GB2280595A - Electric kettle - Google Patents

Abstract

An electric kettle comprises a shell (1), the lateral wall (6) and base wall of which define a receptacle (3) for a liquid, and a heating element able to bring the liquid to the boil. The lateral wall (6) has a spout (8) through which the liquid can be poured out of the receptacle (3). According to the invention, the electric kettle also has movable regulating and retaining means (9) positioned in the spout (8) and designed, on the one hand, to control the flow of the liquid poured out of the receptacle (19) and, on the other hand, to catch impurities floating on the surface of the liquid in the receptacle (3). The means (9) constitute a cup (10), pivoting about the axis (30) and a stopping means (13) for resting on the lip (14). <IMAGE>

Description

ELECTRIC RETTLE The invention relates to an electric kettle comprising a shell, the lateral wall and base wall of which define a receptacle for a liquid, and a heating element able to bring the liquid to the boil, the lateral wall having a spout through which the liquid is poured out of the receptacle.

Electric kettles are designed to boil water in order to prepare hot drinks or infusions. When the water used has a high limestone content, particles of scale are formed inside the receptacle and float on the surface of the liquid. When the liquid is poured out of the receptacle, for example into a small receptacle such as a cup, the particles of scale are thus found on the surface of the liquid in the said small receptacle, which is highly unpleasant. To eliminate these particles of scale, known electric kettles use a filter inside the receptacle, so that the liquid poured out of the receptacle through the spout passes through the filter first. Such a filter quickly becomes blocked and needs to be cleaned regularly in order to allow the liquid to flow out. Moreover, the said filter must, on the one hand, be supported in the receptacle by fixing means affording a certain degree of detachability and, on the other hand, be provided with sealing means so that no particle gets round the filter. The fixing and sealing means, even if they are simple, increase the cost price of such an electric kettle considerably. Finally, when the liquid is poured, the flow of liquid is irregular, sometimes causing unwanted overflowing in the cup.

According to the invention, the electric kettle includes, in addition, moving regulating and retaining means positioned in the spout and designed, on the one hand, to control the flow of the liquid poured out of the receptacle and, on the other hand, to catch impurities floating on the surface of the liquid in the receptacle.

Because of these regulating and retaining means according to the invention, when the liquid is poured from the receptacle, the disagreeable impurities located on the surface of the liquid in the receptacle are stopped and the flow of the poured liquid is substantially constant. On the other hand, the regulating and retaining means are simple and easy to position in the receptacle and do not require the use of sealing means.

This simple embodiment affords rapid assembly and a considerable economic advantage, especially in a massproduction environment.

The characteristics and advantages of the invention will, moreover, become clear from the following description of an embodiment chosen by way of non-limiting example and illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which: - Figure 1 shows diagrammatically a vertical section of an electric kettle according to the invention placed in a horizontal plane; - Figure 2 shows a perspective view to an enlarged scale of the regulating and retaining means of the electric kettle according to the invention; - Figure 3 shows a partial view in vertical section and to an enlarged scale of an electric kettle according to the invention, filled with water and in an inclined position in which the water is poured out of the kettle.

In Figures 1, 2 and 3 the same reference numerals designate the same components.

According to Figure 1, the electric kettle comprises a shell 1 closed by a lid 2. The shell 1 forms a receptacle 3 which is designed to contain a liquid, for example water, able to be brought to the boil by an electric heating element 4, and has a hollow handle 5 for gripping. The shell 1 comprises a lateral wall 6 and a base wall 7 which defines the receptacle 3. The lateral wall 6 includes a spout 8 through which a liquid can be poured from the receptacle 3.

According to the invention, the electric kettle also has movable regulating and retaining means 9 positioned in the spout 8 and designed, on the one hand, to control the flow of the liquid poured out of the receptacle 3 and, on the other hand, to catch impurities floating on the surface of the liquid in the receptacle 3.

As can be seen better in Figure 2, the regulating and retaining means 9 of the electric kettle consist of a cup 10 mounted so as to pivot about an axis 30 transverse to the lateral wall 6 of the shell 1. The cup 10 has a shape which is complementary to the shape of the spout. The cup 10 thus follows the shape of the spout 8, with very slight clearance. The cup 10 has a flat wall 11, a lateral wall 12 forming a pocket and stopping means 13 resting on the end lip 14 of the spout 8 and designed to hold the flat wall 11 of the cup 10 in a closed position when the electric kettle is in a horizontal plane. The cup 10 has aligned pivots 17 and 18 extending outwards and positioned on the upper part of the wall 11. The said aligned pivots 17 and 18 are designed to be carried by the lateral wall 6 and engage respectively in recesses provided, along the axis 30, in the internal surface of the lateral wall 6 of the electric kettle and adapted so as to allow the cup 10 to pivot freely about the aligned pivots 17 and 18.

In order to understand the invention better, the electric kettle will now be described in relation to Figure 3. When the liquid 21 contained inside the receptacle 3 is poured into a receptacle used for drinking (not shown), the electric kettle is in an inclined position. The cup 10, which is mounted so as to rotate freely about the aligned pivots 17 and 18, pivots.

The water contained in the receptacle thus occupies the position shown in Figure 3. The water at the surface enters the cup 10 and is prevented by the base of the pocket from flowing out normally, while the rest of the water flows out of the receptacle through an empty space 19 between the internal surface of the spout 8 and the cup 10. In this way, the cup 10 on the one hand retains the solid particles of scale as well as all the impurities floating on the surface of the water and on the other hand impedes the movement of the water to a greater or lesser extent according to the angle of the kettle, thus enabling the flow of the liquid 21 from the receptacle 3 to be regulated.

Claims (5)

1. An electric kettle comprising a shell which has a lateral wall and a base wall which define a receptacle for a liquid, and a heating element able to bring the liquid to the boil; the lateral wall having a spout through which the liquid can be poured out of the receptacle, characterised by movable regulating and retaining means positioned in the spout and designed to control the flow of the liquid when poured out of the receptacle and to catch impurities floating on the surface of the liquid when in the receptacle.

2. An electric kettle according to Claim 1, characterised in that the regulating and retaining means consist of a cup mounted so as to pivot about an axis carried by the lateral wall of the shell.

3. An electric kettle according to Claim 2, characterised in that the cup has aligned pivots which engage respectively in recesses provided in the internal surface of the lateral wall of the electric kettle and which are adapted so as to allow the cup to pivot freely about the axis.

4. An electric kettle according to Claim 2 or 3, characterised in that the cup has a shape which is complementary to the shape of the spout.

5. An electric kettle substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.