SMART PLATE

Abstract

The present invention relates to a foldable plate comprising a substrate having a central portion and a plurality of edges; a plurality of ridges formed by folding the substrate and crisscrossing each other; and a plurality of protecting edges formed by folding the plurality of edges toward the central portion, wherein a plurality of containing regions is formed among the plurality of ridges and edges.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119 of TW Application No. 101123944, filed Jul. 3, 2012, the contents of which are incorporated by reference as if fully set forth.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is tableware, specifically a foldable plate.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The Food Pyramid was first proposed by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) in 1992. The food pyramid was basically guidelines for a balanced and healthy diet. It combines nutritious foods with balanced healthy diet guidelines. It systematically categorizes daily food intake. The closer to the bottom of the pyramid, the more frequently the food should be consumed. The closer to the top of the pyramid, the less frequently the food should be consumed. This simple and creative design leaves an impression and helps make everyone who has seen the food pyramid able to understand. FIG. 1 shows the food pyramid promoted by Department of Health of Taiwan.

In 2011, the U.S. Department of Agriculture published another guideline called “MyPlate” to replace the food pyramid because the United States Department of Agriculture felt the food pyramid was probably too complex for the average family to practice easily and efficiently in daily life in present society.

The so-called MyPlate is the new balanced and healthy diet guideline; it is much simpler and more straightforward than the food pyramid. As revealed in FIG. 2, the guideline divides a plate into four regions (lattice). Each region is associated with a specific color and labeled with the corresponding text annotations at the bottom of the region such that: the red Fruits region represents fruits, the green Vegetables region represents vegetables, the orange Grains region represents grains and the purple Protein region represents proteins. Outside the plate is a blue Dairy region representing dairy products. Such a simple plate, “MyPlate”, replaces the food pyramid which had been used for 19 years. It was subsequently promoted around the world to become the new dietary guideline.

MyPlate is a straightforward design, the elements constitute a healthy meal and can be seen at a glance. For any person, it is easy to choose a nutritious meal with the new food plate whether he/she is shopping outside, buying lunch or eating at a buffet as long as the five regions of the plate are filled.

For modern busy people, especially families who often dine out, MyPlate is a great idea. However, it would be difficult to dine out carrying MyPlate around every day, especially because the size of MyPlate is not considered small. Another thing is that there are many disposable serving dishes. Although they are designed with lattices, they are not designed to follow the healthy diet nutrition principles.

Therefore, in order to overcome the shortcomings in the prior art, it is necessary to provide an innovative idea. After careful testing and research with perseverance, the applicant finally conceived the idea “Smart Plate” to overcome the mentioned shortcomings, and the following is a brief description of this invention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In the light of the shortcomings of the conventional technologies, the present invention provides a folding plate, which can overcome the aforementioned drawbacks. The folding plate of the present invention may be produced using a variety of suitable substrate materials and formed with a variety of appropriately designed pressed lines, grooves, guide lines, positioning elements, and fixing elements to guide users to make it in a do-it-yourself (DW) manner. In a very short period of time, a plate with the concept of a healthy and balanced diet is made to serve food.

Such dishes can be made for male, female, old or young people to suit different demands. Different sub-grids are planned to contain all kinds of food in order to achieve a healthy diet. If we can replace the conventional sub-grid disposable plates with this invention, it would provide a great benefit for modern people in the aspect of health and balanced nutrition. Such a plate also allows people who usually dine out to custom-make/tailor-make the plate with sub-grids in accordance with their needs.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a foldable plate is proposed which includes a substrate having a center portion and a plurality of edges. A plurality of ridges is formed by folding the substrate, and the ridges intersect with each other. A plurality of protecting edges is formed by folding a plurality of edges of the substrate towards the central portion of the substrate. The plurality of containing regions is thereby formed between the plurality of ridges and the plurality of edges.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, a foldable plate is proposed which includes a substrate, a plurality of containing regions and having a foldable structure formed directly from the substrate.

