WO2011002128A1

WO2011002128A1 - Spacer for stacking cooking article

Info

Publication number: WO2011002128A1
Application number: PCT/KR2009/004535
Authority: WO
Inventors: Hyun-Sam Lee
Original assignee: Happy Call Co., Ltd.
Priority date: 2009-06-29
Filing date: 2009-08-13
Publication date: 2011-01-06
Also published as: KR101100928B1; KR20110001129A

Abstract

The present invention relates to a spacer that is used for stacking cooking articles like pots or skillets, which is particularly useful for stacking cooking articles with a coating formed on the interior surface (for example, skillets).

Description

SPACER FOR STACKING COOKING ARTICLE

When conventionally stacking cooking articles like pots or skillets for storage, stacking skillets for instance, they would be inserted into the stacking rack (that is similar to the one for cassette or CD cases, for instance) or just stacked on top of each other.

Because using a stacking rack takes up a lot of space, housewives would just stack them on top of each other in the order of decreasing skillet size.

In case of just stacking them on top of each other, as the exterior surface of the skillet on top touches the interior surface of the skillet below, the coating could be scratched, reducing its life, or poor hygiene could be caused due to the surface contamination with the foreign material (oil, soot, etc.).

Moreover, because a skillet usually has a long handle attached on one side, even when stacked, one side of a skillet could touch the surface of the other skillet while the other side is lifted up due to the handle, which makes the whole stacking slanted and look untidy, causing them to be stored in an unstable state.

Due to these troubles, housewives have a hard time storing skillets.

On the other hand, a pot usually comes with its cover and is stacked on top of the other with its cover upside down.

Even this way of stacking causes the same problems as the cover of the pot below gets in touch with the bottom surface of the pot on top and its stacking height becomes too high. In an effort to reduce this height, the covers would be placed inside the pots or on the very top of stacking (refer to the registered utility model publication No. 20-0206264 and the registered patent publication No. 10-0291862), resulting in a substantial reduction in volume. However, the same problem occurs as they are stacked in contact with each other.

Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a spacer for stacking cooking articles that does not cause a contact between the stacked objects and makes them stacked very stably.

To achieve aforesaid objects, the spacer for stacking cooking articles disclosed in claim 1 of the present invention has a feature that it is placed between the interior bottom surface of a cooking article and the exterior bottom surface of another cooking article.

According to this configuration, it is possible to stack them very stably without a contact between the stacked objects.

The spacer for stacking cooking articles disclosed in claim 2 of the present invention consists of a plurality of hollow shaped space pieces, wherein one of said space pieces fits inside the other.

According to this configuration, when the space pieces are put together, the whole set appears to look like one piece because they fit inside each other, providing excellent space utilization.

Furthermore, due to its hollow shape, each piece is light and it is convenient to move the whole set by inserting a finger into the middle of the fitted set and lifting up the whole set. Also the air inside the hollow space can provide a cooling effect even when the skillets with residual heat are stacked.

For the spacer for stacking cooking articles disclosed in claim 3 of the present invention, it is desirable to have both top and bottom surface of the spacer band-shaped so that said plurality of space pieces can be stacked on top of each other.

According to this configuration, the stacking height can be adjusted depending on the depth of the pan by having them fitted inside each other and also stacking them on top of each other.

For the spacer for stacking cooking articles disclosed in claim 4 of the present invention, it is desirable to have curved promontories and bays formed continuously along the side of each of said plurality of space pieces wherein the thickness of said bays is made thinner than the one of said promontories.

This configuration becomes the optimal shape for stacking them on top of each other and makes stacking more stable as the promontories where the edges of the cooling article are supported are made thicker than the bays, thereby increasing the contact area.

For the spacer for stacking cooking articles disclosed in claim 5 of the present invention, it is good to make each of said space pieces come in different color.

It becomes apparent from the aforesaid explanations that the spacer for stacking cooking articles in accordance with the embodiment of the present invention provides following advantageous effects.

Because the spacer is placed between the interior bottom surface of a cooking article and the exterior bottom surface of another cooking article, it is possible to stack them very stably without a contact between the objects stacked, preventing any scratch.

And, because the spacer consists of a plurality of hollow shaped space pieces and those space pieces fit inside each other, it provides excellent space utilization as the whole set appears to look like one piece.

Also, due to its hollow shape, each piece is light and it is convenient to move the whole set by inserting a finger into the middle of the fitted set and lifting up the whole set. Also the air inside the hollow space can provide a cooling effect even when the skillets with residual heat are stacked.

Moreover, because said plurality of space pieces are shaped in such a way that they can be stacked on top of each other, the stacking height can be adjusted depending on the depth of the pan by having them fitted inside each other and also stacking them on top of each other.

Furthermore, because each of said plurality of space pieces is formed continuously with curved promontories and bays along its side and the thickness of said bays is made thinner than the one of said promontories, it is the optimal shape for stacking them on top of each other and makes stacking more stable as the promontories where the edges of the cooking articles are supported are made thicker than the bays, thereby increasing the contact area.

Furthermore, by making each space piece in different color, each piece can be perceived as an individual piece and difference sizes can be quickly identified. Coloring is also desirable in the kitchen interior point of view.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating the spacer that has been taken apart according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating the spacer of FIG. 1 with all the pieces fitted inside each other;

FIG 3. is a perspective view illustrating the individual pieces of different sizes in use for the skillets;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 3 illustrating stacked skillets using the spacer;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view illustrating two space pieces in use;

FIG. 6 is a view illustrating stacked skillets using the spacer as illustrated in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view illustrating the circular shape spacer that has been taken apart according to another preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view illustrating the spacer of FIG. 7 with all the pieces fitted inside each other; and

FIG. 9 is a plan view illustrating the oval shape spacer with all the pieces fitted inside each other according to yet another preferred embodiment of the present invention.

