The present invention relates to devices for the carrying or serving of food and more particularly to sturdy disposable plates having integral handles, making the plate easier to carry and hold.
Disposable plates are usually designed with enough durability to be reused, but they are intended to be used only once and then discarded. Disposable plates are usually inexpensive to manufacture, sold in bulk quantities, and not typically fragile. In contrast, reusable plates are expensive to manufacture, sold in small sets (usually 4 or 8), and can be quite fragile. Because of these features, disposable plates are often utilized at buffets or picnics and the like, and for meals where a large number of people make it undesirable to use nondisposable or reusable plates. Typically, the disposable plates are stacked, one on top of another, for use at such events, so that a person may select a plate and then serve himself.
Disposable plates have a long history of use and have been manufactured from a number of distinct materials. Reusable plates made of materials such as glass or ceramic have different structural concerns than most disposable plates. For example, reusable plates are generally heavier and sturdier than their disposable counterparts, but may be susceptible to chipping or breaking.
Disposable plates evolved from durable or reusable plates made from a variety of materials. Pewter tableware was popular and affordable in the eighteenth century, although other materials were considered more desirable. Decorated glazed porcelain plates were also popular, whereas earthenware was seen as a disfavored material. Solid silverware was out of the price range of most people, however, silver-plated tableware made an affordable alternative. In the nineteenth century, a blue and white pattern was popular on plate designs from stoneware to bone china. Pyrex or borosilicate glass tableware with heat-resistant properties was introduced in the early 1900's. The perception of materials desirable for plates has changed since the beginning of the last century. The materials used in manufacturing and the selling price of a plate tend to help catagorize the plate as disposable or reusable.
Service style is the way that food is presented to guests or the type of service offered to guests. Service styles are as numerous as cultures and nations on earth. The styles of service can range from elegant and lavish to very informal. Disposable tableware has generally been best suited to informal service situations.
Plates and food containers heretofore devised and utilized are known to consist basically of familiar expected and obvious structural configurations. The myriad of plate designs encompassed by the crowded prior art has been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements. The structural concerns of durable and reusable plates are significantly different than those of disposable plates. Some of the most general requirements of disposable tableware are that they are economical, easy to hold and carry, and that the plates deter the spilling of food.
Disposable plates have significant material distinctions. Low-cost tableware of light construction are customarily economically manufactured on a large production basis. Lightweight paper plates are well-suited for dry foods. A pulp paper heavy-duty product creates a better quality of paper plate: it is good for serving hot foods; it is heat and cut resistant; and, it is economical and cost efficient for a large group. Laminated foam dinnerware provides a degree of cut-resistance and is a durable alternative. The lamination keeps food from soaking through the plate while the foam insulates against heat transfer. Non-laminated plates are less expensive yet practical for light menus. Plastic tableware is another alternative available in several designs and levels of quality. Heavy-duty plastic tableware is sold in a wide variety of colors and is both heat and cut resistant.
There are several problems associated with plates today. Issues with durable plates include a relatively high price, a need to clean them after use, and the difficulty in carrying or transporting reusable plates that were not designed for mobility. Even disposable plates have long had structural problems. These problems include a lack of significant rigidity, buckling or sagging from the weight of its contents, food sliding about the plate, food becoming co-mingled with other incompatible food, and the plate being difficult to hold or carry.
In the past, some disposable plates have had a tendency to be less rigid than similar dimensioned traditional reusable plates. The relative lack of structural rigidity is manifested by such plates bending, sagging, or folding between the portions of the plate being held, particularly when the plates are toting a heavy load. The items on the plate may settle into the middle of the plate, making the plate sag or buckle at its center. This exacerbates the problem as the sagging middle of the plate draws food from the perimeter down into the center. Eventually a large share of the weight of the items on the plate is gathered in the small area around its center. Food items being spread out and settled on the outer edges of a plate's food-contact area would enhance a loaded plate's rigidity, but food sometimes gravitates toward the center of the plate and this has a tendency to bow it down, further inducing food to slide to the middle of the plate.
There has always been a need for disposable plates that allow for the segregation of items placed on the plate. On low friction surfaces, such as the food-contact area of a smooth plastic plate, food may slide around the plate while the plate is being carried. Separation helps avoid blurring particular culinary distinctions. Examples include grease mixing with gravy and destroying their individual culinary flavors, or the sauce of baked beans being absorbed to soggy a hamburger bun. There is a need to hold the solid food items in the position that they were placed on the plate. To solve this, those skilled in the art have provided plate dividers to form isolated compartments on the face of the food-contact area of the plate. The dividers could aid in keeping different food elements separate, but could also induce a propensity for the disposable plate to fold along the line of the divider.
Carrying a disposable plate causes yet another inconvenience. Traditionally, a plate's food-contact area and rim form concentric circles of increasing size. The rim of the plate lacks a solid spot to grab and hold onto the entirety. A small circular rim encircling the food area of the plate leaves little room to grasp the plate while it is full. This drawback is especially relevant when one attempts to serve food onto the plate with one hand while holding the plate with the other hand. There is typically no handle or convenient method of holding a flimsy disposable plate, particularly when the plate is loaded with food. Additionally, placing a hand underneath the plate and carrying the plate like a tray or platter has the disadvantage of transferring the heat of potentially hot food to the fingers of those holding the plate in this fashion. Trays, platters, and even some plates, however, do have handles, but these handles tend to be manufactured of the same smooth substance that make up the balance of the plate and may therefore be difficult to hold.