The third aspect of the present invention proposes a foldable plate-making method that includes providing a substrate, folding the substrate to form a plurality of ridges such that the plurality of ridges intersect with each other, and folding a plurality of edges of the substrate towards the center portion of the substrate to form a plurality of protecting edges so that a plurality of containing regions is formed among the plurality of ridges and the plurality of protecting edges.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is the Food Pyramid advocated by the Department of Health of Taiwan;

FIG. 2 is the MyPlate advocated by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA);

FIG. 3-17 are schematic diagrams of a series of transient structures to carry out the making process of the folded structure of the present invention;

FIG. 18 is the flowchart for making the foldable plate of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention will now be described more specifically with reference to the following embodiments so that one skilled in art is able to complete this invention. It is to be noted that the following descriptions of preferred embodiment of this invention are presented herein for purposes of illustration and description only; it is not intended to be exhaustive or to be limited to the precise form disclosed.

To make the foldable plate presented in the present invention, prepare a substrate first, with the material of the substrate preferably selected from disposable paper, Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET), High Density Polyethylene (HDPE), Polyvinylchloride (PVC), Polypropylene (PP), Polycarbonate (PC), Poly Lactic Acid (PLA), and a combination thereof.

Please refer to FIGS. 3 to 17 which reveal the procedures and the transient structures to make the smart plate of the present invention. The substrate 100 shown in FIGS. 3 to 17 has a front surface and a back surface. The front surface is indicated with a symbol F and shown in the color white. The back surface is indicated with a symbol B shown in the color gray. The said substrate 100 also has 4 corners labeled W, X, Y and Z.

In FIG. 3, the substrate 100 has been previously flattened to make it flat. The substrate 100 has a center C , the four edges i, j, k and l, the white front surface F, the gray back surface B, and the 4 corners W, X, Y and Z.

As shown in FIG. 4, fold the corner X from the back surface to the front surface of the substrate 100 to form a corner X, where preferably, the side length a is greater than the side length b.

As shown in FIG. 5, fold a part of the corner X to form a protruded first ridge R1. The distance which is retained by folding back a part of the corner X will be the height Rh of the erected first ridge R1.

As shown in FIG. 6, flatten the first ridge R1 temporarily in the direction toward the front surface. Then fold the corner Z of the substrate 100 from the back surface to the front surface. The corner Z with exposed gray-colored back surface is formed. Preferably, the side length a is greater than the side length b.

As shown in FIG. 7, fold a part of the corner Z from the front surface to the back surface to form a protruded second ridge R2. Preferably, the distance which is retained by folding back a part of the corner Z is the height Rh of the ridge.

As shown in FIG. 8, prick up the first ridge R1.

As shown in FIG. 9, flatten the first ridge R1 and the second ridge R2 temporarily, then fold the corner W and Y from top to bottom, from the back surface to the front surface, the corner W and Y with exposed gray-colored back surface is formed. Preferably, the side length c which is retained by folding should be bigger than zero.

As shown in FIG. 10, fold a part of the corner W and Y from the front surface to the back surface to form a protruded third ridge R3. Preferably, the distance which is retained by folding back the part of the corner W and Y is the height Rh of the ridge.

As shown in FIG. 11, flatten the first ridge R1, the second ridge R2, and the third ridge R3 temporarily. Then fold the corner W and Y from bottom to top, from the back surface to the white front surface. The corner W and Y with the exposed gray-colored back surface is formed. Preferably, the side length c (not shown in the figure) which is retained by folding should be bigger than zero.

As shown in FIG. 12, fold a part of the corner W and Y from the front surface to the back surface to form a protruded fourth ridge R4. Preferably, the distance which is retained by folding back a part of the corner W and Y is the height Rh of the ridge.

As shown in FIG. 13, prick up all the ridges including the first ridge R1, the second ridge R2, the third ridge R3 and the fourth ridge R4. Detangle 4 intersection points P1, P2, P3 and P4 simultaneously.

