesses, through which the hook-shaped latches can be inserted and engage the holding surfaces by way of a horizontal shifting.  
         [0011]     Further advantages result if at least one holding surface, beneficially the holding surfaces at the side walls of the bowl, is provided with guidance surfaces extending essentially parallel to a direction of movement of the corresponding latch and each being aligned approximately perpendicular to the holding surface. Preferably this guidance surface is formed by a lateral guidance bar. The hook-shaped latch then ensures not only that the lid is tightly positioned in a form-fitting manner against the upward acting forces at the bowl, but based on the lateral guidance surface also against a lateral displacement of the lid on the container. It is obvious that this further improves the tight positioning of the lid on the container.  
         [0012]     Beneficially, the slide bars according to the invention are mounted on the lid and, if necessary, connected with the latches also provided on the lid; because, when the slide bars are mounted on the lid, they are located at that point of the container which is handled by the user anyway, when he/she wants to separate the lid from the bowl. Additionally, the bowl is then free from any movable parts, which is beneficial regarding the handling of the bowl as well as regarding the contamination of movable parts.  
         [0013]     In order to, on the one hand, minimize the danger of injuries by hook-shaped latches and, on the other hand, still to achieve an appealing look, the lid and/or the slide bar are preferably provided with roof-shaped edge surfaces, which laterally cover the latches. This may be embodied such that in the inserted position, the slide bars form the edge surface of the lid, thus, when two slide bars are provided, form a type of divided ring extending over the entire circumference of the lid. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0014]     In the following, an exemplary embodiment of the present invention is explained and described in greater detail using the attached drawings. In the drawings:  
         [0015]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a food container according to the invention;  
         [0016]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view of a container according to  FIG. 1  with the lid removed;  
         [0017]      FIG. 3  is a perspective view of the lid;  
         [0018]      FIG. 4  is a perspective view of a slide bar removed from the lid;  
         [0019]      FIG. 5  is a perspective view of a closed food container from the bottom;  
         [0020]      FIGS. 6   a  and  6   b  are lateral cross-sectional views of the end of the container, in the unlocked ( FIG. 6   a ) and the locked ( FIG. 6   b ) positions;  
         [0021]      FIGS. 7   a  and  7   b  are views, partially in cross-section, of the lateral brim region of the container; and  
         [0022]      FIG. 8  is an enlarged detail view of a portion of  FIG. 5 .  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0023]      FIG. 1  shows a perspective view of AN exemplary embodiment of the present invention shown here diagonally from the top. The container comprises a bowl  1 , with its fundamental shape being approximately rectangular, and thus having two end walls  2  and two side walls  3 , as well as a lid  4 , which here is put onto the bowl  1  in an air-tight manner. At each end, the lid  4  is provided with a slide bar  5 , which is operated by an engaging surface  6 . The two slide bars  5  engage the edge of the lid  4  such that they form a closed ring with a roof-shaped edge surface  7 . This ring is divided approximately in the middle, because the two slide bars  5  can be pulled outward in order to allow the lid  4  to be removed from the bowl  1 . Both the bowl  1  as well as the lid  4  and the slide bar  5  are preferably made from plastic, in particular polypropylene, which is light, inherently stable, and resistant.  
         [0024]      FIG. 2  shows the bowl  1  of the container without a lid in a similar perspective to  FIG. 1 . This bowl comprises a base  8  and the above-mentioned end walls  2  and side walls  3 . Slightly below a brim  9  of the bowl there is an encircling projection  10  with recesses  11  for accepting the latches (not shown here), which are mounted on the slide bars  5 . In the present exemplary embodiment, the brim  9  of the bowl is not provided with a soft-elastic seal, because it would disturb the use as a bowl for food. Rather, a soft-elastic seal is provided in the lid  4 , which is discernible from the following figures. The bowl  1  is also free from the slide bars according to the invention or any other movable parts, so that it more or less represents itself to the user as a conventional bowl.  
         [0025]     In a similar perspective view  FIG. 3  also shows the lid  4  removed from the bowl with its two slide bars  5 . In order to allow the lid  4  to be removed from the bowl  1 , both slide bars  5  are pulled outward so that approximately in the middle a gap is discernible between the two roof-shaped edge surfaces  7  of the two slide bars  5 . A contact area  12  of the lid  4 , visible in the gap, for placing it onto the brim  9  of the bowl  1  is provided with an inserted, soft-elastic seal  18 , which is not discernible here, though.  
         [0026]     The latches, which are covered by the roof-shaped edge surfaces  7  in  FIG. 3 , are discernible in  FIG. 4 , which again shows an isolated slide bar  5  in a similar perspective as in the previous figures. At the interior side of the edge surface  7  a latch  13  with a contacting slope  14  is discernible, which, when the lid  4  is put onto the bowl  1 , is inserted into one of the recesses  11  in the projection  10  of the bowl  1  and engages the projection  10  when closing the slide bar  5 . This is further explained in the following drawings. At the interior side of the engaging surface  6 , four vertical ribs (not shown here) are mounted in order to, on the one hand, make the slide bar  5  more stable and, on the other hand, to engage the recesses  11  in the projection  10  of the end of the bowl  1  ( FIG. 2 ), and to render the mechanical positioning of the lid  4  on the bowl  1  even more stable.  
