Patent ID: 7802693

Claim:
A free moving food plate for use at social gatherings, comprising: a one-piece integral somewhat planar support having an upper and lower surface; a split level containment structure of said one-piece integral somewhat planar support having an inner surface defining a fully surrounded non-circular void especially configured to receive a container having a globe, a stem, and a base with the globe, stem and base configured to be vertically aligned along an alignment axis of the split level containment structure; wherein said split level containment structure has a top tier opening with a top opening dimension and a bottom tier opening with a bottom opening dimension, and wherein said top opening dimension is greater than said bottom opening dimension, said split level containment structure alignment axis extends through both said top tier opening and said bottom tier opening; a globe void portion of said split level containment structure configured to have a width less than said globe of said container; a base void portion of said split level containment structure configured to have a width greater than said base of said container; a stem void portion of said split level containment structure established above said globe void portion and configured to have a width greater than said stem of said container; and a contracted globe void portion of said split level containment structure configured to have a width substantially less than said globe of said container and to establish an opening into said globe void portion, wherein said stem void portion defines a centroid through which a stem void portion centroid vertical axis passes, wherein said stem void portion centroid vertical axis is outside of said globe void portion, wherein said fully surrounded non-circular void is configured so that retention of said container requires: (a) a first directional movement of said container so that said stem enters said stem void portion; and (b) a second directional movement of said container so that said globe enters said globe portion, wherein said first directional movement defines a first direction and said second directional movement defines a second direction that is different from said first direction.