Abstract:
A taco holder including a rigid, foldable template that retains a crease when folded, which has portions and fold lines configured so that the taco holder is easily configurable between an open configuration and a folded configuration. The open configuration is defined by the fold lines being substantially unfolded such that front edges of the portions of the taco holder define an opening configured to receive a taco or other folded sandwich food. The folded configuration is defined by the fold lines being substantially folded such that the foldable food container is substantially flat.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     Not applicable. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. The Field of the Invention 
     This disclosure describes taco holders. Specifically, this disclosure concerns foldable taco holders and taco holders with tailored shapes. 
     2. The Relevant Technology 
     Those familiar with the food item known as a taco know that the taco is a hard or soft outer shell in which fillings—such as meat, cheese, and vegetables—are placed. The taco is then consumed by holding the outer shell and consuming the shell and its contents from one side to the other. One problem encountered while consuming tacos is that a person consuming a taco may hold the taco in such a way that the fillings tend to fall out of the outer shell of the taco. For example, a person may hold a taco vertically to consume one end of the taco while fillings from the other end of the taco fall out the bottom. 
     In the United States, many tacos are consumed from fast-food-type establishments, where the purpose is to serve as many tacos as fast as possible. Thus, fast-food vendors do not have the time to provide possible time-consuming solutions to the problem of fillings falling out of tacos. Furthermore, taco vendors, such as those that sell tacos from food carts, may not have adequate space to store voluminous extra materials that might assist consumers in the retention of their taco fillings. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Taco holders are described herein that provide a simple, fast, space-saving solution to retaining fillings inside of taco shells. In one embodiment a taco holder includes a rigid, foldable template that retains a crease when folded, which has an upper portion, a lower portion, a first side portion, a second side portion, and a rear portion. The upper and lower portions are defined by front edges, rear edges, first side edges, and second side edges. The front edges may be substantially the same length as the rear edges, and the first side edges and the second side edges may be substantially the same length. The upper and lower portions are coupled to the first side portion and second side portions along the first side edges and the second side edges respectively, and the upper and lower portions are coupled to the rear portion along the rear edges. The first and second side portions are defined by front edges, rear edges, first rear fold lines, second rear fold lines, and bifurcating fold lines. The front edges of the first and second side portions may be longer than the rear edges, and the first and second side portions are coupled to the rear portion along the rear edges. The bifurcating fold lines extend from the front edges toward the rear edges of the first and second side portions, and the bifurcating fold lines partially bifurcate the first and second side portions into upper and lower sections. The first and second rear fold lines of the first and second side portions extend from the rear edges of the side portions to the bifurcating fold lines. An upper fold line extends between the bifurcating fold lines such that the upper fold line extends across the upper portion. 
     With this, or similar configuration, the taco holder is easily configurable between an open configuration and a folded configuration. The open configuration is defined by the rear fold lines, the bifurcating fold lines, and the upper fold line being substantially unfolded such that the front edges of the upper, lower, and side portions define an opening configured to receive a taco or other folded sandwich food. The folded configuration is defined by the rear fold lines, the bifurcating fold lines, and the upper fold line being substantially folded such that the rear portion at least partially folds over the upper portion so that the foldable food container is substantially flat. 
     These and other embodiments and features of the present invention will become more fully apparent from the following description and appended claims, or may be learned by the practice of the invention as set forth hereinafter. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       To further clarify the above and other advantages and features of the present invention, a more particular description of the invention will be rendered by reference to specific embodiments thereof which are illustrated in the appended drawings. It is appreciated that these drawings depict only typical embodiments of the invention and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope. The invention will be described and explained with additional specificity and detail through the use of the accompanying drawings in which: 
         FIG. 1  illustrates one embodiment of a foldable taco holder  100  in which a taco  101  is inserted, which shows an exemplary use of a taco holder; 
         FIG. 2  illustrates the embodiment of the foldable taco holder  100  of  FIG. 1 , which is illustrated without anything inserted therein so that an upper portion  110 , lower portion  120 , first side portion  130 , second side portion  140 , rear portion  150 , and opening  160  of the foldable taco holder  100  may be seen; 
         FIG. 3  illustrates the embodiment of the foldable taco holder  100  of  FIG. 1  in an intermediately folded configuration, wherein the taco holder  100  is substantially flattened; 
         FIG. 4  illustrates the embodiment of the foldable taco holder  100  of  FIG. 1  in a completely flat configuration; 
         FIG. 5  illustrates a stack  550  of folded taco holders  500 A- 500 F, which have been folded; 
         FIGS. 6A-5I  illustrates one method of constructing one embodiment of a taco holder from a taco holder template  600 ; 
         FIG. 7  illustrates another embodiment of a taco holder  700  with a curved upper portion  710 , which is tailored to match the curvature of a curve of a taco shell; 
         FIG. 8  illustrates a stack  850  of taco holders  800 A- 800 E in a nested configuration; 
         FIG. 9  illustrates another embodiment of a taco holder  900 , wherein the front edge  931  of first side portion  630  and front edge  941  of second side portion  940  are skewed; and 
         FIG. 10  illustrates a stack  1050  of taco holders  1000 A- 1000 E in a nested configuration. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Exemplary embodiments of a taco holder will now be described with reference to the Figures, the illustrated and described embodiments are exemplary only, and one of skill in the art will recognize many variations of the described embodiments within the scope of the claims. 
