Dual purpose plate with removable beverage container
A dual purpose plate for use in a wide variety of social and dining environments. The dual purpose plate is provided with an aperture located in the center of the plate. The aperture is adapted to removably receive a beverage container therein, thereby allowing a user to simultaneously hold both the plate and a beverage that is placed within the beverage container, with only using one hand. The plate is constructed with a raised exterior perimeter wall, a raised interior retaining wall, and a plurality of raised interior segmenting walls that connect between the interior and exterior walls and separate articles of food, condiments, or other items located on the surface of the plate. The raised interior and exterior walls retain food or other articles placed on the plate and prevent liquids from spilling into the beverage container.
The present invention relates to the field food and beverage serving devices and more particularly to dual purpose food plates with removable beverage containers.
BACKGROUNDFood and beverages are often served at social and business gatherings such as sporting events, conferences, festivals, barbecues, and the like. Often times there are not enough tables or horizontal surfaces for a person to properly eat from a plate of food while holding a beverage leading to spills and the uncomfortable consumption of the food and beverage.
Numerous attempts have been made in the art to overcome this dilemma. For example; U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2011/0095032 published Apr. 28, 2011 by Evans describes a party plate with an aperture in the center of the plate to receive a beverage container holder. Evans also describes a series of perforations located within the beverage container. One of the disadvantages of the Evans plate is that an aperture in the center of the plate allows food and other items located on the plate to escape through the aperture when the beverage container is not attached. This is an inconvenient feature and makes this particular plate unusable without the required beverage container attached. Additionally, even with the beverage container attached, users may not want liquids such as gravy to run through the perforations in the container and onto their beverages or other items which may be placed within the beverage holder.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,292,028, issued Mar. 8, 1994 to Patterson, describes a plate with a glass holder formed on its bottom, where the plate includes a plate holder adapted to hold a separate disposable plate. A problem with this invention is that the glass holder on the bottom side is not level making it difficult to set down on a flat surface such as a table.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,461,396, issued Jul. 24, 1984 to Harper, discloses a plate having a recess for the lower end of a glass in its upper surface allowing a user to insert their thumb into the recess to hold the plate. A disadvantage of this invention is that a movement or relief of the thumb pressure by the user may allow the glass to become dislodged and spill outside the glass.
Although many attempts have been made in art to overcome the challenge of holding both a food plate and a beverage in one hand, none of the related inventions have overcome all of the drawbacks and disadvantages outlined herein. What is therefore needed in the field is a sturdy, dual purpose food plate capable of being secured as needed to a beverage and article container and allowing a user to place the plate onto a flat surface if available, or, to hold the plate with container in one hand without fear of spills or leakages.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention comprises improved dual purpose plates with removable beverage containers which may be used in a wide variety of social and dining environments. It is an object of the invention to provide a plate with an aperture or opening located within the perimeter of the plate adapted to receive a beverage container thereby allowing a user to hold both a plate and a beverage in one hand. It is further an object of the invention to provide a plate with a raised exterior perimeter wall and a raised interior retaining wall configured to contain food or other articles on the plate and to avoid spills and leakages while being held by a user. It is yet a further object of the invention to provide a plurality of raised interior segmenting walls to allow a user to separate articles of food, condiments, or other items located on the surface of the plate.
Some embodiments of the present invention are illustrated as an example and are not limited by the figures of the accompanying drawings, in which like references may indicate similar elements and in which:
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well as the singular forms, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.
Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one having ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and the present disclosure and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.
In describing the invention, it will be understood that a number of techniques and steps are disclosed. Each of these has individual benefit and each can also be used in conjunction with one or more, or in some cases all, of the other disclosed techniques. Accordingly, for the sake of clarity, this description will refrain from repeating every possible combination of the individual steps in an unnecessary fashion. Nevertheless, the specification and claims should be read with the understanding that such combinations are entirely within the scope of the invention and the claims.
New improved plates with removable beverage containers are discussed herein. In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. It will be evident, however, to one skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details.
The present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the invention, and is not intended to limit the invention to the specific embodiments illustrated by the figures or description below.
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In preferred embodiments, the plate 100 comprises at least one opening or aperture 101 configured to receive a beverage container 200. In the example shown by
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An example of a beverage container 200 is further provided in
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The present invention offers many advantages to other plates known in the art. Perhaps most importantly, the plate 100 and beverage container 200 described herein may be used for dual purposes. For example, in preferred embodiments, the plate 100 is constructed with a substantially flat or planner bottom allowing it to be placed onto a table while the interior retaining wall 102 prevents food or articles from spilling or leaking out of the plate through the aperture 101. By connecting a beverage container 200 to the plate's channel 106 located on its bottom side, a user can hold both the plate 100 and a beverage within the beverage container 200 with a single hand without fear of spills or leakages from the plate 100 into the container 200. Therefore, the invention as described herein may serve dual purposes as both a traditional serving plate and as a single handed plate 100 with beverage container 200. An additional advantage of the plate 100 is the plurality of interior segmenting walls 105. The interior segmenting walls 105 prevent the spread or leakage of food or other articles from one area of the plate 100 into another area. Finally, the plate 100 and beverage container 200 may be made from strong, sturdy materials allowing a user to comfortable hold the plate 100 with a beverage in one hand in a variety of locations such as a conferences, sporting events, or barbecues. In preferred embodiments, the slightly tapered edge of the beverage container 200 allows the container 200 and plate 100 to be placed within a cup holder found on the armrest of many portable lawn chairs offering a secure location for a user to place the plate 100 and enjoy their food and beverages in a variety of locations.
