Individual portion food delivery system, container and method
OwnerGerald J. Tomlinsoninventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An individual portion size food container system and method is provided that is easy for the consumer to handle, facilitates a uniform dispersion of an edible liquid, such as salad dressing, on the food and can be suitable for use in a standard automobile cup holder. The salad container system permits a quantity of an edible liquid, such as salad dressing, to be added thereto and rapidly and easily substantially uniformly dispersed within the quantity of food contained therein prior to consumption. In addition, an apparatus and method of filling substantially simultaneously a plurality of individual portion size food containers is provided in which a plurality of food containers are contained in a predetermined array.
Claims51
A method of filling substantially simultaneously a plurality of elongated salad containers comprising:
- (a) providing in a predetermined array a plurality of unfilled upstanding elongated salad containers;
- (b) positioning a tray having a plurality of openings corresponding to the array of salad containers directly over the array of salad containers, the openings of the tray being no larger than the openings of the corresponding salad containers;
- (c) placing a quantity of salad to be filled in the containers on the tray;
- (d) moving the salad across the tray to cause the salad to fall by gravity into the containers.
Apparatus for filling substantially simultaneously a plurality of individual portion-sized elongated salad containers comprising:
- (a) a rack for retaining a plurality of elongated open-topped containers in a substantially upright position in a predetermined array.
- (b) a tray having a generally upstanding perimeter wall, the tray having a plurality of openings in an array corresponding to the predetermined array of the rack;
- and
- (c) means for aligning the tray openings with the predetermined array of the rack in an aligned position to permit filling of containers, each having an open top, contained by the rack;
- and
- (d) means for maintaining the tray in said aligned position relative to said rack.
A packaged salad comprising:
- an elongated container having an open top;
- a snap-on lid positionable in a snap-on position relationship on the top of the container to enclose the interior volume of the container and the lid, the lid providing an enclosed volume above the top of the container that is at least about 10% of the volume of the container;
- a quantity of salad contained within the container.
A method of substantially uniformly dispersing a quantity of salad dressing in an individual portion size salad comprising:
- providing an elongated upstanding salad container having an open top that is substantially filled with salad;
- adding to the salad contained in the container a quantity of salad dressing;
- thereafter attaching a lid to the open top of the salad container to close the salad container in a substantially liquid leak-proof manner, the lid providing an enclosed volume in addition to the volume of the salad container that is at least about 10% of the salad container volume;
- and
- shaking the closed salad container until the salad dressing is substantially uniformly dispersed on the salad.
A method of filling substantially simultaneously a plurality of elongated food containers comprising:
- (a) providing in a predetermined array a plurality of unfilled upstanding elongated food containers;
- (b) positioning a tray having a plurality of openings corresponding to the array of food containers directly over the array of food containers, the openings of the tray being no larger than the openings of the corresponding salad containers;
- (c) placing a quantity of a prepared solid food to be filled in the containers on the tray;
- (d) moving the salad across the tray to cause the food to fall by gravity into the containers.
A packaged individual food portion comprising:
- an elongated container having an open top;
- a snap-on lid positionable in a snap-on position relationship on the top of the container to enclose the interior volume of the container and the lid to provide a substantially liquid leak-proof seal between the lid and the container, the lid providing an enclosed volume above the top of the container that is at least about 10% of the volume of the container;
- a quantity of a prepared solid food contained within the container.
A method of substantially uniformly dispersing a quantity of a desired edible liquid in an individual portion of food comprising:
- providing an elongated upstanding food container having an open top that is substantially filled with food;
- adding to the food contained in the container a quantity of a desired edible liquid;
- thereafter attaching a lid to the open top of the food container to close the food container to provide a substantially liquid leak-proof seal between the lid and the container, the lid providing an enclosed volume in addition to the volume of the food container that is at least about 10% of the food container volume;
- and
- shaking the closed food container until the edible liquid is substantially uniformly dispersed on the food.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.