     Referring first to  FIG. 1 ,  FIG. 1  shows one embodiment of a taco holder  100  in use with a taco  101  inserted therein. Further description of the taco holder  100  is provided in  FIG. 2  wherein the taco  101  has been removed. 
       FIG. 2  shows taco holder  100  in an open configuration. Upper portion  110  includes a front edge  111 , a rear edge  112  (shown in  FIG. 3 ), a first side edge  113 , and a second side edge  114 . Upper portion  110  is coupled to first side portion  130  along first side edge  113  of the upper portion  110 , and upper portion  110  is coupled to second side portion  140  along second side edge  114  of the upper portion  140 . Lower portion  120  includes a front edge  121 , a rear edge  122  (shown in  FIG. 4 ), a first side edge  123 , and a second side edge  124 . Lower portion  120  is coupled to first side portion  130  along first side edge  123  of lower portion  120 , and lower portion  120  is coupled to second side portion  140  along second side edge  124  of lower portion  120 . 
     First side portion  130  includes a front edge  131 , a rear edge  132 , a first rear fold line  133 , a second rear fold line  134 , and a bifurcating fold line  135 . First side portion  130  is coupled to rear portion  150  along rear edge  132  of first side portion  130 . Bifurcating fold line  135  partially bifurcates first side portion  130  into an upper section  136  and a lower sections  137 . Likewise, second side portion  140  includes a front edge  141 , a rear edge  142  (shown in  FIG. 4 ), and a bifurcating fold line  145 , which partially bifurcates second side portion  140  into an upper section  146  and a lower section  147 . Second side portion  140  also includes first and second rear fold lines in a similar configuration to those of first side portion  130 . 
     An upper fold line  170  extends between bifurcating fold line  135  and bifurcating fold line  145  such that upper fold line  170  extends across upper portion  100  (as shown in  FIG. 3 ). 
     The several fold lines of taco holder  100  permit selective configuration of taco holder  100  between an open configuration and a folded configuration. As stated  FIG. 2  shows taco holder  100  in an open configuration, which, as shown, is characterized in part by first rear fold line  133 , second rear fold line  134 , and bifurcating fold line  135  of first side portion  130 ; by first and second rear fold lines and bifurcating fold line  145  of second side portion  140 ; and by upper fold line  170  being unfolded. Thus, in the open configuration, front edge  111 , front edge  121 , front edge  131 , and front edge  141  define opening  160  in which a taco or other folded sandwich food may be placed, such as taco  101  shown in  FIG. 1 . Alternative configurations for taco holder  100  will now be described with reference to  FIGS. 3 and 4 . 
       FIGS. 3 and 4  show taco holder  100  in a folded configuration in which taco holder  100  is substantially flat. The view of  FIG. 3  shows that upper portion  110  is coupled to rear portion  150  along rear edge  112  of upper portion  110 , and the view of  FIG. 4  shows that lower portion  120  is coupled to rear portion  150  along rear edge  122  of lower portion  120 . 
     As shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4 , the folded configuration is characterized in part by first rear fold line  133 , second rear fold line  134 , and bifurcating fold line  135  of first side portion  130 ; by first and second rear fold lines and bifurcating fold line  145  of second side portion  145 ; and by upper fold line  170  being folded.  FIG. 4  shows that in the folded configuration, rear portion  150  may partially fold over upper portion  110 . 
