Plate Pack

Abstract

A plate pack includes a disposable dish and a first utensil detachably connected to the disposable dish. The plate pack includes a second utensil detachedly connected to the disposable dish, a third utensil detachedly connected to the disposable dish and a support member to detachedly connect to the disposable dish. The first utensil, the second utensil, the third utensil and the support member are connected to a periphery of the disposable dish. The plate pack is stackable with another plate pack.

Description

PRIORITY

The present invention claims priority under 35 USC section 119 based on the provisional application filed on Nov. 15, 2006 with a Ser. No. 60/865,905.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a disposable food serving dish and utensils, and more particularly, to a plate pack including a dispensable serving dish and utensils which may be used by fast food restaurants and other users when washable dishes are not available.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART

Fast food restaurants may serve pieces of fried fish, chicken, onion rings, French fries, and the like on a disposable dish with disposable utensils. The disposable food serving dish and utensils may be used at picnics or parties when washable dishes are not available, or it is inconvenient to use washable dishes. Typically, serving dishes and utensils are packaged separately, requiring the user to buy sufficient quantities of the dishes and the utensils. Usually, the number of dishes and the number of utensils are unequal which may result in the need to buy additional dishes or utensils. This is wasteful and lead to the situation where there are too many disposable dishes or too many utensils.

Furthermore, many consumers use these disposable dishes and utensils on a regular basis. It is undesirable as discussed above to have an insufficient number of these disposable dishes or utensils at any given time.

SUMMARY

The plate pack provides consumers and merchants with a better way of assuring that for every disposable plate there is a disposable utensil. The plate pack includes a disposable plate with disposable utensils which are positioned along the edge of the disposable plate so that the disposable utensils are easily and quickly removed for use with the disposable plate. The disposable plate and the utensils are separated by a weakened area which may include perforated edges so that the disposable utensils can be quickly and easily removed from the disposable plate.

The present invention prevents the problem of having insufficient number of disposable utensils or an insufficient number of disposable plates.

The users of the present invention no longer have to make separate purchases for the disposable plates and the disposable utensils.

The users of the present invention simply have to bend and break off to separate the disposable plates and the disposable utensils. The disposable utensils may be a spoon, a fork, a knife or any other type of utensil that could be used with a disposable plate.

The plate pack of the present invention may be formed from plastic or other suitable material and may be formed in various colors. The plate pack of the present invention may be formed so that the individual disposable plates and disposable utensils are stackable with respect to each other so that the plate packs can be compactly packaged and stored.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention may be understood by reference to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which, like reference numerals identify like elements, and in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a perspective view of the plate pack of the present invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a partial view of the plate pack of the present invention;

FIG. 3 illustrates a stack of the plate packs of the present invention;

FIG. 4 illustrates a separated plate pack of the present invention;

FIG. 5 illustrates a second embodiment of the plate pack of the present invention;

FIG. 6 illustrates a side view of an inverted plate pack of the present invention;

FIG. 7 illustrates another side view of the inverted plate pack of the present invention;

FIG. 8 illustrates another side view of the inverted plate pack of the present invention;

FIG. 9 illustrates a bottom view of the plate pack of the present invention;

FIG. 10 illustrates a top view of the plate pack with the utensil separated from the plate;

FIG. 11 illustrates a top view of the plate pack with utensils and support members separated from the plate;

FIG. 12 illustrates a perspective view of a stack of plate packs;

FIG. 13 illustrates a side view of the stack of plate packs.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 illustrates the plate pack 100 of the present invention. The plate pack 100 includes a disposable dish 110 having a central depression 112. The disposable dish 110 is generally centrally located within the plate pack 100 and may be formed from plastic, paper, cardboard or other rigid or semi rigid material. The disposable dish 110 is shown as being circular in shape; however, other shapes such as rectangular, triangular, or other suitable shapes are within the scope of the invention. Positioned along the periphery of the disposable dish is a weakened area 102 which allows the removal of the utensils 104,106, 108 and support member 114 which are used to hold the utensils before they are to be used. As a consequence, the weakened area 102 allows the first second and third utensil 104, 106, 108 and the support member 114 to be detachably connected to the disposable dish 110. Removal of the first, second and third utensil 104, 106, 108 and the support member 114 allows for the disposable dish 110 to be substantially circular to provide an attractive dish for use by the user. As shown in FIG. 1, a first disposable utensil 104 is shown as a disposable fork, and a second disposable utensil 106 is shown as a knife. A third disposable utensil 108 is shown as a spoon. The first disposable utensil 104 has been partially removed from the support member 104 and the periphery of the disposable dish 110. The second and third disposable utensils 106, 108 remain attached to the disposable dish 110 by the weakened area 102.