Although the present invention has been illustrated and described herein with reference to preferred embodiments and specific examples thereof, it will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that other embodiments and examples may perform similar functions and/or achieve like results. All such equivalent embodiments and examples are within the spirit and scope of the present invention, are contemplated thereby, and are intended to be covered by the following claims.
Claims
1. A dual purpose plate comprising:
- a generally flat plate member having a top and a bottom surface and a centrally disposed and substantially circular aperture formed therein, said top surface of said plate having a raised interior wall that surrounds said aperture, a raised exterior wall surrounding a perimeter of said plate, and a plurality of raised segmenting walls extending between said raised interior and exterior walls, each of said raised walls and segmenting walls integrally molded into a one piece unit, said raised interior wall defining a channel formed on the bottom of said plate member that peripherally surrounds said aperture;
- a beverage container adapted for removable attachment to said plate, said container having a generally cylindrical shape with one end closed and one end open, said open end aligned with said aperture of said plate when attached thereto, said open end having a layer of material folded over onto itself to define a winged outer rim portion, wherein said winged outer rim portion is adapted for insertion and retention within said channel on said plate member, whereby when said container and plate are attached together, said container presents a grippable surface for simultaneously holding said container and plate member.
2-4. (canceled)
5. The dual purpose plate of claim 1, wherein said winged, outer rim portion of said beverage container removably attaches to said plate member through a tongue-in-groove connection.
6. The dual purpose plate of claim 5, wherein said winged, outer portion of said beverage container has an interior and an exterior surface and said interior surface is provided with at least one attachment member and wherein said channel of said plate is defined by an interior wall provided with a female groove, whereby said at least one attachment member connects within said female groove to form said tongue-in-groove connection.
7. The dual purpose plate of claim 1, wherein said winged, outer rim portion of said beverage container removably attaches to said serving plate through a frictional fit.
8. The dual purpose plate of claim 7, wherein said winged, outer portion of said beverage container has an interior surface and an exterior surface and said channel of said plate member is defined by an interior wall and an exterior wall, said winged outer portion adapted for insertion within said channel, portion circumferentially, whereby when said winged outer portion is inserted within said channel, said winged outer portion circumferentially compresses such that said exterior and interior surfaces frictionally engage respective said exterior and said interior walls of said channel.
9. The dual purpose plate of claim 6, wherein said at least one attachment member of said container is comprised of a single and continuous protuberant male attachment ring.
10. The dual purpose plate of claim 6, wherein said at least one attachment member is comprised of one of the group consisting of two, four, six and eight, protuberant male attachment members that are spaced from each other.
11. The dual purpose plate of claim 9, further including a removable dipping container for holding a variety of condiments and sauces, said dipping container adapted to rest upon said raised interior wall and enclose said aperture of said plate.
12. The dual purpose plate of claim 10, further including a removable dipping container for holding a variety of condiments and sauces, said dipping container adapted to rest upon said raised interior wall and enclose said aperture of said plate.
13. The dual purpose plate of claim 8, further including a removable dipping container for holding a variety of condiments and sauces, said dipping container adapted to rest upon said raised interior wall and enclose said aperture of said plate.
14. A serving plate comprising:
- a generally flat plate member having a top and a bottom surface and a centrally disposed and substantially circular aperture formed therein, said top surface of said plate having a raised interior wall that surrounds said aperture, a raised exterior wall surrounding a perimeter of said plate member, and a plurality of raised segmenting walls extending between said raised interior and exterior walls, each of said raised walls and segmenting walls integrally molded into a one piece unit;
- a removable dipping container for holding a variety of condiments and sauces, said dipping container adapted to attach to and enclose said aperture of said plate member.
15. The serving plate of claim 14, wherein said removable dipping container further includes at least one tab for assisting a user to readily remove said dipping container from said plate member.
16. The serving plate of claim 15, further including a lip formed as part of said raised interior wall of said plate member, said support lip for supporting said removable dipping container.
Type: Application
Filed: Dec 26, 2013
Publication Date: Dec 18, 2014
Inventor: Raymond McClinton (Dolton, IL)
Application Number: 13/998,938
International Classification: A47G 19/02 (20060101);