AU725306B2 - A dining-tray for car - Google Patents

Description

47465 DP:MG P/00/011 Regulation 3.2

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A STANDARD PATENT

ORIGINAL

see* .60*.

:0.0*0 Of*& 6* 0 Name of Applicant: FORMOSA SAINT JOSE CORPORATION Actual Inventor: MING-SHUN YANG Address for Service: COLLISON CO., 117 King William Street, Adelaide, S.A. 5000 Invention Title: A DINING-TRAY FOR CAR The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to us:

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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION: There are times people need to take a meal or drink in a car during travel by driving. However, there is not means in general cars intended for holding food, lunch box, drink, etc. People usually arbitrarily put the food, lunch box or drink on the seat which is, of course, very inconvenient for the driver or passengers. What is worse is the food or drink may very possible stain the seat which is uneasy to clean.

10 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION: It is a primary object of the present invention to provide a dining-tray for car to meet the need of people who often take a meal in a car. The dining-tray of the present invention can be attached to the backside of front seats or the inner walls of S: 15 doors for holding lunch box, cup, etc.

The dining-tray for car according to the present invention 99*9 mainly includes a tray, a tray holder, a back board, a cup holder, a cup ring, two connection strips, and a connection frame. The tray is pivotally connected to the tray holder by lugs correspondingly provided to their lower edges, so that the tray can be turned relative to the tray holder between an extended position and a folded position. The tray holder is also pivotally connected to the back board by lugs correspondingly provided to their upper edges, so that the tray holder can be turned to a desired position relative to the back board. The cup la- II L holder is pivotally hinged to one lateral edge of the tray and can therefore be turned between an extended and a folded positions. The cup ring is movably set in a circular recess on the tray holder and can be pivotally turned to an extended position above the extended cup holder. When the dining-tray for car is attached to a back of a front seat by hooking the connection frame on the front seat back with the tray, the cup holder and the cup ring in their extended position, food, lunch box, cup, etc. can be put on the dining-tray without the risk of 0 tilting over.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS: *Fig. 1 is a perspective of a dining-tray for car according to the present invention with the tray in an extended position; Fig. 2 is a perspective back view of the dining-tray for car 15 in a folded state; Fig. 3 is a sectional view showing the tray holder of the dining-tray for car is angularly adjustable in position relative oooe to the back board of the dining-tray for car; Fig. 4 is a perspective of the dining-tray for car of the present invention with the tray and the cup holder in an extended position; Fig. 5 is a perspective similar to Fig. 4 but with the cup ring in an extended position corresponding to the extended cup holder; Fig. 6 is a fragmentary, exploded perspective of the cup 2 ring of the present invention; and Fig. 7 is a fragmentary, sectional view showing the assembled cup ring.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS: Please refer to Figs. 1, 2, and 3 at the same time. The present invention relates to a dining-tray for car and mainly includes a tray a tray holder a back board a cup holder a cup ring two connection strips and a connection frame The tray is pivotally connected at a lower edge to a lower edge of the tray holder by engagement of lugs (11) with lugs (21) that are correspondingly provided at the two adjacent edges of the tray and the tray holder respectively, such that the tray can be pivotally turned about the engaged lugs (21) relative to the tray holder (2) 15 between a folded position and an extended position. And, the back board is pivotally connexted at an upper edge to an upper edge of the tray holder by engagement of lugs (31) with lugs (22) correspondingly provided at the two adjacent edges of Ca the back board and the tray holder respectively, such that the tray holder can also be pivotally turned about the engaged lugs (31) relative to the back board between a folded position and an extended position.

To close the tray to the tray holder a tongue (12) is provided at an upper edge of the tray to be retained by a catcher (23) provided at an upper edge of the tray holder (2) 3 corresponding to the tongue (12) when the tray is pushed to abut against the tray holder And, a push plate (13) projects from the upper edge of the tray near the tongue (12) for pulling the tray away from the tray holder (2) conveniently.

Please now refer to Figs. 1 and 4. The cup holder is pivotally hinged to a lateral edge of the tray so that it can be turned toward the tray to lie in the tray without hindering the close of the tray to the tray holder or be 10 turned away from the tray to an extended position for holding a cup, etc. thereon.

:The tray holder is formed in an inner surface thereof 9999 with a circular recess An elongated groove (25) extends from one side of the circular recess The circular recess 15 (24) and the elongated groove (25) together receive the cup ring therein.

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Please refer to Figs. 1, 4, 5, 6 and 7 at the same time for the structure of the cup ring The cup ring has a .o ""connection arm (50) projected from one side thereof for connecting a sleeve (51) thereto. The connection arm (50) is formed around its outer peripheral surface with four ratchets (52) which fitly mesh with notches (53) formed around a free end of the sleeve (51) when the sleeve (51) is put around and connected to the arm A spring (55) is disposed inside the sleeve (51) and a screw (54) is extended through the spring 4 and screwed into the connection arm The spring enables the four ratchets (52) to tightly engage with the notches (53) of sleeve (51) but allows the ratchets (52) to disengage from the notches (53) by gently pulling the cup ring outward.

When the ratchets (52) disengage from the notches the cup ring can be rotated relative to the sleeve (51) by degrees. The sleeve (51) is pivotally connected at the other end opposite to the cup ring to a lateral edge of the tray holder close to the cup holder allowing the cup ring 1. connected thereto via the connection arm (50) to be pivotally turned out of the tray holder At this point, the cup ring itself may be rotated by (90) degrees in steps as described above, so that it is in a horizontal position for use. The sleeve (51) may also be turned until the cup ring reaches 15 above the cup holder to work with it to stably hold a cup, etc. therein without becoming tilted over. Two hooks (20) are o:ee o separately provided at two lateral edges of the tray holder (2) for holding rubbish bags in order to collect food residues and other waste.

