Patent Publication Number: US-2023146567-A1

Title: Food and beverage carrier

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     This invention relates to food and beverage carriers and, in particular, to food and beverage carriers that are particularly suitable for use in food deliveries from restaurants. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     As delivery of prepared food and drink is becoming more popular and mainstream with new phone applications making ordering easy and accessible, there are a number of issues that arise with food and drink delivery via vehicle transportation. 
     First, fountain drinks, which are often ordered, when placed in a vehicle as is often done to transport them, whether or not they are in a bag, are very susceptible to spilling, especially should they topple over or even just lean over when the vehicle turns or makes sudden moves. This can occur even when the fountain drink is placed in a box on the floor of the passenger cabin or in the trunk area. Such spills can make a mess in the vehicle and reduce the amount of the drink delivered to the customer, which might upset the customer and cost the driver his tip. 
     Thus, oftentimes, when a customer orders one or more fountain drinks, the delivery driver will put them into respective cup holders in the vehicle in an attempt to prevent spills. This is inconvenient and time consuming because the drinks must be removed from whatever they were being carried into the vehicle and then placed individually in the cup holders and at the delivery location the process must be removed. Also, regular vehicles usually have a limited number of cup holders and so may not be able to accommodate all of the drinks ordered. Furthermore, one or more of the fountain drinks that are ordered may be of such a size that it does not fit into the delivery driver&#39;s vehicle&#39;s cup holder, thus preventing use of this technique. 
     Second, during the time it takes to get the food from the source, e.g., a restaurant or take-out place, to the delivery destination, the temperature of food may be affected, where hot food may be delivered cold, and vice versa. This may be exacerbated when hot food is placed adjacent to cold drinks and vice-versa. 
     It would therefore be advantageous to provide a solution that would overcome the challenges noted above. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     A summary of several example embodiments of the disclosure follows. This summary is provided for the convenience of the reader to provide a basic understanding of such embodiments and does not wholly define the breadth of the disclosure. This summary is not an extensive overview of all contemplated embodiments, and is intended to neither identify key or critical elements of all embodiments nor to delineate the scope of any or all aspects. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of one or more embodiments in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later. For convenience, the term “certain embodiments” may be used herein to refer to a single embodiment or multiple embodiments of the disclosure. 
     Certain embodiments disclosed herein include a carrier for holding food and at least one drink. The carrier comprises a housing having a top opening, the housing being adapted to have placed therein prepared food from a supplier of cooked take-out food; a lid portion, the lid portion being mateable to the housing such that the lid portion covers at least a portion of the top opening when mated to the housing, the lid having therein a receptacle area for accepting a separate drink carrier that is adapted to hold a plurality of drinks, at least two of the plurality of drinks being holdable in respective individual accommodations of the drink carrier; and at least one strap coupled to the housing for fastening the carrier to a vehicle. 
     Certain embodiments disclosed herein include a carrier for holding food and at least one drink. The carrier comprises a housing having a top opening, the housing being adapted to have placed therein prepared food from a supplier of cooked take-out food; a shelf, the shelf being disposed within the housing to cover at least a portion of the area of the housing, the shelf having therein a receptacle area for accepting a separate drink carrier adapted to hold a plurality of drinks, at least two of the plurality of drinks being holdable in respective individual accommodations of the drink carrier; and at least one strap coupled to the housing for coupling the carrier to an vehicle. 
