US3334782A - Container with a removable handle - Google Patents

Description

Aug. 8, 1967 o. FRIBERG 3,334,782

' I CONTAINER WITH A EEMOVA BLE HANDLIE Filed Feb. 1, 1.965 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Aug. 8, 1967 o. FRIBERG CONTAINER WITH A REMOVABLE HANDLE 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 1, 1965 Aug. 8, 1967 o. FRIBERG CONTAINER WITH A REMOVABLE HANDLE 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Feb. 1, 1965 Bali g- 8, 1967 o. FRIBERG 3,334,782

CONTAINER WITH A REMOVABLE HANDLE Filed Feb. 1, 1965 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 United States Patent Office 3,334,782 Patented Aug. 8, 1967 Claims Handles permanently fixed to household utensils, in particular for cooking purposes, have the drawback of being cumbersome, which is sometimes a nuisance, especially in certain dwelling houses where the kitchen is very small.

The present invention is intended to remedy this drawback. Its object is to provide a container, e.g. a sauce-pan, with a removable handle, said container being characterized by a device for fastening said handle, comprising, on the one hand, a sliding coupling device, a part of which is permanently fixed to the periphery of the container whereas its other part is fixed to the handle, and, on the other hand, a semi-automatic device for locking said handle in its position of use.

Th features of the present invention will be disclosed hereafter, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, in which FIGS. 1-12 refer to a first form of embodiment and FIGS. 13-15 to a second form of embodiment. More precisely,

FIG. 1 shows the male part of the coupling device fixed to a container,

FIGS. 2, 3, and 4 represent said male part alone, in front view, in side view, and in cross-section along line x-x of FIG. 2, respectively,

FIGS. 5 and 6 represent the female part fixed to the handle,

FIG. 7 is a longitudinal section of the female part, taken along line y-y of FIG. 5,

FIG. 8 is a side view showing the female part fixed to the handle,

FIG. 9 is a more detailed longitudinal cross-section of the handle,

FIG. 10 shows the handle with the female part being pushed upwards on the male part,

FIG. 11 is a view similar to FIG. 10, but showing the handle with its female part fully fixed to the male part, and

FIG. 12 shows two containers 6 and 6' placed one in the other, each being provided with the male part of the coupling device.

FIG. 13 is a transverse section of a second form of embodiment of the device according to the invention, with its latch,

FIG. 14 is a front view of the female part of said device and,

FIG. 15 is a horizontal cross-section of said device.

FIG. 16 is an elevational view showing the handle and the trigger for the embodiment of FIG. 13.

In FIGS. 1-12, which show a first form of embodiment of the invention, FIG. 1 represents the male part 1 of the coupling device, permanently fixed to the container 6, said male part 1 having grooves 2 and 2 along its vertical sides.

Said male part 1 is shown in FIG. 2 with its grooves 2 and 2'; in said male part are provided stop-screws 3 and 3' at the top of grooves 2 and 2', holes 4 for screws or rivets serving to fasten part 1 to the container 6, and hole 5 for housing the extremity of the latch of said coupling device.

In FIG. 3, the groove 2 and the stop-screw 3 can be seen; FIG. 4 shows the hole for housing the latch; the female part 7 such as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 is bent along the vertical sides thereof with a view to forming runners a and a intended to slide upwards in the grooves 2 and 2 of male part 1, when the handle is being put in position, and to finally abut against the stop- screws 3 and 3. The latter are so located as to allow the latch to be introduced into hole 5 of part 1, once the handle is in position.

FIG. 7 shows the runners a and a sliding in corresponding grooves 2 and 2' of part 1 (see FIG. 1).

In FIG. 8, the female part 7 is shown fixed to the handle 15 by means of a screw 14. In this figure can also be seen the latch 10, the control device of which is partly embedded in the handle, and the trigger 13 allowing to remove latch 10 by hand, in the direction referenced A. The locking in the direction referenced B is automatically produced under the action of a spring 12.

FIG. 9 shows the latch 10 with its pin 11 and spring 12, the whole being housed in recess 9.

