Portable device for transporting and protecting food or drinks

Abstract

A portable device (1) is described, for transporting and protecting food or drinks, the device comprising: at least one support element (3) designed to contain food or beverages for their transport; and at least one containment element (5) designed to contain at least one protective element (7) for the protection of food or beverages, the containment element (5) being operatively connected to the support element (3).

Description

[0001] PORTABLE DEVICE FOR TRANSPORTING AND PROTECTING

[0002] FOOD OR DRINKS

[0003] The present invention relates to a portable device for transporting and protecting food or beverages .

[0004] There are outdoor venues (e.g., bars, terraces, restaurants, etc.) where food or drinks are served that need to be transported to customers for consumption. At the same time, these venues need to be protected from the elements (rain, snow, sun, wind, etc.) and from animals (especially pigeons, but also other types of animals) that are attracted to these foods or drinks and eat them.

[0005] This situation is very annoying for end customers, who find themselves confronted with these agents or animals that tend to spoil the food or drinks served to them. For example, in rainy weather, a waiter must carry trays full of food or drinks in one hand and a rain umbrella in the other. Furthermore, in windy weather, this already uncomfortable situation could lead to the food or drinks being carried falling .

[0006] As for animals , chasing them away with sudden hand movements is no longer ef fective , given that , for example , in certain places pigeons become very aggressive in their search for food and there are currently no ef fective deterrents against their actions .

[0007] Prior document ES-U- 1071009 describes a plate to which a sort of umbrella-like covering i s applied using a suction cup : this solution, however, is limited to a single plate , and is expensive , since it is necessary to prepare a suction cup to which an umbrella is attached and apply the whole thing to a plate , which makes it impossible to apply it in bars or restaurants , i . e . in places where drinks are carried over relatively long distances by waiters to several di f ferent tables .

[0008] Document US-A-5335803 instead concerns a beach umbrella with a stand underneath on which to place any food; clearly, this solution is not portable and is not applicable in the bars or restaurants mentioned above .

[0009] Obj ect of the present invention is solving the aforementioned prior art problems by providing a portable device for transporting and protecting food or drinks that allows for ef ficient and effective transport and protection from both atmospheric agents and animals , with a solution that is easy to construct , equally easy to maneuver and has low production costs .

[0010] The above and other obj ects and advantages of the invention, as will result from the following description, are achieved with a portable device for transporting and protecting food or drinks such as that described in claim 1 . Pre ferred embodiments and non-trivial variants of the present invention form the subj ect matter of the dependent claims .

[0011] It is understood that all attached claims form an integral part of this speci fication .

[0012] It will be immediately obvious that countless variations and modi fications can be made to what has been described ( for example relating to shape , dimensions , arrangements and parts with equivalent functionality) without departing from the scope of the invention as appears from the appended claims .

[0013] The present invention will be better described by some preferred embodiments thereof , provided by way of example and not by way of limitation, with reference to the attached drawings , in which : FIG. 1 shows a front perspective view of one embodiment of the portable food or beverage transport and protection device according to the present invention;

[0014] FIG. 2 shows a top view of the device of FIG. 1 ; and

[0015] FIG. 3 shows a bottom view of the device of FIG. 1.

[0016] Referring to the Figures, the portable device (1) for transporting and protecting food or drinks of the present invention substantially comprises: at least one support element (3) designed to contain food or drinks for their transport; at least one containment element (5) designed to contain at least one protective element (7) for the protection of food or beverages, the containment element (5) being operatively connected to the support element (3) .

[0017] In particular, the device (1) may also be equipped with at least one handle element (9) , in particular a hollow handle, designed to allow the device (1) to be supported by a user hand, the handle element (9) being operationally connected to the support element (3) on a side opposite to that on which the containment element (5) is located. As illustrated, the at least one support element (3) consists of a tray, in particular of a circular shape. Obviously, other shapes of the tray (square, rectangular, quadrangular, etc.) are possible, as well as other types of support elements (3) , such as pans, saucepans, etc.

[0018] Furthermore, always as a possible non-limiting embodiment and illustrated here, the containment element (5) is in the shape of a hollow rod, operationally connected to the support element (3) so as to protrude vertically therefrom.

[0019] As a possible alternative, the containment element (5) can be shaped so as to follow the external perimeter of the support element (3) to which it is connected by at least three support rods. This solution is not illustrated, since it simply consists of a possible alternative in which a containment element (5) can be obtained: it has the purpose of containing the protection element (7) so that it can be placed in or extracted from the containment element (5) , thus making the final application of the device (1) flexible with various types of containment elements (5) and protection elements ( 7 ) .

[0020] In particular, the protection element (7) may consist of an umbrella which can be opened or closed depending on the application: the umbrella is designed to be placed in or extracted from the containment element (5) to allow the protection of food or drinks, in a flexible way depending on the application. Once opened, the umbrella (7) both protects from rain or other atmospheric agents and constitutes a very effective deterrent to attacks by animals (especially pigeons and similar birds) which attempt to eat the food or drinks contained in the device.

[0021] As one of the possible variants, the protection element (7) could instead consist of a pinwheel, or at least a covering cloth or sheet, or any other suitable solution.

[0022] With the configuration described above, it is evident that the device (1) of the present invention is simple to configure, can be made of various types of materials (plastic, iron, aluminum, wood, etc.) and can be immediately used by inserting the umbrella (7) into the rod (5) placed on the tray (3) and opening the umbrella (7) itself when serving the food or drinks contained therein .

Claims

CLAIMS1. Portable device (1) for transporting and protecting food or drinks comprising:- at least one support element (3) designed to contain food or beverages for their transport; and- at least one containment element (5) designed to contain at least one protective element (7) for the protection of food or beverages, said containment element (5) being operatively connected to said support element (3) .

2. Device (1) according to claim 1, wherein said device (1) is further equipped with at least one handle element (9) , in particular a hollow handle, designed to allow support of the device (1) by a user hand, said handle element (9) being operatively connected to said support element (3) on a side opposite to that on which said containment element (5) is located.

3. Device (1) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein said at least one support element (3) consists of a tray, in particular of circular shape.

4. Device (1) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said containment element (5) is in the form of a hollow rod, operatively connected to said support element (3) so as toprotrude vertically therefrom.

5. Device (1) according to any of the preceding claims 1 to 3, wherein said containment element (5) is shaped so as to follow the external perimeter of said support element (3) to which it is connected by at least three support rods.

6. Device (1) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said protection element (7) consists of an umbrella capable of being opened or closed depending on the applications, said umbrella being designed to be placed in or extracted from said containment element (5) to allow the protection of food or drinks, in a flexible manner depending on the applications.

7. Device (1) according to any of the preceding claims 1 to 5, wherein said protection element (7) consists of a pinwheel.

8. Device (1) according to any of the preceding claims 1 to 5, wherein said protection element (7) consists of at least one covering sheet or cloth .

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