Patent Publication Number: US-2021177213-A1

Title: Collapsible colander and bowl

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     The present application claims priority of U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 62/947,976, filed Dec. 13, 2019, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates in general to collapsible containers, such as for temporary food storage. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Bowls, containers and perforated strainers, known in the food preparation art as colanders, are conventional kitchen items, typically formed of a rigid or semi-rigid material, that are self-supporting and have a comparatively fixed volume construction. While it is well-recognized that these tools offer many advantages, such as an ability to store or to be filled with a wide variety of content or foodstuffs and to generally remain their shape configuration, a drawback of all these conventional kitchen tools is that their form requires significant storage space, and thus are difficult to store. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention provides for an easy-to-use and convenient-to-store combination of kitchen tools that can be readily and fully flattened or axially collapsed to a minimum size when not in use, expanded for use and be self-supporting when placed on a surface. 
     The combination of kitchen tools provided by the present invention includes a bowl, a food storage container and a colander, with the added benefit of axially-collapsing to a smaller, more efficient size. The space-saving and multi-application features of the present invention are particularly useful, for example, for storage, in kitchens with minimal storage area and dishwasher cleaning. 
     According to one form of the present invention, a collapsible colander and bowl includes an upper rim that defines an opening, a perforated bottom panel, a sidewall having an upper end secured to the upper rim and a lower end secured to the perforated bottom panel, a removable top lid designed to be attached to the upper rim, and a removable bottom lid designed to be attached to the perforated bottom panel. The sidewall of the collapsible colander and bowl is adjustable between a collapsed configuration and an expanded configuration. 
     In one aspect, the top and bottom lids are attachable and detachable in both the collapsed and expanded configurations. The sidewall is foldable from the expanded configuration to the collapsed configuration with at least five regions of the sidewall flexing and expandable from the collapsed configuration to the expanded configuration with the five regions forming at least a portion of the sidewall. The sidewall has a constant wall thickness extending from the upper rim to the perforated bottom panel. 
     In another aspect, the collapsed configuration of the sidewall is a low-profile configuration with five regions of the sidewall having three concave-up regions alternating with two concave-down regions. In the collapsed configuration, the perforated bottom panel is elevated above the lowermost points of the three concave-up regions. Also, in the collapsed configuration, a top surface of the perforated bottom panel is generally coplanar with an uppermost point of an outermost concave-down region of the sidewall. 
     In yet another aspect, a top surface of the upper rim includes an upwardly-extending double-ridge formation providing a mounting and sealing surface for the top lid. A bottom surface of the top lid includes a downwardly-extending ridge configured to interlock with the mounting and sealing surface of the upper rim. The bottom lid includes a larger surface area than a surface area of the perforated bottom panel and an upwardly-extending flange confining the surface area of the bottom lid such that the bottom lid is designed to snugly or tightly engage the perforated bottom panel. 
     In a further aspect, the upper rim and the top lid each have a pair of laterally-extending handle portions with corresponding openings to facilitate manual gripping. 
     In still another aspect, the sidewall is made at least in part of silicone. The perforated bottom panel is generally planar and the upper rim, perforated bottom panel and sidewall are generally square-shaped with rounded corners. 
     Aspects of the present specification disclose an all-in-one combination of colander, bowl and container that is configured to flatten from a raised position to a collapsed position. The colander, bowl and container in the raised position are configured to retain food. The colander, bowl and container in the collapsed position is collapsed for storage, optionally with the top and bottom lids remaining attached for convenience. 
