EP1331170A1

EP1331170A1 - Container for take-away pizza

Info

Publication number: EP1331170A1
Application number: EP02425021A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Junio Caselli
Original assignee: Toscana Ondulati SpA
Current assignee: Toscana Ondulati SpA
Priority date: 2002-01-23
Filing date: 2002-01-23
Publication date: 2003-07-30

Abstract

A container for take-away pizza of the type erected from a diecut blank (1) of food-packaging cardboard, which diecut blank comprises a plurality of foldlines (16,16a,16b,17,17a,17b) defining a polygonal bottom panel (2) with a respective flap (3a,3b,3c,3d,4,5) associated with each side of the polygonal bottom panel and adapted to form a side wall of the container, a lid panel (6) associated with one (5) of said side flaps or walls along a respective foldline (5a); respective triangular corner portions (7,10,8,9) are defined between the bottom panel (2) and the adjacent side flaps (3a,3b,3c,3d) such that the base sides (7a,10a,8a,9a) of said corner portions lie each next to a respective one of said adjacent flaps, and at least one of said triangular corner portions (7,8,9,10) is joined to the side wall or flap (5) associated with the lid (6) through a connecting portion (11,12,13,14).

Description

Field of Application

The present invention relates to the food article packaging field.
In particular, the invention relates to a packaging container for "take-away" pizza and the like food articles.

Prior Art

Pizza is a food article of growing acceptance in Italy, but also in the rest of Europe and in countries, like Japan or the States, whose culinary traditions diverge most from the Italian tradition.
In particular, pizza shops have become popular where newly made pizza is sold on a take-away or a home-delivery basis. To fill a growing demand for newly made pizza to take home, containers have been developed which are usually erected from cardboard diecut blanks, or diecut blanks of suitable paper-based materials to receive pizza straight out of the baking oven.
The simplest and cheapest of these containers are square in shape and unsuitable to hold a round pizza firmly therein. A packaged pizza is likely to get shaken in transit and the pizza base undesirably part from its topping or become distorted, due to excess clearance existing between the pizza and the side walls of the container.
To overcome this problem, polygon-shaped containers, particularly octagonal ones, have been proposed, whose contour is better adjusted to the round form of a pizza, thus providing improved retention and protection for the article in transit.
One example of such containers is shown in Figure 1 herein.
As can be seen, the diecut blank from which that container is erected has a set of fold lines that define a polygonal bottom panel (a), side walls or flaps (b) associated with each side of the polygonal bottom panel, and a lid panel (e) which is associated with one (d) of the side walls or flaps along a respective foldline (g); between adjacent side walls or flaps (b1, b2) to the lid-carrying side wall (d) and the bottom panel (a), there being provided foldlines to define respective triangular corner portions (h) with their base sides (i) lying next to the lid-carrying side wall or flap (d).
In general, similar triangular corner portions (h1) are also provided between the bottom panel (a) and those side walls or flaps which adjoin the opposite side wall to the lid-carrying side wall (d).
The procedure to erect a container from that diecut blank includes sequentially raising the adjacent walls or flaps to the lid-carrying wall and its opposite one, while keeping track of, and if necessary assisting manually, the simultaneous raising of the respective corner portions; then folding all the corner portions down onto the bottom panel, raising the lid-carrying side wall and the opposite one, and closing the lid after the pizza is placed into the erected container.
Conventional containers assembled from diecut blanks in the manner just described are fairly effective to protect a round pizza in transit, but their assembly procedure involves a number of manual operations that are most inconvenient to carry out.
They little suit the often frantic activity that prevails in take-away pizza shops, and that would rather command suitable containers to be erected by as simple and quick a procedure as possible.
The underlying problem of this invention is to provide a container for take-away pizzas and the like articles, which fills both of the aforementioned demands to have the pizza protected in transit and the procedure of erecting the container from a diecut blank made simpler and faster.

