US20080041857A1

US20080041857A1 - Lid strap device with detachable hooks

Info

Publication number: US20080041857A1
Application number: US11/490,804
Authority: US
Inventors: Gary M. Johnson
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2006-07-21
Filing date: 2006-07-21
Publication date: 2008-02-21

Abstract

A lid strap device for securing a cover to a bowl wherein the bowl has opposing projecting lips serving as handles, said strap device having an elastic strap portion with apertures at each end with a pair of detachable hooks, said hooks having a first hook portion looping in one direction and a second hook portion looping in the opposing direction so that the first hook portion may be looped into the apertures of the strap and the other hook portion may be looped about the projecting handles of the bowl, said hooks being of relatively rigid material to secure their so as to secure their looping about the apertures of the strap and the handles of the bowl.

Description

This invention relates to lid strap apparatus more particularly this invention relates to a lid strap device overlying a cover of a bowl wherein the strap is elastic and has opposing detachable hooks at each end to detachably mount over the handles of the cover and bowl.
It is an object of this invention to provide a novel strap apparatus to secure a cover of a bowl or vessel to the handles of the bowl or vessel wherein the strap has separate independent detachable hooks which attach to the strap at one end and the handles at the other end.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a novel cover strap which has a more secure hook attachment which prevents easy unintentional detachment from the handles of the bowl or vessel. Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the description proceeds and when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the current invention illustrating the elastic strap covering the cover of the bowl or vessel with detachable hooks.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the current strap invention.

FIG. 3 is a top view the elastic strap of the current strap invention.

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a top view of one of the detachable hooks to attach the ends of the strap over the cover of the bowl or vessel.

FIG. 6 is the front view of one of the detachable hooks.

FIG. 7 side view of one of the detachable hooks.

Referring more particularly to the drawings in FIG. 1 the improved strap invention 20 being disclosed and claimed in this application has a main elastic flexible strap 21 with a pair of detachable hooks 22 and 23. A bowl or vessel 24 has a cover 25. The cover and vessel have handles 26 and 26′ for the cover 25 and handles 27 and 27′ for the vessel 24. The hook 22 has hook portion 22′ which is detachably mounted over the handle 26 of the cover and the handle 27 of the vessel. The hook 23 has hook portion 23′ which is detachably mounted over the handle 26′ of the cover 25 and the handle 27′ of the vessel. The elastic strap 21 has a center aperture 28 to receive the center handle 29 of the cover 25 to allow to pass there thru as shown in FIG. 1.
The hooks 22 and 23 each are made of metal or plastic and are identical in shape have opposing hook portions 30 and 30′ at each end. The elastic strap 21 has a pair of slots 31 at each end. The hook portions 30 and 30′ are mounted into the slots 31 of the elastic strap 21 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The hooks 22 and 23 also have the reversely opposing hook portions 22′ and 23′ which is adapted to encircle handles 26 and 27 at one end of the cover 25 and vessel 24 and handles 26′ and 27′ at the other end of the cover and vessel to secure the cover over the vessel as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.
The detachable hooks 22 and 23 also each have a upward projecting lip 32 and 32′, respectively, to provide a finger engaging surface to enable the operator to move the hooks further apart when stretching the strap portion causing the strap 21, which has elastic capabilities to be stretched to expand so that the hook portions may be more readily to enable the hook portions 22′ and 23′ to be attached about and detached from the handles of the cover and vessel.
The hooks 22 and 23 are made a relatively rigid material such as steel, metal or plastic so that they will not as easily slip off the handles of the bowl or vessel. The elastic strap, together with the hooks when attached to the strap will be slightly shorter than the distance from the handles on one side of the cover and vessel over the top of the cover to the handles on the other side so that the elastic strap must be stretched slightly to enable the hooks to be attached to the handles on both sides while extending over the top of the cover so as to make the attachment slightly taut and thereby more secure.
It may be possible in the event the cover over a skillet wherein some of the larger skillets or pans have a hook at one end and one of the detachable hooks 22 or 23 may be attached to the skillet hook at one end of the one hook and the other end of the one hook may be attached to the slot at one end to an elastic strap while the other end of the elastic strap may be attached to the projecting handle of the skillet by extending the handle through the slot at the other end of the elastic strap.
The hooks portion 22′ and 23′ have a configuration which closely follows the projecting handles of a bowl or vessel so as to provide a more secure stable means of securely keeping the cover to the bowl.
The lips 32 and 32′ may have spaced horizontal ribs 33 along their concave portions to provide additional frictional surfaces for the fingers or thumbs to engage as shown in FIG. 7.
It will be obvious that various changes and departures may be made to the invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof; and accordingly, it is not intended that the invention be limited to that specifically described in the specification or as illustrated in the drawings, but only as set forth in the appended claims wherein:

Claims

1. A lid strap device for securing a cover to a bowl wherein the bowl has opposing projecting lips serving as handles, said strap device having an elastic strap portion with apertures at each end with a pair of detachable hooks, said hooks being of relatively rigid material having a first hook at one end and a second hook at the other end with said first hook of said hooks being adapted to engage and encircle the apertures or the elastic strap and said second hook of said hooks being adapted to engage the lips of the bowl.

2. A lid strap device for securing a cover to a bowl wherein the bowl has opposing projecting lips serving as handles, said strap device having an elastic strap portion with apertures at each end, at least one detachable hook, said hook having a first hook portion looping in one direction and a second hook portion looping in the opposing direction so that the first hook portion may be looped into the apertures of the strap and the other hook portion may be looped about at least one of the projecting handles of the bowl, means to secure said strap device to the opposing handle of the bowl, said hooks being of relatively rigid material to secure their so as to secure their looping about the apertures of the strap and the handles of the bowl;

3. A lid strap device for holding a lid onto a container wherein the container has opposing projecting handles comprising an elongated elastic strap having fastening means formed at each end of the strap, said fastening means each having outer opposing openings encircling the handles of the container, and strap device being adapted to be attached over the top of the cover of the container with the strap stretched under tension over the top of the lid while the lid is attached to the container with the opposed openings of the strap encircling the opposed handles of the container to secure the cover to the container, said strap device having a covering for covering the strap with the strap covering having a circular panel portion which may serve as a hot pad.

4. A lid strap device according to claim 3 wherein said strap cover has end sleeves for attachment about the strap.