GB2272829A - A serving tray - Google Patents

Abstract

A serving tray (1) comprises an integrally formed polystyrene body, the upper surface of which defines one or more recesses (5, 6) designed to receive appropriately shaped dishes, and a recess (7) for cutlery. The body of the tray also defines an aperture for supporting a drinking vessel, (10) and an aperture (11) for supporting a napkin or serviette. The tray is substantially rigid and lightweight and is therefore particularly suitable for use in party situations where one may need to eat off ones lap or to eat while standing up. <IMAGE>

Description

DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION A Serving Tray.

THE PRESENT INVENTION relates to a serving tray and more particularly to a tray upon which a complete meal and the implements required to eat the meal may be served.

In situations where food and drink is to be provided for a relatively large number of people, such as at a party, a barbecue, a picnic or the like it is well known to use disposable plates, cups and cutlery. It is often the case in such situations that there are insufficient facilities for all of the people present to sit down and eat at a table. Thus people are often forced to balance a paper plate on their lap or even to try and eat whilst standing up. Typically in a party situation one is presented with a plate of food, items of cutlery which may be wrapped in a napkin or serviette and a drink.

Whilst a well coordinated person may be able to hold a plate of food, a drink and items of cutlery, it often becomes extremely difficult, if not impossible to unwrap the cutlery from the serviette and to eat food from the plate with any degree of comfort. Where paper plates are used these are normally fairly thin and therefore flexible. When attempting to eat with such a plate balanced on ones lap or held in the hand, food is often spilt. If in an endeavour to 'free' one hand, a glass of drink is put down on the floor or on a supporting surface in a party situation then it is not uncommon for the drink to get knocked over. Alternatively if there are many drinks on a supporting surface it may not subsequently be possible to identify ones own drink.

Many people find it very difficult to cope in this type of situation where one is presented with food, drink and cutlery and no where to rest any of the items.

The present invention seeks to address the problems outlined above.

According to this invention there is provided a serving tray comprising an integrally formed body having an upper surface defining one or more recesses to accommodate a dish or like food receptacle, the body also defining means for receiving a drinking vessel, said means being designed to support the drinking vessel in a substantially upright position.

Preferably the body of the tray is formed integrally from a polystyrene material.

Conveniently the means for receiving a drinking vessel comprise an aperture extending through the body of the tray.

Advantageously the upper surface of the body defines two recesses designed to receive an insert defining a dish or like food receptacle.

Preferably the upper surface of the body of the tray additionally defines a recess to receive items of cutlery.

Conveniently the recess to receive said items of cutlery is generally spoon-shaped, comprising an elongate handle portion and an enlarged head at one end thereof.

Advantageously the body of the tray defines means for receiving a serviette or napkin.

Preferably the means for receiving a serviette or napkin comprise an aperture extending through the body of the tray.

Conveniently the upper surface of the body of the tray defines an upstanding ridge or wall, the body of the tray having a lower surface defining a channel corresponding to the ridge or wall on the upper surface, the wall and the channel being designed to permit stacking of a plurality of trays with the ridge on the upper surface of one tray engaging within the channel on the lower surface of an adjacent tray.

Advantageously the ridge or wall on the upper surface of the body of the tray surrounds the or each recess formed in the upper surface of the body of the tray for receiving a dish or like food receptacle.

Preferably the tray is substantially rectangular in plan view, one corner region of the rectangular tray being cut away to define a region where the tray is designed to be held in the hand.

Conveniently that part of the tray adjacent the cut away corner region defines a thumb or finger grip to facilitate holding the tray in one hand.

The serving tray may be provided in combination with an insert defining one or more dishes or like food receptacles, the or each dish or receptacle having a size and shape corresponding to that of a respective recess formed in the upper surface of the tray for receiving the dish or food receptacle.

The tray may also be provided in combination with a set of cutlery comprising a knife, fork and spoon and/or in combination with a drinking vessel, the drinking vessel being configured so as to be receivable within the means for receiving a drinking vessel formed in the body of the tray and to be retained in a substantially upright position when received therein.

The serving tray may be provided with a serviette or napkin.

