Individual portion food delivery system, container and method

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.

1 . 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.    
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising continuing steps (c) and (d) until the salad containers are filled.  
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the salad containers are about  21  ounces in volume.  
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2  wherein the tray has a quantity of excess salad remaining thereon after the salad containers are filled and at least a portion of the excess salad is moved to an opening-free perimeter area of the tray spaced from the openings.  
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4  wherein the opening free area is located along a perimeter of the tray.  
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the salad is moved by spreading the salad along the surface of the tray.  
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the salad is moved by a spatula implement handled by a human operator.  
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising closing the container after a desired quantity of salad has been placed into the container.  
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8  wherein the container is closed by securing a lid over the open end of the salad container.  
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9  further comprising providing an enclosed salad-free volume above the quantity of salad contained in the closed container by securing a dome-shaped lid over the open end of the container, the salad-free volume being at least about 10% of the total salad container volume.  
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10  wherein the salad container is substantially filled prior to securing said lid over the open end of the salad container.  
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 10  wherein the salad-free volume is at least about 20% of the total volume of the salad container.  
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising closing the container to provide a substantially liquid leak-proof container after a desired quantity of salad has been placed into the container.  
     
     
         14 . 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.    
     
     
         15 . The apparatus of  claim 14  wherein the tray has an opening-free area of sufficient size to permit salad to be stored thereon at a distance removed from any of the openings so that a quantity of salad sufficient to substantially fill each of the containers can be placed in that area.  
     
     
         16 . The apparatus of  claim 15  wherein the opening-free area is located along a perimeter portion of the tray and spaced from the tray openings.  
     
     
         17 . The apparatus of  claim 14  wherein the tray is flat and includes generally upstanding perimeter walls.  
     
     
         18 . The apparatus of  claim 14  further comprising means for maintaining the tray in a fixed position relative to said rack.  
     
     
         19 . 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.    
     
     
         20 . The salad of  claim 19  wherein the salad substantially fills the container.  
     
     
         21 . The packaged salad of  claim 19  wherein the lid is dome-shaped.  
     
     
         22 . The packaged salad of  claim 19  wherein the container is cup-like.  
     
     
         23 . The packaged salad of  claim 21  wherein the dome is of a spherical shape.  
     
     
         24 . The packaged salad of  claim 19  wherein the salad is an individual portion size.  
     
     
         25 . The packaged salad of  claim 23  wherein the volume enclosed by the lid above the top edge of the container is at least about 20% of the volume of the container.  
     
     
         26 . The packaged salad of  claim 19  wherein the container is of a generally cylindrical shape.  
     
     
         27 . The packaged salad of  claim 26  wherein the container has a volume of about 21 ounces.  
     
     
         28 . The packaged salad of  claim 27  wherein the container has a slightly diverging cylindrical wall extending from the bottom to the top of the container and the bottom outer diameter of the container is about 2.3 inches and the top outer diameter of the container is about 3.8 inches and a height of about 5.7 inches.  
     
     
         29 . The combination of the packaged salad of  claim 28  and a long-handled fork for consuming the salad contained in the container, the fork having a handle longer than the height of the container.  
     
     
         30 . 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.    
     
     
         31 . 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.    
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 31  further comprising continuing steps (c) and (d) until the food containers are filled.  
     
     
         33 . The method of  claim 32  wherein the tray has a quantity of excess food remaining thereon after the food containers are filled and at least a portion of the excess food is moved to an opening-free perimeter area of the tray spaced from the openings.  
     
     
         34 . The method of  claim 33  wherein the opening free area is located along a perimeter of the tray.  
     
     
         35 . The method of  claim 31  wherein the food is moved by a spatula implement handled by a human operator.  
     
     
         36 . The method of  claim 31  further comprising closing the container after a desired quantity of food has been placed into the container.  
     
     
         37 . The method of  claim 36  wherein the container is closed by securing a lid over the open end of the food container.  
     
     
         38 . The method of  claim 37  further comprising providing an enclosed food-free volume above the quantity of food contained in the closed container by securing a dome-shaped lid over the open end of the container, the food-free volume being at least about 10% of the total food container volume.  
     
     
         39 . The method of  claim 38  wherein the food container is substantially filled prior to securing said lid over the open end of the salad container.  
     
     
         40 . The method of  claim 38  wherein the food-free volume is at least about 20% of the total volume of the salad container.  
     
     
         41 . The method of  claim 31  further comprising closing the container to provide a substantially liquid leak-proof container after a desired quantity of food has been placed into the container.  
     
     
         42 . 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.    
     
     
         43 . The food portion of  claim 42  wherein the food substantially fills the container.  
     
     
         44 . The packaged food of  claim 42  wherein the lid is dome-shaped.  
     
     
         45 . The packaged food of  claim 44  wherein the dome is of a spherical shape.  
     
     
         46 . The packaged food of  claim 45  wherein the volume enclosed by the lid above the top edge of the container is at least about 20% of the volume of the container.  
     
     
         47 . The packaged food of  claim 42  wherein the container is of a generally cylindrical shape.  
     
     
         48 . The packaged food of  claim 47  wherein the container has a volume of about 21 ounces.  
     
     
         49 . The packaged food of  claim 48  wherein the container has a slightly diverging cylindrical wall extending from the bottom to the top of the container and the bottom outer diameter of the container is about 2.3 inches and the top outer diameter of the container is about 3.8 inches and a height of about 5.7 inches.  
     
     
         50 . The combination of the packaged food of  claim 49  and a long-handled eating utensil for consuming the food contained in the container, the utensil having a handle longer than the height of the container.  
     
     
         51 . 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.