Patent Publication Number: US-2023138773-A1

Title: Paper Plate and Towel Roll

Description:
COPYRIGHT STATEMENT 
     A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material that is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever. 
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present invention relates to the production of paper plates and paper towels. In particular, it relates to the combination of paper plates with paper towels in one continuous roll for purchase. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Traditionally, paper towel rolls and paper plates are produced and sold independently. When consumers want both a paper plate and a paper towel, they must purchase them individually and separately. Paper towels are individually separated from the roll along the perforated edges. Likewise, paper plates must be individually dispensed. At meal time, this can be a time consuming process. 
     For example, U.S. Pat. No. 10,188,242 (Olson et al.) is directed to a paper towel product that will capably separate from the paper towel roll as a full sheet, a half sheet or a quarter sheet. A method of making a paper towel with machine direction perforations is also disclosed. 
     Disposable paper and plastic plastic plates are commonly sold individually on the market. 
     The present invention discloses a method for the production of paper plates secured within a roll of paper towels, such that one paper plate is secured on each paper towel within the roll. 
     The paper plate and towel roll solves the problem of having to dispense paper plates and towels separately. 
     The prior art does not describe nor disclose the present invention. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention embodies the combination of paper plates within a roll of paper towels. When the roll is unwound, the paper towels can be separated along the perforated edges. Attached to each separated individual paper towel would be a paper plate, which itself can be separated from the paper towel. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the present disclosure, and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the present disclosure. 
       In the figures, similar components and/or features may have the same reference label. Further, various components of the same type may be distinguished by following the reference label with a second label that distinguishes among the similar components. If only the first reference label is used in the specification, the description is applicable to any one of the similar components having the same first reference label irrespective of the second reference label. 
         FIG.  1    depicts the invention primarily rolled with a single unrolled unit. 
         FIG.  2    depicts an overhead perspective of the invention similar to that displayed in  FIG.  1   . 
         FIG.  3    depicts an overhead perspective of the invention with eating utensils attached. 
         FIG.  4    depicts the invention where a paper plate is attached to a piece of paper towel and the adjacent piece of paper towel has nothing attached. 
         FIG.  5    depicts the invention showing directional arrows to unfold the sides of the paper plate to create an open sided rectangular box. In a preferred embodiment, the paper plate has the four sides, which the consumer raises the edges to prevent food from falling off the plate. 
         FIG.  6    depicts the invention with three food areas, which are a large area and two smaller areas. In a preferred embodiment, the consumer raises the lowered folds to create these three food areas. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     For a more complete understanding of the present invention, the objects and advantages thereof, reference is now made to the ensuing descriptions. 
     As used in the description herein and throughout the claims that follow, the meaning of “a,” “an,” and “the” includes plural reference unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Also, as used in the description herein, the meaning of “in” includes “in” and “on” unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. 
     If the specification states a component or feature “may”, “can”, “could”, or “might” be included or have a characteristic, that particular component or feature is not required to be included or have the characteristic. 
     Exemplary embodiments will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which exemplary embodiments are shown. This disclosure may however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. These embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete and will fully convey the scope of the disclosure to those of ordinary skill in the art. Moreover, all statements herein reciting embodiments of the disclosure, 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). 
     It is envisioned that the paper plates would be added to a standard roll of paper towels using a light or edible adhesive, such as those used in pastries. The combination of paper plates adhering to paper towels can then be subsequently rolled again for sale to the consumer. 
     In a preferred embodiment, the fully-assembled product would be a roll with 5 inches in diameter and 11 inches high. 
     In a preferred embodiment, the paper plates are each approximately 9″×9″ and the paper towels are each 10″×11″. 
     Alternatively, the combination of paper plates adhering to paper towels can be individually separated at the perforated edges between the paper towels, and then stacked for sale to the consumer. 
     In a preferred embodiment, the sides of the paper plate would be creased and folded inward while assembly is rolled and packaged. Once the roll is unwound, the paper plate sides could be unfolded upward to provide a small walled perimeter around the border to paper plate. This enables the containment and order of food. 
     In addition, the paper plate could separate from the paper towel and the latter could be to be used as a napkin. 
     In a preferred embodiment, the consumer has two paper towels for each plate, as depicted in  FIG.  4     
     Reference is made to  FIGS.  1 - 6   , which have common elements and utilize similar numbering for the same common elements. 
     Item ( 1 ) depicts the rolled portion of the invention. Item ( 2 ) depicts a perforated edge between the two sheets of paper towel. Item ( 3 ) depicts the unrolled paper towel unit. Item ( 4 ) depicts a rectangular paper plate which is attached to Item ( 3 ). 
     In  FIG.  2   , Item ( 5 ) depicts an attachment to rest of the roll. 
     In  FIG.  3   , Item ( 6 ) depicts a plastic knife that is similarly attached to the paper towel. Item ( 7 ) depicts a fork that is similarly attached to the paper towel. The fork may be made of plastic or a thin wood 
     In  FIG.  4   , Item ( 8 ) depicts an empty paper towel which does not have an attached paper plate. 
     In  FIG.  5   , Item ( 9 ) depicts various directional arrows for the sides of the paper plate to be unfolded by the consumer. Item ( 10 ) depicts the long sides of the paper plate form the rectangular open-box. Item ( 11 ) depicts the short sides of the paper plate to form the rectangular open-box. 
     In  FIG.  6   , Item ( 12 ) depicts the large food area created after the consumer folds upward sides of the large food area, such as Item ( 10 ), Item ( 11 ), and Item ( 16 ). Item ( 13 ) is the right-side small food area, which is formed after the consumer folds upward sides of this area, such as Item ( 10 ), Item ( 11 ), Item ( 15 ), and Item ( 16 ). Item ( 14 ) is the left-side small food area, which is formed after the consumer folds upward sides of this area, such as Item ( 10 ), Item ( 11 ), Item ( 15 ), and Item ( 16 ). 
     In some embodiments, the numerical parameters should be construed in light of the number of reported significant digits and by applying ordinary rounding techniques. Notwithstanding that the numerical ranges and parameters setting forth the broad scope of some embodiments of the invention are approximations, the numerical values set forth in the specific examples are reported as precisely as practicable. The numerical values presented in some embodiments of the invention may contain certain errors necessarily resulting from the standard deviation found in their respective testing measurements. 
     As will be appreciated, the foregoing objects and examples are exemplary and embodiments need not meet all or any of the foregoing objects, and need not include all or any of the exemplary features described herein. Additional aspects and embodiments within the scope of the claims will be devised by those having skill in the art based on the teachings set forth herein. 
     While the invention has been described in connection with what are considered to be exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but on the contrary, is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the disclosure herein.