1,3,5,7,9 : skillets

1a,3a,5a,7a,9a: interior bottom surface

1b,3b,5b,7b,9b: exterior bottom surface

10,30,50: spacer

11,13,15,17;31,33,35,37;51,53,55,57: space piece

19,39,59: space holding plate

P: promontory B: bay

Hereinafter, the preferred embodiment of the present invention will be explained in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating the spacer that has been taken apart according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating the spacer of FIG. 1 with all the pieces fitted into each other, FIG 3. is a perspective view illustrating the individual pieces of different sizes in use for the skillets, and FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 3 illustrating stacked skillets using the spacer.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the spacer(10) according to the preferred embodiment comprises least one space piece or more(11, 13, 15, 17).

Namely, as illustrated in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, the number of space pieces(11, 13, 15, 17) is determined by the number of skillets(1, 3, 5, 7, 9) to be stacked.

Because each of these space pieces(11, 13, 15, 17), as illustrated in FIG. 4, is placed between interior bottom surface(1a, 3a, 5a, 7a, 9a) of each skillet(11, 13, 15, 17) stacked and the exterior bottom surface(1b, 3b, 5b, 7b, 9b), they do not touch each other, causing no scratch and foreign material contamination. Also it prevents one side of the skillet from being lifted due to its handle, assuring a stable stacking for storage.

Also, as illustrated in FIG. 1, each space piece(11, 13, 15, 17) is of a hollow band-shape. The hollow center makes it light and works as a heat emission space for the cooking articles with residual heat.

Moreover, because each space piece(11, 13, 15, 17), as illustrated in FIG. 2, is sized in such a way that one is fitted inside the other, they can be fitted inside each other for storage as if only one spacer would be stored. Of course, the space can be used without being taken apart into individual space pieces(11, 13, 15, 17) when stacking only one skillet.

Furthermore, it is convenient to grab and move the whole set by inserting a finger or hand into the hollow center of the fitted set and hooking it up outwardly. Obviously, as illustrated in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, by placing a solid space holding plate(17) at the bottom, the space pieces(13, 15, 17) can be held without being dropped down as shown in FIG. 2 and the whole set of spacer(10) can be moved by lifting up the space holding plate(17) only.

On the other hand, it is desirable that each space piece(11, 13, 15, 17) is of a closed-curve shape and is formed with curved promontories(P) and bays(B) along its side.

Because this configuration of promontories(P) and bays(B), as illustrated in FIG. 5, makes it convenient to place a small size piece(13, 15, or 17) on top of the big sized piece(11), as illustrated in FIG. 6(b), it is convenient to use for stacking deep skillets or pots.

In other words, for deep skillets(1 )(3 ) or pots, if you place a single piece(11) as illustrated in FIG. 6(a), there would be a conventional trouble that the cooking articles could touch each other. But this trouble can be resolved by placing one piece on top of another as shown in FIG. 7(b). Here, it is desirable to make both top and bottom surface of the band-shaped space piece flat.

Also, the promontories(P) of each space piece(11, 13, 15, 17) are located toward the edge of exterior bottom surface(1b, 3b, 5b, 7b, 9b), compared to the bays(B).

Therefore, it is desirable to make the thickness(T) of the promontory(P) portion thicker than the thickness(t) of bay(B) portion in order to make the contact area with the exterior bottom surface(1b, 3b, 5b, 7b, 9b) larger for more stable stacking.

On the other hand, as illustrated in FIG. 7, it is a good option to use a spacer(30) with ring-shaped space pieces(31, 33, 35, 37). However, when placing one on top of the other, they have to be stacked in a zigzag manner.

Also, as shown in FIG. 9, a spacer(50) with oval-shaped space pieces(51, 53, 55, 57) is another good option.

Because this oval-shaped spacer(50) can be stacked up in the same way as in FIG.5, it is more stable than ring-shaped spacer(30).

Although the present invention herein has been described with reference to the preferred embodiment, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modification may be made to the above described embodiments, without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims.

For instance, even though the preferred embodiment is explained with tripod-, circular-, and oval-shaped space pieces, any polygonal shape, for example, could be a good option as long as the shape allows stacking one on top of the other.

Moreover, in case of a polygonal shape, the overall appearance can be changed to a curvilinear shape by making the angulated corners rounded, creating an excellent look in the design aspect.

The present invention can be applied to any cooking articles as long as they are stored by stacking.

Claims

A spacer for stacking cooking articles that is placed between the interior bottom surface of a cooking article and the exterior bottom surface of another cooking article.
The spacer for stacking cooking articles according to claim 1, wherein the spacer consists of a plurality of hollow shaped space pieces and one of said space pieces is fitted inside the other.
The spacer for stacking cooking articles according to claim 2, wherein said plurality of space pieces are band-shaped and their top and bottom surfaces are made flat so that they can be stacked on top of each other.
The spacer for stacking cooking articles according to claim 3, wherein each of said plurality of space pieces is formed continuously with curved promontories and bays along its side and the thickness of said bays is made thinner than the one of said promontories.
The spacer for stacking cooking articles according to claim 2, 3, or 4, wherein each of said space pieces is made in different color.