Patent Publication Number: US-2011049225-A1

Title: Food container

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This non-provisional application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(a) on Patent Application No. 98216144 filed in Taiwan, R.O.C. on 2009/9/1, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Technical Field 
     The present invention relates to a container, and more particularly to a food container. 
     2. Related Art 
     With the development and progress of the modern society in a fast pace, people are often too busy to have dinner at dinner time in their daily life, and most people eat instant noodles for dinner in order to save their time. Nowadays, instant noodles have become an indispensable comfort food or snack for workers, students, tourists, and household food storage. 
     In addition to saving time and contribute to convenience, people are also concerned about how to enjoy their food quickly and conveniently. For food containers such as instant noodle containers currently available on the market, the paper cover of the container is easily torn off by mistake and causes the container to be deformed, or it is difficult to attach the paper cover to the container tightly, so that the noodles are easily undercooked or overcooked, thereby affecting the taste of the noodles. Moreover, if the noodles are too hot, the materials of instant noodle containers currently available on the market may easily burn the hands, and may also generate substances harmful to human health as a result of excessively high temperature. 
     Instant noodles also have an advantage of being easily carried, and being cooked by pouring hot water at any time, anywhere. However, it often occurs that in the process of cooking instant noodles a user needs to open flavoring packages one by one, which wastes time and makes the user&#39;s hands greasy, and even stains the user&#39;s clothes due to carelessness; and after the noodles are well cooked, the user cannot enjoy the noodles if they forgot to carry an eating utensil along with them. Therefore, improvement the structure of the food container, so as to facilitate the use of the food container, is a problem to be solved by the inventor and persons in the relevant industry. 
     SUMMARY 
     Accordingly, the present invention provides a food container, which includes a bowl body, a first cover, a first tear portion, and an eating utensil. The bowl body has a first opening, is made of a first heat-insulating material, and is used for accommodating contents. The first cover is made of a second heat-insulating material, and covers the bowl body, in which the first cover is connected to the bowl body, and includes a sealing portion for placing an additive into the bowl body. The first tear portion is located at a connection position between the bowl body and the first cover, and the first tear portion is torn to separate the bowl body from the first cover. The eating utensil is located at the first cover. 
     Moreover, the present invention further includes a second cover and a second tear portion. The second cover has a second opening, in which the second opening faces the first cover, such that the second cover covers the first cover and the second cover is connected to the first cover. The second tear portion is located at a connection position between the first cover and the second cover, and the second tear portion is torn to separate the first cover from the second cover. 
     Finally, the eating utensil of the present invention is located at a periphery of the first cover. The eating utensil is fixed adhesively at the first cover; alternatively, a fastening portion for fixing the eating utensil is disposed at the first cover. 
     In the present invention, the first cover covers the bowl body, and the hot water is poured into the bowl body via the sealing portion of the first cover without tearing the first cover, which is implemented conveniently and rapidly. Meanwhile, the present invention enables the content to be cooked thoroughly without tearing the first cover. In addition, by using the concave-convex pattern design of the heat-insulating materials, the high temperature is blocked more effectively, so as to prevent the user&#39;s hands from being burned, thereby eliminating the inconvenience in the prior art that it is difficult to hold a food container containing hot contents. Furthermore, in the present invention, since the inner surfaces of the bowl body and the cover include heat-retaining materials, heat loss in the bowl body is slowed down, thereby achieving a heat-retaining effect. Moreover, since the eating utensil is disposed at the first cover in the present invention, the user does not need to carry chopsticks along with them, thereby avoiding the inconvenience of the user forgetting to carry chopsticks. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic view of an overall appearance of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic structural view of the present invention; 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic view of the present invention in use; 
         FIG. 4  is a schematic view of an overall structure of the present invention; 
         FIG. 5A  is a cross-sectional view of the present invention; 
         FIG. 5B  is a partially-enlarged view of the cross-sectional view of the present invention; and 
         FIG. 6  is a schematic cross-sectional view of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Please refer to  FIGS. 1 ,  2 ,  3 ,  4 , and  6 , in which a food container according to a first embodiment of the present invention is shown. In this embodiment, the food container is an instant noodle container; however, the present invention is not limited thereto. The food container of the present invention includes a bowl body  10 , a first cover  20 , a first tear portion  40 , and an eating utensil  60 . 
     The bowl body  10  has an approximately rectangular cubic structure. A bowl wall extending upwards from the bottom of the bowl is formed. A first opening  11  is formed at one end of the bowl wall. The bowl body  10  is used for accommodating contents. Here, the content is preferably instant noodles and a flavoring agent. However, the present invention is not limited thereto. Moreover, the bowl body  10  may also be made into round or other shapes according to practical design requirements. 
     Please refer to  FIGS. 5A and 5B , the bowl body  10  is made of a first heat-insulating material  12  on an external surface thereof. The first heat-insulating material  12  is preferably a first corrugated paper, which has a concave/convex pattern design to prevent the user&#39;s hands from being burned when directly contacting the bowl body, such that the user can hold the bowl body more conveniently; however, the present invention is not limited thereto. In addition, a surface of the first heat-insulating material  12  includes a convex pattern  13 . When holding the bowl body with hands, the user contacts the convex pattern  13 , such that the surface area of the first heat-insulating material  12  contacted by the user is reduced. Therefore, the convex pattern  13  can prevent the user from directly contacting the heat source, so as to achieve the objective of the present invention, thereby more effectively blocking the high temperature and preventing the user&#39;s hands from being burned. 