         [0027]      FIG. 5  again shows the entire container, however, in a perspective representation from the bottom. Using this representation it is discernible how the lateral latches  13  each engage the holding surface  15  formed by the projection  10  and by the contacting slope  14  (not shown here) cause the desired pressure of the lid  4  onto the bowl  1  in the area of the lateral walls  3 . In the area of the end walls  2 , the slide bars  5  are provided with the latch surfaces  16 , which engage the projection  10  at the end in order to create the desired pressure between the lid  4  and the bowl  1  at the end as well. Here, too the holding surface  15  is formed by the bottom of the projection  10 .  
         [0028]     As discernible in  FIG. 6   a , the above-mentioned holding surface  15  at the end wall  2  of the bowl  1 , formed on the projection  10 , is provided with a contacting slope  14  in order to effect a movement of the lid  4  towards the brim  9  of the bowl when pushing the latch surface  16  onto the holding surface  15 . The contact area  12  of the lid  4  is provided with a groove  17  facing the brim  9  of the bowl, into which a hollow profile is inserted in the form of an encircling, soft-elastic seal  18 . When pressing the lid  4  onto the brim  9  of the bowl, the seal  18  is compressed, which ensures the air tightness and the lid sealing. The slide bar  5  is displaced on a gliding surface  19  at the edge of the lid  4  and here it is guided in appropriate guides (not shown). The closed state of the slide bar  5  is shown in  FIG. 6   b.    
         [0029]     As mentioned above,  FIG. 6   a  shows the unlocked position of the slide bar  5 , while  FIG. 6   b  shows the locked position thereof. In a respective fashion  FIG. 7   a  shows a partial cross-section of a detail of the container according to the invention in an unlocked position of the slide bar, while  FIG. 7   b  shows the locked position. In both  FIGS. 7   a  and  7   b , the latch  13  is shown in a cross-section as a fastening element at the side wall  3  of the bowl  1  and its cooperation is discernible with the holding surface  15  formed at the bottom of the projection  10  with the contacting slope  14  of the latch  13 . In  FIG. 7   a  it is also discernible that the latch  13  can be inserted into the respective recess  11  in the projection  10  of the bowl when the slide bar  5  is pulled out, after which the latch  13  can engage the holding surface  15  when the slide bar  5  ( FIG. 7   b ) is inserted, and by action of the contacting slope  14 , a movement of the lid  4  towards the bowl  1  is created as well as a corresponding formation of a pressure. Laterally the lid  4  is also provided with a gliding surface  19  for guiding the slide bar  5 .  
         [0030]      FIG. 8  shows a detail from  FIG. 5  in a view from below, namely the lateral latch  13  shown in  FIG. 5  on the bottom right side, which is formed at the slide bar  5  with its lateral surface  7 . The latch  13  is shown in a closed position, in which it engages the holding surface  15  from the bottom. In the exemplary embodiment shown here, the holding surface  15  is provided with a guidance rib  20 , which forms, on the side facing the bowl  1 , a lateral guidance surface for the latch  13 , which extends approximately perpendicular to the holding surface  15  and essentially parallel to the direction of movement of the latch  13 . The slide bar  5  and with it the lid  4  are fastened by the latch  13  both horizontally as well as vertically. In this figure, additionally it is clearly discernible that the recess  11  in the projection  10  of the bowl  1  is sized such that the latch  13 , released from its engagement with the holding surface  15  and the guidance rib  20 , can be guided upwards through the recess  11  and thus does not provide any resistance to the removal of the lid  4  in the opened condition of the slide bar  5 .  
         [0031]     The exemplary embodiment shown in  FIGS. 1 through 8  for a container according to the invention also clearly shows the combination of fastening elements  15 ,  16  at the ends and side fastening elements  13 ,  15 , which can be operated with the very same slide bar  5 . Both slide bars  5  can therefore ensure a sealing pressure between the lid  4  and the brim  9  of the bowl not only at the ends but also at the side walls  3 , in spite of the fact that only two slide bars  5  are provided connected to one engaging surface  6  each.  
         [0032]     In the present exemplary embodiment the slide bars  5  are mounted on the lid  4 , which offers advantages in handling, because the lid  4  is grasped anyway for opening and closing, and which releases the bowl  1  from any movable parts. However, the slide bars  5  according to the invention can certainly also be mounted on the bowl  1 , in which case the lid would not necessarily have any movable parts. A combination of those two alternatives is also possible, i.e. that both the bowl  1  as well as the lid  4  are provided with movable parts. It is only important that groups of fastening elements, embodied here by latches  13 ,  16  and holding surfaces  15 , are connected and uniformly combined to an operating unit, namely a slide bar  5 , so that with only two slide bars  5 , the pressure force can be guided to the bowl  1  and the lid  4  not only at the ends  3  but also at the side walls  4 , in the present example at a total of six points.  
         [0033]     By the present embodiment of the slide bar  5  with edge surfaces  7  encircling the lid  4  an appealing look of the container according to the invention results.  
       LIST OF REFERENCE CHARACTERS  
       [0000]    
       
           1  bowl  
           2  end walls  
           3  side walls  
           4  lid  
           5  slide bar  
           6  engaging surface  
           7  edge surface  
           8  base  
           9  bowl brim  
           10  projection  
           11  recesses  
           12  contact area  
           13  latch  
           14  contacting slope  
           15  holding surface  
           16  latch surface  
           17  groove  
           18  seal  
           19  gliding surface  
           20  guidance rib