Food and beverage tray

Abstract

A food and beverage tray is provided having a generally planar base and a generally horizontal outer lip extending outward from the top of the sides. A cup-shaped structure having a size and shape to hold a cup and a bowl-holding structure sized to hold a salad or soup bowl are provided on the generally planar base. An implement container may be provided on the tray base or on the lip. A tray support means is below and at the edges of the generally planar base.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to food trays, and in particular relates to trays that hold a beverage container and eating bowl.

2. Description of the Related Art

When people wish to eat at social gatherings or in their homes, for example, while watching television, they often use trays to hold their beverage containers and plates or bowls. Because their trays are often held without being placed on a surface or are positioned on an irregular surface such as their laps, the trays may become unbalanced and may tip to the side, with the result that the dishes or other items placed on the tray slide and may spill or fall off the tray.

Numerous prior trays have been designed to hold dishes and the like in place on the trays. For example, the food server of Innis (U.S. Pat. No. 3,122,265) has depressions of a particular shape and depth for positioning of dishes that are made to fit the depression. The tray apparatus of Powell (U.S. Pat. No. 4,989,742) has a base tray with two compartments separated by a handhold portion, with each receiving additional tray elements with cooperative locking structures.

The meal tray system of Singer (U.S. Pat. No. 5,368,183) is a food tray containing food, beverage, napkin and utensil compartments. Food compartment inserts interlock with the tray and are secured therein, and a reusable cup and bowl, and cold/hot inserts are placed in the cup and bowl. The edges of the trays protrude horizontally from the tray.

Other food trays with indentations for holding a cup include those of Aragona (U.S. Pat. No. 5,598,944, also has molded food bowl), Kevin (U.S. Des. Patent No. 352,213), Epstein (U.S. Patent Pub. No. U.S. 2008/0128572), Bradley (U.S. Pat. No. 6,264,026), Crawford (U.S. Patent Pub. No. U.S. 2006/0266748), and Thomas (U.S. Pat. No. 3,498,470).

Prior food trays typically do not provide a surface where a cup with a handle may be held in a useful and secure orientation. Also, many prior food trays that do have structures for secure holding of cups are not stackable, and/or do not have a location for holding a salad or soup bowl securely. Many prior trays with downwardly protruding structures for holding a cup or other dish securely do not sit well on a surface, particularly on a lap because of the downwardly protruding wells. Also many prior food trays do not provide a location for an eating implement such as a spoon or fork, nor for a napkin.

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a food tray that securely holds a cup and bowl, and preferably has a site for an eating implement, and most preferably for a napkin.

Other objects and advantages will be more fully apparent from the following disclosure and appended claims.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention herein is a food and beverage tray is having a generally planar base and a generally horizontal outer lip extending outward from the top of the sides. A cup-shaped structure having a size and shape to hold a cup and a bowl-holding structure sized to hold a salad or soup bowl are provided on the generally planar base. An implement container may be provided on the tray base or on the lip. A tray support means is below and at the edges of the generally planar base.

Other objects and features of the inventions will be more fully apparent from the following disclosure and appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a food and beverage tray of the invention herein having a cup-shaped structure extending downward and a bowl-holding structure comprising an upwardly extending continuous ridge.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a food and beverage tray of the invention having a cup-shaped structure extending upward and a bowl-holding structure below the base of the tray.

FIG. 3 is a bottom perspective view of a food and beverage tray in which nothing extends below the lower surface of the base.

FIG. 4 is partial cross-sectional view of a food and beverage tray in which the cup-shaped portion is shown in perspective.

FIG. 5 is an elevational view of a food and beverage tray having a cup-shaped structure extending upward and a bowl-holding structure comprising an upwardly extending continuous ridge.

FIG. 6 is an elevational view of the tray of FIG. 2.

FIG. 7 is a perspective bottom view of a tray having a support means that is an elongated vertical support structure.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of two stacked trays of the invention herein, each tray having an implement means in the lip, and an upwardly opening elongated container.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of a tray having a central implement container.

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of a tray having a bowl-holding structure comprising an upwardly extending continuous ridge.

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view of a tray with a cup in a cup-shaped structure and a bowl-holding that extend below the tray base.

FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view of a tray similar to that shown in FIG. 9, but with the support means not aligned with the tray side.

FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view of a tray having an implement means along the side of the tray.

FIG. 14 is a perspective view of an oval tray.

FIG. 15 is a partial cross-sectional view of a cup-shaped structure that extends below and above the base of the tray.

FIG. 16 is a top plan view of a cup-shaped structure having a side handle opening for the cup.

FIG. 17 is a side perspective view of a cup having a handle at the top of the cup and positioned in a cup-shaped structure of the invention.

