Abstract:
A packaging system in which food items can be frozen, stored, shipped, baked and served is disclosed. The packaging system includes a base, a pair of trays, a plurality of baking cups and a shrink wrap protective covering.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    I. Field of the Invention  
           [0002]    This invention relates generally to food packaging, and more particularly to a packaging system in which frozen batter can be stored, shipped and baked into finished, fresh from the oven, bakery goods such as brownies and muffins.  
           [0003]    II. Description of the Prior Art  
           [0004]    Various means have been used in the prior art to ship bakery products from one location to another. Finished bakery products are often transported in boxes, bags or cartons. Such boxes, bags and cartons serve three functions: (1) provide a convenient means for carrying bakery items; (2) prevent contamination of the bakery items; and (3) assist in keeping the bakery items fresh.  
           [0005]    Similarly, unfinished bakery items have been shipped in a number of ways. Cake, brownie or muffin mixes have, for many years, been shipped in boxes or bags. Consumers, restaurant workers or the like blend the mixes shipped in this fashion with other ingredients such as water, milk, or eggs and then bake the product.  
           [0006]    Various bakery products, such as cookies and rolls have been mixed at the factory, placed in a cardboard or plastic tube and then shipped to grocery stores or restaurants. In these situations, the product is generally removed from the package, placed on a cookie sheet, and then baked in the oven.  
           [0007]    Problems exist with all three packaging methods outlined above. When bags, boxes and cartons are used to package fully baked items, care must be taken to avoid crushing of the package and its contents. Also, such items often lack the freshness and warmth that consumers, whether eating in a restaurant or at home, find desirable. Boxed or bagged mixes for cookies, brownies and cakes, when properly used, often provide the freshness and warmth desired. However, they require extra preparation time, the availability of ingredients other than the mixes, and mixing and baking utensils. This increases both preparation time and clean-up time. Even the prior art products that are fully mixed and ready to bake require the use of baking utensils. The product must be removed from the packaging and placed on a cookie sheet or the like before they can be baked.  
         SUMMARY OF TIRE INVENTION  
         [0008]    The present invention overcomes all of the above-referenced problems with the prior art by providing a unique packaging arrangement in which bakery goods can conveniently be stored, frozen, shipped and even baked. Thus, the present invention not only provides a finished bakery product that is warm and fresh when served, but does so without the need for either any mixing operations or any other utensils at the point of final baking. A further advantage of the present invention is that it provides a safe and effective method of transporting baked goods after they have been baked as well.  
           [0009]    All of this is accomplished by providing a cheap and inexpensive package made up of four components: (1) a corrugated paper base; (2) a corrugated paper tray; (3) a plurality of paper cups; and (4) a shrink-wrap cover that completely surrounds the base, the tray, the cups and their contents. The base has a bottom, an upwardly extending sidewall projecting from the bottom, and an open top. A plurality of holes are cut through the bottom of the base to permit circulation of air throughout the package. The tray is designed to set within the base. It has a top and plurality of downwardly extending feet to hold the top a predetermined distance from the bottom of the base. The top of the tray has two sets of holes. One set is provided to permit proper circulation of air throughout the package. Each hole of the other set is used to receive and hold one of the cups in a spaced fashion from the other cups. The shrink-wrap plastic cover completely surrounds the package to prevent contamination of the contents during storage and shipping of the bakery products.  
           [0010]    As suggested above, the present invention permits bakery products to be stored and shipped in a frozen fashion. The consumer or restaurant which receives the goods then simply removes the shrink-wrap cover and place the package in a conventional oven to bake the products. Once baking is complete, the products to be served right from the tray. This eliminates the need for any mixing, baking or serving utensils at a consumer or restaurant site. Alternatively, a distributor of bakery products can bake them in the package and then ship the entire package containing the bakery products to the consumer.  
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0011]    The foregoing features objects and advantages of the invention will become more apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment, especially when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a fully assembled package made in accordance with the present invention;  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the base of the package shown in FIG. 1;  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the tray of the package shown in FIG. 1;  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an alternative tray design for other types of baked goods; and  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an alternative embodiment incorporating an additional separate bakery tray. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0017]    As shown best in FIG. 1 of the drawings, the preferred embodiment shown includes the following primary components: a base  10 , a tray  20  and a shrink-wrap plastic covering  30 . As shown in FIG. 2, the base includes a bottom  12 , and an upwardly projecting sidewall  14  which surrounds the perimeter of the base. The top of the base is open. The bottom  12  and sidewall  14  cooperate to form a cavity  15 . While the shape of the base shown is generally rectangular, it can have any of a number of shapes, including but not limited to, square, round, oval, trapezoidal, or hexagonal.  
