Patent Publication Number: US-6905065-B2

Title: Ambidextrous sectional pizza box

Description:
This application claims benefit of 60/378,987 filed May 10, 2002. 

   FIELD OF INVENTION 
   This invention relates to pizza boxes and more particularly to an ambidextrous sectional pizza box lid that can be divided into sections that urges a user to easily grasp with either the left or right hand without the use of tools. 
   BACKGROUND OF INVENTION 
   A major part of the fast food and retail food markets is allocated to pizzas. On average over three billion pizzas are sold in the United States alone, of which 50% are take out. Millions of pizza boxes are therefore used to transport these take-out pizzas. Pizza boxes are well known and come in various shapes and sizes. While most boxes are square, it is known to have hexagonal, octagonal, circular and rectangular shaped boxes. 
   Pizza boxes are usually made out of corrugated cardboard or fiberboard and have a base and a lid. The base has a periphery with side walls extending vertically upward when the base is in an upright position. Similarly, the lid has a periphery with side walls extending vertically downward. Usually, the lid fits over the base and the base and the lid are hingedly connected to one another. In some pizza boxes, the base and lid are two separate pieces. The lid and base usually fit snugly relative to one another to keep the pizza as hot as possible. Due to the size of the traditional pizza box, pizza boxes are not easy to discard. As such, the user must some how break down or flatten the box to a size that allows the pizza box to be recycled. 
   In general, pizza is eaten in an informal manner. More specifically, pizza can be messy due to the ingredients and can be dangerous if still hot and not handled appropriately. To overcome the issues of temperature and neatness, the pizza can be distributed onto plates using utensils, which require cleaning after consumption of the pizza or one can use disposal plates, which add to the resulting garbage. Furthermore, some disposable plates are not rigid enough to support a piece of pizza. When plates are not readily available, the user is required to hold the pieces of pizza in their hands if the pizza is not too hot. 
   Prior art inventions have tried to address some of the aforenoted issues. U.S. Pat. No. 5,110,038 issued May 5, 1992 to Pantisano et al. discloses a plate forming and breakdown pizza box. The invention discloses a standard corrugated paper pizza box in a shape to form four circular serving plates with a beveled raised edge and cross slit cuts through the bottom panel of the pizza box separating the box into four essentially equal portion for easy disposal. 
   U.S. Pat. No. 5,476,214 issued Dec. 19, 1995 to Fisk Jr. for a pizza box with wedge-shaped break-down spatula plates. These plates can be separated from the box and more specifically the lid, and then used to lift out individual slices of pizza. The pizza slice resting on the plate can be picked up cleanly and safely ready to eat. 
   U.S. Pat. No. 5,014,853 issued May 14, 1991 to Crockett for a food delivery box. This invention relates to a pizza box that can be separated into sections that form plates on which the pizza can be eaten. Specifically, the top portion of the box is perforated from substantially central to the top portion through the flaps to define sections or plates. 
   Although the prior art addresses some of the issues surrounding breaking a pizza box into plates, the prior art does not specifically define a pizza box that allows the user to separate the pizza box lid into plates, that is configured for easy, flexible, gripping by a user to protect the user from the temperature of the pizza and is also configured specifically for urging users to grasp with either a right hand or left hand. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   It is an object of the present invention to provide an ambidextrous sectional pizza box lid that can be divided into sections, and which are shaped in such a way so that the sections can be easily grasped with either the left or right hand without the use of tools. 
   In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention there is provided a pizza box having a bottom portion and a top portion which comprises top portion being removably attached to the bottom portion. The top portion may have a plurality plate portions that are removably formed in the top portion and are shaped for ambidextrously grasping. 
   More specifically the bottom portion may be a base having a periphery with vertical sides extending upward therefrom when the base is in an upright position. The top portion may be further defined as a lid having vertical sides extending downward therefrom. The base and lid are sized and shaped to fit together. The lid may have a pattern of lines, which may divide the lid into several sections. The pattern may be such that the sections are configured so that they can be grasped either by a right hand or a left hand, for example a 90° triangle configuration. The lid is weakened along the lines of the pattern so that the sections can be easily separated from one another without the use of tools. 
   Preferably, the lines are formed by perforations, which extend along the lid and vertical sides. Conveniently, the ambidextrous sections include the lid and the vertical sides. The vertical sides may be flexible to allow them to bend and become a grasping portion for the user. 
   Advantages of the present invention include the ability for the user to easily break the top portion of the pizza box into a series of sections, some of which are configured to be naturally grasped by users who are right handed, and other sections which are configured to be grasped by left handed users. Flexible vertical sides allow the user to grasp the pizza and specifically the crust without touching the hot pizza. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     A detailed description of the preferred embodiments are provided herein below by way of example only and with reference to the following drawings, in which: 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a pizza box lid with two sections of the lid removed; 
       FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the ambidextrous sections of the preferred embodiment of the present invention; and 
       FIG. 3  is a perspective view of the preferred embodiment of the invention with the lid separated from the bottom portion. 
   

