US20100108560A1

US20100108560A1 - Tray

Info

Publication number: US20100108560A1
Application number: US12/593,718
Authority: US
Inventors: Rohan J. MacArthur-Onslow
Original assignee: ECHELON TRAYS Pty Ltd
Current assignee: ECHELON TRAYS Pty Ltd
Priority date: 2007-03-29
Filing date: 2008-03-13
Publication date: 2010-05-06
Also published as: WO2008119104A1

Abstract

A tray which is adapted to be securely and stably carried by a hand of a user, the tray comprising a support portion having an upper surface adapted for supporting the beverages or foodstuffs; a wall portion extending upwardly from the upper surface of the support portion; and a raised portion connected to the wall portion, the raised portion having upper and lower surfaces wherein the lower surface of the raised portion is located above the upper surface of the support portion when the tray is in an operable position the raised and wall portions defining a recess which is laterally accessible the raised portion being adapted to be gripped by the hand of the user whereby the thumb of the user engages the upper surface of the raised portion and the recess is adapted to receive the fingers of the hand of the user so as to enable the lower surface of the raised portion to be engaged by the fingers of the user at the same time that the thumb of the user engages the upper surface.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to trays and in particular to trays providing improved stability.
The invention has been developed primarily for use as a tray which provides capability for improved weight distribution of beverages or foodstuffs and greater stability for ease of carriage with a single hand and will be described hereinafter with reference to this application. However, it will be appreciated that the invention is not limited to this particular field of use.

BACKGROUND

The are numerous examples of trays designed for carriage of beverages and/or foodstuffs in one hand, including that of the simple tray comprising a planar, generally circular, support portion or surface where the beverages or foodstuffs are loaded. The user then must lift the tray from the edges and carry the tray as shown in FIG. 1. Alternatively, the user may is attempt to, whilst maintaining the tray balanced, position their hand underneath the tray at the centre of mass in the horizontal plane to balance the load. It will be appreciated that this can be a difficult task where the load is heavy, such as for a number of filled beer glasses, and the user must exert significant care over maintaining the tray balanced whilst waking.
Attempts at improvement over the simple tray include, those described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,504,832; 3,941,286; 4,744,597; 5,119,967. 5,259,528; 5,346,070; 5,355,787; 5,421,459; 5,971,139; 6,109,580; and 7,000,799; and U.S. design Pat. No. D529,764. It is apparent, however, that none of these provide solution to the problem of being able to provide secure and stable manipulation of the tray without difficulties associated with the location of the centre of mass of the beverages and/or foodstuffs making balancing of the load difficult. In most cases, the location where the tray is held is significantly below the centre of mass of the load, therefore the user must constantly be aware of the load so that the tray does not tip. A further difficulty with these improvements is that the user must still lift the tray whilst loaded in order to grasp or place their hand underneath the tray at the designed location for carriage. A solution to the need for lifting the tray first is to provide a central handle that can be grasped from above, however, if this handle is located below the likely centre of mass (in the vertical plane) of the load, then again significant care is required to lift the tray without it overbalancing whilst the user places their hand underneath the tray for carriage. Whilst it can be envisaged that the handle can be positioned above the likely centre of mass of the load via a central pole, it will be appreciated that this is undesirable as convenient storage of a plurality of like trays becomes difficult and/or space inefficient.