         [0018]    The base is preferably made of an untreated corrugated cardboard. The bottom  12  of the base  10  has a plurality of air holes  16  to provide air circulation and associated heat transfer during freezing or baking operations.  
         [0019]    [0019]FIGS. 3 and 4 best show two different embodiments of the tray  20 . The tray  20  includes a top  22  and at least one downwardly projecting support comprising a foot  24 . As shown in FIG. 4, two feet  24  are provided. The ends  25  of the feet  24  engage the bottom  12  of the base  10  to hold the top  22  of the tray  20  a desired height above the bottom  12  of the base  10 . The tray  20  is also sized to fit within the cavity  15  of the base  10  as defined by the sidewall  14  of the base  10 .  
         [0020]    The top  22  of tray  20  has two sets of holes. As shown in FIGS. 1, 3 and  4  the smaller set of holes  26  are air holes. Like the air holes  16  in the base, the air holes  26  provide air circulation and heat transfer during freezing or baking operations. The larger set of holes  28  are sized and shaped to receive baking cups  32 . In FIGS. 1, 3 and  5 , the cup holes  28  are shaped to receive round cups  32 . This configuration of the package would typically be used for muffins, cupcakes, or the like. In FIG. 4, the cup holes  28  are square and are designed to receive square cups  32 . This configuration of the package would typically be used for brownies or small cakes. While round and square cup holes  28  are shown, other shaped holes and other shaped cups  32  can be used without deviating from the invention.  
         [0021]    In constructing the tray, the goal is to provide adequate strength and support as well as maximum airflow. To ensure proper baking, the number of air holes  26  or their size can be increased. The same is true with respect to the construction of the base  10  and the air holes  16 . To provide even greater air flow during baking, the tray  20  can be removed from the base  10  and then placed in the oven.  
         [0022]    Another embodiment of the invention is shown in FIG. 5. In this embodiment, a separate smaller baking tray  50  is also provided. There may be times when a family or restaurant does not wish to bake the entire quantity of items in the package. By providing a separate, smaller baking tray  50 , a user has the choice of baking some of the items now and continuing to store the rest for baking at a later time. The smaller baking tray  50  has one or more cups  52 . These cups  52  are sized and positioned to (a) receive a baking cup  32 ; and (b) to fit within the cup holes  28  of the tray  20 . Thus, the baking tray  50  can be conveniently shrink-wrapped with the base  10 , tray  20 , baking cups  32 , and batter placed with the baking cups  32  for freezing, storage, shipment and/or baking.  
         [0023]    To fully appreciate the advantages of the present invention, one needs to understand how it is typically used. First, a base  10  and tray  20  are assembled. Second, baking cups  32  are inserted into each of the cup holes  28 . Third, batter for the baked goods is mixed and the desired amount of such batter is placed in each of the baking cups  32 . Fourth, the base  10 , tray  20 , baking cups  32  and batter are placed in a freezer to freeze the batter. Typically, a nitrogen tunnel freezer would be used. Fifth, a shrink-wrap covering  30  is placed around the base to seal the package. A plurality of such packages, typically six, can then be placed in a carton for shipment to a restaurant or the like.  
         [0024]    When a restaurant wants to serve bakery items that have been packaged as described above, a kitchen worker simply removes one of the packages for the carton, removes the shrink-wrap covering  30  from the package and places the rest of the packages and its contents in the oven. In about one half hour, the restaurant is ready to serve warm, fresh baked goods. As indicated above, it may sometimes be advantageous to remove the tray from the base and only place the tray  20 , cups  32  and frozen batter in the oven.  
         [0025]    Restaurants or homemakers may not wish to bake all of the items in the package at the same time. When the package is supplied with the separate, smaller baking tray  50 , the baking tray  50  can be used to bake the desired number of items and the rest can be placed back in a freezer. As a cost saving measure, when six packages are shipped in a carton, one package (preferably the top package in the carton) will include the smaller baking tray  50 . The rest will not.  
         [0026]    Alternatively, a manufacturer of baked items can use the package to deliver completely finished product to a restaurant or the like. When doing so, the package is assembled, the batter is placed in the baking cups and the tray  20  is placed in an oven for the desired time and at the desired temperature. Once baking is complete, the tray  20  is removed from the oven and, if not already located with the base  10 , placed with the base  10 . The shrink-wrap covering  30  is applied and the product is ready to be shipped.  
         [0027]    This invention has been described in considerable detail in order to comply with the patent statutes and to provide those skilled in the art with the information needed to apply the novel principles and to construct and use packaging incorporating the invention. However, it should be understood that the invention can be carried out in other ways and that various modifications can be made without departing form the scope of the invention