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Patent 3105387 Summary

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Claims and Abstract availability

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(12) Patent: (11) CA 3105387
(54) English Title: FOOD CONTAINER WITH VENTS ON HANDLES
(54) French Title: RECIPIENT ALIMENTAIRE MUNI DE POIGNEES A EVENTS
Status: Granted and Issued
Bibliographic Data
(51) International Patent Classification (IPC):
  • B65D 51/16 (2006.01)
  • B65D 43/02 (2006.01)
  • B65D 51/18 (2006.01)
(72) Inventors :
  • LIU, SHENG-YU (Taiwan, Province of China)
(73) Owners :
  • FREE-FREE INDUSTRIAL CORP.
  • FREE-FREE(USA) INC.
(71) Applicants :
  • FREE-FREE INDUSTRIAL CORP. (Taiwan, Province of China)
  • FREE-FREE(USA) INC. (United States of America)
(74) Agent: PERLEY-ROBERTSON, HILL & MCDOUGALL LLP
(74) Associate agent:
(45) Issued: 2022-07-05
(86) PCT Filing Date: 2019-10-21
(87) Open to Public Inspection: 2020-12-03
Examination requested: 2020-12-29
Availability of licence: N/A
Dedicated to the Public: N/A
(25) Language of filing: English

Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT): Yes
(86) PCT Filing Number: PCT/US2019/057298
(87) International Publication Number: US2019057298
(85) National Entry: 2020-12-29

(30) Application Priority Data:
Application No. Country/Territory Date
16/426,371 (United States of America) 2019-05-30
201910681491.3 (China) 2019-07-26

Abstracts

English Abstract


A food container with vents on handles includes a box and a cover.
The box includes a box wall and a receiving room. Two opposite sides of the
box
wall are provided with a pair of handle portions. Each handle portion is
extended
with a bent section from the box wall toward a direction which is bent away
from
the receiving room. An upper portion of each bent section is formed with a
venting
space communicating with the receiving room. The cover is removably fastened
to the box to cloak the receiving room and includes a cover plate, a pair of
handle
lids and sliding seals. The handle lids can be fixed to the handle portions to
cover
the venting space. Each handle lid is provided with vents. The sliding seals
are
separately disposed in the handle lids to be capable of selectively cloaking
the
vents.


French Abstract

L'invention porte sur un récipient alimentaire muni de poignées à évents qui comporte une boîte et un couvercle. La boîte comprend une paroi de boîte et une chambre de réception. Deux côtés opposés de la paroi de boîte sont pourvus d'une paire de parties poignées. Chaque partie poignée est prolongée par une section courbée depuis la paroi de boîte vers une direction qui est courbée à l'opposé de la chambre de réception. Une partie supérieure de chaque section courbée comporte un espace de ventilation communiquant avec la chambre de réception. Le couvercle est fixé amovible à la boîte pour fermer la chambre de réception et comprend une plaque de couvercle, une paire de couvercles de poignée et des joints coulissants. Les couvercles de poignée peuvent être fixés aux parties poignées pour couvrir l'espace de ventilation. Chaque couvercle de poignée est pourvu d'évents. Les joints coulissants sont disposés séparément dans les couvercles de poignée pour pouvoir fermer sélectivement les évents.

Claims

Note: Claims are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.


WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:
1. A food container with vents on handles, comprising:
a box, comprising a box wall and a receiving room encompassed by the box wall,
two
opposite sides of the box wall being provided with a pair of handle portions,
each handle
portion being extended with a bent section from the box wall toward a
direction which is bent
away from the receiving room, and an upper portion of each bent section being
formed with a
venting space communicating with the receiving room; and
a cover, removably fastened to the box to cover the receiving room, comprising
a cover
plate, a pair of handle lids at two opposite sides of the cover plate and a
pair of sliding seals,
the pair of handle lids corresponding to the pair of handle portions in
position, each handle lid
being capable of being fixed to one of the handle portions to cover the
venting space, each
handle lid being provided with vents corresponding to the venting space, and
the pair of
sliding seals being separately disposed in the pair of handle lids to be
capable of selectively
cloaking the vents.
2. The food container of claim 1, further comprising a loading plate placed in
the
receiving room and a partition plate movably fastened to the loading plate,
both the loading
plate and the partition plate are provided with drain holes, the loading plate
is provided with a
pair of pivoting holes, the partition plate is provided with a pair of
pivoting shafts, and the
partition plate is movably connected to the loading plate by inserting the
pair of pivoting
shafts into the pair of pivoting holes.
3. The food container of claim 2, wherein the box is formed with a bottom wall
which
gradually diminishes downward from a bottom side of the receiving room, the
bottom wall
surrounds a bottom of the box, a step is formed between the bottom wall and
the box wall,
and the loading plate is placed on the step.
4. The food container of claim 3, further comprising a draining cap, wherein
the box is
formed with a bottom plate enclosed by the bottom wall, the bottom plate
downward extends
7

