Patent Application
20240049896
A multifunctional dishware collection that serves as tableware, cookware, and stackable containers. Specifically, each dish within the collection serves a conventional function on its own, for example, a plate, a bowl, or a saucer, yet each of these dishes is able to pair with other dishes within the collection to serve as different sized lidded-containers or other functions. Additionally, these lidded-containers are able to be stacked upon each in different stacking configurations.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/331,972 filed Apr. 18, 2022, entitled “Multifunctional Stackable Dishware Collection System”, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
This invention conceives a dishware collection designed with enhanced functionality, such that each dish within the collection serves a conventional function on its own, for example, a plate, a bowl, a saucer, et cetera; and all of these dishes are able to pair with other dishes within the collection versatilely to serve as different sized lidded-containers; and additionally, these lidded-containers are able to be stacked upon each in different stacking configurations.
The need to cover food that one has in a dish is commonplace. Whether it be to keep food warm before serving; or to keep food from splattering while heating it up in a microwave or oven; or perhaps, to keep food from drying out or otherwise losing freshness; there are many reasons one might want to cover one's food. Generally speaking, however, most dishes do not come with lids, which means that when a dish need to be covered it is done so in a makeshift manner, e.g., with tinfoil or plastic wrap, or possibly another dish not unintended for this purpose. Often when the food in a dish needs to be covered, it is simply transferred to a lidded-container. However common it might be to have both a set of dishes and a set of lidded-containers, in order to transfer food back and forth between them while preparing, serving, and storing the food, the need for a separate set of dishware and set of lidded-containers could be minimized for more space, efficiency, and less clean-up, with this invention.
The following is a tabulation of some prior art that presently appears relevant and will be addressed below:
Several relevant prior art references address efforts to create stackable, space-saving containers, describing receptacles with covers that can be stacked on top and sometimes alongside of one another, for shipping or storage, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,145,870 (1964) to W. H. Lockwood and U.S. Pat. No. 5,984,130 (1999) to Haye et al. Unfortunately, the base of the receptacle is of little to no value without the cover and vice versa.
The few patents that do consider modes of stacking pieces of dishware, where each piece serves a function on its own and not only as an auxiliary piece to another, generally lack versatility in how they are used with each other. The majority involve stackable cup and saucer arrangements, for instance, U.S. Pat. No. 1,666,389 (1926) to James L. Mander, U.S. Pat. No. 2,210,283 (1940) to R. G. Cowan, and U.S. Pat. No. 2,564,834 (1951) to J. H. Devine et al. It would be a stretch to claim that these were intended to form lidded-containers, since the saucer is generally underneath the cup, but stacking these cup-and-saucer pairings on top of one another, one can see how the saucer might also be used to cover the cup. However, if using the saucer in this way as a cover were intended, there is an obvious issue left unaddressed by this design: if food or liquid are in the covered receptacle, when you take the cover off, the underside of the cover is prone to having food or moisture left on it. Taking the saucer off the cup which it has been covering and resting it on the adjacent counter, this food or moisture would be left on that surface; if, to avoid this happening, one were to flip the saucer over, it would be difficult to lift the inverted dish back up again since it is not designed such that one can easily gain leverage of it when resting in this inverted position.
Similarly, with the few patents that involve stackable dishware containers, the collection is designed with limited enhanced functionality. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 2,298,814 (1942) to Albert M. Weis and U.S. Pat. No. 4,091,953 (1978) to Robert H. C. M. Daenen describe lidded-containers being stackable in one possible configuration without concern for how the pieces might be used on their own or more versatilely with one another, that is to say, in different paired configurations. If someone were to try use the pieces of one of these lidded-container on their own as separate dishes, the lack of functional versatility would become obvious, particularly in regard to the pieces serving as lids, which like the saucer, as described above, has not been designed to address issues related to moisture or food collecting underneath a cover or lid when in use.
A multifunctional dishware collection that serves as tableware, cookware, and stackable containers. While each dish in the collection serves a traditional tableware function on its own (i.e., a plate, a bowl, a saucer, etc.), the different dishes can also be paired together in various ways to create multiple-sized containers and stacking arrangements.
