JPS6355328B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention This invention relates generally to tableware for cooking, serving, and storing food and the like. The invention more particularly relates to a lidded dish having at least one opening that can be adjusted between various open and closed positions by rotating the lid of the dish.

[Conventional technology]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Utensils used for baking and other cooking typically include lids to cover the food in the utensils during cooking. By covering food with a lid, the heat and moisture inside the dishes are retained, which is also useful for cooking. Even if it is not desirable to cover the food, the lid can be used to keep the contents of the dish warm. The term "dishware" is generally used to mean ovenware, such as a casserole, suitable for ovens, such as microwave ovens or conventional ovens.

In some cooking utensils, it is advantageous to have an opening in the lidded dish so that the amount of steam or other evaporation that escapes can be closely controlled. Furthermore, even if it is preferable to leave the dishes covered while cooking, it is often desirable to touch the inside of the dishes while cooking. For example, it may be convenient to place a food thermometer inside the dish without removing the lid completely. When serving, it is sometimes convenient to leave the serving spoon in the tableware and leave the lid on the tableware.

In some prior art cooking utensils, substantially the entire lid must be removed in order to gain access to the interior of the utensil. This is inconvenient. This is because the cook must either hold the removed lid in one hand or find a clean, heat-resistant place to temporarily place the hot lid. Additionally, if you remove the lid from a hot container, a large amount of steam may suddenly come out of the container, potentially scalding the cook.

The need to create an opening for steam to escape from the dish or for the insertion of a cooking thermometer is satisfied by placing the lid slightly off-center over the dish. This solution is inconvenient and usually difficult to adjust, making it undesirable. Alternative exhaust means (usually limited to metal lids such as saucepans) require a separate butterfly valve movably mounted to the lid. Such valves are not adjustable and
They clog quickly, are relatively expensive and are not in any case easily applicable to ceramic or glass containers such as bowls. In other prior art tableware, the handle of the tableware is provided with an exhaust device, so that evacuating steam becomes a problem for the person handling the container. If an exhaust port is provided in this way, steam will get onto the handle and cause it to become hot and slippery.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide improved cooking utensils.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a lidded tableware for cooking that allows the inside of the tableware to be touched without removing the lid.

Another object of the invention is to provide a lidded dish with an adjustable sized opening leading into the interior of the dish which allows for controlled exhaust air.

Another object of the invention is to provide a lidded dish with an adjustable opening into the interior of the dish that is angularly offset from the portion of the dish that functions as a handle.

[Means for solving problems]

The present invention overcomes the aforementioned and other problems of the prior art by providing a dish with an opening and a lid that can be placed over the dish to cover the opening. the lid and the dish cooperate to form at least one adjustable sized opening;
This opening allows access to the inside of the covered tableware. The opening acts as an adjustable vent, allowing adjustment of the amount of steam leaving the dish.
The opening is also large enough to accommodate a device such as a cooking thermometer or spoon handle.

In some detail, the lid has an outer edge defining an opening. The dish has a raised rim surrounding the wide mouth. The protruding part functions as a handle. When the lid is placed in place on the dish, the lid can be rotated to at least one angular position where the opening is blocked by the edge of the dish. In this way, the inside of the dish can be touched without removing the lid from the dish.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become more readily apparent from the following description of the preferred embodiments.

〔Example〕

First, referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, tableware 10
And the lid 11 of this tableware is shown. The disclosed dishes and lids are adapted for use, for example, as casserole dishes or for other culinary purposes. Preferably, the dish 10 and lid 11 are made of suitable materials that can withstand both the high temperatures associated with oven or open flame cooking and the low temperatures associated with refrigerator or freezer storage.

As best seen in FIGS. 2, 4 and 9, the dish 10 includes a generally bowl-shaped interior 12 defined by a side wall 13 extending upwardly from a bottom wall 14.
The bottom wall 14 has a slightly convex center. The outer surface of the bottom wall 14 has a downwardly extending protrusion 19 having a substantially circular bottom surface. The protrusion 19 is not continuous and may be formed by a plurality of protrusions. The protrusion 19 serves as a base on which the bowl rests when it is placed on a flat surface. The tableware 10 has a wide mouth 15 (FIGS. 2 and 4).
has a generally square appearance with rounded corners 17 formed by interconnected outer arcuate sides 16. The sides 16 and corners 17 are joined together to form a continuous smooth edge 18 that defines the wide mouth 15 of the dish 10 (FIG. 9).
The continuous smooth edge 18 may have other non-circular contours, such as oval.

A rim 22 surrounds the wide mouth 15 of the tableware 10.
The upper surface of the rim 22 has an upwardly directed ledge 24 extending between the edge 18 of the wide mouth 15 and the flange 35. As best seen in FIG. 9, the projecting portion 24 extends from the flange 35 to
It slopes downward towards the wide mouth of the head. The flange 35 is slightly downwardly sloped and is defined at its outer end by the outer surface 23. Thus, the generally square wide opening 15 is defined by the flange 35 of the edge 22. As a result, a relatively narrow projecting portion 24a adjacent to the corner 17 of the wide mouth 15 and a side portion 16 of the wide mouth
The width of the protruding portion 24 changes between the relatively wide protruding portion 24b adjacent to the protruding portion 24b. As best seen in FIG. 4, the relatively wide ledge 24b forms a convenient handle for lifting the utensil 10.

As best seen in FIGS. 1 and 9, the lid 11 has a handle 36 centered in a recess 37 so that it can be easily grasped by a pot holder or other protective means. . The circumference of the recess 37 is defined by an edge 39 which is approximately circular in plan. A region 38 that joins the outer edges 30 extends outwardly and downwardly from the edge 39.

The outer edge 30 is defined by the generally circular outer edge 28. As best seen in FIGS. 3 and 9, the diameter of the outer edge 28 is the same as that of the flange 35.
slightly smaller than the inner diameter of Thus, when the lid 11 is placed in place on the dish 10, the flange 35 prevents lateral movement of the lid. When the lid 11 is tilted to expose the wide mouth 15 of the tableware 10, the outer edge 28 hits the flange 35. The outer rim 30 of the lid 11 has a notched portion forming an opening 34 extending inwardly from the outer edge 28 of the lid. As best seen in FIG. 6, this opening 34 extends slightly inwardly of the lip 29. Preferably, the opening is large enough to receive the stem of a utensil (not shown) such as a spoon or cooking thermometer.

A lip 29, concentric with the outer edge 28, extends from the underside of the outer edge 30. When the lid is placed in place on the dish 10, the lip 29 is located approximately above the edge 18 of the wide mouth 15. A second lip 31 extends below the outer edge 28 of the outer edge 30. Lid 11
When placed in place on the dish 10, the second lip 31 contacts the bulge 24 of the rim 22 of the dish and supports the lid 11 of the dish. A spaced apart lug 32 projects downwardly from the first lip 29.
The second lip 32 also has a portion 31a that circumscribes the opening 34 (FIG. 6). Portion 31a cooperates with lug 32 to form a base for holding outer rim 30 slightly above the flat surface on which lid 11 rests. As best seen in FIGS. 3 and 5, when the opening is positioned over the ledge 24b, the portion 31a insulates the interior of the dish from the outside. A portion 31a extending inward from the outer edge portion 28 is inclined downward at approximately the same angle as the projecting portion 24.

Now, as shown in particular in FIG.
4 is aligned with one of the corners 17 of the wide mouth 15, an opening 34 formed in the outer edge 30 of the lid 11 provides access to the interior of the dish 10. The opening 34 thus provides access to the interior of the dish for the insertion of instruments such as cooking thermometers. The opening also functions as an exhaust vent to allow steam to escape from the interior of the dish. The wide mouth 15 of the dish 10 must be shaped such that the angular position of the lid relative to the dish provides at least one position in which the opening 34 is open. Since there are four corners 17 in the preferred embodiment, the interior of the dish 10 can be accessed by rotating the lid no more than 45 degrees in any direction.

By rotating the lid 11 relative to the tableware 10, the lid opening 34 can be moved from a position on the relatively narrow ledge 24a to a position on the relatively wide ledge 24b. In this position, as best seen in Figure 3, the opening is completely occluded, sealing off the interior of the dish from the outside. The relatively wide ledge 24b thus forms a shielding means which effectively isolates the interior of the dish from the outside. The dish 10 has at least one relatively wide bulge, so that at least one angular position of the lid 11 relative to the dish 10 closes the opening 34. In the preferred embodiment, there are four relatively wide lobes 24b so that opening 34 can be closed by rotating the lid no more than 45 degrees in any direction.

Various advantages result from this design. for example,
By selecting an appropriate angular position of the lid 11 relative to the tableware 10, the effective unobstructed area of the opening 34 can be adjusted to any position between the maximum open position and the fully occluded position. . Outer edge 3
0 is located on the ledge 24 in any angular position of the lid 11. Water droplets on the lower surface of the rim 30 fall onto the protruding portion 24 and the wide mouth 1 of the tableware 10
It is gathered towards 5.

As previously mentioned, the relatively wide ledge 24b also functions as a handle. In the open position, opening 3
4 is located at a position away from the relatively wide projecting portion 24b. Thus, steam emanating from the interior of the utensil is not directed towards the user's hands when the utensil is grasped. Also, the steam protrudes from part 2.
There is almost no liquefaction in the 4b region. The slope of the ledge downwardly toward the wide mouth 15 also collects liquefied vapor or other liquid inside the dish.

The foregoing relates only to preferred embodiments of the invention, and it is understood that many modifications and changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the claims. is clear.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 is a top perspective view of the tableware and lid, Figure 2 is an exploded perspective view of the tableware and lid shown in Figure 1 with the lid placed above the tableware, and Figure 3 is the tableware with lid shown in Figure 1. Figure 4 is a plan view of the tableware with the lid removed, Figure 5 is a side view tilted upward to show details of the underside with the lid removed, and Figure 6 is 6-6 in Figure 5. 7 is a partial view taken along line 7-7 of FIG. 6, FIG. 8 is a view of the lid in place with the opening not blocked, and FIG. 9 is a partial view taken along line 7-7 of FIG. 3. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the lidded tableware taken along the line. 10...tableware, 11...lid, 15...wide mouth, 1
7... Corner, 22... Edge, 24... Protrusion, 29... Lip, 34... Opening, 35... Flange, 36... Handle.

Claims (1)

Claims: 1. Apparatus for cooking, serving and storing food, comprising an outer rim 3 having an upwardly directed opening 34;
0 and a tableware 10 having a bottom wall 14 and a side wall 13 extending upwardly therefrom, forming a wide mouth 15, said wide mouth 15 being defined by an edge 18, said edge In a lidded dish further comprising a dish rim 22 extending outwardly from 18, said dish rim 22 has an upper portion having at least one relatively wide ledge 24b and at least one relatively narrow ledge 24a. The upwardly directed projecting portion 24 and the upwardly directed aperture 34 cooperate to provide effective unblocking on the projecting portion 24 at various locations on the lid 11. area, the lid 11 has at least one relatively narrow ledge 24 in which the effective unobstructed area of the upwardly directed opening 34 is maximized.
a and a position on the at least one relatively wide ledge 24b where the upwardly directed opening 34 is completely blocked. and the effective non-blocking area has an upwardly directed opening extending from a position on at least one relatively narrow ledge 24a to at least one relatively wide ledge 24b.
A tableware with a lid that gradually decreases as it rotates to the upper position. 2. The wide mouth 15 has four outwardly arcuate sides 16 whose four corners 17 are interconnected, and the upwardly directed ledge 24 has a relatively wide opening adjacent each of the arcuate sides 16. A lidded tableware according to claim 1, characterized in that it has a projecting portion (24b) and a relatively narrow projecting portion (24a) positioned adjacent each of said corner portions (17). 3. The lidded tableware according to claim 2, wherein the rim 22 of the tableware has an upwardly extending substantially circular flange 35 surrounding the upwardly directed projecting portion 24. 4. The upwardly directed ledge 24 is slanted downwardly from the flange 35 towards the edge 18 in order to collect water droplets towards the interior of the tableware 10. Tableware with a lid as described in Range 3. 5. The effective unblocking area of the opening 34 can be adjusted over approximately 45 degrees between a position on the relatively narrow ledge 24a and a position on the adjacent relatively wide ledge 24b. A tableware with a lid according to claim 4. 6. The outer lip 30 of the lid has a lower surface, and lips 31, 31a extend downwardly from the lower surface to define the circumference of the upwardly directed opening 34,
1, 31a, when positioning the upwardly directed opening 34 on the relatively wide projecting portion 24b,
The lidded tableware according to claim 4, wherein the lid-equipped tableware is engaged with the upwardly directed projecting portion 24 to isolate the inside of the tableware from the outside.