WO2008118516A1

WO2008118516A1 - Dual material towel

Info

Publication number: WO2008118516A1
Application number: PCT/US2008/051637
Authority: WO
Inventors: Timothy Corcoran Repp
Original assignee: CLEVER EDGE Inc
Current assignee: CLEVER EDGE Inc
Priority date: 2007-01-22
Filing date: 2008-01-22
Publication date: 2008-10-02
Anticipated expiration: 2009-07-22

Abstract

A dual material towel is provided for use in, for example, household cooking. The dual material towel include an absorbent portion and a heat resistant portion. The absorbent portion may be, for example, cotton, while the heat resistant portion may be, for example, heat melting point silicone. The absorbent portion is fixedly attached to the heat resistant portion by stitching, heat bonding, insert molding or an adhesive. The absorbent portion of the towel may be used to clean surfaces or wipe up spills. The heat resistant portion may be used to grasp hot cooking implements.

Description

DUAL MATERIAL TOWEL

Priority Claim

This application claims the benefit under 35 U. S. C. § 119(e) of United States Provisional Application No. 60/881,531 filed on January 22, 2007.

Field of the Invention

[001] The present invention is directed to a towel comprising at least one absorbent material and at least one heat resistant material. The towel may be used in the home for cleaning liquid spills and for holding heated objects such as cooking pans.

Background

[002] Towels are often used in the home or in businesses, especially restaurants or other food preparation businesses. Towels are typically made up entirely of an absorbent material, such as cotton or other natural or synthetic materials. The towel may be used during or after food preparation and cooking to clean liquid spills or to dry surfaces of counters and cooking implements.

[003] In the course of food preparation and cooking, it often becomes necessary to move or lift hot items, such as pots, oven racks, baking sheets, lids or covers. In some cases, a person may use a towel to protect their hand when grasping a heated item. When used in this manner, the user typically folds or bunches the towel to create a barrier from the heat. This can be ineffective or dangerous if the towel is not sufficiently folded or bunched to provide protection or if the item must be held for an extended time.

[004] Various specialized heat resistant accessories are available for use in holding hot items, such as traditional pot holders or heat resistant mittens or gloves. During crucial moments of the cooking process, however, there may be little opportunity to search for an oven mitt or other specialized accessory. In addition, the use of a specialized accessory can take additional time. It would be advantageous to have a cooking accessory that could be used to clean spills or dry cooking surfaces that includes a heat resistant portion that can be used to grasp heated items such as oven racks, pots, pans, baking sheets or other cooking accessories. Summary of the Invention

[005] The present invention is directed to a towel comprising at least one absorbent material and at least one heat resistant material. The absorbent material is preferably cotton, and the heat resistant material is preferably a silicone having a very high melting point. [006] The heat resistant material may be attached at one or both ends of the absorbent material to form the towel. Alternatively, the heat resistant material may be in a center portion with the absorbent material attached to two sides. The absorbent material may be attached to the heat resistant material by stitching, insert molding, an adhesive, or other bonding means such as heat bonding.

[007] The dual material towel of the present invention allows a user to hold a single item for both cleaning spills and for grasping hot cooking implements and utensils. Other advantages of the dual material towel will be apparent to those skilled in the art based upon the following description of preferred embodiments.

Brief Description of the Figures

[008] Fig. IA shows a dual material towel of the present invention having an absorbent material attached to a heat resistant material.

[009] Fig. IB shows a cross section of the towel from Fig. IA through section A-A.

[0010] Fig. 1C shows a view of Detail B from Fig. IB.

[0011] Fig. 2 shows the absorbent portion of the towel of Fig. IA being used to clean a spill.

[0012] Fig. 3 shows the heat resistant portion of the towel of Fig. IA being used to hold the handle of a hot cooking pan.

[0013] Fig. 4 A shows a dual material towel of the present invention having an absorbent material attached to a heat resistant material.

[0014] Fig. 4B shows a cross section of the towel from Fig. IA through section C-C.

[0015] Fig. 4C shows a view of Detail D from Fig. 4B.

[0016] Fig. 5 shows the absorbent portion of the towel of Fig. IA being used to clean a spill. [0017] Fig. 6 shows the heat resistant portion of the towel of Fig. IA being used to hold the handle of a hot cooking pan.

Detailed Description of Preferred Embodiments

[0018] The present invention is directed to a towel comprising an absorbent material and a heat resistant material. The towel may be used both to clean surfaces or wipe spills, and to allow a user to grasp a hot item, such as a pan, oven rack, or other hot cooking implement. [0019] In one embodiment of the present invention, shown in Fig. 1 , the towel (10) comprises an absorbent material (12) and a heat resistant material (14). A border strip (16) is fixedly attached to the outer perimeter of the absorbent material (10). The absorbent material may be any material appropriate for use in cleaning surfaces or absorbing liquids, such as cotton, nylon, polyester or any other appropriate natural or synthetic material. Combinations of these materials can also be used, such as for example cotton and polyester, polyester and nylon or cotton and nylon. In a preferred embodiment, the absorbent material is cotton. The border strip may also be made of any suitable natural or synthetic material. The border strip is preferably the same material as the absorbent portion of the towel.

