Patent ID: 7802684

Claim:
In a food serving tray assembly comprising, a serving platter having a disposal opening extending there through and having a plurality of serving wells for receiving food items therein for presentation to a person for eating, and a receptacle platter having a bottom and a peripheral wall extending from the bottom at a perimeter thereof, wherein the receptacle platter and serving platter are configured to be releasably coupled to one another in two different configurations including, a serving configuration, wherein the receptacle platter is located below the serving platter and the receptacle platter and serving platter define a substantially enclosed interior space for receiving food waste that is deposited through the disposal opening of the serving platter, and a transport configuration, wherein the receptacle platter is located above and extends over the serving platter to provide a lid for the food serving tray assembly during transport, an improvement comprising, (a) the serving platter having an outer peripheral wall having a first height and a plurality of dividing walls defining and separating the serving wells, each of the dividing walls having a second height approximately equal to the first height, each of the serving wells sharing in common a dividing wall with another serving well; and (b) the peripheral wall of the receptacle platter being an outer peripheral wall having a third height and the bottom of the receptacle platter defining a plurality of dividers having a fourth height substantially less than the third height; (c) wherein the serving platter is generally received within the outer peripheral wall of the receptacle platter and each of the dividers of the receptacle platter aligns with and engages a respective dividing wall of the serving platter, when the food serving tray assembly is in the transport configuration, such that two wells are isolated from one another by the divider and engaged common dividing wall.