Abstract:
A salad bowl made of a plastic moldable material having a platform adjacent one side of the bowl to permit the bowl to rest on the platform so that the bowl may be maintained in an upright position. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, a cover is capable of fitting over the top of the bowl for maintaining the contents of the bowl in place when the bowl is positioned in its upright position.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/453,335 filed on Dec. 2, 1999, which is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/788,513, filed Jan. 24, 1997, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,073,795, which is a continuation of U.S. Patent Application No. 29/052,647, filed Apr. 4, 1996 now issued as U.S. Pat. No. D381,563, which are incorporated by reference. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a food container such as a salad bowl, and in particular to a container that may be stored on a store shelf in an upright manner so as to readily display the container contents to a store customer. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     There have been a number of salad bowls made of plastic moldable materials, such as PVC or PET, which are used for holding food products. The bowls typically have a cylindrical configuration with a generally circular cover that fits over the top of the bowl for maintaining the contents of the bowl from falling out. The cover can be either a “snap on cover”, one that can be reused if desired, or a sealed cover, one that is adhered to the top edge of the bowl by suitable means, such as adhesive or heat, and which cannot be reused. 
     For the purposes of display in stores, if the bowls are placed on the shelves of the store in their conventional manner, i.e., one on top of the other, then the contents of the bowls are not readily observable by someone walking down the aisles of the store. It is well known by those in the grocery trade that the more visible the product, the more likely it is that the consumer will buy the product. It would be advantageous therefore, to have a bowl that may be stackable one upon the other for purposes of shipment or storage while capable of being displayed in a stable upright position when placed on store shelves for sale. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In accordance with the present invention a conventional bowl or container may be stored on its side in an upright position so that the contents of the bowl will be facing the customer as the customer walks down the aisle of the store. This is achieved by having a foot or platform portion of the molded bowl arranged so as to provide stable footing for the bowl placed in the upright position. More specifically, the foot consists of a segment of the bowl that extends from the side wall of the bowl in a rearward and downward direction, terminating in a flat surface portion that is substantially in alignment with the top surface of the bowl. The top surface or peripheral edge of the bowl therefore forms one point of contact with the store shelf, and the flat surface of the foot forms a second point of contact with the store shelf, maintaining the bowl in an upright orientation. 
     In the preferred embodiment of the invention, a removable cover is interlockably attached to the bowl and may be repeatedly attached and removed from the bowl. The cover removably attaches to the top edge of the bowl in any number of well known manners. 
     OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide a bowl that can be set on its side and maintained in an upright orientation; 
     It is a further object of the invention to provides a bowl that can be easily made in one piece of plastic material. 
     These and other objects of the invention will be apparent from a review of the accompanying specification and drawings. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the bowl of the present invention resting, in the upright position, on a horizontal surface. 
     FIG. 2 is a bottom view of the bowl of the present invention. 
     FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line  10 — 10  of FIG.  2 . 
     FIG. 4 is a partial cut away view of the bowl and the cover showing an interlocking arrangement between the cover and bowl of the present invention. 
     FIG. 5 is a bottom view of the lid of the bowl of the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Referring now to the drawings and in particular to FIGS. 1,  2  and  3 , the two piece food container is shown and generally referenced by the numeral  10 . Container  10 , which may be constructed of any one of a number of clear resilient plastic materials known in the art, consists of a bowl portion  12  having a flat planar base  13 , sidewalls  20  and an upper peripheral edge  16 . A cover or lid portion  14  (shown in FIGS. 4 and 5) which, as will be described in further detail below, is sized and shaped to fit over upper peripheral edge  16  of the bowl portion  12  and serves, by means of an interference or press fit, to provide the bowl portion  12  with a tight seal. The flat planar base  13  is parallel to upper peripheral edge  16 . Upper peripheral edge  16  is essentially circular and lies in a plane  17 . When the base  13  is placed upon a horizontal surface, the container  10  rests in a horizontal position. 
     The interior shape of the bowl portion  12  is generally annular with decreasing annular diameters progressing from the peripheral edge  16  to the base  13 . Scalloped portions  15  are phased sequentially around the bowl portion  12  to provide an overall decorative and aesthetic appeal to the container  10 , as well as to provide structural rigidity. Although shown in generally annular cross-section (see FIGS. 2 and 3) it is to be understood that other shapes such as oval, scalloped, square or rectangular, are also within the contemplation of the present invention. 
     A platform (or foot)  18  projects outwardly and downwardly from sidewall  20  and serves to stabilize and maintain the container  10  in an upright position (as shown in FIG. 1) when both the platform  18  and upper peripheral edge  16  are placed in contact with a horizontal surface such as a store shelf. The end  22  of the platform  18  is positioned, in the preferred embodiment, so that a straight line drawn from platform end  22  to upper peripheral edge  16  (representing a horizontal surface  24  upon which the container  10  rests) forms an included angle  26  that is preferably less than 90 degrees with respect to the plane  17 . Accordingly when placed on a store shelf in the upright position, the container  10  tilts slightly backwards to provide better visibility of its contents when observed by passers-by and prevent forward tipping. Preferably, the end  22  extends outward and downward to the extent such that, when the container  10  rests on a horizontal surface, on its side, angle  26  is in the range of about 70 to 80 degrees. A flat surface  28  extends the width of the platform  18  along its end  22 . Peripheral edge  16  includes a flat outer surface  30  that is sized and positioned to be parallel and in registration with flat surface  28 . Outer surface  30  and flat surface  28  provide two extended points of contact along a horizontal surface so as to further maintain the container  10  stable in the upright position. 
     Lid  14  shown in FIG. 4 is closeable over bowl portion  12  and is sized and shaped to fit snugly over the peripheral edge  16  so that when urged onto the peripheral  16  a press fit is maintained thereby providing a tight seal of the bowl portion  12 . Lid  14  includes an edge surface  29  (FIG.  5 ), dimensioned and positioned to be parallel to and in registration with, bowl portion outer surface  30  when the lid  14  is closed on the bowl portion  12 . 
     As shown in the partial cross-section of FIG. 4 peripheral edge  16  includes raised surface  32  from which depend walls  34  and  36 . Wall  34  flairs away from surface  32  at acute angle  38 . Similarly lid  14 , includes a peripheral edge  40  that includes raised surface  42  from which depend walls  44  and  46 . Wall  44  flairs away from surface  42  at acute angle  48  that is slightly greater than angle  38 . In this fashion, when peripheral edge  40  is urged against peripheral edge  16  wall  44  will interfere with walls  34  to achieve a press fit therebetween. Although one embodiment has been disclosed, it is recognized that one skilled in the art may utilize alternate interlocking arrangements. For example, an adhesive may be applied to one or the other of peripheral edges  16  or  40 , so that the lid portion  14  may be adhesively secured to the bowl portion  12  and access to the contents of the container  10  is achieved by pulling away the lid portion  14  from the bowl portion  12 . 
     Although the invention has been described relative to a specific embodiment thereof, there are numerous variations and modifications that will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art in the light of the above teachings. For example, a number of various interlocking arrangements can be used to achieve securing the cover to the bowl either for repeatable use or for one time use. Further, in the upright position the container may be vertical, that is orthogonal to the surface upon which the container rests. It is therefore to be understood that, within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced other than as specifically described.