HK1179840B - Nestable cookware assemblies - Google Patents

Abstract

A nested cookware assembly deploys at least one cookware vessel having a pair of opposing handles, each handle disposed proximate to the rim of the cookware vessel and being adapted with a stair like upper surface to receive in a mating orientation a complementary stair like lower surface on the opposing handles of either a similar cookware vessel or a lid particularly fitted to the lid of a cookware vessel.

Description

Nestable cookware assembly

Cross reference to related applications

This application claims benefit of priority from U.S. provisional patent application No. 61/550,799, filed 24/10/2011, which is incorporated herein by reference.

Technical Field

The present invention relates to an item of cookware, and more particularly to a pot and bowl kit with pots nested together to form a compact assembly.

Background

To mix different sized bowls and cookware sets together, different sized containers are often nested. Such unitized container sets are easier to store and transport due to the smaller space they require. However, it is inevitable that some compromise in the size of the cartridge and the versatility of the cooker is required.

Disclosure of Invention

It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide a cookware vessel and cooperating lid in a configuration that is very tightly nested or stacked, yet still has great versatility, is easy to grip with its handle, and can be stored together or separately from the cookware, again without taking up too much space.

Another object is to produce the above benefits in a stable nested arrangement with a reduced likelihood of the container and lid coming into contact, scratching, marring or gouging.

In the present invention, the first object is achieved by providing a cooker vessel comprising: a vessel having a bottom surface and a substantially upright surrounding sidewall terminating in an upper rim; a pair of handles connected to the surrounding side walls adjacent the rim thereof, each handle being located on an opposite side of the rim and having a grip portion with: an upper surface and a lower surface on an opposite side of the upper surface, the upper surface of the grip portion having adjacent outer and inner substantially flat horizontal portions and an at least partially vertical transition portion between the outer and inner flat portions, the lower surface of the grip portion having at least one flat horizontal plane; a flange portion connected to a sidewall of the cooking vessel, wherein the flange portion is connected to the grip portion.

A second aspect of the invention features a covered cookware vessel, including: a vessel having a bottom surface and a substantially upright surrounding sidewall terminating in an upper rim; a lid for covering the upper portion of the vessel at least in an upper edge thereof, the lid having a peripheral portion; the vessel and lid each having a pair of handles, wherein the pair of handles of the vessel are connected to the surrounding side wall adjacent the rim thereof, each handle being located on an opposite side of the rim, and having a grip portion having an upper surface and a lower surface located on the opposite side of the upper surface, the upper surface of the grip portion having adjacent outer and inner flat horizontal portions and an at least partially vertical transition portion located between the outer and inner flat portions; the pair of handles of the cover are connected to the outer peripheral portion thereof and have at least a lower surface having at least a substantially flat horizontal portion; wherein within the inner flat horizontal portion of each grip portion of the vessel handle, the substantially flat horizontal portion of the lid handle is for telescopically engaging such that when at least a portion of the lid engages the rim of the vessel, the handle of the rim is supported by the grip portion of the handle of the vessel.

A third aspect of the invention features a nested vessel kit, including: an outer vessel and an inner vessel, each having: a substantially flat bottom and a substantially upright surrounding sidewall terminating in a rim, the inner vessel having an outer diameter smaller than an inner diameter of the outer vessel; a pair of handles are attached to the surrounding side walls proximate the rim thereof, each handle being located on an opposite side of the rim and having a grip portion with an upper surface and a lower surface located on an opposite side of the upper surface, wherein the upper surface of the grip portion has adjacent outer and inner flat horizontal portions and an at least partially vertical transition portion between the outer and inner flat portions, and the lower surface of the grip portion has at least one substantially flat horizontal plane, wherein the handles of the inner vessel are adapted such that, within the inner flat horizontal portion of each grip portion of the vessel handles, the lower surfaces of the grip portions can telescopically engage such that the handles of the rim are supported by the grip portions of the handles of the vessel when at least a portion of the lid engages the rim of the vessel.

The fourth aspect of the present invention is achieved by providing a cooker container kit comprising: a vessel having a bottom surface and a substantially upright surrounding sidewall terminating in an upper rim; a lid for covering the upper portion of the vessel at least in an upper edge thereof, the lid having a peripheral portion; each vessel and lid has a pair of handles disposed on opposite sides of the upper rim, with the lid handles having a lower surface profile that telescopically engages with a complementary negative profile on an upper surface of the handle attached to the sidewall of the container.

