Patent Application
20210196062
Food and drink are commonly served at social gatherings where guests eat and drink while standing or moving around and are not seated at a table. Conventional tableware in such settings is problematic because it is difficult to hold a beverage, plate, and napkin and still have a free hand to shake hands, hold a fork, or receive a business card.
Numerous attempts have been made to redesign tableware to allow the beverage container, plate and napkin to be held conveniently in one hand and provide the user a free hand, but these attempts are clumsy or impractical and thus have not achieved widespread use. There are combination cup-plate assemblies designed specifically to hold stemware-style beverage containers directly onto a plate, others focus on securing canned or bottled beverages to the plate, still others try to accommodate many different styles of beverage container with a multipurpose beverage container holder combined with a plate. Many of the combination cup-plate assemblies use the beverage container itself as a hand grip, with the added inconvenience of requiring two hands to access the beverage. Beverage container add-on solutions are largely comprised of holder attachments to plates that can detach or be lost and must be removed to allow the stored beverage container and plate components to be efficiently stacked and carried. Many cannot be stacked or stored efficiently due to various hand grip and other components designed to make the assembly easier to use, and thus in solving one problem ultimately create a new problem of inefficient storage, cleaning, and the like.
What is needed is an integrated and convenient beverage container support and plate assembly that allows one-handed control over a beverage container and a plate of food, modular selection of an appropriately suitable beverage container support depending on the type of beverage container, and an assembly designed to maximize efficient stacking and storage of all components. There is an additional need for more convenient tableware in both disposable and reusable materials, to suit a variety of social gatherings and circumstances.
A combination beverage container support and plate assembly is presented. The assembly comprises a plate member having a food receiving surface and a plate rim having an innermost edge and an outermost lip. The outermost lip defines a perimeter of the plate member. A beverage support member has a beverage rim with an outermost beverage lip defining a perimeter of the beverage support member and an annular depression formed with an opening. The beverage rim held in spaced apart relationship with the annular depression. A concave surface is substantially concentric to and extends from the annular depression to the beverage rim. The concave surfaced is sized and shaped to receive a bowl of a stemmed beverage container or a base of a non-stemmed beverage container. A mating mechanism has a first mating element and a second mating element. The first mating element is formed into the plate member at its respective mating area and the second mating element is formed into the beverage support member at its respective mating area. Mating the first and second mating elements removably joins the plate member to the beverage support member.
In some embodiments, the combination beverage container support and plate assembly further comprises a base adjoining a lowermost edge of the annular depression and an opening formed into the base. A slot extends from the outermost lip to the opening formed in the annular depression. The slot is sized to receive a stem of the stemmed beverage container and the slot is shaped such that the stem of the stemmed beverage container inserted into the slot travels at least one of a straight path and a curved path to the opening in the annular depression.
In some embodiments, the first mating element is comprised of a pair of parallel, spaced apart walls. Each wall is formed with a mating groove. The pair of walls extends away from the food well of the plate member. The second mating element is comprised of a pair of spaced apart prongs extending outwards from the concave surface of the beverage support container. Each prong has a protrusion sized and shaped to frictionally and slideably mate with the mating groove of the first mating element. Pushing the first and second mating elements together mates the pair of prongs to the pair of the walls by the protrusions mating with the mating grooves. Pulling the first and second mating elements apart slideably disconnects the protrusions from the mating groves.
In some embodiments, the innermost edge of the plate member at its respective mating area and the outermost lip of the beverage support member at its respective mating area are coplanar when the first and second mating elements are mated. In some embodiments, the plate rim and the beverage rim are coplanar. In some embodiments, the second mating element is positioned opposite the slot. In some embodiments, A flange is formed at the respective mating area of the plate member and a receiver is formed into the respective mating area of the beverage support member, whereby mating the plate assembly with the beverage support member mates the flange with said receiver. In some embodiments, the perimeter of the beverage container support and the plate assembly formed by mating the first mating element with the second mating element approximates a rounded square shape or a regular polygon.
