A variety of situations arise in which food and/or beverage is served and/or transported on a portable service device. Most typically, such portable service devices are trays or platters that define a carrying surface area that is large enough to support a plurality of food and beverage items, such as beverage containers, plates, and bowls, but yet small enough to be transported by a single person. The trays may be sized and configured primarily for personal use to accommodate single serving portions of the food and beverage items. In other cases, the trays may be sized and configured to support serving portions of food and/or beverage items suitable for a plurality of people. For both situations, transport of the service trays introduces the risk of spillage of the supported food or beverage items. Such service trays are also commonly employed in situations involving uneven and/or unsteady support surfaces. For example, service trays may be used on people's laps, as well as in moving vehicles, such as automobiles and boats. Clearly, such applications also introduce the risk of spillage of the food or beverage items.
While it is common for conventional trays/platters to include integral or detachable dividers for defining discrete zones at the tray surface for separating different food and beverage items, there remains a need to retain food and beverage items at a tray/platter in a spill-proof manner. A beneficial improvement from conventional trays would be an apparatus which facilitates the selective engagement of items such as beverage container braces, bowls, plates, bowl braces, and plate braces into a fixed position with respect to the platter, so that the food and beverage items are restrained from displacement along the platter surface.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds