A TABLE PLACEMAT IMPERMEABLE TO LIQUIDS WITH AN INTEGRATED

PERMEABLE DETACHABLE NAPKIN

Technical field

The present invention refers to the technical field relative to the production of products destined to a domestic use but also and mainly in the field of restaurants, fast food shops, bars, hotels and the like.

In particular, the invention refers to an innovative placemat, which serves as underplate on tables and on trays, which is impermeable and contextually configured in such a way as to result usable in one of its parts as a napkin to clean oneself during the meal.

Background art

The use of underplate placemats of paper, plastic- coated paper and the like of the disposable type has long been known, and are mainly used in places destined to the restaurant industry. For example, in fast food shops or highway autogrill restaurants it is common the use of said placemats which substitute the classic fabric table napkin .

The advantages are multiple. These disposable placemats are certainly much more hygienic with respect to a classic fabric napkin, since the fabric napkin is used many times by different people before being washed . and substituted with a clean new one, while said placemats are thrown away by each user after use. Precisely for this reason a significant saving can be made on laundry costs, which influence significantly in big restaurant structures. Last, these placemats are very practical and the user generally arranges them freely once he has chosen and bought his own meal. Such placemats are already known from time and generally, but not necessarily, have a quadrangular or rectangular shape with variable measures, but such as to adapt themselves to the needs of a single person. Each single use placemat has therefore such dimensions as to place on it one or two plates, the cutlery, the napkin and the glass with the drink. In general, therefore, they have a rectangular shape, for example in the order of the 30cm x 40 cm or the like. They are used with the same function as tray covers in fast food restaurants during the transport of the food products bought from the counter to the table.

These placemats are realized in disposable materials and are therefore made of paper or cellulose. There exist of many types, from recycled paper to plastic-coated paper for rendering them impermeable to liquids in general in case of spilling of the glass or of the drinking bottles.

Nevertheless, currently, the paper placemat described has only a support function for plates and therefore a covering and protection function for the table or tray on which it is placed. To allow the user to clean himself during the meal, the placemat is instead a separate element that is provided separately. This implies an increase in purchase and management, above all in the case of big restaurant chains or structures. Moreover, the water will always have to foresee and be sure of the availability of two different and separate items, that is the placemat and the napkin, rendering their job more comple .

There exists then a technical problem of how to render versatile a single use table placemat in such a way that it can have a double function, that is . that of placemat and that of napkin to clean oneself during the meal, therefore reducing the quantity of products to purchase to lay a table, lowering the storage and purchase costs of them, and rendering to waiters the management work simpler.

There exist in literature some documents that describe a placemat, for example, that foresees one or more detachable parts, such as US patent US4617215 in the name of Telesco Barbara. In this case, however, the detachable parts are of reduced dimensions, that is they are simple slips that have advertising logos printed on them. They are detachable in order to allow to whom may need them to take away with him as a reminder a specific logo with relative address or other. It is therefore clear that in the US document not only the technical problem of how to render the table placemat more versatile and functional is not considered, but, above all, the solution proposed is not capable of solving this problem. It is in fact clear that the detachable portions are of absolutely inadequate dimensions for an operation of cleaning since they are just slips of reduced dimensions in the order of some square centimetres in order to contain advertising logos. Moreover, the type of paper used is obviously the same paper that constitutes the placemat, since the slip is cut from the body of the placemat. It is therefore clear that the slip does not result idoneous to serve the purpose of cleaning the lips during the meal since the prevailing feature of a placemat is in general the impermeability to liquids and the stiffness (greater thicknesses and more rigid paper) , precisely to protect better the table, while in the case of the napkin, it is mainly required a permeability and softness (paper rich in cellulose) .

Disclosure of invention

It is therefore the aim of the present invention to provide a new type of single use placemat that solves at least in part said technical inconveniences.

In particular, it is the aim of the present invention to provide a single use placemat that is structured in such a way as to contextually serve as a napkin.

These and other aims are therefore reached with the present single use placemat as per claim 1.

The single use placemat (1) described here comprises a first portion (2) which is detachable through a weakening line (4) with respect to a second portion (3) ^' .

In accordance with the invention, the first portion (2) is impermeable to liquids, with such dimensions as to serve as napkin or placemat, while the second portion (3) is in a liquid absorbing material and of such dimensions as to serve as a napkin.

In this way, the technical problems exposed above are easily solved.

In particular, it is clear that the portion 2 can therefore serve as a placemat since it is impermeable, while the portion 3, by simply detaching it, becomes a comfortable napkin in all senses.

The same portion 3 can be folded one or more times on itself, for example, and connected to the portion 2 already folded, exactly as a common napkin.

Once detached, the user can widen it, obtaining a common table napkin in all senses. This further solution allows to save significantly on encumbrance.

Further advantages can be deduced from the remaining dependent claims.

Brief description of drawings

Further features and advantages of the present invention will result clearer with the description of some embodiments that follows, made to illustrate but not to limit, with reference to the annexed drawings, wherein:

- Figure 1 shows a separation phase of the part 2, which serves the specific function of placemat, on the part 3 that serves the function of napkin;

- Figure 2 shows the single la sola salvietta 3 separata dalla parte 2 con funzione di tovaglietta;

- Figure 3 shows just part 2 wit the function of placemat (also called underplate in technical jargon) ;

- Figure 4 shows an initial phase of separation between the two parts;

- Figure 5 shows a plastic-coated sheet that renders impermeable the part 2 destined to placemat use;

- Figure 6 shows an overall view of the placemat 1 in accordance with the invention that highlights the part destined to placemat 2 connected to the part destined to napkin 3 (in a clearer colour since it is in absorbing paper) and connected by the tear line 4.

