WO2001003556A1

WO2001003556A1 - Teakettle with structure for automatically opening and closing spout cap

Info

Publication number: WO2001003556A1
Application number: PCT/KR1999/000604
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jung Man Lee
Original assignee: Jung Man Lee
Priority date: 1999-07-10
Filing date: 1999-10-08
Publication date: 2001-01-18
Also published as: KR200166309Y1; AU6009299A

Abstract

A steam-whistle teakettle with a structure for automatically opening and closing the spout cap is disclosed. The spout cap (15) is automatically opened by the front end of a handle (26), pressing down the cap lever (14) when the kettle is tilted to pour water. The above spout cap (15) is also automatically closed due to its weight when the kettle stands upright on a support surface. The handle (26) and the spout cap (15) are designed to be separate pieces cooperating with each other, thus simplifying the construction of the kettle while accomplishing a smooth operation of the kettle. In the teakettle of this invention, a whistle disc (17) is interiorly and fixedly set within the spout cap (15) without being undesirably movable, thus almost completely preventing the formation of a water film caused by an unexpected rotating motion of the whistle disc (17) within the cap (15) and generating a steam-whistle without failure. The steam-whistle teakettle of this invention has a base (28) on its body 1 formed by an externally stepped annular portion on its lower portion, and so the heat transferring area of the body (1) is maximized and allows water within the body (1) to be more quickly boiled.

Description

TEAKETTLE WITH STRUCTURE FOR AUTOMATICALLY OPENING AND CLOSING SPOUT CAP

Technical Field

The present invention relates, in general, to steam-whistle teakettles designed to whistle under a steam pressure while boiling water and, more particularly, to a structural improvement in such a whistle kettle to provide a structure, designed to allow a spout cap to be automatically opened when the kettle is tilted to pour water and to be automatically closed due to its weight when the kettle stands upright.

Background Art

As well known to those skilled in the art, several types of steam-whistle teakettles, designed to whistle under a steam pressure while boiling water to inform users of the boiling state of the water, have been proposed and generally used. For example, such conventional steam-whistle teakettles are preferably referred to U.S. Patent Nos. 4,624,385 and 5,490,616.

In order to give such a steam-whistle structure to the conventional teakettles, an openable cap is hinged to the end of a kettle's spout, with a whistle disc being provided on the lower surface of the spout cap. The conventional whistle disc is designed to vibrate under a steam pressure and to make vibrating noises or whistle, thus allowing a user to be informed of the boiling state of the water. In such a conventional teakettle with an openable spout cap, it is necessary for a user to manually close the spout cap prior to boiling water and to manually open the cap while pouring water.

However, in order to open the spout cap of such a conventional teakettle and to pour boiled water, a user, gripping the handle of the kettle with a hand, has to finger-operate a lever that is hinged to the spout cap. Such a levering motion is very inconvenient to the user since the user has to finger-operate the lever while gripping the handle with a hand. Another disadvantage, experienced in the conventional spout cap opening structure, resides in that it is necessary to provide a complex mechanism for actuating the lever, with a plurality of hinged joints being formed on the mechanism.

Disclosure of the Invention

Accordingly, the present invention has been made keeping in mind the above problems occurring in the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide a steam-whistle teakettle, which is provided with a structure designed to allow a spout cap to be automatically opened by the front end of a handle pressing down on the cap lever when the kettle is tilted to pour water, and to be automatically closed due to its weight when the kettle stands upright, which is thus convenient to users.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a steam- whistle teakettle, with the handle and the spout cap being designed to be separate pieces, cooperating with each other and thereby simplifying the construction of the kettle while accomplishing a smooth operation of the kettle.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a steam-whistle teakettle, of which a whistle disc is interiorly and fixedly set within the spout cap without being undesirably movable, thus almost completely preventing the formation of a water film caused by an unexpected rotating motion of the whistle disc within the cap and generating a steam-whistle without failure.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a steam-whistle teakettle, which has a base on its body formed by an externally stepped annular portion on the lower portion of the body, thus maximizing the heat transferring area of the body and allowing water within the body to be more quickly boiled.

In order to accomplish the above objects, the present invention provides a teakettle, comprising: a kettle body having a dome-shaped profile, with a tubular spout being provided at the center front upper portion of the body, an opening being formed on the top portion of the body at a position opposed to the spout and being covered with a removable lid, and a base being formed on the lower portion of the body formed by an externally stepped annular portion having a width on the lower portion of the body; a support member mounted to the top portion of the kettle body and branched upwardly into a cap support and a handle support, the cap support upwardly and forwardly extending at a front portion of the support member and the handle support upwardly and backwardly extending at a rear portion of the support member; a spout cap having a cap lever at its rear end and being hinged to a middle portion of the cap support at the cap lever using a first hinge pin in a way such that the cap automatically closes or opens the spout in accordance with a limited rotating motion of the cap lever relative to the cap support; and a handle having a slot on its lower surface and being hinged to the upper end of the handle support using a second hinge pin within the slot, thus being rotatable relative to the handle support within a limited rotating angle, the handle having a handle lever at its front portion and a grip at its rear portion, the handle lever selectively biasing the rear end portion of the cap lever downwardly when the kettle is tilted forwardly to pour water through the spout with the grip being gripped by a hand of a user.

