Patent Publication Number: US-2005118309-A1

Title: Snack package adapted for a bottle

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      1. Field of the Invention  
      This invention relates generally to food packages, and more particularly to such a package adapted for engagement with a standard drink bottle. This application is a continuation in part of application Ser. No. 09/301,868 filed Apr. 29, 1999.  
      2. Description of Related Art  
      The following art defines the present state of this field:  
      C. W. Godefroy, U.S. Pat. No. 2,250,666 describes a combined label and auxiliary container for bottles having necks comprising a perforated portion for fitting over the neck of the bottle, a label portion projecting downwardly from said perforated portion and an auxiliary container secured to said label portion.  
      G. Clark, U.S. Pat. No. 2,314,607 describes a ticket container for milk bottles comprising an open ended cylindrical body member, a partition intermediately dividing the body member into an upper compartment for reception of tickets or coins, and a lower skirt section for mounting over the upper end of a milk bottle, said skirt section being flared at the lower end or seating on the shoulder of said bottle, a cover hinged to close the ticket compartment and spring means normally holding said cover in closing relation to the compartment.  
      Patterson et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,292,028 describes a plate and glass assembly, which include a plate, a beverage container detachably assembled to the plate, and a glass holder which is attached to or formed on the bottom of the plate to hold that component and the glass together. The beverage container may be a commonly available beverage can. Separate caps may be provided for adapting any number of beverage container styles to fit a generic glass holder. A radially extending slot may be provided on the cap through which a straw may be provided to facilitate drinking of the beverage in the container. Nested cans may be provided for additional insulation of the beverage. Indicia on the upper, food-receiving surface of the plate facilitate the assembling of the glass to the plate; and an optional drinking straw port provides a convenient way of locking the plate and glass together and also makes it possible to reach the contents of the glass without removing the plate. The glass holder may comprise rails, which accommodate beverage cans having rims with two or more different diameters.  
      Franco. U.S. Pat. No. 5,743,423 describes a package comprising a container made of resilient molded plastic that contains an impression and lid. The impression is located in the bottom of the container. The impression comprises two concentric cylindrically shaped tubes, a ring that connects the tubes and a closure. The lower tube has a larger diameter. This lower tube is attached to a ring along the ring&#39;s outside edge. The inner edge of the ring is attached to the ring&#39;s outside edge. The inner edge of the ring is attached to the upper, smaller-diameter tube. The tubes are identical to the diameters of two sizes of bottle caps. Bottles with caps can then be inserted into the tube. The invention then holds the container on top of the bottle. The lid of the container is removable and re-attachable and forms an airtight seal.  
      Barnes et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,674,546 describes a packaged egg omelet mix, which facilitates preparation of omelets by microwave heating. An upper container portion holds an omelet inlay, such as cheese or the like, and has a cylindrical body and an upper end wall. A lower container portion also has a cylindrical body and encloses a sealed container holding an aseptically packaged liquid egg. The omelet is prepared by deposition the liquid egg and omelet inlay into the lower container portion, and placing the lower container portion in a microwave oven for heating.  
      Nedblake, Jr., U.S. Pat. No. 5,664,671 describes a combination container including a first container containing a beverage and presenting a base, a second container containing an edible solid and presenting an upper surface engaged with the base of the first container, and a band of heat-shrunk material surrounding the containers on either side of the joint there between for coupling the containers into a unitary package. In preferred forms, the heat-shrunk material forms a channel at the joint between the containers to facilitate gripping of the package and the channel is perforated to allow detachment of containers from one another.  
      Brauner et. al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,318,787 describes a thermoformed bowl filled and sealed with sample food product forms a sample package. The bowl is sized and shaped to the contours of and so as to nest upon the shoulders of a plastic one-gallon jug or bottle. The package has a centrally located die-cut hole to lock under the bottle neck boss. Free samples of the food product can thus be distributed to accompany regular sales of one-gallon plastic containers of milk.  
      Barton, U.S. Pat. No. 4,635,291 describes a flexible pouch which includes a sealed product-containing pocket, and which pouch also incorporates integral collar-forming structure adapted to enable the pouch to be suspended from an object, such as a bottle neck or the like.  
      Daviss, U.S. Pat. No. 4,491,220 describes a container for holding popcorn and a drink cup has a box with a band mounted to one box wall beneath a slot. The box may be filled with popcorn and a drink cup held by the band to the box with a cup lip projecting into the slot.  
