Multi-Use Plate

The present application claims priority benefit of U.S. provisional application 63/641,912 filed May 2, 2024, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

Current plates are designed to hold food but lack adequate functionality to additionally support a beverage can or utensils. The present invention contains features and methods of manufacture for a single multi-use plate to hold a beverage canister, foodstuffs, and utensils.

Embodiments of a multi-use plate are described herein. The multi-use plate includes a first rim around a perimeter of the multi-use plate that encircles a first basin and a second basin. The multi-use plate further includes a second rim that separates the first basin and the second basin. The first basin includes a first basin floor and a first basin side wall at an obtuse angle to the first basin floor. The second basin includes a second basin floor and a second basin side wall at an obtuse angle to the second basin floor. The first basin extends down from the first rim at a first distance, whereas the second basin extends from the first rim at a second distance greater than the first distance. The multi-use plate further includes one or more support ribs extending from the second basin floor to the second rim towards the first basin floor to increase a moment of inertia.

Various embodiments of the disclosure are discussed in detail below. While specific implementations are discussed, it should be understood that this is done for illustration purposes only. A person skilled in the relevant art will recognize that other components and configurations may be used without parting from the spirit and scope of the disclosure.

depicts an isometric view anddepicts a top-down view of platerepresenting one example embodiment of the present invention. platemay form into two or more basins. As depicted, platehas cup basinadjacent to basin, separated by cup basin rim. Perimeter rimmay form around the perimeter of plate, encircling a portion of basinand cup basineach. Between the perimeter rimand the basin, one or more rims may encircle the basin. Basinmay extend down from perimeter rima sufficient distance to ensure contents placed in basindo not readily fall out, such as liquids, small solids, or other small objects. As an example, basin floormay be 5 to 25 millimeters below perimeter rim. Along the walls of basinthat extend between perimeter rimand basin floor, several ribbed features may be formed in order to increase the structural rigidity of plate.

Cup basinmay extend down from perimeter rima sufficient distance to ensure contents placed in basindo not readily fall out, such as liquids, small solids, common bottles such as beer or soda bottles, common cans such as soda cans or beer cans, cups, glasses, tapered or cylindrical vessels, or other similar objects. As an example, the bottom wall of cup basinmay be 20 to 75 millimeters below perimeter rim. Along a separating portion between the basinand the cup basin, several ribbed features may be formed in order to increase the structural rigidity of plate. Cup basin floormay be circular in shape, and a diameter to allow for a common soda can to rest completely with the sides of the soda can not coincide with the walls between cup basin floorand perimeter rim.

Cup basin rimmay form around the top edge of cup basinto separate cup basinfrom basin. Cup basin rimmay be planar with perimeter rimor the o one or more rims may encircle the basin, and may be adjacent to several ribbed features as shown to increase structural rigidity. One or more support ribmay be disposed along cup basin rimor the separating feature between the basinand the cup basin, with side walls that increase the moment of inertia to help prevent cup basinfrom deflecting towards basinalong bend axis. An example use case is if a user is holding platesubstantially near bend axis, such as with a hand, then the weight of objects placed in basinand cup basinwould cause plateto bend or deflect substantially around bend axis. One or more support ribare configured to increase the moment of inertia around bend axisto reduce the deflection of cup basinand basinin a downward direction.

Support ribmay extend from substantially near cup basin floortowards cup basin rim. A back wall of support ribmay be at an angle to intersect the wall between cup basin rimand basin floorsuch that support rib lipis offset a vertical distance away from basin floor, such as 1 to 25 millimeters. In this way, support ribis a triangular or pyramidal shape, however rectangular, circular, curved, or complex shapes are contemplated.

One or more aperturemay be disposed along perimeter rimor cup basin rim. aperturemay be configured in a slot shape, either a linear slot or a curved slot, with circular ends (as shown) or rectangular ends or triangular ends. aperturemay be configured to allow a handle portion of a utensil to pass through, but to prevent the functional end of the utensil to pass through, such functional end being a fork, spoon, knife, or other similar tool. In an example method of use, platemay be lifted and held by handsomewhere near bend axis. Then, the handle end of utensilmay be placed through apertureuntil the functional end of utensilabuts the edges of apertureand prevents utensilfrom continuing to pass through aperture.

In other example embodiments, one or more legsmay extend down from basin flooror perimeter rimon a side opposite from cup basin, such as across bend axis. From a top-down view, in one example, the one or more legsand the cup basinmay form contact points that are planar. The contact points may be positioned at vertices of a triangular shape.

