Portable food holder for stadium seating
A portable folding tray and carrying case, wherein the folding tray may be supported from the upright back portion of a first seat and the carrying case can form seat cushions for a second seat located behind the first seat. The folding tray includes a back panel hinged to a tray panel so that they can be pivoted between a tray-open configuration in which the tray panel is horizontal so as to be suitable for supporting various articles, including food and drink. In a tray-closed configuration, in which the back and tray portions are pivoted next to each other, the tray is easy to transport between the cushions of the carrying case. The two cushioned panels of the carrying case are pivotally connected to one another and in an open configuration the panels are adapted to be placed on the second seat as a cushion.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to food holders and seats for use in stadiums and, more particularly, to a folding tray, and a combination folding tray and seat cushion that are collapsible and portable.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Often in large performance venues such as theaters, sports arenas, and stadiums, spectators are provided with stadium style seating, which consists of multiple rows of seats fixed in place. It is common for these seats to lack basic amenities such as cup holders for beverages, supported surfaces for holding food, storage areas for personal belongings, or cushioning for the seats. This creates an inconvenience for spectators who wish to watch the featured performance as well as enjoy food, beverages, and a comfortable seat. The lack of amenities causes spectators to juggle their food, beverages, and personal belongings between their hands, lap, and the stadium floor.
A variety of portable trays have been used to help spectators to manage these items. These trays have been of various types, including lap trays and seatback mounted folding trays. In addition, portable seat cushions have be used to provide a more comfortable seating surface.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,466,659 of Carpentier et al. discloses a portable folding tray that is mounted to the back of a seat using a pair of hooks that engage the sides of the seat and a strap system that can be tightened in order to impart an engagement force to the hooks. The tray provides a horizontal flat surface for placing food and beverages on top of it. The tray also features an upright back surface which includes storage pockets. The horizontal flat surface can be pivoted against the back surface so that the tray can be folded into a stowed position.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,597,605 of Gilbert discloses a portable seat cushion with a storage pocket that can be used in conjunction with a portable folding seat. The portable cushion features a seat cushion and a back cushion that are joined together with a fabric hinge. In the open position of the portable seat, the seat cushion is placed horizontally on top of the seat bottom and the back cushion is fixed vertically against the seat back. The storage pocket is attached to the vertical back cushion by a pair of elastic straps so as to form a sleeve which is used to removably fix the seat cushion to the seat by interposing the seatback between the vertical cushion and the storage pocket. The storage pocket resides on the back side of the seat on which the seat cushion is placed.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,480,058 of Hutchins, No. 5,413,035 of Fernandez, and No. 6,290,063 of Vogt et al. show trays with rigid recessed cavities for holding food and/or beverages. Other patents, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,573,288 of Raffensperger, show various other types of combinations of seat cushions and storage devices.
The portable trays of the prior art can be used to hold food and beverages. However, without sufficiently deep recessed cavities for holding food and drink containers, the food and drink containers may tip over and spill their contents. The prior art trays with rigged recessed cavities are either too shallow to adequately secure food and beverages, or are so deep and rigid as to hinder compact storage of the tray. Further, these trays are not featured in combination with a seat cushion.
The combination seat cushion and storage devices of the prior art can be used to provide cushioning to seats and storage for personal items. However, these combination seat cushions and storage devices do not provide a folding tray'that can be removably attached to the back of a seat located conveniently in front of the seat on which the cushion is placed.
Thus, it would be desirable to have a portable folding tray with a flexible, collapsible recessed cavity extending from a tray and which can adequately hold food and beverages without impairing the ability of the tray to be compactly folded for storage. It would further be desirable to provide a combination folding tray and carrying case where the case can also function as a seat cushion.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention is directed to a device that permits the storage of food and beverages by providing a portable folding tray that can be removably attached to the back of a seat and can be featured in combination with a carrying case that can also function as a seat cushion.
In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, a folding tray is removably attached to the back of a seat. The folding tray includes a back surface and a food surface that is pivotally attached to the back surface. The folding tray can be removably attached to the back of a seat using hooks or suction cups.
In an unfolded position the tray pivots against a stop so that it is held in a horizontal position. This horizontal tray provides a food surface for holding food and beverages. The food surface may have openings in it that lead to netted cavities that can hold food, e.g., drinks or popcorn. Because the cavities are made of netting, they can easily collapse to form a compact package. The back surface of the tray can include various flexible pockets, hooks, or clips for various items, such as pens, scorecards, brochures, refuse, bags, umbrellas or the like. The flexible pockets also allow the device to be collapsed into a compact package.
