Patent Publication Number: US-9428310-B2

Title: Cover for open top food containers

Description:
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION 
     Open top food containers are commonly used at cookouts, parties, social gatherings and the like. One of the concerns, particularly in outdoor use, is that flying insects and germs swarm around the food in the picnic area. These flies and insects carry disease that can easily be transferred to unprotected foods. A further problem with open top containers is the prevention of germs and bacteria reaching the food from individuals coughing and sneezing which can contaminate the food. It is also a concern to keep the foods warm for a long period of time. One common approach is to cover the open top containers with foil. Traditional foil, however, does not provide a sufficient cover of the foods and does not effectively prevent flies and other insects from entering the food containers. 
     SUMMARY OF INVENTION 
     An object of this invention is to provide a cover for an open top food container, particularly one that could be used at cookouts, picnics and other outdoor events. 
     A further object of this invention is to protect food items from flying insects and germs and to protect the food items from germs and bacteria from individuals coughing and sneezing. 
     In accordance with this invention the cover includes a peripheral side wall which can fit over one or more open top food containers. The top of the cover has an opening to provide ready access to the food within the food containers. The opening is selectively closed by a fan or accordion type lid which is anchored at one end and can slide to the other end to completely cover the opening. 
     Preferably, the cover includes an inner frame which would rest on the open top food container upper rim. The lid preferably slides on a pair of side supports located above the inner frame. The lid could be held in its closed position in any suitable manner, such as by a latch or by magnets. 
    
    
     
       THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is an exploded view showing a cover of this invention disposed over open top containers at a cookout; 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view similar to  FIG. 1  showing the cover mounted in place with the lid in its closed condition; 
         FIG. 3  is a view similar to  FIG. 2  showing the lid partially open; 
         FIG. 4  is a cross-sectional view taken through  FIG. 1  along line  4 - 4  but with the cover mounted in place; 
         FIG. 5  is a cross-sectional view taken through  FIG. 1  along the line  5 - 5  but with the cover mounted in place; 
         FIG. 6  is a cross-sectional view taken through  FIG. 2  along the line  6 - 6 ; 
         FIG. 7  is a cross-sectional view taken through  FIG. 2  along the line  7 - 7 ; 
         FIG. 8  is an exploded view showing the cover of this invention disposed over an alternative type of open top food containers; and 
         FIG. 9  is a perspective view showing the cover of  FIG. 8  mounted in place over the food containers. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The present invention relates to a food container cover and in particularly a cover which includes a unique lid that could be used in outdoor environments, although not limited thereto. As shown in  FIG. 1  one form of outdoor environment would be a cookout wherein a chafer frame  2  holds a pair of open top food containers  4 , 4 . As better shown in  FIGS. 4-7  the food container  4  is nestled in a lower open top container  6  which might hold, for example, water. Mounted on the frame are suitable heaters  8 , such as sterno heaters, for maintaining the food in container  4  in a warm condition. This could be done by maintaining previously heated food in a warm condition or by heating the water in container  6  which in turn would maintain the food in container  4  hot. Conventional containers  4  and  6  are made of aluminum, although the invention is not limited to such containers. 
     A concern, which is addressed by the present invention, is that the open top food containers  4 , 4  in order to have the food accessible, are susceptible to flies or other insects getting into the food and otherwise causing annoyance. In accordance with this invention a cover  10  is provided to address this problem. 
     Cover  10  includes an outer frame having a peripheral imperforate side wall  12  having a sufficient size and height to be superimposed around the food containers  4 . It is not necessary that the height of side wall  12  extend completely down the food containers  4 . What is important is that the open tops of the food containers should be covered. By having the bottom of cover  10  completely open it is an easy matter to simply telescope the side wall  12  over the food containers. It is to be understood, however, that if desired an inward shoulder or ledge could be provided at the bottom of the periphery of side wall  12  for stability as long as the bottom of cover  10  is sufficiently open for the side wall  12  to telescope over the containers  4 , 4 . 
