AU2007317190A1 - Cooktop safety arrangement - Google Patents

Description

WO 2008/055300 PCT/AU2007/001703 COOKTOP SAFETY ARRANGEMENT FEILD OF INVENTION The present invention relates to a cooktop safety arrangement, and, in particular, to an arrangement of cooperating cooktop devices for preventing cookware from slipping or otherwise being inadvertently displaced from the grate (also known as a trivet) of a stove or cooktop. BACKGROUND OF INVENTION The kitchen may be a dangerous place when young children, and particularly toddlers, are roaming the kitchen looking to satisfy their curiosity or hunger. A significant danger is posed by cookware, such as cooking pots and frying pans, that are present on a stove during or just after cooking when the food or liquid contained therein is hot. Young children are likely to reach up, especially where the handle of the cookware is protruding to the front of the stove, and pull the cooking pot or frying pan off the stove, with the most feared outcome being that they spill the contents over themselves. A further problem with unsecured cookware is that it may require a second hand to hold the pot or pan when it is desired to stir the contents thereof. This second hand may, however, be being used for other cooking purposes, and so not be available to hold the pot or pan during stirring. Stirring a pot or pan without a steadying second hand may cause the pot or pan to shift dangerously or to spill its contents. A still further problem relates to gas stoves in moving vehicles, such as marine vessels, aircraft or recreational land vehicles like motor homes or camper vans, where an item of cookware is prone to slipping from a stove 1 WO 2008/055300 PCT/AU2007/001703 grate by the effect of acceleration, deceleration, rocking and bumps encountered by the moving vehicle. There have been numerous attempts over many years to address these problems, but many of the devices have been complex in structure and difficult to operate, whilst other simpler devices have lacked reliability. For instance, US Patent No. 3,583,384 discloses an open-topped, relatively shallow receptacle adapted to hold cooking utensils against lateral movement on a stove grate or cooking grid, and a plurality of circumferentially spaced anchoring members projecting downwardly from the receptacle for removably engaging given ones of a plurality of radial bars of the grate. US Patent No. 5,638,806 discloses a safety ring that depends downwardly from the bottom of an item of cookware, the safety ring including a plurality of chair members that are annularly spaced apart such that the chair members will fit a three, four, six or eight pronged gas stove top grate. Each chair member is generally U-shaped and receives therewithin a respective prong of the grate at a different angle to any other chair, thereby preventing lateral movement of the cookware on the grate. US Patent No. 4,745,905 discloses a cooking utensil holder having a first ring with securing means therein that is placed on a cooking surface having holes, and a second ring spaced above the first ring by upright support members. The first ring also has downwardly depending attachment pins that securably engage the holes in the cooking surface. A cooking utensil is spaced inside the holder and a plurality of adjustment means mounted on the 2 WO 2008/055300 PCT/AU2007/001703 support members are adjusted until they contact the cooking utensil and hold it firmly on or over the stove grate. US Patent No. 3,960,134 discloses a restraining device comprising an expandable circumference metallic cylinder having means formed integrally therewith for removably securing the cylinder to a stove grate, the cooking utensil being encircled, and restrained from sliding off the grate, by the device. SUMMARY OF INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a simple yet reliable arrangement that can be built-in to cookware and stove grates prior to their sale at minimal cost, and which will prevent the cookware from slipping or otherwise being inadvertently displaced from the grates. It is another object of the present invention to provide an arrangement of cooperating cooktop devices which overcomes or substantially ameliorates the shortcomings of the aforementioned prior art, or at least provides a useful alternative. Accordingly, the present invention provides an arrangement of cooperating cooktop devices comprising a receiving device mounted to the bottom of cookware, and a support device extending above a heating element and adapted to be removably engaged with the receiving device so as to prevent displacement of the cookware from its supported position over the heating element. Preferably, the support device comprises finger means spaced above a gas burner element for engaging the receiving device. 3 WO 2008/055300 PCT/AU2007/001703 It is preferred that the receiving device comprises channel means through which the finger means can be slidably engaged. In a preferred form, the finger means comprise a plurality of finger members mounted to an outer support frame of a stove rack removably engaged with a stove top, the finger members projecting upwardly and inwardly from the outer support frame. Preferably, the channel means comprises a pair of parallel, spaced apart, channels defined by a plate mounted to the bottom of cookware. It is preferred that there are two finger members which slidably engage respective channels of the channel means. In a further preferred form, there is a first pair of parallel spaced apart finger members mounted to a first location of the outer support frame and having free end portions projecting in a first direction, and a second pair of parallel spaced apart finger members mounted to a second location of the outer support frame and having free end portions projecting in a second direction. Preferably, the free end portions of the first and second pairs of finger members project in opposite direction and are out of alignment. Alternatively, the free end portions of the first and second pairs of finger members project in opposite direction and are in alignment. In a further preferred form, the free end portions of the first and second pairs of finger members project in the same direction. 