US3884507A - Menu - Google Patents

Abstract

A menu is formed of two superposed sheets the upper of which is formed with two rows of removable tickets along its side edges. Each ticket bears indicia indicating a particular dinner, dish, or drink and next to each ticket at the center of the upper sheet is a nonremovable box indicating the price of the item in the associated box. The lowr sheet is divided into zones bearing indicia which correspond to those of the overlying tickets so that as a ticket is ripped off the selection made is exposed on the lower sheet. The tickets are given to the waiter who gives them to the cook for preparation, and the menu with some tickets removed constitutes the check for the meal.

Description

United States Patent Fumel May 20, 1975 MENU 2,582,355 1/1952 Ratner 40/107 Inventor: Florence Fumel 3,538,631 11/1970 Boatner 40/5 Saint-Cyr-Au-Mont-dOr, FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS Rhone France 844,159 7/1952 Germany 283/60 [73] Assignee: Anvar Agence Nationale de 85,875 7/1920 swltzerland 283/60 Valorisation de la Recherche, Courbevoie, Hauts de Seine, France Primary Examinerwmlg A t Filed: Dec- 1972 tlorney, Agen or Firm Karl Ross, Herbert Dubno [21] Appl. No.: 317,260

[57] ABSTRACT Foreign Application Priority Data A menu is formed of two superposed sheets the upper Dec. 22, 1971 France 71.46909 of which is formed with two rows of removable tickets along its side edges. Each ticket bears indicia indicat- [52] US. Cl. 283/60; 40/2 R ing a particular dinner, dish, or drink and next to each [51] Int. Cl 842d 15/02 ticket at the center of the upper sheet is a nonremova- [58] Field of Search 40/2, 5, 110, 19.5, 61; ble box indicating the price of the item in the associ- 283/60, 60.1 ated box. The lowr sheet is divided into zones bearing indicia which correspond to those of the overlying [56] References Cited tickets so that as a ticket is ripped off the selection UNITED STATES PATENTS made is exposed on the lower sheet. The tickets are 844 596 211907 Heimesdorf 281/60 given to the waiter who gives them to the cook for 886 976 5/1908 HeinersdorfIIIIIIIIZIIT: 583/601 Preparation and the some tickets removed 900:228 l0/l908 Ta 1or.........................I.IIII 40/110 x constitutes the check for the meal- 972,549 10/1910 Lewis 283/601 l,566,0l9 12/1925 Josephy 283/60 l Clam 3 Drawmg F'gures [i1 zmezm 11211 MUM! I12], kwmmA PATENTED MAY 2 0 I975 6 FlG.2

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I III MENU FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a menuv BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION It is known in the catering industry and more particularly in restaurants that the work performed by waiters is slowed down considerably due to the loss of time required for writing down orders from customers. since the courses, dishes and drinks available must be described to these customers, whose orders are then written down in an order book. from which a sheet is detached and sent to the cook. Moreover. it is also known that as a consequence either of errors or employee cheating some of these order sheets are lost in the course of a day. As a result. it is rather difficult for the owner or manager of a restaurant to keep close track of his business and have a permanent control of the number of meals served and paid for.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION It is an object of this invention to simplify the work of waiters or waitresses entrusted with the registration of the customers orders, to avoid any fraud on the part of the waiters and customers while facilitating the payment for the consumed meals or products.

This invention is also concerned with a bill-of-fare or menu for carrying out the method according to the present invention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to this method, a menu is provided which is divided into as many zones as there are courses or dishes and drinks likely to be served. each zone or compartment comprising a detachable label or voucher coded by a particular inscription, shape and/or color. The labels corresponding to the courses and drinks selected by the consumer are detached by him and given to the waiter to order the meal.

It will thus be seen that the number of dishes consumed and therefore the number still available for newcomers can be checked immediately and at any time by the cook who keeps the labels or vouchers.

Although this method is particularly advantageous for restaurants, it is obvious that it is also applicable to many other trades and activities, particularly for registering orders in shops offering a relatively reduced number of articles for sale, or articles that can be grouped into a relatively small number of series.

According to a preferred form of embodiment of this invention, the biIl-of-fare or menu comprises two superposed sheets of which the top one comprises a plurality of labels or vouchers slightly precut and each printed with the name of a particular dish or drink that is served in the premises. the lower sheet comprising the same inscriptions distributed in the same order as those of the top sheet. and each adapted, when the associated label or voucher has been detached, to indicate the dish or drink actually consumed and to be paid.

With this particular arrangement of the menu, the price to be charged to the consumer does not require either a handwritten check, since it is only necessary to tally up the various labels detached when ordering the meal. As a result. the waiters task is further simplilied and the management of the restaurant is improved accordingly.

Preferably, each sheet comprises printed divisions which, when juxtaposed with the course and drink data with which they are aligned, carry inscriptions concerning the price of these courses and drinks.

With this arrangement the consumer's information is improved considerably while simplifying the work necessary for preparing his bill. since it is only necessary to add the numbers appearing in the divisions juxtaposed with missing labels.

Advantageously, and at least on the top sheet, the inscriptions concerning the dishes and drinks proposed by the restaurant to the consumers are printed in divisions having different colors. each color concerning a specific series of dishes and drinks.

This procedure will thus simplify the identification work of the waiter and also of the cook, since both of them can tell at a glance the nature of the ordered dish and drink.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING The above and other features and advantages will become apparent from the following, reference being made to the accompanying drawing in which:

FIGS. 1 and 2 are plane views from above showing the outer sheet and the inner sheet of this bill of fare, respectively, and

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the bill of fare during its actual use.

This menu comprises an under sheet 2 and an upper sheet 3. These two sheets are folded vertically at 4 and 5. respectively, along their central vertical centerline; so as to form two half-sheets. when the menu is being used as shown in FIG. 3, the upper sheet 3 is disposed inside the under sheet 2 so that the fold lines 4 and 5 of these two sheets are superposed.

As illustrated in FIG. 2 the inner sheet 3 comprises a plurality of detachable labels or vouchers 6 associated with each half-sheet and bounded by horizontal and vertical tear or score lines of cut 7 and 8, respectively. It will be seen on the one hand that the horizontal perforations 7 extend only from the outer edges of each half-sheet to the nearest vertical row of perforations 8, and on the other hand that the vertical score lines 8 are equally spaced from, and disposed on either side of, the fold line 5.

In this form of embodiment the upper sheet 3 comprises, between the two fold lines 8, a plurality of boxes 9 corresponding in number to the tickets 6 with which they are juxtaposed and aligned.

The tickets 6 carry inscriptions describing briefly each one of the dishes or drinks offered by the restaurant, and the boxes 9 carry a number denoting the cost or price of the product inscribed in the ticket juxtaposed thereto.

Finally, as shown at 10a, 10b, 10c, 10d and 10e. the tickets 6 are grouped by series corresponding to a particular type of consumable product, these series being distinguished from one another by the color of their background, each color corresponding to a specific series. In addition, the longer the preparation time for the item involved, the darker the color of the label in the same series.

The under sheet 2 comprises the same data as carried by the top sheet 3, these data being of course disposed in the same manner as those inscribed in the upper sheet 3.

When the bill of fare or menu is being used as illus trated in FIG. 3, that is, for ordering one of the dishes available in the restaurant, it is only necessary to detach the corresponding ticket from the top sheet 3, as shown for example at 611 and to lay it on the tablev When the waiter sees the ticket on the edge of a table, he becomes immediately aware that the customer wants to order something and he can take this order by simply picking up the ticket so displayed,

Moreover, according to the color of the background of this label, the color of the inscriptions printed thereon, the waiter can tell immediately, without reading the text carried by this ticket whether the course ordered by the customer is for instance an entree. a whole dinner, a special dish or a desert. Moreover, when the ticket is handed to the cook, he knows instantaneously from the color and its line what kind of dish he must prepare and if the color is dark indicating a long preparation time he may start on it immediately.

The use of this menu in a restaurant reduces considerably the time necessary for ordering a meal, both between the customer and the waiter and between the waiter and the cook. while simplifying the work of both the waiter and the cook. thereby improving to a sub stantial degree the organization for dispensing meals and drinks.

