Abstract:
A diet serving plate and system for people who are diabetic and people who want to lose weight which has multiple pre-measured compartments with incremental measurement lines is provided along with embossed legends of compartment capacity for ease in portion selection and size. A storage lid is also provided.

Description:
[0001]     This application claims priority from U.S. Provisional application Ser. No. 60/814,757 (“the &#39;757 application”) filed Jun. 19, 2006. The &#39;757 application is incorporated herein by reference. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     This invention relates to a diet serving plate and system for assisting people in measuring the portion and type of foods to meet their dietetic needs.  
         [0003]     Maintaining a healthy diet is an age-old problem that has become particularly acute with the increase in obesity. It is also a serious problem for individuals who suffer with diabetes and other conditions which require rigorous monitoring of diet. Even if the preferred types of food are known, it is difficult to measure portions in order to insure the proper quantities. Foods are usually cooked or prepared in quantity and stored as such. While most people have measuring cups for preparation of food, it is inconvenient to accurately measure serving portions. Hence, it is less likely that people who must adhere to a diet will do so.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0004]     It is the intent of this invention to address the aforementioned difficulties in maintaining a healthy diet by providing a multi-compartment serving plate and lid wherein each compartment is pre-measured to a specific quantity and provided with incremental measurement lines. It is also intended that there be sufficient compartments to each hold a portion of one of the basic food groups.  
         [0005]     It is also intended that the inventive plate help people who are diabetic and people who want to lose weight by assisting them with measuring the portion and type of food to insure the individual maintains a well balanced diet based on his or her dietetic needs.  
         [0006]     It is also intended that, in addition to those compartments intended to hold basic food portions, there also be provided smaller compartments pre-measured to teaspoon and tablespoon size or comparable metric volumes.  
         [0007]     It is further intended that the serving plate be provided with a lid for safe transportation or storage of the serving plate with food quantities in the compartments and usable as a daily breakfast, lunch or dinner plate. Furthermore it is intended that the serving plate and lid be suitable for use in a microwave oven.  
         [0008]     It is also intended that the compartments be curved to allow for ease in eating and cleaning of the serving plate and that the serving plate and lid be manufactured from such material as would allow multiple uses and cleaning.  
         [0009]     It is also intended that, in connection with the inventive serving plate there be provided a system of dietary instructions for using the serving plate in connection with the user&#39;s specific needs and condition. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0010]      FIG. 1  shows a top view of the inventive serving plate.  
         [0011]      FIG. 2  shows a cross section taken in the direction of arrows  2 - 2  in  FIG. 1 .  
         [0012]      FIG. 3  shows a cross section taken in the direction of arrows  3 - 3  in  FIG. 1 .  
         [0013]      FIG. 4  shows a side elevation of the inventive serving plate.  
         [0014]      FIG. 5  shows a top perspective view of the inventive serving plate.  
         [0015]      FIG. 6  shows a bottom view of the inventive serving plate.  
         [0016]      FIG. 7  shows a bottom perspective view of the inventive serving plate.  
         [0017]      FIG. 8  shows a top view of the lid.  
         [0018]      FIG. 9  shows a cross section in the direction of arrows  9 - 9  in  FIG. 8 .  
         [0019]      FIG. 10  shows a side elevation of the lid.  
         [0020]      FIG. 11  shows a top perspective view of the lid. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0021]     A top view of the inventive serving plate  1  is depicted in  FIG. 1  with a perspective top view of the serving plate  1  shown in  FIG. 5 . As depicted in this embodiment, the serving plate  1  has a top flat surface  2  and pre-measured compartments  3 ,  4 ,  5  and  6 , with relatively smaller pre-measured compartments  7  and  8 . Also shown are handles  9 .  
         [0022]     As can be seen in  FIGS. 1 and 5 , the pre-measured compartments  3 ,  4 ,  5  and  6  are embossed with legends  10 ,  11 ,  12  and  13  respectively which indicate the full capacity of the pre-measured compartments. In this embodiment compartment  3  is pre-measured to a capacity of 6 ounces as indicated by the legend  10  embossed on bottom panel  19 ; compartment  4  is pre-measured to a capacity of one cup as indicated by the legend  11  embossed on bottom panel  20 ; compartment  5  is pre-measured to a capacity of one cup as indicated by the legend  12  embossed on bottom panel  21 ; and compartment  6  is pre-measured to a capacity of two/thirds cup as indicated by the legend  13  embossed on bottom panel  22 . In addition, the pre-measured compartments  3 ,  4 ,  5  and  6  are also embossed with incremental measurement lines  14  which allow precise measurement of food portions less than the full capacity of the pre-measured compartments.  
