Container for storing a food product and a sauce therefor

A container for storing a food product and a sauce therefor having a lower section for containing the food product and an upper section for containing the sauce. The container may be manipulated to release the sauce from the upper section and the food product from the container.

The present invention is directed toward containers for food products, and, 
more specifically, toward containers for storing a food product and a 
sauce therefor. 
BACKGROUND 
It is often desirable to pour a sauce or other topping over a food product 
prior to eating said food product. These sauces are normally sold 
separately from the product to be topped and are applied just prior to 
serving the product. For example, ice cream and custard-type desserts may 
be eaten with toppings such as chocolate sauce or sauces coming in a 
variety of fruit and non-fruit flavors. These sauces come in cans or 
bottles and may be poured or spooned onto the dessert prior to eating. 
Such sauces are generally sold in containers which hold numerous servings 
of sauce since a typical serving of sauce is often a teaspoon to several 
tablespoons. Thus, an open container of sauce usually must be kept and 
stored long after the product to be topped has been consumed. Furthermore, 
if different flavors of sauce are desired, several separate containers of 
sauce must be opened and stored. These sauces may lose their freshness 
during storage and be less appetizing when used a second or subsequent 
time. 
Further problems are caused by transferring a sauce to the product to be 
topped. Generally, a separate spoon must be used to transfer sauce from 
its container. Since sauces are often viscous, sauce can be wasted on the 
spoon or other serving implement. Sauces can also be poured from their 
containers but this can be quite messy. When the presentation of the 
product is important, it is desirable to serve a product with sauce 
carefully placed on the product and not running off of the plate or onto a 
tablecloth or on the server's hands. It takes considerable care to avoid 
these problems when serving a sauce out of a separate container. 
Sauces may be sold in single portion containers but this generally 
increases the price thereof as a greater amount of packaging must be 
employed. One would still generally have to buy a box of individual 
containers, rather than just one or two containers. Finally, the large 
ratio of package interior surface area to sauce volume means that it will 
be difficult to remove all of a sauce from a single serving package. 
Attempts have been made to overcome the above problems by packaging 
products such as ice cream with a sauce already applied. However, it is 
difficult to keep the sauce from flowing to one section of the container 
if the product is not frozen. If the product and sauce are frozen, the 
product may be served with a sauce frozen to it which detracts from the 
appearance and palatability of the product when served. Known methods for 
packaging food sources often have one or more of these failings. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention overcomes the above problems, and others, and 
provides a container which is simple to use and construct and which holds 
a sauce in one portion of the container and a product in another portion 
of the container until the product is to be served. 
In accordance with a principal feature of the invention, a container is 
provided which has a lower section for containing a food product and an 
upper section for holding a sauce which will be allowed to flow over the 
food product just prior to serving. The top portion of the container 
engages the food product in the lower section in a manner such that the 
sauce is retained within the upper compartment during shipment and 
storage. The upper section is manipulated to disengage the upper section 
from the food product in the lower section so that the sauce flows out of 
the upper section and over the top and sides of the food product when the 
product is served. This packaging concept allows a sauce to be applied 
neatly to a dessert in a decorative manner each time a product is served. 
Each container contains one serving of sauce so there are no half-empty 
canisters to store. Sauce is dispensed directly from each container so 
there is no need for separate utensils. The appearance of each dessert is 
enhanced while the mess is diminished by using the subject package. 
In accordance with a more specific feature of the invention, the upper 
section comprises a side wall having a bottom edge. The bottom edge of the 
side wall presses down against the top of the food product to prevent the 
sauce from leaving the upper portion. Alternately, the bottom edge may 
extend beneath the surface of the food product in order to form a better 
seal. 
It is therefore the principal object of the present invention to provide a 
container for storing a food product and a sauce to be served with that 
food product. 
It is another object of the invention to provide a container which retains 
a sauce in one section of the container and a food product in another 
section of the container. 
It is yet another object of the invention to provide a container for 
storing a food product and a sauce and which container may be manipulated 
to allow the sauce to flow over the food product when the product is being 
removed from the container. 
It is a further object of the invention to provide a container which allows 
a sauce to be applied to a food product without the use of a separate 
serving implement for the sauce. 
It is still a further object of the invention to provide a container which 
allows a predetermined amount of sauce to be applied neatly and 
consistently to a predetermined portion of a food product. 
