One-piece food container with rim

A food container has a temporary rim formed in one-piece structure on the edge thereof. It has as first sealing rim and a second sealing rim as the surface for a sealing film to be heat-sealed thereon. When the outer rim is torn off, an irreversible tear-off structure on the sealed cover would leave the trace, allowing the consumers and the sellers to decide whether to purchase or dispose of the goods simply by visual judgments; in other words, it has a tamper-proof function. In addition, when the outer rim is removed from the container, the sealing film would detach from the first sealing rim but still stick on the second sealing rim, providing a reusable sealed cover for the container that ensures more safety of food hygiene.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a one-piece food container, particularly to one that has a surface around the edge of the outer rim thereof for a pre-determined sealing film to be heat-sealed thereon in order to form an irreversible tear-off structure, and when the outer rim edge is torn off, the sealing film would not detach from it, providing a reusable and tamper-proof sealed cover for the container.

2. Description of the Related Art

Plastic containers made by vacuum molding have different shapes like boxes, cups and bowls since the amount of materials needed for manufacturing is little; therefore they are suitable for preserving food. However, non-solid food such as jelly, puddings and panna cotta may leak or seep through during transportation and moving. In order to prevent from leakage or seepage, the containers must be completely sealed.

FIG. 1is a conventional food container with a sealed cover10. It has liquid food12therein and a sealing film or aluminum foil sheet13sealed thereon. Such structure can indeed prevent from leakage during transportation and moving of the goods, but after the sealing film or aluminum foil sheet13is torn off, the container11is no longer available for sealed preservation.FIG. 2is a conventional food container with a detachable lid20disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,168,044. It comprises a bowl21and at least one selectively detachable snap23on a lid22. A distinct clicking sound can be heard when combining the bowl21and the lid22, forming a reusable structure. Nevertheless, the invention itself still cannot provide any tamper-proof function and therefore needs extra package to complement the concern; and the extra materials, volumes and weight for the complementary package would cause an increase of costs in transportation, preservation, working personnel, and facilities. Also, it does no good to the environment either. On the other hand, the lid22is made by hard materials and is difficult for related information of the food to be printed on. Thus, an extra step of adhering stickers is necessary in the manufacturing process, causing other inconveniences and increasing of costs as well.

In summary, the defect of the food container with a sealed cover10can be overcome by the structure of the food container with a detachable lid20and vice versa; however, the advantages of both cannot be combined and embodied in one single food container. Therefore, there is still room for improvements.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is a primary object of the present invention to provide a one-piece food container with rim that has the rim thereof temporarily connected to the outer rim with the container by a tear-off structure which is irreversible so that the consumers and the sellers can decide whether to purchase or to dispose of the goods simply by visual judgments. Besides, it also has a surface on the edge of the container for a sealing film to be heat-sealed thereon; when the outer rim is torn off, the sealing film would still stick on the sealing rim of the outer rim, providing a reusable sealed cover for the container that preserves the advantages of conventional food containers with a sealed cover or with a detachable lid, and overcomes the shortcomings of both, further ensures more safety of food hygiene and provides a cost-effective and convenient manufacturing process with an extra benefit of better environmental protection.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a one-piece food container with rim that has the sealing rim thereof supporting a plastic hard cover when not having a sealing film heat-sealed thereon, for the plastic hard cover to be steadily placed thereon and protect the opening of the container, so as to achieve the expanding function of being applicable for both sealed covers and plastic hard covers.

In order to achieve the objects, the present invention comprises a container formed by a bottom, a peripheral wall extending upwardly from the edge of said bottom, and an opening being surrounded by said peripheral wall and having a first sealing rim surrounding the top edge of said opening and forming a first edge downwardly from the far edge of said first sealing rim; an outer rim formed in one-piece on the far edge of the first edge, having a second edge arranged next to said first edge and a second sealing rim surrounding said first sealing rim and forming a third edge downwardly from the far edge of said second sealing rim; and a tear-off structure arranged along the link between the first edge and the second edge with a plurality of dividing dotted lines arranged regularly as the bottom end of the second edge sticking to a pre-determined position on the first edge, connecting the outer rim with the container temporarily and therefore forming a one-piece container with rim;

whereby the tear-off structure is irreversible and allows the consumers and the sellers to decide whether to purchase or to dispose of the goods simply by visual judgments.

