TRAY FOR FOOD AND DRINKS

The present invention refers to a tray for food and drinks, comprising at least a housing to place food and/or drinks.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Trays of food are currently known, which comprise one or several housings to place the food.

These trays are used e.g. in dining halls or public restaurants. The known trays have currently the drawback that they are difficult to hold, because they do not comprise any holding element. For this reason the trays must be held by their ends with both hands, which involves that to take the food or drinks from the tray it is necessary to place it on a surface, e.g. on a table.

In event celebrations where a reception of offered it is usual that the user uses conventional dishes made from plastic or the like, or the user does not use any kind of support for the food, but the food is taken when it is consumed.

The drawbacks of these conventional dishes are similar to that of the previously described trays, because they do not comprise any means to hold the dish with just one hand.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

With the tray of the invention said drawbacks can be solved, presenting other advantages that will be described.

The tray for food and drinks of the present invention comprises at least one housing, and it is

characterised in that it comprises a handle-like lower protrusion .

Thanks to this feature, the tray of the present invention can be held easily with just one hand and, at the same time, the user can eat with the other hand the food placed inside the housing, even if the user is stand up.

According to a preferred embodiment, the tray of the present invention comprises a central housing and a plurality of surrounding housings. Advantageously, said central housing has a depth greater than the other housings and its outer part forms said handle-like protrusion.

Furthermore, said central housing has preferably a circular cross-section. Said central housing permits to place a drink, such as e.g. a can or a bottle.

Advantageously, the tray of the present invention comprises an outer skirt, providing some stiffness . Said skirt is preferably inclined at its bottom outwardly towards the tray, and said housings have their walls inclined at their bottom inwardly towards the housing. Therefore, the trays of the present invention can be stacked from each other. Advantageously, the tray of the present invention is formed from a plastic material sheet.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a better understanding of what has been described some drawings are attached in which, diagrammatically and only as a non-limitative example, a practical case of embodiment is shown.

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the tray of the present invention; and

Fig. 2 is a cross-section elevation view of the tray of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

As it can be seen in Fig. 1, the tray of the present invention, identified generally by numeral reference 1, comprises a plurality of housings 2a, 2b, inside which food and/or drinks (glasses or bottles) can be placed.

In the shown embodiment, the tray of the present invention has a circular plan, with a circular central housing 2a, and five housings 2b surrounding it.

The central housing 2a is devised to place inside it a drink, a bottle or a glass, and the other ones are for food.

It must be pointed out that it is not necessary a circular plan for the tray of the present invention, but it can have any suitable shape, e.g. rectangular o quadrangular.

The tray of the present invention also comprises a handle-like lower protrusion 3, which permits to hold the tray by the user comfortably with just one hand.

Said lower protrusion 3 is formed, in the embodiment shown, by the extension of said central housing

2a, as it can be seen in Fig. 2. Said central housing 2a has a depth greater than the other housings 2b, and its outer part defines said lower protrusion 3.

To strength the structure of the tray 1, it comprises an outer skirt 4, which is inclined at its lower part outwardly towards the tray 1.

Furthermore, the inner walls of the housings 2a, 2b are also inclined inwardly towards the housings, so that they permit to fit one tray on each other, stacking them occupying a reduced space when they are not used.

Even though the tray 1 of the present invention can be made from any suitable material, it will be preferably made from sheet plastic material, which presents the advantage of its reduced cost and lightness, providing also the suitable strength.

Even though reference is made to a specific embodiment of the invention, it is apparent of a person skilled in the art that the describe tray is susceptible of numerous variations and modifications, and that all the details can be substituted by other technically equivalent ones, without departing from the scope of protection defined by the attached claims.