The invention relates to a serving tray, which can be carried with one hand. The serving tray consists of a plateau (1) which can hold food products, like drinks, and a movable handle (6,9a,9b), fastened to the middle of plateau (1), which may take on a stand out, and a folded-in position. Moreover, locking means (7,10a,10b) are provided, which can fix the handle (6,9a,9b) in the stand out position.
The invention relates to a serving tray, comprising a plateau onto which food products may be placed, like drinks, and at least one handle, hingedly mounted to the plateau, which handle can be placed in a first, stand out position and a second, folded-in position.
A serving tray of this type is known from application WO 99/23921. This existing serving tray has a handle that is attached to the plateau with a brace bolted to its upstanding edge. Since the plateau is often used to carry fairly heavy loads, the stiffness of the brace has to be sufficiently large which makes the serving tray relatively heavy, and expensive. The proposed serving tray does not have this drawback and is characterised in that the handle is placed at least substantially in the middle of the plateau. In this way, the serving tray is relatively light and inexpensive to produce and a person can carry, with the handle in its stand out position, for example, drinks with one hand without much effort. An additional advantage is that the serving tray with its handle in its second position may be stored in a stack whereby it hardly takes more space than the traditional serving trays without any handle at all. Moreover, with the handle in the second position, the proposed serving tray can be used without problems as a traditional tray due to the small space that the handle occupies on the plateau in its closed position.
An embodiment of the inventive serving tray which may be produced cost-effectively is characterised in that in the middle of the plateau, a first hinge half is attached and that to a rod-shaped end of the handle, a second hinge half is attached that can co-operate with the first hinge half. Preferably, the first hinge half is produced simultaneously with the plateau, for example in a die-cast process, however, this hinge half may also be fastened to the plateau at a later stage using screws or with an adhesive joint.
A further favourable embodiment of the inventive serving tray is characterised in that locking means are provided, for fixing the handle in at least the first position, therewith preventing it from unintentionally returning to the second position. An additional advantage of the locking means is that the hinge, formed by the first and second hinge halves, is fixed into this position, as a result of which the handle and the plateau will practically form a whole, simplifying the carrying of the tray.
Another embodiment of the inventive serving tray which may be produced cost-effectively is characterised in that the locking means comprise a hollow tube-like object, slidably mounted around the rod-shaped end, that can be slid around the first and second hinge halves in the first position. The handle can then easily be set in the second position by first shifting the tube-like object upward, releasing the hinge consisting of the first and second hinge halves.
A favourable alternative embodiment of the serving tray according to the invention is characterised in that in the middle of the plateau, double-constructed, first hinge halves are attached and that the ends of two rods, each provided with a handle, are provided with second hinge halves which can co-operate with the first hinge halves. Moving from the second position to the first position, both handles are folded out in such a way that they are positioned alongside each other and in fact form one handle. This assembled handle then forms one entity with the plateau, which eases the carrying of the serving tray.
A further favourable embodiment of the inventive serving tray is characterised in that locking means are provided for mutually fixing the two handles in the first position, so that these handles cannot suddenly return to the second position.
A very favourable embodiment of this inventive serving tray is characterised in that the locking means comprise a magnet placed in the first rod or handle, which can co-operate in the first position with a magnet or a piece of ferro-magnetic material placed in the second rod or handle.
A further favourable embodiment of the serving tray according to the invention is characterised in that the plateau is provided with at least one cavity which may at least partly comprise a handle in the second position, so that with the handle in the second position an even smaller part of the plateau will be occupied.
The invention will be further illustrated using the following figures, whereby:
Fig 1 schematically shows a possible embodiment of a serving tray according to the invention in a side-view, consisting of a plateau 1, to which a first hinge half 2 is fastened and on top of which a second hinge half 3 is attached, as such connected with a hinge pin 4. The second hinge half 3 is in fact the end of a rod 5 onto which, for example, a hook-like handle 6 is fastened. The hinge comprising the first hinge half 2, the second hinge half 3 and the hinge pin 4 is assembled in such a manner that the handle 6 can be positioned up-right in the stand out position, but can also be laid down on the plateau 1 in the second position. When the handle 6 is in the first position, a hollow tube 7 can be slid over the hinge thereby fixing handle 6 in this position. After tube 7 has been slid in an upward direction, handle 6 can be moved into the second position, for example when the serving tray is to be stored. Instead of a tube, also other equivalent locking means may be used to fix handle 6 in the first position, for example a ball which is pushed by a spring into a hollow, or a comparable click connection or a butterfly nut that can be quickly fastened. The first hinge half 2 can be integrated with the plateau 1, for instance when the serving tray is made of a synthetic material. It is also possible to attach the first hinge half 2, for example with some screws, to the plateau 1, or one could press, from below, the first hinge half 2 into a hole in plateau 1 and glue it into position, after which the handle 6 can be mounted.
Fig 2 schematically shows this embodiment in a top-view, with plateau 1, the first hinge half 2, the second hinge half 3 and handle 6 in the second, folded-in position.
Obviously, also with handle 6 in the second position, the serving tray can perfectly be used as a traditional tray, without using handle 6, as the handle occupies only a small part of plateau 1.
Fig 3 schematically shows an alternative embodiment of a serving tray according to the invention in a side-view, consisting of a plateau 1 onto which a first hinge half 2 is fastened and subsequently a second hinge half 3 is attached, connected with a hinge pin 4. The second hinge half 3 is in fact the end of a rod 5 onto which almost perpendicular a handle 6 has been attached. The hinge, formed by the first hinge half 2, the second hinge half 3, and the hinge pin 4 has been constructed in such a way that the handle 6, in first position, can be positioned up-right, but also, in the second position, can be laid down on the plateau 1. Thereby, handle 6 is positioned against the edge of the plateau 1 so that hardly any space is occupied on this plateau 1. With the handle 6 in the first position, a hollow tube can be slid over the hinge resulting in a fixation of the unit in this position.
Fig 4 schematically shows this embodiment in a top-view, with the plateau 1, the first hinge half 2, the second hinge half 3 and handle 6 in the second, folded-in position. Obviously, with handle 6 shaped in this manner it will occupy only a small part of plateau 1, so that also with handle 6 in this second position the serving tray can be used very perfectly well.
Fig 5 schematically shows a further alternative embodiment of a serving tray according to the invention in a top-view, with plateau 1 to which double-constructed first hinge half 8 is attached which in turn is fastened to two handles 9a, 9b. In a first position, the handles sway upward and away from the drawing surface, forming one combined handle, connected in a stable manner to plateau 1. To prevent handles 9a, 9b from returning to the second, folded-in position when the combined handle is released, handles 9a,9b are equipped with magnets 10a,10b. Although they can still be taken apart, handles 9a,9b are tied to each other as a result of the attraction forces of the magnets.
Since the applied forces are distributed over the two handles 9a, 9b in the version shown in Fig 5, these handles can be constructed with a moderate thickness, for instance about 5 millimetres. Fig 6 presents schematically, as a top view, a plateau 1 with a hollow space 11, in which the handles shown in Fig 5 may be mounted in such a way that in the second position the top of these units is level with the top of the plateau 1. In the second position, in this set up, the full surface area of the plateau 1 is available for carrying loads. For making it possible to place this version of the serving tray somewhere in a stable manner, four small supports 12a,..,12d are attached to the bottom of plateau 1.