Food container

A food container comprises a bottom (3) which is substantially rectangular and which has outwardly flared walls (4) rising therefrom and terminating in a substantially rectangular opening (7). The tops of the walls are outwardly surrounded by a horizontal rim (5) which is rectangular in shape and they are capped by a vertical rib (6) extending above the rim (5). The container has a cover (2) having a horizontal rim (8) and a vertical rib (9) extending downwardly therefrom suitable for engaging around the vertical rib (6) of the container (1). The vertical ribs (6, 9) being of substantially the same height on the container (1) and the cover (2). The cover rib (9) has a plurality of shoulders (16) near the top thereof for co-operating with the container rib (6), and enabling an upper position and a lower position to be defined for the cover (2) on the container (1).

FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to a vertically upwardly open food container 
having a substantially rectangular horizontal bottom and flared upright 
walls terminating in a substantially rectangular horizontal opening and 
including a horizontal rim near the top thereof which is outwardly 
rectangular in cross-section and which surrounds the opening to the 
container, and a vertical rib extending the walls above the rim, said 
container being provided with a cover horizontal including firstly a 
horizontal rim and secondly a vertical rib projecting from beneath the rim 
and engaging around the vertical rib of the container, with the vertical 
rib of the container having substantially the same height as the vertical 
rib of the cover. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
One such container is described in French patent specification No. 
80-21565. 
Such a container is effectively proof against external splashes of liquid 
which may occur after it has been filled. 
Further, the cover is easily lifted off the container even though it does 
not include a handle which could cause difficulty when cleaning. 
It has been observed that to ensure good conservation of food in the 
container, it is necessary either to have very slight ventilation or else 
considerably greater ventilation depending on the nature of the food. 
Thus, fresh or cooked vegetables require slight ventilation whereas raw 
meat requires greater ventilation. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
A food container according to the invention uses a single cover to provide 
both types of ventilation and includes the improvement whereby the rib on 
the cover includes a plurality of shoulders adjacent its upper portion for 
co-operating with the rib on the container so that in a first position the 
cover is raised so that the bottom of the cover rib does not engage the 
rim of the container, and in a second position the cover is lowered so 
that the bottom of the cover rib comes into contact with or is adjacent to 
the rim of the container, whereby the gap existing between the cover and 
the container when the cover is in the raised position enables 
considerable ventilation to take place. 
Thus, when the cover is in its first or raised position a considerable flow 
of air occurs between the two ribs. However, when the cover is in its 
second or lowered position the air flow is restricted to leakage between 
the rib on the cover and the rim on the container and also between the rib 
on the container and the cover. 
In one embodiment of the invention, the rib on the container is fitted with 
notches in which the said shoulders are received when the cover is in its 
second position, whereas the said shoulders rest on the top of the 
container rib when the cover is in its first or raised position. 
According to an improvement of the invention, the outside portion of the 
container rib is provided with upper and lower projections, and the cover 
rib is provided with inwardly directed teeth near the bottom edge thereof, 
said teeth engaging beneath the upper projections when the cover is in its 
first or raised position, and beneath the lower projections when the cover 
is in its second or lower position. 
The cover can thus be fixed to the container. 
In a variant, the container rib is provided with outwardly directed upper 
and lower projections near the top thereof, and said shoulders rest on 
said upper projections when the cover is in its first or upper position 
and on said lower projections when the cover is in its second or lower 
position. 
In this variant, the rib of the container no longer includes notches which 
are ugly and may be a handicap during container cleaning. 
In a particularly advantageous improvement of this variant, the cover rib 
is provided with unwardly directed teeth at the bottom thereof, said teeth 
engaging under the upper projections when the cover is in its first or 
upper position and under the lower projections when the cover is in its 
second or lower position. 
The same projections are thus used both to support the shoulders and to fix 
the cover down onto the container. 
According to an improvement of the invention, the bottom face of the cover 
is provided with a second vertical rib parallel to the said vertical rib, 
the said second vertical rib serving to hold condensation water, thereby 
preventing possible sealing due to the condensation water occupying the 
space between the cover and the rib of the container when the cover is in 
the low ventilation position, and also preventing too fast dehydration of 
the stored food when the cover is in the high ventilation position. 
According to another improvement of the invention, the top face of the 
cover includes a raised portion going all the way round the cover and 
interrupted at one point, said raised portion being disposed around a 
rectangle which is larger than the bottom of the container, and which lies 
between the sizes of the first and second ribs situated on the bottom face 
of the cover, thereby enabling covers to be stacked on one another and 
also enabling containers to be stacked on covers. 
It is thus possible to store covers on their own in a stack of covers and 
it is also possible to store closed containers in a stack of closed 
containers with each higher container being received on each lower cover.