In order that the present invention may be more readily understood and so that further features thereof may be appreciated, the invention will now be described by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a serving tray in accordance with the present invention; FIGURE 2 is a cross-sectional view on an enlarged scale taken on the line II-II of Figure 1; and FIGURE 3 is a cross-sectional view on an enlarged scale on the line III-III of Figure 1.

The tray of the present invention comprises an integrally formed component 1 manufactured in expandable or foamed polystyrene. When viewed in plan the tray is generally rectangular having a pair of opposed longer sides 2 which may be approximately 380 mm in length and a pair of opposed shorter sides 3 which may be approximately 237 mm in length. The tray has a total overall depth of approximately 32 mm. The corners of the tray are rounded and one corner is cut away in an arcuate manner, as illustrated generally by the reference numeral 4 in Figure 1.

The tray has an upper surface 5 which defines three wells or recesses. There is a first, quadrilateral well or recess 5 and a second, smaller triangular well or recess 6, both of which are designed to receive a correspondingly shaped vacuum-formed insert defining dishes or similar food receptacles. A third well or recess 7 is shaped, in plan view, to resemble a spoon, i.e. it has an elongate portion corresponding to a handle and an enlarged head portion corresponding to the dish of a spoon. The well or recess 7 is designed to receive a knife, fork and spoon.

Figure 1 illustrates one design for the possible layout of the wells 5, 6 and 7. In this design the wells 5 and 6 are disposed immediately next to each other and occupy the major part of the upper surface of the tray. If the longer side 2 which is formed with the cut away corner region 4 is considered as the front of the tray and the opposed longer side is considered as the back of the tray then the wells 5, 6 extend over the full depth of the tray from front to back and extend across the tray over approximately half of the width of the tray at the back of the tray and over approximately three quarters of the total width of the tray at the front thereof. The well or recess 6 is smaller in plan area but of slightly greater depth than the well 5, as can best be seen in Figure 2 of the drawings. The spoon-shaped cutlery well 7 has a longitudinal axis which extends 'diagonally', approximately between the mid-point of the longer, back side 2 of the tray and the left hand shorter side 3 of the tray.

The upper surface of the tray defines an upstanding lip or ridge 8 which surrounds the wells or recesses 5, 6, the lip or ridge extending parallel to the edges of the tray where the wells 5, 6 are disposed adjacent the edges of the tray and extending 'diagonally' across the upper surface of the tray between the cutlery well 7 and the well 5. The lip or ridge can therefore be considered to form a continuous wall. The under surface of the tray is substantially planar but defines a groove or channel 9 corresponding to the ridge 8 so that when two similar trays are stacked, one on top of the other, the ridge 8 on the upper surface of one tray is received within the groove 9 of the tray above, thereby preventing relative lateral movement between adjacent trays.

In the rear, left hand corner as seen in Figure 1 of the drawings the tray is formed with a pair of through bores 10, 11. The bore 10 has a diameter of approximately 62 mm whilst the bore 11 has a smaller diameter of approximately 25 mm. The bore 10 is designed to accommodate (and support in an upright position) a drinking vessel, whilst the bore 11 is designed to receive a serviette or napkin. The bores 10, 11 are shown in dotted lines in Figure 3 from which it can be seen that their upper edges are slightly radiused.

It is proposed to provide the tray with a single vacuum-formed plastic insert which is sectioned to define two dishes corresponding in size and shape to the recesses 5, 6, the insert being receivable within the recesses 5, 6. The tray will also be supplied with a plastic knife, fork and spoon which will be received within the recess 7, a plastics drinking vessel dimensioned to be supported within the bore 10 and a napkin or serviette held within the bore 11.

It is proposed to market the trays in sets of five provided with the dishes, cutlery, drinking vessels and napkins. It will be appreciated that each tray provides a complete place setting for a meal for one person.

The polystyrene from which the tray is formed is substantially rigid and thus the dish-forming insert received within the recesses 5, 6 and the drinking vessel received within the bore 10 are securely held in place and the tray can be used in the manner of a conventional tray by resting it on ones lap when eating. The insert received within the recesses 5, 6 cannot, of course, move relative to the surface of the tray and thus there is no danger of the insert sliding towards the edge of the tray.

The tray itself is very light in weight due to its manufacture from polystyrene and is therefore particularly suitable for use when one has to hold the tray in one hand and eat using a fork or spoon held in the other hand. The cut away corner region 4 of the tray is designed to enable it to be easily supported in one hand and a thumb or finger grip may be provided adjacent the cut away corner region.