Brief Description of the Drawings

The above and other objects, features and other advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a teakettle in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a side view of the teakettle of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a partially sectioned side view of the teakettle of Fig. 1 , with a spout cap being closed;

Fig. 4 is a partially sectioned side view of the teakettle of Fig. 1, with the spout cap being opened; and

Fig. 5 is an exploded perspective view, showing the construction of the spout cap of this invention.

Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a teakettle in accordance with the preferred embodiment of this invention. Fig. 2 is a side view of the teakettle of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a partially sectioned side view of the teakettle of Fig. 1, with a spout cap being closed. Fig. 4 is a partially sectioned side view of the teakettle of Fig. 1, with the spout cap being opened. Fig. 5 is an exploded . perspective view, showing the construction of the spout cap of this invention.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the body 1 of the teakettle according to this invention has a flat bottom in the same manner as a conventional kettle. The upper portion of the body 1 has a dome-shaped profile, with a tubular spout 5 being provided at the center front upper portion of the dome-shaped body 1. Of course, the objective of the spout 5 is to pour water, particularly, boiled water, from the body 1 when necessary. The dome-shaped body 1 is also provided with an opening 2 on its top portion at a position opposed to the spout 5, and so it is possible to fill the body 1 with fresh water through the opening 2. The opening 2 of the body 1 is covered with a lid 3 having a knob 4.

A bracket 9 is exteriorly welded to the top portion of the dome-shaped body 1 of the kettle at a position between the opening 2 and the spout 5. Fixed to the above bracket 9 using a setscrew 10 is a support member 6. The support member 6 is branched upwardly into two supports, or a cap support 7 and a handle support 8. The cap support 7 upwardly extends at the front portion of the support member 6 and rotatably supports an openable spout cap 15 at its middle portion, while the handle support 8 upwardly extends at the rear portion of the member 6 and rotatably supports a handle 26 at its top end.

The above spout cap 15, having a cap lever 14 at its rear end, is hinged to the middle portion of the cap support 7 at the cap lever 14 in a way such that the cap 15 is positioned on the top end of the spout 5 when there is no external force acting on the cap 15. In such a case, the cap lever 14 is hinged to the cap support 7 at its middle portion using a pin 13, with the rear end portion of the lever 14 being positioned just below the front end of the handle 26. The cap lever 14 is thus rotatable around the hinge pin 13 within a predetermined rotating angle.

A slot 11 is formed at a position between the support member 6 and the spout 5 and holds the lower end of a plate spring 12. The upper end of the above plate spring 12 is leaned against the rear end of the cap lever 14, thus normally biasing the rear end of the lever 14 upwardly. Therefore, the plate spring 12 allows the spout cap 15 to normally come into close contact with the top end of the spout 5 when the cap 15 closes the spout 5 due to its weight. As shown in Figs. 3 and 4, a slot 25 is formed on the lower surface of the middle portion of the handle 26 and receives the upper end of the handle support 8 therein, thus limiting the rotating angle of the handle 26 relative to the handle support 8. After the handle 26 is placed on the handle support 8 with the upper end of the support 8 being inserted into the slot 25, the handle 26 is hinged to the upper end of the handle support 8 using a pin 21. The above handle 26 consists of a handle lever 22 at the front portion and a grip 23 at the rear portion. The handle lever 22 selectively biases the rear end portion of the spring-biased cap lever 14 downwardly when the kettle is tilted forwardly, thus allowing the spout cap 15 to be removed from the upper end of the spout 5, while the grip 23 allows a user to grip the handle 26.

Of course, the slot 25 of the handle 26 has an appropriate size allowing the handle 26, hinged to the upper end of the handle support 8 at the slot 25, to be rotatable around the hinge pin 21 relative to the handle support 8 within a predetermined rotating angle. The slot 25 is also designed to prevent the handle 26 from being unexpectedly rotated downwardly when the kettle stands upright on a support surface, and to allow the handle 26 to bias the rear end of the cap lever 14 downwardly by its lever 22 when the kettle is tilted to pour water.

Both the grip 23 of the handle 26 and the knob 4 of the lid 3 are made of nonflammable Bakelite and are coated with soft rubber, thus having a soft touch. The above grip 23 is attached to the handle 26 using a setscrew 24.

The operational effect of the above structure for automatically opening and closing the spout cap 15 of the teakettle will be described herein below.

