NESTED TABLEWARE SET

Abstract

A nested tableware set includes: a) first and second bowls having a base and container portion that terminates at an open rim, and b) a plate interposed between the first and second bowls. Each plate has: 1) a base terminating at a side wall that extends upwardly and terminates at a side wall rim, 2) a base wall extending vertically downwardly from the base, 3) a first annular surface extending horizontally away from an upper end of the base wall, and 4) a second annular surface extending horizontally away from and vertically above the first annular surface. The first annular surface and the base wall together define a first shelf for seating the first bowl, and the second annular surface defines a second shelf for seating another plate. The base and side wall together define a third shelf for seating the second bowl.

Claims

1. A nested tableware set, comprising: first and second vessels, each vessel having a base supporting a container portion that extends away from the base and terminates at an open rim; and at least one plate configured to be interposed between the first and second vessels, each of the at least one plates having: a base outwardly terminating at a side wall, the side wall extending upwardly from the base and terminating at a rim; a base wall extending vertically downwardly from a lower surface of the base; a first annular surface extending horizontally and radially outwardly away from an upper end of the base wall, the first annular surface and the base wall together defining a first shelf configured for seating the rim of the first vessel; and a second annular surface positioned vertically above the first annular surface and extending horizontally and radially outwardly away from the first annular surface, the second annular surface defining a second shelf for seating the side wall rim of another plate, wherein the base and side wall together define a third shelf for seating the rim of the second vessel, and wherein the side wall of the at least one plate defines a band that extends outwardly from and around the first and second vessels.

2. The nested tableware set of claim 1, wherein the at least one plate includes an upper plate and a lower plate.

3. The nested tableware set of claim 2, wherein: the rim of the first vessel is seated against the first shelf of the lower plate; the side wall rim portion of the lower plate is seated against the second shelf of the upper plate; and the rim of the second vessel is seated against the third shelf of the upper plate.

4. The nested tableware set of claim 2, wherein the at least one plate further includes at least one intermediate plate positioned between the upper and lower plates.

5. The nested tableware set of claim 4, wherein the rim of the first vessel is seated against the first shelf of the lower plate; the side wall rim of the lower plate is seated against the second shelf of one of the at least one intermediate plate; the side wall rim of the at least one intermediate plate is seated against the second shelf of one of another one of the at least one intermediate plate or the upper plate; and the rim of the second vessel is seated against the third shelf of the upper plate.

6. The nested tableware set of claim 1, wherein perimeters defined by the rims of each of the first and second vessels are substantially identical.

7. The nested tableware set of claim 6, wherein the first and the second vessels and plate are positioned substantially along a common longitudinal axis of the nested tableware set.

8. The nested tableware set of claim 1, wherein the first and second vessels are bowls.

9. The nested tableware set of claim 1, wherein the tableware assembly includes at least a third vessel nestedly positioned within one of the first vessel or the second vessel.

10. A plate for inclusion in a nested tableware set, comprising: a base outwardly terminating at a side wall, the side wall extending upwardly from the base and terminating at a rim; a base wall extending vertically downwardly from a lower surface of the base; a first annular surface extending horizontally and radially outwardly away from an upper end of the base wall, the first annular surface and the base wall together defining a first shelf; and a second annular surface positioned vertically above the first annular surface and extending horizontally and radially outwardly away from the first annular surface, the second annular surface defining a second shelf.

11. The plate of claim 11, wherein the perimeter of the base and a perimeter of the side wall are circular.

12. The plate of claim 10, wherein the perimeter of the base and a perimeter of the side wall are square.

13. The plate of claim 10, wherein the perimeter of the base and a perimeter of the side wall are oval.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

[0011] A more complete understanding of the present disclosure may be realized by reference to the accompanying drawinging which:

[0012] FIG. 1 illustrates an exploded view of an exemplary nested tableware set in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure;

[0013] FIG. 2 illustrates the exemplary nested tableware set of FIG. 1 with the pieces of the set arranged in a nested state;

[0014] FIG. 3a illustrates an exemplary plate included in the nested tableware set of FIG. 1;

[0015] FIG. 3b a provides a cross-sectional view of the exemplary plate of FIG. 3a;

[0016] FIG. 3c a provides a perspective view of the exemplary plate of FIG. 3a; and

[0017] FIG. 4 provides a cross-sectional view of the nested tableware set in the nested state depicted by FIG. 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0018] The following merely illustrates the principles of the disclosure. It will thus be appreciated that those skilled in the art will be able to devise various arrangements which, although not explicitly described or shown herein, embody the principles of the disclosure and are included within its spirit and scope.

