TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The invention relates to plates or other type of dish. More specifically but not exclusively, the invention relates to a plate or other type of tableware dish for holding both food and beverage at social gatherings.

BACKGROUND

[0002] Often, at social receptions, appetizers and more substantial food are served along with drinks. At many receptions, people stand as they socialize with stemware in one hand and the plate in the other hand. To eat the appetizers on the plate, most people have to find a table or counter to place the stemware down to free one hand. Needless interruptions in the flow of social conversations occur while the person leaves the conversation to look for a counter or table. More adventurous or coordinated people will attempt to hold both the plate and stemware in one hand in order to free the other hand for eating. As a result, needless and embarrassing spills of wine and food occur.

[0003] At sporting events, food and drink are often sold at different stands. Cutlery is often provided at another location away from the stand. This requires first acquiring food before getting a drink, or vice-versa, leaving no free hands and requiring a place to set the food or drink when getting cutlery.

[0004] At other events, such as banquets or buffets, people acquire their food while standing, typically with a beverage container in one hand and the plate in the other. This does not leave a hand free to put the food on the plate. Many people also place cutlery in their shirt or jacket pocket since plate space is at a premium. The person must either frequently put down and pick up the beverage container or precariously balance the beverage container every time he or she serves himself or herself food, or make separate trips for the food and drink and cutlery. Additionally, some events have a lack of seating for all the persons attending. Again, placement of the beverage container will become an issue when the person attempts to eat while standing. SUMMARY

[0005] According to one aspect, a tableware dish has top and bottom sides, the top side comprising a perimeter ledge configured to receive a portion of an eating utensil disposed thereupon, thereby securing the eating utensil to the dish. In some embodiments, the dish is a plate. In other embodiments, the dish is a bowl.

[0006] According to one aspect, the present disclosure is directed to a plate having top and bottom sides. The top side includes a perimeter ledge, which has a section configured to receive a portion of a piece of cutlery disposed thereupon, thereby securing it to the plate.

[0007] According to another aspect, the present disclosure is directed to a plate having top and bottom sides. The bottom side includes a slotted section thereupon configured to receive a portion of a beverage container thereby securing the beverage container to the plate.

[0008] According to yet another aspect, the present disclosure is further directed to an eating utensil including a handle and a food-contacting portion attached thereto. The handle has a flat end portion opposite the food-contacting portion, and a support member disposed on an underside of the handle.

[0009] According to yet another aspect, a tableware dish has a top and bottom sides, the bottom side comprising a securing member thereupon configured to receive a portion of a beverage container thereby securing the beverage container to the tableware dish ; wherein the securing member comprises a slot having an L-shaped cross section, which is dimensioned to slidingly receive a lip of the beverage container; wherein the securing member slot has a generally U-shaped configuration having an outwardly diverging funnel like mouth; and wherein a protrusion is arranged on an interior sidewall of the outwardly diverging mouth of the slot to prevent the beverage container received in said slot from being slid out of the securing member. In some embodiments, the dish is a plate.

[00010] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[00011] The following detailed description of the preferred embodiment of the present invention will be better understood when read in conjunction with the appended drawings. For the purpose of illustrating the invention, there are shown in the drawings embodiments, which are presently preferred. It is understood, however, that the invention is not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown. In the drawings:

[00012] Fig. 1 shows a plate, cup and cutlery according to one embodiment of the present disclosure in use being carried by a user;

[00013] Fig. 2 is an elevation of a fork according to one embodiment of the present disclosure;

[00014] Fig. 3 is a bottom plan view of the fork of Fig. 2;

[00015] Fig. 4 is a elevation of a knife according to one embodiment of the present disclosure;

[00016] Fig. 5 is a bottom plan view of the knife of Fig. 4;

[00017] Fig. 6 is an elevation of a spoon putting according to one embodiment of the present disclosure;

[00018] Fig. 7 is a bottom plan view of the spoon of Fig. 6;

[00019] Fig. 8 is a bottom perspective view of a cup according to one embodiment of the present disclosure;

