Abstract:
Means attachable to any serving vessel, such as a pan, chafing dish or the like for holding utensils adjacent the particular serving vessel to keep the utensils immediately and safely available for use, while discouraging the utensils from one serving vessel from being used to serve food from a different serving vessel.

Description:
RELATED CASES 
     This application is a Continuation-In-Part of Ser. No. 14/444,042, filed Jul. 28, 2014 and now abandoned and this invention is described in my previous patent application Ser. No. 13/323,718, filed Jan. 9, 2012 and now abandoned. 
     FIELD OF INVENTION 
     This invention relates to devices for serving food and is particularly directed to improved means for holding utensils for use with professional chafing dishes and the like. 
     BACKGROUND 
     In commercial cooking, food is prepared in large quantities and is placed in serving vessels, such as pans, chafing dishes or the like to be kept warm until it is served. At that time, utensils, such as spoons, spatulas, forks or the like, are used to transfer the food from the serving vessels to the individual serving plates. However, between servings, the utensils are usually returned to the serving vessel with the handle resting on the edge of the serving vessel. Unfortunately, this causes the handle of the utensil to project outwardly from the serving vessel, putting it at risk of being accidentally hit by a passer-by and knocked out of the serving vessel, splattering some of the food and causing the spilled food and the utensil to fall onto the floor. Obviously, when this occurs, the mess must be cleaned up and new utensils must be provided to replace the ones which have fallen on the floor. Alternatively, the utensil may be placed on the table, rather than in the proper serving vessel, and may be used to deliver food from a different serving vessel, thereby contaminating the food in both serving vessels. These problems cause considerable unnecessary work for the employees and add significantly to the cost of preparing the food. Unfortunately, the prior art has provided no solution for these problems. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY AND OBJECTS OF INVENTION 
     These disadvantages of the prior art are overcome with the present invention and means are provided for storing utensils safely and cleanly and for allowing them to be immediately available for use, while discouraging the use of the utensils to serve from other serving vessels. 
     These advantages of the present invention are preferably attained by providing means attachable to any serving vessel, such as a chafing dish or the like, for holding serving utensils adjacent the particular chafing dish to keep the utensils immediately and safely available for use, while discouraging the utensils from one serving vessel from being used to serve food from a different serving vessel. 
     Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide improved means for storing serving utensils. 
     Another object of the present invention is to provide improved means for storing serving utensils safely and cleanly. 
     An additional object of the present invention is to provide means for storing serving utensils safely and cleanly and for allowing them to be immediately available for use. 
     A further object of the present invention is to provide improved means for storing utensils safely and cleanly and for allowing them to be immediately available for use, while discouraging the use of the utensils to serve from other serving vessels. 
     Another object of the present invention is to provide means attachable to any serving vessel, such as a pan, chafing dish or the like for holding utensils. 
     A specific object of the present invention is to provide means attachable to any serving vessel, such as a pan, chafing dish or the like for holding utensils adjacent the particular serving vessel to keep the utensils immediately and safely available for use, while discouraging the utensils from one serving vessel from being used to serve food from a different serving vessel. 
