ITRA20080049A1 - CONTAINER FOR MUSSELS AND POTATOES - Google Patents

Description

DESCRIPTION

attached to a patent application for industrial innovation entitled:

Container for "Mussels and potatoes".

The present invention refers to the sector of disposable containers for the removal and / or consumption of food, and in particular to a container comprising the characteristics expressed in the preamble of claim 1.

With the idea of the city, an important invention that the world owes to the Mediterranean civilization, that of "street food" was born, which, served in the characteristic kiosks or offered by street vendors, constitutes the oldest and most authentic form of catering.

\ It is in a historical period like the present, where people are constantly moving and the comparison between different cultures is a necessary condition even before a choice, that a technical research concerning the spread of "street food" reveals its actuality.

There are many typical recipes that, unfortunately, remain relegated to the areas of origin and, above all, indoors in restaurants due to the impracticality of takeaway and / or consumption.

This is the case of a typical Belgian recipe, that is "Mussels and fried potatoes".

These two foods are very popular in our country, rich in

fish and agricultural products, but they are almost never served paired and,

above all, never as "street food".

Mussels or mussels are among the most widespread and most commonly used molluscs or seafood in Italian cuisine.

They are equipped with a shell made up of two parts, called valves, as well as clams, oysters, cockles, razor clams, sea truffles and scallops. There are other molluscs such as sea snails that have only one valve.

This rich variety of shellfish gives life to many recipes, easy to prepare and suitable for any occasion, but they are never served as "street food" as their consumption involves some problems.

The most evident drawback is that the mussels or seafood, being bi-valva, have, compared to the food contained within them, a very large shell, which, among other things, opening with cooking, takes on a even greater volume.

Another drawback is that the consumption of such molluscs or seafood involves the inevitable waste of the shells. Generally, in restaurants, this type of food is served in a bowl, with a sufficiently high profile, accompanied by another similar and empty bowl where the consumer will put the discarded shells.

There are already disposable containers in the shape of a tray on the market, which however do not have a sufficiently high profile and are not sufficiently capacious to contain a portion of mussels combined with a portion of fried potatoes.

The present invention has the primary technical task of providing

a container for mussels or seafood made of polymeric material

for food use and which can solve the drawbacks described.

In fact, an important object of the invention is to provide a disposable container suitable for containing a quantity equivalent to a portion of mussels or seafood combined with a portion of fried potatoes.

A further object of the invention is to provide a container made in such a way as to make available to the consumer in any situation also a similar container for storing the waste shells.

Another object of the invention is to provide an inexpensive, easily transportable container which can have a good closure. f The invention, in accordance with the aforementioned purposes, has characteristics

techniques which are clearly deducible from the content of the claims set out below, in particular from claims 1 - 2 - 3 and,

moreover, from any claim dependent, directly or indirectly,

fully, from claims 1 - 2 - 3.

The advantages of the present invention will also become more evident from the detailed description that follows, which is made with reference to the attached drawings provided for indicative and, therefore, non-limiting purposes only, in which:

Figure 1 is a side-rear view of a closed container.

Figure 2 is a top plan view of a closed container.

Figure 3 is a section of the container in the open position.

Figure 4 is a detailed section showing the flexible hinge.

Figure 5 is a section showing a part of the container.

- figure 6 is a section showing two closed and superimposed containers.

Figure 7 is a detailed section of the hand gripping areas.

- figure 8 is a section showing two containers open and stacked together.

Figure 9 is a section showing the internal containers stacked together.

With reference to the figures of the accompanying drawings, figure 1 illustrates a container (10), in the closed position, for mussels or seafood and / or other foods made, in a single piece of polymeric material specific for food use, with the thermoforming technology and of which the typical solutions, already known, will be evident from the following description.

It can possibly also be made with alternative technologies to thermoforming such as, for example, injection molding.

(Figure 3) This container (10) for mussels or seafood is essentially formed by two concave-shaped areas (101 and 1011), identical or not, whose perimeter edges (111 and 1111) extend with as many flat surfaces (121 and 1211) on which suitable different but similar shapes are made for the two parts.

The surfaces (121 and 1211) end with at least one straight hiatus each (131 and 1311) or partially rectilinear corresponding to each other and spaced by a few millimeters where the surfaces (121 and 1211) join with a surface (14) suitably shaped and having the flexible hinge function (15).

