Patent Application
20250146321
The present invention relates generally to a table tent. More specifically, the present invention is a device that protects food from weather, bugs and animals in the surrounding environment.
Protecting food from insects when dining outdoors is essential for both food safety and a pleasant experience. To achieve this, consider employing several effective strategies. Invest in food covers or mesh nets designed to shield dishes and platters, creating a physical barrier that keeps bugs at bay while allowing easy access to the food. Store food in airtight containers or resealable bags before taking it outside, preventing insects from detecting and reaching the scent of food. Additionally, you can set up portable fans to create airflow around your dining area, making it challenging for flies and mosquitoes to fly against the wind. Choosing an outdoor location away from stagnant water, garbage cans, and standing water can also deter insects. Moreover, serve food in individual portions to minimize exposure, maintain proper food temperatures (cold or hot), and clean up promptly after the meal. Using citronella candles, and bug repellents, and educating your guests about best practices further contributes to a bug-free outdoor dining experience, ensuring that your food remains safe and enjoyable for all.
Therefore, it is an objective of the present invention to provide a table tent that helps eliminate bugs from touching food while allowing air to still pass through.
The present invention discloses a table tent. It includes a frame and a canopy. The frame is configured to support the canopy. The frame comprises at least one horizontal rod and a plurality of legs. The at least one horizontal rod is a telescopic rod. The canopy comprises at least one oblique panel and a plurality of end panels.
In one embodiment, the frame further comprising a connector, the at least one horizontal rod extending horizontally from the connector, and the plurality of legs extending downward from the connector.
In one embodiment, the at least one horizontal rod has a circular cross-section.
In one embodiment, the plurality of legs each comprises an accessory mounting hole.
In one embodiment, the plurality of end panels is made of a mesh material.
In one embodiment, the At least one oblique panel is made of a transparent flexible material.
In one embodiment, the canopy further comprises a plurality of leg pockets configured to receive the plurality of legs.
In one embodiment, the canopy further comprises at least one portal opening on the at least one oblique panel.
In one embodiment, the canopy further comprises at least one utility pocket on the at least one oblique panel.
In one embodiment, the canopy further comprises a drawstring at a bottom perimeter of the canopy.
The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the invention are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate an embodiment of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the invention. They are meant to be exemplary illustrations provided to enable persons skilled in the art to practice the disclosure and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. That is, the dimensions of the components of the present invention, independently and in relation to each other can be different. It should be noted that the drawings are schematic and not necessarily drawn to scale. Some drawings are enlarged or reduced to improve drawing legibility.
As a preliminary matter, it will readily be understood by one having ordinary skill in the relevant art that the present disclosure has broad utility and application. As should be understood, any embodiment may incorporate only one or a plurality of the above-disclosed aspects of the disclosure and may further incorporate only one or a plurality of the above-disclosed features. Furthermore, any embodiment discussed and identified as being “preferred” is considered to be part of a best mode contemplated for carrying out the embodiments of the present disclosure. Other embodiments also may be discussed for additional illustrative purposes in providing a full and enabling disclosure. Moreover, many embodiments, such as adaptations, variations, modifications, and equivalent arrangements, will be implicitly disclosed by the embodiments described herein and fall within the scope of the present disclosure.
Accordingly, while embodiments are described herein in detail in relation to one or more embodiments, it is to be understood that this disclosure is illustrative and exemplary of the present disclosure and is made merely for the purposes of providing a full and enabling disclosure. The detailed disclosure herein of one or more embodiments is not intended, nor is to be construed, to limit the scope of patent protection afforded in any claim of a patent issuing here from, which scope is to be defined by the claims and the equivalents thereof. It is not intended that the scope of patent protection be defined by reading into any claim a limitation found herein that does not explicitly appear in the claim itself. Accordingly, it is intended that the scope of patent protection is to be defined by the issued claim(s) rather than the description set forth herein.
Additionally, it is important to note that each term used herein refers to that which an ordinary artisan would understand such term to mean based on the contextual use of such term herein. When not explicitly defined herein, to the extent that the meaning of a term used herein—as understood by the ordinary artisan based on the contextual use of such term—differs in any way from any particular dictionary definition of such term, it is intended that the meaning of the term as understood by the ordinary artisan should prevail.
Furthermore, it is important to note that, as used herein, “a” and “an” each generally denotes “at least one,” but does not exclude a plurality unless the contextual use dictates otherwise. When used herein to join a list of items, “or” denotes “at least one of the items,” but does not exclude a plurality of items of the list. Finally, when used herein to join a list of items, “and” denotes “all of the items of the list.”
The following detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers are used in the drawings and the following description to refer to the same or similar elements. While many embodiments of the disclosure may be described, modifications, adaptations, and other implementations are possible. For example, substitutions, additions, or modifications may be made to the elements illustrated in the drawings, and the methods described herein may be modified by substituting, reordering, or adding stages to the disclosed methods.
Accordingly, the following detailed description does not limit the disclosure. Instead, the proper scope of the disclosure is defined by the appended claims. The present disclosure contains headers. It should be understood that these headers are used as references and are not to be construed as limiting upon the subject matter disclosed under the header.
Other technical advantages may become readily apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art after review of the following figures and description. It should be understood at the outset that, although exemplary embodiments are illustrated in the figures and described below, the principles of the present disclosure may be implemented using any number of techniques, whether currently known or not. The present disclosure should in no way be limited to the exemplary implementations and techniques illustrated in the drawings and described below.