[0019] Furthermore, all examples and conditional language recited herein are principally intended expressly to be only for pedagogical purposes to aid the reader in understanding the principles of the disclosure and the concepts contributed by the inventor(s) to furthering the art, and are to be construed as being without limitation to such specifically recited examples and conditions.

[0020] Moreover, all statements herein reciting principles, aspects, and embodiments of the disclosure, as well as specific examples thereof, are intended to encompass both structural and functional equivalents thereof. Additionally, it is intended that such equivalents include both currently known equivalents as well as equivalents developed in the future, i.e., any elements later developed that perform the same function, regardless of structure.

[0021] Unless otherwise explicitly specified herein, the drawings are not drawn to scale.

[0022] Aspects of the present disclosure are directed to the elements of a nested tableware set. An exemplary tableware set 100 is depicted an exploded view depicted in FIG. 1. The tableware set 100 as shown includes two bowl sets each including a large bowl 102a, 102b, a medium bowl 104a, 104b and a small bowl 106a, 106b. When combined into a display configuration, each small bowl is nested within a medium bowl 104a, 104b, which is in turn nested within a large bowl 102a, 102b. Each bowl set is positioned in mirror image opposition to the other, and lower and upper plates 108a, 108b) are stacked and positioned between the two bowl sets, which then are locatably positioned on an upper surface of the upper plate 108b and a lower surface of the lower plate 108a, respectively. While the table set illustrated in FIG. 1 includes two bowl sets having three bowls each and two plates, one having skill in the art will readily recognize that each bowl set may be configured with a greater or lesser number of bowls (including a set configured with only a single bowl), and that the number of nested plates may range from one to a greater number.

[0023] FIG. 2 shows the exemplary tableware set 100 of FIG. 1 as arranged in is display configuration. When bowls 102a, 102b and plates 108a, 102b are made of an opaque material, bowls 104a, 104b, 106a and 106b are not visible in the display configuration. Plates 108a, 108b and bowls 102a, 102b, 104a, 104b, 106a and 106b may be formed from one or more of a variety of materials, including for example, ceramic, plastic, metal and/or organic materials such as wood. While illustrated as having external surfaces that are circular with reference to a longitudinal axis 101 of the tableware set 100, one having skill in the art will readily recognize that the external surfaces of Plates 108a, 108b and bowls 102a, 102b, 104a, 104b, 106a and 106b may also be square, rectangular, or polygonal, or alternatively assume any other closed-form periphery.

[0024] FIGS. 3a, 3b and 3c together illustrate several novel and unique features of the exemplary plates 108 of FIGS. 1, 2. These features enable the bowls 102a, 102b and plates 108a, 102b to be stably positioned in the display position illustrated by FIG. 2. Each plate 114 includes a base 114 surrounded by an upper side wall 112 to define a planar well 110 for holding food products. A base wall 114a extends downwardly from the base 114 to terminate at a base footing 114b for stably positioning the plate 108 on a flat surface such as a table. A base wall perimeter 114d and first annular surface 114c define a first shelf on which a rim 102e of the bottom large bowl 102a may be locatably positioned in the display configuration. A second annular surface 114e is positioned radially outwardly and vertically above the first annular surface 114c to provide a second shelf on which a upper side wall rim 112a of another plate 108 may be locatably positioned in the display configuration as an alternative to positioning the rim 102c of the bottom bowl 102a on the first shelf.

[0025] As illustrated in the cross-sectional view of the plate 108 provided by FIG. 3b, upper side wall 112 and planar well 110 in proximity to a planar well perimeter 110a form a third shelf for receiving a rim 102f to locatably position the top large bowl 102b in the display configuration. As illustrated, first, second and third shelves defined by the plate 108 are respectively configured to locate the bottom large bowl 102a, the additional plate 108 and the top bowl 102b.

