CONTENANT EN FORME DE TIRELIRE POUR DES PRODUITS ALIMENTAIRES, EN PARTICULIER DES BONBONS

CONTAINER FOR FOOD PRODUCTS, PARTICULARLY SWEET PRODUCTS, USABLE AS A MONEY BOX

Abrégé anglais

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
A container for food products, which can be used as a
money box after consumption of the products, comprises
a hollow casing constituted by two trough-shaped bodies
which can be joined together releasably at their
complementary free edges. One of the free edges has a
notch which defines a slot with the other free edge
when the bodies are joined together. The two bodies
have shaped appendages which give the container an
animal-like appearance, and some of the appendages
serve to support the container with the slot facing
upwardly.

Revendications

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:
1. A container for food products, which can be used for
keeping money and similar objects after consumption of the
products, comprising:
a hollow casing for receiving the food products, the
hollow casing having a zoomorphic appearance and being constituted
by two hollow trough-shaped bodies which can be joined together
releasably in a frontal mating position generally transversely
along the hollow casing, the trough-shaped bodies having comple-
mentary free edges forming a zone of connection, at least one of
the free edges defining a notch which, together with the free
ends of the other trough-shaped body, forms a transverse slot
in the wall of the casing when the two bodies are joined together
a partitioning separator member enclosed within the
casing fitted releasably within the casing to divide the casing
into portions defining two chambers, one of said chambers being
intended to receive the food products and
a laminar sealing member applied removably to the casing
to close the slot, the sealing member being in the form of an
annular band which can be wrapped around the hollow casing in the
zone of connection between the two trough-shaped bodies.
2. A container as defined in claim 1, carrying associated
decorative members for application to the container, a second
chamber of said two chambers being intended to receive decorative
elements.

3. A container as defined in claim 2, wherein the portion
of the casing defining the chamber intended to receive the food
product is made from transparent material and the portion of
the casing defining the chamber intended to receive the
decorative elements is made of opaque material.
4. A container as defined in claim 1, wherein at least
one of the trough-shaped bodies has associated shaped appendages
which give the container a zoomorphic appearance at least some
of said appendages constituting support formations for support-
ing the container in a disposition in which the slot faces
approximately upwardly.
5. A container as defined in claim 2, wherein at least
one of the trough-shaped bodies has associated shaped appendages
which gives the container a zoomorphic appearance at least some of
said appendages constituting support formations for supporting
the container in a disposition in which the slot faces approxi-
mately upwardly.
6. A container as defined in claim 3, wherein at least
one of the trough-shaped bodies has associated shaped appendages
which give the container a zoomorphic appearance at least some
of said appendages constituting support formations for support-
ing the container in a disposition in which the slot faces
approximately upwardly.

Description

The present invention relates -to containers for
food products, and is particularly concerned with a container in
the form of a money box which can be used for keeping money and
similar objects after consumption of the products.
Broadly speaking, the present invention provides
a container for food products, which can be used for keeping
money and similar objects after consumption of the products,
comprising: a hollow casing for receiving the food products,
the hollow casing having a zoo morphic appearance and being
constituted by two hollow trough-shaped bodies which can be
joined together releasable in a frontal mating position goner-
ally transversely along the hollow casing, the trough-shaped
bodies having complementary free edges forming a zone of
connection, at least one of the free edges defining a notch
which, together with the free ends of the other trough-shaped
body, forms a transverse slot in the wall of the casing when
the two bodies are joined together, a partitioning separator
member enclosed within the casing fitted releasable within the
casing to divide the casing into portions defining two chambers,
one of said chambers being intended to receive the food products,
and a luminary sealing member applied removably to the casing to
close the slot, the sealing member being in the form ox an
annular band which can be wrapped around the hollow casing in
the zone of connection between the two trough-shaped bodies.
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Preferably, at least one of -the trough-shaped
bodies has associated shaped appendages which give the con-
trainer itself the zoo morphic appearance and at least some of
kick constitute support formations for supporting the con-
tuner in a disposition in which the slot faces approximately
upwardly .
By virtue of this characteristic, a container for
food products, particularly sweet products, is provided which,
after consumption of the products contained therein, can be
used as a -toy functioning as a money box.
Further characteristics and advantages of the
invention will become apparent from the description which
follows, purely by way of non-limiting example, with reference
to the appended drawings, in which:
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-- 2
Figure 1 is a perspective view of a container according
to the invention in a first disposition of use,
Figure 2 illustrates the container of Figure 1
after opening, and
5 Figure 3 illustrates the same container in another
disposition of use.
In the drawings a container for accommodating food
products, particularly sweet products such as, for
example, small chocolate eggs E, is indicated 1.
10 The container 1 is constituted essentially by a hollow
casing 2 comprising two trough-shaped bodies 3, 4
which can be joined together releasable in a frontal
making position.
The two bodies 3, 4 are two half-casings of plastics
15 material which, when joined together, together define
an approximately ovoid casino.
The body 3 is made of transparent mounded plastics
material while the body 4 is made of opaque
plastics material.
20 Both the body 3 and the body have shaped decorative
elements applied to them, for example by ultrasonic
welding, to give the container itself a zoomorphi~
appearance For example, in the embodiment illustrated,
two lower leg-shaped parts 5 and a group of upper
shaped parts I, together defining the muzzle, eyes
and ears of a small dog, are fixed Jo the transparent
body 3.