The above and other objects, effects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description of embodiments thereof taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a first embodiment of a combination cookware vessel and lid showing the lid in an alternate position on the vessel.

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a stacked arrangement of a pair of containers according to the embodiment of fig. 1.

Fig. 3A-3D are various perspective views of a particularly preferred embodiment of a handle according to the embodiment of fig. 1 and 2.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional cut-away view of a preferred embodiment of a container and lid specifically adapted for stacking a set of kits.

Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a container and several lids particularly adapted for stacking a set of kits.

Figure 6 is a cross-sectional view of several containers and lids in a closely nested and stacked arrangement.

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the stacked arrangement of fig. 6.

Detailed Description

Referring to figures 1 through 7, wherein like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout the various views, there is shown therein a novel and improved cookware article employing various embodiments of a nestable cookware assembly, wherein the combination container and lid is generally designated 100.

In accordance with the present invention, such a cookware assembly 100 provides a compact storage cookware kit to a user and includes at least a first vessel 110 and a lid 130 adapted to cover the interior under its rim 116. Such a vessel is preferably metal, but may also be enamel coated steel or cast iron, ceramics such as glass ceramics, etc. The container 110 is generally considered a solid for containing a liquid and has a bottom 112 and an attached surrounding upright side 115 terminating in a rim 116.

Alternatively, and in particular in kit 600, at least one vessel receptacle 110 is selectively perforated at one or more sides 115 and bottom 112 to form a strainer, screen, digester insertion device for use within larger diameter receptacles.

Such a container or vessel 110 has two handles 1200 disposed generally on opposite sides of the rim 116 and connected directly or indirectly to the container sidewall 115. Each handle 1200 has a lower surface 1210 and an upper surface 1220. Upper surface 1220 is stepped, having an inner portion 1221 and an outer portion 1222 that is generally higher than inner portion 1221.

As shown in fig. 1 and 2, the nested lid 130 or nested vessel has a pair of handles 1300, the handles 1300 having the same but complementary or inverted stepped profile on the bottom of the grip portion that is intended to engage the stepped profile or handle 1200 on the upper surface 1220. First, as shown in fig. 1, a handle 1300 of a mating component (lid or vessel) has an upper surface 1320 and a lower surface 1310. The lower surface 1310 is configured to be positioned on and supported by the interior 1221 of the upper surface 1220 of the handle 1200. The handle 1200 or 1300 may have one or more holes for hanging 1201 or 1301, respectively.

As also shown in FIG. 2, a second container 110' is at least partially nested within a larger diameter and generally taller outer container 110. The outer vessel 110 has a handle 1200'. The handle 1200 'of the inner container or vessel 110' has an upper surface 1220 'and a lower surface 1210'. The lower surface 1210' is configured to rest on and be supported by the interior 1221 of the upper surface 1220 of the handle 1200. More preferably, the side wall or outer vertical wall of inner container handle 1200' is complementary in shape to the lower step formed by surface 1221 and transitions in the vertical and horizontal directions to upper surface 1222 that fits within it. Further, when both handle sets 1200 and 1300 have the same radial displacement relative to the center of the container 110, such as when the lid 130 has perforations to act as a sieve, the user can lift or tilt the container 110 and lid 130 together by holding both handles 1200 and 1300. Such a closure 130 is shown in fig. 4 and also has a descending skirt 132 that may contain a plurality of holes, such as the closure 130' "shown in fig. 5. When the container 110 also has a spout at the rim 116, this facilitates the evacuation of water and animal and vegetable oils from cooked food such as pasta, vegetables, etc. As shown in fig. 7, 3 containers from the bottom of the stack within the kit 600 have such a mouth formed at the rim thereof.

Further, preferably, the cover 130 has a substantially flat central upper cover portion 131. More preferably, the central portion 131 of the cover is glass, and most preferably, tempered glass. Further, it is preferable that the top 131a of the central cover portion 131 of the cover 130 is located below the upper surface 1320 of the attachment handle 1300.

Further, the cap 130 preferably has a downwardly extending skirt 132 that is generally cylindrical within its outer diameter 133. Skirt 132 is configured to have an outer diameter D that is slightly less than the inner diameter D2 of the vessel below its rim₁For sealing the inner vessel.