The flexible hinge (15) allows the two parts (17 and 18), of the container (10) for mussels or seafood, to perform a rotation between them of at least 180 ° and having the axis (16 ) of the hinge itself.

This means that the two parts (17 and 18), which are part of the same single-piece container (10), can take on two different functions: part 17 will serve as a bowl for mussels or seafood and part 18 will serve as its closing cover.

The 180 ° rotation of the lid (18) described above allows the latter to assume two positions, closed and open, with as many respective functions:

when it is in the closed position its function is that of a closing lid;

- when it is in the open position, its function is that of a container for waste shells.

The lid (18) can remain locked in the closed position with respect to the bowl (17) thanks to the shapes (191 and 1911) made on the respective surfaces (121 and 1211).

In fact, (figure 5) on the surface 121 of the bowl (17) there is a groove (191) which extends along a closed profile around the area 101 and having a concave shape, while on the surface 1211 of the lid (18) there is a similar groove extending along a closed profile around zone 1011 also having a concave shape. The two profiles correspond to each other.

The dimensions of these grooves (191 and 1911) are such as to be possible

fit together and ensure a mechanical closure of the lid (18) with respect to the bowl (17) and a good seal against any leakage of liquid parts of the internal contents.

For this reason the grooves (191 and 1911) are extended along their entire closed profile, without interruption of continuity.

Following (figure 2 and figure 7) the same identical construction principle, described above for the grooves 191 and 1911, on the surfaces 121 and 1211 two areas (20) for gripping the hands are formed on two opposite angles. They are strong enough to lift the container with its contents.

In the front corners (21, 22, 23, 24) (figure 2) the extensions of the surfaces (121 and 1211) are not equal and, when the bowl (17) and the lid (18) are closed, they will be offset in a to make as many useful grips for the lid opening operation (18).

The bowl (17) (figure 3), which can be of any shape, has at its base an area (25) suitably shaped in order to perform different functions:

- its outermost profile (251) is parallel to the surface (121) and will constitute the support surface with respect to a table (28);

- the intermediate shape (2511) corresponds to a similar shape (2611) made on the lid (18) so as to be able to fit the containers (10) on top of each other, when they are in the closed position (figure 6);

- the innermost shaping (25III) is such as to create a housing inside the bowl (17) for an additional container (27).

Also the lid (18) has at its base an area (26) suitably shaped so as to perform different functions:

- its outermost profile (2611) serves, as described above, for

fit into the lower part of the container positioned above (figure 6);

- the innermost shape (261) is parallel to the surface (1211),

but, above all, it is coplanar to the top created by the profile (251) of the bowl (17).

This allows the bowl (17) and the relative lid (18) in the open position to rest on the same surface (28).

It is evident how the container (10), for mussels or seafood, with the opening of the lid (18) is easily and advantageously transformed from the version of bowl with closed lid to the version of double bowl.

This characteristic, together with those previously described, make the container (10) particularly suitable for containing, transporting and consuming as "street food" a food such as mussels or seafood combined with fried potatoes or bread sticks or morsels of toasted bread.

In fact, in the lid (18) opened and also transformed into a bowl, it is possible to place the shells or valves of discarded mussels and from the additional container (27), positioned centrally inside the

bowl (17) you can consume fried potatoes or other food.

Advantageously, the additional container (27) for fried potatoes may or may not be positioned centrally with respect to the bowl (17) so that the temperature of its contents is kept as unchanged as possible by the heat of the mussels placed around it.

It is evident how, in this way, the user must transport

only one container (10) and not three, and, with even greater advantage, its height in the closed position, is such that it can also contain cutlery or special tongs for molluscs in the disposable versions.

These advantages are very important in cases where mussels with fried potatoes do not have to be consumed at the place of sale, but must be transported at a certain distance, for example at home.

Once the meal has been consumed, the user can close the container (10) with the waste shells inside, the additional container (27) and the cutlery and place it in the appropriate waste bins without these being dispersed.

The containers (10 and 27) due to their disposable characteristics have been made in the most economical way possible and are stackable with themselves (figure 8 and figure 9) so that they are stored and used in the best possible way by the seller, itinerant or not, always struggling with very confined spaces.