MORE DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
The vertically upwardly open container 1 (see FIG. 1) is provided with a 
horizontal cover 2. 
The container 1 comprises a flat horizontal bottom 3 which is generally 
rectangular in shape having rounded corners together with walls 4 rising 
therefrom in a flared configuration. 
The top portions of the walls 4 are surrounded by a horizontal rim 5. The 
walls 4 are themselves extended upwardly by a vertical rib 6 which 
delimits a generally rectangular opening 7 having rounded corners. 
The cover 2 comprises a rim 8 which extends above the rim 5 when the cover 
2 is placed on the container 1. 
The bottom face 14 of the cover 2 is substantially plane and is provided 
with a vertical rib 9 of substantially the same height as the vertical rib 
6, and which is disposed around the rib 6 when the cover is placed on the 
container. 
The bottom face 14 further includes a second downwardly directed rib 15 
which is parallel to the rib 9 and which is disposed inwardly therefrom, 
in order to stop the condensation water which collects on the bottom 
surface of the cover from flowing into the gap between the cover and the 
rib 6 of the container. The second vertical rib 15 on the cover is smaller 
than its first vertical rib 9. 
The cover 2 has an upwardly extending portion 10 on its top face, which 
portion extends around the cover following a rectangle with rounded 
corners which is larger than the bottom 3 of the container 1 and which is 
larger than the rectangle followed by the second rib 15 of the cover, but 
which is smaller than the rectangle followed by the first rib 9 on the 
bottom face of the cover 2. 
The raised portion 10 includes a corner gap (not shown) in order to 
facilitate drip-drying the cover 2. 
It is thus possible to place the bottom of a container on the top of a 
cover 2 since the bottom is located inside the raised portion. It is also 
possible to stack covers on one another since the raised portion 10 of a 
lower cover is received between the first and second ribs 9 and 15 on an 
upper cover. 
The vertical rim 6 on the container 1 is provided with four notches 12 
disposed close to the ends of the long sides 13 of the opening 7. 
The outside of the rib 6 on each long side has a high projection 20 
disposed adjacent to the top of said rib 6 and a low projection 21 
disposed adjacent to the bottom thereof. 
The projections 20 and 21 are disposed on either side of a mid plane 
perpendicular to the long sides of the opening and at the same distance 
from said plane. 
The vertical rib 9 is provided with four shoulders 16 close to the top 
thereof. Said rib 9 includes two teeth 17 facing outwardly and 
symmetrically disposed about the longitudinal plane of symmetry. 
In a first position shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, the shoulders 16 are placed on 
the top edge of the rim 6 (see FIG. 4). At the same time, the teeth 17 are 
snap-fitted under the high projections 20 (see FIG. 3). 
The outer wall of the rib 6 is preferably slightly inwardly inclined while 
the surrounding inner wall of the rib 9 is parallel thereto. 
Thus, when the cover 2 is in its first (or high) position there is a 
relatively large air passage between the tips of the ribs 6 and 9 (see 
FIG. 2). 
However, when the cover 2 is turned through 180.degree. it occupies a 
second position (see FIGS. 7 and 8). 
In this second, or lower, position the shoulders 16 are received in the 
notches 12 (see FIG. 10). The rib 9 is in contact with the rim 5 and/or 
the tip of the rib 6 is in contact with the bottom face 14 of the cover 2 
so that only small air leakage may take place therebetween. 
In this position, the teeth 17 are snap-fitted under the lower projections 
21. The ribs 6 and 9 are resilient to some extent thereby enabling the 
cover to be put into place on the container and to be removed therefrom. 
In order to distinguish between the two different ventilation positions, a 
reference mark 18 is applied to the container 1 and a reference mark 19 is 
applied to the cover (see FIGS. 5, 6 and 7). 
In the second position, the reference marks 18 and 19 are at opposite ends 
of the container (see FIG. 7). 
A variant embodiment is shown in FIGS. 12 to 22, and the items which 
correspond to those in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 7 have the same 
reference numerals. 
The vertical rib 6 of the container 1 does not include notches, but instead 
has four high projections 20' and four low projections 21' disposed on its 
long sides 13. The low projections 21' on a given side 13 are disposed on 
either side of the high projections 20', whereas on the other side it is 
the high projections 20' which are disposed on either side of the low 
projections 21'. 
The vertical rib 9 on the cover 2 includes four shoulders 16' and four 
teeth 17' which are situated below the shoulders 16' near the bottom of 
the rib 9 and which are directed inwardly. 
Thus, in the first or upper position (see FIGS. 12 and 15), the shoulders 
16' rest on the high projections 20' and the teeth 17' are engaged 
underneath the high projections 20', thereby holding the cover down on the 
container 1 (see FIGS. 14 and 18). 
The passage between the ribs 6 and 9 allows for copious ventilation (see 
FIG. 13). 
When the cover is rotated through 180.degree., the shoulders 16' rest on 
the low projections 21' and the teeth 17' are engaged underneath these 
projections 21' (see FIGS. 19, 20 and 22), thereby snap-fitting the cover 
2 to the container in the low position (see FIG. 17). 
In this second or low position, the rib 9 of the cover 2 comes into contact 
with the rim 5 and/or the rib 6 comes into contact with the bottom face 14 
of the cover 2, thereby reducing ventilation to air leakage (see FIG. 21). 
FIG. 16 shows the cover 2 being rotated from one position to the other. 
The container described above is rectangular, but clearly it could be 
square. If a square container is used, it would be possible for the second 
position (low ventilation) to be at 90.degree. from the first position 
(high ventilation) rather than at 180.degree. as shown.