   In the drawings, preferred embodiments of the invention are illustrated by way of example. It is to be expressly understood that the description and drawings are only for the purpose of illustration and as an aid to understanding, and are not intended as a definition of the limits of the invention. 
   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION 
   Referring to the Figures there is illustrated an ambidextrous sectional pizza box  10 . Referring to  FIGS. 1-3 , there is provided a pizza box  10  having a bottom portion  12  removably connected to a top portion  14 . The bottom portion  12  may be further defined as a base  16  having vertical sides  18  extending upward therefrom when the base  16  is in an upright position. The top portion  14  may be further defined as a lid  20  having vertical sides  22  extending downward therefrom. The base  16  and the lid  20  are configured so that they fit together. 
   The top portion  14  may have a pattern  24  defining a plurality of plate portions  26 , which may be removably formed in the top portion  14 . The plurality of plate portions  26  may be shaped or configured for grasping by the user&#39;s left hand or right hand and therefore are ambidextrous. 
   More specifically, the plate portions  26  may shaped like a 90° triangle  28 . Triangle  28  may have a base side  30 , a 90° straight side  32 , and an angled side  34 . The vertical sides  22  of top portion  14  generally form the base sides  30 , which are flexible to allow the user to grasp the edge/crust of the pizza. The configuration of the triangle  28  and, more specifically, the positioning of the 90° straight side  32  indicates whether the plate portion  26  is for a right handed or left handed user. The user will naturally be urged to grasp that plate portion  26 , from the 90° straight side  32 , which will allow the user to eat from the angled side  34  while gripping the base side  30  thereby making the plate portions  26  ambidextrous. In other words, the positioning of the 90° straight side  32  on the left of base side  30  results in a plate position  26  that may be grasped by a left handed user. The positioning of the 90° straight side  32  on the right of the base side  30  results in a plate portion  26  that may be grasped by a right handed user. 
   The vertical sides  22  of the plate portion  26  can be part of the base sides  30  (depending on the configuration of the pizza box) and allows a user to comfortably hold the plate portion  26  with a crust (not shown) of a piece of pizza (not shown) abutting against the vertical sides  22 . 
   Preferably, the pizza box  10  is made from corrugated cardboard. While the pizza box  10  is shown to have eight plate portions  26 , depending on the size of the pizza box  10 , the lid  20  can be divided into fewer or more than eight plate portions  26 . Also, while each plate portion  26  preferably consists of the triangle  28  with the base side  30  or the vertical sides  22  hinged to the triangle  28 , in some embodiments, the triangle  28  may not have the vertical side  22  hinged to the plate portion  26 . 
   The lines creating the pattern  24  can be formed in various ways. Preferably, the lines are created by perforations  38  through the lid  20  and the vertical sides  22 . In other words, individual perforations  25  combine to form a line. The perforations  38  can be any reasonable shape. The perforations  38  shown have an oblong shape. The perforations  38  can function as air vents to allow some of the steam from the pizza to escape and can replace some or all of the air vents found in conventional pizza boxes  10 . Alternatively, the lines can be fold lines that are pressed into the lid  20  or the lid  20  can be scored along the lines creating the plate portions  26 . The purpose of the lines is to weaken the lid  20  to such an extent that the plate portions  26  can be separated from one another along the lines without the use of tools. 
   While the invention has been described with square, rectangular and octagonally shaped pizza boxes  10 , it can be used with pizza boxes  10  with virtually any shape including hexagonal and circular. The pizza box  10  of the present invention is more environmentally friendly than paper plates as the box must be disposed of in any event after it has been used to transport the pizza. The corrugated cardboard has an advantage in that it is stiff enough to support the pizza on a plate portion  26  and insulates the person holding the plate portion  26  from the heat of the piece of pizza. Also, the lid  20  is not substantially weakened before being separated into plate portions  26  and the pizza box  10  remains sufficiently strong to transport the pizza. 
   A further advantage of the plate portions  26  that are formed to extend from a periphery of the pizza box  10  to the centre is that the plate portions  26  will be slightly longer than a piece of pizza from the pizza box  10  that is cut from the edge of the pizza to the centre. The pattern of lines on the lid  20  can be formed in the same general pattern as the lines along which the pizza inside the box is cut. 
   Other variations and modifications of the invention are possible. All such modifications or variations are believed to be within the sphere and scope of the invention as defined by the claims appended hereto.