[00020] Fig. 9 is a top perspective view of the cup of Fig. 8;

[00021] Fig. 10 is a top isometric view of the plate according to one embodiment of the present disclosure;

[00022] Fig. 11 is a bottom isometric view of the plate of Fig. 10;

[00023] Fig. 12 is a side isometric view of the plate of Fig. 10;

[00024] Fig. 13 is an elevation of the plate cup and cutlery shown in Fig. 1;

[00025] Fig. 14 is a detail of a plate and knife engaged with one another;

[00026] Fig. 15 is a cross section view taken along line 15-15 in Fig. 1;

[00027] Fig. 16 is a bottom perspective view of a plate according to another embodiment; [00028] Fig. 17 is a bottom perspective view of the plate of Fig. 16 with the plate cup engaged and locked therein;

[00029] Fig. 18 is a top perspective view of the plate of Fig. 16,

[00030] Fig. 19 is a top perspective view of the plate of Fig. 16 with a knife and fork engaged with the plate;

[00031] Fig. 20 is a top plan view of the plate of Fig. 16; and

[00032] Fig. 21 is a partial side perspective view of the plate of Fig. 16.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[00033] Certain terminology is used in the following description for convenience only and is not limiting. The words "right," "left," "top," and "bottom" designate directions in the drawings to which reference is made. The term "beverage container" used herein can mean any type of drinking vessel, including, but not limited to: a cup, a glass, a mug, stemware, a stein, a can, a bottle, etc. The term "plate", used herein can mean any type of dinnerware, including but not limited to: a plate, a bowl, a dish, a saucer, a charger, etc. The term "cutlery", used herein can mean any type of flatware or eating utensil, including but not limited to: a knife; a fork; a spoon; a spork; a spife; a knork; a sporf, chopsticks, etc. The words "a" and "one," as used in the claims and in the corresponding portions of the specification, are defined as including one or more of the referenced item unless specifically stated otherwise. This terminology includes the words above specifically mentioned, derivatives thereof, and words of similar import. The phrase "at least one" followed by a list of two or more items, such as "A, B, or C," means any individual one of A, B or C as well as any combination thereof.

[00034] It has now been identified that there is a need in the art for a plate or other type of dish system for holding food and beverage. In some embodiments, the dish is a shallow tableware dish, such as a plate. In other embodiments, the dish is a deep tableware dish, such as a bowl.

[00035] Technical features described in this application can be used to construct various embodiments of plates for holding food as well as necessary cutlery and/or a beverage container, where the plate may be held in one hand. As previously indicated, in some embodiments, the dish is a bowl or other type of tableware dish other than a plate.

[00036] In one approach, the plate has a large food surface area, and can hold a beverage container and cutlery while remaining stable regardless if being carried or placed on a flat surface.

[00037] As shown in Fig. 1, a plate 10 has top and bottom sides. A cup 120 is secured to the bottom side of the plate 10. The top side of the plate 10 includes a perimeter ledge 20 equipped with a handle receiving portion 30 and a holder 40 configured to receive a support member 80 (Figs. 2, 4, 6) of a piece of cutlery 70, 100, 110. The handle receiving portion 30 is sized and shaped to receive and secure a generally flat handle portion 73, 103, 113 of the utensil 70, 100, 110, which prevents the cutlery 70, 100, 110 from moving laterally. In other embodiments, plate 10 is a bowl or other type of tableware dish.

[00038] Figs. 2 and 3 depict a fork 70 of the present disclosure. The fork includes tines 71 and a handle 72. The handle 72 having an end portion 73 that is flat and generally parallel to a surface S upon which it rests. The fork 70 also includes a support member 80, which is configured to be received in the holder 40 of the plate 10. The support member 80 also serves to elevate the tines 71 by a height h above a surface S when the fork 70 is set down, thereby preventing the fork tines 71 from becoming contaminated and conversely preventing the surface S from becoming soiled by contact with the used fork tines 71.

