DISPOSABLE PLATE 2 IN 1

Abstract

The present invention relates to a disposable food serving apparatus including a plurality of food holding compartments for holding a food item; a plurality of inclined sidewalls extended from periphery of the food holding compartment for secured holding of the food item; a rim surrounding the sidewalls of the food holding compartments for facilitating grasping of the disposable food serving apparatus; and at least one continuous perforated line for facilitating separation of the food holding compartments. The food holding compartments are separated by tearing apart said continuous perforated lines to form a plurality of small serving plates, thereby making the apparatus multi-purpose.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] Not applicable

FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

[0002] Not applicable.

MICROFICHE

[0003] Not applicable

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

(1) Field of the Invention

[0004] The present invention relates to food serving apparatus and more particularly to multi-purpose disposable food serving apparatus having multiple compartments separable to form multiple smaller food serving apparatus.

(2) Background of the Invention

[0005] Disposable food serving dishes are frequently utilized for meals at buffets or picnics or everyday dinners. They are in-expensive to manufacture and easy-to-handle and can be discarded after use. However, it is undesirable to use different disposable dishes for different food items and doing so can be a real wastage of money and resource. Moreover, free movement of hands is hampered because of handling extra dishes and the event becomes unpleasant and non-enjoyable.

[0006] A number of disposable food serving devices are available in the prior art. For example;

[0007] U.S. Pat. No. 5,110,038 A to Frank Pantisano & Devine Scott M discloses a standard corrugated paper pizza box that is provided with slit cuts cut through the top panel of the pizza box in a shape to form four circular serving plates with a beveled raised edge and cross slit cuts through the bottom panel of the pizza box separating the box into four essentially equal portions for easy disposal.

[0008] U.S. Pat. No. 9,079,682 B2 to Phyllis Adams discloses improved bakery boxes comprising of removable plates and other tableware. Said removable tableware may comprise scored or perforated subpanels imparted in panels of a box, and alternatively, may comprise separately manufactured tableware reversibly attached to panels of a box. Further provided are compound panels having expanded surface areas for accommodating greater quantities of removable subparts in diverse materials, shapes, and sizes. The invention emphasizes the placement of said removable tableware within superfluous panels that are not essential to the structural and functional integrity of the box, so therefore the food storage utility of the box is not necessarily destroyed when the tableware is removed, said superfluous panels comprising for example, overlapping panels on the sides of a box or cellophane-reinforced panels in windowed boxes.

[0009] U.S. Pat. No. 7,172,072 B2 to Pactiv Corp discloses an arrangement of plates for receiving food. The arrangement of plates comprises a plurality of nestable plates, wherein the plates within the plurality of nestable plates have an animal theme. Each of the plates having an animal theme include a main compartment depicting a primary attribute of an animal corresponding to the animal theme, and at least two independent wells adjacent to the main compartment. Each of the wells is shaped to depict a secondary attribute of the animal corresponding to the animal theme. The plurality of plates includes a first plate depicting a first animal and a second plate depicting a second animal that is different from the first animal.

[0010] US Patent Application No. 2004/0074909 A1 to Gitschlag John Stewart et al discloses a disposable plate for carrying and serving food that includes a plate with a substantially circular food-contact area with a substantially oval rim periphery. The rim is formed to make the plate easy to hold, with grooves adapted to accommodate fingers and/or thumbs. The present invention may be designed to segment the food storage areas of the plate into multiple compartments by using a divider wall. Also, the food-contact area can be slightly domed to force food to shift to the outer portion of the food-contact area and inhibit the food from slipping to the middle of the plate, thus keeping the plate center from sagging.

[0011] None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to disclose a multi-purpose disposable food holding apparatus with separable compartments.

[0012] Further, none of this prior art suggests the present inventive combination of component elements arranged and configured for the efficient solution of this problem as disclosed and claimed herein. Prior devices do not provide the benefits of the present invention which achieves its intended purposes, objectives and advantages over the prior art devices through a new, useful and unobvious combination of component elements, through no increase in the number of functioning parts, at a minimum cost and through the utilization of only readily available materials and conventional components.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0013] In the view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of food serving apparatus now present in the prior art, the present invention provides an improved multi-purpose disposable food serving apparatus. As such, the general purpose of the present invention, which will be described subsequently in greater detail, is to provide a new and improved disposable food serving apparatus provided with multiple separable compartments which has all the advantages of the prior art and none of the disadvantages.

[0014] An object of the invention is to provide a disposable apparatus for serving food items having plurality of food holding compartments.

[0015] It is another object of the present invention to provide a disposable food serving apparatus including a plurality of food holding compartments provided with plurality of inclined sidewalls extended from periphery of the food holding compartment for secured holding of the food item.

[0016] It is another object of the present invention to provide a disposable food serving apparatus provided with a rim surrounding the sidewalls of the food holding compartments for facilitating grasping of the apparatus.

[0017] It is another object of the present invention to provide a multi-purpose disposable apparatus for serving food items that can be departed into separate small serving plates.

[0018] It is another object of the present invention to provide a disposable apparatus for serving food items having perforated lines to guide the separation of food holding compartments.

[0019] It is another object of the present invention to provide a disposable apparatus for serving food items that is made of recyclable, lightweight and durable material.

