GB2341080A - Stand for cooking vessel lid - Google Patents

Abstract

A stand for a hot, moist lid removed from a cooking vessel comprises a backrest 14 for supporting the lid in a generally upright position and a drip tray 12. The backrest 14 may slope backwardly at about 30 degrees to vertical. The stand may be supported on a horizontal surface by rearwardly extending side parts 30 and a removable rear buttress 34, or by a rearward extension (17, Figure 5) of the base 16 of the drip tray. The backrest 14 also has a hole 34 near to its top to enable the stand to be hung on a wall from a hook. The stand may be made from plastic, wood or metal.

Description

-1 2341080 THIS INVENTION relates to a kitchen accessory.

During the daily task of cooking meals, the Applicant has observed that when lids are removed from cooking pots, pans and the like, there is often nowhere convenient in and around the stove area for the lids to be placed. Therp is usually little spare space available on stove and counter surfaces and wherever the lids are placed, they are usually in the way. The lids are furthermore usually very hot and have moisture condensed on their lower surfaces. Thus, if they are placed upside down on a counter, they are difficult to pick up again without burning one's hands and if placed face downwards, they drip onto the counter or stove surface.

According to the invention there is provided a stand for supporting a lid, the stand including a drip tray and a backrest which in use supports the lid in a substantially upright position.

The drip tray may be in the form of an open-topped container or trough. The trough may have a front and rear wall, a pair of side walls and a base. The rear wall may extend upwardly to form the backrest of the stand. The base of the trough may be generally rectangular in shape and may be between about 3cm and about 5cm wide, preferably about 4cm wide, and between about 25cm and about 35cm long, preferably about 30cm long.

The front wall of the trough will be of a sufficient height to prevent a lid from slipping forwards out of the stand and will typically be between about 2cm and about 3cm high, preferably about 2,5cm high, and the rear wall, which serves as the backrest of the stand, may be between about 20cm and about 40cm high, preferably about 30cm high. This height allows for a range of liq sizes to be accommodated. The backrest may have a thickness of between about 2mm and about 4mm, preferably about 3mm thick.

The backrest may slope rearwardly at an angle of between about 200 and about 450 from the vertical, preferably at an angle of between about 300 and about 351 from the vertical.

The stand may be include side supports extending rearwardly from I the side walls of the trough. It may further include a centre support or buttress extending from the backrest. The centre support may be removable.

The side supports may be substantially triangular in shape and may be formed by extensions of the side walls. Instead, the side supports may be absent and the stand may include a rearwardly extending extension of the base of the trough which functions as a support.

A receiving formation in the form of a groove may be provided at the back of the backrest and an end part of the removable centre support may be removably received in the groove tongue and groove fashion.

The drip tray may optionally contain an absorbent material such as a cloth, sponge material or the like. The absorbent material may optionally be removable.

The backrest may include mounting means for mounting the stand against a vertical surface such as the surface of a wall, cupboard or the like. The mounting means may, for example, be in the form of a hole in or through which a hook is receivable. In this way, the stand may conveniently be hung on a wall, cupboard or the like.

The stand will preferably be made from a material which is light, strong and heat resistant at temperatures of up to about 1 200C, such as a polycarbonate composition, wood, metal or the like.

The invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the following diagrammatic drawings, in which Figure 1 shows a 3-dimensional view of a stand for supporting a lid; Figure 2 shows a front view of the stand of Figure 1; Figure 3 shows a side view of the stand of Figure 1; Figure 4 shows a top plan view of the stand of Figure 1; and Figure 5 shows a side view of another embodiment of a stand.

In the drawings, reference numeral 10 generally indicates a stand for supporting a lid. The stand 10 includes a drip tray generally indicated by reference numeral 12 and a backrest 14. The drip tray 12 has a rectangular base 16, a pair of upwardly extending side walls 18, 20, an upwardly extending front wall 22 and a rear wall 24 which slopes upwardly and rearwardly at an angle of about 300 from the vertical. The rear wall 24 is generally parabolic in shape.

The front wall 22 is, in different embodiments of the invention, about 2 to 3 cm high and the rear wall is substantially higher, being in different embodiments of the invention about 25 to 35 cm high and functions as the backrest 14.

