Energy-efficient cooker

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6305272
  • Patent Number
    6,305,272
  • Date Filed
    Friday, April 20, 2001
    24 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, October 23, 2001
    24 years ago
  • Inventors
  • Examiners
    • Simone; Timothy F.
    Agents
    • Harrison & Egbert
Abstract
An energy-efficient cooker is formed of a main body, an insulation body made integrally with the main body, a base body fitted over the bottom of the main body for making contact with a heat source, and a lid covering an open top of the main body. The main body is provided with a vacuum space which is partially filled with an action fluid to bring about a fast and uniform heat transfer. The insulation body, the base body and the lid are provided with a vacuum space to minimize the loss of heat of the food that is cooked and contained in the main body.
Description




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




1. Field of the Invention




The present invention relates generally to a cooking utensil, and more particularly to an energy-efficient cooker.




2. Description of Related Art




The conventional metal cooker is not energy-efficient in view of the fact that heat is slowly transferred from the bottom of the cooker to the entire body of the cooker, and that the heat transfer does not take place in a uniform pattern, and further that the cooker is not provided with means to prevent the heat loss.




BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




The primary objective of the present invention is to provide an energy-efficient cooker, which is formed of a main body, a base body, and a lid. The main body has an open top which is covered by the lid. The side wall and the bottom wall of the main body contain a vacuum space extending throughout the side wall and the bottom wall. The vacuum space is partially filled with an action fluid capable of effecting a fast and uniform heat transfer. The base body and the lid have a vacuum space. The main body is then provided with an insulation body circumventing the side wall of the main body. The insulation body contains a vacuum space. In light of the vacuum spaces of the base body, the lid, and the insulation body of the main body, the energy-efficient cooker of the present invention is capable of preventing the loss of heat.




The features and functions of the present invention will be more readily understood upon a thoughtful deliberation of the following detailed description of the present invention in reference to the accompanying drawings.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS





FIG. 1

shows a perspective view of an energy-efficient cooker of the present invention.





FIG. 2

shows an exploded view of the energy-efficient cooker of the present invention.





FIG. 3

shows a longitudinal sectional view of the energy-efficient cooker of the present invention without the base body.





FIG. 4

shows a longitudinal sectional view of the energy-efficient cooker of the present invention in its entirety.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION




As shown in

FIGS. 1-4

, an energy-efficient cooker embodied in the present invention is formed of a main body


10


, a base body


12


, and a lid


13


.




The main body


10


is a container with an open top. The open top of the main body


10


is covered by the lid


13


. The main body


10


has a side wall and a bottom wall extending from the side wall. The side wall and the bottom wall of the main body


10


have a predetermined thickness and a vacuum space extending throughout the interiors of the side wall and the bottom wall. The vacuum space of the main body


10


is partially filled with an action fluid


14


capable of effecting a fast and uniform heat transfer. Preferably, the vacuum space of the main body


10


is partially filled with the action fluid


14


in such a fashion that the action fluid


14


takes up 20% of a total volume of the vacuum space. The main body


10


further has an insulation body


11


which is integrally made with the side wall of the main body


10


such that the insulation body


11


circumvents the external side of the side wall. The insulation body


11


encloses a vacuum space.




The base body


12


is dimensioned to fit over the bottom wall of the main body


10


such that the top edge of the base body


12


is joined with the bottom edge of the insulation body


11


of the main body


10


, as shown in FIG.


4


. The base body


12


has a predetermined thickness and a vacuum space extending throughout the interior of the base body


12


.




The lid


13


has two walls enclosing a vacuum space, as shown in

FIGS. 3 and 4

.




When the base body


12


of the energy-efficient cooker of the present invention is in contact with a heat source, the action fluid


14


of the main body


10


is heated to evaporate so as to bring about a fluid action effect, thereby resulting in a fast and uniform transfer of heat from the heat source to the main body


10


in which food is cooked. In light of the action fluid


14


capable of a fast and uniform transfer of heat, the cooker of the present invention is energy-efficient. When the action fluid


14


takes up only 20% of the total volume of the vacuum space of the main body


10


, the action fluid


14


undertakes a “phase change” heat transfer effect at the time when the action fluid


14


is heated by the heat source via the base body


12


.




In view of the fact that the main body


10


, the insulation body


11


, the base body


12


, and the lid


13


are provided with the vacuum space, the energy-efficient cooker of the present invention can minimize the loss of heat of the food that is cooked and contained in the main body


10


. The insulation body


11


of the main body


10


also serves to prevent the hands of a person from being burned at such time when the person holds the cooker.




The cooker of the present invention saves not only energy but also time to cook the food.




The cooker of the present invention described above is to be regarded in all respects as being merely illustrative and not restrictive. Accordingly, the present invention may be embodied in other specific forms with deviating from the spirit thereof. The present invention is therefore to be limited only by the scopes of the following claims.



Claims
  • 1. An energy-efficient cooker comprising:a main body for containing food to be cooked, said main body having an open top, a side wall, and a bottom wall extending from said side wall, said side wall and said bottom wall having a thickness, an interior, and a vacuum space extending throughout said interior, said vacuum space being partially filled with an action fluid capable of effecting a fast and uniform heat transfer, said main body further having an insulation body whereby said insulation body is integrally made with said side wall of said main body such that said insulation body circumvents an external side of said side wall, and that said insulation body encloses a vacuum space; a base body fitted over said bottom wall of said main body such that a top edge of said base body is joined with a bottom edge of said insulation body of said main body, said base body having a thickness, an interior, and a vacuum space extending throughout said interior of said base body; and a lid for covering said open top of sad main body, said lid having two walls enclosing a vacuum space.
  • 2. The energy-efficient cooker as defined in claim 1, wherein said action fluid takes up 20% of a total volume of said vacuum space of said main body.
Priority Claims (1)
Number Date Country Kind
00238485 Jun 2000 CH
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Number Name Date Kind
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3636860 Green Jan 1972
3808963 Ludena May 1974
5031519 Toida et al. Jul 1991
5092229 Chen Mar 1992
5228384 Kolosowski Jul 1993
5235904 Ludena Aug 1993
5355777 Chen et al. Oct 1994
5567458 Wu Oct 1996
6105810 Daenen et al. Aug 2000