[0020] The heat resistant material (14) is a material with a high melting point that does not transfer heat quickly. A high melting point silicone of the type used in various cooking implements or protective mitts is a preferred material for the heat resistant portion of the towel. Other heat resistant elastomeric materials may also be used, such as for example santoprene or neoprene. Leather may be used for the heat resistant material, although this is less desirable because it cannot be washed in an automatic washer. The surface of the heat resistant material may be molded into any desired shape that may assist the user in grasping hot items. For example, as shown in Fig. IB, the heat resistant material (14) can be molded with a plurality of raised knobs (18) to provide improved friction for gripping.

[0021] The absorbent material may be provided in any desired proportion relative to the heat resistant material. For example, the absorbent material may comprise 1/4, 1/2, 3/4 or any other desired proportion of the overall towel, preferably, the absorbent material will comprise 1/2 or more of the towel.

[0022] The towel may be provided in any shape. For example, the towel of Fig. IA is generally triangular in shape. The invention is not limited in this regard, and the towel may be rectangular, square, round or any other shape. The heat resistant material may also be any desired shape. The shape of the heat resistant material is preferably chosen to allow easy grasping of hot implements such as pot handles, cooking racks, etc.

[0023] The heat resistant material is preferably fixedly attached to the absorbent material.

The heat resistant material may be attached to the absorbent material by stitching, heat bonding, insert molding, adhesives or any other method known to those skilled in the art. [0024] In one embodiment shown in Fig. 1C, the border strip (16) is used to attach the absorbent material to the heat resistant material. The border strip (16) covers the end of the absorbent portion (12) and a tapered end (22) of the heat resistant portion (14). The border strip is stitched to both the absorbent material and the heat resistant material using stitching (20). [0025] In another embodiment of the invention shown in Fig. 4A, the towel (30) comprises an absorbent portion (32) and two heat resistant portions (34) on opposite ends of the towel. The towel is generally rectangular in shape. As shown in Fig. 4C, in this embodiment, the edge of the heat resistant material includes a channel for receiving the edge of the absorbent material. The edge of the absorbent material is inserted into the channel and fixed in position by glue, heat bonding or stitching.

[0026] In normal use, the towel will be situated in an easily accessible location in the kitchen. The towel may be hung over an oven door handle, on a hook, on a towel bar or over the shoulder of a cook. As shown in Figs. 2 and 5, during the cooking process the user can use the absorbent portion to wipe up spills. As shown in Figs. 3 and 6, the user may quickly change and use the heat resistant portion to handle hot implements such as a pan or oven rack. After use, the towel is placed back in its storage location or washed and put away.

[0027] As will be recognized by those skilled in the art based upon the teachings herein, numerous changes and modifications may be made to the above-described invention without departing from its scope as defined in the appended claims. Accordingly, this detailed description of preferred embodiments is to be taken in an illustrative, as opposed to a limiting sense.

Claims

I claim:

1. A dual material towel comprising an absorbent material fixedly attached to a heat resistant material.

2. The towel of claim 1, wherein the absorbent material is a natural material or a synthetic material.

3. The towel of claim 1, wherein the absorbent material is selected from the group consisting of cotton, polyester, nylon and combinations thereof.

4. The towel of claim 1 wherein the heat resistant material is selected from the group consisting of high melting point silicone, santoprene and neoprene.

5. The towel of claim 1, wherein the heat resistant material is high melting point silicone.

6. The towel of claim 5, wherein the absorbent material is cotton.

7. The towel of claim 1, wherein the absorbent material is fixedly attached to the heat resistant material by stitching, heat bonding, insert molding or an adhesive.

8. A dual material towel comprising an absorbent material, a heat resistant material and a border strip, wherein the border strip is fixedly attached to the outer perimeter of the absorbent portion of the towel, the border strip covers adjoining edges of the absorbent material and the heat resistant material, and the absorbent material is fixedly attached to the heat resistant material by stitching the border strip to the adjoining edges of the absorbent material and the heat resistant material.

9. The towel of claim 8, wherein the absorbent material is a natural material or a synthetic material.

10. The towel of claim 8, wherein the absorbent material is selected from the group consisting of cotton, polyester, nylon and combinations thereof.

11. The towel of claim 8 wherein the heat resistant material is selected from the group consisting of high melting point silicone, santoprene and neoprenc.

12. The towel of claim 8, wherein the heat resistant material is high melting point silicone.

13. The towel of claim 12, wherein the absorbent material is cotton.

14. The towel of claim 13, wherein the border strip material is cotton.