AU4375300A

AU4375300A - A holder for holding a lid on a domestic cooking appliance

Info

Publication number: AU4375300A
Application number: AU43753/00A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Jean-Michel Georges Roger Legros
Original assignee: SEB SA
Current assignee: SEB SA
Priority date: 1999-07-01
Filing date: 2000-06-29
Publication date: 2001-01-04
Also published as: EP1064872B1; CN1126494C; CN1284313A; EP1064872A1; FR2795612B1; FR2795612A1

Description

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT Applicant(s): SEB S.A.

Invention Title: A HOLDER FOR HOLDING A LID ON A DOMESTIC COOKING

APPLIANCE

a. a. a.

a.

The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me/us: A HOLDER FOR HOLDING A LID ON A DOMESTIC COOKING

APPLIANCE

The present invention relates to the field of domestic cooking appliances, of the general kind comprising a body and a lid, and in particular such as rice cookers, and it relates to such appliances provided with a holder for holding the lid in a stable position in which it leaves the opening of the body unencumbered, said lid being held on and along the body by the holder.

The present invention provides a holder for holding a lid in a stable non-closing position on and along the body of a domestic cooking appliance that has a housing situated along its body into which housing a portion of the lid can be inserted so as to support and hold the lid 15 in a stable position where it leaves the opening of the body unencumbered.

The present invention also provides directly a domestic cooking appliance fitted with a holder for .*holding a lid in a stable position in which it does not 20 close the body, the invention providing more particularly but not exclusively a rice cooker, preferably an electric rice cooker, provided with such a lid holder.

It is already known to make holders for holding a lid in a stable, non-closing position in which it leaves 25 the body of a domestic cooking appliance unencumbered, S* such holders being placed on and along the body of the appliance. Known holders are associated with each handle on the body where the handle has a setback above the zone where it is fixed to the body so as to co-operate with the side wall of the body to leave an empty space forming a substantially vertical housing in which a portion of the lid can be inserted. In that disposition, the lid is in a stable position that is substantially vertical or substantially parallel to the axis of symmetry of the body, and in this position the lid leaves the opening of the body completely unencumbered. When in this position, the lid has its edge bearing against the bottom of the housing and it bears laterally against the top edge of the body and against a bearing surface of the handle, such a disposition preventing any toppling of the lid.

Known holders made on those lines enable the top portion of the body to be left unencumbered so that it can be accessed easily while still providing means for holding the lid that avoids the need to have an auxiliary work surface available on which the lid can be put down.

As a result, such holders facilitate working conditions in general and provide manifest savings in space since the lid is often of large size and it is often difficult to put down on a work surface for lack of room.

Nevertheless, known holders on those lines suffer from various drawbacks, in particular the drawback of not V'"0 15 leaving access to the opening of the appliance and/or the vessel sufficiently unencumbered since the lid is bearing 0 against the top edge of the appliance or the vessel, which in practice restricts clearance around the body.

Such holders also suffer from another major drawback 20 which lies in condensate running freely down the inside face of the lid, said condensate then flowing freely into *.*the surroundings of the appliance without it being *oo* possible to recover it.

0 Proposals have already been made to make a holder S 25 that uses metal parts fitted to the handles and that do indeed make it possible to increase clearance around the opening of the appliance to a small extent, but which possesses additional drawbacks associated with more complex manufacture implying an additional operation of installing and fixing the extra part and leaving the lid relatively unstable since even in its held position in the event of an untimely knock, it is liable to escape and then fall away. Furthermore, the problem of recovering condensate is simply not addressed.

Consequently, the object of the present invention is to provide a remedy to the various drawbacks mentioned above and to propose a novel holder for holding a lid in a stable position where it leaves the opening of the main body of a cooking appliance unencumbered, thereby providing good clearance for the appliance while also presenting excellent stability for the lid, which lid can be put into place and removed quickly and reliably.

Independently or otherwise of the problem concerning improving access to the opening of the appliance, the objects of the invention also include proposing a novel holder for holding a lid that enables the condensate associated with the substantially vertical position of the lid to be recovered.

Another object of the invention seeks to propose a novel lid holder of a design that is particularly simple and that enables the lid to be handled particularly 15 easily and reliably.

Another object of the invention is to propose a novel lid holder enabling condensate to be removed regularly and simply.