from a side of the bottom wall to an opposite side, the bottom plate has a
first water outlet, the
bottom wall is provided with a second water outlet adjacent to the first water
outlet, the
draining cap comprises a first cap which can be plugged into the first water
outlet, a second
cap which can be plugged into the second water outlet and a connecting sheet
connecting the
first and second caps.
5. The food container of claim 3, wherein step is formed with an engaging
block, and the
loading plate is formed with an engaging notch.
6. The food container of claim 2, wherein the pivoting hole is formed with
positioning
grooves, the pivoting shaft is formed with ribs, and the partition plate is
perpendicularly or
horizontally mounted on the loading plate by engagement of the ribs and the
positioning
grooves.
7. The food container of claim 1, wherein the cover plate comprises a left
side plate, a
right side plate, a flexible sheet and a guard ring, the flexible sheet
connects the left side plate
to the right side plate, the guard ring surrounds a surface of the left side
plate and the right
side plate to form a recess on the surface.
8. The food container of claim 1, wherein the handle lid is formed with a pair
of sliding
slots, the sliding seal is formed with a pair of hooks on a side facing the
handle lid, the sliding
seal can be slid against the handle lid by moving the pair of hooks in the
pair of sliding slots.
9. The food container of claim 1, wherein the handle lid is formed with a
gripping
portion on a side facing the box, and the cover is fastened to the box by
gripping the handle
portion with the gripping portion.
10. The food container of claim 1, wherein each handle lid extends aslant
outward from a
periphery of the cover plate.
11. The food container of claim 1, wherein the pair of the sliding seals is
slidably
assembled to the pair of handle lids.
8

Description

Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.