In the preferred embodiment, there are several utility-enhancing features that are consistently employed to maximize the utility of this multifunctional, stackable dishware collection and endow it with advantages.
(A) Every dish has a stand-alone function and is interchangeable with like dishes, which means that no dish is simply auxiliary to another piece. (For instance, the dish referred to as the CEREAL BOWL can be used alone as a bowl or inverted to be used as a lid on top other dishes, such as the SALAD PLATE and the PASTA BOWL. So, the CEREAL BOWL is never just a lid for another piece (i.e., auxiliary to another piece), it has its own stand-alone function, and if one had 6 of these CEREAL BOWLS, each could be used interchangeably as a lid for any SALAD PLATE or PASTA BOWL, again interchangeably).
(B) every dish is designed to stack as a set on its own, in a nesting fashion, one on top of another (e.g., if one were to lift a stack of DINNER PLATES set on top of each other, they would be nested together in such a way that they would not slip or topple off one another).
(C) In every lidded-container configuration, the interior of each dishes faces the interior of the other, thus when the container is ‘unlidded” the lid can be flipped back onto its base, no condensation or possible food residue is left on the resting surface/table/counter. (These containers are intended for a wide variety of purposes in which condensation often forms inside the lid, such as when baking, heating things up in the microwave, keeping things warm before serving, or storing foods in the refrigerator, to name a few).
(D) In the preferred embodiment, any dish serving as a lid, must have a flared, pedestal footing or some sort of protruding exterior ledge adjacent to the footing of the dish, which, when the dish is inverted and being used as a lid, allows the user to grab hold of the dish more easily and gain leverage more securely when lifting or setting it down on another piece, as one would do when using it as part of a lidded-container. (So, for the 8 dishes in the dishware collection described as the preferred embodiment for the purposes of this patent application (DEEP DISH SERVER, DINNER PLATE, SALAD PLATE, CUP WITH HANDLE, CEREAL BOWL, PASTA BOWL, SIDE DISH and SAUCER), only 4 of them (CEREAL BOWL, PASTA BOWL, SIDE DISH and SAUCER) are designed specifically to be inverted and used as lids, and each of these has a flared, pedestal footing or a protruding exterior ledge near the footing (as in the case of the SIDE DISH) that allows one to gain leverage when inverted.
(E) Finally, whether pairing dishes to form lidded-containers or stacking lidded-containers on top of one another in different stacking configurations, the pieces are designed to rest upon each other stably in a dovetailing fashion, held in place by complementary design features (i.e., not just a balancing act), as will be shown with in our discussion of the preferred embodiment of the dishware collection.
In the preferred embodiment, each of these functional design elements (A-E) listed above is respected to maximize the utility of this multifunctional, stackable dishware system as described below with the preferred embodiment of the dishware collection.
A brief description of the figures and a more detailed description of the invention follows, that will explain how design features are embodied in the 8-dish preferred embodiment of the collection such that different dishes fit together to enhance the utility of a conventional dishware set, allowing one to use the dishes to form multiple-sized containers and stacking arrangements.
A multifunctional dishware collection that serves as tableware, cookware, and stackable containers. While each dish in the collection serves a traditional tableware function on its own (i.e., a plate, a bowl, a saucer, etc.), the different dishes can also be paired together in various ways to create multiple-sized containers and stacking arrangements.
In the preferred embodiment, there are several utility-enhancing features that are consistently employed to maximize the utility of this multifunctional, stackable dishware collection, allowing it both to meet and to exceed the benefits of a convention dishware collection.
(A) Every dish has a stand-alone function and is interchangeable with like dishes, which means that no dish is simply auxiliary to another piece. (For instance, the dish referred to as the CEREAL BOWL can be used alone as a bowl or inverted to be used as a lid on top other dishes, such as the SALAD PLATE and the PASTA BOWL. So, the CEREAL BOWL is never just a lid for another piece (i.e., auxiliary to another piece), it has its own stand-alone function, and if one had 6 of these CEREAL BOWLS, each could be used interchangeably as a lid for any SALAD PLATE or PASTA BOWL, again interchangeably).