As shown in FIG. 14, fold the edge i toward the center C of the substrate 100 to form a protecting edge, with the folded distance being the height Rh of the ridge. As shown in FIG. 15, fold the edge j toward the center of the substrate 100 to form a protecting edge, with the folded distance being the height Rh of the ridge. As shown in FIG. 16, fold the edge k toward the center of the substrate 100 to form a protecting edge, with the folded distance being the height Rh of the ridge.

As shown in FIG. 17, a foldable plate 200 is finally formed, which includes 4 containing regions e, f, g, and h, the 4 containing regions e, f, g, and h could provide for placing food.

In summary, a method for making a foldable plate is generalized. Refer to FIG. 18; it is the flowchart of the method for making the foldable plate of the present invention.

Step 1801: providing a substrate, wherein the material of the substrate is selected from a disposable paper, PET, HDPE, PVC, PP, PC, PLA, and a combination thereof.

Step 1802: folding the substrate to form a plurality of ridges, the ridges intersect with each other.

Step 1803: folding the plurality of edges of the substrate towards the center of the substrate to form a plurality of protecting edges so that a plurality of containing regions is formed by the plurality of ridges and the plurality of protecting edges.

The foldable plate can be made using disposable paper common in the market, and it can coexist with disposable paper plates on the market. With printed lines on the disposable paper substrate 100 to mark the folds and creases in advance, and mark the recommend food by printed patterns and words in the places corresponding to the 4 containing regions e, f, g, and h, any user could fold the substrate 100 to a folded plate easily. It is easy to choose a nutritious meal with the folded plate as long as the several regions of the plate are filled.

The foldable plate can certainly be made by plastics, for example, PET, HDPE, PVC, PP, PC, or PLA. At this moment it is only necessary to add some simple positioning elements in several essential places, for example, a plurality of positioning fasteners for fixing the whole foldable plate by maintaining relative positions of ridges, protecting edges, and containing regions.

The size of each region of the foldable plate can all be designed in advance. Even a variety of foldable plates could be designed in advance for different users, for example, with respect to a foldable plate for children, a substrate of smaller total area would be used; with respect to the foldable plate for vegetarians, the size of each region would be almost equal to each other; with respect to the foldable plate for omnivores, the size of protein region and vegetable region could be significantly different when the foldable plate is designed; even the size of regions could be allotted more specifically according to the dietary rules for patients with specific diseases.

More examples of the present invention are provided as follows.

Embodiment 1

A foldable plate, comprising: a substrate having a central portion and a plurality of edges; a plurality of ridges formed by folding the substrate and crossing with one another; and a plurality of protecting edges formed by folding the plurality of edges toward the central portion, wherein the plurality of ridges and the plurality of edges form a plurality of containing regions.

Embodiment 2

A foldable plate as described in Embodiment 1, wherein each of the containing regions has a size being planned based on a healthy eating principle in terms of nutriology.

Embodiment 3

A foldable plate as described in Embodiment 1, wherein the substrate has a material being one selected from a group consisting of a disposable paper, Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET), High Density Polyethylene (HDPE), Polyvinylchloride (PVC), Polypropylene (PP), Polycarbonate (PC), Poly Lactic Acid (PLA), and a combination thereof.

Embodiment 4

A foldable plate as described in Embodiment 1, further comprising: a plurality of positioning elements disposed on the substrate to maintain the relative positions of the plurality of ridges, the plurality of protecting edges and the plurality of containing regions.

Embodiment 5

A foldable plate, comprising: a substrate; and a plurality of containing regions having a foldable structure and formed directly from the substrate.

Embodiment 6

A foldable plate as described in Embodiment 5, wherein the foldable structure includes a plurality of ridges and a plurality of protecting edges, wherein the plurality of ridges are formed by folding the substrate and intersecting with each other; the plurality of protecting edges are formed by folding a plurality of edges of the substrate towards a central portion of the substrate; a plurality of containing regions are formed among the plurality of protecting edges and the plurality of ridges.

Embodiment 7

A foldable plate as described in Embodiment 5, wherein each of the containing regions has a size being planned based on a healthy eating principle in terms of nutriology.