The invention thus conceived is susceptible of evident industrial application; it can also be subject to numerous modifications and variations, all of which are within the scope of the inventive concept; all the details can also be replaced by technically equivalent elements.

Claims (14)

CLAIMS 1. Container (10) for the removal and / or consumption of mussels or seafood, with or without fried potatoes, comprising two similar concave parts (101 and 1011), which can be independent or joined together by a flexible or interlocking hinge (15), which allows the rotation of at least 180 ° of one part, lid (18), with respect to the other, bowl (17), characterized by the fact that the working part, in closed position, acts as a lid (18), when it is in the open position it also assumes the function of a bowl, which can be used to store waste shells. 2. Container (10) for the removal and / or consumption of mussels or seafood, with or without fried potatoes, according to claim 1, characterized in that the bowl (17) comprises a seat (25III ) housing for an additional internal container (27) for fried potatoes, breadsticks, morsels of toasted bread or other foods. 3. Container (10) for the removal and / or consumption of mussels or seafood, with or without fried potatoes, according to claims 1 and 2, characterized in that the dimensions of said container (10), with the additional container (27) inside, they are suitable for containing a quantity equivalent to a portion of mussels or seafood combined with a portion of fried potatoes. 4. Container (10) for the removal and / or consumption of mussels or seafood, with or without fried potatoes, according to claim 2, characterized in that the additional internal container (27) can be positioned centrally with respect to to the bowl (17) so that the temperature of its contents is kept as unchanged as possible by the heat of the mussels placed around it. 5. Container (10) for the removal and / or consumption of mussels or seafood, with or without fried potatoes, according to claims 1 and 2, characterized in that it is essentially formed by two parts (101 and 1011 ) with a concave shape, which for their different function we define bowl (17) and lid (18), whose perimeter edges (111 and 1111) extend with as many flat surfaces (121 and 1211) on which suitable grooves are made (191 and 1911) and whose dimensions are such that they can fit together. 6. Container (10) for the removal and / or consumption of mussels or seafood, with or without fried potatoes, according to claim 5, characterized in that the grooves (191 and 1911) interlocked can ensure a mechanical closure by interference of the lid (18) with respect to the bowl (17) and a good seal against any leakage of liquid parts of the internal content, as these grooves (191 and 1911) are extended along a closed profile and without interruption of continuity. 7. Container (10) for the removal and / or consumption of mussels or seafood, with or without fried potatoes, according to claims 1 - 5 and 6, characterized in that on the surfaces (121 and 1211) of the bowl (17) and lid (18) there are two or more areas on which to hook a possible lifting handle or for gripping hands (20). 8. Container (10) for the removal and / or consumption of mussels or seafood, with or without fried potatoes, according to claims 1 - 2 and 3, characterized in that the internal height of the same container ( 10), is such that it can also contain cutlery or tongs for disposable molluscs. 9. Container (10) for the removal and / or consumption of mussels or seafood, with or without fried potatoes, according to claims 1 - 2 and 8, characterized by the fact that being able to contain inside both the container additional (27) of fried potatoes or other foods and some disposable cutlery, the user must carry only one element, rather than more than one, making this container (10) advantageous for transport and for consumption, for example, at home. 10. Container (10) for the removal and / or consumption of mussels or seafood, with or without fried potatoes, according to claims 1-2 and 8, characterized in that, once the meal has been consumed, the user you can close the container (10) with the waste shells inside, the additional container (27) and the cutlery and place it in the appropriate waste bins, without all these elements being dispersed. 11. Container (10) for the removal and / or consumption of mussels or seafood, with or without fried potatoes, according to claims 1 - 2 and 3, characterized in that both the container (10) and the additional container (27) are stackable with themselves so that their storage space is as small as possible. Container (10) for the removal and / or consumption of mussels or seafood, with or without fried potatoes, according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the container (10) and the additional container ( 27) are made of polymeric material suitable for food uses processed with thermoforming or injection molding technology. 13. Container (10) for the removal and / or consumption of mussels or seafood, with or without fried potatoes, according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that this container (10) can also be suitable for containing other foods and combinations: pasta in the container (10) combined with sauces contained in the additional internal container (27). 14. Container (10) for the removal and / or consumption of mussels or seafood, with or without fried potatoes, according to the preceding claims and according to what is described and illustrated with reference to the figures and the accompanying drawings and for the aforementioned purposes.