The cookware kit 600 includes a plurality of reduced diameter flat lids each having a respective cylindrical downwardly extending skirt of reduced height. This arrangement is preferred because it allows some of the caps to nest completely within the cylindrical descending skirt of another cap so that the overall vertical height of the internal cap is less than or equal to the vertical height between the base of the skirt and the internal upper surface of the cap.

It will also be appreciated that for effective stacking, the lower surface of each grip portion of the handle (i.e. the portion extending laterally away from the wall 115 and flange 1250) is preferably disposed at the same height or level as the rim 116 of the vessel. Further, the flange portion of the inner vessel extends further outward than the flange portion of the outer vessel at a horizontal distance. In the aspect that the inner vessel is intended to nest in a stacked manner on the rim of the outer vessel, at least one of the vertical dimension of the flange or its connection to the grip portion on the inner vessel may accommodate the desired vertical displacement of the inner container on the outer container.

As shown in fig. 7, the transition profile between the upper and lower surfaces of the grip portion in the horizontal plane is adapted to complementarily engage the peripheral profile of the grip portion on the lid or on the inner nested vessel.

Optionally, the handles of the connected vessel and lid (or internal vessel) may engage the lower surface of the upper component handle (or lid, or internal vessel) nested within the hanging hole 1201 of the lower component handle in a mating arrangement.

Furthermore, at least the profile of the transition area in a plane parallel to the plane defined by the rim of the vessel is curved, straight or a combination of straight and curved. The embodiment of fig. 3A-D is such a curved transition region. Furthermore, the profile of the transition zone in a plane transverse to the plane defined by the rim of the vessel is curvilinear, straight or a combination of straight and curved. The embodiment of fig. 1 and 2 shows a straight profile between surfaces 1221 and 1222 that is slightly angled vertically.

Furthermore, whilst the above-described stepped profile for mating the lid and handle of a cookware vessel is a preferred embodiment, it should now be appreciated that another aspect of the invention is to provide a cookware vessel and lid wherein the lid has a handle with a lower surface profile telescopically engaging a complementary negative profile of an upper surface of a handle attached to the vessel wall below its rim. The profile is selectively configured to limit rotation of the cover, but may have any shape, two or three dimensional.

The flange 1250 of each handle 1200 may be separate from the handle construction or may be integral with the handle construction, the term flange being only a portion or part of the overall handle assembly that is directly connected to the sidewall 115 of the cooking vessel 110. Ideally, the flange and handle combination minimizes heat exchange with the handle portion being held by the user or cook.

In a kit of vessels 600, the kit preferably comprises at least 2 vessels and at least 1 lid. Preferably, when the kit or kit 600 contains 2 or more than 2 lids, at least one lid nests within another lid so that the combined height of the lids is no higher than the external lids.

Fig. 5 illustrates a single container 110 having a handle 1200 and a set of lids 130 ', 130 ", 130 '", 130 "", and 130 ' "", intended for nested stacking of the set of lids and containers illustrated in fig. 6. First, the cover 130' is the same cover as shown in fig. 4. The cover 130 ' has a reduced skirt height H ' and an outer diameter D ' to nest within the skirt 132 ".

Also, although the lids 130 '"and 130" "are inverted, i.e., with the skirt pointing upward, the lid 130'" nests within the lid 130 ". The lid 130' "" is the final cover for the aperture 138 in the lid 130 "".

Fig. 6 shows a fully nested kit or kit 600 in which, without a lid, at least one sub-kit of a container 601 comprising 110' is nested within each other and at least another sub-kit of a lid 602 is nested within another portion of the kit or kit 600, respectively. The flat lid sub-assemblies are easily stacked one inside the other.

In the stack shown in fig. 6 and 7, the upper lids 130' "and 130" "" are engaged with each other to form a dome-shaped lid to fit the lowermost widest cooking vessel, which may optionally be a wok or a single handle pot. However, the upper cap 130' "" also fits into a smaller diameter container, i.e., the fourth largest container that is nested immediately within the container 110.

It should now be apparent from the foregoing that due to the nesting of the stacks shown in fig. 6 and 7, the handles 1200 and 1300 can be wider, yet still be accommodated without detrimentally increasing the height of the stack, or the width beyond the widest width of the widest container rim and its handle. Thus, such a wide handle is spaced from the rim of the cookware by a sufficient distance to allow the user to conveniently handle and manipulate the cookware vessel 110.