When the kettle is tilted forwardly to pour water through the spout 5 with the grip 23 of the handle 26 being gripped by a hand of a user, the handle 26 is rotated around the hinge pin 21 counterclockwise in the drawings. The lever 22 of the handle 26 is thus rotated downwardly, and so the lever 22 is brought into contact with the rear end portion of the spring-biased cap lever 14 and biases the cap lever 14 downwardly, thus rotating the cap lever 14 clockwise in the drawings. Therefore, the spout cap 15 is removed from the top end of the spout 5 and allows water to be poured from the kettle through the open spout 5. When the grip 23 of the handle 26 is released from the hand of the user after pouring water and standing the kettle upright on a support surface, the handle 26 is automatically rotated clockwise around the hinge pin 21 due to the weight of the grip 23. The rear end portion of the cap lever 14 is thus released from the lever 22 of the handle 26. Therefore, the cap lever 14 is rotated counterclockwise in the drawings due to both the weight of the spout cap 15 and the restoring force of the spring 12, and so the spout cap 15 closes the top end of the spout 5.

In the steam- whistle teakettle of this invention, a base 28 is formed on the body 1 formed by an externally stepped annular portion having a width on the lower portion of the body 1. The above base 28 maximizes the heat transferring area of the body 1 and allows water within the body 1 to be more quickly boiled.

As shown in Fig. 5, three holes 16 are formed on the external surface of the spout cap 15 and allow steam pressure to be discharged from the body 1 , while a steam-whistle assembly, designed to generate an alarm steam-whistle informing a user of the boiling state of the water, is set within the cap 15. The steam-whistle assembly comprises a whistle disc 17, which is positioned at the top within the cap

15 and is provided with two parallel vibrating strips 20 on its lower surface. A holding disc 18 is screwed to the cap 15 at a position under the whistle disc 17, thus holding the whistle disc 17 within the cap 15. The above holding disc 18 is provided with pluralities of holes 19, which are regularly formed on the disc 18 in a circular arrangement. A projection 30 is interiorly provided on the sidewall of the spout cap 15, while a semicircular notch 31 is formed on the edge of each of the whistle disc 17 and the holding disc 18 at a position corresponding to the projection 30 of the spout cap 15. The projection 30 engages with both the notches 30 when the whistle assembly, consisting of the two discs 17 and 18, is set within the spout cap 15, thus allowing the whistle disc 17 to be stably positioned and fixed within the cap 15 without being undesirably movable. When the whistle disc 17 is undesirably moved or rotated within the spout cap 15, a water film may be formed on the whistle disc 17. In such a case, the whistle disc 17 may fail to generate an alarm whistle. However, since the whistle disc 17 of this invention is fixedly set within the spout cap 15 as described above, it is possible to almost completely prevent the formation of such a water film on the whistle disc

17 and thereby to allow the whistle disc 17 to generate a steam- whistle without failure.

Industrial Applicability

As described above, the present invention provides a steam-whistle teakettle. In the teakettle of this invention, the handle and the spout cap are designed to be separate pieces cooperating with each other, thereby simplifying the construction of the kettle while accomplishing a smooth and reliable operation of the kettle.

The teakettle of this invention is provided with a structure designed to allow the spout cap to be automatically opened by the front end of a handle pressing down the lever when the kettle is tilted to pour water and to be automatically closed due to its weight when the kettle stands upright on a support surface. The teakettle of this invention is thus convenient to users.

In the teakettle of this invention, the steam-whistle disc is interiorly and fixedly set within the spout cap without being undesirably movable, thus almost completely preventing the formation of a water film caused by an unexpected rotating motion of the whistle disc within the cap. Therefore, the whistle disc generates a steam-whistle without failure.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims.

Claims

Claims:

1. A teakettle, comprising: a kettle body having a dome-shaped profile, with a tubular spout being provided at a center front upper portion of the body, an opening being formed on a top portion of the body at a position opposed to said spout and being covered with a removable lid, and a base being formed on a lower portion of said body formed by an externally stepped annular portion having a width on the lower portion of the body; a support member mounted to the top portion of said kettle body and branched upwardly into a cap support and a handle support, said cap support upwardly and forwardly extending at a front portion of the support member and said handle support upwardly and backwardly extending at a rear portion of the support member; a spout cap having a cap lever at its rear end and being hinged to a middle portion of said cap support at the cap lever using a first hinge pin in a way such that the cap automatically closes or opens the spout in accordance with a limited rotating motion of the cap lever relative to the cap support; and a handle having a slot on its lower surface and being hinged to an upper end of said handle support using a second hinge pin within said slot, thus being rotatable relative to the handle support within a limited rotating angle, said handle having a handle lever at its front portion and a grip at its rear portion, said handle lever selectively biasing a rear end portion of said cap lever downwardly when the kettle is tilted forwardly to pour water through the spout with the grip being gripped by a hand of a user.

2. The teakettle according to Claim 1, wherein a steam-whistle assembly is set within the spout cap and generates a steam-whistle so as to inform a user of the boiling state of the water, said steam- whistle assembly consisting of: a whistle disc positioned at the top within said spout cap and provided with two parallel vibrating strips on its lower surface; a holding disc screwed to said spout cap at a position under the whistle disc, thus holding the whistle disc within the cap; a projection interiorly provided on a sidewall of said spout cap; and a notch formed on an edge of each of said whistle disc and said holding disc at a position corresponding to said projection of the spout cap, the notches of the two discs commonly engaging with the projection of the spout cap and allowing the whistle disc to be fixedly positioned within the cap without being undesirably movable.