US2550154A - Serving tray - Google Patents

Description

Apri@ 24, 19M

C. KOL ACY SERVING TRAY Filed March 7, 194e WWINWRRAKH,

vmvmnolr@ CHARLES Koma? Patented Apr. 24, 1951 fr 1 orties SERVING TRAY charles Kolaoy, Bloomfield, N. J.

Application March 7, 1946, serial No. 652,496

, This invention relates to trays and in particuylar to trays adapted forhousehold use in the serv- ',fingofdrinks and edibles. l v, the invention is to provide a tray' structure in which a sinuous strip is A particular object of used," the convolutions of which form glass holding compartments, said rstrip being removably positioned in the lends of the tray and being readily detachable therefromv for the purpose of cleaning.

A still further object of the invention is to provide one orfmore flexible partition strips for use incombination with the-sinuous strip so that the tray may be partitioned to present different ornamental eects.

Other important objects ofthe-invention are 1 .the .construction .of a tray, the body portion of` *which may be made of grooved` strips invzhich may be secured the tray bottom,` the parts being held together by a handle at each end and the parts of the tray as well as the attachments being made of plastic, metal, wood, Lucite, or combinations of any of these; to provide attachments for the tray that can be sold separately vto be attached to trays already in use or on the market and to provide a tray structure which is easily cleaned and from which all of the attachments may be rem-oved in order that the tray may be maintained in av sanitary condition.

For further comprehension of the invention, i

and of the objects and advantages thereof, reference will be had tothe following description and accompanying drawings, and to the appended claims in which the various novel features of the invention are more particularly set forth.

Infthe accompanying dra-wing forming a material' part 0I" this disclosure:

4opposite ends of a tray and constituting a glass holder;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of a partition strip, one

or more of which may be used with the glassV Aholding strips.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged section taken on the line ll-ll of Fig. 1 showing the relative arrangement of the parts at one end of the tray.

Fig. 5 is a plan view of one end of a tray showing a modified arrangement of the glass holding strips and one of the partition strips.

Fig. 6 is a vfragmentary plan view of a corner of a trayshowing a modied use of one of the partition strips.

Referring to the drawing in detail I indiof food and having sides ll which may be constructed of plastic or other suitable material, gro-oved as at i2, see Fig. 4, aboutthe inside face thereof to provide a channel in which the edges of a bottom I3 may be seated. As illustrated in Fig. l, the sides l l of the tray may be made substantially U-shaped so that when they are brought together to forma rectangle and support the bottom i3 therebetween, they may be held together by the handlesflll secured tothe ends oi the sides ll as by thescrews or other vholding meansli.y

The tray may be of any shape desired and is rounded at its corners as at` I 6 to provide a pleasing contour, the bottom of the tray being ornamented as at Il, if desired, to provide a `decorative effect. In thisparticular form of the invention, the sides I i are made of Lucite and the bottom i3 is made of glass, it being understood' that any combination of materials maybe employed that will serve the purpose.

The tray til is arranged to have placed in the opposite ends thereof, glass holding members i8 which are both made the same and simply reserved for use at the` opposite ends ofthe tray. The glass holding members i8 are made from a sinuous strip of exible material such as plastic, Lucite, or .the like, which is shaped'tc provide convolutions 2l) joined by the loops 2i, the latter of which abut the ends 22 of the tray while the ends of the strip engage the sides of the tray with suflicient force to maintain the glass holding strip in place. t 'will be understood that when the strip i8 is formed its convolutions will provide Va resilient or spring effect so that it maybe longitudinally compressed to be frietionally seated in the tray.

In order to divide the tray into suitable compartments for nuts,` candy or the like, use is made ofl one or more )flexible partition strips 23, the ends of `which are curved as at 24 to nt the contour oi the convolutions 2Q' o the sinuous strips i8. As'illustrated in Fig. 1, the use of two of the to make both alike and reversely position one to obtain the effect illustrated in Fig.. l.