The use of detachable tickets constituting a sort of voucher for designating each one of the products consumed in the restaurant affords at any time an easy accounting or reckoning of the number of courses already served and therefore an easy checking of the number of products thus prepared, the number of products actually dispensed and the number of products charged to the customers, thus eliminating any source oferrors. whether intentional or not, involving losses of profits as observed in the conventional management method.

This menu for restaurant also simplifies considerably charging the customers, the products consumed by the customer being shown by the absence of tickets detached from the top sheet 3, as shown at 11 in FIG. 3. Under these conditions, it is only necessary for the customer to add the numbers displayed in boxes 9 juxtaposed to the spaces uncovered by the missing labels. Also in this case it is possible to check at any time the amount of the bill to be paid by adding the free boxes of the bill of fare received by the cashier and comparing them with the number of consumable products dispensed to the customers.

It may also be emphasized that the absence of tickets displays the brief description of the consumed dish mentioned on the underlying sheet 2, thus reminding the customer of the contents of his order. and avoiding any unpleasant argument when paying the bill.

Of course. the shape. position, number and distribution of the tickets as well as the shape and distribution of the boxes 9 may vary as a function of the specific ap plications contemplated. and should not be construed as being limited by the specific form of embodiment illustrated in the attached drawing and described hereinabove.

Thus, in a modified form of embodiment, this menu may consist of two sheets as disclosed hereinabove but each sheet may comprise for example only one section or more than two sections.

Of course, the method of registering a selection, described hereinabove with reference to the attached drawing is applicable not only to restaurants but also to many other trades or shops offering to the customers a relatively reduced number of goods. or services or goods that can be divided into a relatively small number of series or groups.

I claim:

1. A menu comprising a pair of mutually attached coexentensive sheets including a top sheet overlying a bottom sheet; means subdividing said top sheet into a plurality of rectangular zones in a vertical row said means facilitating separation of said zones from one another and from the balance of said top sheet by weak ening the edges of said zones and permitting tearing along said edges; printed indicia representing items of fare on each of said zones; printed indicia in a column narrower than said row adjacent each of said zones on said top sheet and remaining upon the balance thereof upon removal of the associated zone to indicate a characteristic of the respective item of fare; means subdividing said bottom sheet into at least one row of zones coextensive and registering with respective zones of said top sheet but fixed together against separation whereby a zone of said bottom sheet is exposed upon removal of a zone of said top sheet from the balance thereof; and identical indicia in each of the zones of the bottom sheet to the indicia carried by the respective detachable zone of said top sheet, the indicia remaining on the balance of said top sheet being provided in a row of respective further zones, at least some of the zones of one of the rows being of one color and other zones of said one of said rows being of another color corre sponding to a family of items indicated thereby. each of said sheets being folded down the center and said bottom sheet enclosing said top sheet in a closed position of the menu.

Claims (1)

1. A menu comprising a pair of mutually attached coexentensive sheets including a top sheet overlying a bottom sheet; means subdividing said top sheet into a plurality of rectangular zones in a vertical row, said means facilitating separation of said zones from one another and from the balance of said top sheet by weakening the edges of said zones and permitting tearing along said edges; printed indicia representing items of fare on each of said zones; printed indicia in a column narrower than said row adjacent each of said zones on said top sheet and remaining upon the balance thereof upon removal of the associated zone to indicate a characteristic of the respective item of fare; means subdividing said bottom sheet into at least one row of zones coextensive and registering with respective zones of said top sheet but fixed together against separation whereby a zone of said bottom sheet is exposed upon removal of a zone of said top sheet from the balance thereof; and identical indicia in each of the zones of the bottom sheet to the indicia carried by the respective detachable zone of said top sheet, the indicia remaining on the balance of said top sheet being provided in a row of respective further zones, at least some of the zones of one of the rows being of one color and other zones of said one of said rows being of another color corresponding to a family of items indicated thereby, each of said sheets being folded down the center and said bottom sheet enclosing said top sheet in a closed position of the menu.

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