     Certain embodiments disclosed herein include a carrier for holding food and at least one drink. The carrier comprises a housing having a top opening, the housing being adapted to have placed therein prepared food from a supplier of prepared take-out food and drink; a lid, the lid being mateable to the housing to cover at least a portion of the top opening when mated to the housing, the lid having therein a receptacle area for accepting a separate drink carrier adapted to hold a plurality of drinks, at least two of the plurality of drinks being held in respective individual accommodations of the carrier; wherein at least one of the drinks is not a factory sealed drink; and at least one strap coupled to the housing for coupling the carrier to a vehicle. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING 
       In the drawing: 
         FIG.  1    shows a take-out carrier with a portion of the housing not covered by a lid; 
         FIG.  2    shows the take-out carrier of  FIG.  1    but with a drink carrier inserted into a receptacle area of lid portion; 
         FIG.  3    shows a take-out carrier with a shelf interior thereto having a receptacle area for a drink carrier; 
         FIG.  4    shows the take-out carrier of  FIG.  3    but with a drink carrier inserted into a receptacle area of lid portion; 
         FIG.  5    shows a take-out carrier where the entirety of the housing is covered by a lid; 
         FIG.  6    shows the take-out carrier of  FIG.  5    but with a drink carrier inserted into a receptacle area of the lid; and 
         FIG.  7    shows a sliding panel mounted to a lid to adjust the size of a receptacle area to accommodate different sized drink carriers. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     It is important to note that the embodiments disclosed herein are only examples of the many advantageous uses of the innovative teachings herein. In general, statements made in the specification of the present application do not necessarily limit any of the various claimed embodiments. Moreover, some statements may apply to some inventive features but not to others. In general, unless otherwise indicated, singular elements may be in plural and vice versa with no loss of generality. In the drawings, like numerals refer to like parts through several views. The following merely illustrates the principles of the invention. It will thus be appreciated that those skilled in the art will be able to devise various arrangements that, although not explicitly described or shown herein, embody the principles of the invention and are included within its spirit and scope. Furthermore, all examples and conditional language recited herein are principally intended expressly to be only for pedagogical purposes to aid the reader in understanding the principles of the invention and the concepts contributed by the inventor(s) to furthering the art, and are to be construed as being without limitation to such specifically recited examples and conditions. Moreover, all statements herein reciting principles, aspects, and embodiments of the invention, as well as specific examples thereof, are intended to encompass both structural and functional equivalents thereof. Additionally, it is intended that such equivalents include both currently known equivalents as well as equivalents developed in the future, i.e., any elements developed that perform the same function, regardless of structure. 
     Unless otherwise explicitly specified herein, the drawings are not drawn to scale. 
     In the description, identically numbered components within different ones of the FIGS. refer to components that are substantially the same. 
     In order to avoid the above noted problems with delivering food and drink a carrier for food and drink is disclosed that includes an opening in a portion thereof to accept and hold a separate carrier that is adapted to hold a plurality of plurality of drinks, being especially useful for drinks such as fountain drinks such as is often supplied by a provider of cooked take-out food for delivery. In one embodiment, the portion that accepts the separate carrier may be a lid of the carrier, which may only be a partial covering of the carrier. In one embodiment, the portion that accepts the separate carrier may be a shelf located within the carrier, which may only be a partial shelf, i.e., a shelf that extends over only part of the interior of the carrier. 
       FIG.  1    shows take-out carrier  100  with a portion of housing  101  thereof not covered by lid. Housing  101  may be any shape, but for convenience of use in vehicles such as automobiles it may be box-shaped. In one embodiment, housing  101  may have at least a portion thereof, e.g., base portion  103 , that is a hollow rectangular parallelepiped. In another embodiment, embodiment, housing  101  may have at least a portion thereof, e.g., base portion  103 , that is cuboid shaped. In some embodiments, one of the faces of housing  101  may be curved, e.g., gently curved, so as to better align with a vehicle&#39;s seat back, which may have a gentle curve. 
     In one embodiment, housing  101  is made of substantially rigid materials so that it holds its shape even should it move around in a vehicle. Housing  101  may be insulated to reduce temperature change between housing  101  and the environment exterior thereto. 
     Lid  105  is mateable to housing  101 . Housing  101  has at least one portion at the top thereof that is not sealed over, e.g., to allow access to the interior of housing  101 . Lid  105  mates to housing  101  so as to cover at least a portion of its top opening. In  FIG.  1    generally the portion of the top opening covered by lid  105  cannot be seen when lid  105  is in place, i.e., mated to cover the portion the top opening. However, the opening can be seen through receptacle area  107 , which is an open portion of lid  105 . Lid  105  may be insulated. 
     Portion  109  is another portion of the top opening of housing  101 . Although  FIG.  1    shows two different heights for two sections of the top opening of housing  101  such is not required. The housing may be all of the same height with the top opening being all the way across the top of housing  101 . Furthermore, although lid  105  is shown in  FIG.  1    as only extending across a portion of the top opening of housing  101 , the amount that lid  105  extends is not limited to that which is shown but may be any amount, including being over the entirety of the top opening of housing  101 . In one embodiment, part, or all of portion  109  may be covered by an additional lid portion or separate lid, not shown. Such additional lid portion or separate lid may be insulated to reduce temperature change within the portion of housing  101  covered by the additional lid portion or separate lid. 
     Receptacle area  107  of lid  105  accepts a separate drink carrier that is adapted to hold a plurality of drinks, at least two of the plurality of drinks being held in respective individual accommodations, i.e., compartments, which are typically shaped like the bottom of drink containers, of the carrier. Receptacle area  107  of lid  105  is an opening through lid  105  that is sized to accept drink carrier  251  ( FIG.  2   ). Drink carrier  251  is shown inserted into receptacle area  107  of lid  105  in  FIG.  2   . 
