| Food table cover -> Monitor Keywords |
|
|
 
Food table coverFood table cover description/claimsThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20080000398, Food table cover. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0001]This invention relates to a food table cover. [0002]When serving foods such as potato salad, sandwiches, or cold foods, in an outdoor setting, flying insects often land on the food creating a health hazard as well as an unsightly nuisance. [0003]In recent years, outdoor and offsite picnic entertainment has increased substantially and due to this increase, the need to provide efficient food coverage while outdoors has also increased. At an outdoor picnic function, food is often placed on tables and served from open containers. As long as the food is left uncovered on picnic tables, it is exposed to insects and other sources of contamination. Thus it would be advantageous to provide a sturdy covering which would allow people to access the picnic food, while protecting the food from insects and other contaminates. [0004]In transporting such gear to the offsite locations, available space is often limited and therefore items should be able to be stowed away in a small space. It would be desirable, therefore, to provide a food cover which, while capable of protecting a large table area, could be collapsed to a small volume for storage and transportation. With the table cover inventions proposed in the past that were light weight or small sized, the food items inside could only be accessed by one or two persons at the same time or the entire food cover had to be lifted off of the food items thereby exposing the food to the outside elements. Prior inventors never proposed an invention that would be very light weight and yet allow the food items inside to be accessed by several people at the same time and large enough to fit over most of the entire serving area of the table surface. Additionally, prior large sized food cover inventions could not be transported from place to place with ease or in a small space. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0005]An object of the invention is to provide an improved cover for protecting food on a table surface, which protects the food from pests and weather, while allowing ready access to the food when desired. [0006]These and other objects are attained by a food table cover which, as described below, provides a large enclosure that covers multiple food items and keeps insects and other outdoor contaminants at bay. [0007]One version of the table cover can be completely disassembled and reassembled in minutes for easy transport and storage. It has suction devices enabling it to adhere to almost any surface so as not to blow away during times of high winds, and magnetically latched doors which enable food items to be accessed without danger of the doors pinching hands or fingers. [0008]The inventive cover is large enough to allow multiple food items to be accessed by several people at the same time from doors located on both the front and back sides of the table cover. One version of the cover can be completely disassembled and reassembled in minutes with only a small screwdriver. [0009]Unlike food covers that cover one or two items at a time, this invention can cover multiple food items that could be served in a buffet type setting. Several people can access the food inside the covering at the same time, inasmuch as the cover has two large openings, one on either side, sized to allow ample room for people to reach inside in order to remove or restock food items with ease. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0010]In the accompanying drawings, [0011]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a food table cover embodying the invention; [0012]FIG. 2 is a top plan view thereof; [0013]FIG. 3 is an end view thereof; and [0014]FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view thereof. [0015]FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an alternative embodiment of the invention, from above; and [0016]FIG. 6 is a perspective view thereof, from below. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT [0017]A food table cover embodying the invention is assembled from a pair of end plates 10, 12 which are interconnected by a pair of side rails 14, 16 and a curved roof 18 that extends to either side of a center plane of the cover, approximately half way to the side rails. The gaps "G" between the cover and the side rails may be closed by curved doors 20, only one of which is visible in FIG. 1. The rear door is visible in FIG. 4. [0018]The doors pivot at hinge points 22, only one of which is visible in FIG. 1. A handle 24 attached to the lower edge of each door not only provides means for lifting the door, but also acts as a stop fixing the closed position of the door. The weight of each door is sufficient to keep the door closed, normally, and in most cases no counterweighting or spring biasing should be necessary. The invention does not exclude additional components, however. [0019]A handle 26 is attached to the roof 18, at its center, so that one can lift the entire assembly. [0020]Two parallel dovetail elements 28, 30 are attached to the end plates 10 and 12 respectively. Each dovetail element extends vertically in the center plane of the cover. The male dovetail element 30 is shaped to have a sliding fit within the groove of the female dovetail element 28. It cannot be pulled out of the groove in the lateral direction. Continue reading about Food table cover... Full patent description for Food table cover Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Food table cover patent application. ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. Fill in the keywords to be monitored. 3. Each week you receive an email with patent applications related to your keywords. Start now! - Receive info on patent apps like Food table cover or other areas of interest. ### Previous Patent Application: Milling machine table Next Patent Application: Self-adjusting goods display system and method Industry Class: Horizontally supported planar surfaces ### FreshPatents.com Support Thank you for viewing the Food table cover patent info. IP-related news and info Results in 0.42019 seconds Other interesting Feshpatents.com categories: Accenture , Agouron Pharmaceuticals , Amgen , AT&T , Bausch & Lomb , Callaway Golf 174 |
 * Protect your Inventions * US Patent Office filing 
PATENT INFO |
|