[00039] Figs. 4 and 5 depict a knife 100, having a cutting end 101 and a handle 102. As in the fork 70 of Figs. 2 and 3, the handle 102 has an end portion 103 that is flat and generally parallel to a surface S upon which it rests. The knife also includes a support member 80, which is likewise configured to be received in the holder 40 of the plate 10. The support member 80 also serves to elevate the cutting end 101 by a height h above a surface S when the knife 100 is set down, thereby preventing the knife cutting end 101 from becoming contaminated and conversely preventing the surface S from becoming soiled by contact with the used knife cutting end 101.

[00040] A spoon 110 is depicted in Figs. 6 and 7 and includes a bowl 111 and a handle 112. The handle includes an end portion 113 that, like the fork 70 and knife 100 discussed above, is flat and generally parallel to a surface S upon which it rests. The spoon 110 also includes a support member 80, which is likewise configured to be received in the holder 40 of the plate 10. As in the fork 70 and knife 100 discussed above, the support member 80 also serves to elevate the bowl 111 by a height h above a surface S when the spoon 110 is set down, thereby preventing the bowl 111 from becoming contaminated and conversely preventing the surface S from becoming soiled by contact with the used bowl 111.

[00041] By virtue of the flat end portions 73, 103, 113 of the handles 72, 102,

112, the height of the support member 80 can be reduced and the stability of the utensils 70, 100, 110 when resting on a surface S is greatly improved.

[00042] The handles 72, 102, 112 can include a hollow portion, which is open to the top part of the handle and which generally corresponds to the shape of the support member 80. As a result, the support member 80 can be received in the hollow handle portion and the utensils can thereby be stacked or nested for storage. Moreover, the support member 80 depicted in Figs. 2, 4 and 6 is shown here as having a frustoconical shape, however it should be understood that the support member 80 may have other shapes that include but are not limited to, e.g. cylindrical, cubic, rectangular, spherical, triangular, etc. Further, the support member 80 can be formed in the shape of a logo, number or letter to personalize the cutlery for special events.

[00043] Figs. 8 and 9 depict a cup 120 having an upper lip 130. A top side of the plate 10 is shown in Fig. 10 with the bottom side depicted in Fig. 11. The top side of the plate 10 includes a perimeter ledge 20, which includes handle receiving portions 30. The handle receiving portions 30 receive the flat end portions 73, 103, 113 of the utensils 70, 100, 110. The handle receiving portion 30 has a forward inclined portion and a flat portion corresponding to the inclined and flat end portion 73, 103, 113 of the handle 72, 1 02, 1 1 2. The channels are configured such that once the handle portion is received in the channel, the utensil is secured to the plate and any lateral movement of the utensils is essentially eliminated. This can be achieved via a snap-fit or a tab and slot-type arrangement. The handle receiving portions 30 can be configured as indentations or channels molded within or cut from the perimeter ledge 20 material. The handle receiving portions can also include an L-shaped cross section defining a slot, providing additional retention of the handle end 73, 103, 113.

[00044] In the embodiments shown in the figures, the support member 80 extends downwardly from the bottom of the neck region of the utensil. The handle has an inclined portion, which extends between the neck and the handle flat end portion 103 and which is inclined relative to the flat end portion 103. By providing the plate with the handle receiving portions 30 and the utensil with the inclined handle with a flat end portion which is receivable in the handle receiving portions 30, a self aligning system which self aligns the handle to the plate and prevents any lateral or rotational movement of the utensil about the support member 80 vertical axis which may otherwise occur as a result of the utensil support member 80 sitting in holder 40.

[00045] Further, the plate 10 includes holders 40, which are shaped to receive the support members 80 of the utensils 70, 100, 110, thereby associating the utensil with the plate. While the holders 40 are shown as conforming to the shape of the support members 80, the holders 40 can be configured as slots, clips or other suitable retention member.