4 WO 2008/055300 PCT/AU2007/001703 The cookware is preferably a pan. The stove rack may include one or more first tabs extending from a first side thereof, and one or more second tabs extending from an opposite second side thereof, the or each second tab having spring means cooperating therewith, and the stove top may include one or more slots for receiving the respective one or more tabs at each of the first and second sides. Preferably, the spring means comprises a coil spring cooperating with the or each second tab. SUMMARY OF DRAWINGS In order that the invention may be readily understood and put into practical effect, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is an isometric top view of a cooperating cooktop device arrangement according to a preferred embodiment of the invention, Fig. 2 is a plan view of the arrangement shown in Fig. 1, Fig. 3 is a front side view of the arrangement shown in Fig. 1, Fig. 4 is a right side view of the arrangement shown in Fig. 1, Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail view of the circled area A of the arrangement as shown in Fig. 3, 5 WO 2008/055300 PCT/AU2007/001703 Fig. 6 is a sectional view through B-B of the arrangement as shown in Fig. 3, Fig. 7 is an enlarged detail view of the circled area C of the arrangement as shown in Fig. 6, Fig. 8 is an enlarged detail view of the circled area H of the arrangement as shown in Fig. 6, Fig. 9 is an exploded isometric view of the arrangement shown in Fig. 1, Fig. 10 is a front side view of the pan used in the arrangement shown in Fig. 1, Fig. 11 is a right side view of the pan shown in Fig. 10, Fig. 12 is a bottom plan view of the pan shown in Fig. 10, Fig. 13 is an isometric bottom view of the pan shown in Fig. 10, Fig. 14 is a plan view of the stove rack used in the arrangement shown in Fig. 1, Fig. 15 is a front side view of the stove rack shown in Fig. 14, Fig. 16 is a right side view of the stove rack shown in Fig. 14, Fig. 17 is an isometric top view of stove rack shown in Fig. 14, Fig. 18 is an isometric top view of an alternative stove rack that may be used in the arrangement shown in Fig. 1, 6 WO 2008/055300 PCT/AU2007/001703 Fig. 19 is a plan view of the stove top used in the arrangement shown in Fig. 1, Fig. 20 is a sectional view through D-D of the stove top as shown in Fig. 19, Fig. 21 is an enlarged detail view of the circled area F of the stove top as shown in Fig. 19, Fig. 22 is an enlarged detail view of the circled area G of the stove top as shown in Fig. 20, and Fig. 23 is an enlarged detail view of the circled area E of the stove top as shown in Fig. 20. DETAILED DESRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The arrangement shown variously in Figs. 1 to 23 comprises a receiving device, in the form of a bracket or plate 12, mounted to the bottom of cookware in the form of a cooking pan 14, and a support device, in the form of finger members 16, 18, 20, 22, mounted to an outer support frame 24 of a stove rack 26 removably engaged with a stove top 27. The finger members 16, 18, 20, 22 project upwardly and inwardly from the outer support frame 24 so as to be spaced above a gas burner element 28. The plate 12 and finger members 16, 18, 20, 22 are, in use, removably interengaged so as to prevent displacement of the cooking pan 14 from its supported position over the gas burner element 28. For this purpose, the plate 12 defines a pair of parallel, spaced apart, channels 30, 32 through which a pair of the finger members are slidably engaged. 7 WO 2008/055300 PCT/AU2007/001703 A first pair of finger members 16, 18 are parallel aligned and have free end portions that project in a first direction. A second pair of finger members 20, 22 are similarly aligned and project in an opposite second direction to that of the first pair 16, 18. Each pair of finger members can engage separate cookware. Removably engaged to the stove top 27 shown in Fig. 1 are two stove racks 26a, 26b. As part of a first stove rack 26a there is a first pair of parallel spaced apart finger members 16, 18 mounted to a first location of the outer support frame 24 which have free end portions projecting in a first direction. There is also a second pair of parallel spaced apart finger members 20, 22 mounted to a second location of the outer support frame 24 which have free end portions projecting in a second direction. The free end portions of the first and second pairs of finger members 16, 18, 20, 22 which are part of the first stove rack 26a project in opposite direction and are out of alignment. In the second stove rack 26b, the free end portions of the first and second pairs of finger members 16, 18, 20, 22 project in opposite direction and are in alignment. Although not shown, the invention includes an embodiment of stove rack in which the free end portions of the first and second pairs of finger members project in the same direction. There are, in this embodiment, for each stove rack 26 a pair of first tabs 36, 38 extending from a first side thereof, and a pair of second tabs 40, 42 extending from 8 WO 2008/055300 PCT/AU2007/001703 an opposite second side thereof. Each of the two second tabs 40, 42 have spring means, in the form of a coil spring 44, cooperating therewith. The stove top 27 includes a pair of slots 46, 48 at opposite sides thereof for receiving the respective pairs of tabs at each of the first and second sides of a stove rack. When so received, the tabs are prevented from sliding out of the slots by the pressure of the coil springs. In use, a cooking pan 14 is in a supported position, say, during cooking, over the gas burner element 28 by having the finger members 16, 18 engage the channels 30 and 32, respectively, in a manner as described above. To install a stove rack 26 onto the stove top 27, the side of the stove rack having the pair of tabs 40, 42 with the coil springs 44 is positioned alongside the facing side of the stove top having a pair of slots 46, 48, and the tabs are slid into the slots against a resistance pressure exerted by the coil springs, which compress as the tabs progress into the slots. The stove rack is then laid horizontally so that the other pair of tabs 36, 38 on the other side of the rack 26 can be fitted into their respective slots 46, 48. Upon release of the stove rack, the coil springs hold the stove rack in position on the stove top. To engage the cooking pan 14 with the stove rack 26, the pan is brought into alignment of its pair of channels 30, 32 with a pair of finger members 16, 18 or 20, 22 of the stove rack, and the pan is then moved so that the finger members enter the channels until the pan is safely supported over the burner element 28. 9 WO 2008/055300 PCT/AU2007/001703 After cooking operations have ceased and the pan needs to be removed from the stovetop, the pan is gripped by its handle 50 and moved sideways sufficiently so that the finger members exit their respective channels. To remove the stove rack from the stove top, say, for cleaning, the side of the stove rack having the coil springs is pushed in a manner so as to further compress the coil springs and so as to allow the tabs on the other side of the stove rack to exit their respective slots. That other side can then be lifted so that the tabs with the coil springs exit their respective slots. It will be readily apparent to persons skilled in the art that various modifications may be made in details of design, construction and use of the cooktop safety arrangement described above without departing from the scope or ambit of the present invention. For instance, the heating element need not be a gas burner element, but may instead be an electrical burner element. 10