SUMMARY

Disclosed herein are arrangements of a tray which provides capability for improved weight distribution of beverages or foodstuffs and greater stability for ease of manipulation and carriage with a single hand.
Further disclosed herein are arrangements of a tray which is adapted to be securely and stably carried by a hand of a user. The tray may comprise a support portion having an upper surface adapted for supporting the beverages or foodstuffs. The tray may further comprise a wall portion extending upwardly from the upper surface of the support portion. The tray may further still comprise a raised portion connected to the wall portion. The raised portion may have upper and lower surfaces wherein the lower surface of the raised portion is located above the upper surface of the support portion when the tray is in an operable position. The raised and wall portions may define a recess which is laterally accessible. The raised portion may be adapted to be gripped by the hand of the user. The thumb of the user may engage the upper surface of the raised portion. The recess may be adapted to receive the fingers of the hand of the user. The lower surface of the raised portion may be engaged by the fingers of the user at the same time that the thumb of the user engages the upper surface. The thumb of the user may engage the upper surface of the raised portion and the recess may be adapted to receive the fingers of the hand of the user so as to enable the lower surface of the raised portion to be engaged by the fingers of the user at the same time that the thumb of the user engages the upper surface.
According to an aspect, there is provided a tray which is adapted to be securely and stably carried by a hand of a user, the tray comprising a support portion having an upper surface adapted for supporting the beverages or foodstuffs; a wall portion extending upwardly from the upper surface of the support portion; and a raised portion connected to the wall portion, the raised portion having upper and lower surfaces wherein the lower surface of the raised portion is located above the upper surface of the support portion when the tray is in an operable position the raised and wall portions defining a recess which is laterally accessible the raised portion being adapted to be gripped by the hand of the user whereby the thumb of the user engages the upper surface of the raised portion and the recess is adapted to receive the fingers of the hand of the user so as to enable the lower surface of the raised portion to be engaged by the fingers of the user at the same time that the thumb of the user engages the upper surface. The raised portion may be centrally located. The raised portion may enable the service tray to be carried at or near the centre of mass of the tray.
According to another aspect, there is provided a tray when used by a user to carry at least one beverage container in one hand. According to another aspect, there is provided two trays when used by a user to carry at least one beverage container wherein each one of the two trays is carried in a different hand of the user. The beverage container may be either full of beverage, partly full of beverage, or empty. The beverage container may be a drink container such as for example bottle, can, glass, ceramic mug, plastic cup or paper cup. The width and length of the support portion in a tray in which the beverage containers are intended to be disposed may be dimensioned so that 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 or more beverage containers containing or not containing a beverage may be located on the tray at one time. In different arrangements the width and length of the support portion in a tray may be dimensioned to carry up to 6 pint glasses or six schooner glasses or six middy glasses or six drink bottles at one time.
Further disclosed herein is a tray for secure and stable carriage of beverages or foodstuffs with one hand. The tray may comprise a support portion having upper and lower surfaces adapted for supporting the beverages or foodstuffs. The tray may further comprise a raised portion adapted to receive the hand of a user having upper and lower surface, the lower surface being higher that the upper surface of the support portion, the raised portion being connected to the support portion by an wall portion. The raised portion may enable the tray to be carried at or near the centre of mass of the tray for stable control of the movement and balance of the tray. The tray may be a service tray for use in the service of beverages and/or foodstuffs, for example in restaurants, hotels, bars, pubs, sporting venues and the like.
According to another aspect, there is provided a tray for secure and stable carriage of beverages or foodstuffs with one hand comprising: a support portion having upper and lower surfaces adapted for supporting the beverages or foodstuffs; a raised portion adapted to receive the hand of a user having upper and lower surface, the lower surface being higher that the upper surface of the support portion, the raised portion being connected to the support portion by an wall portion; wherein the raised portion enables the tray to be carried at or near the centre of mass of the tray for stable control of the movement and balance of the tray.
The support portion may not have any peripheral retaining lip. The support portion may have a peripheral retaining lip. The peripheral retaining lip may be a peripheral side wall contiguous with the wall portion. The height of the peripheral side wall may be the same as the height of the raised portion. The height of the peripheral side wall may be less than the height of the raised portion. The height of the peripheral side wall may be greater than the height of the raised portion. The height of the peripheral side wall may be between 1% and 50% or 5% and 25% or 5% and 20% or 5% and 15% or 5% and 10% greater than the height of the raised portion. The height of the raised portion may be greater than 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, or 15 cm from the upper surface of the support portion. The height of the raised portion may be about 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, or 15 cm from the upper surface of the support portion. The height of the raised portion may be from 2 cm to 20 cm or 2 cm to 15 cm or 2 cm to 12 cm or 2 cm to 10 cm or 2 cm to 8 cm or 3 cm to 20 cm or 3 cm to 15 cm or 3 cm to 12 cm or 3 cm to 10 cm or 3 cm to 8 cm or 4 cm to 20 cm or 4 cm to 15 cm or 4 cm to 12 cm or 4 cm to 10 cm or 4 cm to 8 cm or 5 cm to 20 cm or 5 cm to 15 cm or 5 cm to 12 cm or 5 cm to 10 cm or 5 cm to 8 cm or 6 cm to 20 cm or 6 cm to 15 cm or 6 cm to 12 cm or 6 cm to 10 cm or 6 cm to 8 cm or 7 cm to 20 cm or 7 cm to 15 cm or 7 cm to 12 cm or 7 cm to 10 cm or 7 cm to 8 cm or 8 cm to 20 cm or 8 cm to 15 cm or 8 cm to 12 cm or 8 cm to 10 cm or 8 cm to 9 cm or 9 cm to 20 cm or 9 cm to 15 cm or 9 cm to 12 cm or 9 cm to 10 cm or 10 cm to 15 cm from the upper surface of the support portion. The height of the raised portion may be from 3% to 90% or 5% to 80% or 5% to 70% or 5% to 60% or 5% to 50% or 5% to 49% or 5% to 30% or 5% to 20% from the upper surface of the support portion of the height of the beverage container that is intended to be carried on the tray. The height of the raised portion may be from 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 25, 30, 35, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55, 60, 65, 70, 75, 80, 85, or 90% from the upper surface of the support portion of the height of the beverage container that is intended to be carried on the tray. The support portion comprises a support surface. The support surface is also referred to in this specification as the upper surface of the support portion. The support surface may be adapted to provide unobstructed access for the user to the raised portion. The support surface may be U shaped or substantially U shaped when viewed from above. The support surface may be U shaped when viewed from above. The support surface may be substantially U shaped when viewed from above.
The raised portion may be arcuate and may be contoured to adapt to the natural curve of a user's open hand.
The tray may further comprise at least one dividing portion adapted to divide the support surface into a plurality of compartments. The compartments may be adapted for carriage of foodstuffs. The dividing portion(s) may be removable.
The tray may be formed from any suitable material. The tray may be formed from a metallic material. The tray may be formed from aluminium or aluminium alloy material. The tray may be formed from a nonmetallic material. The tray may be formed of perspex. The tray may be formed of a material that is washable in a dishwasher. The tray may be formed from a plastics material and may be integrally formed from a moulded plastics material. The tray may be formed from polyethylene or polypropylene. The tray may be nestable or stackable for ease of storage of a plurality of like trays.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Arrangements of the tray will now be described, by way of an example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings (where like features are indicated by like reference numerals) wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side partial schematic view of a prior art tray showing the location of a user's hand during carriage of the tray;