[00046] It should be noted that the support members 80 and the holders 40 can be shaped to ensure that rotation of the utensil 70, 100, 110 is prevented. For example the support member 80 and holder can have complementary square, octagonal, rectangular, etc. shapes thereby ensuring that rotation of the utensil 70, 100, 110 is prevented. If such a shape is selected, the channel 30 could be omitted (see Fig. 14), since lateral movement would be already prevented. Alternatively, the holders 40 can be omitted if the tolerances between the handle ends 73, 103, 113 and the channel 30 are close enough to provide a fixing of the utensil 70, 100, 110 to the plate 10, e.g. via a friction fit. However, use of the channel 30 in addition to the support member 80/holder 40 arrangement provides a greater securing of the utensil 70, 100, 110 to the plate 10. While the plate 10 shown in Figs. 1 and 10 depicts holders and channels for only two utensils, it is noted that the perimeter ledge 20 can be configured to accommodate fewer or more utensils.

[00047] Figs. 11 and 12 show the bottom side of the plate 10. In the center of the plate there is a cup-securing member 50 having guide rails 51, which extend from a bottom perimeter base 15 of the plate. The guide rails 51 act as a guide for a user to easily align the upper lip 130 of the cup 120 into the cup-securing member 50 without needing to look underneath the plate. As shown in Figs. 11 and 12, the cup- securing member 50, is depicted as a generally U-shaped rail. To release the cup 120 one would just push up slightly on the plate 10 or slightly pull down the cup 120 to release the cup 120and slide it out from the U-shaped rail 50.

[00048] It should be noted that the cup-securing member 50 is arranged such that it does not extend beyond the base 15 of the plate 10. The base 15 is configured so that the plate can be set down flush on a surface so that it does not rock back and forth or is uneven in any way due to the guide rails 51 underneath or the U-shaped cup securing member 50.

[00049] The cup-securing member 50 includes a slot 55, having an L-shaped cross section, which is configured to receive the lip 130, by way of a sliding slot and tab type engagement, thereby securing the cup 120 to the plate 10.

[00050] As a result of being secured to the bottom of the plate 10, spills of the beverage contained in the cup 120 are greatly reduced.

[00051] Instead of having a U-shaped configuration, in some other embodiments, the cup-securing member 50 can have two parallel tracks with a L- shaped slots configured to receive the lip 130 of the cup 120. Further, in some other embodiments, the cup lip 130 and cup-securing member 50 can alternatively be arranged as a bayonet, threaded or snap-fit connection.

[00052] The slot or tracks 50 can be mounted on the bottom surface of the plate 10 or integrated into the mass of the plate 10. In the embodiments shown in the figures, the slot or tracks 55 are arranged to extend in the same horizontal plane as the plate. In some embodiments, as shown in the accompanying figures, the mouth of the slot or tracks 55 is arranged to diverge outwardly away from the main U slot or track section so to form a funnel like guideway which causes the cup lip 130 to self- align with the slot 55 of the cup securing member 50 when the cup lip is initially slidably received in the mouth of the slot or tracks 55, delimited by guide rails 51. In this manner, the cup lip 130 can be easily engaged in the groove of slot 55 and the cup slid to the secure retaining position in the groove without the user initially having to turn the plate upside down to visually guide the cup into the groove. In some embodiments, the profile of the cup rim is hexagnonal, octagonal etc. and the groove of the slot 55 has the same corresponding profile of the groove. In some other embodiments, guide rails 51 are omitted.

[00053] As shown in Fig. 13, the plate 10 is balanced on the cup 120, being securely attached thereto. Knife 100 is likewise secured to the plate 10 by way of holding element 40. As a result, the cup 120 acts as a handle for the entire assembly, freeing up the user's other hand for eating.

[00054] Figs. 16-21 illustrate a plate according to some embodiments. Note that some of these figures illustrate the cup, fork and knife in dotted line to indicate they are not part of the plate system. However, in other embodiments the cup, fork and/or knife do form part of the plate system. Likewise, in some embodiments, the cup and utensils shown in Figs. 1-15 do not form part of the plate whereas in some other embodiments, the cup and/or utensils do form part of the plate system.