With the structures disclosed above, the present invention may further comprises a sealed cover formed by a sealing film being heat-sealed on the surface of the second sealing rim which would not detach when the outer rim is removed, forming an reusable structure that can cover the opening of the container repeatedly by having the sealing film abutting on the first sealing rim. Furthermore, the bottom edge of the third edge has at least one first tab in an arc shape and having a plurality of first protruding ridges on the surface thereof.

Also, the present invention may further comprise a plastic hard cover with a flange extending from the bottom edge thereof, and the flange has a covering edge extending from and surrounding the far edge of the plastic hard cover so that the flange is able to engage a concave groove on the periphery wall, resulting the surface of the covering edge covering on the first and second sealing rim with the outer flange of the covering edge at least partially covering the third edge for the plastic hard cover to be steadily placed thereon and protect the opening of the container.

With the structures disclosed above, the bottom edge of the covering flange thereof has at least one second tab in an arc shape and having a plurality of second protruding ridges on the surface thereof.

In a preferred embodiment, the present invention comprises a container formed by a bottom, a peripheral wall extending upwardly from the edge of said bottom, and an opening being surrounded by said peripheral wall and having a first sealing rim surrounding the top edge of said opening and forming a first edge downwardly from the far edge of said first sealing rim; an outer rim formed in one-piece on the far edge of the first edge, having a second edge arranged next to said first edge and a second sealing rim at the same height of said first sealing rim and forming a third edge downwardly from the far edge of said second sealing rim; and a tear-off structure arranged along the link between the first edge and the second edge at the bottom thereof with a plurality of dividing dotted lines arranged regularly, connecting the outer rim with the container temporarily and therefore forming a one-piece container with rim;

whereby the surface composed by the neighboring first and second sealing rim becomes the place for a sealing film to be heat-sealed thereon, forming an irreversible tear-off structure that allows the consumers and the sellers to decide whether to purchase or to dispose of the goods simply by visual judgments; when the outer rim is removed, the heat-sealed sealing film would not be torn off from the surface of the second sealing rim but would detach from the surface of the first sealing rim, forming an reusable structure that can cover the opening of the container repeatedly.

In another preferred embodiment, the present invention comprises a container formed by a bottom, a peripheral wall extending upwardly from the edge of said bottom, and an opening being surrounded by said peripheral wall and having a first sealing rim surrounding the top edge of said opening and forming a first edge downwardly from the far edge of said first sealing rim; an outer rim formed in one-piece on the far edge of the first edge, having a second edge arranged next to said first edge and a second sealing rim surrounding said first sealing rim and forming a third edge downwardly from the far edge of said second sealing rim; and a tear-off structure arranged along the link between the first edge and the second edge with a plurality of dividing dotted lines arranged regularly as the bottom end of the second edge sticking to the middle section of the first edge, resulting the second sealing rim being displaced higher than the first sealing rim, connecting the outer rim with the container temporarily and therefore forming a one-piece container with rim;

whereby the surface of the second sealing rim becomes the place for a sealing film to be heat-sealed thereon, forming an irreversible tear-off structure that allows the consumers and the sellers to decide whether to purchase or dispose of the goods simply by visual judgments; when the outer rim is removed, the heat-sealed sealing film would detach from the edge of the container but would not be torn off from the surface of the second sealing rim, forming an reusable structure that can cover the opening of the container repeatedly.

In short, the present invention has reusable and tamper-proof functions with the sealed cover and the tear-off structure. It also ensures more safety of food hygiene with the innovative technology of covers and lower costs for personnel, manufacturing facilities, transportation, and storage by largely reducing the raw materials, volumes, and weights for packaging, providing an extra benefit of better environmental protection as well.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring toFIGS. 3A-17, in a preferred embodiment, the present invention comprises a container30, an outer rim40, and a tear-off structure50.

The container30is formed by a bottom31, a peripheral wall32extending upwardly from the edge of said bottom31, and an opening33being surrounded by said peripheral wall32. The opening33has a first sealing rim34surrounding the top edge thereof and forming a first edge35downwardly from the far edge of said first sealing rim34.

The outer rim40is formed in one-piece on the far edge of the first edge35. It has a second edge41arranged next to the first edge35and a second sealing rim42surrounding the first sealing rim34and forming a third edge43downwardly from the far edge of said second sealing rim42. In this embodiment, the bottom edge of the third edge43has at least one first tab44in an arc shape and having a plurality of first protruding ridges441on the surface thereof.