FIG. 2 is a top perspective schematic view of an arrangement of the tray disclosed herein;

FIG. 3 is an underside perspective schematic view of an arrangement of the tray disclosed herein;

FIG. 4 is a front plan schematic view of the tray of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a side plan schematic view of the tray of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a cutaway schematic view of the tray taken along section A-A of FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a further cutaway schematic view of the tray taken along section A-A of FIG. 4 showing the location of the user's hand during carriage of the tray;

FIG. 8 is a schematic view of a prior art tray showing the relation of the centre of mass of a loaded tray to the carriage location in the vertical plane;

FIG. 9 is a schematic view of the tray of FIG. 2 showing the relation of the centre of mass of a loaded tray to the carriage location in the vertical plane;

FIG. 10 is top perspective and top plan views of the tray of FIG. 2 when loaded with three beverage containers showing the centre of mass of the loaded tray in the horizontal plane;

FIG. 11 is top perspective and top plan views of the tray of FIG. 2 when loaded with four beverage containers showing the centre of mass of the loaded tray in the horizontal plane;

FIG. 12 is top perspective and top plan views of the tray of FIG. 2 when loaded with five beverage containers showing the centre of mass of the loaded tray in the horizontal plane;

FIG. 13 is top perspective and top plan views of the tray of FIG. 2 when loaded with six beverage containers showing the centre of mass of the loaded tray in the horizontal plane;

FIG. 14 is a top perspective schematic view of three like trays of FIG. 2 shown in a nested or stacked storage configuration; and

FIG. 15 is a further arrangement of the tray.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

