Dual compartment sandwich package and method of packaging a hamburger sandwich

Claim 2

A foam sandwich package having a pair of adjacent complementary food portion holding chambers comprising: a foam base having two integrally formed compart-ments located in substantially planar side-by-side relation-ship along an imaginary longitudinal axis; a foam cover having a pair of integrally formed domes in substantially planar side-by-side relationship for covering said base compartments the cover further having cover reinforcing means for resisting bending about imaginary longitudinal and transverse axes oriented parallel to the respective base axes; one said dome being coextensive with one said com-partment to define a first food portion holding chamber, the other said dome being coextensive with the other said com-partment to define a second food portion holding chamber; base reinforcing and barrier means including a bi-ended rib located between the base compart-ments and having a predetermined upper surface profile ex-tending above the adjacent compartments, the rib extending along an imaginary transverse axis normal to the longitudinal axis and cover reinforcing and barrier means including a transversely extending bi-ended rib located between but spaced apart from the cover domes and having an open lower surface profile adapted to mate with the base transverse rib with surface-to-surface contact, the cover reinforcing and barrier means further in-cluding a plurality of reinforcing struts, each strut ex-tending longitudinally between the cover domes and joining an end of the cover rib to form an H-patterned reinforcement structure between the domes to rigidify the closed package so as to resist package bending along the longitudinal and transverse axes.

Claim 3

A foam sandwich package according to claim 1 where-in said base reinforcing means comprises an outwardly flared skirt integrally formed about the perimeter thereof.

Claim 4

A foam sandwich package according to claim 1 fur-ther including latching means comprising a plurality of slots formed in the perimeter of said base and a plurality of out-wardly projecting tabs on said cover insertable in said slots.

Claim 5

A foam sandwich package according to claim 3, wherein said cover and base are separate, and wherein there are four each of said slots and tabs, an opposed pair of said slots and tabs lying substantially on the transverse axis de-fined by said base rib and cover bridge.

Claim 6

A foam sandwich package according to claim 4 where-in said struts defined finger grippable means on opposite sides of the area for flexing the said opposed pair of tabs into and out of engagement with said opposed pair of slots.

Claim 7

A foam sandwich package according to claim 1 where-in the top wall of each of said domes comprises a plurality of serrations formed on the inner surface thereof to resist sticking thereto of contained food portions.

Claim 8

A foam sandwich package according to claim 1 where-in the bottom wall of one of said compartments comprises an upraised pedestal formed in the central portion thereof.

Claim 9

A foam sandwich package according to claim 1 fur-ther including an outwardly flared rigidifying skirt extending upwardly from the outer ridges of each case compartment.

Claim 10

A foam sandwich package according to claim 1 where-in said base rib upper surface and said cover rib lower sur-face each include curved convolutions adapted to mate with one another to further inhibit the transfer of heat and mois-ture from one compartment to another in the closed foam sand-wich package.

Claim 11

A dual compartment foam package having a pair of adjacent complementary food portion holding chambers for the open-face halves of a sandwich, including a hot meat product and cool trimmings, such as lettuce and tomato and the like, comprising: a foam base having two integrally formed compart-ments in substantially planar side-by-side longitudinal re-lationship for covering said base; one said dome being coextensive with one said com-partment to define a first chamber, the other said dome being coextensive with said other compartment to define a second chamber; cooperating latching means on said base and on said cover for releasably securing together said base and cover in chamber-forming array; insulating means forming an external seal for insulating the hot meat product and cool trimmings from the ambient atmosphere base reinforcing and barrier means including a transversely extending bi-ended rib located be-tween the base compartments and having a pre-determined upper surface profile extending above the adjacent compartments, the ends of the rib being transversely spaced apart from the insulating means to define recesses and cover reinforcing the barrier means including a transversly extending bi-ended rib located between but spaced apart from the cover domes and having an open lower surface profile adapted to mate with the base transverse rib with surface-to-surface contact, the cover end reinforcing barrier means further in-cluding a plurality of reinforcing struts, each strut extend-ing longitudinally between the cover domes and joining an end of the cover rib to form an H-patterned reinforcement struct-ure between the domes to rigidify the closed package so as to resist package bending along the longitudinal and transverse axes.

Claim 12

A dual compartment foam package having a pair of adjacent complementary food portion holding chambers for the open-face halves of a sandwich, including a hot meat product and cool trimmings, such as lettuce and tomato and the like, comprising: a foam base having two integrally formed compart-ments in substantially planar side-by-side longitudinal re-lationship for covering said base; one said dome being coextensive with one said com-partment to define a first chamber, the other said dome being coextensive with said other compartment to define a second chamber; cooperating latching means on said base and on said cover for releasably securing together said base and cover in chamber-forming array; insulating means forming an external seal for insulating the hot meat product and cool trimmings from the ambient atmosphere base reinforcing and barrier means including a transversely extending bi-ended rib located be-tween the base compartments and having a pre-determined upper surface profile extending above the adjacent compartments, the ends of the rib being transversely spaced apart from the insulating means to define recesses and cover reinforcing the barrier means including a transversly extending bi-ended rib located between but spaced apart from the cover domes and having an open lower surface profile adapted to mate with the base transverse rib with surface-to-surface contact, the cover end reinforcing barrier means further in-cluding a plurality of reinforcing struts, each strut extend-ing longitudinally between the cover domes and joining an end of the cover rib to form an H-patterned reinforcement struct-ure between the domes to rigidify the closed package so as to resist package bending along the longitudinal and transverse axes.