     The folded configuration of taco holder  100  may be advantageous for shipping and storing multiple taco holders. For example,  FIG. 5  shows a stack  550  of taco holders  500 A-F in a folded configuration. As shown, in the folded configuration, taco holders  500 A-F may be flattened and stacked so that little space is required to ship and store the taco holders. If taco holders are shipped and stored in a folded configuration, a user may simply unfold, or pop open, a taco holder by straightforward manipulation prior to using the taco holder. 
     A method of making one embodiment of a taco holder will now be described with reference to  FIG. 6A-I . As shown in  FIG. 6A , a taco holder template  600  is provided having various portions and fold lines described hereinbelow. Taco holder template  600  may be of any foldable material such as paper, cardstock, cardboard, or other paper-based material. 
     As shown in  FIG. 6B , a first side portion  630  is folded upward from a lower portion  620  along a fold line  623 , which is described as a first side edge of lower portion  620 . As shown in  FIGS. 6A-I , first side portion  640  includes a rear tab  639 , and lower portion  620  includes a rear tab  629 . Next, as shown in  FIG. 6C , a second side portion  640  is folded upward from lower portion  620  along a fold line  624 , which is described as a second side edge of lower portion  620 . Second side portion  640  also includes a rear tab  643 . 
       FIG. 6D  shows that an upper portion  610  is then folded from second side portion  640  toward first side portion  630  along a fold line  614 , which is described as a second side edge of upper portion  610 . Upper portion  610  further includes a rear tab  619 . 
       FIG. 6D  also shows that a sealing tab  680  may form part of taco holder template  600 .  FIG. 6E  shows sealing tab  680  is folded over first side portion  630  along fold line  613 , which is described as a first side edge of upper portion  610 . Sealing tab  680  may be useful to maintain the shape of taco holder template  600 . One of skill in the art will recognize that a sealing tab, such as sealing tab  680 , or multiple sealing tabs, may be placed next to upper, lower, or side portions or in any other position to facilitate the construction of a taco holder from a taco holder template. 
       FIG. 6F  is another view of the taco holder template  600  as shown in  FIG. 6E .  FIG. 6F  shows an opening  660 , which has been formed by the folding of taco holder template  600 . 
       FIG. 6G  shows rear tab  639  of first side portion  630  folded toward second side portion  640  along fold line  632 , which is described as a rear edge of first side portion  630 .  FIG. 6G  also shows rear tab  649  of second side portion  640  folded toward first side portion  630  along fold line  642 , which is described as a rear edge of second side portion  640 . 
       FIG. 6H  shows rear tab  619  of upper portion  610  folded toward lower portion  620  along fold line  612 , which is described as a rear edge of upper portion  610 .  FIG. 6I  shows rear tab  629  folded toward upper portion  610  along fold line  622 , which is described as a rear edge of lower portion  620 . Thus, a rear portion  650  is formed from rear tab  629  and/or from the collection of rear tab  619  of upper portion  610 , rear tab  629  of lower portion  620 , rear tab  639  of first side portion  630 , and rear tab  649  of second side portion  640 . 
     The tabs described with reference to  FIGS. 6A-I  may be held in place by an adhesive, fasteners, or any other means of securing material together known by one of skill in the art. 
     Further views of the disclosed embodiments are shown in U.S. Design patent application Ser. No. 29/376,408 to David L. Millet and Gary Millet, filed Oct. 6, 2010, and entitled “TACO HOLDER,” which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
     One of skill in the art will recognize many alternative and varied features of a taco holder. For example, a taco holder may be made of paper-based material, plastic, or other biodegradable material. The material from which a taco holder is constructed may be coated with a preservative coating, such as wax or plastic, to prevent juices or other food from soaking into and affecting the rigidity of the material. The lengths and sizes of the various portions and edges of a taco holder may be altered to conform to particular food items or to otherwise facilitate use of a taco holder. 
     The special language used herein, such as upper, lower, and side, should not be construed as limiting and is provided only for the convenience of the reader for reference to the various Figures. 
     The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from its spirit or essential characteristics. The described embodiments are to be considered in all respects only as illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the invention is, therefore, indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description. All changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are to be embraced within their scope.