Patent Document

RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application claims priority to co-pending U.S. Provisional Patent Application having Ser. No. 62/347,506 filed on Jun. 8, 2016, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    Pizza delivery was first performed in 1889 in Naples, Italy. At that time, metal boxes that form-fit the pizza were used. Since the 1940s, pizza boxes have been formed by cardboard. Pizza delivery has become a big business. Today, millions of pizzas are delivered to taken out every year. The pizza box cardboard construction, however, has not changed much over the years. 
         [0003]    While the pizza box is a very efficient way to transport pizza, depending on the construction, especially when multiple pizzas are stacked or when the pizza box bends for larger pizzas, there is the potential for the top of the pizza box to come into contact with the pizza itself, thereby causing the cheese of the pizza to stick to the inside of the top of the pizza box. When delivering pizza, the pizza delivery person typically brings a bill or receipt along with coupons or other marketing materials. Often those materials are taped to the top of the pizza box, but the paper can fall or be ripped off of the top of the box during transport or delivery, especially when pizzas are delivered to multiple locations. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0004]    A pizza box accessory that provides for multiple functions, including preventing the top of a pizza box from contacting a pizza in the pizza box and securing paper, such as a receipt and marketing materials, on the top of the pizza box, is described herein. The accessory may also be configured to support a marketing device, such as a disk, and/or toy for kids. 
         [0005]    One embodiment of a pizza box accessory may include a retention member, at least one spacer member extending from the retention member, a stem that extends between the spacer retention member and a tip. The stem may be long enough to cause the tip to extend through an opening defined by a top member of a pizza box. A clip member may extend from the tip and over the stem toward the retention member, the clip member being configured to apply a force to paper disposed between a top surface of the top member of the pizza box to inhibit movement of the paper. 
         [0006]    One embodiment of a method of using a pizza box accessory may include extending a tip of a stem through an opening defined by a top member of a pizza box. A clip connected to the tip may be attached to the top member. The top member of the pizza box may be closed to cause one or more spacer members to contact a pizza in the pizza box. Paper may be retained by the clip. In an embodiment, the paper may be positioned between the clip and a top surface of the top member of the pizza box. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES 
         [0007]    The subject matter that is regarded as the invention is particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the claims at the conclusion of the specification. The foregoing and other objects, features, and advantages of the invention are apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which: 
           [0008]      FIG. 1A  is an illustration of a typical pizza box inclusive of a top member that defines an opening with a tab extending from the top member above the opening; 
           [0009]      FIG. 1B  is an illustration of a cutaway of the pizza box of  FIG. 1  and accessory; 
           [0010]      FIG. 1C  is an illustration of the pizza box of  FIG. 1  with the top member being in an open position; 
           [0011]      FIG. 1D  is an illustration of the pizza box of  FIG. 1  with the top member in an open position while the pizza box accessory retains paper on an outside of the top member; 
           [0012]      FIGS. 2A-2H  are schematic diagrams of an illustrative pizza box accessory that is configured to protect a pizza, retain paper on a top side of a pizza box, and provide for marketing and/or toy distribution, if desired; 
           [0013]      FIGS. 3A and 3B  are illustrations of an object configured as an enclosure configured to enclose a toy; and 
           [0014]      FIGS. 4A and 4B  are illustrations of an object configured as a toy that provides standoff members as part of the toy. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0015]    With regard to  FIG. 1A , an illustration of a typical pizza box  100  inclusive of a top member  101  that defines an opening  102  with a tab  104  extending from the top member  101  above the opening  102  is shown. A pizza box accessory  105  is shown with a tip member  106  and a clip member  108  being visible with the top member  101  in a closed position. The clip member  108  is configured to retain paper  110 , such as a bill, receipt, marketing material, or otherwise. In an embodiment, the clip may have an upper portion and a lower portion, and be configured to retain paper inserted between the upper and lower portions. In another embodiment, the clip member  108  may be configured with an upper portion and an upper surface of a top member  101  of the pizza box  100  may functionally operate as a lower portion of the clip, thereby enabling paper to be retained between the clip member  108  and the top surface of the top member  101  of the pizza box  100 . The pizza box accessory  105  may be formed from a single material or may be formed from multiple elements that are assembled together. The material may be plastic, metal, combination thereof, or any other material or combination of materials. 
         [0016]    With regard to  FIG. 1B , an illustration of a cutaway of the pizza box  100  and accessory  105  is shown. An underside stem  112  that includes a pair of teeth  114   a  and  114   b  that grip an inside surface of the top member  101  to limit the accessory  105  from withdrawing from the pizza box  100 . A retention member  116  that is part of or secured to the stem  112 . The retention member  116  may be configured to retain a marketing element, as further described herein, but may alternatively be designed to simply support spacer members, as shown in  FIG. 1C . 
         [0017]    The retention member  116  may have a circular shape or may have any other shape, and be configured to encircle an object and use friction to retain the object. Alternatively, the retention member  116  may have a feature or shape that mates with a feature or shape of the object. For example, the retention member  116  may have a protrusion (e.g., rib shape centered within an inside surface) and the object may have a socket (e.g., groove), thereby enabling the retention member  116  and the object to be interlocked with one another. Other mechanical mechanisms may be used to retain the object by the retention member  116 . 
