Patent Publication Number: US-6209780-B1

Title: Quiz game french fry scoop

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to a french fry scoop of the type fashioned from a unitary blank of paperboard or other stiff, resilient, and foldable sheet material. 
     The container art is aware of a number of french fry scoop and container constructions, typically fashioned from paperboard, and including a front wall, a rear or scoop wall, and a bottom wall. The scoop wall usually rises higher than the front wall, while the front wall is typically provided with a part circular recess at its central portion. The front and rear walls are curved to yield a container generally convex in transverse cross section, as a convex—convex optical lens. Such scoops are shipped to a fast food outlet in flattened or collapsed condition, and the scoop is opened or erected by manually pressing its opposite edges together, with the bottom wall construction being such that a toggle action is effected to thereby lock the container in an open position due to the inherent resiliency of paperboard. While in this open position, a server will typically hold the container by its side edges and use the protruding rear wall portion as a scoop to fill the container with french fries. Then, the filled scoop is served to the consumer. The french fry container/scoop construction described above is known. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     According to the practice of this invention, the rear or scoop wall is provided with two parallel slits, each extending completely through the paperboard or other sheet material. Each of a pair of vertically and horizontally displaced openings passes completely through the paperboard. These openings are located between the parallel slits. The rear wall of the container carries a tear-off strip, the strip being of generally uniform width, with the width of the tear strip being slightly less than the length of the two parallel slits. The tear-off strip is provided on one of its surfaces with two lines or rows of indicia, with one line of indicia defining separate and distinct questions and the other line defining separate and distinct answers to the questions. In use, the consumer, typically after having eaten the french fries, tears off the tear strip and inserts it through the two parallel slits. Insertion is done in such a manner that the indicia is viewable through the two openings. For example, one of the openings may display a question, while the other opening may display the answer to that question. In a second embodiment, the slits and openings are located on the front wall, while the tear strip is formed by tearing out a pre-weakened portion of the rear or scoop wall. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a plan view of a unitary blank of paperboard or other stiff, resilient, and foldable sheet material for forming the french fry scoop of this invention. 
     FIG. 2 is a rear elevational view illustrating the french fries container of this invention in its open position, with the tear strip being partially torn away. 
     FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG.  2  and illustrates the tear strip as passing or threaded through two parallel slits, with portions of the indicia of the tear strip being visible through the openings in the rear wall. 
     FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG.  1  and illustrates a second embodiment of a unitary blank for forming a french fry scoop according to this invention. 
     FIG. 5 is a partial view, similar to FIG. 3, of a second embodiment of the invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Referring now to FIG. 1 of the drawings, a unitary blank of paperboard is denoted as  10 , with the blank having an imaginary longitudinal axis  12  dividing it into upper and lower regions (shown in FIG. 1 as left and right regions). The rear wall panel  16 , of generally elongated form and having glue receiving areas  18  and  20 , is generally elongated and slightly tapered. Numerals  24  and  26  denote, respectively, parallel slits extending completely through the paperboard, with openings  28  and  30  located between slits  24  and  26 . It will be observed that openings  28  and  30  are both vertically and horizontally spaced from each other. A bottom forming panel  36  is integrally connected with panel  16 , with bottom panel  36  having a vertically running, central fold line  38 . The right and left sides of bottom panel  36  each carry a curved fold line  40 . 
     The right portion of the blank (vertical when the blank is erected) carries a front wall forming panel  32 , with this panel having a plurality of fold lines  42 ,  44 ,  46 , and an edge  48 . These fold lines and edge define panels  50 ,  52 , and  54 . 
     The lower portion of lower panel  50  is provided with a perforated tear line  60 . Line  60  and lower edge  64  define between them a tear strip  62 . This tear strip is provided with two generally horizontal rows or lines of indicia  66  and  68 . It will be noted that each row  66 ,  68 , has a plurality of spaced indicia sub-groups, the latter representing questions and respective answers, for example. The width of panel  62  is slightly less than the length of slits  24  and  26 . 
     For assembly of the scoop from the blank, the upper half (right half of FIG. 1) of the blank is folded about fold line  38 , with panel  32  swung down adjacent to the plane of panel  16 , then pressing panels  50  onto respective adhesive areas  20  and  18  by folding along fold lines  44 . 
     FIG. 2 shows the rear of the assembled and glued scoop, with tear strip  62  being partially torn off, and glue panels  50  glued to rear wall  16 . Panels  52  and  54  define the sides of the container or scoop, and are squeezed together to open the flattened scoop or container, as is conventional. In FIG. 3, the rear of the scoop is again shown, now with the tear strip completely torn off and inserted into slits  24  and  26 . Indicia  66  and  68 , printed on tear strip  62 , is viewed through openings  28  and  30 . One opening may display questions, and the other display corresponding answers, for example. The spacing apart of the two rows of indicia  62 ,  68  on the tear strip is substantially the same as the vertical spacing between openings  28 ,  30 . The game or quiz may be played whether the scoop is flattened or opened. 
     It will be noted that the parallel slits  24  and  26  may be relocated so as to be positioned on front wall  32 , instead of on rear wall  16 . In that case, openings  28  and  30  would also be relocated to the front wall and also located between the slits. Similarly, tear strip  62  may be relocated to rear wall  16 . This second example of the invention is shown at FIGS. 4 and 5, with FIG. 4 showing tear strip  620  (similar to tear strip  62 ) defined by cut lines  621  separated by land portions  622 . Although not illustrated, the blank of FIG. 4 also has an imaginary longitudinal axis similar to axis  12  of FIG.  1 . After strip  620  is removed from rear or scoop wall by manually grasping its free, right end and ripping it away from the surrounding paperboard, the scoop is no longer usable to scoop french fries from a basket or other french fry cooker or container. Hence in this embodiment of the invention, the use of the tear strip to define a quiz game substantially destroys the scooping functionality of the scoop. Its use as a game or quiz device is however preserved. FIG. 5 illustrates strip  620  passing through slits  24  and  26 , the latter now located in front wall  32 . In both embodiments, it will be noted that the viewing openings  28  and  30  are both vertically and horizontally displaced from each other. After glueing and opening and filling the scoop/container, the scoop is normally held in a vertical orientation, with the bottom wall  36  being its lowest region. 
     The present scoop is formed in a similar manner as known paperboard french fry scoops, and the practice of this invention in the first embodiment requires only the addition of tear strip  62 , with its indicia, and openings  28 ,  30 , and slits  24 ,  26 . In the second embodiment of the invention, only slits  621  need be added, in addition to openings  28 ,  30 , and slits  24 ,  26 . Thus in the second embodiment, no additional paperboard is required, while in the first embodiment, only an amount of paperboard required to define the tear strip  62  is required over conventional paperboard french fry scoops.