This invention relates to a device for carrying drinks that is convenient to use and inexpensive.

Background to the invention

At sporting venues, public bars or simply at work the need often arises for one person to fetch and carry more than two drinks which are often in open top glasses or paper cups. Trays are some times provided but are usually large and useful only to the establishment. More often trays are not provided because they are expensive and are lost or stolen.

At some venues disposable moulded paper trays are sold to patrons but these suffer the same disadvantage of any tray namely that the glasses are supported on their bases and can tip over if the tray is not held steadily and they require two hands.

The problem of carrying glasses in crowded venues has not been directly addressed in the prior art.

USA patent 5971139 discloses a one handed cup and plate holder which is made by injection moulding but is not adapted to carrying multiple glasses or cups. USA patent 3908877 discloses a circular drinks holder with holes to support glasses or cups that are wider at the top than at the base. It is more elaborate than necessary as it has an axial handle and dependent legs.

Australian design registration 122762 discloses a two handed tray with six holes to support glasses. This also is large and difficult to carry or dispose of when not in use.

It is an object of this invention to provide a convenient and inexpensive drink carrier that overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art.

Brief Description of the Invention To this end the present invention provides a drinks carrier which consists of a flat body section with two or more apertures adapted to receive drinking cups or glasses and an edge recess to enable the body portion to be held in one hand, the apertures being arranged around the edge recess so that the edge recess is adjacent the centre of mass of the carrier.

This arrangement provides a stable one handed carrier that can easily accommodate 4 glasses or cups and allow the second hand to be free to open doors or carry some other object. By being flat the carrier can easily be formed by stamping and moulding and involves no expensive tooling when compared to some prior art proposals.

The apertures can be any shape that is able to stably retain glasses or cups with minimum risk of spillage. Circular or elliptical shapes are generally preferred. In another aspect the present invention. provides a drinks carrier which consists of a flat body section with three or more apertures adapted to receive drinking cups or glasses and having at least one fold line that enables the carrier to be folded into a smaller shape, the fold lines being arranged between the apertures. Preferably there are two or more intersecting fold lines that enable the carrier to be folded twice. The fold lines preferably allow the carrier to be folded so that the apertures are aligned concentrically with each other. This is achieved by arranging the fold lines to bisect at right angles the line between the centres of two adjacent apertures.

In another aspect the present invention provides a drinks carrier which consists of a flat body section with three or more container apertures adapted to receive drinking cups or glasses and having at least one fold line that enables the carrier to be folded into a smaller shape, the fold lines being arranged between the container apertures. Preferably the carrier contains four container apertures with the support aperture being equidistant from an edge of each container aperture and two intersecting fold lines extend from the support aperture between said container apertures. Preferably a further pair of fold lines extends from said support aperture about a line that bisects the angle of said intersecting fold lines and said pair of fold lines are parallel and separated by a distance that is at least double the thickness of said body section. If further container apertures are required these can be added in opposed pairs with fold lines between each container aperture so that the carrier can ultimately be folded to one container aperture. To do this with one extra pair of container apertures the intersecting fold line will each become a pair of fold lines separated by a distance at least equivalent to the carrier thickness and the distance between the pair of fold lines bisecting the intersecting fold lines will be four body thicknesses.

The carrier may be made from any suitable material that is strong enough to provide stable support to full glasses or cups and which is robust enough to be reusable. The material could be wood or plywood with inset hinges for the fold line but is preferably a synthetic plastic of sufficient thickness to provide the strength characteristics and scored to enable folding. Preferably the fold lines only operate in one direction that is upwardly from the glass support surface. Suitable plastics are poly ethylene and poly propylene.

Detailed description of the invention A preferred embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to the drawings in which

Figure 1 is a perspective view of from above of the carrier of a preferred embodiment of this invention;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of from below of the carrier of figure 1 ; Figure 3 is an edge view of figure 2;

Figure 4 shows three stages of folding the carrier of figure 1 ;

Figure 5 is a perspective view showing the carrier of figure 1 folded for storage.

As shown in figure 1 the carrier is designed in this embodiment to hold 4 takeaway coffee cups or drink glasses of similar diameter. The four sections 11, 16, 21 and 26 each contain one aperture 12, 17, 22 and 27. Although the apertures are shown as being of the same size this is not essential but depends on the needs of the venue. Similarly the apertures need not be circular but may be any convenient shape that serves to hold the cups or glasses in a stable position. The material chosen is sufficiently flexible to allow the carrier to be folded firstly along the lines 33A and 33B so that sector 11 lies on sector 16 and sector 26 lies on sector 21. Pairs of wedges 35A and 35B ensure that the unfolded sectors 11 and 26 don't bend under the weight of a full glass. As shown in figure 4A and 4 B the first fold along line 33A brings sector 26 into contact with sector 21. The second fold shown in 4C along line 33B brings sector ii in contact with sector 16 and exposes the locking pin 24.

The second fold line is a pair of fold lines 34A and 34B which brings sector 11 into contact with sector 26. The distance apart of the pair of lines 34A and 34B is equal

to the thickness of the two sectors 11 and 26. The wedges 35A and 35 B are set at different distances from the fold lines 34 to avoid each other when making the final folds along lines 34A and 34 B. To secure the folded carrier in the folded position a locking pin 24 is arranged to fit snugly into hole 28. In the folded position as shown in figure 5 all 4 apertures are aligned and the carrier can easily be stowed on a hook or placed in a pocket or purse.

When unfolded the carrier is conveniently held in one hand using the recess 14 with the thumb on the top surface and the fingers underneath.

In use the glasses are placed into the apertures and the carrier is lifted so that the weight of the glasses is supported by the carrier and is conveniently balanced in one hand because the recess 14 allows the hand to support the carrier adjacent the centre of mass which approximates with the junction of the fold lines 33 and

34.

In the embodiment as shown the material is 3mm thick and the apertures are 70mm in diameter and the carrier can be folded into a shape that is100mm by

130mm and 12mm thick. Any suitable thermoplastic polymeric material may be used.

If further container apertures are required these can be added in opposed pairs with fold lines between each container aperture so that the carrier can ultimately be folded to one container aperture. To accommodate 6 container apertures an opposed pair can be added between apertures 12 and 27 (see figures 1 and 2).

The fifth aperture will share a fold line with aperture 12 and the sixth aperture will share a fold line with aperture 27 so that all the apertures surround the support aperture 14. The intersecting fold lines33A and 33B will each become a pair of fold lines separated by a distance approximating the carrier thickness and the distance between the pair of fold lines34A and 34 B will be four body thicknesses.

Those skilled in the art will realize that the carrier of this invention has a number of advantages over prior art trays and carriers because

1. it is a one handed device 2. it is foldable into a small volume that can be stowed in a pocket or purse

3. it is inexpensive to manufacture

4. it is robust and reusable when an appropriate material is chosen.

Those skilled in the art will also realize that this invention can be implemented in a number of embodiments other than that illustrated without departing from the core teachings of this invention.