In some embodiments, the first mating element is a clip receiver formed as a flange having a pair of opposed ends in the respective mating area of the plate member. The second mating element is a clip protruding from the respective mating area of the beverage support member. The clip further comprises an upper clip element and a lower clip element wherein the upper clip element and the lower clip element are opposed so as to provide pressure to grasp the clip receiver by frictional force and mating the clip to the clip receiver frictionally sandwiches the clip receiver between the upper clip element and the lower clip element. In some variations, the respective mating area of the plate member is further formed with a notch sized and shaped to receive the upper clip element such that when the clip is mated with the clip receiver, immediately adjacent lips of the beverage support member and the plate member are coplanar. In some variations, at least one of the beverage rim and the beverage lip is positioned above a plane of at least one of the plate rim and the plate lip when the clip is mated with the clip receiver. In some variations, the beverage support member is further comprised of a stop formed below the beverage rim, whereby mating the beverage support member to the plate member positions the stop immediately adjacent the opposed ends of the clip receiver.
Those skilled in the art will realize that this invention is capable of embodiments that are different from those shown and that details of the apparatus and methods can be changed in various manners without departing from the scope of this invention. Accordingly, the drawings and descriptions are to be regarded as including such equivalent embodiments as do not depart from the spirit and scope of this invention.
For a more complete understanding and appreciation of this invention, and its many advantages, reference will be made to the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
Referring to the drawings, some of the reference numerals are used to designate the same or corresponding parts through several of the embodiments and figures shown and described. Corresponding parts are denoted in different embodiments with the addition of lowercase letters. Variations of corresponding parts in form or function that are depicted in the figures are described. It will be understood that variations in the embodiments can generally be interchanged without deviating from the invention.
An integrated detachable beverage container support and plate assembly 10 or assembly 10 is shown in
The plate member 12 has a food containing portion or a food well 18 defined by a continuous side wall 20 having a lowermost edge joining a plate base 22 and having an uppermost edge attached to a rim 24 of the plate member 12 or plate rim 24, the plate rim 24 extending outwardly away from the uppermost edge of the side wall 20, terminating in an outermost edge defining a plate lip 26. The food well 18 comprises approximately three quarters of a volume of the rounded square, with the beverage support member 14 comprising a quarter of the rounded square when mated with the plate member 12. In the figures, the beverage support member 14 is typically formed so as to be one of the rounded corners so as to maximize a food holding capacity of the food well 18.
The beverage support member 14 is comprised of a beverage-supporting concave annular depression 28. At an uppermost edge of the annular depression 28, a rim of the beverage support member 14 or beverage rim 30 projects outwardly from the annular depression 28 with a beverage lip 32 defining an outermost perimeter of the beverage rim 30 and the beverage support member 14. The annular depression 28 may be formed with a surface onto which a flat-bottomed beverage container may be placed (not shown), however for a stemmed glass, the annular depression 28 is further formed with an opening 34 in lieu of the beverage base, along with a slot 36 cut through the beverage lip 32, beverage rim 30, and the annular depression 28 to the opening 34. The slot 36 is sized and shaped to receive a stem of the stemmed glass (not shown), and may be shaped as a simple channel with straight parallel walls, or formed with one or more curved walls as shown in the perspective view of
The mating mechanism 16 is shown in
The plate member 12, is additionally formed with a pair of flanges 50 below the plate rim 24, each flange 50 of the pair of flanges 50 positioned on either side of the prong receiving walls 46. The flanges 50 extend outwardly such that when the beverage support member 14 is mated to the plate member 12, the flanges 50 rest below and support the beverage rim 30 of the mated beverage support member 14. When mated, the plate rim 24 and the beverage rim 30 are typically coplanar, resulting in a stackable, storage efficient profile. Offsetting the plate rim 24 with the beverage rim 30 when the plate member 12 and beverage support member 14 are mated is another suitable positioning that has no effect on the functionality of the assembly 10. In certain circumstances, offsetting the plate rim 24 with the beverage rim 30 may serve as a visual break that further aids the user in placement of food and drink. Ideally, an underside of the annular depression 28 and of the plate base 22 may be coplanar so as to allow the assembly 10 to lie flat upon a table surface, however, the undersides of the annular depression 28 and of the plate base 22 need not be coplanar, such as when the beverage support member 14 is sized and shaped to receive a stemmed glass.
