U.S. patent application number 12/054534 was filed with the patent office on 2009-10-01 for food plate with structure for accommodating fork tines.
Invention is credited to Moshe Ein-Gal.
Application Number | 20090242573 12/054534 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 40600891 |
Filed Date | 2009-10-01 |
United States Patent
Application |
20090242573 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Ein-Gal; Moshe |
October 1, 2009 |
FOOD PLATE WITH STRUCTURE FOR ACCOMMODATING FORK TINES
Abstract
An article including a food plate including a surface for
placing food thereon, the surface including an orderly series of
protrusions spaced from one another, wherein a spacing between
adjacent protrusions equals a distance between tines of a fork.
Inventors: |
Ein-Gal; Moshe; (Ramat
Hasharon, IL) |
Correspondence
Address: |
DEKEL PATENT LTD., DAVID KLEIN
BEIT HAROF'IM, 18 MENUHA VENAHALA STREET, ROOM 27
REHOVOT
76209
IL
|
Family ID: |
40600891 |
Appl. No.: |
12/054534 |
Filed: |
March 25, 2008 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
220/574.1 ;
220/574; 30/322 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A47G 19/02 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
220/574.1 ;
220/574; 30/322 |
International
Class: |
A47G 19/02 20060101
A47G019/02; A47G 21/02 20060101 A47G021/02 |
Claims
1. An article comprising: a food plate comprising a surface for
placing food thereon, said surface comprising an orderly series of
protrusions spaced from one another, wherein a spacing between
adjacent protrusions equals a distance between tines of a fork.
2. The article according to claim 1, wherein said protrusions are
spaced from one another by furrows.
3. The article according to claim 1, wherein a height of said
protrusions is equal to or greater than a height of tines of the
fork.
4. The article according to claim 1, wherein said food plate is
corrugated with furrows on another surface opposite to said surface
for placing food thereon.
5. The article according to claim 1, further comprising at least
one heating wire disposed in at least one of said protrusions.
6. The article according to claim 1, comprising at least two sets
of protrusions, wherein in one set the protrusions are spaced from
each other by a first distance and in another set the protrusions
are spaced from each other by a second distance different from said
first distance.
7. The article according to claim 1, further comprising a fork
whose tines are distanced from each other by the spacing between
adjacent furrows.
8. The article according to claim 7, wherein a width of said tines
of said fork is at least double a height of said tines
substantially over a length of said tines.
9. The article according to claim 7, wherein tips of said fork are
blunt.
10. The article according to claim 1, wherein said protrusions
comprise a matrix of spikes arranged in rows and columns.
11. The article according to claim 1, wherein said protrusions
comprise parallel bars held and connected by cross-bars at ends
thereof.
12. An article for use with a food plate, comprising: parallel bars
held and connected by cross-bars at ends thereof, wherein a spacing
between adjacent parallel bars equals a distance between tines of a
fork, said parallel bars and said cross-bars being made of a
material suitable for serving food thereon.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates generally to plates for food,
and particularly to a food plate with structure for accommodating
fork tines.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] Lifting small pieces of food, like chopped vegetable salad,
peas, cherry tomatoes and the like, with a fork from a smooth plate
is difficult due to low friction between food and plate surface.
Since it is difficult to place the fork underneath the food, the
food ends up being pushed by the fork all the way to the plate
shoulder where it encounters horizontal resistance allowing it to
be lifted by the fork.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0003] The present invention seeks to provide an improved food
plate that makes picking up pieces of food with a fork a simple and
enjoyable task, as described more in detail hereinbelow.
[0004] There is thus provided in accordance with an embodiment of
the present invention an article including a food plate including a
surface for placing food thereon, the surface including an orderly
series of protrusions spaced from one another, wherein a spacing
between adjacent protrusions equals a distance between tines of a
fork. A height of the protrusions is equal to or greater than a
height of tines of the fork.
[0005] In one embodiment, the protrusions are spaced from one
another by furrows. The food plate may be corrugated with furrows
on another surface opposite to the surface for placing food
thereon. One or more heating wires may be disposed in at least one
of the protrusions.
[0006] In one embodiment, there are at least two sets of
protrusions, wherein in one set the protrusions are spaced from
each other by a first distance and in another set the protrusions
are spaced from each other by a second distance different from the
first distance.
[0007] A fork is also provided whose tines are distanced from each
other by the spacing between adjacent furrows.
[0008] In another embodiment, the protrusions include a matrix of
spikes arranged in rows and columns. In yet another embodiment, the
protrusions include parallel bars held by cross-bars at both ends
thereof.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0009] The present invention will be understood and appreciated
more fully from the following detailed description, taken in
conjunction with the drawings in which:
[0010] FIG. 1 is a simplified pictorial illustration of a food
plate, constructed and operative in accordance with an embodiment
of the present invention, formed with furrows;
[0011] FIG. 2 is a simplified sectional illustration of the food
plate of FIG. 1, taken along lines II-II in FIG. 2;
[0012] FIG. 3 is a simplified pictorial illustration of a food
plate, constructed and operative in accordance with another
embodiment of the present invention, formed with spaced spikes;
and
[0013] FIG. 4 is a simplified pictorial illustration of a food
plate, constructed and operative in accordance with yet another
embodiment of the present invention, formed with spaced bars.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS
[0014] Reference is now made to FIG. 1, which illustrates a food
plate 10, constructed and operative in accordance with a
non-limiting embodiment of the present invention.
[0015] Food plate 10 includes a surface 12 for placing food 14
thereon. Food plate 10 is of course constructed of a material
suitable for serving food thereon, such as but not limited to,
porcelain, plastic, stainless steel, wood and others. Surface 12 is
corrugated with furrows 16, which may be formed by molding,
machining, carving or any other suitable method. Furrows 16 define
protrusions 17 and the spacing between adjacent furrows 16 or
protrusions 17 equals a distance between tines 18 of a fork 20. The
depth of the furrows 16 (i.e., height of the protrusions 17) is
equal to or greater than a height of tines 18 of fork 20. Surface
12 may be bordered by a rim 15.
[0016] Food plate 10 may be further corrugated with furrows 16 on
another surface 22 opposite to surface 12, as indicated by the
broken lines in FIG. 2.
[0017] One or more heating wires 24 may be disposed in one or more
protrusions 17 between adjacent furrows 16. Heating wires 24 may be
connected to a power source (not shown) for heating plate 10.
[0018] Food plate 10 may be corrugated with at least two sets of
furrows and protrusions, as shown in FIG. 1, wherein in one set 28
the furrows and protrusions are spaced from each other by a first
distance and in another set 30 the furrows and protrusions are
spaced from each other by a second distance different from the
first distance. In this manner, different sets of tableware and
cutlery can be accommodated by a single food plate. The food plate
may be provided and sold as part of a tableware set, including one
or more sets of forks matched to the furrows and protrusions.
[0019] Reference is now made to FIG. 3, which illustrates a food
plate 32, constructed and operative in accordance with another
embodiment of the present invention. Food plate 32, instead of
having furrows like food plate 10, is formed with spaced spikes 34.
In accordance with an embodiment of the invention, food plate 32
includes a matrix of spikes 34 arranged in rows and columns. The
height of spikes 34 is generally equal to or greater than the fork
tine height. The spacings between the rows and columns of the
matrix are generally equal to fork inter-tines spacings, and may be
different to accommodate different inter-tines spacings. It is
noted that "spike" 34 can be pointed, but alternatively can be
rounded, and in general can have a variety of shapes and sizes.
[0020] Reference is now made to FIG. 4, which illustrates a food
plate 36, constructed and operative in accordance with yet another
embodiment of the present invention. Food plate 36 includes
parallel bars 38, which may be held and connected by cross-bars 40
at both ends thereof. The height of parallel bars 38 is generally
equal to or greater than the fork tine height. The inter-bars
spacing is generally equal to a fork inter-tines spacing, and may
be different to accommodate different inter-tines spacings. The
bars 38 and 40 can have a variety of shapes and sizes.
[0021] All the embodiments of the invention may be constructed as
an integral part of a plate. Alternatively, any of the embodiments
of the invention may be constructed as an insert designed to be
placed in a conventional plate. Accordingly, the insert of the
embodiment of FIG. 1 would have furrows as shown, the insert of
FIG. 3 would have spikes and the insert of FIG. 4 would have bars.
As before, the inserts would of course be constructed of a material
suitable (hygienic) for serving food thereon, such as but not
limited to, porcelain, plastic, stainless steel, wood and others.
The inserts may be disposable.
[0022] The present invention may be used with a fork with
sharp-tipped tines or with round-tipped tines. Thus the present
invention provides a safety feature of permitting use of a safety
fork with rounded tips, designed to lift food from a plate with
furrows, spikes or adequate inserts. Prior art plates are not so
useful with such round-tipped forks. Round-tipped forks are
described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,896,423 to Kinsey, the
disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
[0023] The scope of the present invention includes both
combinations and subcombinations of the features described
hereinabove as well as modifications and variations thereof which
would occur to a person of skill in the art upon reading the
foregoing description and which are not in the prior art.
* * * * *