With reference to the figures, disclosed herein is a tray 100 adapted to be securely and stably carried by a hand of a user. In one arrangement, the tray comprises a support portion 101 having an upper surface 103 adapted for supporting the beverages or foodstuffs. A wall portion 113 extends upwardly from the upper surface 103 of the support portion 101. A raised portion 107 is connected to the wall portion 113. The raised portion has upper and lower surfaces (109 and 111 respectively) wherein the lower surface 111 of the raised portion 107 is located above the upper surface 103 of the support portion 101 when the tray 100 is in an operable position. The raised and wall portions 107 and 113 defining a recess 117 which is laterally accessible. The raised portion 107 is adapted to be gripped by the hand of the user whereby the thumb of the user engages the upper surface of the raised portion and the recess 117 is adapted to receive the fingers of the hand of the user so as to enable the lower surface 111 of the raised portion 107 to be engaged by the fingers of the user at the same time that the thumb of the user engages the upper surface 109.
In the following description, the tray is described with reference to a service tray, although, it is envisaged that the tray is not limited to this usage and may be use in other s situations and environments and for alternative applications as would be appreciated by the skilled addressee. For example, the tray may be used for private and/or personal use.
Referring to the drawings, particularly FIGS. 2 and 3, a service tray 100 includes a support portion 101 having upper and lower surfaces (103 and 105 respectively) adapted for supporting beverages or foodstuffs. A raised portion 107 is adapted to receive the hand (shown in FIG. 7) of a user having upper and lower surfaces (109 and 111 respectively), wherein the lower 111 of the raised portion 107 surface is higher that the upper support surface 103 of the support portion 101. The raised portion 107 is connected to the support portion 101 by an wall portion 113. The raised portion 107 enable the service tray to be carried by the user at or near the centre of mass in both horizontal and vertical planes for stable control of the movement and balance of the service tray.
In the arrangements shown in the figures, the support portion 101 is adapted to provide unobstructed access for the user to place their hand (not shown) under the raised portion 107 to engage their hand with the lower surface 111 thereof via recessed portion 117 and lift the service tray 100 (either laden or unladen) without requiring any intervention from their other hand. To facilitate this in the present arrangement, the support portion is substantially U-shaped when viewed from above. In this arrangement, the raised portion 109 where the user engages the tray with their hand is located at the centre of mass of the service tray, and the beverages and or foodstuffs may be arranged around the U-shaped support portion in such a way as to maintain the centre of mass of the laden tray at the location of the raised portion. A further advantage of the U-shaped service tray is that the user's wrist and forearm are received by the recessed portion 117 and do not obstruct the service tray. This also allows for the user to maintain a favourable angle between their forearm and upper arm (for example in the range of approximately 45 to 135 degrees, or approximately 50 to 130, 55 to 125, 60 to 120, 65 to 115, 70 to 110, 75 to 105, 80 to 100, or approximately 85 to 95 degrees) without being obstructed by the service tray itself, whereby greater control over the tray can be achieved.
The support portion 101 has a peripheral retaining lip 115. The retaining lip in the figures is shown as a peripheral side wall with a height approximately equal to the height of the wall portion 113, although it will be appreciated that further arrangements may be envisaged where the height of the retaining lip is less or much less than the height of the wall portion 113. As shown in the figures, the retaining lip 115 is shown as being contiguous with the wall portion 113. It will be appreciated that the primary use for the service tray is in a bar or restaurant situation to improve the ease with which staff or patrons can carry large numbers of drinks with only one hand and without requiring their other hand to position the tray. In this manner it is envisaged that the staff or patron can carry two like trays laden with beverages and/or foodstuffs without difficulty. The service tray is generally dimensioned to accept a variety of beverage containers including, but not limited to wine glass, low-ball and/or high-ball glasses, midi and/or, schooner glasses, half-pint and/or pint glasses, bottled beverages such as pre-mixed beverages or beers, wine bottles and other suitable beverage containers. Typically the largest container in a bar situation would be the pint glass, which generally has dimensions of approximately 150 mm in height with a base diameter of about 60 to 80 mm and a maximum outer diameter of about 80 to 100 mm.
The dimensions of the service tray are such that it is able to accommodate the typically largest sized beverage container encountered in the service environment, therefore generally the width of the U-shaped support surface 103 of the tray 100 would be approximately 80 to 100 mm, although it will be appreciated that greater or smaller widths may be envisaged depending on the user's requirements. For example, one or more portions of the support surface 103 may be configured to accommodate one or more wine or spirit bottles, and the configured portions may be so configured that the wine or spirit bottle is located and or retained in the configured portion.