Embodiment 8

A foldable plate as described in Embodiment 5, wherein the substrate has a material being one selected from a group consisting of a disposable paper, a polyethylene terephthalate ester, a high-density polyethylene, a polyvinyl chloride, a polypropylene, a polycarbonate, a poly one acid, and a combination thereof.

Embodiment 9

A foldable plate making method, comprising: providing a substrate; folding the substrate to form a plurality of ridges intersecting with one another; and folding a plurality of edges of the substrate towards the central portion of the substrate to form a plurality of protecting edges, such that a plurality of containing regions are formed among the plurality of ridges and the plurality of protecting edges.

Embodiment 10

A foldable plate making method as described in Embodiment 9, wherein each of the containing regions has a size being planned based on a healthy eating principle in terms of nutriology.

Although the present invention has been described and illustrated in examples of the most preferred embodiments, the constructional characteristics of the present invention are not limited by that. The variations and modifications that anyone who is familiar with the skill can think of easily which fall within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims should be included.

Claims

1. A foldable plate, comprising:

a substrate having a central portion and a plurality of edges;

a plurality of ridges formed by folding the substrate and crossing with one another; and

a plurality of protecting edges formed by folding the plurality of edges toward the central portion, wherein the plurality of ridges and the plurality of edges form a plurality of containing regions.

2. A foldable plate as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of the containing regions has a size being planned based on a healthy eating principle in terms of nutriology.

3. A foldable plate as claimed in claim 1, wherein the substrate has a material being one selected from a group consisting of a disposable paper, Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET), High Density Polyethylene (HDPE), Polyvinylchloride (PVC), Polypropylene (PP), Polycarbonate (PC), Poly Lactic Acid (PLA), and a combination thereof.

4. A foldable plate as claimed in claim 1, further comprising:

a plurality of positioning elements disposed on the substrate to maintain the relative positions of the plurality of ridges, the plurality of protecting edges and the plurality of containing regions.

5. A foldable plate, comprising:

a substrate; and

a plurality of containing regions having a foldable structure and formed directly from the substrate.

6. A foldable plate as claimed in claim 5, wherein the foldable structure includes a plurality of ridges and a plurality of protecting edges.

7. A foldable plate as claimed in claim 5, wherein the plurality of ridges are formed by folding the substrate and intersecting with each other.

8. A foldable plate as claimed in claim 5, wherein the plurality of protecting edges are formed by folding a plurality of edges of the substrate towards a central portion of the substrate.

9. A foldable plate as claimed in claim 5, wherein a plurality of containing regions are formed among the plurality of protecting edges and the plurality of ridges.

10. A foldable plate as claimed in claim 5, wherein each of the containing regions has a size being planned based on a healthy eating principle in terms of nutriology.

11. A foldable plate as claimed in claim 5, wherein the substrate has a material being one selected from a group consisting of a disposable paper, polyethylene terephthalate, high-density polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride, polypropylene, polycarbonate, poly lactic acid, and a combination thereof.

12. A foldable plate as claimed in claim 5, further comprising:

a plurality of positioning elements disposed on the substrate to fix the plurality of ridges, the plurality of protecting edges and the plurality of containing regions.

13. A foldable plate making method, comprising:

providing a substrate having a plurality of edges and a central portion;

folding the substrate to form a plurality of ridges intersecting with one another; and

folding the edges of the substrate towards the central portion of the substrate to form a plurality of protecting edges, such that a plurality of containing regions are formed among the plurality of protecting edges and the plurality of ridges.

14. A foldable plate making method as claimed in claim 13, wherein each of the containing regions has a size being planned based on a healthy eating principle in terms of nutriology.

15. A foldable plate making method as claimed in claim 13, wherein the substrate has a material being one selected from a group consisting of a disposable paper, polyethylene terephthalate, high-density polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride, polypropylene, polycarbonate, poly lactic acid, and a combination thereof.

16. A foldable plate making method as claimed in claim 13, further comprising:

placing a plurality of positioning elements disposed on the substrate to maintain the relative positions of the plurality of ridges, the plurality of protecting edges and the plurality of containing regions.