     Lid  105  may have various mechanisms therein or thereon that allow for the adjustment of the size of receptacle area  107  so as to be able to accommodate different drink carriers. One such mechanism may be sliding and locking panels. 
     At least one strap  111 , two of which are shown in  FIG.  1   , are used to attach take-out carrier  100  to the vehicle in which it will be mounted, e.g., to a seat thereof. Typically, but not necessarily, at least one of straps  111  will have an arrangement for easily releasing take-out carrier  100  from the vehicle. Such an arrangement may include buckles or clips, e.g., buckles  113 . 
     In one embodiment, at least one strap  111  is arranged so as to pass through opening  115  in lid  105 . Doing so helps stabilize lid  105  to prevent spilling of the beverages in drink carrier  251  ( FIG.  2   ). 
     In one embodiment, take-out carrier  100  may include at least one optional separating wall  117  to separate the area of take-out carrier  100  in which at least a portion of the drink containers extend into and another area of take-out carrier  100 , e.g., in which food may be easily placed for transport and delivery. Optional separating wall  117  may be insulated, thus helping to prevent an exchange of heat between the food and the drinks and making it more likely that each will reach the customer to whom they are being delivered at a temperature closer to that at which they left the supplier of the take-out food. To this end, the other portions of take-out carrier  100  may also be insulated. As an example,  FIG.  1    further shows food bags  119  within a section of take-out carrier  100  that is separated from the beverage location by separating wall  117 . Although the take-out food is shown as represented as being in food bags  119  in  FIG.  1   , such use of a bag to contain food is not required. The take-out food may be placed directly into housing  101  in whatever containers are available or desirable. The location of separating wall  117  may be adjustable so as to accommodate more or less drinks and food items. 
     Also, although the take-out food is shown as being in only one section of take-out carrier  100 , such is for illustration only and without limitation. It will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that take-out food may be placed on either side of optional separating wall  117 , i.e., both where food bags  119  are shown as well as under lid  105 , if so desired and space is available. Furthermore, the food may be placed in a synergistic manner so as to help keep hot drinks and hot food hot while keeping cold drinks and cold food cold. For example, if the food being delivered includes cold drinks, hot entrees, and cold desserts, e.g., ice cream sundaes, the ice cream could be placed on the side of separating wall  117  where the cold drinks are and the hot entrees placed on the other side of separating wall  117 . Similarly, if the food being delivered includes hot drinks, salads, and hot entrees, the hot entrees could be placed on the side of separating wall  117  where the hot drinks are and the salads placed on the other side of separating wall  117 . 
     Take-out carrier  100  may also include one or more hooks  121  for use in holding bags of food, e.g., shopping bags that have handles which can be placed on one of hooks  119 . Hooks  119  may be retractable or otherwise moveable so that they do not stick out when not being used. Advantageously, when take-out carrier  100  is positioned on a seat of a vehicle it may be positioned such that hooks  121  extend beyond the seat bottom, so that any bags hung on hooks  121  are suspended thereby. 
     Optional straps  131  may be employed by a user to carry take-out carrier  100 , e.g., from a vehicle to another location, e.g., a restaurant, a take-out place, a home, a picnic location, and the like, as well as vice-versa. 
     As noted above,  FIG.  2    shows take-out carrier  100  of  FIG.  1    but where drink carrier  251  is inserted into receptacle area  107  of lid  105  in  FIG.  2   . Drink carrier  251  is a separate unit that is adapted to hold a plurality of drinks, at least two of the plurality of drinks being holdable in respective individual accommodations  253  of carrier  251 .  FIG.  2    shows drink  255  within one of individual accommodations  253  of carrier  251 . Drink carrier  251  may be a restaurant standard drink carrier such as is often given to a customer who purchases multiple drinks. Drink carrier  251  may be disposable. 
     Also shown in  FIG.  2    is handle  257  which is part of drink carrier  251  and can be used by a driver to easily insert or remove drink carrier  251  from receptacle area  107  of lid  105 . 
       FIG.  3    shows a front three dimensional view of take-out carrier  300  where the front face can be seen through. In this embodiment, housing  301  may be any shape, but for convenience of use in vehicles such as automobiles it may be box-shaped, at least in its base. Similar to housing  101  ( FIG.  1   ), housing  301  ( FIG.  3   ) may have various shapes including a hollow rectangular parallelepiped and a cuboid shaped. Housing  301  may have a face that is curved, e.g., gently curved, so as to better align with a vehicle&#39;s seat back, which may have a gentle curve. 