Referring now to FIG. 6, there is shown a cut-away view of the service tray 100 taken along line A-A of FIG. 4. The raised portion 107 has an arcuate formation 119 with upper surface 109 and lower surface 111 for engagement of the user's hand 121 during carriage of the service tray as shown in FIG. 7.
The raised portion 107 is adapted to be gripped by the hand 121 of the user whereby the thumb 127 of the user engages the upper surface of the raised portion and the recess 117 is adapted to receive the fingers 123 of the hand of the user so as to enable the lower surface 111 of the raised portion 107 to be engaged by the fingers 123 of the user at the same time that the thumb 127 of the user engages the upper surface 109.
It has been found that the an arcuate formation 119 on the raised portion 107, and in particular an arcuate, contoured formation which resembles the natural curve of the upturned open palm of a users hand 121, that the majority of the load bearing is shifted anatomically from the user's fingers 123 and wrist 125 to the user's upper arm and biceps (not shown), which is a much stronger position which affords greater control over the stability and manoeuvrability of the service tray. As can be seen, in the present configuration, the users fingers 123 engage the lower surface 111 of the contoured formation 119 of the raised portion 107 to lift and support the service tray. The user's thumb 127 grasps the raised portion 107 of the service tray 100 by engaging the upper surface 109 of the contoured formation 119 of the raised portion 107. Arcuate formations 129 and 131, which are disposed at leading edge portion of raised portion 107 enable the leading edge portion of raised portion 107 to be engaged by a gripping face 128 of the user's thumb 127 and the portion of the user's hand adjacent the gripping face 128 as depicted in FIG. 7. Formations 129 and 131 also provide for the user's comfort and additional control and stability. They also increases the rigidity of the connecting wall portion 113. It will be appreciated that other suitable arrangements of the raised portion and the contoured formation may be envisaged without detracting from the spirit of the invention.
FIGS. 8 and 9 show the significant improvement in the weight distribution of the presently described service tray over prior art service trays due to the improved location of the centre of mass of the laden tray with respect to the user's engagement location for carriage of the tray. FIG. 8 shows a side view of a prior art service tray in the form of a simple flat tray 150. The tray is laden with three beverage containers 151 (eg. pint or schooner glasses of beer or other beverage). Whilst the beverage containers 151 may be readily arranged on the tray such that the centre of mass 153 is in the approximate centre of the tray in the horizontal plane, it can be appreciated that the centre of mass of mass 153 of the laden tray 150 in the vertical is at a significant height 155 (designated as distance “a” in the figure) above the tray 150. To carry the tray 150, the user must first lift the tray 150 with both hands from the edges 157 and to carry the tray with only one hand, they must then manoeuvre their hand underneath to engage the tray at the approximate centre of mass of the laden tray in the horizontal plane (approximately at location 159). The distance that the user must move their carrying hand underneath the tray whist supporting it with both hands is designated “b” in FIG. 8, and is approximately half the width/radius of the tray. However, since the distance 155 from the engagement location 159 and the centre of mass of the laden tray is significant, there is a large tendency for the tray to tip or overbalance whilst the user is manoeuvring their hand to the engagement location 159 and whilst the user is walking with the tray 150 carried in their one hand. It will readily be appreciated that, once the user has positioned one such laden tray 150 for carriage with one hand, they are not able to repeat the process with a second like laden tray 150 to be carried in their other free hand, and in any event, even if the user acquired assistance to place a second laden tray on their free hand, the user would need to exercise great care in maintaining the balance of one or both laden trays as they were carried. Furthermore, the user would also be unable to place the tray down on a horizontal surface without requiring the assistance of their other hand. The maintenance of the balance of the tray is made difficult due to the vertical distance 155 of the laden tray from the engagement location 159, and becomes increasingly more difficult as the tray is laden with greater numbers of items or items of increased weight.