         [0023]     In this embodiment, compartments  4  and  5  with a 1 cup pre-measurement are provided with incremental measurement lines  14  of ¾, ⅔, ½, and ¼ cup. Compartment  3  with a 6 ounce pre-measurement is provided with incremental measurement lines  14  of 5, 4 and 3 ounces. Compartment  6  with a ⅔ cup pre-measurement is provided with incremental measurement lines  14  of ½, ⅓ and ¼ cup.  
         [0024]     While not necessarily embossed with capacity or incremental measurement lines, the pre-measured compartments  7  and  8  in this embodiment would have the capacity of one teaspoon and one tablespoon respectively. Although depicted with non-metric measurements, the pre-measured compartments  3 ,  4 ,  5 ,  6 ,  7  and  8  can be provided in metric units such as liters or milliliters if so desired with embossed capacities to reflect the metric quantities.  
         [0025]      FIG. 2  shows a cross section taken in the direction of arrows  2 - 2  in  FIG. 1  and shows a cross section of compartments  4  and  5  with their respective flat bottom panels  20  and  21 , which together with the bottom panels  19  and  22  of compartments  3  and  6  respectively from the bottom support for the serving plate  1 . As can be seen, bottom panels  19 ,  20 ,  21  and  22  are flat and lie in the same plane. As can also be seen in  FIG. 2 , the sides of compartments  4  and  5  are curved for ease of use and cleaning. The upper flat surface  2  of the serving plate  1  has an opposite lower side  15 . At the edge of the serving plate  1  is an outer rim  18 . In this depicted embodiment, the outer rim  18  is circular with a diameter of 10.05 inches.  
         [0026]      FIG. 3  shows a cross section taken in the direction of arrows  3 - 3  in  FIG. 1  and shows a cross section of compartments  3  and  6  with their respective flat bottom panels  19  and  22 , which together with the bottom panels  20  and  21  of compartments  4  and  5  respectively form the bottom support for the serving plate  1 . As can also be seen in  FIG. 3 , the sides of compartments  3  and  6  are curved for ease of use and cleaning.  
         [0027]      FIG. 4  shows a side elevation of the serving plate  1 . In this elevation, the four major compartments  3 ,  4 ,  5  and  6  can be seen as well as the smaller compartments  7  and  8  which are fully curved. The outer rim  18  and the top flat surface  2  are also shown as well as one of the handles  9 .  
         [0028]      FIG. 6  shows a bottom view of the serving plate  1  and  FIG. 7  shows a perspective view of the bottom of the serving plate  1 . In  FIGS. 6 and 7 , the pre-measured compartments  3 ,  4 ,  5 ,  6 ,  7  and  8  are clearly seen in reverse along a reverse view of the embossed capacity legends  19 ,  20 ,  21  and  22 , on their respective bottom panels  19 ,  20 ,  21  and  22 . The incremental measurement lines  14  on compartments  3 ,  4 ,  5 , and  6  are also shown as well as the lower side  15 , the outer rim  18  and handles  9 .  
         [0029]      FIG. 7  clearly shows the fully curved shape of compartments  7  and  8  as well as the curved sides of compartments  3 ,  4 ,  5 , and  6 .  
         [0030]      FIG. 8  shows a top view of the lid  16  with a top surface  17 , as well as the outer surface  24  of the lid rim and a lid lip  26 . As can be seen, the lid  16  is circular in shape to match the serving plate  1 .  
         [0031]      FIG. 9  shows a cross section of the lid  16  taken in the direction of arrows  9 - 9  on  FIG. 8 . In  FIG. 9 , the top surface  17  and the bottom surface  23  of the lid  16  are shown as well as the outer surface  24  and inner surface  25  of the lid rim along with the lid lip  26 . In this depicted embodiment, the inner diameter of the inner surface  25  is 10.505 inches and slightly larger than the outer rim  18  of the serving plate  1  in order to insure a snug fit when the lid  16  is placed upon the serving plate  1 . Likewise, the depth of the lid  16  should be enough so that when in place on the serving plate  1 , the bottom surface  23  is in contact with the top surface  2  of the serving plate  1 . In this embodiment the lid  16  has a nominal thickness of 0.100 inches.  
         [0032]     A side elevation of the lid  16  is depicted in  FIG. 10  with a perspective upper view of the lid  16  depicted in  FIG. 11 . Both  FIGS. 10 and 11  give a depiction of the top surface  17 , the outer surface  24  of the lid rim and the lid lip  26 .  
         [0033]     It is preferred that both the serving plate  1  and lid  16  be clear in color in order that the user can readily see the contents. As depicted, the serving plate  1  and lid  16  would be manufactured from polypropylene or other plastic or thermoplastic material suitable for molding and suitable for microwave use and repeated use.