     In one embodiment, housing  301  is made of substantially rigid materials so that it holds its shape even should it move around in a vehicle. Housing  301  may be insulated to reduce temperature change between housing  101  and the environment exterior thereto. 
     Shelf  305  is located interior to housing  301 , e.g., at least somewhat below top face  323  of housing  301 , which is open. Shelf  305  may be supported from below or may be supported by housing  301 , e.g., by grooves within at least one wall of housing  301  or pegs (not shown) or supports (not shown) inserted into housing  301  or any known technique for supporting a shelf within a housing. Shelf  305  mates covers at least a portion housing  301 . Shelf  305  may be insulated. The depth, or correspondingly the height, of shelf  305  within housing  301  is at the discretion of the implementer. In one embodiment, shelf  305  is placed so that the largest, i.e., the tallest, drink that is expected to be ordered for delivery will not have its top protrude beyond top face  323  of housing  301  so that a lid may be placed on top of housing  301  over at least shelf  305  when such a drink is inserted into drink carrier  251  ( FIG.  4   ) that is inserted into receptacle area  107 . Shelf  305  may be removable. 
     The amount that shelf  305  extends within housing  301 , is not limited to that which is shown in  FIG.  3    but may be any amount, and is at the discretion of the implementer. 
     As explained with regard to  FIG.  1   , receptacle area  107  of shelf  305  accepts a separate drink carrier that is adapted to hold a plurality of drinks, at least two of the plurality of drinks being held in respective individual accommodations, i.e., compartments, which are typically shaped like the bottom of drink containers, of the carrier. Receptacle area  107  of shelf  305  is an opening through shelf  305  that is sized to accept drink carrier  251  ( FIG.  2    or  FIG.  4   ). Drink carrier  251  is shown inserted into receptacle area  107  of shelf  305  in  FIG.  4   . 
     Shelf  305  may have various mechanism therein or thereon that allow for the adjustment of the size of receptacle area  107  so as to be able to accommodate different drink carriers. One such mechanism may be sliding and locking panels. 
     At least one strap  111 , two of which are shown in  FIG.  3   , are used to attach take-out carrier  300  to the vehicle in which it will be mounted, e.g., to a seat thereof. Typically, but not necessarily, at least one of straps  111  will have an arrangement for easily releasing take-out carrier  300  from the vehicle. Such an arrangement may include buckles or clips, e.g., as shown in  FIG.  1   . 
     In one embodiment, at least one strap  111  is arranged so as to pass through opening  315  in shelf  305 . Doing so helps stabilize shelf  305  to prevent spilling of the beverages in drink carrier  251  ( FIG.  2   ). In one embodiment, at least one strap passes through a hole  325  of housing  301 . Holes  325  may be in one or more faces of housing  301 . Such an arrangement can further stabilize take-out carrier  300  within a vehicle. It further enables a lid (not shown) to be placed over take-out carrier  300  so as to cover it. Such a lid may be insulated. 
     In one embodiment, take-out carrier  300  includes at least one optional separating wall  317  to separate the area of take-out carrier  300  in which at least a portion of the drink containers extend into and another area of take-out carrier  300  in which food is placed for transport and deliver. Optional separating wall  317  may be insulated, thus helping to prevent an exchange of heat between the food and the drinks and making it more likely that each will reach the customer to whom they are being delivered at a temperature closer to that at which they left the supplier of the take-out food. To this end, the other portions of take-out carrier  300  may also be insulated. 
       FIG.  3    further shows food bag  319  within a section of take-out carrier  300  that is separated from the beverage location by separating wall  317 . Although food is represented as being in bag  319  in  FIG.  1   , such use of a bag to contain food is not required. The food may be placed directly into housing  301  in whatever containers are available or desirable. The location of separating wall  317  may be adjustable so as to accommodate more or less drinks and food items. For example, there may be matching slots in opposing faces of housing  301  into which separating wall may be slid. By having several sets of such matching slots at different locations across housing  301 , a driver may place separating wall  317  into whichever set of slots is appropriate for a particular delivery. 
     Depending on the height of shelf  305 , it may also be possible to place additional food items below it. 
