Patent ID: 12213607

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The food holder is a portable container for food items, particularly burgers. It is of one-piece construction and has expandable sides that are made of fluted resilient material. The expandable sides can fit different sized food items and provide a compressive force to retain the food and help prevent the food coming apart during its consumption. The food holder allows the food to be served on its side.

FIGS.1aand1bshow an embodiment of the food holder101. The food holder has opposing flat faces102a,102b. Each face has an edge with two distinct profiles; a first edge103which has a semi-circular profile that defines the outer periphery of each face; and a second edge104that is a compound curve, having a central part105that is a part of a circle having the same radius as the first edge103and two transition parts106a,106bof opposite curvature to the central part105, joining the second edge104to the first edge103and meeting at an angle of approximately 90 degrees. The compound curve of the second edge104defines a U-shaped notch, a cut-out central section exposing the maximum amount of food item to a users bite while providing sufficient support for it.

The opposing flat faces102a,bare connected by an intervening expandable elastic gusset107, joined along the first edge103of each opposing face. The gusset107is semi-circular in shape and defines a curved side to the food holder101. The curve allows a burger to nest within the food holder.

The arrangement of the expandable elastic gusset107is shown in more detail inFIG.2a. The gusset has a stretch system and is formed of a series of parallel fluted folds201, or convolutions, or corrugations of semi-circular profile, running parallel to the first edges103of each opposing face. The overall shape of the holder is thus of a short gutter with flat ends and concertina-like walls. The convolutions of the gusset107allow a degree of relative movement between the opposing flat faces, primarily toward and away from each other. The corrugated resilient material provides a reactive force when the flat faces are separated and the holder then exerts a compressive force on food items that are wider than the holder in its resting state.

The folds are structured with alternate wide and narrow flutings,201a, bshown inFIG.2b. In this embodiment there are five wide flutings with four intervening narrow flutings. The wide flutings201ahave a radius that is approximately twice that of the narrow flutings201b. This arrangement provides a dual effect; the wide flutings allow for expansion of the holder, while the narrow flutings provide greater resilience and therefore compressive force to hold the food in place.

The wall thickness of the flutings201is half the thickness of the opposing flat faces102, because the flat faces102have a degree of stiffness for support while the gusset107is flexible. The flat faces102are also provided with a rim running along their second edges104to provide reinforcement so that the holder maintains its shape during use and also provides the user with a touch cue to prevent them biting into the holder. The flat faces102are nevertheless still soft and flexible.

A feature of the holder is that food items like burgers can be served and rested between bites on their side, as opposed to on the bottom surface. This has the advantage of being able to display the layers of the burger food product and also more items can be placed on a serving tray, which is particularly helpful in fast food outlets. Food such as burgers can be consumed without the need of a plate which is helpful for people on the move. The holder makes it much more convenient to pick up and put down food and to dip into sauces, or to hold the food while sauces are squeezed onto the side of the food prior to a bite being taken. The outer surface of the flat faces102may be provided with protrusions301a,301bshown inFIG.3to prevent the holder from rolling from side-to-side when standing on its side.

Typical dimensions for the food holder at rest are an overall diameter of 120 mm and an internal width of 55 mm, which reflects the standard dimensions of a burger. When stretched, the width of the holder can increase to 130 mm. The wide flutings201ahave a radius of 3 mm, while the narrow flutings201bhave a radius of 1.75 mm. These dimensions are for illustration of a particular embodiment only and many other sizes and proportions are possible without departing from the spirit of the invention as an expandable food holder.

In use, an appropriately sized food holder is selected for the food item to be held. For example a 120 mm diameter, 60 mm height burger, a 120 mm diameter, 55 mm food holder is selected, i.e. the food holder is substantially the same diameter as the burger but when at rest it is slightly narrower than the burger. The food holder is then expanded by hand against the resilient force of the gusset and the burger inserted into the food holder. When released, the holder then closes slightly against the burger to gently grip it. The bottom of the food holder may be squeezed to push up the burger.

The food holder is of one-piece construction, which has the advantage of preventing any leakage of liquids, the holder acting as a dish. It is injection moulded using a thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) of food grade, such as ENSOFT SO-161-30A from Enplast®, or alternatively food grade silicon rubber, selected because it they are non-toxic, odourless and tasteless and also resistant to high temperatures up to 220° C. making it suitable for all types of dishwashers, including heavy-duty commercial dishwashers. These materials are also very difficult to damage and therefore suitable for the rigors of commercial food production environments and can be reused many times.

The elastic sides of the food holder have the advantage that they can exert a gentle compressive force on food items to retain complex multi-layered food products and prevent them from coming apart while being eaten and therefore greatly reduce the mess often made while eating complex foods by hand such as burgers. The food holder is of one-piece construction, which allows it to be leak proof. The use of a TPE or silicon rubber allows it to be a tough, multi-use dishwasher proof article.

Corrugations could be other shapes, such as zig-zag (as shown inFIG.5a) or square (FIG.5b), or saw tooth (FIG.5c) or double saw tooth (FIG.5d) or any combination or other shape that allows expansion against a resilient force.

The food holder may be shaped to fit other food items, such as sandwiches, pies, sausage rolls, chicken drumsticks, spring rolls, samosas, pittas, kebabs, hot dogs, wraps and toasties. For holding food items that are square, such as sandwiches, the food holder could be triangular in shape, for triangular cut sandwiches as shown inFIG.4aor square cut sandwiches, the food holder is arranged to be rectangular or square in shape as shown inFIG.4b. For oval shaped food products such as pittas the food holder is oval as shown inFIG.4c.