Summary of the Invention

This problem is solved, according to the invention, by a container for take-away pizza, which is erected from a diecut blank of the kind outlined above, and is characterized in that at least one of said triangular corner portions is joined to the lid-carrying side wall or flap through a connecting portion.
Advantageously, the lid-carrying side wall joins each of the triangular corner portions of its adjacent side walls through a respective connecting portion.
Suitably, the opposite side wall to said lid-carrying side wall joins the triangular corner portions of its adjacent side walls through respective connecting portions.
Preferably, the apex angle of the triangular corner portions is 10° to 25°, advantageously about 15°.
The sides of said triangular portions are 1/3 to 1/2 as long as the side wall, advantageously half as long as the side wall.
By virtue of the connecting portions provided between the lid-carrying side walls and the triangular corner portions, as the latter are folded down onto the bottom panel by hand, the lid-carrying side wall is automatically pulled up together with the lid attached to it.
As the triangular corner portions adjoining the opposite side wall are folded down onto the bottom panel, this side wall is also pulled up automatically by the respective triangular connecting portions.

Brief Description of the drawings

The features and advantages of the container for take-away pizzas according to this invention will be more clearly appreciated from an embodiment thereof, as described by way of non-limitative example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Figure 1 is a perspective view of a diecut blank from which a pizza container is erected according to the prior art;
Figure 2 is a perspective view of a diecut blank from which a container according to the invention is erected;
Figures 3 and 4 are perspective views of the diecut blank of Figure 2, shown at two successive stages of erecting a pizza container according to the invention; and
Figure 5 is a perspective view of a diecut blank from which a container is erected according to an alternative embodiment of this invention.

Detailed Description

With reference to Figure 2, a diecut blank 1, from which a container for take-away pizzas can be erected in accordance with the invention, is shown to include a plurality of foldlines that describe a hexagonal bottom panel 2. A respective flap 3 is associated with each side of the hexagon and adapted to form a side wall in the erected container. A lid panel 6 is associated with one (5) of said side flaps or walls 3 along a foldline 5a. Triangular corner portions 7, 10, whose base sides 7a, 10a adjoin said side flap 5, are defined between the adjacent side flaps or walls (3a, 3b) to said lid-carrying side flap 5 and the bottom panel 2 by foldlines 16, 19, 16a, 19a, respectively.
Similar triangular corner portions 8, 9 are provided between the bottom panel 2 and the adjacent side flaps 3c, 3d to the opposite side flap 4 to side flap or wall 5.
In accordance with this invention, the diecut blank 1 includes connecting portions 11, 14 joined, on one side, to said side wall or flap 5 along respective foldlines 18, 18a, and on the other side, to the foldline defining base sides 7a, 10a of said triangular corner portions 7, 10.
Similar connecting portions 12, 13 are provided between the side flap or wall 4, which they join along foldlines 12a, 13a, and the triangular portions 8 and 9, respectively, which they join along foldlines 8a, 9a.
Referring to Figure 2, each triangular corner portion 7, 8, 9, 10 has an acute apex angle of about 15°.
With reference to Figure 3, it can be seen that as the triangular corner portion 7 is folded down onto the bottom panel 2 about foldline 16, the side wall 3 automatically turns up simultaneously with its connecting portion 11, by a rotation through approximately 180° about foldline 7a causing foldline 18 to turn up, and with it, the whole side flap or wall 5 and its associated lid panel 6.
The process is the same with the other triangular portions 8, 9, 10, which are first raised and then folded down onto the bottom panel 2. All this can easily be completed by a single operation.
With reference to Figure 4, there is shown a container according to the invention, in the erected and closed state. It can be seen that the lid is closed simply by inserting a flap 6bis of the lid 6 through the gap between the wall 4 and the connecting portions 12 and 13.
It can further be seen that a hexagonal box-like container capable of adequately protecting a pizza in transit is obtained by a single operation, as just described, whereby the triangular corner portions are folded down onto the bottom panel.
With reference to Figure 5, it should be noted that a diecut blank 101, from which a container for take-away pizza is erected according to an alternative embodiment of this invention, is formed with a plurality of foldlines defining an octagonal bottom panel 102 having, associated with each of its sides, respective flaps 103 adapted to form side walls in the erected container, and a lid panel 106 associated with one (105) of said side flaps or walls 103, which it joins along a respective foldline 105a, respective triangular corner portions 107, 110 with their base sides 107a, 110a next to said flap 105 being defined by foldlines 116, 119, 116a, 119a between the adjacent side flaps or walls (103a, 103b) to the lid-carrying flap 105 and the bottom panel 102.
Similar triangular corner portions 108, 109 are provided between the bottom panel 102 and the side flaps 103c, 103d adjoining the opposite flap 104 to the flap or wall 105.
The diecut blank 101 has connecting portions 111, 114 joined, on one side, to said flap or wall 105 along respective foldlines 118, 118a, and on the other side, to said triangular corner portions 107, 110 along foldlines coinciding with their base sides 107a, 110a.
Similar connecting portions 112, 113 are provided between the flap or wall 104, which they join along foldlines 112a, 113a, and the triangular portions 108 and 109, respectively, which they join along foldlines 108a, 109a.
Two foldlines (120a, 120d; 120b, 120c) are formed crosswise in each side flap or wall 103 to connect the side flaps 103a, 103d, and 103b, 103c to respective intermediate flaps 103e and 103f.
The container erected from the above diecut blank with an octagonal bottom panel is characterized by enhanced strength.
It can be appreciated from the foregoing that a major advantage of the pizza container according to the invention comes from the ease and quickness with which it can be erected. It takes but a few seconds to obtain a pizza container from a diecut blank by merely exerting a pressure simultaneously on certain portions of the blank, since the operation automatically produces a series of movements and entrainments of the various portions defined by the foldlines, which result in the blank flaps or walls being raised in a simultaneous and concerted fashion, additionally bringing the lid panel to a position close to the front wall of the erected container and ready for closing the container.
The container of this invention can be used not only to package pizzas, cakes, tarts, and the like bakery articles, but also to package non-food articles, such as underwear articles, foulards, spectacles, costume jewelry, etc..
Within the protection scope of the appended claims, skilled persons in the art may make many changes and modifications unto the container for take-away pizza disclosed herein.
As an example, the connecting portions could have different polygonal shapes, such as triangular, pentagonal, etc..
The container could be given an oblong shape to accommodate elongate food or non-food articles.
Instead of the closure flap 6bis or 106bis located at the opposite lid side to the flap or wall 5 or 105, two or more flaps could be provided at the remaining sides, or other known closure devices in the art could be used.
In general, the material from which the diecut blank is formed would be light or heavy cardboard, or a similar paper-based material, although suitable plastics for food packaging could be used instead.