[00055] Plate 210 of Figs. 16-21 is similar to the plate of any of the embodiments of Figs. 1-15 with the exception that the plate includes a retaining element or stopper 205 integrated or fixed to the cup-securing member such that, once the rim of the cup 120 is slidably engaged via slot 55 with the cup-securing member, the stopper element 205 serves to retain the cup in the fully engaged in the slot 55 and prevent the cup from sliding back out of the cup-securing member 50 . As best shown in Fig. 21 taken in conjunction with Fig. 17, in some embodiments, the retainer element 205 is in the form of a protrusion extending along an interior sidewall of the groove of the mouth part of the slot or track ( the mouth part being the funnel like guideway part of the slot 55 that diverges outwardly away from the main U slot or track section as shown in the Figures). Stopperprotrusion 205 is sized and arranged so that as the cup lip is initially slidably received in the mouth of the slot or tracks 55 and the cup lip 130 self-aligns with the groove of the cup securing member 50 the cup lip 130 slides over the exterior side wall of the protrusion 205, and then the protrusion locks or latches the cup lip 130 in place in the self-aligned and fully engaged position in the cup-securing member. Advantageously, the aforementioned design provides a cup securing member 50 having both a self-alignment and self-locking functionality which is operably by the user without having to turn either the cup or plate upsidedown to visualize how to attach the cup and plate together. For this reason, attaching the cup to the plate in both a safe and secure manner is effortless and easily achievable even when the plate and/or cup is holding food and/or a beverage.

[00056] In some embodiments, the plate including the cup-securing member and stopper protrusion are made from resilient plastic or other material that allows the cup stopped or locked in the cup-securing member to be removed easily therefrom by slightly bending, twisting or skewing the cup out of the slot.

[00057] In some embodiments, the protrusion 205 is elongated and extends along an interior wall of the funnel like guideway mouth section of the slot. As best shown in Fig. 17, which shows the cup 120 in the fully self-aligned and fully engaged position in the slot 50 according to one embodiment, the side of the front funnel like section of the slot 55 that includes the protrusion 205 on the interior wall thereof diverges forwardly and outwardly away from the cup lip 130. The cup lip 130 is shaped such that the portion of the cup lip 130 that sits in the slot adjacent the protrusion 205 diverges forwardly and inwardly away from the protrusion 205. In some embodiments, the stopper element 205 is made of other material or has other shaped configurations that are sufficient to enable the stopper element to perform the cup locking function described herein.

[00058] In some embodiments, fasteners or protrusions 255 are integrated or arranged about the handle receiving portions 30. As best shown in Figs. 18-20, a pair of fasteners 255 are arranged on either side of the channels 30 of the handle receiving portions 30. In some embodiments, a fastener 255 is arranged on the top of each longitudinal sidewall of the handle receiving portion channels and towards the rear of the handle receiving portion. In the embodiment of Figs. 18-20, the fasteners 255 are protrusions with inverted L shaped cross-sections and orientated to face one another such that, when the flat reward ends of the handles of the fork 1000 and knife 7000 are slid onto the channels of the handle receiving portions, the flat handle end portions slot into the fasteners 255 which then retain the flat handle end portions in the correct orientation in the channels. Advantageously, the channels in conjunction with the fasteners 255 assist in both self aligning and retaining the utensils on the plate ledges in the correct orientation. The fasteners 255 are made of resilient plastic material. In other embodiments, the fasteners 255 are made of other material and/or have other shapes or configurations that are sufficient for fastening a utensil handle portion in the channel 30.

[00059] While the arrangement shown is directed to a cup or glass 120, it is noted that the cup-securing member 50 can be modified to accommodate cans and bottles. Further, while Fig. 11 shows a single cup-securing member 50, it is noted that the plate 10 can be configured to accommodate a plurality of cup-securing members 50.

[00060] The dish 10, cup 120 and utensils 70, 100, 110 taught herein can be either configured for single or multiple uses and can be made of any suitable food- grade material.

[00061] It is understood, therefore, that this invention is not limited to the particular embodiments disclosed, but is intended to cover all modifications which are within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims; the above description; and/or shown in the attached drawings.