Patent Application
20090065509
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed generally to cookware, such as measuring cups, colanders, and strainers, and more particularly, collapsible cookware.
2. Description of Related Art
Heretofore, collapsible cookware have been provide using one of three different approaches including separate members that are telescopically connected based on sizes of the openings or connection elements that engage/disengage; a collapsible wall that is generally rigid, but includes hinged portions of thinner material to allow the wall to bend; and a collapsible wall that has upper and lower rigid portions connected by an intermediate portion that is flexible, such that when the wall is collapsed, the intermediate portion is reverse folded against either the upper or lower portion.
Each one of these approaches suffer from various drawbacks, such as, for example, requiring complicated or unreliable connection members to hold telescoping members together, requiring a complicated manufacturing process to make hinged portions of substantially thinner material than the surrounding material, or requiring complicated manufacturing processes to provide regions of rigidity separated by regions of the flexible intermediate portions.
In order to overcome the above mentioned drawbacks of conventional collapsible cookware, a simpler, more easily manufacturable cookware is provided that includes at least an upper member that is substantially rigid and a lower member that is substantially flexible, wherein the lower member has a substantially uniform wall thickness.
Because the lower member has a substantially uniform wall thickness, the manufacturing molds can be simplified.
Furthermore, because the lower member is formed of a substantially flexible material, simple connection techniques can be utilized to connect the upper member and lower member, thereby avoiding the unnecessarily complicated connection mechanisms of telescoping members.
According to principles of the present invention, a collapsible cookware including an upper member having a first opening and a second opening located below the first opening, the upper member being substantially rigid, and a lower member having a third opening located adjacent and connected to the second opening and a bottom portion, the lower member having a substantially constant thickness between the third opening and the bottom portion, wherein the lower member is substantially flexible such that the lower member is collapsible upwards towards the upper member, is provided.
In a further aspect, the connection of the lower member to the upper member may define a fold line of the collapsible cookware.
In another aspect, the lower member may indicate a first measurable amount and the combination of the upper member and lower member may indicate a second measurable amount.
In still another aspect, the lower member may include a plurality of through holes. In addition, the upper member may include a plurality of though holes. The plurality of through holes of the upper member and the plurality of through holes of the lower member may be arranged in a regular pattern around the upper member and lower member, respectively. In this particular configuration, the cookware may be one of a colander and a strainer.
In a different aspect, the cookware may be a measuring cup.
In yet another aspect, the upper body may include a flange around the first opening. The flange may include a pair of graspable handles located on opposite sides of the first opening. In addition, with or without the graspable handles, the cookware may also include at least one handle pivotally connected to the flange. The at least one handle may include a first handle portion pivotally connected to the flange and a second handle portion pivotally connected to the flange.
In yet another aspect, the bottom portion may include a rim extending away from the third opening.
In still another aspect, one of the upper member and the lower member may include a tongue and the other of the upper member and the lower member may include a groove configured to receive the tongue, the tongue and groove cooperating to connect the lower member to the upper member.
According to principles of the present invention, a set of stackable cookware is provided. The set of stackable cookware includes a plurality of collapsible cookware, each collapsible cookware having an upper member including a first opening and a second opening located below the first opening, the upper member being substantially rigid, and a lower member having a third opening located adjacent and connected to the second opening and a bottom portion, the lower member having a substantially constant thickness between the third opening and the bottom portion, wherein the lower member is substantially flexible such that the lower member is collapsible upwards towards the upper member.
In a further aspect, the plurality of collapsible cookware may include at least a large collapsible cookware, an intermediate collapsible cookware being locatable in the large collapsible cookware, and a small collapsible cookware being locatable in the intermediate collapsible cookware.
In yet a further aspect, the large collapsible cookware may include a handle having a recess located in an end distal the upper member, the intermediate collapsible cookware may include a handle having a recess portion locate in an end distal the upper member and a boss portion opposite the recess portion at the end distal the upper member, the boss portion being locatable in the recess of the large collapsible cookware, and the small collapsible cookware may include a handle having a boss portion at an end distal the upper member, the boss portion being locatable in the recess of the intermediate collapsible cookware.