The invention achieves these various objects by 20 means of a holder for holding a lid in a stable and nonclosed position on and along the body of a domestic ."cooking appliance, the holder comprising a housing situated along the body and in which a portion of the lid can be inserted in such a manner as to support and hold oe°e 25 the lid in a stable position where it does not encumber the opening of the appliance, said housing defining at least two bearing elements for the portion of the lid which is inserted therein so as to hold the lid between the two bearing elements independently of the body, wherein the housing is formed in a member fitted and fixed to the side wall of the body, and wherein the housing includes a removable bottom constituted by a condensate collector.

The objects given to the invention are explained in greater detail in the following description and the accompanying drawings which are given purely by way of non-limiting illustration and in which: Figure 1 is a fragmentary cross-section view showing a lid holder of the invention, and including more particularly a condensate collector being put into place; Figure 2 is a fragmentary cross-section view showing a lid holder of the invention fitted with a condensate collector in a fixed position; Figure 3 is a fragmentary plan view showing a lid holder of the invention; Figure 4 is a fragmentary cross-section view showing an implementation detail of a condensate collector in accordance with the invention; and Figure 5 is a fragmentary cross-section view showing a variant embodiment of a lid holder of the invention.

15 In the description below, the holder of the invention for holding a lid is described in its preferred **but non-limiting application in association with a domestic cooking appliance constituted by an electric rice cooker. Naturally, in the meaning of the invention, S* 20 the lid holder of the invention is not limited to this particular application, with the lid holder of the invention being applicable to any type of domestic cooking appliance, generally of the cooking pot type, providing it includes a vessel and a removable lid that 25 can be completely separated from the vessel.

Consequently, the holder of the invention is designed to be associated with a domestic cooking appliance of the rice cooker type comprising an outer body or case 1, e.g. of circular section, made of metal and/or plastic and defining a bottom (not shown in the figures) surmounted by an outer wall 2. In its particular application to electric rice cookers, the body 1 is associated with an optionally removable, open-topped metal vessel for insertion in the body 1. The vessel is associated with a heater holder comprising electrical resistance elements (not shown in the figures) suitable for being connected via an electrical connection system to the electricity mains. Likewise in conventional manner, such a rice cooker is provided with a control unit including thermostats and/or fuses, and also with a thermal insulation system for ensuring that cooked food is kept hot.

The cooker appliance also has a lid 4 made of plastics or metal material and designed to cover and close the top orifice 5 of the body 1 while the food is cooking.

As shown in particular in Figures 1 and 2, the lid 4 can have a central section 4A, e.g. in the form of a circular disk, extended at its periphery by a drop rim 4B. The lid 4 can also have a handle 6 secured to the top face of its section 4A and made, for example, in the 15 form of a loop as can be seen in part in Figures 1 and 2.

The holder of the invention is designed to hold and support the lid 4 in stable manner in a non-closed position or in a position where it leaves the opening S. of the domestic coking appliance completely unencumbered, S. 20 with the lid 4 when in this stable position being held and supported on and along the vessel 1.

To this end, the holder of the invention is implemented in the form of a member 10 which is fitted and fixed to the outside wall 2 of the body, said member S 25 10 forming a housing 11.

As shown in Figures 1 to 3, the member 10 is advantageously constituted by a handle 12 which is fixed by any suitable means to the outside wall 2, e.g. by screws or rivets. The handle 12 can advantageously be made of plastics material. In this embodiment, the central portion of the handle 12 includes an optionally through opening forming the housing 11. In accordance with the invention, the housing 11 defines at least two bearing elements situated on either side of the housing 11 for supporting in a stable position the portion of the lid 4 which is inserted into the housing 11 so as to hold the lid between the two bearing elements independently of the vessel 1, i.e. without the lid bearing against or making contact with the vessel. Each handle 12 of the appliance can include a housing 11.

As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the lid 4 can be inserted via its edge or peripheral rim, and for example via its drop rim 4B, into the housing 11 in such a manner as to rest against the bearing elements, said bearing elements thus creating a couple opposing the couple generated by the weight of the lid when it is in position in the housing 11. By means of this holder, the lid 4 can occupy a stable position in which it leaves the opening 5 unencumbered and in which it is located on and along the walls 2.