(B) Every dish is designed to stack as a set on its own, in a nesting fashion, one on top of another (e.g., if one were to lift a stack of DINNER PLATES set on top of each other, they would be nested together in such a way that they would not slip or topple off one another).
(C) In every lidded-container configuration, the interior of each dishes faces the interior of the other, thus when the container is ‘unlidded” the lid can be flipped back onto its base, no condensation or possible food residue is left on the resting surface/table/counter. (These containers are intended for a wide variety of purposes in which condensation often forms inside the lid, such as when baking, heating things up in the microwave, keeping things warm before serving, or storing foods in the refrigerator, to name a few).
(D) In the preferred embodiment, any dish serving as a lid, must have a flared, pedestal footing or some sort of protruding exterior ledge adjacent to the footing of the dish, which, when the dish is inverted and being used as a lid, allows the user to grab hold of the dish more easily and gain leverage more securely when lifting or setting it down on another piece, as one would do when using it as part of a lidded-container. (So, for the 8 dishes in the dishware collection described as the preferred embodiment for the purposes of this patent application (DEEP DISH SERVER, DINNER PLATE, SALAD PLATE, CUP WITH HANDLE, CEREAL BOWL, PASTA BOWL, SIDE DISH and SAUCER), only 4 of them (CEREAL BOWL, PASTA BOWL, SIDE DISH and SAUCER) are designed specifically to be inverted and used as lids, and each of these has a flared, pedestal footing or a protruding exterior ledge near the footing (as in the case of the SIDE DISH) that allows one to gain leverage when inverted.
(E) Finally, whether pairing dishes to form lidded-containers or stacking lidded-containers on top of one another in different stacking configurations, the pieces are designed to rest upon each other stably in a dovetailing fashion, held in place by complementary design features (i.e., not just a balancing act), as will be shown with in our discussion of the preferred embodiment of the dishware collection.
In the preferred embodiment, each of these functional elements (A-E) listed above is respected to maximize the utility of this multifunctional, stackable dishware system as described below with the preferred embodiment of the dishware collection.
A brief description of the figures and a more detailed description of the invention follows, that will explain how features are embodied in the 8-dish preferred embodiment of the collection such that different dishes fit together to enhance the utility of a conventional dishware set, allowing one to use the dishes to form multiple-sized containers and stacking arrangements.
First, some naming conventions will be helpful for this detailed description: Each dish has an ‘exterior’ surface, which corresponds with the underside of the dish when it is being used alone, resting on a flat surface; and each dish has an ‘interior’ surface, which corresponds with the top, open-faced side of the dish when it is being used alone, resting on a flat surface. Accordingly, features described as ‘interior’, such as an ‘interior raised ledge’ are features that are employed on the interior surface; likewise, denoting an ‘exterior’ feature is meant to locate the feature on the exterior surface of the piece. It is particularly important to make these distinctions because when the dishes are used to form a lidded-container, one of them will be turned upside down, making it easy to start confusing top and bottom as one describes the features that allow for the dishes to fit together to form lidded containers and the stacking arrangements of two or more lidded containers. (For instance, a CEREAL BOWL can be flipped over to serve as a lid, which means the ‘top’ of this lid is also the ‘bottom’ of the dish when used on its own as a CEREAL BOWL).
A lidded-container is comprised of two dishes, one serving as the container's ‘base’, and another placed on top of it, serving as the container's ‘lid’. All lidded-container are formed by fitting together two dishes such that the interior surface of one interfaces with the interior surface of the other. Thus, the way that lidded-containers are formed depends an interior feature of one dish being designed to fit together with a corresponding interior feature on another piece.
All lidded-containers fit together in a similar fashion. There is a raised ledge on the interior surface of the dish serving as the base of the lidded-container. This ‘interior raised ledge’ is formed when interior curvature of the dish breaks outward, leveling off horizontally briefly to form a ledge, before continuing its ascent. This raised interior ledge demarcates the part of the dish that will be covered when the lid is set down. The part above this raised interior ledge will be called the ‘lip’ of the piece, and the uppermost edge (where the interior meets the exterior of the piece) will be referred to as the ‘rim’.