In different embodiments, the base 16 is 25 to 35 cm long and about 3 to 5 cm wide.Upper edges 26 of the side walls 18, 20 slope upwardly from the front wall 22 to a height of about 10cm. Rearwardly extending triangular shaped portions 30 of the side walls 18, 20 form side supports. Each portion 30 has a vertical rear edge 32 so that the stand 10 can be hung or mounted against a wall at an angle of about 35. A hole 34 is provided near the top of the rear wall 24 to enable the stand 10 to be hung on a wall from a hook.

The stand 10 further includes a rearwardly extending, removable support member or buttress 34 extending downwardly from approximately the middle of the backrest 14. The buttress 34 is generally parallelopipedal in shape with one of the parallel side edges 46 being straight and the other parallel side edge replaced with a concave side edge 47 as can be seen, in particular, in Figure 3. In use, as depicted in the drawings, one of the non-parallel side edge portions of the buttress 34 abuts a surface on which the stand 10 is standing and the other side edge portion 36 is received in a vertically extending groove 37, tongue and groove fashion, in a rectangular shaped buttress support member 38 attached to the rear of the backrest 14. The support member 38 has a lower edge 40 and an upper edge 42 and the groove 37 extends from the lower edge 40 to a position adjacent the upper edge 42 so that a step formation 44 is defined at the upper end of the groove 37. The edge portion 36 of the buttress 34 is thus slid into the groove 37 in an operatively upward direction until it abuts the step formation 44. In another embodiment of the invention (not shown), the buttress support member 38 is mounted against the rear of the backrest 14 with clearance so that a space is provided between the backrest 14 and the support member 38 and a pair of flanges extend outwardly from the side edge portion 36 of the buttress 34 so that, when the side edge portion 36 is slid into the groove 37, the flanges are received in the space between the backrest 14 and the support member 38 to prevent the buttress 34 from being pulled out of the groove 37.

The support member 38 has dimensions of about 4cm by 8cm. The buttress 34 is about 19cm long. The edge 46 of the buttress 34 is about 19cm long. The edge 35 of the buttress 34 is about 8,5cm long. The removable buttress 34 serves to support the stand 10 in an upright position when it is placed on a horizontal surface as depicted in the drawings. It is removed if the stand 10 is hung from a vertical surface.

Referring to Figure 5, reference numeral 50 generally indicates another embodiment of a stand in accordance with the invention. The stand 50 resembles the stand 10 and the same reference numerals have been used to indicate the same or similar features of the stands 50 and 10. The stand 50 differs from the stand 10 in that the buttress 34 and the portions 30 are absent.

In this embodiment, the base 16 has a rearwardly extending portion 17 which extends rearwardly by about 75mm and serves to support the stand 50 in the configuration depicted in Figure 5.

It is an advantage of the invention illustrated that it provides a convenient stand in which to place lids of pots, casserole dishes and the like -1 whilst food is being prepared so that the lids do not drip on a counter top or a stove surface and are not in the way. It is a further advantage of the invention illustrated that the stand 10 takes up relatively little space and can be hung on a wall or mounted against a cupboard, so that it does not occupy any counter surface space at all. The stand of the invention is of a size which enables it to a ccornmodate lids in a wide range of sizes.

DATED THIS 12th DAY OF SEPTEMBER 1997 CP ADAMS & ADAMS APPLICANTS PATENT ATTORNEYS

Claims (6)

1. I. A kitchen accessory, including a stand with a d6p tray and a backrest, which allows for the easy and convenient handling and storage of cooking utensil lids which are usually very hot and have moisture condensed on their lower surfaces.
2. 2. A stand as claimed in Claim I for supporting a lid and containing a d6p tray, and a backrest which in use supports the lid in an upright position.
3. 3. A stand as claimed in any preceding claim which has a drip tray to prevent moisture or cooking sauce draining from a lid onto a counter top, stove surface or floor.
4. 4. A stand as claimed in any preceding claim takes up relatively little space, is free standing or can be hung on a wall or mounted against a cupboard
5. 5. A stand as claimed in any preceding claim which can be made from plastic or wood, or a combination of these materials
6. 6. A kitchen accessory as substantially described and illustrated in the accompanying technical details and drawings.