      F. M. Bronson et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,027,037 describes in combination, a bottle and a holder for articles supported thereon, said holder comprising a first frusto-conical shaped member made of a sheet of material, said member being open at its small end and adapted to receive the neck of said bottle with the inside sheet resting on said bottle, and a second frusto-conical shaped member made of sheet like material and having the apex end thereof attached to the base end of said first frusto-conical shaped member.  
      P. Person, U.S. Pat. No. 2,556,439 describes an attachable container for a milk bottle comprising; a single piece of spring material forked to present a pair of oppositely projecting wings on each side of a central portion; said central portion bent to form the back, bottom and front of a box; two of said oppositely projecting wings bent to form the sides of said box; the other of said oppositely projecting over said hinge; the pin of said hinge projecting there from on one side thereof, bent back on itself to pass over one of said clips and sprung under said lip for resilient door closure pressure there against.  
      The prior art teaches combination containers for use in combination with liquid and solid foods at the same time. However, the prior art does not teach that a container may be adapted for storing a solid food in such a space that does not appreciable increase either the height or the diameter of a standard bottle of beverage. The present invention fulfills these needs and provides further related advantages as described in the following summary.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      The present invention teaches certain benefits in construction and use which give rise to the objectives described below.  
      The present invention provides a combination drink bottle, snack package and envelope, the drink bottle providing a cylindrical bottle wall joined axially with a diminished diameter bottle neck, which terminates at a removable bottle cap. The sealed snack package contains a snack food adapted for being wrapped around or over the bottle neck for intimate abutment therewith. The envelope terminates with an aperture at one end thereof, the aperture adapted for accepting the bottle neck and for positioning an inner surface of the envelope wall intimately against the bottle wall for securement therewith, the envelope is further enabled for pressing the snack package against the bottle neck. The envelope wall extends diametrically from the bottle wall no more than by the thickness of the envelope wall and does not extend the length of the bottle appreciable so that the combination may be used in a standard vending machine.  
      A primary objective of the present invention is to provide snack envelope combination having advantages not taught by the prior art.  
      Another objective is to provide such a combination that enable the presentation of a snack with a bottle without taking up more diametrical space than the bottle alone.  
      A further objective is to provide such a combination that enables the merchandising of a drink and a snack in combination without taking up more height then with the bottle alone.  
      A still further objective is to provide such a combination that is enabled for use in a standard vending machine without modification of the storage or dispensing apparatus of the machine.  
      Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following more detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate, by way of example, the principles of the invention. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING  
      The accompanying drawings illustrate the present invention. In such drawings:  
       FIG. 1  is a side elevational exploded view of a first preferred embodiment of the present invention;  
       FIG. 2  is a side elevational view showing a completed assembly thereof;  
       FIG. 3  is a sectional view thereof taken along line  3 - 3  of  FIG. 2  showing a first means for sealing;  
       FIG. 4  is an alternate arrangement of the invention shown in  FIGS. 1-3 ;  
       FIG. 5  is a sectional view thereof taken along line  5 - 5  in  FIG. 4 ;  
       FIG. 6  is similar to  FIG. 4  and provides further details thereof;  
       FIG. 7  is a side elevational view of a further embodiment of the invention; and  
       FIG. 8  is a sectional view thereof taken along line  8 - 8  of  FIG. 7 . 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
      The above described drawing figures illustrate the invention, a combination drink bottle  10 , snack package  20  and envelope  30 , or the snack package and envelope may be identical; however, first the separate snack package  20  and envelope  30  will be described as follows. The combination comprises a drink bottle  10  providing a cylindrical bottle wall  12  joined axially with a diminished diameter bottle neck  14 , the bottle neck terminating at a removable bottle cap  16 . The sealed snack package  20 , as is commercially available through stores and vending machines contains snacking foods  22 , i.e., peanuts, chips, trail mix, etc. The snack package  20  preselected to be of a size and flexibility for being wrapped around, in one embodiment of the invention shown in  FIG. 2 , and over, in another embodiment shown in  FIG. 4 , the bottle neck  14  of the