The folding tray can be placed in a folded position in which the food surface is pivoted against the back. Placing the tray in a folded position facilitates easy transportation of the device. The tray can also be placed in a folded position while it is attached to the back of a seat in order to provide an unobstructed path along the stadium seating aisle so that others in the stadium may walk past the user and tray. The folding tray can include handles that would aid in transportation.
The folding tray may also be featured in combination with a carrying case that includes two cushioned panels hinged to each other and disposed about the folding tray. The cushioned panels of the carrying case provide a protective enclosure and a means for securing the folding tray during transportation. The hinge that connects the panels may be a flexible hinge, such as a pair of fabric straps, which allow the panels to be pivoted against each other in order to place the carrying case in an open or closed position. The cushioned panels of the carrying case can function as a seat cushion and a back cushion. While the case is not being used to enclose the folding tray, the case can be placed in the open position and located on a seat. One panel of the case may be placed on the back portion of the seat and the other panel may be placed on the bottom portion of the seat in order to provide cushioning for the seat.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGSThe foregoing and other features of the present invention will be more readily apparent from the following detailed description and drawings of an illustrative embodiment of the invention in which:
Panels 14 and 15 are pivotally connected to each other by two flexible hinges 16, 17. The flexible hinges 16, 17 can be made from fabric, rubber, plastic, or other suitable material. Hinges 16, 17 are so dimension as to allow the carrying case 13 to receive the folding tray 12 when the folding tray 12 is in a tray-closed configuration and the folding tray 12 is interposed between the approximately parallel panels 14 and 15 of the carrying case 13 as depicted in
Respective handles 18, 19 are provided on each panel 14, 15 and are located on an end of the panel opposite the hinges 16, 17. Alternatively, hinges 16, 17 may be replaced by a single hinge or any number of hinges.
The folding tray 12 also features a means for limiting the pivoting of the tray panel 25. Hinges 26, 27 are designed to restrict the pivoting of the tray panel 25 so that when the tray panel 25 is pivoted from a tray-closed configuration to a tray-open configuration, further pivoting is restricted, so that the tray stays in a relatively horizontal position. Thus, the tray panel 25 can be maintained in the tray-open configuration and is capable of supporting various articles, including food and beverages. Hinges that are limited to a particular range of motion, for example 90 degrees, are known in the art and a variety of styles are available. One example of such a hinge is Trunk Stop Hinge, Item #02003528 available from Van Dyke Supply Co., Inc., Woonsocket, S. Dak. Alternatively, the tray panel 25 could be maintained in the open configuration by use of a bracket or block positioned underneath the tray panel, strings of a predetermined length connecting the tray panel to the back panel, or various other means to limit pivoting of the tray panel.
Hinges 26, 27 allow the tray panel 25 to be pivoted into the tray-closed, stowed configuration in order to permit easy transportation of the folding tray 12, as well as to provide an unobstructed path along the stadium seating aisle. Alternatively, hinges 26, 27 may be replaced by a single hinge or any number of hinges or connections that would allow the tray panel 25 to be pivoted against the back panel 24. Additionally, depending of the design of the particular hinge used, it may be desirable to interpose spacers between the hinges 26, 27 and the back panel 24 in order to enhance the ability of the tray panel 25 to be compactly placed along side the back panel 24 when the tray panel 25 is in the tray-closed position.
In the open, food-holding configuration as shown in
Additionally, openings 28, 29 can be enclosed by a flexible member, such as netting 30, to form an open cavity as shown in
The back panel 24, as shown in
Back panel 24 may also feature storage pockets 33 as shown in
Back panel 24 may also feature a pair of handles 20, 21. The handles 20, 21 may be located along the top of the back panel as shown in
Preferably, when the folding tray 12 is used in combination with the carrying case 13, the seat on which the folding tray 12 is attached is located in front of the seat on which the carrying case 13 is disposed. This arrangement would allow a person who is sitting on the seat with the carrying case 13 to also be able to use the folding tray 12.
As an alternative embodiment, folding tray 12 may include a tray panel transitioning device 34 for quickly transitioning tray panel 25 from the tray-open configuration to the tray-closed configuration and maintaining tray panel 25 in the tray-closed configuration. As show in
Further, a locking device 38 may be located along the cord 35. The locking device may be positioned along the portion of the cord that is disposed through the channel 36, opposite the end that is connected to the tray panel 25, as shown in
As an additional alternative embodiment, tray panel 25 may include shutters 50 which permit the opening and closing of openings 28, 29 in the tray panel.
Bottom member 54 may include an elongated opening 57 that provides access to the shutter 50 so that the shutter 50 can be moved between the open and closed positions, as shown in phantom in
While the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
Claims
1. A portable folding tray, comprising:
- a back panel;
- a tray panel having an opening extending through the tray panel,
- a hinge device pivotally connecting the tray panel to the back panel, said hinge device allowing the tray panel to be pivoted between a tray-open configuration with the tray panel substantially horizontal, and a tray-closed configuration with the tray panel along side the back panel;
- a flexible member connected to the tray panel, the flexible member being extendable to form a cavity that is accessible through the opening for receiving an article passed through the opening, the flexible member being collapsible; and
- a connector for removably attaching the folding tray to an upright back portion of a seat so that the folding tray is supported thereon.
2. The folding tray of claim 1, wherein the connector includes two hook members connected to the back panel for engaging an edge portion of the upright back portion of the seat.
3. The folding tray of claim 1, wherein the back panel further includes a storage pocket.
4. The folding tray of claim 3, wherein the storage pocket further includes flexible sidewalls for permitting the volume occupied by the storage pocket to be varied.
5. The folding tray of claim 3, wherein the storage pocket further includes a zipper for closing the storage pocket.
6. A portable folding tray and carrying case, comprising:
- a folding tray, that includes: a back panel; a tray panel pivotally connected to the back panel so that the tray panel may be pivoted between a tray-open configuration with the tray panel substantially horizontal, and a tray-closed configuration with the tray panel along side the back panel; a connector for removably attaching the folding tray to an upright back portion of a first seat so that the folding tray is supported; and
- a carrying case which receives the folding tray when not in use, that includes: two cushioned case panels pivotally connected to one another so that the case panels may be pivoted between a closed configuration, wherein the two case panels are substantially parallel to each other and the folding tray in the tray-closed configuration can be interposed between the two case panels, and an open configuration, wherein the case panels are adapted to be disposed as bottom and back cushions on a second seat.
7. The folding tray and carrying case of claim 6, wherein:
- the tray panel has an opening extending through the tray panel; and
- a flexible member connected to the tray panel, the flexible member being extendable to form a cavity that is accessible through the opening for receiving an article passed through the opening, the flexible member being collapsible.
8. The folding tray and carrying case of claim 6, wherein the connector includes two hook members attached to the back panel and adapted to engage an edge portion of the upright back portion of the seat.
9. The folding tray and carrying case of claim 6, wherein the back panel of the folding tray further includes a storage pocket.
10. The folding tray and carrying case of claim 9, wherein the storage pocket further includes collapsible sidewalls for permitting the volume occupied by the storage pocket to be varied.
11. The folding tray and carrying case of claim 6, further comprising:
- a first handle connected to one of the two cushioned panels of the carrying case.
12. The folding tray and carrying case of claim 11, further comprising:
- a second handle connected to the folding tray, the first and second handles being aligned with each other while the folding tray is interposed between the two cushioned case panels of the carrying case.
13. The folding tray and carrying case of claim 12, further comprising:
- a third handle connected to the other of the two cushioned panels of the carrying case, wherein the first, second, and third handles are aligned with each other while the folding tray is interposed between the two padded panels of the carrying case.
14. The folding tray and carrying case of claim 13, further comprising:
- a fourth handle connected to the folding tray, wherein the first, second, third, and fourth handles are aligned with each other while the folding tray is interposed between the two padded panels of the carrying case.
15. The folding tray and carrying case of claim 6, wherein the connector is further adapted to engage the carrying case.
16. A portable folding tray, comprising:
- a back panel;
- a tray panel pivotally connected to the back panel so that the tray panel may be pivoted between a tray-open configuration with the tray panel substantially horizontal, and a tray-closed configuration with the tray panel along side the back panel;
- a cord having two ends, one end being connected to the tray panel;
- a channel through which the cord is disposed, said channel imparting a force on the cord such that the cord can be translated through the channel, said force being sufficient to maintain the tray panel in the tray-closed configuration; and
- a connector for removably attaching the folding tray to an upright back portion of a seat so that the folding tray is supported thereon.
17. The folding tray of claim 16, further comprising:
- a handle connected to the end of the cord not connected to the tray panel.
18. The folding tray of claim 16, further comprising:
- a stopper connected to the cord, the stopper being sized to prevent the cord from passing through the channel.
19. A portable folding tray, comprising:
- a back panel;
- a tray panel having an opening extending through the tray panel,
- a shutter device supported by the tray panel, said shutter device being moveable to open and close said opening;
- a hinge device pivotally connecting the tray panel to the back panel, said hinge device allowing the tray panel to be pivoted between a tray-open configuration with the tray panel substantially horizontal, and a tray-closed configuration with the tray panel along side the back panel; and
- a connector for removably attaching the folding tray to an upright back portion of a seat so that the folding tray is supported thereon.
Type: Application
Filed: Feb 28, 2006
Publication Date: Sep 6, 2007
Inventor: Philip Pecorino (Floral Park, NY)
Application Number: 11/365,347
International Classification: A47C 7/62 (20060101);