Unless otherwise indicated, the drawings are intended to be read together with the specification and are to be considered a portion of the entire written description of this invention. As used in the following description, the terms “horizontal”, “vertical”, “left”, “right”, “up”, “down” and the like, as well as adjectival and adverbial derivatives thereof (e.g., “horizontally”, “rightwardly”, “upwardly”, “radially”, etc.), simply refer to the orientation of the illustrated structure as the particular drawing figure faces the reader. Similarly, the terms “inwardly,” “outwardly” and “radially” generally refer to the orientation of a surface relative to its axis of elongation, or axis of rotation, as appropriate. As used herein, the term “proximate” refers to positions that are situated close/near in relationship to a structure. As used in the following description, the term “distal” refers to positions that are situated away from positions.
The present disclosure includes many aspects and features. Moreover, while many aspects and features relate to, and are described in the context of table tents, embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to use only in this context.
The present invention is a tent device that prevents bugs, animals and debris from touching and damaging food placed on a table. It is an aim of the present invention to provide users with a device that encompasses the top surface of a table while allowing air and convenient access for users. It is another aim of the present invention to provide a provide a table tent that adjusts to accommodate tables of various lengths.
Referring now to the figures of the present disclosure. The cleaning apparatus of the present invention comprises a frame 100 and a canopy 200.
The frame 100 is configured to support the canopy. The frame 100 provides structural support allowing the present invention to be set up along the top surface of a table. It should be noted that the frame 100 can be of any shape, size, material, features, type or kind, orientation, location, quantity, components, and arrangements of components that would allow the present invention to fulfill the objectives and intents of the present invention. Preferably, the frame 100 is made of a lightweight sturdy material such as metal or plastic. In one embodiment, the frame 100 comprises at least one horizontal rod 110 and a plurality of legs 120. The at least one horizontal rod 110 is a telescopic rod so that the length of the table tent may be adjusted as needed. Preferably, the at least one horizontal rod 110 has a circular cross-section.
In one embodiment, the plurality of legs 120 is positioned at the terminal ends of the horizontal rod 110. However, the plurality of legs 120 may also be located at other positions along the horizontal rod 110 as long as the structural integrity of the frame is maintained. The plurality of legs 120 extends downward away from the horizontal rod 110 to create a triangular profile of the frame 100. It should be noted that in embodiments where the at least one horizontal rod 110 comprises more than one rod, the profile of the frame 10 may be created in other shapes including but not limited to trapezoids or other regular or irregular polygons. The plurality of legs 120 may be constructed of any suitable rigid material, including, for example, wood, metal, plastic, etc. The plurality of legs 120 may be solid or hollow. The cross-section of each leg is not limited and may be, for example, substantially circular, substantially polygonal, etc. The plurality of legs 120 may be configured as having a fixed height or may be configured with an adjustable height. For example, a leg may be configured with a screw collet or with a spring button which engages perforations in an outer leg segment. This will permit a leg comprised of two or more telescoping segments to vary in height such that the user may selectively vary the leg's height.
In one embodiment, the frame 100 further comprising a connector 130. The at least one horizontal rod 110 extends horizontally from the connector 130, and the plurality of legs 120 extends downward from the connector 130, as shown in
The canopy 200 is positioned along the frame 100 to prevent bugs and debris from entering the present invention. It should be noted that the canopy 200 can be of any shape, size, material, features, type or kind, orientation, location, quantity, components, and arrangements of components that would allow the present invention to fulfill the objectives and intents of the present invention. In one embodiment, the canopy 200 comprises at least one oblique panel 210 and a plurality of end panels 220. The canopy 200 is expandable in length for example by attaching more oblique panels together via hook and loop fastener or other fastening mechanism.
Preferably, the plurality of end panels 220 is made of a mesh material to ventilate the interior space of the present invention. The end panels 220 may be opened and closed via a zipper or any other suitable mechanism. The at least one oblique panel 210 may be transparent, translucent or opaque. However, in a preferred embodiment, the at least one oblique panel 210 is made of a transparent flexible material so as to allow a user to see through the canopy 200 to identify objects within the table tent. In one embodiment, the present invention further comprises a venting section on the top of the canopy, which allows heat to rise and escape the present invention.
In one embodiment, the canopy further comprises a plurality of leg pockets configured to receive the plurality of legs so as to secure the canopy 200 to the frame 100. The canopy 200 further comprises at least one portal opening 212 on the at least one oblique panel 210. The at least one portal opening 212 is configured to open to allow food to be loaded and unloaded to the table. In one embodiment, the at least one portal opening 212 is a fabric flap with an arch shape that opens and closes as the user places their hand within the present invention. The at least one portal opening 212 may comprise a plurality of magnets along the bottom edges to easily close the least one portal opening 212 after the portal opening has been opened to access the food within the present invention. In one embodiment, the canopy 200 further comprises at least one utility pocket 214 on the at least one oblique panel. The at least one utility pocket 214 is a storage pocket that allows users to store utility tools. In one embodiment, the canopy 200 further comprises a drawstring 240 at a bottom perimeter of the canopy. The drawstring 240 is provided with a tightening mechanism. This design allows the canopy to tighten and close around a table surface.
In a preferred embodiment, the plurality of legs each comprises an accessory mounting hole 122. The accessory mounting hole 122 allows accessories, such as a rain fly, to be installed on the present invention. Correspondingly, the canopy 200 may further comprise a plurality of accessory holes 216 that allows the installation of the accessories.
It is envisioned that the sizes of the components forming the present invention such as the frame 100 and/or the canopy 200 can vary based on design requirements.
Although the disclosure has been explained in relation to its preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that many other possible modifications and variations can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63596177 | Nov 2023 | US |