- Figure 7 shows how the part 3 destined to napkin is preferably folded many times, preferably 3 times, exactly as a common napkin.

- Figure 8 shows the part 3 folded which, in this way, has a reduced width and that can be opened for example at the moment of use once detached.

Description of some preferred embodiments

Figure 1 and figure 4 show a placemat 1 in accordance with the invention.

The placemat includes a first part, or portion 2, which is detachable from the second part or portion 3 through a weakening line or tear line 4.

Figures 1 and 4 both show a detachment phase. In particular, figure 4 shows an initial detachment phase and figure 1 shows a final detachment phase operated precisely by holding with one hand the portion 2 and finishing with the separation of it from the portion 3 along all the line 4.

In this solution, the weakening line is composed of a classic indentation that is obtained by impressing the sheet and creating a sequence of holes at intervals one from the other by a remaining paper flange.

Obviously, equivalent solutions can be foreseen, such as a folding line that represents precisely a weakening line.

In accordance with the invention, the part 2 represents the part specifically for the function of placemat on which to place the provisions in general. Figure 3, for clarity purposes, extrapolates the part 2 separated from the part 3. In order to comply with such a function of napkin, the part 3 is realized in such a way as to result impermeable to liquids. In particular, figure 5 shows a coating sheet 6 of the plastic-coated type which is applied, for example glued, on the sheet 2 which is generally in paper or anyway in a cellulose-based absorbing material. In this way, the portion 2 results impermeable and in case of spilling of liquid it does not go past the sheet itself. In this way, the integrity of the table of the tray on which the napkin 2 is placed is preserved.

Obviously, other equivalent solutions could be adapted in order to obtain an impermeable portion, for example the spraying of a substance impermeable to liquids or the realization in an integral manner of a portion 2 in an impermeable material such as plastic.

In order to comply with the function of napkin destined to protect the table or tray on which it is placed, the part 2 has the standard dimensions of a single use placemat like the ones found in commerce, for example 33 cm x 45 cm with the tear placed at 45 cm from the side. The thickness is generally greater with respect to napkin paper in such a way as to give more stiffness and resistance .

The napkin 3 instead is preferably 33 cm high and 30 cm wide when open. Therefore, each overhang 3', when the napkin is folded, is 10 cm wide.

It is clear that, even if the measures can be different, it is anyway necessary that the area of the napkin 3 is such as to allow precisely a cleaning use. Slips of an area below the 25/30 cm ^A 2 (values below the 5 cm x side approx.) would not be idoneous because they would be rather narrow or small in general.

The overall width of the single use placemat 1 in accordance with the invention is therefore of approximately 55 cm (45 cm + 10 cm each folded napkin) and of approximately 75 cm when the napkin is open.

As previously said, the part 2 destined to comply with the function of napkin is detachable from a part 3 which is destined to a napkin use. It is essential that part 3 is used in a material idoneous for said function, therefore absorbing to liquids and soft, for example common napkin absorbing paper or of a cellulose-based material .

It is therefore necessary that said part 3 is not covered with plastic layers that render it impermeable as it happens instead with part 2.

Figure 4 shows quite clearly how preferably, but not necessarily, the napkin 3 can be folded on itself many times, like a common napkin, in such a way as to save encumbrance and not cause an increase of overall area of the entire napkin 1. Once detached, the napkin 3 can normally be open and used as necessary.

Figure 7 and figure 8 show this concept better. In particular, figure 7 "unrolls" for clarity purposes the part 3 in such a way that it appears in all its real width. The napkin 3 is therefore folded in such a way as to form one or more overhangs 3' .

The same overhangs 3' are overlapped in a folding manner one onto the other when reclosed, for example when the napkin 1 is sold or placed in use when the user detaches the part 3 for clearing purposes.

As said, the dimensions must be idoneous to realize a comfortable napkin that allows its adequate use.

The napkin could also not be folded many times and have, for example, a maximum width of 30 cm or, have a width of 90 and be folded three times according to the three overhangs 3' with a width of 30 cm each overhang. As said above, although preferred measures are indicated, the dimensions can be variable without for this moving apart from the present inventive concept.

Figure 2 shows just the separated napkin which can be a single-ply or a multi-ply one. By single-ply it is intended that the sheet is composed of a single ply, while multi-ply means that the sheet 3 is formed by two or more sheets overlapped one onto the other and held together by means of embossing and/or glue.

The quantity of grams of the paper can be any and idoneous to comply with the function of napkin.

The process of production is the following. A sheet is arranged, for example a rectangular one, in an absorbing material (for example cellulose) . The tear line 4 is realized that separates the part destined to placemat use from the part destined to napkin use.

Last, the impermeabilization of just the part destined in use to placemat is realized by applying a sheet of plastic-coated paper 6, for example.

Alternatively, two different types of paper can be coupled, for example a thicker one and a softer one, and the impermeabilization of the more rigid part destined to underplate placemat use takes place, while the other part will be destined to napkin use and eventually folded as described.