Patent Application
20190053651
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The disclosure and prior art relates to covering assemblies and more particularly pertains to a new covering assembly for protecting contents of a dish.
An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a shell. The shell has a top that is closed and a bottom that is open. The bottom is configured to insert a dish, such as a chafing pan, into the shell to couple the shell to the dish to cover the dish. A penetration is positioned through the top of the shell. A lid is hingedly coupled to the top of the shell and is selectively couplable to the shell to close the penetration. The lid and the shell are substantially transparent. The lid is positioned to pivot to an open configuration to allow access to the contents of the dish through the penetration. The lid also is positioned pivot to a closed configuration so that the shell and the lid are configured to protect the contents of the dish, such as from insects, germs, and temperature changes.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.
The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:
With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to
As best illustrated in
A penetration 20 is positioned through the top 16 of the shell 12. In one embodiment, the penetration 20 is squarely shaped. A lid 22 is hingedly coupled to the top 16 of the shell 12. The lid 22 is complementary to the penetration 20. The lid 22 is substantially transparent. The lid 22 is selectively couplable to the shell 12 to close the penetration 20. The lid 22 is positioned to pivot to an open configuration to allow access to the contents of the dish through the penetration 20. The lid 22 also is positioned to pivot to a closed configuration to close the penetration 20 to protect the contents of the dish, such as from the insects, the germs, and the temperature changes.
At least one hinge 24 is coupled to and extends between the lid 22 and the shell 12. A handle 26 is coupled to the lid 22. The handle 26 is opposingly positioned relative to the at least one hinge 24. The handle 26 is configured to be grasped in a hand of a user to selectively motivate the lid 22 between the open configuration and the closed configuration to open and close the penetration 20. In one embodiment, the handle 26 comprises a knob 28.
A plurality of slits 30 is positioned in the shell 12. The slits 30 are configured to vent the dish. In one embodiment, the plurality of slits 30 comprises four slits 30 that are positioned singly in the top 16 proximate to each corner edge 32 of the shell 12.
A lip 34 is coupled to the shell 12 and extends inwardly from the bottom 18. A plurality of couplers 36 is coupled to the lip 34. The couplers 36 are configured to couple to the dish to couple the shell 12 to the dish. In one embodiment, each coupler 36 comprises a tab 38 that is coupled to and extends from the lip 34. The tabs 38 are resilient. The tabs 38 are configured to bend when contacting a rim of the dish and to rebound so that the tabs 38 are positioned below the rim to couple the shell 12 to the dish. In another embodiment, the plurality of couplers 36 comprises four couplers 36 that are positioned singly between and substantially equally distant from adjacent corner edges 32 of the shell 12.
In use, the tabs 38 that are positioned on the lip 34 are configured to bend when contacting the rim of the dish and to rebound so that the tabs 38 are positioned below the rim to couple the shell 12 to the dish. The slits 30 that positioned in the shell 12 are configured to vent the dish. The knob 28 that is positioned on the lid 22 is configured to be grasped in the hand of the user to selectively motivate the lid 22 between the open configuration, to allow access to the contents of the dish through the penetration 20, and the closed configuration, to close the penetration 20. The lid 22 in the closed configuration and the shell 12 protect the contents of the dish, such as from the insects, the germs, and the temperature changes.
With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.