The tray enables a person to hold two dishes of food, cutlery, a napkin and a drinking vessel in one hand whilst standing in a party environment.

When catering for a significant number of people it is very simple to purchase the required number of units comprising the tray, together with the dishes, cutlery, napkins and drinking vessels. This avoids to need to borrow items of crockery, cutlery, glasses and the like from friends or neighbours when catering for a large number of people. In addition food can be prepared in advance and placed in the dishes within the tray so that the tray then simply needs to be handed out to a guest at a party or the like.

The polystyrene from which the tray is formed has very good heat insulating properties which helps in keeping hot food warm and keeping cold food cold. In addition when the tray is placed on ones lap there is no risk of the underside of the tray becoming very hot due to hot food present in one of the dishes.

The tray itself and the dish-forming insert, cutlery and plastic drinking vessel are not readily broken and if dropped on the floor will not normally smash.

The tray may be cleaned by simply wiping the surface whilst the dish insert, the cutlery and the plastics drinking vessel may be washed by hand and subsequently re-used.

The items provided with the tray may be provided in a range of colours in order to enhance its aesthetic qualities. In addition different colours of dish inserts could, for example, be used for different meals when a choice of meal is to be provided.

When the trays are not in use they can be stacked up and will take up little space in a cupboard.

It will be appreciated that various modifications may be made to the specific design illustrated in the accompanying drawings without departing from the scope of the present invention.

Claims (18)

1. A serving tray comprising an integrally formed body having an upper surface defining one or more recesses to accommodate a dish or like food receptacle, the body also defining means for receiving a drinking vessel, said means being designed to support the drinking vessel in a substantially upright position.

2. A serving tray according to Claim 1 wherein the body of the tray is formed integrally from a polystyrene material.

3. A serving tray according to Claim 1 or Claim 2 wherein the means for receiving a drinking vessel comprise an aperture extending through the body of the tray.

4. A serving tray according to any one of Claims 1 to 3 wherein the upper surface of the body defines two recesses designed to receive an insert defining a dish or like food receptacle.

5. A serving tray according to any one of Claims 1 to 4 wherein the upper surface of the body of the tray additionally defines a recess to receive items of cutlery.

6. A serving tray according to Claim 5 wherein the recess to receive said items of cutlery is generally spoon-shaped, comprising an elongate handle portion and an enlarged head at one end thereof.

7. A serving tray according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the body of the tray defines means for receiving a serviette or napkin.

8. A serving tray according to Claim 7 wherein the means for receiving a serviette or napkin comprise an aperture extending through the body of the tray.

9. A serving tray according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the upper surface of the body of the tray defines an upstanding ridge or wall, the body of the tray having a lower surface defining a channel corresponding to the ridge or wall on the upper surface, the wall and the channel being designed to permit stacking of a plurality of trays with the ridge on the upper surface of one tray engaging within the channel on the lower surface of an adjacent tray.

10. A serving tray according to Claim 9 wherein the ridge or wall on the upper surface of the body of the tray surrounds the or each recess formed in the upper surface of the body of the tray for receiving a dish or like food receptacle.

11. A serving tray according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the tray is substantially rectangular in plan view, one corner region of the rectangular tray being cut away to define a region where the tray is designed to be held in the hand.

12. A serving tray according to Claim 11 wherein that part of the tray adjacent the cut away corner region define a thumb or finger sriXp to facilitate holding the tray ln one hand.

13. A serving tray according to any one of the preceding claims in combination with an insert defining one or more dishes or like food receptacles, the or each dish or receptacle having a size and shape corresponding to that of a respective recess formed in the upper surface of the tray for receiving the dish or food receptacle.

14. A serving tray according to any one of the preceding claims in combination with a set of cutlery comprising a knife, fork and spoon.

15. A serving tray according to any one of the preceding claims in combination with a drinking vessel, the drinking vessel being configured so as to be receivable within the means for receiving a drinking vessel formed in the body of the tray and to be retained in a substantially upright position when received therein.

16. A serving tray according to any one of the preceding claims in combination with a serviette or napkin.

17. A serving tray substantially as herein described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings.

18. Any novel feature or combination of features disclosed herein.