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.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    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. 
         [0002]    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 
       [0003]    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 
         [0004]      FIG. 1  is an exploded plan view of one embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0005]      FIG. 2  is an assembled plan view of the embodiment illustrated in  FIG. 1 . 
           [0006]      FIG. 3  is a partial cutaway plan view of the embodiment illustrated in  FIG. 1 . 
           [0007]      FIG. 4  is a top view of a portion of the embodiment illustrated in  FIG. 1 . 
           [0008]      FIG. 5  is a bottom view of a part of the embodiment illustrated in  FIG. 1 . 
           [0009]      FIGS. 6   a  and  6   b  illustrate side views of an alternate embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0010]      FIG. 7  illustrates an exploded plan view of an alternate embodiment of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0011]    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. 
         [0012]      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. 
         [0013]    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. 
         [0014]    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. 
         [0015]    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. 
         [0016]    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 . 
         [0017]    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. 
         [0018]      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 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. 
         [0019]    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. 
         [0020]    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 . 
         [0021]    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. 
         [0022]    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.