     As shown in  FIGS. 4-7  an inner frame  14  extends inwardly of side wall  12 . The inner frame  14  extends completely around the inner surface of side wall  12 . When cover  10  is telescoped over food container  4  the downward movement continues until inner frame  14  contacts the top edge or rim of food container  4 . 
     An important feature of this invention is the provision of a lid  16  which covers the open tops of the food containers  4 , 4 . The lid is selectively movable to a completely open position and a completely closed position.  FIG. 1 , for example, shows the lid  16  where it is essentially open, while  FIG. 2  shows the lid  16  completely closed.  FIG. 3  also shows lid  16  partially open and partially closed. 
     Lid  16  is uniquely formed with a fan or accordion type structure wherein a plurality of identical slats  18  are sequentially pivotally mounted to each other along each upper edge and lower edge to form the fan/accordion type structure. The lead slat  20  may be conveniently gripped (and function as a handle) to move the lid to its retracted and to its extended conditions. The slats in lid  16  are imperforate so that when lid  16  is in its closed condition flies or other insects cannot penetrate the lid and are thus prevented from getting into the food containers  4 . 
     As shown in  FIGS. 2-3 and 8-9  lid  16  is of one piece structure wherein slats  18  are formed by uniformly bending or folding the structure upon itself to form the plurality of identical slats integrally mounted to each other along their resultant longitudinal edges. 
     As shown in  FIG. 1  a support  22  is mounted on each of two opposite sides of side wall  12  upwardly from inner frame  14 . Lid  16  rests on side supports  22 , 22  and in that sense the side supports  22 , 22  provide a track for lid  16  to slide in its opening and closing movements.  FIGS. 4-5  show the condition of cover  10  when in the generally open position. As shown therein, lead slat  20  is generally vertically disposed.  FIGS. 6-7  show the condition of cover  10  when in the fully closed position of  FIG. 2 . As shown therein, the slats  18 , 20  are generally horizontal. 
     A peripheral ledge  24  extends inwardly from the top of side wall  12 . Ledge  24  assures lid  16  being maintained within the side wall  12 . Thus, lid  16  is moved to its open and closed positions by being disposed between lower track or supports  22  and upper ledge  24 . One end of lid  16  would be permanently anchored in any suitable manner at a slat remote from lead slat  20 .  FIG. 7 , shows the slat  18  closest to wall  12  to have an upward extension  19  which is permanently anchored to side wall  12  by adhesive  17 . 
     When lid  16  is in its open position, such as generally shown in  FIG. 1 , the open area  26  within side wall  12  provides ready access to the open top food containers  4 , 4 . Thus, the fan/accordion structure of lid  16  conveniently permits the lid to be moved to its retracted position for exposing the cover to the food containers  4 , 4  ( FIG. 1 ) or alternatively to its extended position which closes or prevents access to the food containers  4 , 4  ( FIG. 2 ). When in its extended position lid  16  is preferably completely flat. Lid  16  is made to be wider and longer than the combined open areas of the food containers  4 , 4 . In an exemplary cover  10  of this invention, side supports  22  are each 12.3 inches long and 1 inch wide. Inner frame  14  is 20.2 inches by 12.3 inches and has a ½ inch width. Lid  16  in its extended closed position would generally have the same length and width as the inner surface of wall  12 . For example, in the exemplary embodiment side wall  12  is 4.1 inches high and its length and width are 13.4 inches by 20.2 inches. Lid  16  has a width of 18.8 inches. In its fully extended condition lid  16  has a length of 13 inches. In its fully retracted condition lid  16  has a length of ¾ inches. When the slats  18  of lid  16  are vertically disposed, their height is slightly less than the distance between supports  22  and ledge  24 . 
     When lid  16  is moved to its closed position it is preferable to lock the lid in that position and thus assure no inadvertent opening of the lid to provide unintended access to the food containers  4 , 4 . Any suitable locking structure could be used.  FIGS. 1-3 , for example, show a latch  28  on the lead slat  20 . A cutout  30  is provided in ledge  24  to receive latch  28  and thereby permit the latch and cutout to cooperate as latch and complementary latch members in holding the lid  16  in its closed position. Other types of latch structure could also be used, such as having a hook on lead slat  20  which would hook over the side wall  12 . The various figures also illustrate the provision of magnets  32  on lead slat  20  which would cooperate with magnets  34  on side wall  12 . Such magnets could be disposed in any other arrangement such as by being on ledge  24  instead of the side wall itself. 