As shown in particular in Figures 1 and 2, the 15 bearing elements situated on either side of the housing 11 comprise an inner bearing element 14 formed on the edge of the opening 11 that is adjacent to the body 1, and an outer bearing element 15 formed on the opposite side of the opening 11. In this disposition, the inner 20 bearing element 14 extends substantially radially from the member 10 formed by the handle 12 and overlies the "housing 11, whereas the outer bearing element 15 is situated below said inner bearing element 14. The inner bearing element 14 is thus formed by the bottom surface S 25 of said element, the outer bearing element 15 being formed by the top surface of the handle 12. This geometrical disposition enables any type of lid 4 to be inserted independently of its shape and ensures a stable position for the lid 4 where it leaves the opening unencumbered.

In the invention, the bearing elements 14 and 15 and the lid that is to bear against said bearing elements are shaped in such a manner that when in the stable position for leaving the opening 5 unencumbered, the lid slopes outwards away from the vessel beyond a vertical line V (Figure 1) passing through the outer edge 3 of the opening 5, thereby ensuring that the opening 5 is unencumbered.

When the holder of the invention is provided with a through housing 11, as shown in Figures 1 to 3, the housing 11 can include a bottom to constitute a condensate collector Advantageously, the condensate collector 20 is formed by a removable receptacle 21 having a bottom 21A and an open top for fixing in removable manner to the member 10. In particularly advantageous manner, the removable receptacle 21 is fixed to the body 1 by magnetic attraction when the body 1 is made of metal. To this end, and as shown in Figure 4, the receptacle 21 has a permanent magnet 22 embedded in its facet that is to come into contact with the outside wall 2 of the body 1, thereby enabling it to be fixed to the vessel 1. In this embodiment, the receptacle 21 is put into place by the user beneath the handle 12 and in register with the S* housing 11. To guide the condensate collector 20 and install it in leakproof manner on the handle 12, the bottom portion of the handle advantageously has a collar 22A surrounding the bottom periphery of the housing 11.

The top portion of the receptacle 21 is provided with a rim of profile complementary to the collar 22 so as to 25 provide relative guidance between these two parts and install the receptacle 21 in leakproof manner.

By means of this configuration, the condensate collector 20 is pressed against the outside wall 2 by the magnet 22, with the force of the magnetic attraction being designed to be large enough to hold any volume of water collected in the receptacle 21 while remaining small enough to be easily removed for cleaning and emptying.

Naturally, in a variant, the magnet 22 could be integrated in the side wall 2 if it is made of plastics material, in which case the receptacle 21 is either made of metal or else includes a part made of metal.

In a variant not shown in the figures, the condensate collector 20 can also be fixed to the body by any mechanical means, without making use of magnetic attraction, in particular by snap-fastening.

The holder of the invention operates as follows.

When the user desires to take the lid 4 off the opening 5 without needing to put it down on a work surface adjacent to the cooking appliance, the user takes hold of the lid 4 and inserts it in the housing 11. The edge of the lid 4 or its drop rim 4B thus rests via two bearing points between and against the inner and outer bearing elements 14 and 15, thereby preventing the lid from toppling under its own weight. In this position, the lid 4 is in an approximately vertical position and advantageously tilts out from the appliance away from the true vertical V passing through the outer edge of the vessel 3.

The ability to hold the lid 4 in a housing 11 provided and formed directly in a member outside the 20 vessel, i.e. so that the lid is not in direct contact ego• with the vessel, serves specifically to move the lid 4 away from the opening 5 so as to define an unencumbered volume above and around the appliance. As a result access to the cooking appliance is directly enhanced and 25 facilitated. Furthermore, the option of putting a condensate collector into place (and of removing it) with the collector being directly integrated in the housing for holding the lid provides complete control over removal and storage of condensates. The use of magnetic attraction for securing the receptacle 21 is particularly simple to implement in terms of product design. In addition, the receptacle 21 can be put into place and removed by the user without any difficulty.

In a variant, as shown in Figure 5, the member fitted on the outside of the vessel 1 can be constituted by a part that is both independent of the handles and that also includes a non-through housing 11.

8a- For the purposes of this specification it will be clearly understood that the word "comprising" means "including but not limited to", and that the word "comprises" has a corresponding meaning.