The assembly 10 is suitably made of a variety of disposable or more permanent lightweight but strong materials, including as melamine, plastic, metal and cardboard, and individual components within a single assembly 10 can be comprised of a variety of materials. For instance, the assembly could comprise of cardboard plate and beverage support members but have plastic mating mechanisms, or a melamine plate member could be mated to a cardboard beverage support member. Assemblies 10 made of stainless steel or tin, for instance are very attractive for campers who are often plagued by a lack of clean and flat surfaces upon which to rest tableware, and the modularity of the assembly's plate and beverage support members provides further functionality and convenience.
The assembly 10 shown in the figures can be reconfigured in many useful ways. For instance, the mating mechanism 16 described herein is a pressure-fitted mechanism, relying on frictional forces of the mating parts to hold the plate member 12 and beverage support member 14 together, and the respective mating parts on the beverage support member 14 and the plate member 12 are in fact interchangeable, such that the prongs 38 on the beverage support member 14 could in fact be formed onto the plate member 12, with the beverage support member 14 formed with the prong receiving channel 44, etc. Other pressure-fitted mating mechanisms may be substituted for the ones shown in the figures, or repositioned or reoriented, as desired.
It should also be noted that the beverage support member 14, is described herein as a support for a beverage container but in fact it can also be used to support other things. For instance, the beverage support member 14 can be sized and shaped to serve as a secondary food well for liquids such as soups or dips, and foods with flavors that are optimally separated from food in the food well 18, such as keeping sweet desserts separate from savory food in the food well 18. With the opening 34, the beverage support member 14 can still be used to support a bowl or other small container.
The plate member 12a, is additionally formed with a pair of flanges 50a below the plate rim 24a, each flange 50a of the pair of flanges 50a positioned on either side of the prong receiving walls 46a. The flanges 50a extend outwardly such that when the beverage support member 14a is mated to the plate member 12a, the flanges 50a rest below and support the beverage rim 30a of the mated beverage support member 14a. When mated, the plate rim 24a and the beverage rim 30a are typically coplanar, resulting in a stackable, storage efficient profile. Offsetting the plate rim 24a with the beverage rim 30a when the plate member 12a and beverage support member 14a are mated is another suitable positioning that has no effect on the functionality of the assembly 10a. In certain circumstances, offsetting the plate rim 24a with the beverage rim 30a may serve as a visual break that further aids the user in placement of food and drink. Ideally, an underside of the beverage base 52a and of the plate base 22a may be coplanar so as to allow the assembly 10a to lie flat upon a table surface, however, the undersides of the beverage base 52a and of the plate base 22a need not be coplanar.
The beverage support member 14b is further comprised of at least one stop 66b formed on and extending downwardly from an underside of the beverage rim 30b, as shown most clearly in
In use, the clip-based mating mechanism is engaged by pushing the clip 60b into the clip receiving notch 54b and clip receiving flange 56b to slideably force the upper clip element 62b and lower clip element 64b around the clip receiving notch 54b and clip receiving flange 56b so as to secure the plate member 12b to the beverage support member 14b. To disengaged the mating mechanism 16b, one of the plate member 12b and the beverage support member 14b is held stationary and firmly in a user's first hand, and the other hand grasps the other member and applies force to separate the clip 60b from the plate member 12b. The beverage support member 14b with the clip-based mating mechanism 16b is much more versatile than other embodiments as it doesn't specifically need a plate element 12b to function.
This embodiment of beverage support member 14b is flexible enough to be used with other than the plate support member 12a. The clip 60b could be flexible enough to cover other flat surfaces and could mount the beverage support member 14b to, for example, the edge of a table or other surface with a thin profile (not shown).
In yet another modification of the present assembly (not shown), the plate member is further configured so as to be able to receive a second beverage support member comprising a rounded corner opposed the first beverage support member, so as to allow a single assembly to support a beverage container and a bowl, or two bowls, etc. along with the plate member and creating a sectionalized food well. Such a configuration is especially appealing for meals comprising a dip and different foods to coat with the dip, plus a beverage, again all conveniently supported by a single assembly and with a single hand.
This invention has been described with reference to several preferred embodiments. Many modifications and alterations will occur to others upon reading and understanding the preceding specification. It is intended that the invention be construed as including all such alterations and modifications in so far as they come within the scope of the appended claims or the equivalents of these claims.