The present invention is provided to solve these and other such problems with prior art devices.
The present invention provides a light, inexpensive, easily carried, easily held, disposable plate or bowl for the carrying and serving of food.
An aspect of the disclosed invention is a bowl or plate having a substantially circular food-contact area for receiving the food items and a raised oval, elliptical, rounded end, or obround plate rim. The substantially circular and oval combination create a stylish and functional blend of features where the rim is narrow along the minor axis of its oval perimeter and wider along the major axis. The wider portions of the rim naturally form handles that are conducive to having two hands holding opposite sides of the oval, elliptical, rounded end, or obround plate rim.
Another embodiment of the invention is a plate having a domed food-contact area. By having a substantially circular food-contact area that is slightly domed, the rigidity of the food holding portions of the plate is enhanced. Structural integrity is increased as the weight of the supported load is spread to the periphery of the substantially circular food-contact area. Individual compartments of a compartmentalized plate can also incorporate this feature on a smaller scale by having compartments whose substantially circular food-contact area is pitched toward the outside periphery.
Another embodiment of the disclosed invention has handles on the rim to grip the plate. These handles can include finger and/or thumb grooves for ease of holding and carrying the plate. The handles and especially their thumb grooves can be dimensionally optimized to balance ease of use with plate rigidity. The finger grooves can be located on the rim or on the underside of the food-contact area, so as to promote the ability to carry the plate and its contents with one hand.
In another embodiment of the invention, the plate has asymmetrical compartments formed by a dividing wall. Dividing walls are preferably “S” shaped to create two or more unequally sized compartments or sections. The dividing wall can be curved to discourage the plate from folding along a straight line of the dividing wall.
Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following specification taken in conjunction with the following drawings.
In order to better describe the features of the present invention, a number of drawing figures are appended hereto in which:
While this invention is susceptible of embodiments in many different forms, there is shown in the drawings and will herein be described in detail a preferred embodiment of the invention with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the principles of the invention and is not intended to limit the broad aspect of the invention to the embodiment illustrated.
Referring generally to the appended
As shown in
Using one production method, a plate 10 having a sharp corner at the intersection of the circular food-contact area 12 and sidewall is formed. Using well-known thermoforming techniques, a radius, also known as a fillet, is imparted at this intersection to form a rounded corner. Some fluctuation has been found to occur such that the circular food-contact area 12 is not always perfectly round. The intent is, nonetheless, to produce a plate 10 having a circular food-contact area 12 and an elliptical rim 16 portion.
The disposable plate 10 is shown having a sidewall 14 whose lower end is integral with the substantially circular food-contact area 12. The sidewall 14 loops around the entire perimeter of the substantially circular food-contact area 12 to keep food or other items from falling off the food-contact area 12. The sidewall 14 is preferably positioned at an angle α slightly greater than perpendicular to the substantially circular food-contact area 12 for ease of placing food on the plate 10 and keeping the food from sliding off the plate 10. The upper end of the sidewall 14 is also attached to the rim 16 of the plate 10. The rim 16 of the plate 10, shown in
As shown in
Referring now to
The sidewall 14 and rim 16 of the plate 10 have a contemplated purpose of maximizing structural strength and rigidity while fulfilling the ergonomic and ornamental intentions for disposable plates. The sidewall 14 height and angle α are preferably varied. The sidewall 14 can be highest near the thumb handles 18 and lowest at the midpoints of the sidewall 14, between the two thumb handles 18. The angle α between the food-contact area 12 and the sidewall 14 can also be dynamic. Preferably, the angle α is about 90 degrees or perpendicular at the midpoints of the sidewall 14. The angle α can increase, toward, but less than 180 degrees, as the sidewall 14 approaches the thumb handles 18. The angle α of the sidewall 14 neighboring the thumb handles 18 preferably decreases again to approximately 90 degrees along the line of the plate's major axis to provide for a strong and comfortable gripping location.
The rim 16 dimensions may also be varied. The rim's skirt, or vertical downturn flange 17, can add rigidity to the plate 10, wherein the rim 16 and the flange 17 cooperate to define an annular cavity 19 below an underside of the rim 16 (see
As shown in
In
Other embodiments of a multi-compartment plate 110 can be fabricated under the same design concept, the food receptacle compartments 112 being separated by a curvy shaped dividing wall 122. The number of compartments can be determined by the amount of separate food items the plate is designed to hold. The curved dividing wall 122 is positioned to strengthen the holding capacity of the food receptacle compartments 112. The addition of the curved dividing wall 122 supports the structure of the plate 110 along its center line or minor axis. Holding a plate that is loaded with heavy items by the two thumb handles 118 at the ends of the major axis naturally puts the most amounts of strain directly on the minor axis, encouraging the plate 110 to fold along the center line. The curved dividing wall 122 increases the plate's tolerance for a heavier load.
Each of the food receptacle compartments 112 divided and partitioned by the curved dividing wall 122 can be separately pitched. The slope of any and every food receptacle compartment 112 can be of a varied and unique angle or direction to drain fluids to the edges of the food receptacle compartment 112. The downward slant can be directed to the outer edge of the plate 110, or for other applications, toward the middle of the plate 110. The pitch of each food receptacle compartments 112 can be steep or gradual, depending again on the desired application.
While the specific embodiment has been illustrated and described, numerous modifications come to mind without significantly departing from the spirit of the invention, and the scope of protection is only limited by the scope of the accompanying claims.
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20040074909 A1 | Apr 2004 | US |