FIG. 18 is a top plan view of a tray in which the cup-shaped structure and the bowl-holding structure are generally square with rounded corners.

FIG. 19 is an elevational view of a tray of the invention in which neither the cup-shaped structure nor the bowl-holding structure extend below the base, and in which both structures are low enough to not be visible over the tray sides.

FIG. 20 a partial perspective view of a tray having an upwardly opening elongated container.

FIG. 21 is a tray of the invention in which the corners of the tray and lip are rounded.

FIG. 22 is a partial cross-sectional view of an implement holder in the lip of a tray of the invention.

FIG. 23 is a bottom perspective view of a tray having a support means that is an elongated vertical support structure and in which neither the cup-shaped structure nor the bowl-holding structure extend below the base, and in which both structures are low enough to not be visible over the tray sides.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION AND PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS THEREOF

The present invention provides a food and beverage tray for holding a cup/mug and a bowl, for example, for salad or soup.

Referring now to the figures, the food and beverage tray 10 of the invention has a generally planar base 12 (for example as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2). As used herein, the term “generally planar base” refers to a surface that generally parallels a flat surface on which the tray is placed, in a manner analogous to trays known in the art; however, the shape of the tray portion forming the generally parallel base, which provides the surface between the other tray components as described below that are structured for holding food and beverage containers and eating implements, may deviate from planar for ornamental or design purposes as desired, so long as the base 12 provides an upper surface 14 (FIGS. 1-2) and a lower surface 16 (FIG. 3), and has an outer edge 18 all around the generally planar base 12. Tray sides 42, having upper edges 44, extend upward from the generally planar base, preferably around the entire tray 10 (e.g., FIGS. 1-2).

The preferred embodiment of the tray 10 of the invention has a generally horizontal outer lip 20 extending outward from the upper edges 44 of the tray sides 42, and preferably extending all around the tray 10. The lip 20 is preferably sufficiently wide so that it may be grasped and the tray may be carried by holding the lip on each side of the food tray as is known in the art.

Each tray of the invention has a cup-shaped structure 22 and a bowl-holding structure on the generally planar base 12.

The cup-shaped structure 22 is sized and shaped to hold a cup 24. The cup-shaped structure 22 may extend either upward from the upper surface 14 (FIGS. 2, 4-6), downward from the lower surface 16 (FIGS. 1, 7-14), or both (FIG. 15). The cup-shaped structure may be used to hold a handle-less cup (not shown) without further modification.

Alternatively, the cup-shaped structure 22 may be modified to have a side handle opening 30 so that the handle 32 of a cup 24 placed in the cup-shaped structure 22 protrudes through the side handle opening 30 (FIGS. 4 and 16).

In another embodiment, when the cup-shaped structure 22 is not as tall as the cup, a specially designed cup 34 having a handle 32 restricted to the upper portion of the cup (FIG. 17) may be used. This cup may be used for a cup-shaped structure that extends upward from the generally planar base 12, or downward, or both. In each case, the handle 32 is above the cup-shaped structure. When the cup-shaped structure is entirely below the generally planar base 12, the handle 32 is above the generally planar base when the cup is placed in the cup-shaped structure with the bottom of the cup sitting on the bottom of the downwardly extending depression.

The bowl-holding structure 26 is sized to hold a salad or soup bowl 28. The bowl-holding structure 26 may comprise an upwardly extending continuous ridge 36 forming a depression on the upper surface for holding a bowl (FIGS. 1, 4-5, and 10). Alternatively, the bowl-holding structure 26 may be formed by the generally planar base 12 having a bowl depression 38 extending below the lower surface 16 for holding a soup or salad bowl 28 (FIGS. 2, 7-9, 11-14, 18).

The food and beverage tray 10 of the invention also has a tray support means 40A-C below the generally planar base 12 at the edges of the generally planar base. Tray support means 40A is simply formed by the lower tray corners 46 of the tray that are formed at the junction of the tray sides 42 all around the generally planar base 12 (FIGS. 3-4 and 19). Alternatively, tray support means 40B is a bottom ridge around the outside edges of the food tray (FIG. 6). In a third embodiment, tray support means 40C is an elongated vertical support structure beneath and around the outside edges of the food tray 10 (FIGS. 7-14), preferably long enough so that the lower edge 56 is below any other structures that extend downward from the generally planar base 12. The use of tray support means 40C holds the tray on a horizontal surface so that the cup-shaped structure and the bowl-shaped structure do not rest on the horizontal surface. The tray support means 40C may be directly aligned with the tray sides 42 (FIG. 10) or offset therefrom (FIG. 11). FIG. 23 shows the bottom of the tray 10 of the invention with a tray support means 40C that also does not have any other structure extending downward.