Turning now to FIG. 9, there is shown a section view (taken along line A-A of FIG. 4) of the service tray 160 laden with beverage containers 161 having a centre of mass 163. In the first instance, and as has been previously described, the user does not need two hands to lift the service tray, but simply engages the tray at the engagement location 165 with a hand and lifts the tray directly. Since the weight of the beverage containers 161 placed on the service tray 160 may readily arranged to be evenly distributed such that the centre of mass in the horizontal plane is approximately coincident with the engagement location, and therefore the distance “b” that the user needs to move their hand after lifting the tray to be able to balance it with one hand is reduced to zero i.e. the user is able to directly engage the tray with a free hand at the centre of mass in the horizontal plane and then lift the tray without the need for assistance from their other hand. Further, since the engagement location 165 is elevated/raised with respect to the bottom surface 167 of the service tray 160, the vertical distance 169 between the user's engagement location 165 and the centre of mass 163 of the laden tray is significantly reduced. This therefore significantly lowers the tendency of the laden service tray to tip or overbalance and thus requires significantly less effort from the user to maintain the balance of the tray, providing a much improved stable platform for carriage of the beverage containers whilst the user moves about. It is even possible that, for low profile beverage containers such as low-ball glasses, spirit glasses or cognac glasses for instance, the centre of mass 163 can be lower that the engagement location 165, therefore requiring no effort from the user at all to balance the service tray, as it “hangs” from the user's hand. The only effort required in this situation is the lifting of the weight of the laden service tray 160 which, as has been previously described, is conveniently distributed through the user's entire aim. Furthermore, since the user does not require two hands to lift and or initially stabilise the service tray on their one hand, it will be appreciated that the user can readily lift and carry two like laden service trays 100 with ease.
It will be appreciated that the user would readily load the service tray in the shown configurations to locate the centre of mass 163 at the centre of the tray 160 to be coincident with the raised portion 107 and the engagement location 165 to balance the weight for ease of carriage. FIGS. 10 to 13 (where like features are indicated by like reference numerals) show perspective and top plan views of the service tray 160 with various load configurations and the relative centre of mass 163 of the laden service tray with 3, 4, 5, and 6 beverage containers 165 (eg. beer glasses) respectively.
In use for the carriage of a number of beverage, the user loads the beverages to be carried onto the support surface 101 of the tray 100 in a configuration such that the load of the beverages is evenly distributed and the centre of mass of the laden tray is coincident with the raised portion 107, for example as described with reference to FIGS. 10 to 13. The user then inserts the fingers of their preferred hand into recess 117 of the tray 100 and engages the palm of their hand with the lower surface 111 of raised portion 107. The user then engages the gripping face 128 of their thumb 127 with the upper surface 109 of raised portion 107 thereby to grip the leading edge of the raised portion. The user is then able to lift the laden tray 100 and carry the beverages stably with one hand.
The service tray disclosed herein, may formed from a plastics material and may be formed by moulding or injection moulding techniques. In other arrangements, the service tray may be formed from thermo-formed plastic, pressed metal or laminated fibres such as wood. The service tray 100 may be nestable or stackable for ease of storage of two or more, or a plurality, of like service trays as shown in FIG. 14. The service trays 100 may optionally include ridges 167 to minimise the amount by which the nested trays wedge (i.e. stick) together due to draft angle of the peripheral side wall. The ridges 165 may be angled with respect to the retaining lip/side wall 115 and an angle in the range of about 6 to 10 degrees is desirable. In other arrangements, the angle of the ridges may be approximately 7 to 10. 8 to 10, 7 to 9 6 to 9, or approximately 7.5 to 8.5 and may be approximately 6, 6.5, 7, 7.5, 8, 8.5, 9, 95, or 10 degrees. A further advantage of the service tray is that the user is able to load a top service tray of the stack with beverages and easily lift the loaded tray from the stack by inserting their hand along arrow 180 to engage the raised portion of the top service tray and lift the tray as previously described.
Due to the configuration of the raised portion as shown in the figures, the service tray may be readily lifted from the stack of like service trays in the manner previously described without having to first use two hands to separate a tray from the remaining trays in the stack.
Shown in FIG. 15 is a further arrangement of a service tray 170 similar to the arrangements described above but further comprising dividing portions 171. The dividing portions are adapted to divide the support surface into a plurality of compartments 171 which may be used for the carriage of foodstuffs. The dividing portion 171 may in further arrangements be removable.
It will be appreciated that the methods/apparatus/devices/systems described/illustrated above at least substantially provide a service tray with improved stability and handling ease.
The arrangements of the service tray described herein, and/or shown in the drawings, are presented by way of example only and are not limiting as to the scope of the invention. Unless otherwise specifically stated, individual aspects and components of the service tray may be modified, or may have been substituted therefore known equivalents, or as yet unknown substitutes such as may be developed in the future or such as may be found to be acceptable substitutes in the future. The service tray may also be modified for a variety of applications while remaining within the scope and spirit of the claimed invention, since the range of potential applications is great, and since it is intended that the present service tray be adaptable to many such variations.

