GB2231557A

GB2231557A - A french fries scoop

Info

Publication number: GB2231557A
Application number: GB9010773A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Peter Hudson
Original assignee: CHAPMAN PACKAGING Ltd
Current assignee: CHAPMAN PACKAGING Ltd
Priority date: 1989-05-15
Filing date: 1990-05-14
Publication date: 1990-11-21
Also published as: GB9010773D0; GB8911083D0

Abstract

A scoop for french fries comprises a side wall (1, 2, 3, 4) and a base (6), one side (11) of the base (6) being hinged to the side wall (1) and the side wall (1, 2, 3, 4) being creased so that it can fold flat with the base (6) folding upwards inside the side wall (1, 2, 3, 4). The base is made by a single uncreased piece of card and includes a latch (14) which engages in a corresponding detent (15) in the side wall (2) opposite to its hinged connection (11) with the base (6). The scoop also includes an additional leaf (7) which is hinged onto the side wall (2) opposite to its hinged connection (11) with the base (6) and which is also hinged (13) onto the middle of the base (6). The additional leaf folds upwards and inwards into the inside of the scoop when the scoop folds flat. <IMAGE>

Description

A French Fries Scoop In fast food outlets french fries are usually delivered to the customer in scoops made from stiff card.

The scoops provide a container for the french fries and some degree of thermal protection for the consumer.

Typically the scoops are formed from a pre-creased cut-out blank which is then folded and glued to form side walls and a base. The assembled blanks are supplied in a flat state with creases formed on opposing side wall portions of the scoop and a central crease on the base of the scoop which is aligned with the creases on the side walls and with the base normally folded downwards and outwards when the scoop is folded flat.

Before filling the scoops with french fries the operator squeezes the creases on the opposing side wall portions of the scoop to open it out so that it will accommodate the french fries. The inherent resilience of the card from which the scoops are made tends to close the scoop and this sometimes makes it difficult to fill them with fries.

US-A-3630430 describes a particular configuration of scoop in which this problem of a conventional scoop is overcome. In this particular configuration the base is joined to the side wall portions by upwardly curved creases so that, as the scoop is erected by squeezing opposite portions of the side walls the base snaps upward into a re-entrant configuration so that the base is concave as seen from below. This re-entrant base effectively locks the scoop into its open position and this holds the scoop open so that it can more easily receive a portion of fries. The upwardly curved join between the base and the side walls means that the base of the scoop is no longer flat and this makes it difficult to make the scoop stand upright.To overcome this, commercial versions of the scoop described in this specification are modified by the base including a cut-out portion which, when the scoop is erected, forms a depending leg in an attempt to support the scoop, together with its contents, upright. This scoop has been successful commercially but does suffer from a further disadvantage. Firstly the re-entrant base occupies a proportion of the volume of the scoop and so reduces its effective volume and, more importantly, the weight of the fries acting on the upwardly curved base tends to collapse it so overcoming its locking effect. This is accentuated when the fries are dropped downwards into the scoop. The heat and humidity of the fries also tends to reduce the rigidity of the card and so makes the collapse of the scoop more likely as soon as the scoop is filled with the fries.When the scoop collapses at this time it tends to topple over so spilling its contents.

According to this invention a french fries scoop is made from card and comprises a side wall and a base, one side of the base being hinged to the side wall and the side wall being creased so that it can fold flat with the base folding upwards inside the side wall, the base being made by a single uncreased piece of card and including a latch which engages in a corresponding detent in the side wall opposite to its hinged connection with the base, the scoop also including an additional leaf which is hinged onto the side wall opposite to its hinged connection with the base and which is also hinged onto the middle of the base, the additional leaf folding upwards and inwards into the inside of the scoop when the scoop folds flat.

Preferably the scoop is generally rectangular in cross-section when erected. The narrower faces of the erected side wall are preferably defined by curved creases so that, upon erection the side walls are generally concave and so, as the scoop is erected the narrow side walls snap into position and are substantially self-supporting in this condition. The hinges between the base and the side wall and between the additional leaf and the side wall are straight and co-planar. This enables the entire base of the scoop to be substantially flat with the base being formed from a single uncreased piece of card. Since the base is substantially flat the scoop stands upright once it is erected and remains stably in this position whether full or empty.