In each lidded-container, the rim of the dish serving as a lid rests upon the interior raised ledge of the dish serving as a base and is held in place by the lip of the base-dish which extend upward and outward beyond the interior raised ledge, forming a kind of backstop against which the rim of the lid-dish settles down onto the ledge. The shape, size, and width of this raised interior ledge mirrors closely the shape, size, and width of the rim. For example, in
Now taking into consideration how two or more lidded-containers are stacked on top of one another, this stacking arrangement depends on the exterior features of one dish being designed to fit together with corresponding exterior features on another piece. Thus, to describe how different lidded-containers stack on top of one another, one must describe how the exterior features of the dish serving as the base on the upper of two stacked lidded-containers rest stably in place on the exterior features of the dish serving as the lid on the lower of two lidded-containers, the footing on the bottom of one piece fitting together in dovetailing fashion with the footing of another piece.
In the preferred embodiment being described here, there are basically 5 different ring footings employed: The alpha-ring footing, the beta-ring footing, the gamma-ring footing, the large-flared pedestal footing, and the medium-flared pedestal footing. The same alpha-ring footing is on the following 4 pieces: the DINNER PLATE (1), DEEP-DISH SERVER (2), SALAD PLATE (4), and SIDE DISH. (5) The same beta-ring footing is on the following 5 pieces: DINNER PLATE (1), DEEP-DISH SERVER (2), PASTA BOWL (3), SALAD PLATE (4), and SIDE DISH. (5) The gamma-ring footing is only on The CUP WITH HANDLE (8); it is very similar to the beta-ring footing, the same diameter but slightly less pronounced. In this preferred embodiment, the large-flared pedestal footing is only on the PASTA BOWL (3). And finally, the same medium-flared pedestal footing is both on the CEREAL BOWL (6) and on the SAUCER. (7)
For the sake of clarity in describing how the pieces fit together, sometime we will distinguish the distal portion of the footing versus the proximal portion of the footing. The side of the footing which is outward-facing will be referred to as the distal portion (or side) of the ringed footing, and an opposing side of the ring that faces the center point of the dish, will be referred to as the proximal portion (or side) of the ring footing.
Now looking again at
These names are not meant to specify in a limiting fashion how these dishes will be used. Of course, the dish referred to as ‘cereal bowl’ for the purposes of this description could be used for eating soup, or holding berries, or beating an egg, et cetera. These names simply suggest different sorts of conventional usage that one might associate with the shape of the dish. Likewise, the scale of these dishes is not being specified here—these dishes could be embodied with a good deal of variance so long as the features are shared and aligned in a manner illustrated by this preferred embodiment which will be described herein.
The different dishes in
Here is the key to the numerical designations used in labeling the figures:
Each of these numerical designation is used in
Although there is only one piece, the PASTA BOWL, with the large-flared pedestal footing, one could introduce others dishes with this same design feature. Once again, it should be noted that there are other embodiments of these dishes that could be created with a similar interfitting geometry. Indeed, even with this preferred embodiment, one could add more pieces that would expand the benefits of the dishware system's enhanced utility so long as the new pieces tied into the rest of the collection with some shared design features. For instance, one could expand the collection by introducing a large platter with a greater diameter than the DINNER PLATE; this platter would also have a raised interior ledge like the other dishes, but with a greater diameter; this platter could have the same alpha- and beta-ring footing as the DINNER PLATE; to cover this new dinner platter, one might create a much wider deep dish server with a rim that aligns with the raised interior ledge of the platter; and finally, this wider deep dish server could the PASTA BOWL's large-flared pedestal footing and recessed beta-ring footing. This would allow these two additional pieces to tie into and expand the enhanced utility of the rest of the dishware collection.