CA 03105387 2020-12-29
WO 2020/242515 PCT/US2019/057298
FOOD CONTAINER WITH VENTS ON HANDLES
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Technical Field
The invention relates to food containers, particularly to a food container
with vents.
Related Art
Food containers are usually used for holding food such as vegetable or fruit.
However,
when food held in a container is attached by water, deterioration or putridity
of the food is
easy to occur because of long-term contact with water. In addition, if
vegetable or fruit is put
in a container for a long time, water on the vegetable or fruit will be
vaporized to condense
into water droplets on an inner wall of the container. The food in the
container will be spoiled
soon when the water droplets fall down onto the food.
Moreover, some of currently available food containers have been provided with
vents on
their covers to overcome the above problem. However, a venting structure on a
cover usually
protrudes from a surface of the cover to cause unevenness of the cover. This
makes such
containers cannot be stably stacked. In addition, vents on a cover may be
blocked by the food
in the container, so this causes the problem on venting.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In one aspect, the invention is to provide a food container with vents on
handles, which
can remove moisture or prevent moisture from condensing in the box to keep the
food in the
box fresh.
Accordingly, the food container of the invention includes a box and a cover.
The box
includes a box wall and a receiving room. Two opposite sides of the box wall
are provided
with a pair of handle portions. An upper portion of each bent section is
formed with a venting
space communicating with the receiving room. The cover is removably fastened
to the box
and includes a cover plate, a pair of handle lids and a pair of sliding seals.
The handle lids can
be fixed to the handle portions to cover the venting space. Each handle lid is
provided with
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CA 03105387 2020-12-29
WO 2020/242515 PCT/US2019/057298
vents. The sliding seals are separately disposed in the handle lids to be
capable of selectively
cloaking the vents.
In another aspect, the invention is to provide a food container with vents on
handles,
whose cover can make multiple food containers stably stacked on each other.
The food container of the invention provides a handle portions with a bent
section. The
cover plate is provided with handle lids for gripping the handle portions. The
handle lid is
provided with vents and a sliding seal which can selectively cloak the vents.
When the sliding
seal exposes the vents, moisture can flow to the outside to avoid condensation
of moisture.
Accordingly, food in the container can keep fresh. Further, the cover plate of
the invention has
a recess for being stacked by another container. This is very convenient for
users.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a schematic view of the food container of the invention;
FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the food container of the invention;
FIG. 3 is a schematic view of the handle lid and the sliding seal of the
invention;
FIG. 4 is a schematic view of the loading plate connected with the partition
plate of the
invention;
FIG. 5 is an exploded view of the loading plate and the partition plate of the
invention;
FIG. 6 is a schematic view of the partition plate which is being adjusted;
FIG. 7 is a schematic view of the food container of the invention in use;
FIG. 8 is a schematic view of the sliding seal which is being moved in the
handle;
FIG. 9 is a schematic view showing moisture ejection of the food container of
the
invention;
FIG. 10 shows another embodiment of division of the receiving room of the food
container of the invention;
FIGS, 11 and 12 are a schematic view of another stacking manner of the food
container
of the invention and a partly enlarged view thereof; and
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FIG. 13 shows still another stacking manner of the food container of the
invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Please refer to FIGS. 1 and 2, which are a schematic view and an exploded view
of the
food container of the invention. The food container 1 of the invention
includes a box 10 and a
cover 20. In an embodiment, the food container 1 further includes a loading
plate 30 and a
partition plate 40. The cover 20 can be removably fastened to the box 10 to
constitute the food
container. In addition, both the loading plate 30 and the partition plate 40
are disposed in the
box 10. The details of the food container 1 will be further described below.
As shown, the box 10 includes a box wall 11 and a receiving room 100
encompassed by
the box wall 11. The box wall 11 are provided with a pair of handle portions
12 at two
opposite sides of the receiving room 100. Each handle portion 12 is extended
with a bent
section 121 from the box wall 11 toward a direction which is bent away from
the receiving
room 100. An upper portion of each bent section 121 is formed with a venting
space 101
communicating with the receiving room 100.
The cover 20 is removably fastened to the box 10 to cover the receiving room
100. The
cover 20 includes a cover plate 21, a pair of handle lids 22 at two opposite
sides of the cover
plate 21 and a pair of sliding seals 23. The pair of handle lids 22
corresponds to the pair of
handle portions 12 in position. Each handle lid 22 extends aslant outward from
a periphery of
the cover plate 21. Also, the handle lid 22 is capable of being fixed to the
handle portion 12 to
cover the venting space 101. Each handle lid 22 is provided with vents 220
corresponding to
the venting space 101. Accordingly, the pair of sliding seals 23 can be
assembled on the pair
of handle lids 22 to selectively cloak the vents 220.
Preferably, the cover plate 21 includes a left side plate 211, a right side
plate 212
connected thereto, a flexible sheet 213 and a guard ring 214. The flexible
sheet 213 connects
the left side plate 211 to the right side plate 212. The guard ring 214
surrounds a surface 210
of the left side plate 211 and the right side plate 212 to form a recess 200
on the surface 210.
3