     These and other objects, advantages, purposes and features of the present invention will become apparent upon review of the following specification in conjunction with the drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a top perspective view of a collapsible colander and bowl in an expanded configuration, in accordance with the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a bottom perspective view of the collapsible colander and bowl illustrated in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is a top perspective view of the collapsible colander and bowl illustrated in  FIG. 1 , shown with top and bottom lids removed; 
         FIG. 4  is a top perspective view of the collapsible colander and bowl illustrated in  FIG. 3 , shown in a collapsed configuration; 
         FIG. 5  is a top plan view of the collapsible colander and bowl illustrated in  FIG. 3 ; 
         FIG. 6  is a cross-sectional side elevation view of the collapsible colander and bowl of  FIG. 3 , taken along line VI-VI; 
         FIG. 7  is a side elevation view of the collapsible colander and bowl illustrated in  FIG. 4 ; and 
         FIG. 8  is a cross-sectional side view of the collapsible colander and bowl of  FIG. 7 , taken along line VIII-VIII. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Referring now to the drawings and the illustrative embodiments depicted therein, as best shown in  FIGS. 1-2 , a collapsible colander and bowl  10  includes an upper rim  12 , a mesh or perforated bottom panel  16 , a body or sidewall  14 , a top lid  18  and a bottom lid  20 . Sidewall  14  extends between and connects upper rim  12  and bottom panel  16  such that colander portion  15  is formed, such as shown in  FIG. 3 . More specifically, an upper end of sidewall  14  is secured to upper rim  12  and a lower end of sidewall  14  is secured to bottom panel  16 . 
     As best shown in  FIGS. 3-8 , colander portion  15  has at least two selectable configurations. The two selectable configurations are a near-flat storage or collapsed configuration ( FIGS. 4 and 7 ) and an extended use or expanded configuration ( FIG. 3 ). In the storage or collapsed configuration, colander portion  15  is relatively fully flattened or axially collapsed to a minimum size. In the expanded configuration, colander portion  15  is extended to form an open-topped container or bowl. Colander portion  15  is formed to be stable in both the collapsed and expanded configurations. This enables the user to select either configuration, which colander portion  15  will then statically hold indefinitely until it is shifted to the other configuration. Thus, the collapsible colander and bowl can be conveniently stored in the near-flat storage configuration when not in use, and can be extended into the expanded configuration to form a rigid or semi-rigid colander, bowl, or container prior to use. 
     The top lid  18  is selectively attachable to the upper rim  12  to cover the opening  13 , and the bottom lid  20  is selectively attachable at an underside of the perforated bottom panel  16  so that the collapsible colander and bowl  10  can be used as either a colander (when bottom lid  20  is removed), as a bowl (when bottom lid  20  is attached), or as a closed container (when both top and bottom lids  18 ,  20  are attached). Furthermore, the collapsible colander and bowl  10  is configured such that top and bottom lids  18 ,  20  may be either attached or removed in both the expanded and collapsed configurations, which allows for compact storage, while reducing the likelihood that the lids  18 ,  20  will become separated from the colander portion  15  and subsequently lost. 
     In the collapsed configuration (with top and bottom covers removed), colander portion  15  assumes a low-profile configuration, such as shown in  FIGS. 4, 7 and 8 . The low-profile or collapsed configuration is characterized by two ribs  36 ,  38  formed as a result of bending or folding of the sidewall  14 . Ribs  36 ,  38  are formed by three pronounced concave-up regions  40 ,  44 ,  48  alternating with two pronounced concave-down regions  42 ,  46  between the upper rim  12  and the perforated bottom panel  16 . Sidewall  14  is thus (A) foldable from the expanded configuration to the collapsed configuration with five separate regions of sidewall  14  flexing significantly ( FIGS. 4 and 8 ), and (B) expandable from the collapsed configuration to the expanded configuration with the five separate regions of sidewall  14  forming at least a portion of the sidewall  14  ( FIGS. 1-3 and 6 ). A thickness of perforated bottom panel  16  is defined by a top surface  16   a  and a bottom surface  16   b  ( FIGS. 6 and 8 ). 