     The convex pattern  13  is preferably made into wave-shaped configurations with a certain interval; however, the present invention is not limited thereto, and the convex pattern  13  may also be made into other shapes. Nevertheless, the wave-shaped pattern most effectively reduces the hot surface area which the user contacts with their hands. An inner surface of the bowl body  10  includes a first heat-retaining material  14 . The heat-retaining material is preferably a first aluminum foil; however, the present invention is not limited thereto, and other materials having a desirable heat-retaining effect may also be used. Nevertheless, in this embodiment, the inner surface made of the aluminum foil achieves the best heat-retaining effect, such that the user is enabled to enjoy the hot food while keeping it warm for a longer period of time. In addition, since the inner surface is made of the aluminum foil, no toxic substances harmful to human health will be generated when a hot additive such as boiling water is poured into the bowl body. 
     The first cover  20  is configured into an approximately rectangular sheet, which is made of a second heat-insulating material  21 , and covers the bowl body. The first cover  20  is connected to the bowl body  10 . The second heat-insulating material  21  is preferably a second corrugated paper; however, the present invention is not limited thereto, and other materials having a heat-insulating effect may also be used. A surface of the first cover  20  facing the bowl body  10  includes a second heat-retaining material  22 . The heat-retaining material is preferably a second aluminum foil; however, the present invention is not limited thereto, and other materials having a desirable heat-retaining effect may also be used. 
     The first cover  20  includes a sealing portion  23 , and the sealing portion  23  includes a hole  231  and a shielding portion  232 , but the present invention is not limited thereto. In this embodiment, since the first cover  20  is made of a corrugated paper, the first cover  20  is not deformed at a high temperature when covering the bowl body  10 , unlike ordinary paper covers available on the market. Moreover, for the instant noodles and the flavoring agent placed inside the bowl body  10 , the flavoring agent may be directly placed in the bowl body  10  without being packaged, such that the user can pour the hot water into the bowl body  10  via the hole  231  without tearing the first cover  20 , and the first cover  20  tightly covers the bowl body  10 , thereby slowing down the heat loss. As such, the duration of cooking time is easily controlled, so as to prevent the noodles from being overcooked due to a long cooking time or being undercooked due to a short cooking time. Meanwhile, the user does not need to open the flavoring package any more, thereby preventing their hands from being made greasy. 
     The eating utensil  60  is located at the first cover  20 . Here, the eating utensil  60  is preferably chopsticks. In this embodiment, the eating utensil  60  is fixed adhesively at the first cover  20  along a periphery of the first cover  20 ; however, the present invention is not limited thereto. Alternatively, in the present invention, a fastening portion  25  for fixing the eating utensil  60  is disposed at the first cover  20 . With the eating utensil  60 , even if the user forgot to carry an eating utensil in a hurry, they do not need to worry about the problem, thereby contributing to the user&#39;s convenience. 
     The first tear portion  40  is located at a connection position between the bowl body  10  and the first cover  20 . The first tear portion  40  is preferably formed by a plurality of first semi-perforations, and the first tear portion  40  is torn along the first semi-perforations to separate the bowl body  10  from the first cover  20 ; however, the present invention is not limited thereto, and tear portions in other forms also fall within the scope of the present invention. 
     A second cover  30  is configured into an approximately rectangular sheet, which has an annular wall extending therefrom. A second opening  31  is formed at one end of the annular wall. The second opening  31  faces the first cover  20 , such that the second cover  30  covers the first cover  20 . The second cover  30  is connected to the first cover  20 , so as to wrap the eating utensil  60 . However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and the second cover  30  may also be made into round or other shapes according to practical requirements. 
     A second tear portion  50  is located at a connection position between the first cover  20  and the second cover  30 . The second tear portion  50  is preferably formed by a plurality of second semi-perforations, and the second tear portion  50  is torn along the plurality of second semi-perforations, so as to separate the first cover  20  from the second cover  30 ; however, the present invention is not limited thereto, and tear portions in other forms also fall within the scope of the present invention. 
     In this embodiment, when the user wants to eat instant noodles the user firstly tears the second tear portion  50  to separate the second cover  30  from the first cover  20 , then tears the shielding portion  232  on the first cover  20  to expose the hole  231 , and then pours hot water into the bowl body  10  via the hole  231 . At this time, since the first cover  20  is still connected to the bowl body  10  and only the hole  231  on the first cover  20  is exposed, heat loss is slowed, and the temperature in the bowl body  10  drops slowly. This being the case, the duration of cooking time is easily controlled, so as to prevent the noodles from being overcooked due to a long cooking time or being undercooked due to a short cooking time. 
     After the noodles are well cooked, the first tear portion  40  is torn, so as to separate the first cover  20  from the bowl body  10 . After the first cover  20  is separated, the eating utensil  60  is taken off from the first cover  20  for use, which is quite convenient. 
     While the present invention has been described by the way of example and in terms of the preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. On the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements. Therefore, the scope of the appended claims should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar arrangements.