     Take-out carrier  300  may also include one or more hooks  121  for use in holding bags of food, e.g., shopping bags that have handles which can be placed on one of hooks  319 . Hooks  319  may be retractable or otherwise moveable so that they do not stick out when not being used. Advantageously, when take-out carrier  300  is positioned on a seat of a vehicle it may be positioned such that hooks  121  extend beyond the seat bottom, so that any bags hung on hooks  121  are suspended thereby. 
     As noted above,  FIG.  4    shows take-out carrier  300  of  FIG.  1    but where drink carrier  251  is inserted into receptacle area  107  of shelf  305 . Drink carrier  251  is a separate unit that is adapted to hold a plurality of drinks, at least two of the plurality of drinks being holdable in respective individual accommodations  253  of carrier  251 .  FIG.  4    shows drinks  255  each of which is within one of individual accommodations  253  of carrier  251 . Also shown in  FIG.  4    is handle  257  which is part of drink carrier  251  and can be used by a driver to easily insert or remove drink carrier  251  from receptacle area  107  of shelf  305 . As described in connection with  FIG.  2   , drink carrier  251  may be a restaurant standard drink carrier such as is often given to a customer who purchases multiple drinks. Drink carrier  251  may be disposable. 
       FIG.  5    shows a front three dimensional view of take-out carrier  500  where the front face can be seen through. In this embodiment, housing  501  may be any shape, but for convenience of use in vehicles such as automobiles it may be box-shaped, at least in its base. Similar to housing  101  ( FIG.  1   ), housing  501  ( FIG.  5   ) may have various shapes including a hollow rectangular parallelepiped and a cuboid shaped. Housing  501  may have a face that is curved, e.g., gently curved, so as to better align with a vehicle&#39;s seat back, which may have a gentle curve. 
     In one embodiment, housing  501  is made of substantially rigid materials so that it holds its shape even should it move around in a vehicle. Housing  501  may be insulated to reduce temperature change between housing  501  and the environment exterior thereto. 
     Lid  505  is mateable to housing  501 . When lid  505  is mated to housing  501  it covers its top face  323  of housing  301 , which is open. As such, when lid  505  is removed from housing  501 , e.g., by a delivery driver, access to the interior of housing  501  may be had, e.g., to place therein food. Lid  505  may be insulated. In the embodiment of  FIG.  5   , lid  501  extends across the entirety of top face  323  of housing  301 . In some embodiments, lid  501  may be segmented and at least one of the portions openable, so the access to the interior of housing  501  may be had by opening a portion of lid  505  while the other remains in position over housing  501 . Such may be achieved by using a hinge between the portions, e.g., optional hinge  531 . Typically, it will be the portion of lid  501  that does not contain receptacle area  107  that is openable, which will allow drink carrier  251  to be in place while yet allowing for access to the interior by opening the other portion. The division of the portions is at the discretion of the implementer. In one embodiment the division will be in the general area of optional separating wall  517 . 
     Receptacle area  107  of lid  505  accepts a separate drink carrier that is adapted to hold a plurality of drinks, at least two of the plurality of drinks being held in respective individual accommodations, i.e., compartments, which are typically shaped like the bottom of drink containers, of the carrier. Receptacle area  107  of lid  505  is an opening through lid  505  that is sized to accept drink carrier  251  ( FIGS.  2 ,  4 , and  6   ). Drink carrier  251  is shown inserted into receptacle area  107  of lid  505  in  FIG.  6   . 
     Lid  505  may have various mechanisms therein or thereon that allow for the adjustment of the size of receptacle area  107  so as to be able to accommodate different drink carriers. One such mechanism may be sliding and locking panels. 
     At least one strap  111 , two of which are shown in  FIG.  5   , are used to attach take-out carrier  500  to the vehicle in which it will be mounted, e.g., to a seat thereof. Typically, but not necessarily, at least one of straps  111  will have an arrangement for easily releasing take-out carrier  500  from the vehicle. Such an arrangement may include buckles or clips, e.g., as shown in  FIG.  1   . 
     In one embodiment, at least one strap  111  is arranged so as to pass through opening  115  in lid  505 . Doing so helps stabilize lid  505  to prevent spilling of the beverages in drink carrier  251  ( FIG.  2   ). 
     In one embodiment, take-out carrier  500  includes at least one optional separating wall  517  to separate the area of take-out carrier  500  in which at least a portion of the drink containers extend into and another area of take-out carrier  500  in which food is placed for transport and delivery. Optional separating wall  517  may be insulated, thus helping to prevent an exchange of heat between the food and the drinks and making it more likely that each will reach the customer to whom they are being delivered at a temperature closer to that at which they left the supplier of the take-out food. To this end, the other portions of take-out carrier  500  may also be insulated. 