In the preferred embodiments, the food tray also includes an eating implement container 48 on the generally planar base 12 (FIGS. 9, 12-14, and 18) or on the lip 20 (FIGS. 2, 8 and 22). When located on the generally planar base 12, the eating implement container may be anywhere that there is room, for example, on any side of the container (FIG. 13) or may be centrally located between the cup-shaped structure 22 and bowl-holding structure 26 (FIGS. 9, 12 and 14). The eating implement container 48 is preferably an elongated depression as shown, extending downward. The shape of the depression may be a simple rectangular depression to fit a spoon and/or fork, or may be designed with rounded corners or other fanciful shapes, so long as the size (length, width, depth) allows placement of at least one such eating implement.

In one embodiment of the invention, the food tray may also be provided with an upwardly opening elongated container 50 (FIGS. 8 and 20). This container 50 may be used to hold a table napkin. In addition or instead, this container 50 may be used to hold an eating implement, such as on a tray without an eating implement container 48.

The invention herein further comprises a bowl 52 shaped to removably fit securely within the continuous ridge 36. As shown in FIG. 5, this bowl 52 may have a base 54 shape and size so that it fits within the continuous ridge 36, and then preferably flares outward to contain the soup or salad.

The generally planar base 12 of the tray 10 of the invention may be any shape on which sides 42 and a lip 20 can be formed. Most preferably the tray is rectangular with square (FIGS. 1-2) or rounded (FIG. 21) corners, or is gently rounded or oval (FIG. 14)

The tray 10 of the invention may be made to be stackable. As shown in FIG. 8, even with an upwardly extending implement container 50 and downward extending cup-shaped 22 and bowl-holding 26 structures, sufficiently long tray support means 40C may rest on the lip 20 of a tray beneath.

While the invention as described above preferably has a single cup-shaped structure and a single bowl-holding structure, it is within the scope of the invention to provide multiple such structures on a single tray if desired.

While the invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments, it will be appreciated that numerous variations, modifications, and embodiments are possible, and accordingly, all such variations, modifications, and embodiments are to be regarded as being within the spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims

1. A food tray, comprising:

a) a generally planar base having an upper surface, a lower surface, an outer edge all around the generally planar base, sides extending upward from the outer edge, and a generally horizontal outer lip extending outward from the top of the sides;

b) a cup-shaped structure formed in the generally planar base having a size and shape to hold a cup;

c) a bowl-holding structure on the generally planar base sized to hold a salad or soup bowl; and

d) a tray support means below the generally planar base at the edges of the generally planar base.

2. The food tray of claim 1, wherein the cup-shaped structure extends downward from the lower surface beneath the planar base.

3. The food tray of claim 1, further comprising an eating implement container on the generally planar base.

4. The food tray of claim 1, wherein the generally planar base has an elongated depression in the upper surface for holding eating implements.

5. The food tray of claim 4, wherein the elongated depression is located along one side of the tray.

6. The food tray of claim 4, wherein the elongated depression is located between the cup-shaped structure and the bowl-shaped structure.

7. The food tray of claim 1, further comprising an upwardly opening elongated container.

8. The food tray of claim 1, wherein the outer lip has an elongated depression for holding eating implements.

9. The food tray of claim 1, wherein the tray support means comprises a vertical support structure beneath and around the outside edges of the food tray.

10. The food tray of claim 1, wherein the cup-shaped structure extends downward from the generally planar base and the bowl-holding structure extends downward from the generally planar base, and wherein the tray support means comprises a vertical support structure that holds the tray on a horizontal surface so that the cup-shaped structure and the bowl-holding structure do not rest on the horizontal surface.

11. The food tray of claim 1, further comprising a cup that is taller than the cup-shaped structure, the cup having a bottom that fits within the cup-shaped structure, the cup further comprising a handle positioned at a top location on the cup so that the handle is above the generally planar base when the cup is placed in the cup-shaped structure with the bottom of the cup sitting on the bottom of the downwardly extending depression.

12. The food tray of claim 1, wherein the cup-shaped structure has a side handle opening through which a handle of a cup placed in the cut-shaped structure protrudes.

13. The food tray of claim 1, wherein the tray support means comprises a bottom ridge around the outside edges of the food tray.

14. The food tray of claim 1, wherein the bowl-shaped container comprises an upwardly extending continuous ridge forming a depression above the upper surface for holding a bowl.

15. The food tray of claim 14, further comprising a bowl shaped to removably fit securely within the continuous ridge.

16. The food tray of claim 1, wherein the bowl-shaped container is formed by the generally planar base having a depression for holding a soup or salad bowl.

17. The food tray of claim 1, wherein the generally planar base is rectangular.

18. The food tray of claim 1, wherein the generally planar base is oval.