         [0018]    With regard to  FIG. 1C , an illustration of the pizza box  100  with the top member  101  being in an open position is shown. The pizza box accessory  105  is shown to extend through the opening  102  and secure onto the tab  104  so that the stem  112  extends along an inside surface of the top member  101 . The stem  112  connects or is otherwise part of the retention member  116  that is circular. It should be understood that the retention member  116  may be any geographic shape, such as square, oval shaped, or otherwise. Extending from the retention member  116  are spacer or standoff members  118   a - 118 h (collectively  118 ) that are meant to maintain a space between a pizza (not shown) place in the box and the top member  101 . The spacer members  118  may taper, as shown, and have a length that, when tips press against a pizza, maintain the top member  101  to be parallel with a bottom member  119  of the pizza box  100 . It should be understood that one or more spacer members may be utilized to provide for support between the pizza and top member  101 . In an embodiment, the standoff members  118  may be part of an object (see below) that the retention member  116  may retain. The retention member  116  may be positioned on an offset plane relative to the stem  112  so that alternative positions of an object may be retained. For example, if the object is a toy robot, a waist or center region of the robot may be retained directly or indirectly by the retention member  116 . 
         [0019]    An object  120 , such as a logo disc, is retained by the retention member  116 . The object  120 , in this case, is shown to include a logo of a company for marketing or advertising. Rather than simply being a disc shape, the object  120  may alternatively be an enclosure that may be configured to enclose a toy (e.g., character or animal). In another embodiment, object  120  itself is the toy. The shape and size of the object  120 , whether configured as a disc or enclosure, may be any shape and size. For example, if a toy is small, then the size of the object  120  (configured as an enclosure) may be 1-inch in diameter. If the toy is a bit larger, then the object  120  (configured as an enclosure) may be 2-inches in diameter. Still yet, the object  120  may be functional, such as a kazoo or harmonica, with which kids or adults may play. 
         [0020]    If the object  120  is configured to have standoff members (as opposed to the retention member having standoff members), then the object  120  may have an ornamental shape, such as a spider, dog, cat, character (e.g., TV or movie character), or otherwise. The standoff members may be triangular shaped or have any other geometric (e.g., round, oval, horseshoe, etc.) or non- or less-geometric shape (e.g., legs of a character). If the object  120  is a toy, a carrier that is configured to be secured by the retention member  116  and be removably attached to the toy may be used. The carrier may be plastic or any other material. 
         [0021]    With regard to  FIG. 1D , an illustration of the pizza box  100  is shown with the top member  101  in an open position. Because of the clip member, the paper  110  is retained against the outside of the top member  101  so as to inhibit movement from a top side of the top member  101 . 
         [0022]      FIGS. 2A-2G  are schematic diagrams of an illustrative pizza box accessory that is configured to protect a pizza, retain paper on a top side of a pizza box, and provide for marketing and/or toy distribution, if desired.  FIG. 2A  is a top view of the pizza box accessory.  FIG. 2B  is a side view of the pizza box accessory.  FIG. 2C  is a bottom view of the pizza box accessory.  FIG. 2D  is a zoomed-in view of a clip portion of the pizza box accessory. As shown, teeth that “bite” into a pizza box and hold a clip member in place to retain paper on a top side of the pizza box, and a round dome toward a front edge of the clip member to grip or otherwise apply pressure to a menu, coupon, receipt, bill, or otherwise.  FIG. 2E  is a side view of multiple, in this case ten accessories, pizza box accessories stacked or nested on top of one another to simplify distribution, storage, and use of the pizza box accessories. 
         [0023]      FIG. 2F  is an illustration of a retainable element, such as a logo disc, which may be made of cardboard, plastic, metal (e.g., aluminum), or other material that may be inserted into a retention member of the pizza box accessory. The logo disc may include a logo of an advertising partner. As previously described, the logo disc may alternatively be a toy (e.g., kazoo, harmonica, whistle, etc.) or form a vessel or enclosure that can store a toy for children. The size and shape of the logo disc (or toy or enclosure) may be any size and shape that is able to fit within the pizza box and enables the pizza box accessory to perform the functions described herein. As previously described, rather than using standoff members, the object may be configured to perform the function of the standoff members. As an example, the toy may be a transformer toy that operates as the standoff members in one configuration and is transformable to be a different functional or non-functional device.  FIG. 2G  is a front view of the pizza box accessory inclusive of the logo disc mounted thereto. 
         [0024]      FIG. 2H  is a zoomed-in illustration of the retention member of the pizza box accessory to show how the logo disc (or toy or enclosure) is secured thereto without the use of a fastening member or adhesive. It should be understood that a fastening member or adhesive may alternatively or additionally be utilized, but for cost purposes, a compression rib may be utilized to removable secure the logo disc to the pizza box accessory. 
         [0025]      FIGS. 3A and 3B  are illustrations of an object  300  inclusive of a top portion  302   a and a bottom portion  302   b  configured as an enclosure configured to enclose a toy  304 . The top portion  302   a  has a lip  306   a  configured to engage a lip  306   b  that, when engaged, form a container that encapsulates the toy  304 . Consistent with previous embodiments, a stem  308  may be attached to a retainer member  310 . The object  300  may be configured to be retained by the retainer member  310 . The retention member  310  may have standoff members  312   a - 312   n  that extend below the bottom portion  302   b  when the top and bottom portions  302   a  and  302   b  are engaged and retained by the retainer member  310 . 
         [0026]      FIGS. 4A and 4B  are illustrations of a pizza box accessory  400  inclusive of an object  402  configured as a toy that provides standoff members  404   a  and  404   b  as part of the object  402 . A stem  405  may be connected directly or indirectly to the object  402 . As shown in  FIG. 4B , the object  402  has a ring  406  to which the stem  405  connects. Spokes  408   a - 408   n  may connect the object  402  to the ring  406 . The ring  406  may be configured to be retained by a retention member (not shown) or itself act as a retention member. 
         [0027]    While various aspects and embodiments have been disclosed, other aspects and embodiments are contemplated. The various aspects and embodiments disclosed are for purposes of illustration and are not intended to be limiting, with the true scope and spirit being indicated by the following claims.

Technology Category: 7