       FIG. 6  illustrates one manner of using magnetic locks as latch and complementary latch members. As shown therein lead slat  20  has an upward extension  21 . Magnet  32  is mounted to extension  21  by a retainer member  23  which is secured to extension  21  to trap magnet  32  against extension  21 . Similarly, magnet  34  is mounted to wall  12  by retainer member  33 . When lid  16  is in the closed position of  FIGS. 2 and 6  magnets  32  and  34  are disposed sufficiently near each other to latch lid  16  in the closed position. 
     Except for certain of its components, cover  10  is preferably made of a pliable material such as aluminum which is inexpensive and lends itself to the intended purposes of cover  10 . 
     As shown in  FIGS. 4-7  inner frame  14  may be aluminum material wrapped around a stiffener  36 . Because of the pliability of inner frame  14 , once the inner frame is located on the top edge of food container  4 , inner frame  14  could be bent downwardly to provide an additional seal molded in place between cover  10  and the open top of food container  4 . This would help assure that insects, for example, could not work their way into food container  4  from the bottom upwardly. 
     While  FIGS. 1-7  show cover  10  used with food containers  4 , 4  on a chafer frame  2  the invention is not limited to such use. Instead, it is to be understood that the cover  10  could be used for covering any other type of container.  FIGS. 8-9 , for example, show cover  10  where it would be placed over one or more open food containers  4  that would be placed directly on a table or other support surface, such as a shelf. It is also to be understood that the cover need not be used to cover plural food containers, but could be used for single food containers with or without lower water containers. The cover  10  could be used multiple times or could have single use. A single use is particularly preferred where it is intended to bend or mold the inner frame  14  to make intimate contact with the upper edge of the food container. While the inner frame  14  could then be unbent for multiple use, cover  10  could be inexpensive enough for only single use. 
     Preferably, the side wall  12 , the inner frame  14  and the lid  16  are all made of imperforate material to minimize any chance of flies or other insects penetrating those components. While aluminum is the preferred material for cover  10 , the invention could be practiced with other materials, such as metals or plastics. Some of the key features of the invention are a lid provided in the cover to selectively open and close access to the food container. The lid has fan/accordion structure for accomplishing this task. An inner frame is also desired to provide a further seal against the upper edge of the food container. Thus, by bending the upper frame, the upper frame becomes molded to fit the shape of the container below it. The use of an anchored fan/accordion lid is particularly beneficial in that it occupies the minimum amount of space necessary to open/close access to the food container and is easy to operate as well as to maintain in a closed condition. 
     An advantage of inner frame  14  is that it functions as a spacer for lid  16 . When viewed vertically, first the upper edge of cover  10  has the ledge  24  on side wall  12 . Then below ledge  24  is lid  16  which slides on the track provided by side supports  22 . Side supports  22  are of sufficient length to support the lid  16  throughout its movements. Preferably side supports  22  are mounted to the short sides of wall  12  extending from one long side on the inner surface of wall  12  to the opposite long side. Below side supports  22  is inner frame  14 . The advantage of inner frame  14  spacing lid  16  above the upper edge of container  4  is that such spacing assures that the upper edge of the container and/or food items extending above the upper edge of the container will not interfere with the sliding movement of lid  16 . 
     Lid  16  could be made of any suitable material. Preferably the slats  18  are parallel to each other and are of identical size, shape and material. Such material could be relatively stiff or could have some flexibility. The main concern is that in its extended condition the lid should provide an effective cover protecting the food in the containers  4 . 
     If desired, slats  18  could be made of sufficiently heavy material or various spaced slats could include weights to assure that lid  16  is maintained in a flat condition when in its extended covering position. 
     While the invention has been particularly described with regard to controlling the access to food in open food containers it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to such use. The invention could be broadly practiced for covering any item where selective access to that item is desired.