[0026] In the present example having bowls and plates with circular perimeters as illustrated by FIGS. 1-4, the first, second and third shelves of the each plate 108 are configured to respectively locate the bottom large bow, 102a, the additional plate 108 and the top bowl 102b so that each of these elements is concentrically aligned with the nested tableware set centerline 101 in the display configuration for the nested tableware set 100. As a result, and as can be seen for the example of FIG. 2, the example display configuration of the nested tableware set 100 exhibits external surface features that are smoothly integrated to define an elongated sphere with a ringlike band defined by the upper side walls 112 of upper and lower plates 108a, 108b that surrounds an equatorial circumference of the sphere. The sphere is capped at its poles by base walls 102c, 102d of bottom large bowl 102a and top large bowl 102b. The assemblage in the display configuration illustrated by FIG. 2 can, for example, be said to be somewhat evocative of a FABERGÉ egg.

[0027] FIG. 4 provides a cross-sectional view of the nested tableware set of FIG. 2. This cross-sectional view illustrates the nested placement of medium bowls 104a, 104b and small bowls 106a, 106b within large bowls 102a, 102b, resepctively, in the display configuration. Respective base walls 104c, 104d of the medium bowls 104a, 104b separably position the medium bowls 104a, 104b within large bowls 104a, 104b, respectively. Similarly, respective base walls 106c, 106d of the small bowls 106a, 106b separably position the small bowls 106a, 106b within the medium bowls 104a, 104b, respectively. The medium bowls 104a, 104b and small bowls 106a, 106b are configured so that, when nested, rims of the respective medium bowls 104a, 104b and small bowls 106a, 106b do not extend outwardly of rims 102e, 102f of the large bowls 102a, 102b. Preferably, the rims of the respective medium bowls 104a, 104b and small bowls 106a lie inwardly from the rims 102e, 102f of large bowls 102a, 102b.

[0028] The cross-sectional view of FIG. 4 also illustrates the locatable positioining of large bowls 102a, 102b with respect to the plates 108a, 108b. In particular, it can be seen that the rim 102e of bottom bowl 102a is positioned on the first shelf defined by base wall perimeter 114d and first annular surface 114c. Upper side wall rim 112a of lower plate 108a is positioned on the second shelf second annular surface 114e of upper plate 108b. And the rim 102f of the top bowl 102b is positioned on the third shelf defined by upper side wall 112 and planar well 110 in proximity to planar well perimeter 110a.

[0029] It will be understood that, while various aspects of the present disclosure have been illustrated and described by way of example, the invention claimed herein is not limited thereto, but may be otherwise variously embodied within the scope of the following claims. For example, it should be understood that while the example of FIGS. 1-4 illustrate a nested tableware set having two plates and two sets of three nested bowls, configurations with difference numbers of bowls and/or plates are fully contemplated by this disclosure. In addition, while the bowls and plates as illustrated each define a circular circumference or perimeter, bowl and plate perimeters defining other geometric and non-geometric shapes are fully contemplated by this disclosure.

[0030] The following table lists the reference characters and names of features and elements used herein: Reference characters assigned to method steps are not listed.

TABLE-US-00001 Ref. char. Feature or element 100 Nested Tableware Set 101 Nested Tableware Set Centerline 102a Large Bowl (Bottom) 102b Large Bowl (Top) 102c Large Bowl Base Wall (Bottom) 102d Large Bowl Base Wall (Top) 102e Large Bowl Rim (Bottom) 102f Large Bowl Rim (Top) 104a Medium Bowl (Bottom) 104b Medium Bowl (Top) 104c Medium Bowl Base Wall (Bottom) 104d Medium Bowl Base Wall (Top) 106a Small Bowl (Bottom) 106b Small Bowl (Top) 106c Small Bowl Base Wall (Bottom) 106d Small Bowl Base Wall (Top) 108a Lower Plate 108b Upper Plate 110 Plate - Planar Well 110a Plate - Planar Well Perimeter 112 Plate - Upper Side Wall 112a Plate - Upper Side Wall Rim 114 Plate - Base 114a Plate - Base Wall 114b Plate - Base Wall Footing 114c Plate - Base First Annular Surface 114d Plate - Base Wall Perimeter 114e Plate - Base Second Annular Surface