drink bottle  10  for intimate abutment therewith so as to not extend beyond the diametrical size of the bottle wall  12  thereby allowing the combination of bottle  10  and snack package  20  to be placed in substantially the same space occupied by just the bottle  10 . The envelope  30 , preferably of a rigid and transparent molded plastic sheet of a preselected thickness, provides a cylindrical envelope wall  32  terminating with an aperture  34  at one end thereof, is of a diametrical size for accepting the bottle neck  14  in contact with snack package  20  and for positioning an inner surface  38  of the envelope wall  32  intimately against the bottle wall  12  for securement therewith. The envelope  30  further is enabled by its size and shape for pressing the snack package  20  against the bottle neck  14 . The envelope wall  32  extends diametrically from the bottle wall  12  no more than by the thickness of the envelope wall  32 . This inventively enables the snack envelope  30  to be married to the drink bottle  10  without taking up significant additional space, over that used by the drink bottle  10  alone, in a packing container, on a store shelf, or in a vending machine. Importantly, the present invention is able to be placed wherever a standard bottle alone will fit. Inventively, the envelope further comprises an annular cap sheath  35  extending there within as shown in  FIG. 2 , the cap sheath  35  having an internal diameter and a selected shape and surface coefficient of friction, for frictional engagement with the exterior side walls  16 W of bottle cap  16  for removably securing the envelope  30  tightly to the drink bottle  10 . Since it is necessary to exclude vermin from the interior of the envelope  30  a means for sealing same is necessary to the success of the present invention. Such is advantageously accomplished in one of several ways. In one inventive approach, shown in  FIG. 3 , an adhesive layer  40  is positioned for joining the inner surface of the envelope to the cylindrical bottle wall  12  for sealing the envelope  30 . Such an adhesive layer is advantageously of the type of adhesive that may be broken by manual force when removing the envelope  30 . In another inventive approach, shown in  FIG. 5 , an adhesive strip  42  is positioned for joining the envelope wall  14  to the cylindrical bottle wall  32  for sealing the envelope  30 . Such an adhesive strip  42 , such as a tape, may be bonded in place as is shown in  FIG. 5 , or it may be integral with the envelope wall  32  and scored for peel removal as shown in  FIG. 7 . In a further inventive approach, shown in  FIG. 6 , the envelope wall  32  is spirally scored  39  so as to enable peeling the envelope  32  away from the drink bottle  10  and preferably to enable this a starting tap  39 T is provided ( FIG. 6 ).  
      Now referring to  FIGS. 7 and 5 , there is depicted the referenced alternate embodiment of the present invention, a combination drink bottle  10  and snack package envelope  50 , which envelope  50  is a joining together of the snack package  20  and the envelope  30  as described above, comprises the drink bottle  10  providing the cylindrical bottle wall  12  joined axially with the diminished diameter bottle neck  14 . The bottle neck  14  terminates at the removable bottle cap  16  as previously described. The sealed snack envelope  50  is fabricated in a preselected shape thereby providing a cavity  52  for receiving the snack food  22 , the snack envelope  50  having the cylindrical envelope outer wall  32  of a preselected size so as to not extend beyond the diametrical size of the bottle wall  12  more than the thickness of wall  32  of the envelope  50  terminating with the aperture  34  at one end thereof, the aperture  34  adapted for accepting the bottle neck  14  and for positioning an inner surface  54  of the envelope intimately against the bottle wall  12  for securement therewith, the sealed snack envelope  50  further providing a concentrically oriented cylindrical inner wall  56  enabled for engagement over the bottle neck  14 , the snack envelope  50  extending diametrically from the bottle wall  12  no more than by the thickness of the outer envelope wall  32 . The inner wall  56  is fabricated for engagement with the bottle neck  14  is inventively, an inwardly radially directed protuberance  58  for snap removably catching under a neck ridge  18  of the bottle  10 . This ridge  18  is an element on most commercial bottles and provides rigidity to the neck  14  where the cap  16  is attached. Such a protuberance  58  may be an annular ridge, a plurality of bosses arranged annularly or other manifestation for catching on the neck ridge  18 .  
      As shown in  FIGS. 7 and 8 , the snack envelope  50  inventively has an access means  59 , such as a peel to open scored portion of the top of the envelope, and is preferably positioned in opposition to the bottle cap  16  so as to enable access to the snack food  22  within the envelope  50  before or after the snack envelope  50  is removed from snap engagement with the bottle  10 .  
      While the invention has been described with reference to at least one preferred embodiment, it is to be clearly understood by those skilled in the art that the invention is not limited thereto. Rather, the scope of the invention is to be interpreted only in conjunction with the appended claims.