Patent ID: 8444001

Claim:
An improved dinner plate adapted to couple to a flexible drinking cup, the plate having a plate bottom with a bottom surface and surrounded by a plate rim, the flexible drinking cup having cup walls extending between a cup bottom and a cup mouth, said cup mouth having a cup mouth diameter and surrounded by a cup rim, the improvement comprising: coupling means disposed on the bottom surface for coupling the plate to the flexible drinking cup, said coupling means comprising: perimeter walls forming an ovate perimeter, wherein the perimeter walls surround the perimeter a coupling means axis normal to said bottom surface; the ovate perimeter disposed on said bottom surface and having a long perimeter axis and a short perimeter axis, wherein the long perimeter axis and the short perimeter axis are orthogonal to one another and cross substantially at a center portion of the dinner plate; and at least two arcuate lugs disposed at opposite ends of said short perimeter axis, the lugs descending a spaced offset distance from said bottom surface to form grooves in a portion of said perimeter adapted to receive and hold said cup rim against said bottom surface; and cup rim expansion zones formed at opposite ends of said long axis of the ovate perimeter by a portion of the perimeter walls, wherein the cup rim expansion zones are sized and configured to receive portions of the flexible drinking cup when the flexible drinking cup is squeezed to cause the cup mouth to assume an ovate shape.