Basinmay be manufactured from paper, plant fiber, plastic, foam, or other suitable materials. In a plant fiber form, plant fibers may be arranged into a semi-dry or semi-wet sheet of a substantially uniform thickness. A form of platemay be created into two halves of a mold, wherein the mold is made of steel or other suitable material for mass production. The plant-fiber sheet may then be placed between the two halves of the mold, and the mold halves may compress together, forcing the plant-fiber sheet to form around the contours of the mold into the shape of plate. The mold may also trim the edges of the plant-fiber sheet to render the final form of plate, of the form of platemay be within the plant-fiber sheet, and a secondary process to trim off the excess sides of the plant-fiber sheet may be conducted to render the final form of plate. platemay be heated to reduce the moisture content of the plant-fiber sheet and harden plateas a final product. In some example embodiments, a wax coating may be applied to the surface of plate.

depicts a side view of plateanddepicts a cut-away side view of plate, representing one example embodiment of the present invention. In this example embodiment, cup basin floorextends below basin floor. In other example embodiments, basin floorand cup basin floormay be substantially coincident. In yet other examples, cup basin floorand the bottom of one or more legsmay be coincident, and basin floormay be disposed at a higher elevation. As depicted, support ribmay be at an angle to vertical greater than the side walls of cup basin, to form a support rib lipat the apex and joining the basin floor. The side walls of cup basinmay form an obtuse angle with cup basin floor, and the side walls of basinmay form an obtuse angle with basin floor. As depicted in, plateis formed in a substantially uniform wall thickness. In some example embodiments, the wall thicknesses of the plate, including the basin, the cup basin, the perimeter rim, and the separating feature may be between 0.5 to 2.0 millimeters thick.

In other example embodiments, one or more legsmay extend down from basin flooror perimeter rimon a side opposite from cup basin, such as across bend axis. From a side view, in one example, two legsmay each form a trapezius or a triangular shape. In one example, from a side view, the cup basinmay form a trapezius or a triangular shape.

depict various views of a plurality of plateforming a stack, representing one example embodiment of the present invention.depics an isometric view of the plurality of platesnestably stacked together.depicts a side view of the plurality of plates nestably stacked together.depicts a cut-away view of the plurality of plates nestably stacked together. In this example, plateare able to stack on top one another such that the exterior walls of cup basinand basinon a first platenest within the respective interior walls of cup basinand basinof a second plate. The vertical gap between a first and second platemay be determined by the obtuse angle between cup basin floorand side walls of cup basin, or by the obtuse angle between basin floorand the side walls of basin, or another constraining interface. The side walls of cup basinand basinmay be configured to have obtuse angles to cup basin floorand basin floor, respectively, to achieve a desired distance between a first plateand a second platewhen a first plateis stacked on top of a second platein a nestable configuration. A plurality of platesmay be configured to nest together.

depicts an isometric view of platesupported by handand supporting a beverage cannister, utensil, and foodstuffs, representing one example embodiment of the present invention. As shown, handsupports platesubstantially in line with bend axis. A beverage cannisteris placed into cup basin, and one or more foodstuffsare placed into basin. Utensilis placed through aperturealong the perimeter rim, such that the functional end of utensil, in this case a fork head, abuts the edges of apertureand prevents utensilfrom readily falling through or passing through aperturedue to the force of gravity.

The specification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense. It will, however, be evident that various modifications and changes may be made thereunto without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the disclosure as set forth in the claims.

Other variations are within the spirit of the present disclosure. Thus, while the disclosed techniques are susceptible to various modifications and alternative constructions, certain illustrated embodiments thereof are shown in the drawings and have been described above in detail. It should be understood, however, that there is no intention to limit the invention to the specific form or forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, alternative constructions and equivalents falling within the spirit and scope of the invention, as defined in the appended claims.

The use of the terms “a” and “an” and “the” and similar referents in the context of describing the disclosed embodiments (especially in the context of the following claims) are to be construed to cover both the singular and the plural, unless otherwise indicated herein or clearly contradicted by context. The terms “comprising,” “having,” “including,” and “containing” are to be construed as open-ended terms (i.e., meaning “including, but not limited to,”) unless otherwise noted. The term “connected” is to be construed as partly or wholly contained within, attached to, or joined together, even if there is something intervening. Recitation of ranges of values herein are merely intended to serve as a shorthand method of referring individually to each separate value falling within the range, unless otherwise indicated herein and each separate value is incorporated into the specification as if it were individually recited herein. All methods described herein can be performed in any suitable order unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context. The use of any and all examples, or exemplary language (e.g., “such as”) provided herein, is intended merely to better illuminate embodiments of the invention and does not pose a limitation on the scope of the invention unless otherwise claimed. No language in the specification should be construed as indicating any non-claimed element as essential to the practice of the invention.

Preferred embodiments of this disclosure are described herein, including the best mode known to the inventors for carrying out the invention. Variations of those preferred embodiments may become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon reading the foregoing description. The inventors expect skilled artisans to employ such variations as appropriate and the inventors intend for the invention to be practiced otherwise than as specifically described herein. Accordingly, this invention includes all modifications and equivalents of the subject matter recited in the claims appended hereto as permitted by applicable law. Moreover, any combination of the above-described elements in all possible variations thereof is encompassed by the invention unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context.