Preferably the latch has the form of a projection projecting away from the hinge connecting the base to the side wall, the projection engaging an aperture formed at the base of the side wall adjacent the hinge between the additional leaf and the side wall. The base is preferably locked into position by the user merely pushing the base downwards so that the latch projection is urged into the aperture.

The positive connection formed by the latch in accordance with this invention does not become disengaged as a result of any loading imposed on the base. Indeed, quite the reverse occurs with the weight of the contents tending to hold the base in position and hence hold the scoop into its erected configuration.

A particular example of a scoop in accordance with this invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a plan of the blank from which the scoop is made; Figure 2 is a perspective view of the scoop erected; Figure 3 is a cross-section through a base portion of the scoop at an intermediate stage in erection; and, Figure 4 is a cross-section through the base of the scoop when erected.

The scoop comprises a side wall having a lower front portion 1, a higher rear portion 2 and sides 3 and 4 with inclined top edges 5. The scoop also includes a base 6 and an additional leaf 7.

The front and back 1 and 2 are joined to the sides 3 and 4 by curved creases 8. A similar curved crease 8 joins a gluing tab 9 to the side 4. The sides 3 and 4 also include central straight creases 10. The base 6 and the additional leaf 7 are hinged onto the front 1 and back 2, respectively by hinge lines 11 formed by cut slots. The additional leaf 7 is also connected to a gluing tab 12 by a further hinge line 13.

In an initial pre-assembly stage the gluing tabs 9 and 12 are glued onto the back 2 and base 6, respectively where shown by the hatched regions in Figure 1. The partly assembled scoop with the portions glued together is folded flat with the base 6 and additional leaf 7 folded flat inside the side walls and with the sides 3 and 4 folded along their crease lines 10. This is the configuration shown more clearly in Figure 3 in which the flattened scoop has been partly erected.

The base includes a projecting tab 14 and the hinge 11 between the additional leaf 7 and back 2 includes a top hat-shaped slit 15. As the creases 10 in the folded flat scoop are pushed together the scoop opens up with the sides 3 and 4 snapping into an open curved position along the crease lines 8 to hold the scoop in a generally rectangular open condition. The user then urges the base 6 downwards until the tab 14 locks into an aperture 16 formed by opening the slit 15. This is shown in Figure 4. Once the scoop is locked into this condition the base 6 is held tightly by the tab 14 and also the side walls 3 and 4 being concave are also locked into position The front and rear walls 1 and 2 tend to bow outwards as shown in Figure 2.

Claims

1. A french fries scoop made from card and comprising a side wall and a base, one side of the base being hinged to the side wall and the side wall being creased so that it can fold flat with the base folding upwards inside the side wall, the base being made by a single uncreased piece of card and including a latch which engages in a corresponding detent in the side wall opposite to its hinged connection with the base, the scoop also including an additional leaf which is hinged onto the side wall opposite to its hinged connection with the base and which is also hinged onto the middle of the base, the additional leaf folding upwards and inwards into the inside of the scoop when the scoop folds flat.

2. A scoop according to claim 1, in which the scoop is generally rectangular in cross-section when erected.

3. A scoop according to claim 1 or 2, in which narrower faces of the erected side wall are preferably defined by curved creases so that, upon erection the side walls are generally concave and so, as the scoop is erected the narrower side walls snap into position and are substantially self-supporting in this condition.

4. A scoop according to any one of the preceding claims, in which the hinges between the base and the side wall and between the additional leaf and the side wall are straight and co-planar.

5. A scoop according to any one of the preceding claims, in which the latch has the form of a projection projecting away from the hinge connecting the base to the side wall, the projection engaging an aperture formed at the base of the side wall adjacent the hinge between the additional leaf and the side wall.

6. A scoop substantially as described with reference to the accompanying drawings.