Claims

1. A tray which is adapted to be securely and stably carried by a hand of a user, the tray comprising:

a support portion having an upper surface adapted for supporting beverages or foodstuffs;

a wall portion extending upwardly from the upper surface of the support portion; and

a centrally located raised portion connected to the wall portion, the raised portion having upper and lower surfaces wherein the lower surface of the raised portion is located above the upper surface of the support portion when the tray is in an operable position, the raised and wall portions defining a recess which is laterally accessible the raised portion being adapted to be gripped by the hand of the user whereby the thumb of the user engages the upper surface of the raised portion and the recess is adapted to receive the fingers of the hand of the user so as to enable the lower surface of the raised portion to be engaged by the fingers of the user in supporting engagement at the same time that the thumb of the user engages the upper surface.

2. A tray as claimed in claim 1 wherein the raised portion is centrally located.

3. A tray as claimed in claim 1 wherein the raised portion enables the service tray to be carried in supporting engagement at or near the centre of mass of the tray.

4. A tray as claimed in claim 1 wherein the leading edge of the raised portion is arcuate for engagement by a gripping face of the user's thumb and the portion of the user's hand adjacent the gripping face.

5. A tray as claimed in claim 1 wherein the support portion has a peripheral retaining lip.

6. A tray as claimed in claim 5 wherein the peripheral retaining lip is a peripheral side wall contiguous with the wall portion.

7. A tray as claimed in claim 3 wherein the support portion is adapted to provide unobstructed access for the user to the raised portion.

8. A tray as claimed in claim 1 wherein the support portion is substantially U-shaped.

9. A tray as claimed in claim 1 wherein the raised portion is arcuate.

10. A tray as claimed in claim 1 wherein the raised portion is contoured to adapt to the natural curve of a user's open hand.

11. A tray as claimed in claim 1 further comprising at least one dividing portion adapted to divide the support portion into a plurality of compartments.

12. A tray as claimed in claim 11 wherein the compartments are adapted for carriage of foodstuffs.

13. A tray as claimed in claim 11 wherein the dividing portion is removable.

14. A tray as claimed in claim 1 wherein the service tray is formed from a plastics material.

15. A tray as claimed in claim 1 wherein the service tray is integrally formed from a moulded plastics material.

16. A tray as claimed in claim 1 wherein the service tray is nestable for ease of storage of a plurality of like service trays.

17. (canceled)

18. A tray which is adapted to be securely and stably carried by a hand of a user, the tray comprising:

a support portion having an upper surface for supporting beverages or foodstuffs, the support portion being substantially U-shaped;

a centrally located raised portion connected to the wall portion, the raised portion having upper and lower surfaces wherein the lower surface of the raised portion is located above the upper surface of the support portion when the tray is in an operable position such that the raised portion is near the center of mass of a loaded service tray, the raised and wall portions defining a recess which is laterally accessible, the raised portion being adapted to be gripped by the hand of the user whereby the thumb of the user engages the upper surface of the raised portion and the recess is adapted to receive the fingers of the hand of the user so as to enable the lower surface of the raised portion to be engaged by the fingers of the user in supporting engagement at the same time that the thumb of the user engages the upper surface.

19. A tray as claimed in claim 16 wherein the support portion has a peripheral retaining lip.

20. A tray as claimed in claim 16 wherein the peripheral retaining lip is a peripheral side wall contiguous with the wall portion.

21. A tray as claimed in claim 16 wherein the support portion is adapted to provide unobstructed access for the user to the raised portion.

22. A tray as claimed in claim 16 wherein the service tray is nestable for ease of storage of a plurality of like service trays.