Utensil contiguous with an element of a food package

Abstract

An article of manufacture comprising a planar utensil element fabricated of an elongated foldable material and having a plurality of scores indicating where the planar utensil element is to be folded in order to become a usable utensil. Folding the planar utensil element about the scores produces a handle and a bowl. An element of a food package fabricated of the same material as the planar utensil element, such as a cover, covers at least a portion of the planar utensil element. The cover or other element of the food package provides physical and hygienic protection to the planar utensil element during transportation of the planar utensil element. The planar utensil element is positioned under the cover or other element on a surface of the food package.

1 . An article of manufacture comprising:
 a planar utensil element fabricated of an elongated foldable material and having a plurality of scores indicating where the planar utensil element is to be folded in order to become a usable utensil, wherein folding the planar utensil element about the scores produces a handle and a bowl; and   a covering element fabricated of the same material as the planar utensil element and covering at least a portion of the planar utensil element; wherein   the covering element provides physical and hygienic protection to the planar utensil element during transportation of the planar utensil element; and   the planar utensil element is positioned under the covering element and is contiguous with a surface of a food container.   
     
     
         2 . The article of manufacture of  claim 1  wherein the food container is a cup, bowl, plate, or tray. 
     
     
         3 . The article of manufacture of  claim 1  wherein removing the covering element exposes the planar utensil element. 
     
     
         4 . The article of manufacture of  claim 1  wherein the planar utensil element and the food container are fabricated of the same material. 
     
     
         5 . The article of manufacture of  claim 1  wherein the food container has the shape of a regular or irregular parallelepiped having rectangular faces, and the surface is a lid of the food container. 
     
     
         6 . The article of manufacture of  claim 1  wherein the food container has the shape of a regular or irregular parallelepiped having rectangular faces, and the surface is a flap of the food container or an element of the food container other than a lid. 
     
     
         7 . The article of manufacture of  claim 1  wherein the food container has a generally circular shape on a bottom surface and a generally rectilinear shape on a top surface. 
     
     
         8 . The article of manufacture of  claim 1  wherein the planar utensil element and the food container are manufactured simultaneously. 
     
     
         9 . The article of manufacture of  claim 1  wherein the planar utensil element and the covering element are manufactured simultaneously. 
     
     
         10 . The article of manufacture of  claim 1  wherein the planar utensil element and the food container are manufactured contiguously, and the planar utensil element is detachable from the food container. 
     
     
         11 . The article of manufacture of  claim 10  wherein the planar utensil element is coupled to the food container via a series of perforations configured to facilitate the detachability of the planar utensil element from the food container. 
     
     
         12 . The article of manufacture of  claim 1  wherein the planar utensil element and the covering element are manufactured contiguously, and the planar utensil element is detachable from the covering element. 
     
     
         13 . The article of manufacture of  claim 12  wherein the planar utensil element is coupled to the covering element via a series of perforations configured to facilitate the detachability of the planar utensil element from the covering element. 
     
     
         14 . The article of manufacture of  claim 1  comprising two generally symmetric bowl scores positioned to form the bowl when the planar utensil element is folded about the two bowl scores. 
     
     
         15 . The article of manufacture of  claim 14  wherein the two bowl scores are curved. 
     
     
         16 . The article of manufacture of  claim 15  wherein the two bowl scores are symmetric about a longitudinal midline of the planar utensil element, and form a convex shape with respect to the longitudinal midline. 
     
     
         17 . The article of manufacture of  claim 1  wherein the planar utensil element comprises a generally linear shortening score positioned generally perpendicular to a longitudinal midline of the planar utensil element and traversing the width of the planar utensil element; wherein:
 the planar utensil element is folded generally 180° about the shortening score prior to transportation of the food container, thereby temporarily shortening the length of the planar utensil element. 
 
     
     
         18 . The article of manufacture of  claim 1  wherein the food container has a bottom surface and a top surface, and the top surface has a greater area than the bottom surface. 
     
     
         19 . The article of manufacture of  claim 1  wherein the surface of the food container is an element of the food container.