Packaged food product and method of producing the packaged food product

A packaged food product includes a container and a food product. The container has a rim and at least one wall extending away from the rim. The at least one wall defines a storage area, and the food product is retained within the storage area such that the food product is in contact with the at least one wall. The at least one wall is readily deformable by a hand of a user to reduce a volume of the storage area. Reducing the volume of the storage area causes the food product to exit the storage area. The container includes an integral tool portion for breaking up the food product after removal from the storage area. The food product can be a wet cat or dog food.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention pertains to the art of food production and, more particularly, to packaging for food products.

Food products are often packaged prior to sale. Such packaging can take the form of cans, jars, boxes or bags, for example. In the case of pet food, such as wet cat or dog food, cans are a common packaging type. When the wet food is served, consumers frequently remove the food from the can and place it into or onto a bowl, dish or plate, for example, where the food may then be broken up. This requires a spoon or fork, both for the serving and the chopping. However, many consumers would prefer not to use a utensil for this task that they themselves also eat with, necessitating the ownership of one or more dedicated pet food utensils. At the very least, this process results in additional dirty utensils that must be cleaned. Accordingly, it would desirable to provide a way for consumers to serve wet pet food without using a utensil.

In addition, one reason why a consumer might use a utensil to serve wet pet food from a can is that the can contains multiple servings and the consumer only wishes to serve part of the can's contents. Accordingly, it would also be desirable to provide wet pet food in single-serve packaging.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention achieves the above goals through the use of packaging that is readily deformable by hand, with the deformation causing the contents of the packaging to exit the packaging. Preferably, the packaging is sized to provide a single serving. Additionally, the packaging includes structure to help break up the contents after they have been dispensed.

In particular, a packaged food product comprises a container and a food product. The container includes a rim and at least one wall extending away from the rim. The at least one wall defines a storage area. The food product is retained within the storage area and in contact with the at least one wall. The at least one wall is configured to be readily deformable by a hand of a user to reduce a volume of the storage area. The packaged food product is configured such that reducing the volume of the storage area causes the food product to exit the storage area. Also, a portion of the rim extends beyond the at least one wall, preferably by a predetermined distance of at least 1 centimeter, to establish an integral utensil or tool portion. The food product can take various forms, such as a wet cat food or a wet dog food. In a form of the invention, the tool portion of the rim includes at least one tine for breaking up the food after the food has been removed from the container but prior to serving.

Additional objects, features and advantages of the invention will become more readily apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments thereof when taken in conjunction with the drawings wherein like reference numerals refer to common parts in the several views.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

As discussed above, pet food, such as wet cat or dog food, is commonly packaged in cans. To serve such pet food, a consumer would use a separate utensil to remove the pet food from the can and break it up. In some cases, only a portion of the pet food is removed from the can. This process necessitates the cleaning of the utensil and, for some consumers, a dedicated pet food utensil. The present invention was developed to address this problem. Specifically, the present invention provides a container with a storage area for retaining a food product and at least one wall that is readily deformable by hand to reduce a volume of the storage area. Reducing the volume of the storage area causes the food product to exit the storage area. In other words, the user can squeeze the container to dispense the food, avoiding the need for a separate utensil. The container is sized to hold a single serving of the food product. Therefore, the user does not need to try to serve only a portion of the food product. In addition, part of the rim of the container extends beyond the at least one wall to establish an integrally formed utensil or tool portion, preferably including one or more tines. This structure can be used to break up the food product after it has been dispensed, again avoiding the need for a separate utensil.

With reference toFIG. 1, two packaged food products100and101are shown. Packaged food products100and101are attached to one another and can be sold as a unit. However, it should be recognized that packaged food products100and101can also be sold individually or in larger quantities (with additional packaged food products attached thereto).

Packaged food products100and101are functionally identical but their shapes are mirror images of one another, with the plane of symmetry being located at their point of attachment. In particular, packaged food product100has a rim105and a lid110in sealing contact with rim105, while packaged food product101has a rim106and a lid111in sealing contact with rim106. Rim105is attached to rim106to attach packaged food products100and101to one another. This connection is obscured by lids110and111but generally extends between points115and116. Packaged food products100and101can be attached by molding a single substrate and then blow molding two containers from the substrate, for example. When desired, packaged food products100and101can be readily detached from each other through a bending operation about a connection line extending between points115and116. Since packaged food product101is nearly identical to packaged food product100, packaged food product101will not be discussed further.