     These and other objects and features of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description, taken with reference to the figures of the accompanying drawing. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING 
         FIG. 1  is an isometric view of a utensil holder and attaching adapter embodying the present invention attached to a serving vessel; 
         FIG. 2  is a plan view of the utensil holder of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is an exploded right side view of vertical section through the utensil holder of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 4  is a plan view of the adapter of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 5  is a bottom view of the adapter of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 6  is an exploded view of the adapter of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 7  is a plan view of the utensil holder of  FIG. 1  connected to a rectangular serving vessel using the adapter of  FIG. 1 ; and 
         FIG. 8  is a plan view of the utensil holder of  FIG. 1  connected to a oval or circular serving vessel using the adapter of  FIG. 1 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     In that form of the present invention chosen for purposes of illustration,  FIG. 1  shows a utensil holder, indicated generally at  10 , attached by suitable adapters  11  to the sidewall  12  of a serving vessel  14 , such as a pan, chafing dish or the like. As best seen in  FIGS. 2 and 3 , the utensil holder  10  comprises a first lower flat portion  16  connected to an upwardly inclined portion  18  and a second upper flat portion  20 . The lower flat portion  16  has vertical side walls  22  extending about the periphery thereof and a lid  24  extending over the front section of the lower flat portion  16 . The inclined portion  18  has a pair of flanges  26  extending upwardly and outwardly from both sides of the inclined portion  18 . Finally, openings  28  are provided on the side walls  22  of the lower flat portion  16  and the sides of the lid  24  to receive the hook portion  45  of the adapters  11  to releasably attach the utensil holder  10  to the sidewall  12  of the serving vessel  14 . As seen in  FIGS. 1 and 4-6 , the adapters  11  have a generally triangular base portion  15  having a slot  17  extending parallel to the V-shaped inner edge  19  thereof and having a second slot  21  extending perpendicular to the rear edge  23 . A wall  25  extends perpendicularly downward from the rear edge  23 . A generally L-shaped clamp member  27  has a horizontal portion  29  which overlies the base portion  15  and has a bolt  31  which projects slideably through the second slot  21  to receive nut  33  to clamp the clamp member  27  in an adjusted position along the second slot  21  to releasably attach the adapter  11  to the serving vessel  14 . An attaching member  35  has a horizontal portion  37  having a bolt  39  slideably engaging the slot  17  of the adapter  11  and the bolt  39  carries a nut  41  to secure the bolt  39  and attaching member  35  to a desired adjusted position along slot  17 . Also, the attaching member  35  has a front wall  43  extending perpendicularly downward from the horizontal portion  37  and having a hook portion  45  projecting forwardly therefrom to engage the openings  28  in the utensil holder  10  to releasably attach the utensil holder  10  to the serving vessel  14 . 
     The lid  24  of the utensil holder  10  may be removed, as seen in  FIG. 1 , and has side walls  30  which mate with the side walls  22  of the lower flat portion  16  to allow the lid  24  to be removably mounted on the side walls  22  of the lower flat portion  16 . Openings  47  are formed in the side walls  30  of the lid  24  to receive the hook portions  45  of adjacent adapters  17  to assist in attaching the utensil holder  10  to the serving vessel  14 . 
     In use, a plurality of serving vessels  14  are placed on a serving table and individual utensil holders  10  are attached to each one of the serving vessels  14  by suitable means, such as adapters  11 . The appropriate serving utensil, not shown, for each serving vessel  14  is placed on the associated utensil holder  10  with the serving portion of the utensil resting on the lower flat portion  16  of the utensil holder  10  and the handle of the utensil resting on the upper flat portion  20 . If desired, a lid  24  may be placed on the side walls  22  of the lower flat portion  16  to prevent airborne matter from landing on the serving portion of the utensil. Since each utensil holder  10  is attached to a respective serving vessel  14 , the utensil appropriate for that serving vessel  14  will be immediately available and since the utensil holder  10  is attached to the serving vessel  14  and lies parallel to it, there is little likelihood that the utensil will accidentally be bumped or knocked onto the floor. Moreover, since each serving vessel  14  has a respective utensil holder  10  attached thereto, the proper utensil for each serving vessel  10  will be immediately and safely available, so there is little likelihood of the utensil for one serving vessel  14  being used on an improper serving vessel  14 . Also, it will be seen that, by suitably positioning the hook portions  45  of the adapters  11  along the associated slots  17 , the adapters  11  may be adapted to attach the utensil holders  10  to serving vessels  14  of substantially and shape. 
       FIGS. 7 and 8  shows the utensil holder  10  attached to a serving vessel  14  using the adapters  11 . In  FIG. 7  the serving vessel  14  is rectangular while in  FIG. 8  the serving vessel  14  is oval or circular in shape. The purpose of  FIGS. 7 and 8  is to show how attaching member  35 , clamp member  27 , and base portion  15  of adapters  11  may be arranged so as to allow hook member  45  to engage opening  28  in upper flat portion  20  of utensil holder  10  and opening  47  in lower flat portion  16  of utensil holder  10  thereby allowing utensil holder  10  to be positioned alongside wall  12  of serving vessel  14 . 
     Obviously, numerous variations and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. Therefore, it should be clearly understood that the forms of the preset invention described above and shown in the figures of the accompanying drawing are illustrative only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention.