Horizontally supported planar surfaces – Plural related horizontal surfaces – Detachable enlarging or substitute surface
Reexamination Certificate
2001-02-21
2003-06-17
Chen, Jose V. (Department: 3637)
Horizontally supported planar surfaces
Plural related horizontal surfaces
Detachable enlarging or substitute surface
Reexamination Certificate
active
06578499
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Disposable plates and bowls are very convenient for picnics and outdoor eating events along with disposable tablecloths. However, the lightweight disposable dishes have the obvious outdoor problem of being blown away by the wind. This causes aggravation and litter. Another problem in some parts of the country is the attraction of mosquitoes to the scented food and people. It is generally not considered acceptable to spray mosquito repellent chemicals around food for reasons of safety and taste.
One potential solution to the problem of picnic dishes being blown away is to add an adhesive to the bottom of the dishes. This is taught in Brown (U.S. Pat. No. 3,080,997) and Uchanski (U.S. Pat. No. 3,847,324). However, both of these inventions are based on the use of conventional adhesives which would not function in a system with a disposable tablecloth.
For example, Brown teaches (column one, line 60, 1-63) the use of a “conventional pressure sensitive type” of adhesive. This is acceptable for the desired purpose which was to minimize the risk of the ashtray being overturned and causing a fire. But, such an adhesive would tear a disposable paper or plastic picnic tablecloth. Thus it would be extremely inconvenient for use in a picnic in which one might like to reposition the plate, rotate it, or pick it up and return to the table after a second helping. The Brown adhesive requires a release liner for separation from other ashtrays in the stacking as described in column 1 lines 63 to column 2 line 1 and column 2 lines 8 and 9. Such a release liner is inconvenient for use in a picnic environment as it doubles the amount of litter that is produced in addition to the fact that the adhesive does not allow for repositioning.
The Uchanski patent also teaches the use of conventional adhesives underneath dishware. In this case they are a drinking glass and a plate. Again the patent teaches the use of strong adhesives such that the glasses would not tip even if a serving tray were to be rocked. While this may prove to be a useful device (although not in commercial use) such an adhesive would be clearly too strong for picnic use since it would tend to tear the disposable table cloths. It would also be awkward to pick up and drink from. Again, such strong adhesive requires the use of release liners in order to separate the plates or cups as discussed in column 2 lines 1-4.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In spite of the need for a wind resistant picnic dish which is repositionable, there has been no such invention taught to date. There is no teaching of the use of a nontoxic adhesive to allow the direct stacking of dishes on top of one another. One aspect of this invention is a picnic dish with adhesives having low peel removal forces to allow repositioning made by a novel construction technique. A further aspect is a picnic table cloth with adhesives attached. A further aspect is a table cloth with a mild insect repellent. Another aspect is a method of packaging the above items.
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Kroll Karl J. F.
Kroll Lori C.
Kroll Mark W.
Chen José V.
Kroll Family Trust
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