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To the bottom portion of the other trough-~h~ped body 4,
on the other hand, is attached a further shaped part 7
defining the tail of the dog.
The legs 5 define support formations intended to support
S the container 1 in a position corresponding to the erect
position of the animal represented thereby.
us best seen in Figure 2, which illustrates the
container 1 partially dismantled, a separator member 8
is inserted between the two bodies 3, 4 and acts as an
internal partition for the casing 2 to divide the casing
into two chambers corresponding substantially to the two
bodies 3 and 4.
The "front" chamber of the casing 2, that is, the
chamber corresponding to the body 3 on which the front
legs 5 and the muzzle 6 of the dog are mounted, contains
the eggs E when the container is assembled. The "rear"
chamber of the casing, however, houses other decorative
elements 9 constituted, for example, by adhesive labels
of plastics material or cloth, the use of which will be
better explained below.
The free edges of both trough-shaped bodies 3, 4 are
circular. the free edge of the body 3 also has a notch
10 which, when the two bodies 3, 4 are joined together
with their free edges mating, defines a slot 12 relative
to the free edge of the body 4 Figure 3). The
position of the notch 10 is selected in dependence on
the position of the shaped parts (the legs S) defining
the support formations of the container so that, when
the container is disposed on a flat surface, the slot 12
faces more or less upwardly.

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Preferably, the separator member 8 has a generally
dished configuration in which it is possible to
distinguish a curved or dished bottom wall and a
cylindrical side wall 13 extending along a circular path
with a diameter slightly less than the diameter of the
circular path along which the free edges of the two
bodies 3 and 4 extend.
On assembly of the container, the separator member 8 is
applied as a cover to the body 4 after the decorative
elements 9 have been inserted in the body.
Subsequently, the closed body 4 is connected to the body
3 in which the small eggs E have been placed. The
connection of the two bodies is generally effected by
snap-engagement of the free edges of the two bodies 3,
4, which have complementary profiles.
The isolation of the front and rear chambers of the
casing from the exterior is made more effective by an
annular band 14 of adhesive material which is wrapped
around the casing 2 to cover the zone of connection
between the two bodies 3, 4. The adhesive band 14
extends as a sealing cover for the notches 10, further
reinforcing the connection between the bodies 3, 4.
The assembled container has the appearance illustrated
in Figure 1.
In order to consume the small eggs E, the user removes
the adhesive band 14, as shown schematically in Figure
2, separating the two bodies 3 and 4. The chamber
containing the eggs E is thus made accessible to allow
the removal of the products contained therein.

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After the consumption of the eggs E, the container l may
be reassembled, the separator member 8 being removed
after the decorative elements 9 in the body 4 have been
taken out.
In the new configuration of assembly, the container l
takes on the overall appearance illustrated in Foggier.
In this condition, coins M, bank notes, and similar
objects to be kept may be introduced into the casing 2
through the slot 12 defined by the notch lo
lo Thus, in this second disposition of use, the container 1
serves as a money box.
The elements 9 taken from the body 4 may be stuck onto
one of the bodies 3, 4 in order to decorate the
container further.
In the embodiment illustrated, the decorative elements 9
may be applied to the container 2 so as to simulate the
patches of the animal represented by the container l.