Now looking at
In the preferred embodiment where we consider round, circular dishes, taking
Here is a list (repeating the example from the previous paragraphs for the sake of completeness) of notable examples of proportionally equivalent, shared features of the preferred embodiment which allow for congruent functionality or interchangeability: (a) the two-ringed alpha ring footing (51) and beta ring footing (52) of the SIDE DISH (5), SALAD PLATE (4), DINNER PLATE (1), and DEEP-DISH SERVER (2); (b) the medium-flared-ring pedestal footing of the CEREAL BOWL and the SAUCER (54) of these two dishes fits the smaller beta-ring footing (52), whereas the large-Flared Pedestal Footing of the PASTA BOWL (53) fits the Alpha Ring Footing (51); (c) the interior raised ledge of the SIDE DISH (5) and CEREAL BOWL (41) corresponds with the rim of the SAUCER (36) when it is used as a lid; (d) the interior raised ledge of the PASTA BOWL and SALAD PLATE (44) correspond with the rim of the SIDE DISH and CEREAL BOWL (43) when they are used as lids; and, (e) the interior raised ledge of the DINNER PLATE and DEEP-DISH SERVER (47) correspond with the rim (46) of the PASTA BOWL (3) when it is used as a lid.
Now looking at
As a summary, the preferred embodiment comprises first tableware member having a base portion connected to generally upstanding sidewall portions to define a height of said tableware member, with an interior surface and an external surface, said sidewall portion having a recessed platform creating an interior raised ledge disposed adjacent to said generally upstanding sidewall portions at an intermediate position along said height such that portions of said sidewall portions are positioned above and below said interior raised ledge, thereby placing said interior raised ledge being positioned between said base portion and said lip, said sidewall portion opposite said base portion terminating in a peripherally extending lip.
A second tableware member having a base portion connected to generally upstanding sidewall portions to define a height of said tableware member, with an interior surface and an external surface, said sidewall portion having a recessed platform creating an interior raised ledge disposed adjacent to said generally upstanding sidewall portions at an intermediate position along said height such that portions of said sidewall portions are positioned above and below said interior raised ledge, thereby placing said interior raised ledge being positioned between said base portion and said lip, said sidewall portion opposite said base portion terminating in a peripherally extending lip, said second tableware member lid dish lip terminating in a peripherally extending rim. The first tableware member serving as a base dish for retaining substances and designed to accept a lid dish.
The second tableware member serving as a dish and, when inverted, as a lid dish designed to nest onto said first tableware member base dish to cover the contents of said first tableware member base dish so that the interior surface of the said base dish faces the interior surface of the said lid dish. The second tableware member lid dish having a flared pedestal footing, which, when upright and serving as a dish, is designed to serve as the footing of said dish, and, when inverted and being used as a lid, is designed to serve as a grip in order to remove the lid dish from said first tableware member serving as a base dish.
The interior raised ledge of said first tableware member base dish designed to receive said rim of said second tableware member lid dish such that when said lid dish is placed upon said base dish in order to form a lidded dish, said lid dish lip and rim rest upon said interior raised ledge and is held in place by said sidewall portions extending upward from said interior raised ledge. Said interior raised edge of a base dish comprises a flange serving as a receiving portion for receiving and corresponding to said rim of said lid dish due to said interior raised ledge and said rim having a substantially similar profile. In the preferred embodiment of this dishware collection, the combination tableware arrangements of the base dish and the lid dish to form lidded-containers are the following: dinner plate and pasta bowl; deep-dish server and pasta bowl, pasta bowl and side dish; pasta bowl and cereal bowl; salad plate and side dish; salad plate and cereal bowl; side dish and saucer; cereal bowl and saucer.