[0020] In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.

[0021] These together with other objects of the invention, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the invention, are pointed out with particularity in the disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and the specific objects attained by its uses, reference should be had to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which there are illustrated preferred embodiments of the invention.

[0022] Additional features and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the detailed description which follows, and in part will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art from that description or recognized by practicing the invention as described herein, including the detailed description which follows, the claims, as well as the appended drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0023] The invention will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:

[0024] FIG. 1 illustrates a perspective view of multi-purpose disposable food serving apparatus.

[0025] FIG. 2 illustrates a perspective view of separated food holding compartments cut along the perforated line.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0026] In the following detailed description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof and in which is shown by way of illustration specific embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. These embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention, and it is to be understood that the embodiments may be combined, or that other embodiments may be utilized and that structural and logical changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. The following detailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

[0027] Referring now to the drawings, wherein like reference characters designate identical or corresponding parts throughout the figures, and in particular FIGS. 1 to 2 shows various embodiments of the multi-purpose disposable food serving apparatus in accordance with the present invention.

[0028] In general, present invention provides a disposable food serving apparatus having a plurality of food holding compartments 1 for facilitating holding of food items. The food holding compartments 1 can be separated by tearing them apart along the continuous perforated line 4 to form plurality of small serving plates 5 as per the requirement. The disposable food serving apparatus is made of eco-friendly light weight durable material that makes the apparatus handy and capable enough to hold variety of food items.

[0029] Referring now to FIG. 1, the multi-purpose disposable food serving apparatus comprises of plurality of food holding compartments 1 that have a hollow area for securing the food item in it. Each of the food holding compartment 1 is provided with plurality of inclined sidewalls 2 that extends from periphery of the food holding compartment 1. The sidewalls 2 around the food holding compartments 1 aid in preventing the food item from falling off the apparatus. The sidewalls 2 are further surrounded with a rim 3 that facilitates a firm grasping of the disposable food serving apparatus by a person using the multi-purpose food serving apparatus. At least one continuous perforated line 4 runs between the food holding compartments 1 for facilitating separation of the compartments 1.

[0030] Referring to FIG. 2 of the present invention, the plurality of food holding compartments 1 separated to form small serving plates 5 are shown. Each of the food holding compartments 1 are torn apart to form multiple small serving plates 05 with the help of continuous perforated lines 4 that extend along the rims 03 of at least two adjacent connected food holding compartments 1. This characteristic of the apparatus makes it multi-purpose, which can be used either as it is for a complete meal or can be divided into small serving plates 5 for consuming food items like, ice-creams, cakes, sweets, yogurt, etc. as per the need of the person.

[0031] In one of the most preferred embodiments of the present invention, the multi-purpose disposable food serving apparatus is made of Styrofoam including the sidewalls 2 inclined at an angle of 90.degree. from the periphery of each food holding compartments 1 thereby preventing the food item from falling from the food compartments 1 of the apparatus. Likewise, the rim 3 on top of the sidewalls 2 also extends at an angle of 90.degree. from the sidewalls 2 thereby providing an area for holding the apparatus while using the apparatus. Further, in this particular embodiment, the multi-purpose food serving apparatus contains four equal sized food holding compartments 1 and the compartments 1 are square in shape.

[0032] In various possible embodiments of the present invention, the multi-purpose food serving apparatus is made of recyclable lightweight durable material selected from the group of Styrofoam, paper, corrugated sheets, polystyrene, plastic, bamboo, corn or combination thereof. The size of the apparatus may vary according to demand. Generally, the apparatus is designed to be square, rectangular, or circular, however, the shapes are not limited and may vary.

[0033] It is to be understood that the above description is intended to be illustrative, and not restrictive. For example, the above-discussed embodiments may be used in combination with each other. Many other embodiments will be apparent to those of skill in the art upon reviewing the above description.

[0034] While the present invention has been described with reference to particular embodiments, it should be understood that the embodiments are illustrative and that the scope of the invention is not limited to these embodiments. Many variations, modifications, additions and improvements to the embodiments described above are possible. It is contemplated that these variations, modifications, additions and improvements fall within the scope of the invention.

Claims

1) A multi-purpose disposable food serving apparatus comprising: a. a plurality of food holding compartments for holding a food item; b. a plurality of inclined sidewalls extended from periphery of the food holding compartment for secured holding of the food item; c. a rim surrounding the sidewalls of the food holding compartments for facilitating grasping of the disposable food serving apparatus; and d. at least one continuous perforated line for facilitating separation of the food holding compartments.

2) The multi-purpose disposable food serving apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said sidewalls are inclined at an angle at least 90.degree. from periphery of said food holding compartments to provide a hollow area for securing the food item.

3) The multi-purpose disposable food serving apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said continuous perforation lines extend across said rims of at least two adjacent connected said food holding compartments.

4) The disposable food serving apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said plurality of food holding compartments are separated by tearing apart said continuous perforated lines to form a plurality of small serving plates.

5) The disposable food serving apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said apparatus is composed of recyclable lightweight durable material selected from the group of Styrofoam, paper, corrugated sheets, polystyrene, plastic, bamboo, corn or combination thereof.