Claims (12)

1. An arrangement of cooperating cooktop devices comprising a receiving device mounted to the bottom of cookware, and a support device extending above a heating element and adapted to be removably engaged with the receiving device so as to prevent displacement of the cookware from its supported position over the heating element.

2. The arrangement according to claim 1 wherein the support device comprises finger means spaced above a gas burner element for engaging the receiving device.

3. The arrangement according to claim 2 wherein the receiving device comprises channel means through which the finger means can be slidably engaged.

4. The arrangement according to claim 3 wherein the finger means comprise a plurality of finger members mounted to an outer support frame of a stove rack removably engaged with a stove top, the finger members projecting upwardly and inwardly from the outer support frame.

5. The arrangement according to claim 4 wherein the channel means comprises a pair of parallel, spaced apart, channels defined by a plate mounted to the bottom of cookware.

6. The arrangement according to claim 5 wherein there are two finger members which slidably engage respective channels of the channel means.

7. The arrangement according to claim 6 wherein there is a first pair of parallel spaced apart finger members mounted to a first location of the outer support frame 11 WO 2008/055300 PCT/AU2007/001703 and having free end portions projecting in a first direction, and a second pair of parallel spaced apart finger members mounted to a second location of the outer support frame and having free end portions projecting in a second direction.

8. The arrangement according to claim 7 wherein the free end portions of the first and second pairs of finger members project in opposite direction and are out of alignment.

9. The arrangement according to claim 7 wherein the free end portions of the first and second pairs of finger members project in opposite direction and are in alignment.

10. The arrangement according to claim 7 wherein the free end portions of the first and second pairs of finger members project in the same direction.

11. The arrangement according to claim 4 wherein the stove rack includes one or more first tabs extending from a first side thereof, and one or more second tabs extending from an opposite second side thereof, the or each second tab having spring means cooperating therewith, and the stove top may include one or more slots for receiving the respective one or more tabs at each of the first and second sides.

12. The arrangement according to claim 11 wherein the spring means comprises a coil spring cooperating with the or each second tab. 12