Container for food products

Abstract

A container comprises a cup and a sleeve. The cup comprises a base, a peripheral wall and a cup opening opposite the base. The sleeve comprises a base, a peripheral wall and a detached sleeve opening. The sleeve is connected around an outside of the cup, and is able to at least partially detach from the cup. The sleeve opening is dimensioned to fit inside the cup opening to engage an interior of the cup and define an interior volume between the cup and the sleeve. The engagement can be a partial or complete sealing engagement

1 . A container comprising:
 a cup comprising a base, a peripheral wall, and a cup opening opposite the base;   a sleeve connected around an outside of the cup and configured to at least partially detach from the cup, the sleeve comprising a base, a peripheral wall, and a detached sleeve opening opposite the base when the sleeve is not connected to the cup,   wherein the sleeve opening is dimensioned to fit inside the cup opening to engage an interior of the cup and define an interior volume between the cup and the sleeve.   
     
     
         2 . The container of  claim 1 , wherein the sleeve further comprises one or more openings on the peripheral wall. 
     
     
         3 . The container of  claim 2 , wherein the one or more openings are located on the sleeve at a position such to fit within the peripheral wall of the cup when the sleeve opening is positioned inside the cup opening. 
     
     
         4 . The container of  claim 2 , wherein the one or more openings span between 10% and 50% of the circumference of the sleeve. 
     
     
         5 . The container of  claim 1 , where the cup comprises a rim extending around the cup opening. 
     
     
         6 . The container of  claim 1 , wherein the sleeve detaches from the cup through a circumferential perforated connection or a tear-away strip. 
     
     
         7 . The container of  claim 6 , wherein the perforated connection and/or the tear-away strip is located a distance from a top of the peripheral wall. 
     
     
         8 . The container of  claim 1 , wherein the cup and/or the sleeve is/are conical between the openings, and the bases, respectively, such that the openings are wider than the bases. 
     
     
         9 . The container of  claim 1 , wherein the cup is a thermoformed plastic. 
     
     
         10 . The container of  claim 1 , wherein the sleeve comprises paper material. 
     
     
         11 . A method of using the container of  claim 1 , the method comprising:
 detaching the sleeve from the cup; and   placing the sleeve opening inside the cup opening to form an interior volume between the cup and the sleeve.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , where in the sleeve comprises one or more openings on the peripheral wall, and the method further comprises
 tilting the sleeve such that any liquid in the interior volume can drain out of the one or more openings in the sleeve.   
     
     
         13 . A method of forming a container, the method comprising:
 providing a cup comprising a base, a peripheral wall, and a cup opening opposite the base;   providing a sleeve comprising a base and a peripheral wall; and   connecting the sleeve around the cup such that the sleeve can at least partially detach from the cup at a detached sleeve opening;   wherein the detached sleeve opening is dimensioned to fit inside the cup opening to sealingly engage an interior of the cup and define an interior volume between the cup and the sleeve.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , further comprising forming one or more openings in the peripheral wall of the sleeve. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the step of connecting the sleeve around the cup such that the sleeve can at least partially detach from the cup at a detached sleeve opening comprises:
 forming a circumferential perforation line and/or a circumferential tear-away strip in the peripheral wall of the sleeve; and   connecting an inside of the peripheral wall above the perforation line and/or a circumferential tear-away strip to an outside of the cup peripheral wall.   
     
     
         16 . The container of  claim 2 , wherein the one or more openings are located at or near the sleeve opening. 
     
     
         17 . The container of  claim 10 , wherein the paper material is coated with plastic. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising tilting the sleeve such that the one or more openings are covered by the cup peripheral wall. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein connecting an inside of the peripheral wall above the perforation line and/or a circumferential tear-away strip to an outside of the cup peripheral wall comprises using an adhesive.