Please refer to Figs. 2 and 3 for the structure of the back board The back board is provided on a back surface near two upper corners each with a pair of upper clamps (30) and a pair of lower retaining means The connection strip (6) each has two lower wings two middle wings and two upper wings-(63). The upper clamps (30) are used to clamp the 5 middle wings (62) between them and the lower retaining means (32) are used to retain the lower wings (61) thereto, so that the connection strips are fixedly attached to the back surface of the back board without the risk of becoming loosened therefrom. When the connection strips are so positioned that the two upper wings (63) are clamped between the two upper clamps and the middle wings (62) are retained to the lower retaining means the tray can be adjusted to be in a higher position as necessary.

10 The connection frame as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, is 0* provided at a front surface near two lateral ends with two pairs of clamps (71) separately corresponding to the connection strips on the back board for clamping the connection strips (6) between each pair of clamps One end of the connection 15 frame is a fixed hook (72) for hooking on one of the steel bars supporting a pillow of the front seat to which the diningtray is attached. The connection frame has a back side which forms a guiding channel (73) in which a laterally movable sliding plate (74) is mounted. An elongated slot (76) is formed along the length of the connection frame A threaded bolt extends through the elongated slot (76) from the front surface of the connection frame to tightly lock the movable sliding plate (74) to the connection frame When the threaded bolt is loosened, the sliding plate (74) can be moved to adjust its position in the guiding channel (73) until an outer hooked 6 end (77) of the sliding plate (74) firmly hooks on the other steel bar supporting the front seat pillow. Then, the threaded bolt (75) is tightened against the connection frame again.

Please now refer particularly to Fig. 3. The tray holder is provided at a back side with two ears (26) for a supporting arm (27) to pivotally connect therebetween. A plurality of receiving holes (33) arranged in a vertical line are provided at a front side of the back board A user may select one of the receiving holes (33) to insert a free end of the supporting arm (27) thereinto, so that a proper angle is contained between the tray holder and the back board to :always keep the extended tray in a horizontal position, no matter how the back of the front seat is inclined.

Fig. 3 also illustrates another embodiment of the connection strip In this embodiment, the connection strip has a top end which is formed of a hook portion (64) suitable for **directly inserting into and hooking on a clearance between a window and a glass thereof. A means (65) is further provided on the connection strip for tightly attaching the strip (6) to the door, so that the strip can be used to mount the dining-tray to the door without the connection frame To use the dining-tray of the present invention mounted in a car, simply pull the push plate (13) on the upper edge of the tray to extend the tray to its operation position. Then, extend the cup holder and the cup ring to their operation 7 positions as necessary. At this point, the dining-tray of the present invention is ready for use. Items such as lunch box, cup, soup container or drinks can be conveniently placed in the extended tray the cup holder and the cup ring without the risk of tilting over.

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Claims (6)

1. A dining-tray for car, comprising: a tray having a plurality of lower lugs provided at a lower edge thereof; a tray holder having a plurality of lower lugs provided at a lower edge thereof corresponding to and pivotally connected tb said lower lugs of said tray, a plurality of upper lugs provided at an upper edge thereof, and a circular recess with a laterally extended elongated groove provided at an inner surface thereof; a back board having a plurality of upper lugs provided at an 9oeo upper edge to pivotally connect with said upper lugs of said tray 9*9999 holder, said back board being provided at a back surface near each upper corner with a pair of upper clamps and a pair of lower retaining means, and at a front surface near one lateral edge with a plurality of receiving holes arranged in a line; o a cup holder being pivotally hinged to one lateral edge of said tray; a cup ring being movably set in said circular recess and said enlongated groove of said tray holder, said cup ring having a connection arm projected from one side thereof for a sleeve to connect thereto, said connection arm being provided around an outer periphery with four ratchets to mesh with notches formed around a front end of said sleeve; two connection strips each of which is formed with two upper wings, two middle wings, and two lower wings; said connection strips being attached to the back surface of said back board by engaging said middle wings with said upper clamps and said lower wings with said lower retaining means; and o o a connection frame having one end formed of a fixed hook and S. 10 two pairs of clamps provided at a front surface thereof for clamping two top ends of said connection strips thereto; a guiding channel being formed at a back side of said connection frame for a sliding plate to laterally movably mount therein, said sliding plate being releasably locked in said guiding channel by a threaded bolt screwed through an elongated slot on said connection frame, such that said sliding plate can be adjusted in its position in said guiding channel; S. whereby said dining-tray for car can be attched to a back side of a front seat by hooking said connection frame on said front seat for food, lunch box, cup, etc. to position thereon, so that a driver or passenger may take a meal in the car conveniently.

2. A dining-tray for car as claimed in claim i, wherein said tray and said tray holder are provided at their top edges with matched fastening means to close said tray to said tray holder 10 when the dining-tray is not in use, and said tray is provided at said top edge near said fastening means with a push plate to faciliate the pull of said tray out of said tray holder.

3. A dining-tray for car as claimed in claim 1, wherein said tray holder has a supporting arm pivotally connected to a back side of said tray holder, and said supporting arm being selectively removably connected at a free end to one of said receiving holes formed on said back board.

4. A dining-tray for car as claimed in claim 1, wherein said sleeve connected to said cup ring has a spring and a screw disposed therein, and said screw is threaded through said spring and screwed into an outer end of said connection arm from said •sleeve. A dining-tray for car as claimed in claim 1, wherein said 15 tray holder has two hooks provided at each lateral edge thereof for holding rubbish bags or the like.

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6. A dining-tray for car as defined in claim l.substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Dated this 2nd day of April 1997 FORMOSA SAINT JOSE CORPORATION By their Patent Attorneys COLLISON CO C^Ps^^~A 11