CA 03105387 2020-12-29
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The recess 200 is a flat for being put or stacked by another food container.
The loading plate 30 is put in the receiving room 100 and is provided with
drain holes 31.
The partition plate 40 is movably connected to the loading plate 30 and is
also provided with
drain holes 41.
Please refer to FIG.2. The box 10 is formed with a bottom wall 13 which
slightly
gradually diminishes downward and located on the bottom side of the receiving
room 100.
The bottom wall 13 surrounds the bottom of the box 10. A step 14 is formed
between the
bottom wall 13 and the box wall 11. Also, the loading plate 30 is put on the
step 14. Preferably,
the step 14 is formed with an engaging block 141 and the loading plate 30 is
formed with an
engaging notch 32 corresponding to the engaging block 141. The loading plate
30 is
positioned in the receiving room 100 by engagement between the engaging block
141 and the
engaging notch 32.
Please refer to FIGS. 3-5, which are a schematic view of the handle lid and
the sliding
seal, a schematic view of the loading plate connected with the partition plate
and an exploded
view of the loading plate and the partition plate of the invention. As shown
in FIG. 3, the
handle lid 22 is formed with a pair of sliding slots 221 which are
correspondingly located at
two sides of the vents 220. The sliding seal 23 is formed with a pair of hooks
231 on the side
facing the handle lid 22. The sliding seal 23 can be slid against the handle
lid 22 by moving
the pair of hooks 231 in the pair of sliding slots 221.
Please refer to FIGS. 4 and 5. In an embodiment of the invention, the loading
plate 30 is
provided with a pair of pivoting holes 33 and the partition plate 40 is
provided with a pair of
pivoting shafts 42. The partition plate 40 is movably connected to the loading
plate 30 by
inserting the pair of pivoting shafts 42 into the pair of pivoting holes 33.
In detail, the pivoting
hole 33 is formed with positioning grooves 331 and the pivoting shaft 42 is
formed with ribs
421.
As shown in FIG. 6, which is a schematic view of the partition plate which is
being
4

CA 03105387 2020-12-29
WO 2020/242515 PCT/US2019/057298
adjusted, in this embodiment, the partition plate 40 can be selected to be
perpendicularly or
horizontally mounted on the loading plate 30 by engagement of the ribs 421 and
the
positioning grooves 331 to provide users options depending upon actual
requirements.
Please refer to FIG. 7, which is a schematic view of the food container of the
invention in
use. In this embodiment, the box 10 is formed with a bottom plate 15 enclosed
by the bottom
wall 13. The bottom plate 15 downward extends from a side of the bottom wall
13 to an
opposite side. The bottom plate 15 has a first water outlet 151. The bottom
wall 13 is provided
with a second water outlet 131 adjacent to the first water outlet 151.
In addition, the food container 1 further includes a draining cap 50. The
draining cap 50
includes a first cap 51 which can be plugged into the first water outlet 151,
a second cap 52
which can be plugged into the second water outlet 131 and a connecting sheet
53 connecting
the first and second caps 51, 52. As a result, when vegetable or fruit is
placed on the loading
plate 30 in the receiving room 100, water remained on the vegetable or fruit
will flow out
through the drain holes 31 and fall down on the bottom plate 15. The bottom
plate 15 is slant,
so the water falling on the bottom plate 15 will flow to a lower position of
the bottom plate
15.
In this embodiment, it is noted that the first water outlet 151 is located at
the lower
position of the bottom plate 15. Accordingly, when the draining cap 50 plugged
into the first
and second water outlets 151, 131 is removed, the water will be drained out
from the first and
second water outlets 151, 131.
Please refer to FIGS. 8 and 9, which are a schematic view of the sliding seal
which is
being moved in the handle and a schematic view showing moisture ejection of
the food
container of the invention. As shown in FIG. 8, the sliding seal 23 can be
slid against the
handle lid 22. The sliding seal 23 cloaks the vents 220 when the sliding seal
23 is moved
upward. At this time, the receiving room 100 of the container 1 is a closed
space.
In addition, please refer to FIG. 9, when the sliding seal 23 is moved
downward, the
5

CA 03105387 2020-12-29
WO 2020/242515 PCT/US2019/057298
vents 220 will be exposed. At this time, moisture in the receiving room 100
flows to the
venting space 101 and then flows the outside through the vents 220, so that
moisture
condensing in the receiving room 100 can be prevented. In this embodiment, the
handle lid 22
is formed with a gripping portion 222 on the side facing the box 10. Also, the
cover 20 is
fastened to the box 10 by gripping the handle portion 12 of the box 10 with
the gripping
portion 222.
Please refer to FIG. 10, which shows another embodiment of division of the
receiving
room of the food container of the invention. As shown, the receiving room 100
may
accommodate two draining boxes 60 to replace both the loading plate 30 and the
partition
plate 40.
Please refer to FIGS, 11 and 12, which are a schematic view of another
stacking manner
of the food container of the invention and a partly enlarged view thereof As
shown in FIG. 11,
the food container 1 of the invention can be stacked by another one 1' with
the same type and
size. In detail, as shown in FIG. 12, the cover plate 21 has the recess 200
and the bottom of
the box 10 gradually diminishes downward to form a bottom wall 13. As a
result, when the
food container 1' is placed on the recess 200, the bottom wall 13 of the food
container 1' will
abut against a side of the recess 200 without shift.
Please refer to FIG. 13, which shows still another stacking manner of the food
container
of the invention. As shown, two small food containers 1" can juxtaposed on the
food
container 1.
It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the above embodiment
has been
described by way of example only and not in any limitative sense, and that
various alterations
and modifications are possible without departure from the scope of the
invention as defined
by the appended claims.
6