Turning toFIG. 2, packaged food product100is shown by itself, with lid110peeled partially away from rim105to expose a food product200. Food product200is a single serving of a wet pet food, e.g., wet cat food or wet dog food. However, food product200can take other forms in other embodiments. Rim105and lid110form part of a container205, which is configured to retain food product200. Container205further includes a sidewall210extending away from rim105, with sidewall210being shown to an annular wall.

InFIG. 3, food product200is omitted so that a bottom wall300of container205can be seen. Sidewall210and bottom wall300together define a storage area305in which food product200is retained. As should be recognized based onFIGS. 2 and 3, food product200is in contact with bottom wall300during storage and is typically in contact with at least part of sidewall210as well. While one exemplary arrangement for sidewall210and bottom wall300has been illustrated, it should be understood that many different arrangements can be used in accordance with the present invention. In other words, the shape of storage area305can vary. For example, the single sidewall210can be replaced with multiple walls, or sidewall210and bottom wall300can be combined, with storage area305taking on a hemispherical shape. In general, container205should have at least one wall defining storage area305.

Preferably, molding, and more preferably blow molding, is used to create sidewall210, bottom wall300and storage area305. In a preferred form, a flat plastic substrate in the shape of rim105(not shown) is subjected to blow molding to cause the center of the substrate to expand. The expansion is controlled in such a way that the center portion becomes sidewall210and bottom wall300, thereby also forming storage area305. As a result of this process, sidewall210and bottom wall300are magnitudes thinner than rim105. In particular, by this construction, the thickness of sidewall210and bottom wall300is established so that at least one of sidewall210and bottom wall300is readily deformable. For purposes of the present invention, by “readily deformable” it is meant that a user can deform sidewall210or bottom wall300by hand (i.e., using one or both hands and without any tools) without requiring an above average amount of strength. This allows the user to push one or both of sidewall210and bottom wall300inward (i.e., readily collapsing the same into storage area305) to reduce the volume of storage area305. Reducing the volume of storage area305causes food product200to exit storage area305. As a result, the user can dispense food product200without using a utensil.

While the discussion above focuses on the thickness of sidewall210and bottom wall300, it should be recognized that the shapes of sidewall210and bottom wall300also have an effect on their deformability. Accordingly, this parameter is also adjusted to provide the desired degree of deformability. In general, at least one of the walls defining storage area305is configured to be readily deformable and has at least a slight taper from rim105as perhaps best shown inFIG. 4. To further enhance the collapsing operation, sidewall210is also preferably tiered (shown inFIG. 4with two, upper and lower tiered sections but additional tiers could be provided).

Turning further toFIG. 4, it can be seen that a portion400of rim105extends beyond sidewall210. Preferably, portion400constitutes an integrally formed utensil or tool portion which extends beyond sidewall210by at least 1 centimeter. In some embodiments, such as the one illustrated, tool portion400extends beyond sidewall by 2 or more centimeters. In combination with the relative thinness of rim105, this allows the user to use tool portion400like a blade, as shown inFIG. 5. In particular, the user can use tool portion400to chop or break up food product200. To help accomplish this, tool portion400is preferably formed with a plurality of tines500. Alternatively, tool portion400can have serrations (or even a straight or tapered edge). In addition, rim105has two opposing indents or recessed regions505, which serve as grip portions to help the user grip container205during chopping. Similarly, sidewall210has protrusions510, which serve as grip portions to help the user grip container205during dispensing of food product200. A small step515near the bottom of sidewall210helps create lateral rigidity.

Based on the above, it should be readily apparent that the present invention provides a way for consumers to serve wet pet food without using a utensil. While certain preferred embodiments of the present invention have been set forth, it should be understood that various changes or modifications could be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. In general, the invention is only intended to be limited by the scope of the following claims.