In a different aspect, the plurality of collapsible cookware may be one of measuring cups, colanders, and strainers.
According to principles of the present invention, a cookware including a first body portion having a first opening, a second opening located beneath the first opening, and a first sidewall extending from the first opening to the second opening, the first body portion being formed of a substantially rigid plastic material, and a second body portion having a third opening, a bottom portion, and a second sidewall extending between the third opening and the bottom portion, the second sidewall having a plurality of through holes formed therein, and the second body portion being formed of a substantially flexible elastomeric material such that the second body portion is collapsible upwards into the second opening of the first body portion, is provided.
In another aspect, the lower member has a substantially constant thickness between the third opening and the bottom portion
Further scope of applicability of the present application will become more apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the detailed description.
The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given hereinbelow and the accompanying drawings which are given by way of illustration only, and thus are not limitative of the present invention and wherein:
Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. In the following description, the same terms and reference numerals will be used for the same parts, with the exception that the first number is advanced.
The present invention is generally directed to collapsible cookware, such as, but not limited to, measuring cups, colanders, and strainers. The collapsible cookware is formed as a two-piece construction having an upper member or first body portion and a lower member or second body portion connected thereto. The combination of the upper member and lower member provides a collapsible cookware that can used for holding/measuring fluids or solids, and/or draining/separating solids from other solids or fluids. Generally the combination of the upper member and lower member has a circular bowl shape although other shapes are equally applicable.
To provide collapsible cookware, the upper member may be made of a substantially rigid material when compared to the lower member, preferably a plastic or rigid elastomer, while the lower member is made of a flexible material, preferably, an elastomer including silicone. In this configuration, the lower member is sufficiently flexible to allow the lower member to collapse towards the upper member, thereby requiring less space. For example, the lower member may be configured to be so flexible so as to not be able to support the upper member by itself. If more than one collapsible cookware is provided, such as, for example, a plurality of measuring cups, each of the collapsible cookware can be configured so that they are stackable together.
Depending on the intended use of the collapsible cookware, the lower member can include a plurality of through holes for assisting in draining/straining. Similarly, the upper member can also be provided with a plurality of through holes to further improve draining/straining. Alternatively, the lower member may be a solid construction so that it can hold fluids and/or solids.
Having generally described some of the features of the present invention, these features will be further described with respect to measuring cups, as shown in
While the first sidewall 140 may have either a substantially constant thickness or a variable thickness between the first and second openings 120, 130, it is preferable that the second sidewall 180 have a substantially constant thickness between the third opening 160 and the bottom portion 170. By providing a substantially constant thickness for the second sidewall 180, the lower member is less likely to stretch when used as a measuring cup. Furthermore, less complicated molds and manufacturing processes are required to provide a substantially constant thickness as opposed to providing thin hinge portions/intermediate flexible portions used to manufacture conventional collapsible cookware.
Because of the connection of the lower member 150 to the upper member 110, a fold line 152 (
If desired, a handle 142 can be formed/connected to the first sidewall 140. The handle 142 may be provided with a recessed portion 144 that may also include a through hole. As shown, the recessed portion 144 is located in a distal end of the handle 142. The recessed portion 144 serves many different purposes including providing a means of hanging the collapsible cookware 100 from a hook to store/display the collapsible cookware 100.
Indicia 146 may be placed on the handle to provide information, such as, for example, the measuring amount of the collapsible cookware 100. For example, the lower member 150 may indicate a first measurable amount, such as, for example, ⅓ cup, and the combination of the upper member 110 and lower member 150 may indicate a second measurable amount, such as, for example, 1 cup, and the indicia 146 may so indicate the two different measurable amounts.