Representative Drawing
A single figure which represents the drawing illustrating the invention.
Administrative Status

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Please note that "Inactive:" events refers to events no longer in use in our new back-office solution.

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Event History

Description Date
Letter Sent 2022-07-05
Grant by Issuance 2022-07-05
Inactive: Cover page published 2022-07-04
Inactive: Final fee received 2022-04-19
Pre-grant 2022-04-19
Notice of Allowance is Issued 2022-04-12
Letter Sent 2022-04-12
4 2022-04-12
Notice of Allowance is Issued 2022-04-12
Inactive: Approved for allowance (AFA) 2022-02-21
Inactive: Q2 passed 2022-02-21
Inactive: Cover page published 2021-02-10
Letter sent 2021-01-26
Letter Sent 2021-01-18
Application Received - PCT 2021-01-16
Priority Claim Requirements Determined Compliant 2021-01-16
Priority Claim Requirements Determined Compliant 2021-01-16
Request for Priority Received 2021-01-16
Request for Priority Received 2021-01-16
Inactive: IPC assigned 2021-01-16
Inactive: IPC assigned 2021-01-16
Inactive: IPC assigned 2021-01-16
Inactive: First IPC assigned 2021-01-16
National Entry Requirements Determined Compliant 2020-12-29
Request for Examination Requirements Determined Compliant 2020-12-29
All Requirements for Examination Determined Compliant 2020-12-29
Application Published (Open to Public Inspection) 2020-12-03

Abandonment History

There is no abandonment history.

Maintenance Fee

The last payment was received on 2021-08-04

Note : If the full payment has not been received on or before the date indicated, a further fee may be required which may be one of the following

  • the reinstatement fee;
  • the late payment fee; or
  • additional fee to reverse deemed expiry.

Patent fees are adjusted on the 1st of January every year. The amounts above are the current amounts if received by December 31 of the current year.
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Fee History

Fee Type Anniversary Year Due Date Paid Date
Basic national fee - standard 2020-12-29 2020-12-29
Request for examination - standard 2024-10-21 2020-12-29
MF (application, 2nd anniv.) - standard 02 2021-10-21 2021-08-04
Final fee - standard 2022-08-12 2022-04-19
MF (patent, 3rd anniv.) - standard 2022-10-21 2022-07-27
MF (patent, 4th anniv.) - standard 2023-10-23 2023-10-18
Owners on Record

Note: Records showing the ownership history in alphabetical order.

Current Owners on Record
FREE-FREE INDUSTRIAL CORP.
FREE-FREE(USA) INC.
Past Owners on Record
SHENG-YU LIU
Past Owners that do not appear in the "Owners on Record" listing will appear in other documentation within the application.
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Document
Description 
Date
(yyyy-mm-dd) 
Number of pages   Size of Image (KB) 
Drawings 2020-12-28 11 325
Abstract 2020-12-28 2 81
Description 2020-12-28 6 254
Representative drawing 2020-12-28 1 42
Claims 2020-12-28 2 84
Cover Page 2021-02-09 1 53
Representative drawing 2022-06-09 1 15
Cover Page 2022-06-09 1 52
Courtesy - Letter Acknowledging PCT National Phase Entry 2021-01-25 1 590
Courtesy - Acknowledgement of Request for Examination 2021-01-17 1 436
Commissioner's Notice - Application Found Allowable 2022-04-11 1 572
Electronic Grant Certificate 2022-07-04 1 2,527
National entry request 2020-12-28 6 150
Declaration 2020-12-28 3 115
International search report 2020-12-28 1 79
Maintenance fee payment 2021-08-03 1 27
Final fee 2022-04-18 2 52