It is yet a further object of the invention to provide a container which 
causes a sauce contained in said container to be evenly applied to a food 
product in an aesthetically pleasing manner.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Referring now to the drawings where the showings are for the purpose of 
illustrating a preferred embodiment of the invention only and not for 
purposes of limiting same, in FIGS. 1 and 2 there is shown a container C 
for food product F and sauce S. Container C is preferably formed from a 
unitary piece of molded plastic such as polypropylene, for example, and 
comprises an upper portion 14 and a lower portion 12. Container C may also 
be made of a metal such as aluminum. 
Food product F is contained in lower portion 12. Food product F may be any 
solid foodstuff, but in the preferred embodiment, product F is a gelatin 
or custard-type material which can be placed in lower section 12 in a 
liquid state and which will solidify and conform to the shape of lower 
portion 12. Sauce S is contained in upper portion 14. Sauce S is comprised 
of a liquid for topping food product F prior to serving said product. 
Sauce S may be of any viscosity, but it is preferred to use a sauce which 
is sufficiently viscous that it adheres to some degree to side 64 of 
product F when allowed to flow over product F. 
Lower portion 12 comprises an annular lip 16 which extends radially 
outwardly from the bottom edge 18 of lower portion 12, stepped side wall 
portion 20 having a riser 22 and a horizontal wall portion 24, a side wall 
portion 26 extending upwardly from wall portion 24 and having a bottom 
edge 28 and a top edge 30, and a horizontal top wall 32 extending inwardly 
from edge 30 and having an inner edge 33. Wall portion 26 includes 
cavities 34 which affect the shape of food product F and the flow of the 
sauce as will be described hereinafter. 
Upper portion 14 comprises a vertical sidewall 42 having a bottom edge 40 
and a top edge 44, and a top wall 46 at top edge 44. Side wall 42 includes 
cavities 47 which affect the manner in which sauce S flows from upper 
portion 14 when food product F is served, and also make container C easier 
to grip. A tab 48 is fastened to top 46 by means of a suitable adhesive 
(not shown). Tab 48 includes an unattached portion 50 which may be grasped 
and pulled for reasons described hereinafter. 
Upper portion 14 is connected to lower portion 12 by a flexible connection 
35. Flexible connection 35 is comprised of an annular vertical wall 36 and 
an annular horizontal wall 38 connected to wall 36 at junction 37. Wall 36 
of flexible connection 35 is joined to top wall 32 of lower portion 12 at 
junction 33, and wall 38 of the flexible connection is joined to bottom 
edge 40 of vertical sidewall 42 of upper portion 14 at junction 41. In a 
first position of the lower and upper parts of container C, shown in FIGS. 
1 and 2, junction 37 is located at a lower level than the top wall 32 such 
that a channel 54 is formed between wall 36 and sidewall 42. This is the 
configuration in which the container C is shipped and stored. In a second 
position or use position shown in FIGS. 3-4, upper portion 14 is elevated 
from the first position whereby walls 36 and 38 provide an annular recess 
58 interiorly between the lower and upper portions of the container. The 
process of transforming the parts of container C from the first position 
to the second position thereof will be described hereinafter. 
To fill container C, container C is inverted so that portion 14 is beneath 
portion 12. Sauce S is poured into portion 14 until it reaches the level 
of edge 40. Food product F is then poured into portion 12 so that it fills 
the region defined by side wall portion 26, stepped side wall portion 20, 
and top wall 32 including the shoulder region 31 defined by side wall 
portion 26, top wall 32 and wall 36. This forms a seal between wall 38 and 
food product F which confines sauce S within upper portion 14. Finally, 
container C is provided with a closure 52 suitably fastened to lip 16 to 
hermetically seal product F and sauce S within container C. Closure 52 may 
be of any suitable form and, in the embodiment shown, comprises a sheet of 
suitable material such as metal foil or plastic, bonded to bottom 17 of 
lip 16 by heat sealing or by the use of adhesives or other methods which 
are well known in the art. Because sauce S and product F are denser than 
air, the above-described filling process forces substantially all air out 
of portion 14 and shoulder region 31. After some period of time which 
depends on the nature of food product F, product F solidifies or congeals. 
At this point, container C can be returned to its proper orientation with 
portion 14 above portion 12. Bottom edge 40 sealingly engages food product 
F and, therefore, there are no gaps between product F and flexible 
connection 35, whereby sauce S is retained within the region defined by 
vertical sidewall 42 and the corresponding portion of the top surface of 
product F. 
When a consumer desires to dispense the food product F, the container C is 
held in one hand with closure 52 facing up. Closure 52 is peeled off of 
bottom 17 of lip 16 to expose food product F. Container C is then inverted 
onto a plate 56, or the like, so that container C rests on bottom 17 of 
lip 16. The consumer then holds top wall 32 of the lower portion 12 with 
one hand while grasping sidewall 42 or the free end 50 of tab 48 and 
pulling upper portion 14 straight up by tab 48 or wall 42. This displaces 
upper portion 14 from the first to the second position thereof, and the 
transformation of flexible connection 35 during such displacement is shown 
in FIGS. 5a-e. In this respect, as connecting wall 38 begins to rise, 
drawn by sidewall 42, wall 36 deforms, junction 33 rises slightly and a 
ripple 39 forms adjacent junction 33 as shown in FIG. 5b. The portion of 
wall 36 adjacent junction 33 is thereby drawn to a position above top wall 
32. As upper portion 14 continues to be drawn upwardly from lower portion 
12, ripple 39 grows and when junction 37 is approximately even with 
junction 33 as shown in FIG. 5c, ripple 39 is at its largest and wall 36 
has been folded approximately in half. As upper portion 14 is further 
drawn upwardly from portion 12 as shown in FIG. 5d, ripple 39 gradually 
disappears until wall 36 is left extending above wall 32 as shown in FIG. 
5e and FIG. 4. The material from which container C, including wall 36 and 
wall 38 is made, is sufficiently flexible at least in the area of flexible 
connector 35 to allow container C to be so transformed. 
When upper section 14 is pulled away from lower section 12 the volume of 
container C is increased by the volume of void 58 which is formed during 
this transformation. Pulling upper section 14 away from lower section 12 
tends to draw air between wall 26 and product F and into void 58. Air 
tends to flow into void 58 due to the low pressure created in void 58 when 
said void is created. Drawing air into container C in this manner also 
helps to free product F from sidewall 26 of container C. 
As container C is lifted from food product F, a portion of sauce S remains 
on top of the food and the remainder flows over the top wall 62 of food F 
and down the food sidewall 64 as shown in FIG. 6. Sauce S is guided by 
ridges 66, formed by that portion of food F which was contained within 
cavities 34 in side wall 26. Furthermore, cavities 47 in side wall 42 
retain a small portion of sauce S causing the sauce to drip from upper 
portion 14 onto ridges 66. The orientation of cavities 47 and ridges 66 
insures that sauce S flows over product F in an aesthetically pleasing 
manner. 
A second preferred embodiment is shown in FIG. 7. The same reference 
numerals are used to designate structures corresponding to those found in 
the first preferred embodiment. In this embodiment, upper section 14 and 
lower section 12 are not necessarily relatively displacable as described 
above. Thus, the product is removed from the container in a manner 
different from that described above. An opening 100 is provided in 
container top 46 and a tab 102 is removably attached to top 46 to 
hermetically seal opening 100. A closure 52 is provided to heretically 
seal the opening defined by bottom edge 18 of lower portion 12. To product 
remove F from the second preferred embodiment of the subject container, 
bottom closure 52 is removed from bottom 12 of lip 16 and the bottom 17 of 
container 10 is placed on plate 56. Tab 102 is then grasped by free end 
104 and peeled away from top 46 thereby breaking the seal over opening 
100. Sauce S is now exposed to the atmosphere surrounding container 10. 
Container 10 can now be lifted away from food product F because opening 
100 allows air into upper portion 14 of container 10 to prevent the 
formation of a vacuum between sauce S and top 46. Sauce S is then free to 
flow over product F as heretofore described. It will be appreciated that 
as long as connecting wall 38 is located below top edge 30, sauce S will 
be confined to upper portion 14 during shipment and storage. Because 
product F and sauce S may be readily removed from container 10 when 
opening 100 is unsealed, it is no longer necessary that connecting wall 38 
and flange 36 be flexible. Indeed, channel 54 need not be present in this 
embodiment. 
The invention has been described with reference to the preferred 
embodiment. Obviously, modifications and alterations will occur to others 
upon the reading and understanding of this specification. It is intended 
to include all such modifications insofar as they come within the scope of 
the appended claims or equivalents thereof.