In the form of the invention illustrated in Fig. 5, use is made of, the glass holding strips i8 in the rounded ends 25 of a tray it, showing the Y adaptability of the strips i8 to trays having diistrip I8 to provide a diiferent tray effect, it being evident that another such strip V23 may be used at the opposite side of the tray engaging the first loop 26 of the glass holding strip i8. The flexibility of the strip i8 and the separation of the convolutions thereof to accommodate the ends of the strips 23 are made possible by the loops 2i that join the convolutions 20.

It is evident therefore, that I have provided a tray the stru-:ture of which is sufficiently simple to permit manufacturing assembly at reduced cost and by the use of a minimum number of parts to make up the completed tray, which parts m-ay be made in duplicate and may be interchangeably used to provide different ornamental effects for the tray.

While I have illustrated and described the preferred embodiments ofmy invention, it is to be understood that I do. not limit myself to the precise constructions vherein disclosed and the right is reserved to all changes and modifications coming within the scope of the invention as dened in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim' as new, and desire to secure by United States Letters Patent is:

l. In combination with an elongated serving tray having a bottom wall, side walls and end walls, a sinuous strip of exible material positioned in each end of the tray and resting on the bottom wall thereof, each of said strips having a plurality of convolutions connected by loop portions, said looped portions of said strips facing with their open sides directed towardthe open side of the other, and a pair of flexble partition strips having their ends engaging longitudinally aligned loop portions of said sinuous strips.

2. In a combination with an elongated serving tray having a bottom wall, side walls and end walls, a sinuous strip of flexible material positioned in each end of the tray and resting on the bottom wall'thereof, each of said strips having a plurality of convolutions connected by loop portions, said looped portions of said strips facing with their open sides directed toward the open side of the other, and a pair of flexible partition strips having their ends engaging longitudinally aligned loop portions of said sinucus strips, said flexible partition strips being of'a length greater than the length of the tray to have their ends engage the aligned loop portions at opposite ends of the tray with the intermediate portions of the partition strips bowed away from each other to engage the inner faces of the side walls of the tray retaining the sinuous Y with their open sides directed toward the open side of the other, and a pair of flexible partition strips having their ends engaging longitudinally aligned loop portions of said sinuous strips, said flexible partition strips being of a length greater than the length of the tray to have their ends engage the aligned loop portions at opposite Y endsof the tray with tl e intermediate portions of the partition strips bowed away from each other to engage the inner facescf the vside walls of the tray retaining the sinuous strips in engagement with the inner faces of the end walls of the tray, said flexible partition strips having their adjacent end portions curved away from each other to follow the contour of the adjacent convolutions ofthe sinuous strips between which the end portions of the partition strips are engaged to hold the ilexible partition strips against movement relative to the sinuous strips.

CHARLES KOLACY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNTTED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 210,688 Haviland Dec. l0, 1878 297,214 Wood Apr. 22, 1384 417,640 Hirsch Dec. 17, 1889 475,980 Holt May 31, 1892 774,479 Lange Nov. 8, 1904 817,148 Allen Apr. 10, 1906 901,747 ASchomber Oct. 20, 1908 1,067,151 Shellhammer July 8, 1913 1,176,697 Blakeslee Mar. 21, 1916 1,229,806 Stober June 12, 1917 1,309,117 Darnall July 8, 1919 1,726,199 Sullivan Aug. 27, 1929 2,126,353 Solomon' Aug. 9, 1938 2,237,861 Poynter Apr. 8, 1941 2,296,028 Gribble Sept. 15, 1942 2,322,519 Ingebrigtsen June 22, 1943 FOREIGN `PATENTS Number Country Date 110,664 Great Britain Nov. 1, 1917 262,205 Great Britain Dec. 9, 1926 384,031 Great Britain Dec. l, 1932 443,389

Great Britain Feb. 27, 1936

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