Abstract:
A disposable food and beverage container carrier is disclosed. The container has a lower carrier tray and an upper carrier tray that mate with each other. In another embodiment the two trays can be aligned in the same plane.

Description:
PRIORITY CLAIM 
     This application is a continuation-in-part of application 11,595,050 filed Nov. 10, 2006, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 7,500,557. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is directed to the field of disposable carriers for food and beverage containers for use at restaurants, concession stands or other locations where food and beverages are dispensed to customers. In particular, the present invention is directed to an improved carrier for food and beverage containers that provides a strong, durable and rigid carrier for safely transporting food and beverage containers. 
     Disposable food and beverage containers are well known in the prior art. The prior disposable carriers comprise various configurations, all of which suffer from various defects. The primary object of the present invention is to overcome these defects by providing an inexpensive yet rigid and stable carrier for food and beverage containers. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     A disposable food and beverage carrier assembly comprising a lower carrier tray adapted to receive a plurality of beverage containers comprising a first bottom member, a top member, a handle member centrally located and extending upward from the bottom member and a plurality of beverage container support members each attached to the bottom member and the handle member such that the support members cause the beverage containers to tilt toward the handle member and an upper carrier tray comprising a food carrying container formed from a second bottom member, a plurality of movable perforated apertures in the second bottom member and at least one longitudinal slot adapted to slidingly receive the elongated handle member to thereby form a stable unitary assembly. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is an exploded plan view of one embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is an assembled plan view of the embodiment illustrated in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  is a partial cutaway plan view of the embodiment illustrated in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 4  is a top view of a portion of the embodiment illustrated in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 5  is a bottom view of a part of the embodiment illustrated in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIGS. 6   a  and  6   b  illustrate side views of an alternate embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 7  illustrates an exploded plan view of an alternate embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 8  is an exploded view of an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 9  is an assembled plan view of the embodiment illustrated in  FIG. 8 . 
         FIG. 10  is a plan view of a part of the embodiment illustrated in  FIG. 8 . 
         FIG. 11  is an exploded view of the item illustrated in  FIG. 10 . 
         FIG. 12  is a plan view of a part of the embodiment illustrated in  FIG. 8 . 
         FIG. 13  is a plan view of an alternate embodiment of the part illustrated in  FIG. 12   
         FIG. 14  is a plan view of a second alternate embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 15  is a plan view of a third alternate embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 16  is a plan view of a plan view of a fourth alternate embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention will now be described in terms of the embodiments presented in the drawings. Those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that many obvious modifications may be made thereto without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention. 
       FIG. 1  illustrates the first embodiment of the disposable carrier  10  of the present invention. The disposable carrier  10  comprises a lower carrier tray  12  and a mating upper carrier tray  15 . The lower carrier tray  12 , and the mating upper carrier tray  15 , will now be described in detail. 
     The lower carrier tray  12  is initially fabricated as a foldable flat piece of cardboard or other suitable material. The lower carrier tray  12  is then manipulated at certain folds by a person dispensing food or beverage containers into the three-dimensional form illustrated in  FIGS. 1 ,  2  and  3 . The lower carrier tray  12  comprises a bottom member  14 , upright walls  16  perpendicular to the base member  14 , top members  18  and  19 , that are generally parallel to the bottom member  14 , and a longitudinally extending handle member  20  perpendicular to bottom member  14 . As noted above, the lower carrier tray  12  is fabricated in one piece and folded by the user into the illustrated configuration. 
     The handle member  20  further comprises a longitudinal slot  22 . The slot  22  is adapted to allow a user of the disposable carrier to put his or her hand through the slot to grip the carrier  10  for carrying purposes. 
     The top members  18  and  20  comprise openings  24  adapted to receive beverage containers such as bottles or cups. The present embodiment illustrates a disposable carrier  12  with four openings  24 . Those of ordinary skill will recognize that the embodiment can be readily adapted for a number of openings greater than or less than four without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention. 
     The lower carrier tray  12  further comprises a plurality of beverage container support members  26 . As can be seen in  FIG. 1 , as the lower carrier tray  12  is folded into the illustrated configuration, the beverage container support members  26  remain attached to the bottom member  14  and the handle member  20 . The beverage container support members  26  are generally aligned with the openings  24 . 
     The upper carrier tray  15  is generally rectangular in shape. As can be seen in  FIG. 5 , the upper carrier tray  15  comprises a first longitudinal slot  28 , which is adapted to slidingly receive handle member  20 . The upper carrier tray  15  further comprises a second longitudinal slot  29  oriented in a direction perpendicular to the first longitudinal slot  28 . The upper carrier tray  15  further comprises a plurality of movable circular apertures  30 . As with the lower carrier tray  12 , the upper carrier tray  15  is fabricated as a flat piece of cardboard or other suitable material and then folded into the configuration shown in  FIGS. 1 ,  2  and  3 . When the upper carrier tray  15  is folded into place, a second bottom member  32  is established with four sidewalls  33  generally perpendicular thereto. In this manner, a holding space  31  is formed in the interior of the upper carrier tray  15 . The holding space  31  is adapted for the placement therein of food items after the disposable carrier  10  is fully assembled. 