FIG. 2 illustrates a portion of the plate pack 100 in accordance with the teachings of the present invention. The support member 114 is connected to the second disposable utensil 106 by the weakened area 102 and is connected to the disposable plate 110 by the weakened area 112. In a similar fashion, the third disposable utensil 108 is connected to the weakened area.

FIG. 3 illustrates a stack of the plate packs 100 in accordance with the teachings of the present invention. The plate pack 100 is shown with the first utensil 104, the second utensil 106 and the third utensil 108.

FIG. 4 illustrates a separated plate pack 100 including the disposable dish 110, the first utensil 104, the second utensil 106 and the third utensil 108.

FIG. 5 illustrates another embodiment of the plate pack 500 in accordance with the teachings of the present invention. FIG. 5 illustrates that the first utensil 104, the second utensil 106 and the third utensil 108 are connected to the support member 114 by a narrow member 502 or tab. The narrow member 502 is connected to the first utensil 104, the second utensil 106 and the third utensil 108 by a weakened area 102 so that the first utensil 104, the second utensil 106 and the third utensil 104 can be easily removed from the narrow member 502 and the support material 114. The support material 114 is connected to the disposable dish 110 by a weakened area 102 so that the support material 114 can be separated easily from the disposable dish 110.

FIG. 6 illustrates a side view of the inverted plate pack 500 with the first utensil 104 being shown.

FIG. 7 illustrates another side view of the inverted plate pack 500 showing the third utensil 108.

FIG. 8 illustrates another side view of the inverted plate pack 500 showing the first utensil 104 and the third utensil 108 at approximately opposing sides of the plate pack 500.

FIG. 9 illustrates a perspective view of the plate pack 500 of the present invention. The third utensil 108 has been rotated to remove the third utensil 108 at the weakened area 102.

FIG. 10 illustrates a perspective view of the plate pack 500 of the present invention. FIG. 10 illustrates that the first utensil 104, the second utensil 106 in the third utensil 108 have been removed from the support member 114 at the narrow member 502.

FIG. 11 illustrates a perspective view of the plate pack of 500 of the present invention. FIG. 11 illustrates that the first utensil 104, the second utensil 106 and the third utensil 108 have been removed from the plate pack 500. Furthermore, FIG. 11 illustrates that each of the support members 114 associated with the first utensil 104, the second utensil 106 and the third utensil 108 has been separated from the disposable dish 110. As a consequence, the user is now able to discard the support member 114 and use the first second and third utensil 104, 106, 108 and the disposable dish 110.

FIG. 12 illustrates a stack of the plate pack 500 which includes the first utensil 106, the second utensil 106 and the third utensil 108 and includes the support member 114 which includes the narrow member 502.

FIG. 13 illustrates a side view of the stack of the stacked plate 500. The plate pack 500 may come in different plate styles, sizes, shapes and with and without divisions or sections for the user's choices of side orders of food. The plate pack can fit on its own compartment of choice. The plate pack can also come with an oriental style with sections and divisions in the plate that will facilitate the dish served. The oriental style of plate pack can come with utensils including a fork, knife and spoon or may come with chopsticks on the side with a scoop to be used as a spoon for the soup.

While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof have been shown by way of example in the drawings and are herein described in detail. It should be understood, however, that the description herein of specific embodiments is not intended to limit the invention to the particular forms disclosed.

Claims

1) A plate pack, comprising:

a disposable dish;

a first utensil detachably connected to the disposable dish.

2) A plate pack as in claim 1, wherein said plate pack includes a second utensil detachedly connected to the disposable dish.

3) A plate pack as in claim 2, wherein said plate pack includes a third utensil detachedly connected to the disposable dish.

4) A plate pack as in claim 3, wherein said plate pack includes a support member to detachedly connected to the disposable dish.

5) A plate pack as in claim 1, wherein said first utensil is connected to a periphery of the disposable dish.

6) A plate pack as in claim 2, wherein the second utensil is connected to a periphery of the disposable dish.

7) A plate pack as in claim 3, wherein the third utensil is connected to a periphery of the disposable dish.

8) A plate pack as in claim 1, wherein the plate pack is stackable with another plate pack.

9) A plate pack as in claim 4, wherein the support member includes a narrow member to connect to the first utensil.

10) A plate pack as in claim 4, wherein the support member includes a narrow member to connect to the second utensil.

11) A plate pack as in claim 4, wherein the support member includes a narrow member to connect to the third utensil.