Abstract:
An arm mounted transporting tray for food containers which takes the form of essentially a flat base which has a raised lip around its peripheral edge. Within the flat base is located a groove arrangement which will conduct any spilled liquids to an opening formed within the base which will then be deposited within an internal reservoir that is formed within a graspable handle that is mounted on the undersurface of the base. Also mounted on the undersurface of the base is an upper arm engagement which keeps the tray correctly aligned on the user&#39;s arm.

Description:
This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/972,624, filed Oct. 9, 2001, entitled ARM MOUNTED TRANSPORTING TRAY FOR FOOD CONTAINERS, by the present inventor now abandoned. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     This invention relates to a tray that is to be mounted on a single arm of a user with food containers, such as dishes, plates and beverage containers, glasses, cups and bottles are to be located on the upper surface of the tray to facilitate transportability of these containers to a serving location. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     Waiters and waitresses within restaurants deliver ordered food and beverages to patrons. Typically, the food and beverages are in the form of dishes, plates, cups, glasses and bottles. One of the functions of the waiter or waitress is to pick up the food from a kitchen station and then transport that food to the table or other serving location where the patron  10  is located. Frequently, the waiter or waitress, in order to minimize the amount of walking between the kitchen location and the patron location, will place and balance two, three or four food containing plates or dishes on a forearm of the waiter or waitress. This leaves the hands free of the waiter or waitress in order to be used to carry other food containing dishes. 
     The human forearm is not designed as a surface that easily supports food containing dishes. Therefore, it is relatively common to have these dishes that are balanced on one&#39;s forearm to fall to the floor breaking requiring the reordering of the food and obtaining a new serving. Besides being costly, this is time consuming, embarrassing and produces an unsightly mess that needs to be cleaned up by restaurant personnel. To avoid these disadvantages, it would be desirable to create some type of a serving tray which could be mounted on a forearm of a waiter or waitress which could be used to support and transport the food and beverage containing dishes to a serving location within a restaurant which would minimize the possibility of spilling any dish as well as provides additional space facilitating the transportability of multiple food and beverage containers. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The basic embodiment of the present invention comprises an arm mounted tray for food and beverage containers which has a base which has an upper surface and a lower surface. The upper surface has a peripheral edge in the form of a continuous raised lip which surrounds the upper surface. The upper surface may be planar or slightly V-shaped. The V-shape is to function to collect and drain any spilled liquid to one or more openings formed within the upper surface of the base. Each opening connects to a separate internal reservoir formed within either a graspable handle or leg members which are mounted on the lower surface of the base. The leg members and handle facilitate placing of the tray on a supportive surface as well as functioning to positioning the tray onto the user&#39;s forearm. 
     A further embodiment of the present invention is where the basic embodiment is modified by the upper surface of the tray including a drainage groove arrangement including a longitudinal groove. 
     A further embodiment of the present invention is where the longitudinal groove is centrally located relative to the upper surface. 
     A further embodiment of the present invention is where the arm engagement comprises a clamping device located directly adjacent the aft end of the tray. 
     A further embodiment of the present invention is where the basic embodiment is modified by the graspable handle being located directly adjacent the fore end of the tray. 
     A further embodiment of the present invention is where the clamping device is adjustable. 
     A further embodiment of the present invention is where the groove arrangement connects to an opening formed within the upper surface of the tray. 
     A further embodiment of the present invention is where the basic embodiment is modified by the arm engagement comprising a pair of spaced apart leg members. 
     A further embodiment of the present invention is where the leg members are identical and are also identical to the graspable handle. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     For a better understanding of the present invention, reference is to be made to the accompanying drawings. It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the precise arrangement shown in the drawings. 
     FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a first embodiment of arm mounted transportation tray for food containers showing such typically installed on a forearm of a user; 
     FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the first embodiment of transportation tray for food containers; 
     FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view through the first embodiment tray of the present invention and also through the clamp that is included in conjunction with the first embodiment of tray of the present invention taken along line  3 — 3  of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view through the first embodiment of tray of the present invention and also through the graspable handle mounted on the tray of the present invention taken along line  4 — 4  of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view similar to FIG. 4 but of a modified form of graspable handle. 
     FIG. 6 is a top plan view of a second embodiment of tray of this invention which includes the modified form of graspable handle shown in FIG.  5 . 
     FIG. 7 is a side elevational view of the second embodiment of this invention; and 
     FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the second embodiment of this invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Referring particularly to the drawings, there is shown in phantom lines in FIG. 1 an upper arm  10 , a forearm  12  and a hand  14  of a user. The user&#39;s hand  14  is to function to grasp a handle  16 . The handle  16  could take the form of a bulbous shape, as shown in FIG.  4 . However, it is considered to be within the scope of this invention that the handle  16  could be modified to assume a smooth walled tapered configuration of handle  18 , as shown in FIG.  5 . Any exterior configuration of handle could be utilized without departing from the inventive concept of the present invention. 