Claims

A container for take-away pizza, being of the type erected from a diecut blank (1) of food-packaging cardboard, wherein said diecut blank comprises a plurality of foldlines (16,16a,16b,17,17a,17b) defining a polygonal bottom panel (2) with a respective flap (3,3a,3b,3c,4,5) associated with each side of the polygonal bottom panel and adapted to form a side wall of the container, a lid panel (6) associated with one (5) of said side flaps or walls along a respective foldline (5a); respective triangular corner portions (7,10,8,9) being defined between the bottom panel (2) and the adjacent side flaps (3a,3b,3c,3d) such that the base sides (7a,10a,8a,9a) of said corner portions lie each next to a respective one of said adjacent flaps; characterized in that at least one of said triangular corner portions (7,8,9,10) is joined to the side wall or flap (5) associated with the lid (6) through a connecting portion (11,12,13,14).
A container according to Claim 1, characterized in that said side flap or wall (5) associated with the lid (6) joins two adjacent triangular corner portions (7,10) through respective connecting portions (11,14).
A container according to Claim 2, characterized in that each said connecting portions (11,14) join said flap or wall (5) along a foldline (18, 18a) and join a respective triangular corner portion (7,10) along a coincident foldline (7a, 10a) with the base side thereof.
A container according to Claim 1, characterized in that an opposite flap (4) to said flap or wall (5) associated with said lid (6) joins two adjacent triangular corner portions (8,9) through respective connecting portions (12,13).
A container according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the apex angle of said triangular corner portions (7,8,9,10) is an acute angle of 10° to 25°.
A container according to Claim 5, wherein said acute angle (α) is about 15°.
A container according to Claim 5, wherein said triangular portions (7,8,9,10) have long sides (16,18) whose length lies within the range of 1/3 to 1/2 the length of the respective side flap or wall (3).
A container according to Claim 7, wherein said long sides (16,19) are half as long as the side wall (3).
A container according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said lid panel (6) is formed with a closure flap (6bis).