     For example, there may be matching slots in opposing faces of housing  501  into which separating wall may be slid. By having several sets of such matching slots at different locations across housing  501 , a user may place separating wall  517  into whichever set of slots is appropriate, e.g., for a particular delivery. 
     As an example,  FIG.  5    further shows food bag  119  within a section of take-out carrier  500  that is separated from the beverage location by separating wall  517 . Although the take-out food is represented as being in food bag  119  in  FIG.  5   , such use of a bag to contain food is not required. The take-out food may be placed directly into housing  501  in whatever containers are available or desirable. The location of separating wall  517  may be adjustable so as to accommodate more or less drinks and food items. 
     Also, although the take-out food is shown as being in only one section of take-out carrier  500 , such is for illustration only and without limitation. It will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that take-out food may be placed on either side of optional separating wall  517 , i.e., both where food bags  519  are shown as well as under lid  505 , if so desired and space is available. Furthermore, the food may be placed in a synergistic manner so as to help keep hot drinks and hot food hot while keeping cold drinks and cold food cold, e.g., in a manner as described hereinabove. 
     Take-out carrier  500  may also include one or more hooks  121  for use in holding bags of food, e.g., shopping bags that have handles which can be placed on one of hooks  119 . Hooks  119  may be retractable or otherwise moveable so that they do not stick out when not being used. Advantageously, when take-out carrier  500  is positioned on a seat of a vehicle it may be positioned such that hooks  121  extend beyond the seat bottom, so that any bags hung on hooks  121  are suspended thereby. 
     As noted above,  FIG.  6    shows take-out carrier  500  of  FIG.  1    but where drink carrier  251  is inserted into receptacle area  107  of lid  505 . Drink carrier  251  is a separate unit that is adapted to hold a plurality of drinks, at least two of the plurality of drinks being holdable in respective individual accommodations  253  of carrier  251 .  FIG.  6    shows drinks  255  each of which is within one of individual accommodations  253  of carrier  251 . Also shown in  FIG.  6    is handle  257  which is part of drink carrier  251  and can be used by a driver to easily insert or remove drink carrier  251  from receptacle area  107  of lid  505 . As described in connection with  FIGS.  2  and  4   , drink carrier  251  may be a restaurant standard drink carrier such as is often given to a customer who purchases multiple drinks. Drink carrier  251  may be disposable. 
     In any of the above-described embodiments the various lids or portions thereof may be permanently attached to the respective housing, e.g., using hinges or similar mechanisms, such as optional hinge  533  shown in  FIGS.  5  and  6   , so that the lid or portion thereof remains permanently attached the housing yet access may be had to the interior of the housing. 
     The disclosed embodiments are particularly useful when the drinks are fountain drinks, coffee, tea, smoothies, and served ice cream, i.e., drinks that are not in factory sealed containers, as it prevents tipping of the drinks and the resulting spillage. However, the disclosed embodiments may be used as well with factory sealed drinks. 
       FIG.  7    shows sliding panel  741  mounted to lid  505  to adjust the size of receptacle area  107  to accommodate different sized drink carriers. Sliding panel may slide within rails  743 . Sliding panel may be locked into one of several preset positions using any known locking mechanism (not shown) such as pegs, which may be spring activated, screws or bolts, Velcro, and the like. For example, there may be various holes in lid  505 , which may be threaded, and a peg or bolt may be placed through a hole in sliding panel  741  when the hole of sliding panel  741  aligns with a desired hole of lid  505 . 
     Although only a single sliding panel is shown in  FIG.  7   , those of ordinary skill in the art will readily recognize that more than one such panel may be employed, e.g., to facilitate adjusting the size of receptacle area  107  in two dimensions or from more than one direction. Those of ordinary skill in the art will also readily recognize that any sliding panel may be arranged to be above or below the lid to with which it is being employed. Those of ordinary skill in the art will further readily recognize that such sliding panels may be used with other embodiments than the one shown in  FIGS.  5 - 7   , e.g., they may be employed with the embodiments shown in  FIGS.  1 - 4    or any other embodiment employing a receptacle area such receptacle area  107 . 
     It is important to note that the embodiments disclosed herein are only examples of the many advantageous uses of the innovative teachings herein. In general, statements made in the specification of the present application do not necessarily limit any of the various claimed embodiments. Moreover, some statements may apply to some inventive features but not to others. In general, unless otherwise indicated, singular elements may be in plural and vice versa with no loss of generality.