     Referring to  FIGS. 4 and 8 , which generally depict the collapsible colander and bowl  10  in the collapsed configuration, top surface  16   a  of the bottom panel  16  assumes a somewhat elevated position above the lowermost points of the three concave-up regions  40 ,  44 ,  48  of the colander portion  15 . Also, top surface  16   a  of the bottom panel  16  is at approximately the same elevation as the uppermost point of the outermost concave-down region  46  of the sidewall  14 , while bottom surface  16   b  is raised slightly above the upper most points of the concave-up regions  40 ,  44  and  48 . Although the illustrated embodiment shows the sidewall  14  as forming two ribs  36 ,  38  with five bending sections  40 ,  42 ,  44 ,  46  and  48 , it is envisioned that a variety of other bending formations are possible within the scope of the present invention. For example, the sidewall  14  may be made to flex or bend in three, four, or six regions thereby forming one, three, or four ribs with a variety of alternating concave-up and concave-down regions. Furthermore, it is contemplated that the sidewall  14  of the collapsible colander and bowl  10  in the collapsed configuration may be made to bend such that bottom surface  16   b  of the bottom panel  16  is lower than the lowermost points of the three concave-up regions  40 ,  44 ,  48  of the colander portion  15 , or that top surface  16   a  of the bottom panel  16  in the elevated position may be pressed down to bring the bottom surface  16   b  of the bottom panel  16  below the lowermost points of the three concave-up regions  40 ,  44 ,  48  of the colander portion  15 . Further still, as can be best seen in the cross-sectional views of  FIGS. 6 and 8 , it is envisioned that the collapsible sidewall  14  of colander portion  15  has a generally constant wall thickness extending from the top rim  12  to the bottom panel  16 . 
     Turning now to  FIGS. 1 and 3-6 , the top surface of the upper rim  12  includes an upwardly-extending double-ridge formation  34 , which provides a mounting and sealing surface for top lid  18 . The bottom surface of top lid  18 , as seen in FIG. 2 , includes a downwardly-extending ridge  32  designed to interlock or engage with the mounting and sealing surface  34  of the upper rim  12 . It should also be appreciated that a variety of other interlocking or attachment features may be provided to securely attach, hold, and/or seal the top lid  18  to the upper rim  12 . Both the top rim  12  and the top lid  18  have laterally-extending opposite handle portions  22  and  28 , respectively, each with corresponding and generally oval-shaped openings  24  and  26 , respectively, to facilitate manual gripping. 
     In the illustrated embodiment, colander portion  15  and bottom lid  20  are each generally square-shaped with rounded corners. Other shapes of the colander portion and/or the lids are also envisioned, such as circular, oval, or substantially any polygonal shape. Bottom lid  20 , having an upwardly-extending perimeter flange  30  ( FIGS. 1 and 2 ) confining the surface area of the bottom lid  20 , is configured to snugly or relatively tightly engage the generally planar bottom panel  16  and/or a portion of sidewall  14  to form a fluid-resistant seal. It should also be appreciated that the perimeter flange  30  may also include additional fastening mechanical means, such as a ridge, lip, or recess, to more securely engage the bottom panel  16  and/or a portion of sidewall  14 . 
     It should be understood that materials used for the collapsible colander and bowl  10  are preferably food-grade material(s) so that the collapsible colander and bowl  10  can be safely used with food items. Although sidewall  14  may be made of a silicone material so it is relatively flexible, various combinations of silicone and non-silicone materials that can be used to make sidewall  14  are also contemplated within the scope of the present invention. 
     As utilized herein, the term “flexible” is utilized to refer to materials which are capable of being flexed or bent, especially repeatedly, such that they are pliant and yieldable in response to externally applied forces. Accordingly, “flexible” is substantially opposite in meaning to the terms inflexible, rigid, or unyielding. Materials and structures which are flexible, therefore, may be altered in shape and structure to accommodate external forces and to conform to the shape of objects brought into contact with them without losing their integrity. 
     The preferred embodiments described herein thus provide for a collapsible colander and bowl that is extendable to an expanded configuration to selectively form a colander, bowl, or container and foldable to a nearly-flat collapsed configuration for storage. 
     Changes and modifications in the specifically described embodiments may be carried out without departing from the principles of the present invention, which is intended to be limited only by the scope of the appended claims, as interpreted according to the principles of patent law including the doctrine of equivalents.