The first tableware member base dish having a plurality of ring footings on the bottom and outside portion of said base dish. The ring footing of said base dish designed to nest inside of the flared pedestal footing such that when a base dish rests upon an inverted lid dish, the footed ring of a base dish is circumscribed by the flared pedestal footing of the lid dish, thereby securing the base dish on top of the lid dish. In fact, the preferred embodiment comprises a plurality of types of base dishes and a plurality of types of lid dishes, and several dishes that can serve as both a base dish and a lid dish, wherein the base dishes in this preferred embodiment include dinner plate, deep-dish server, pasta bowl, salad plate, side dish, and cereal bowl and the lid dishes include pasta bowl, side dish, cereal bowl, and saucer. The footings of the base dishes which do not serve as lids (dinner plate, deep-dish server, pasta bowl, and one of the lid dishes which also can serve a base dish, the side dish) are ring footings that comprise a first ring and a second ring, said first ring larger in diameter than said second ring wherein the diameter and configuration of said rings fit within said flared pedestal footings. In the preferred embodiment, the lid dishes are designed specifically to be inverted and used as lids, and each of these has a flared pedestal footing or a protruding exterior ledge near the footing (as in the case of the SIDE DISH) that allows one to gain leverage when inverted to grab hold of lid dish to set it down on or to lift it up off a base dish. Although in the preferred embodiment, the fittings that allow different lidded-containers to stack on one another all involve either a ring footing (either the alpha-ring footing or beta-ring footing) settling into or onto a flared pedestal (either the large-flared pedestal footing or the medium-flared pedestal footing), in another embodiment it would possible to design ring footings (comparable to the alpha-ring footing and beta-ring footing but of different diameters) such that the different-sized ringed footings would dovetail with each other and allow for stable stacking.
In addition to the foregoing, and in another embodiment, a dish has at least one footed ring without any flared footing, but is configured so that the footed ring of that dish is designed to both serve as footing for when that dish is used as a base dish as well as at least one place to grasp and lift that same dish when it is serving as a lid dish in a lidded dish combination. One example of this is the preferred embodiment of the SIDE DISH. Further, one of the ring footing of a base dish is designed to nest adjacent to one of the ring footing of a lid dish such that when a base dish rests upon a lid dish, the footed ring of one of the dishes is circumscribed by the footed ring of the other dish, thereby securing the base dish on top of the lid dish.
In yet another embodiment, at least one of the dishes in the tableware arrangement collection has a side wall portion with a protruding exterior ledge portion circumscribing said external portion of said sidewall portion and disposed generally parallel to said base portion and below said interior raised ledge. A dish may have a plurality of these protruding exterior ledge portions.
In another embodiment, where at least one of said tableware members has ring footing and a protruding exterior ledge portion, when stacking lidded dish member combinations, the combination of the footing ring and exterior ledge portion is designed to contact supportingly and against one of said ring footing of the other said tableware lidded dish combination member such that when a base dish rests upon a lid dish, the footed ring of one of tableware member is bilaterally cradled by both said footed ring and said protruding exterior ledge portion of the other of tableware member, thereby securing the base dish on top of the lid dish. Still further embodiments include dishes that have a plurality of protruding exterior ledge portions.
In still further embodiments, the combination tableware arrangement comprises a plurality of types of lid dishes and a plurality of types of base dishes. In yet another embodiment, the sidewalls of the tableware members can be altered, including in height, width or other shape to form additional dish shapes.
Yet still further embodiments include the ring footing having various shapes, as the rings do not have to be circular or even rounded shape, but can be any non-round, non-circular shape, such as squares, triangles, octagons, or any shape. In another embodiment, the tableware members themselves do not have to be the traditional round dish shape as are shown in the figures, but can also be various shapes, including the entire dish or simply portions or parts of the dish, such as the rim, sidewalls, rings and each part of the alternative embodiment collection.
Although the description above contains many specificities, these should not be construed as limiting the scope of the embodiments but as merely providing illustration of several embodiments. For example, the dishware collection could vary in scale, have additional dishes included, have other shapes other than circular, such rectangular, square, triangular, et cetera. Likewise, these dishes could be fabricated in many types of material. be that ceramic, metal, stone, plastic, wood, glass, et cetera.
In conclusion, the overall scale of this dishware set, the number of dishes within it, and the materials used to make it can vary widely so long as the shared design features amongst the dishes are complimentary and repeated in ways illustrated by this preferred embodiment. When certain design features are shared to scale in common between dishes, have the same-sized interior raised ledge, ring footing, and/or a rim, these shared features will allow for different dishes to pair or stack interchangeably, forming different-sized lidded-containers and stacking arrangements, which adds versatility to the dishware system.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63331972 | Apr 2022 | US |