As shown inFIG. 4, the tear-off structure is arranged along the link between the first edge35and the second edge41with a plurality of dividing dotted lines51arranged regularly. The bottom end of the second edge41is sticking to a pre-determined position on the first edge35—in this embodiment, the bottom; and preferably the first and second sealing rim34,42are arranged at the same height but the present invention is not limited to such application. In an applicable embodiment as shown inFIGS. 9A and 9B, the bottom end of the second edge41is sticking to the middle section of the first edge35; that is, the second sealing rim42is arranged higher than the first sealing rim34. Either of the embodiments is applicable in connecting the outer rim40with the container30temporarily and therefore forming a one-piece container with rim60. Such structures are the main features of the present invention. The container30and the outer rim40thereof are manufactured in factories as a temporarily connected one-piece structure. Then they are transported to the stores and food factories, and the container30would be filled with the food F as shown inFIG. 5and then have a pre-determined sealing film70to be heat-sealed thereon by a sealing machine (not shown). The structures and principle of sealing machines belong to the prior art and the machines are already commonly seen in food factories and stores.

The main feature of the present invention lies in the design of the first sealing rim34and the second sealing rim42on the container30and the outer rim40respectively. When the sealing film70is heat-sealed on the container30and the temporary outer rim40as inFIG. 6and the second sealing rim42is at the same height of the first sealing rim34as inFIG. 8A, the outer loop72of the sealing film70is heat-sealed on the second sealing rim42and the inner loop71arranged next to the outer loop72is heat-sealed on the first sealing rim34. With both sealing rims safely sealed, the food F inside the container30, liquid or solid, would not leak or fall out during transportation and movements, further ensuring safety and food hygiene. Or when the second sealing rim42is arranged higher than the first sealing rim34as illustrated inFIG. 9A, the sealing film70still has the outer loop72thereof heat-sealed on the second sealing rim42; with such structure, all kinds of non-liquid food F are also safely preserved inside during the transportation and movements.

Referring toFIG. 6, another expanding feature of the present invention is to allow the owners of the stores and the food factories to print their trademarks or any other information on the sealing rim70in advance, saving the time and personnel of adhering stickers on detachable lids in the manufacturing process.

Now referring toFIG. 7, when the consumers want to enjoy the food F inside the container30, simply pull the first tab44upwardly and the plurality of dotted lines51′ of the tear-off structure50would be torn by the shearing force of the pull, forming a plurality of torn lines51′ that removes the temporary outer rim40from the container30whether the second sealing rim42is at the same height as the first sealing rim34as inFIG. 8Bor higher than it as inFIG. 9B. Meanwhile, with reference toFIGS. 10 and 11, the outer loop72of the sealing film70would still stick to the outer rim40due to the heat-sealing, thus forming a detachable sealed cover70A.

Further referring toFIG. 12, when the sealed cover70A is recovering onto the container30, the inner loop71thereof would be placed on the first sealing rim34due to gravity, matching the torn lines51′ along the second edge41and the first edge35and functioning as a cover if there is food F left inside the container30. This ensures more safety of food hygiene and allows the food F inside container30to be preserved in the refrigerators. More importantly, such structure is irreversible, therefore allows the consumers and the sellers to distinguish the intactness of the goods simply by visual judgments; in other words, it has a tamper-proof function as well.

Another applicable embodiment of the present invention is illustrated inFIGS. 13, 14, 15, and 16. Basically it retains the features of the former embodiment; the difference lies in the design of a concave groove321arranged on the inside of the peripheral wall32, roughly corresponding to the height of the first edge35, and a plastic hard cover70B with a flange71B extending from the bottom edge thereof, and the flange71B has a covering edge72B extending from and surrounding the far edge of the plastic hard cover70B so that the flange71B is able to engage the concave groove321on the periphery wall32, resulting the surface of the covering edge72B covering the first and second sealing rim34,42with the outer flange of the covering edge72B at least partially covering the third edge43for the plastic hard cover70B to be steadily placed thereon and protect the opening33of the container30.

Additionally, the container30of the present invention is in a round shape in the embodiments but is not limited to such shape. It can also be in a rectangle shape as shown inFIG. 17or in any other shape with the same structures and structures.

With the structures disclosed above, the present invention not only has a dual function of being tamper-proof and reusable but also provides an innovative technology in manufacturing the covers, ensuring more safety of food hygiene and reducing the prime costs and raw materials needed for manufacturing the covers with an extra benefit of better environmental protection.