Claim 13

A dual compartment package according to claim 10 wherein said latching means comprises a plurality of slots in a perimetral upper edge of said base and a plurality of tabs extending outwardly from a peripheral bottom edge of said cover, said tabs being insertable in said slots.

Claim 14

A dual compartment package according to claim 11 wherein said cover and base are separate, and wherein there are four each of said slots and tabs, one opposed pair of said slots and tabs lying substantially on the central trans-verse axis of said package.

Claim 15

A dual compartment package according to claim 10 wherein said insulating means comprises an outwardly flared skirt integrally formed around the perimeter of the upper edge of said base and a bottom edge of said cover, said bot-tom edge cooperating with said skirt to form said external seal.

Claim 16

A dual compartment package according to claim 10 further including lateral finger grippable surfaces located on said struts adjacent said latching means for flexing the adjacent cover latching means into and out of engagement with said cooperating base latching means.

Claim 17

A dual compartment package according to claim 10 wherein one of said base compartments comprises an upraised pedestal formed in the bottom wall thereof for retaining thereon a bun heel with the hot meat product thereon, the other of said compartments being adapted to retain a bun crown with the cool trimmings thereon.

Claim 18

A dual compartment package according to claim 15 wherein the top wall of each of said domes comprises a plur-ality of serrations formed on the inner surface thereof for resisting sticking thereto of the hot meat and cool trim-mings.

Claim 19

A foam sandwich package comprising a pair of ad-jacent chambers for holding complementary food portions, each chamber comprising a coextensive compartment and dome, a first package portion having two integrally form-ed open-topped compartments in substantially planar side-by-side longitudinal relationship, each of said compartments comprising a bottom wall, an upwardly tapering end wall, and a pair of side walls; a second package portion having a pair of integral-ly formed domes in substantially planar side-by-side longitu-dinal relationship for covering said first package portion, each of said domes comprising a top wall, a downwardly taper-ing end wall, and a pair of side walls, cooperating latching means on said first and on said second package portions of releasably securing together said package portions in chamber-forming array; base reinforcing and barrier means including a transversely extending bi-ended rib located be-tween the base compartments and having a predetermined upper surface profile extending above the adjacent compartments, and cover reinforcing and barrier means including a transversely extending bi-ended rib located between but spaced apart from the cover domes and having an open lower surface profile adpated to mate with the base transverse rib with surface-to-surface contact, the cover and reinforcing barrier means further in-cluding a plurality of reinforcing struts, each strut extend-ing longitudinally between the cover domes and joining an end of the cover rib to form an H-patterned reinforcement struct-ure between the domes to rigidify the closed package so as to resist package bending along the longitudinal and transverse axes. patty, and the other said chamber contains a bun portion and lettuce and tomato thereon. patty, and the other said chamber contains a bun portion and lettuce and tomato thereon.

Claim 20

A foam sandwich package comprising a pair of ad-jacent chambers for holding complementary food portions, each chamber comprising a coextensive compartment and dome, a first package portion having two integrally form-ed open-topped compartments in substantially planar side-by-side longitudinal relationship, each of said compartments comprising a bottom wall, an upwardly tapering end wall, and a pair of side walls; a second package portion having a pair of integral-ly formed domes in substantially planar side-by-side longitu-dinal relationship for covering said first package portion, each of said domes comprising a top wall, a downwardly taper-ing end wall, and a pair of side walls, cooperating latching means on said first and on said second package portions of releasably securing together said package portions in chamber-forming array; base reinforcing and barrier means including a transversely extending bi-ended rib located be-tween the base compartments and having a predetermined upper surface profile extending above the adjacent compartments, and cover reinforcing and barrier means including a transversely extending bi-ended rib located between but spaced apart from the cover domes and having an open lower surface profile adpated to mate with the base transverse rib with surface-to-surface contact, the cover and reinforcing barrier means further in-cluding a plurality of reinforcing struts, each strut extend-ing longitudinally between the cover domes and joining an end of the cover rib to form an H-patterned reinforcement struct-ure between the domes to rigidify the closed package so as to resist package bending along the longitudinal and transverse axes. patty, and the other said chamber contains a bun portion and lettuce and tomato thereon. patty, and the other said chamber contains a bun portion and lettuce and tomato thereon.