       FIGS. 2 ,  3  and  6   a  illustrate the disposable food and beverage carrier  10  as assembled wherein beverage bottles BB are placed. The configuration of the ends of the slots  28  and  29  also provide a frictional locking of the upper carrier tray  15  to the handle member  20 . As can be seen in  FIG. 3 , the top of the bottle BB will be forced through the appropriate circular aperture  30  and protrude upward from the second bottom member  32 . When that occurs, the upper carrier tray  15  will be secured to the beverage bottle BB. In this way, a unitary stable unit with the lower carrying tray  12  will be formed. Although the embodiment in  FIGS. 1 ,  2  and  3  is illustrated with a bottle BB, the disposable carrier  10  can also be utilized with a beverage cup. In that case, the top of the cup would not protrude upward from the second base member  32 . Rather, the upper carrier tray  15  would rest on top of the cup. 
     An alternate use of the embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in  FIG. 6   b . In this embodiment, a beverage cup BC is placed in the carrier tray  12 . When used with a cup rather than a bottle, the support members  26  tend to tilt the cups inward toward the handle members  20 . The slight inward tilt will help prevent the beverage cup BC from spilling outward when carried. 
     In an embodiment of the carrier  10  where only two beverage holders are provided rather than four as shown in the Figures, the upper carrier  15  can still be utilized. In the case of a two beverage holder carrier  10 , the second longitudinal slot  29  which is generally shorter than the first longitudinal slot  28 , is used to slidingly connect the upper carrier tray  15  to the handle member  22  of the lower carrier tray  10 . 
     It is contemplated that either the lower carrier tray  12  or the upper carrier tray  15  can be used as an advertising media. This can be done by printing product or service advertisements on the visible surfaces of the carrier  10 . In addition, as shown in  FIG. 7 , it is presently contemplated that the handle member can be adapted to comprise a slot  42  in which a promotional CD or DVD can be inserted. In addition, the slot  42  can be adapted to hold a promotional coupon or other items such as ketchup or mustard packages as needed. 
     An alternate embodiment of the food and beverage carrier  100  is illustrated in  FIG. 8 . The food and beverage carrier comprises a first tray  102  and a second tray  104 . As can be seen in  FIGS. 8 and 9 , the first tray  102  is adapted to receive beverage cups  106 . The second tray  104  is adapted to be slidingly received on to the first tray  102  as illustrated in  FIG. 9 . 
     The first tray  102  is illustrated in detail in  FIG. 12 . The first tray  102   a  comprises a bottom member  108 , upright walls  110 , a top member  112  and handle member  114 . The first tray  102 , as illustrated in  FIG. 12 , can accommodate up to 4 beverage cups  106  by means of cutouts  107  in the top member  112 . The upright walls  110  are generally perpendicular to the bottom member  108  and the top member  112 . This embodiment also comprises beverage container support members  114  that are identical in construction to the container support member  26  illustrated in  FIG. 1 . 
     The handle member  114  extends generally perpendicular to top member  112 . The handle member  114  compiles two cutouts  116  that are adapted for that are adapted for a user&#39;s fingers to fit therethrough for carrying purposes. 
     The first tray  102  further comprises a perforation  118 . The perforation  118  extends through the bottom member  108 , the upright walls  110 , the top of member  112  and the handle member  114 . The perforation  118  is adapted to allow the first tray  102   a  to be easily split in half by the user to create two two-beverage containers  102   a . The two-beverage container  102   a  is illustrated in  FIG. 13 . 
     The second tray  104  is illustrated in detail in  FIG. 10 . The second tray  104  comprises bottom member  120 , first side members  122  and second side members  124 . As shown in  FIG. 10 , the first and second side members  122  and  124  are general perpendicular to bottom member  120 . When assembled as shown in  FIG. 10 , the container  104  is adapted to receive various food items. 
     The bottom member  120  of second tray  104  comprises a longitudinal slot  121 . The handle member  114  on first tray  102  is adapted to be slidingly received in longitudinal slot  121  when the first tray  102  and second tray  104  are assembled as illustrated in  FIGS. 8 and 9 . 
     The bottom member  120  of the second tray  104  comprises a perforation  123  generally aligned perpendicular to the longitudinal slot  121 . As shown in  FIG. 11 , the perforation  123  is adapted to allow the user to separate the second tray  104  into two trays  104   a  and  104   b . The bottom second tray  104  further comprises a plurality of creases  103  and a plurality of semi-circular cut-outs  105 . 
     The first tray  102  further comprises a plurality of slots  126  in the upright walls  110 . The slots  126  are adapted to receive the semi-circular cut-outs,  105  when the first tray  102  and second tray  104   a  and  104   b  are assembled as illustrated in  FIG. 14 . In order to do so, the crease  103  is bent outward causing the cut-out  105  to bend inward therefrom. As the first trays  104   a  and  104   b  are pushed together, the cut-out  105  will then engage the appropriate slot  126  thereby joining the trays  104   a  and  104   b  to the first tray  102 . 
       FIG. 15  illustrates an alternate embodiment wherein the two beverage cup holder  102   a  is joined with the second trays  104   a  and  104   b  by the same method as explained above in connection with  FIG. 14 . Likewise,  FIG. 16  illustrates an alternate embodiment wherein the two beverage cup holder  102   a  is jointed to a single second tray  104   b.    
     Those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the foregoing merely describes embodiments of the present invention and that many obvious modifications are possible without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention as set forth in the appended claims.