Patent Publication Number: US-2006003059-A1

Title: Combined preparation and apparatus for use with a food blender and method for making preparation

Description:
PRIORITY CLAIM  
      This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/585,215, filed Jul. 2, 2004. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
      This invention relates generally to food products, containers for use with food products, and methods for making food products. More particularly, it relates to a base food preparation that is combined with a container, which container, when emptied, is used to measure a volume of a readily-available added food product to the base food preparation, which base food preparation and added food product are mixed in a food blender to form a blended end food product. In one embodiment, the blended end food product may then be dispensed from the food blender and back to the container for consumption directly from that container.  
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      In the experience of this inventor, there are many food products that can be formulated using a conventional food blender. Such products include, without limitation, chip dips, fruit drinks, fortified energy drinks, and smoothies. Such food products are, quite obviously, the result of a number of base ingredients being blended together to form the desired end food product. The base ingredients may assume many forms. Such forms might include, without limitation, dry food powders, freeze-dried foods, frozen foods and fresh foods, or combinations of dry food preparations, freeze-dried food preparations, frozen preparations, and fresh preparations.  
      It is also well known in the art of food preparation that the final food product may be limited in its shelf life and, in fact, may have no shelf life when prepared in a desired form. A good example of such a food product would be a fruit-based smoothie. Another would be a fruit and yogurt-based smoothie. While satisfactory for consumption in final form, there really is no practical way to keep such products fresh for any extended period of time.  
      Accordingly, what is needed is a reconstitutible base food preparation that can be added to another readily-available food product to produce a desired, blended end food product. It is also desirable that the base food preparation be provided to the user, and be contained within, a readily-usable container. It is further desirable to provide a container that includes an indicator for the addition of a pre-measured volume of readily-available food product, such amount to be added to the container following removal of the base food preparation from the container to a food blender. It is yet another desired result to provide a container that can be used as a food serving vessel for the end food is product following blending of the base food preparation with the readily-available food product within the blender.  
      Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a new and useful food container that combines food-holding capabilities with food-measuring capabilities. It is another object to provide such a container with the foregoing capabilities and further combining them with food-serving capabilities. It is still another object to provide such a container that can be constructed to be disposable in use. It is yet another object to provide such a container that can be constructed to be combined with and to accommodate food preparations of virtually any type or size. It is still a further object to provide a base food preparation that is pre-packaged within the container for convenient use by consumers and that can be stored within the container until use is desired. It is yet another object to provide a base food preparation that can assume a dry state, a frozen state, or other state as such is desired or required. It is still another object to provide a base food preparation which, when blended with a readily-available food product, such as a liquid or a semi-solid food product, produces a desirable end food product. And, it is still another object to provide a container that includes indicia for measuring a volume of readily-available food product, such product being used to supplement and to reconstitute the base food preparation provided in accordance with the instant invention.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      The preparation, apparatus and method of the present invention has obtained these objects. It provides for a food container that combines food-holding capabilities with food-measuring capabilities and with food-serving capabilities. The container is is formed in a cup-like configuration having an open end. As constructed, the container can accommodate and be combined with base food preparations of essentially any type or size. The container also includes indicia for measuring a volume of readily-available food product, such product being used to supplement the base food preparation that is pre-packaged within the container. In this fashion, the container and the pre-packaged base food preparation are convenient in their use by consumers and both can be stored together without degradation of the base food preparation until use is desired. In the preferred embodiment, the base food preparation can assume a dry state, a frozen state, or any other state as such is desired or required to formulate the end food product. In the method of the present invention, the base food preparation is removed from the container to a blender and is then blended with a readily-available food product, such as a liquid or a semi-solid food product, to produce the desired end food product. The amount of readily-available food product is obtained by using the indicia on the then-empty container, which indicia can be variably located on the container and is functionally dependent upon the end food product specified by the packager. Once the end food product is prepared, the end food product can be placed back into the container for consumption by the user.  
      The foregoing and other features of the present invention will be apparent from the detailed description that follows. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       FIG. 1A  is a side elevation and cross-sectioned view of a preferred embodiment of the combined apparatus and base food preparation of the present invention.  
       FIG. 1B  is a side elevation and cross-sectioned view of the apparatus and showing the base food preparation portion being placed within the reservoir of a food blender.  
       FIG. 2A  is a side elevation and cross-sectioned view of the apparatus portion and showing a readily-available food product added to it up to the level of an indicator line.  
       FIG. 2B  is a side elevation and cross-sectioned view of the blender illustrated in  FIG. 1B  and showing the readily-available food product being added to the blender reservoir.  
       FIG. 3A  is a side elevation and cross-sectioned view of the blended food product being poured from the blender reservoir to the apparatus portion.  
       FIG. 3B  is a side elevation and cross-sectioned view of the blended food product within the apparatus portion, the blended food product being ready for consumption. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
      Referring now to the drawings in detail wherein like numbers represent like elements throughout,  FIG. 1A  illustrates a side elevational and cross-sectioned view of one embodiment of the combined apparatus and preparation, generally identified  10 , constructed and pre-packaged in accordance with the present invention. As shown, the combined apparatus and preparation  10  is provided for single use purchase by a user. It is to be understood, however, that the combined apparatus and preparation  10  is not limited to a single user format and that multiple user preparations may be formulated without deviating from the present invention. The apparatus portion of the combination  10  is configured as a cup-shaped vessel  20  having a continuous sidewall  22  and a bottom floor  24 . As shown, the sidewall  22  of the vessel  20  is tapered outwardly towards the open end  26  of the vessel  20 . In this fashion, the contents of the vessel  20  are easily removable from the reservoir  28  of the vessel  20 , regardless of the physical state of those contents. It is also to be understood that the exact shape of the vessel  20  or of the vessel sidewall  22  is not a limitation of this invention. As long as the vessel  20  includes a reservoir  28  for holding contents and an open end  26  for removing the contents therefrom, the vessel  20  will come within the scope of this invention. Furthermore, the size of the vessel  20  is not a limitation of the present invention. The vessel  20  may be configured in a small size to allow, for example, for the reconstitution of a single serving size of chip dip. So too it may be configured in a larger size to allow for the reconstitution of a quantity of smoothie product. In the preferred embodiment, the vessel  20  is constructed of a single piece of plastic material, such material being impervious to liquid penetration and being largely unaffected by substantial temperature variations. In this fashion, the vessel  20  can be frozen, kept at room temperature, or even heated. The precise material of choice is not a limitation of the present invention.  
      The vessel  20  also includes a distinctive mark or indicia  25  that is formed or imprinted into the sidewall  22  of the vessel  20  or printed onto a label (not shown) that encloses the sidewall  22  or a portion of the sidewall  22 . The indicia or mark  25  may be incorporated into the packaging of the preparation or in the vessel sidewall  22  in many different ways, no one way being exclusively claimed by this invention. The precise function of the mark  25  will be discussed in more detail later in this detailed description.  
      As shown, a dome  70  is provided for attachment to the vessel  20  at the uppermost portion of the sidewall  22 . For that purpose, the dome includes a dome lip  72 . The dome  70  also includes a dome opening  74  through which the contents of the vessel  20  may be accessed for mixing or consumption of the contents. The presence or absence of the dome  70 , or the specific form of covering for the vessel opening  26  is not a limitation of the present invention. The dome  70  could, for example, be a lid or other opening-covering structure.  
      The preparation portion of the combination  10  is a base food preparation  30 . The base food preparation  30  can be a dried formulation, a semi-solid formulation, a frozen formulation or any other type of formulation. It is to be understood that virtually anything or any type of food product that can go into a blender can be used as the base food preparation  30  without deviating from the scope of the present invention.  
      In application, the user purchases the combined apparatus and preparation  10  in a pre-packaged form as shown in  FIG. 1A . Any sealing of the open end  26  of the vessel  20  is removed by the user. The base food preparation  30  is removed from the vessel  20  and placed into the mixing reservoir  42  of a blender  40 . See  FIG. 1B . The user, in accordance with the packager&#39;s instructions, uses the now-empty vessel  20  to measure out a given volume of a readily-available food product  50 . See  FIG. 2A . This is accomplished by the user filling the vessel  20  with the readily-available food product  50  to the level of the indicia  25  that is located on the vessel sidewall  22 . The user then adds this volume of readily-available food product  50  to the mixing reservoir  42  of the blender  40 . See  FIG. 2B . The blender blades  44  are actuated to blend the base food preparation  30  and the readily-available food product  50  to produce the blended end food product  60 . As shown in  FIGS. 3A and 3B , this blended end food product  60  is ready for consumption and may be placed back into the vessel  22  for that purpose.  
      In a more specific application, where the end food product  60  is a fruit and yogurt smoothie, for example, the user follows the same steps as described above. Specifically, the user purchases the combined apparatus and preparation  10  of the smoothie preparation in a pre-packaged form. The sealing of the open end  26  of the vessel  20  is removed, as is the dome  70 , and the base food preparation  30  is removed from the vessel  20  and placed into the mixing reservoir  42  of the blender  40  as shown in  FIG. 1B . In this specific example, the base food preparation  30  is comprised of a mixture of slightly processed fruit parts, such as strawberry pieces and juice, and small yogurt balls. The user, in accordance with the packager&#39;s instructions, uses the now-empty vessel  20  to measure out a given volume of a readily-available food product  50 , such as fresh skim milk, as shown in  FIG. 2A . The user fills the vessel  20  with the readily-available food product  50  to the level of the indicia  25  that is located on the vessel sidewall  22 , as shown in  FIG. 2A . The user then adds this volume of readily-available food product  50  to the mixing reservoir  42  of the blender  40 . See  FIG. 2B . The blender blades  44  are actuated to blend the base food preparation  30  and the readily-available food product  50  to produce the blended end food product  60  which, in this example, is a strawberry-yogurt smoothie. As alluded to previously, and as is shown in  FIG. 3A , this blended end food product  60  may be placed back into the vessel  20  for consumption by the user. As shown in  FIG. 3B , the dome  70  may be attached to the vessel  20  and the user may use a straw or spoon to access the contents  60  for consumption.  
      Based upon the foregoing, it will be seen that there has been provided a new and useful food container that combines food-holding capabilities with food-measuring capabilities; that provides such a container with the foregoing capabilities and further combines them with food-serving capabilities; that provides such a container which can be disposable; that provides a container that can be constructed to be combined with and that accommodates food preparations of various types and sizes; that provides a base food preparation that is pre-packaged within the container for convenient use by consumers and that can be stored within the container until use is desired; that provides a base food preparation that can assume a dry state, a frozen state, or other state; that provides a base food preparation which, when blended with a readily-available food product, such as a liquid or a semi-solid food product, produces a desirable end food product; and that provides a container having indicia for measuring a volume of readily-available food product, such product being used to supplement and to reconstitute the base food preparation provided in accordance with the instant invention.