In FIG. 10, the female part 7 is pushed upwards on male part 1 by causing the runners a and a to slide in grooves 2 and 2' (see FIG. 1) of part 1. The movement of part 7 in part 1 is bounded by the stop-screws 3 and 3' in such a manner that the latch in register with hole 5 of part 1 can penetrate into its housing, thus locking parts 1 and 7 together.

Screws 3 and 3 can be replaced by another stopping device, for example by a corner plate.

The handle 15 as shown in FIG. 11 is fixed to the container 6 by the coupling device, locked by latch 10.

For mounting the handle 15 in this first form of embodiment, it is simply needed to place said handle under the male part 1 permanently fixed to the container 6 and to cause the part 7 borne by the handle 15 to slide upwards until it abuts against the stop-screws 3 and 3' of part 1, latch 10 being still maintained in recess '9 by acting upon trigger 13. As soon as screws 3 and 3' have stopped part 7 in its travel, the mere release of the trigger will cause the latch 10, under the pressure of the spring 12, to be automatically driven to the bottom of hole 5 of part 1, thus locking parts 7 and 1 which connect handle 15 to container 6.

For removing the handle from said container, it is simply needed to unlock the coupling device by removing the latch 10 from its housing 9 by means of trigger 13, and to disengage part 7 from part 1 by causing it to slide downwards.

The second form of embodiment of the invention, such as shown in FIGS. 13-15, differs from the first form of embodiment in that the male part of the coupling device is fixed to the handle, instead of being fixed to the container, whereas the female part is fixed to said container.

In FIG. 14, the female part is shown as constituted by a tube of rectangular cross-section with holes for the passage of the latch, and in FIG. 15, the male and female parts are shown fitted together. In this second form of embodiment, whereas the female part is constituted by a tube 1 of rectangular cross-section, the male part 7 is in the form of a U, the legs 7a and 7b of which are very near each other for allowing the passage of leg 7a in the rectangular tube, on the one hand, and the introduction of the right-hand part of said rectangular tube between legs 7a and 7b of part 7, on the other hand. Part 7 carries the locking elements which comprise the latch 10 with its pin 11 and spring 12, the whole being housed in the recess 9 integral with part 7; a trigger (not shown) controls latch 10.

For mounting the handle, it is required to place the latter, on which part 7 is permanently fixed to the locking device, at the foot of the female part 1, and to introduce the leg 7a of male part 7 into tube 1, while maintaining the latch 10 in its housing 9 by means of the trigger. Once the bottom of U-shaped part 7 has abutted against the lower portion of female part 1, and holes 5 and 8 of part 1 are thus in register with latch 10, the mere release of the trigger will cause the latch, under the action of spring 12, to penetrate into holes 8 and 5, and lock the male and female parts of the coupling device.

For removing the handle, it is necessary to reverse the operating steps by withdrawing the latch 10 from housing 9 provided in part 7, and to withdraw the leg 7a from said part 7 by pushing it downwards.

Of course, changes of detail can be made in the device, without going beyond the scope of the present invention; in particular the trigger 13 can be located above the handle.

What is claimed is:

A container with a removable handle comprising a container proper, a handle having an enlarged lower section, a double sliding coupling comprising a female member consisting of a tube of rectangular cross-section secured to said container; a U-shaped male member secured to said enlarged lower section of said handle; said male member having a recess on the lower part thereof and two legs, one of said legs fitting in said tube; a spring-actuated latch housed in said recess projecting through said male and female members, a trigger positioned on the underside of said handle and connected to said latch whereby said latch may be operated by the index finger of the user of the container.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 324,671 8/1885 Drake 16114 1,271,530 7/1918 Cerpial 220-94 1,818,284 8/1931 Stephens 161 14 1,920,330 8/1933 Towns 220-94 2,497,384 2/ 1950 Young.

2,527,447 10/ 1950 Perl 220-94 2,985,095 5/1961 Pitavy 161 14 3,187,859 6/1965 Maziarka 16-114 FOREIGN PATENTS 570,154 6/ 1945 Great Britain. 879,053 10/ 1961 Great Britain.

20 THERON E. CONDON, Primary Examiner.

RAPHAEL H, SCHWARTZ, Examiner.

Images