Having just described a first exemplary collapsible cookware 100,
Even in the collapsed state, the small collapsible cookware 300 is locatable in the intermediate collapsible cookware 200 and the intermediate collapsible cookware 200 is locatable in the large collapsible cookware 100. To further assist in keeping the set of stacked collapsible cookware 100, 200, 300, the handle 342 of the small collapsible cookware 300 may include a boss portion 348 that is locatable within the recessed portion 244 in the handle 242 of the intermediate collapsible cookware 200. The handle 242 of the intermediate collapsible cookware 200 may also include a boss portion 248 that is locatable within the recessed portion 144 of the large collapsible cookware 100. In this configuration, the entire set of collapsible cookware 100, 200, 300 can be stored/displayed on a single hook. The sizes of the recessed portions 144, 244, and the boss portions 248, 348 can be sized to provide a snug fit to assist in keeping the stack of collapsible cookware 100, 200, 300 together.
Having described a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention, which is well suited for providing measuring cups, a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention is shown in
While the first sidewall 440 may have either a substantially constant thickness or a variable thickness between the first and second openings 420, 430, it is preferable that the second sidewall 480 have a substantially constant thickness between the third opening 460 and the bottom portion 470. By providing a substantially constant thickness for the second sidewall 480, the lower member is less likely to stretch when used as a colander. Furthermore, less complicated molds and manufacturing processes are required to provide a substantially constant thickness as opposed to providing thin hinge portions/intermediate flexible portions used to manufacture conventional collapsible cookware.
Because of the connection of the lower member 450 to the upper member 410, a fold line 452 of the collapsible cookware can be provided and used to control the height of the collapsible cookware in the collapsed position. As seen in
In this second exemplary embodiment, the first upper member 410 and lower member 450 include a plurality of through holes 441, 481, respectively. The through holes 441, 481 can have many different shapes such as, but not limited thereto, circles, squares, triangles, and rectangles. Furthermore, the through holes 441, 481 can be arranged in a symmetrical pattern. It is understood that a random pattern of through holes 441, 481 can be provided. It is also understood that the through holes 441 and/or the through holes 481 in the second sidewall 480 are not necessary to the function of a colander and therefore could be eliminated, thereby providing through holes 481 in just the bottom portion 470.
The upper member 410 may include a flange 443 that extends outwards from the first opening 420. As seen in
An elastomer layer 449, which may be the same elastomer used in the lower member 450, is located on the underside of the flange 443 and grasping members 445. The elastomer layer 449 may assist in the grasping or holding of the collapsible cookware 400 while providing a more comfortable feel.
As best seen in
This second exemplary embodiment, as shown in
A third exemplary embodiment of the present invention is shown in
While the first sidewall 540 may have either a substantially constant thickness or a variable thickness between the first and second openings 520, 530, it is preferable that the second sidewall 580 have a substantially constant thickness between the third opening 560 and the bottom portion 570. By providing a substantially constant thickness for the second sidewall 580, the lower member is less likely to stretch when used as a strainer. Furthermore, less complicated molds and manufacturing processes are required to provide a substantially constant thickness as opposed to providing thin hinge portions/intermediate flexible portions used to manufacture conventional collapsible cookware.
Because of the connection of the lower member 550 to the upper member 510, a fold line 552 of the collapsible cookware can be provided and used to control the height of the collapsible cookware in the collapsed position. As seen in
In this third exemplary embodiment, the first upper member 510 and lower member 550 include a plurality of through holes 541, 581, respectively. The through holes 541, 581 can have many different shapes such as, but not limited thereto, circles, squares, triangles, and rectangles. Furthermore, the through holes 541, 581 can be arranged in a symmetrical pattern. It is understood that a random pattern of through holes 541, 581 can be provided. It is also understood that the through holes 541 and/or the through holes 581 in the second sidewall 580 are not necessary to the function of a strainer and therefore could be eliminated, thereby providing through holes 581 in just the bottom portion 570.
The upper member 510 may include a flange 543 that extends outwards from the first opening 520. As seen in
A handle formed of two pivotal handle portions 542 may be located opposite the grasping/supporting members 545. Each handle portion may be mounted to the flange 543 via a pivot hole 547 and the handle portions 542 may be moveable between a first position where they are stored under the flange 543 (
This third exemplary embodiment, as shown in
The invention thus being described, it will be obvious that the same may be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all such modifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are intended to be included within the scope of the following claims.
