Special receptacle or package – Tray type – With aperture for article
Reexamination Certificate
2000-05-11
2002-06-11
Luong, Shian (Department: 3728)
Special receptacle or package
Tray type
With aperture for article
C206S565000, C206S216000, C206S457000, C229S904000, C273S286000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06401927
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND
This invention relates generally to improvements in food trays which aid in the process of eating food while seated in a vehicle. More specifically, the present invention relates to an innovation in the way drive-up fast-food and its packaging is contained, supported and accommodated to work in cooperation with the human body seated in a moving vehicle to improve the process of consuming the food from the food packaging quickly with a lower chance of accidentally spilling food particles on the vehicle or its human passengers.
Trays for the portable food are well known and in use worldwide. The process of eating food while seated in a moving vehicle involves several common methods today. Today, a typical full meal delivered out the window of a drive-up fast-food restaurant into a vehicle includes a paper bag containing a sandwich and French fries with a separate drink cup commonly referred to as a combination meal or combo meal.
One method is to place the often greasy bag of French fries and hamburger or other sandwich on the passenger seat and place the drink cup in an automotive drink cup holder (if a drink holder is provided in the vehicle). A second method is to place the often greasy bag in the lap with the drink cup held between the knees. A third method is to hold the drink cup in one hand, spread the often greasy sandwich wrapper out on the lap, balance the fries and sandwich between the legs and steer the vehicle with the other hand.
All of these methods have a high risk of spillage of food items with a high risk of soiling clothing or seat fabric with greasy stains and afford minimal accommodation for the forces of vehicular acceleration, deceleration and turning which can cause food items to slide, upset and spill within the vehicle.
The problem of eating in a vehicle in motion while trying to avoid spilling food items within the vehicle simultaneously presents high safety risks to the occupants of the vehicle.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,964,161 to Conway discloses an accordion pleated, boat shaped expandable lap protector tray made of a liquid and grease impervious material to protect the clothing and the interior of a vehicle. The Conway patent defines an expandable, boat shaped lap protector.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,957,276 to Cutler discloses a flat paperboard blank that can be folded into a dual configuration food and beverage container carrier tray with handle flaps that may be folded in two ways to produce two functions.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,915,561 to Lorenzanna discloses an injection molded plastic tray with an elongated body section and recessed areas for food and beverage containers having permanently fixed, downwardly projecting legs to retain the tray positioned and engaging the outer thighs of a seated vehicle occupant.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,497,855 to Sussman discloses a molded fiber paper lap tray having permanently fixed downwardly projecting legs, tapered drink cup holder, a pair of food containers and an annular rim to prevent food spillage while riding in a vehicle.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,441,164 to Beck discloses an injection molded plastic car lap tray forming a combination food and beverage plate with a substantially concentric circle design having a drink cup cylinder in the center of a larger circular food support plate.
Unfortunately, the devices of the prior art exhibit a number of disadvantages. For example:
1. They are ineffective in securely holding drink cups, particularly when the cups come in multiple sizes;
2. They are excessively bulky for convenient storage;
3. They will not stay in place when placed in a user's lap;
4. They are ineffective in preventing food spillage onto a user's clothing;
5. They are ineffective in holding fluidic condiments separately from other food items; and
They are expensive to provide.
Thus there is a need for a tray for holding potentially messy objects such as fast food items to be consumed by a seated user that overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art.
SUMMARY
The present invention meets this need by providing a pop-up tray that is particularly suitable for holding fast food items to be eaten by vehicle occupants.
The invention involves an improvement in the way food items are consumed within a moving vehicle. The improvement relates to a change in the utility of food packaging which offers reduced risk of spillage caused by the motion of the vehicle, providing a safe place to position food items during both hand operation of vehicular controls, improved protection from food items soiling clothing or seat fabric and an accommodation for the collection, deposit and enclosure of refuse for disposal. The present invention improves the utility of such trays with the innovations of a multiple spring cam mechanism for accommodating a wide variety of drink cup sizes, providing a fold-out panel that catches spilled food particles while eating seated in a moving vehicle, a foldable condiment serving tub, a fold-out panel that contains the used food containers for convenient disposal and automatic pop-out food tray support legs that positions the tray in the driver's lap or in a passenger seat.
The tray has an automatic pop-out food tray support leg system that position the tray in the drivers lap or in a passenger seat. By simply pushing on the ends of the flattened tray, leg extremities are pivoted downwardly and outwardly, and other panels are put into motion with a variety of pivots, arches, cam actions and over center locks that cause the tray to erect itself into a 3-dimensional structure that automatically extends a pair of support legs, creates a hollow open space inside the tray, arches the top surface of the tray to add rigidity to the structure and creates a bridge structure with legs on two ends with the tray elevated and supported on the legs.
In one aspect of the invention, a pop-up tray includes a tubular structure including top, bottom, front and back wall portions having hinged connections therebetween, and a pair of leg walls having hinged connections to the tubular structure at opposite ends thereof, the tray having a storage condition wherein the top and bottom wall portions are in facing contact and the front and back wall portions and the side walls are disposed parallel to the top and bottom walls, and a deployed condition wherein the top and bottom walls are stiffly spaced apart and the leg walls stiffly project below the bottom wall portion, the top wall having openings formed therein for receiving objects to be held by the tray.
The front and back wall portions can each have hingedly connected upper and lower sections, the upper and lower sections having facing contact in the storage condition. The leg walls can each have hingedly connected upper and lower segments, the lower segment being hingedly connected at an intermediate location to the bottom wall portion, the upper and lower segments having facing contact in the storage condition. The upper section of each of the leg walls can be hingedly connected along a leg hinge axis to the top wall portion, the leg hinge axes having respective non-linear shapes with internal stresses in at least some of the panels for detenting the tray into the deployed condition. The leg hinge axes can be curved, being preferably concave outwardly along opposite ends of the top wall portion for forming the top wall portion upwardly convex in the deployed condition of the tray.
In another aspect of the invention, a method for serving fast food items for consumption thereof includes:
(a) providing the pop-up tray of the present invention in the storage condition thereof;
(b) applying downward and oppositely outward forces to free end extremities of the leg walls while simultaneously applying opposite inward forces to upper portions of the leg walls, thereby popping the tray into the deployed condition; and
(c) inserting the fast food items into respective ones of the top wall openings.
The lower segments of the leg walls can be reinforced for limiting bending thereof.
In one preferred form, a generally rectilinear tray formed of paper, plastic or other sheets of
Miller Marcia G.
Sorensen Bradford T.
Luong Shian
Miller Marcia G.
Sheldon & Mak
LandOfFree
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