     The handle  16  is fixedly mounted onto a lower surface  22  of a transporting tray  24 . The handle  16  is basically hollow forming an internal chamber  26 . Similarly, the handle  18  is basically hollow forming an internal chamber  28 . Connecting with internal chamber  26  or  28  is an opening  30  formed within the base  22 . The opening  30  connects between the lower surface  20  and the upper surface  32  of the base  22 . 
     Formed within the upper surface  32  of the base  22  is a groove arrangement  34 . The groove arrangement  34  comprises a single, centrally located, longitudinal, drainage groove  36  with a pair of feeding grooves  38  and  40 . The opposite end of the longitudinal, drainage groove  36  connects with the opening  30 . Also connecting with the opening  30  are another pair of feeding grooves  42  and  44 . The upper surface  32  is formed to be slightly inclined (not planar). The inclination of the upper surface  32  is such that the longitudinal, drainage groove  36  is at the lowest elevation. If, per chance, a beverage spills on the upper surface  32 , the liquid of the beverage will be automatically funneled by the feeding grooves  38  and  40  to the longitudinal, drainage groove  36  and then through opening  30  to within the internal chamber  26  or  28 . Also, feeding grooves  42  and  44  will function to feed any liquid into the opening  30  in order to remove most of the spilled liquid off of the upper surface  32  of the tray  24  to minimize contamination with any dishes on the upper surface  32 . At an appropriate time, it is to be understood that the upper surface  32  is to be cleaned of any spilled beverage with the internal chamber  26  or  28  being appropriately rinsed out so as to remove any accumulated beverage. 
     The upper surface  32  has a peripheral edge  46 . Attached at the peripheral edge  46  is a continuous raised lip  48 . The raised lip  48  will normally be no more than one-half inch in height and functions to completely enclose the upper surface  32 . The function of the raised lip  48  is to confine any spilt beverage on the upper surface  32  and also to assist in keeping any food or beverage container in place on the tray  24  to prevent such from falling from the tray  24 . 
     To have the tray  24  maintain its established position on the user&#39;s forearm  12 , there is provided a clamp  50  which is basically bifurcated forming a pair of spaced apart arms  52  and  54  which are integrally mounted on an apex section  56 . The apex section  56  is fixedly secured to the lower surface  20  of the base  22  by means of an appropriate fastener  58 . The arms  52  and  54  will normally assume the at-rest position which is shown in dotted lines in FIG.  3 . However, the arms  52  and  54  are each capable of springing in an outward direction so as to be adjustable to compensate for different sizes of forearms  12 . This springing or adjustable action is shown in phantom lines in FIG.  3 . It is considered to be within the scope of this invention that the clamp  50  could be constructed in a manner different in order to be adjustable. It is also considered to be within the scope of this invention that the clamp  50  could take different forms, for example an attaching strap. 
     The use of the tray  24  of the present invention is to have the user first pick up the tray  24 , grasp the graspable handle  16  or  18  and place the clamp  50  in position with the user&#39;s forearm  12  located between the arms  52  and  54 . The user is to then place on the upper surface  32  the desired amount of food containing containers and beverage containers. The user is to then transport these dishes and beverage containers to an appropriate patron serving location whereby these dishes and beverage containers are then removed from the upper surface  32  and placed on a table or counter at which location is the person being served. 
     Referring particularly to FIGS. 6,  7  and  8  of the drawings, there is shown the second embodiment  60  of tray of this invention. Second embodiment  60  has a planar surface  62  which is enclosed by a raised lip  64 . The surface  62  could be planar or could include the groove arrangement and the slight V-shape, as was shown in relation to the first embodiment  24  of this invention. Instead of the clamp  50 , there is used instead a pair of leg members  66  and  68  which are fixedly mounted onto the lower surface  70  of the tray  60 . Each of the leg members  60  and  66  are identical and are also identical to the graspable handle  68 . However, the leg members  66  and  68  are located so that when the user grasps the handle  18  that the user&#39;s forearm will be located between the leg members  66  and  68 . As a result, the leg members  66  and  68  function to restrain the tray  60  relative to the user&#39;s arm and keep the tray  60  from dislodging from the user&#39;s arm. Leg member  66  also includes an internal chamber with through opening  70  being open to the upper surface  62  of the tray to provide access to the internal chamber. In a similar manner, the leg member  68  includes a through opening  72  which connects to an internal chamber formed within the leg member  68 . The result is the leg members  66  and  68  can also function to retain any spilled liquids the same as the graspable handle  18 . 
     The leg members  66  and  68  and the graspable handle  18  also function to permit the second embodiment  60  to be set on a supportive surface, such as a table, and rest on the supporting surface in a level configuration. It is to be noted that a multiple number of the trays  60  can be stacked relative to each other with leg members  66  and  68  nesting inside of a similar pair of leg members  66  and  68  of another tray. The same is true for the graspable handle  18  of different trays.