The nested arrangement of the kit shown in figures 6 and 7 is very stable and the handle keeps most of the containers nested within other containers. In particular, the outer portion of the smaller vessel does not damage or hardly damages the cooking surface of the larger vessel to be nested therein. Thus, manufacturers and other facilities in the distribution chain benefit from reducing the packaging material and the space required to store and transport the products.

Thus, the kit or kit 600 is extremely versatile, combining containers of different shapes and volumes, selected as a sieve and a stockpot or a wok, respectively, as desired.

Although the present invention has been described in connection with the preferred embodiment, it is not intended to limit the scope of the invention to the particular form set forth, but on the contrary, it is intended to cover such alternatives, modifications, and equivalents as may be included within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

Claims (17)

1. A nested vessel kit, comprising:

a) an outer vessel and an inner vessel, each of the inner and outer vessels having:

i) a substantially flat bottom and a substantially upright surrounding side wall terminating in a rim, the inner vessel having an outer diameter smaller than an inner diameter of the outer vessel,

ii) a pair of handles attached to the surrounding side wall adjacent to the rim thereof, each handle being located on an opposite side of the rim and having a grip portion with an upper surface and a lower surface located on an opposite side of the upper surface, wherein the upper surface of the grip portion has adjacent outer and inner flat horizontal portions and an at least partially vertical transition portion between the outer and inner flat portions, the lower surface of the grip portion having at least one substantially flat horizontal plane,

iii) a flange portion connected to the side walls of the outer vessel and the inner vessel, wherein the flange portion is connected to the grip portion,

b) wherein the handle of the inner vessel is adapted such that a lower surface of the grip portion may telescopically engage within the inner flat horizontal portion of each grip portion of the handle of the outer vessel, such that when at least a portion of the lid engages the rim of the inner vessel, the handle of the rim is supported by the grip portions of the handle of the outer vessel;

wherein the grip portion of each vessel is attached to the sidewall by a flange, wherein the flange portion of the inner vessel extends a further horizontal distance than the flange portion of the outer vessel; wherein the flange is connected to the grip portion of the inner vessel to arrange the grip portion lower below the rim of the inner vessel than a vertical displacement of the grip portion of the outer vessel located below the rim of the inner vessel.

2. The nested vessel kit of claim 1, wherein the kit comprises one or more vessels containing a lid having a filtering portion.

3. The nested vessel kit of claim 2, wherein the lid of at least one vessel in the kit has a cylindrical downwardly extending skirt disposed within an outer periphery.

4. The nested vessel kit of claim 3, wherein an outer diameter of the skirt is smaller than an inner diameter of a vessel below a rim thereof for sealing the internal vessel.

5. The nested vessel kit of claim 2, comprising a plurality of reduced diameter flat lids each having a respective cylindrical downwardly extending skirt of reduced height.

6. The nested vessel kit of claim 3, wherein the skirt has a plurality of apertures.

7. The nested vessel kit of claim 1, wherein the kit comprises at least one sub-kit of vessels nested within one another without a lid and at least another sub-kit of stacked lids.

8. The nested vessel kit of claim 1, wherein at least some of the lids of the kit are nested within a cylindrical downward skirt of another lid.

9. A nested dish kit according to claim 1, wherein the grip portion of each handle attached to a dish is vertically disposed at substantially the same height as the rim of the dish.

10. The nested vessel kit of claim 1, and further comprising a domed cover.

11. The nested vessel kit of claim 10, wherein the domed cover is formed from a first annular component having an upper rim and a lower rim, the upper rim being narrower than the lower rim, and a second flat component for sealing fitting within the upper rim.

12. The nested vessel kit of claim 11, wherein the second planar member is operable to sealingly engage another vessel as a lid thereof.

13. The nested vessel kit of claim 11, wherein at least one vessel of the kit is a wok or a single handle cooking pot.

14. The nested vessel kit of claim 1, wherein the kit comprises a first sub-kit of vessels nested within one another without a lid and a second sub-kit of lids nested within one another and inverted relative to the vessels in the first sub-kit.

15. The nested vessel kit of claim 1, wherein at least one lid has a substantially flat central upper cover portion.

16. A nested vessel kit according to claim 1, wherein each lid has a substantially flat central upper cover portion.

17. The nested vessel kit of claim 1, wherein a vertical height of a flange of the inner vessel is shorter than a vertical height of a flange of the outer vessel.