| CPC A23G 3/28 (2013.01) [A23P 20/15 (2016.08); B65D 1/34 (2013.01); B65D 1/36 (2013.01)] | 1 Claim |
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1. An accessory tray apparatus for use with a rotating carousel platter and edible ink printer, said apparatus comprising
a thin rectangular tray defining an upper surface parallel with the upper surface of said carousel platter, a lower surface parallel with and oriented opposite to said upper surface, an outer edge between said upper and lower surfaces and oriented such that it is facing outward with respect to the center of said platter, an inner edge between said upper and lower surfaces oriented opposite said outer edge, and lateral edges between said upper and lower surfaces and between said inner and outer edges, said tray comprising a placement tab, an alignment system configuration, and a pair of semi-circular cut-outs;
said placement tab is a trapezoidal tab extending from the inner edge of said tray toward the center of said platter, said placement tab being dimensioned to fit laterally in the space defined by positioning pegs protruding from the upper surface of said carousel platter such that said tray, once placed on said platter and pushed toward the center of said platter to the furthest extent, is in contact with two positioning pegs, one on each side of said placement tab, the movement of said tray being thereby laterally constrained;
said alignment system configuration further comprising a plurality of extruded and subtracted features on the upper surface of said tray operable to serve as positioning reference points and guidelines; specifically, said alignment system configuration further comprises a plurality of short, protruding conical spikes or pegs arranged in an evenly-spaced rectangular grid and positioned such that the protruding peg defining the center of said tray is aligned with the origin of the coordinate system of the edible ink printer when said tray is properly positioned on said platter;
said alignment system configuration yet further comprising a pair of intersecting diagonal raised lines extruded slightly from the upper surface of said tray and extending from the outer corners toward the protruding peg defining the center of the positioning reference of said tray;
said alignment system configuration further comprises a plurality of evenly-spaced hatch marks along the extent of both intersecting diagonal raised lines, said hatch marks being raised protrusions extruded slightly from the upper surface of said tray and being oriented such that they are orthogonal to their associated diagonal line;
said alignment system configuration further comprising a plurality of raised lines extruded slightly from the upper surface of said tray and arranged such that each of said raised lines extends a partial distance from the midpoint of one side of said tray toward the protruding peg defining the center of the positioning reference of said tray, there being four lines extending from four corresponding sides, said lines defining a set of orthogonal axes corresponding to the positioning reference system of said tray;
said alignment system configuration further comprising a raised line extruded slightly from the upper surface of said tray and positioned such that it demarcates a separation between said placement tab and the larger rectangular portion of said tray;
said alignment system configuration further comprising a pair of raised concentric circles extruded slightly from the upper surface of said tray and positioned such that the center point of said pair of concentric circles is coincident with the protruding peg defining the center of the positioning reference of said tray, said concentric circles being, dimensioned such that one is smaller than the other;
said alignment system configuration further comprising a pair of raised adjacent, adjoining circles each having a diameter approximately equal to half the width of said tray, said raised adjacent, adjoining circles being extruded slightly from the upper surface of said tray and arranged such that the center points of said circles lie on a line extending from the midpoint of one lateral edge of said tray to the midpoint of the opposite lateral edge of said tray; and
said semi-circular cut-outs are arranged one on either side of said placement tab and dimensioned to accept rounded or circular carousel platter positioning, pegs, said semi-circular cutouts extending from the inner edge of said tray a partial distance toward the outer edge of said tray.
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