Patent Application
20100224752
The present device relates to a stand or support for an instrument. Particularly, the present device relates to a stand for removably securing a parameter measuring device, such as a thermometer or other meter or gauge, to a wire rack, grill, or single bar.
Measuring devices often need to be removably attached to fixed objects, where they can be placed closer to the measurement target in order to acquire accurate measurements while still allowing disposability of the instrument or recalibration of the instrument. For example, bakers use thermometer mounting devices, which removably attach to an oven rack, to ensure the oven is accurately heating to the temperature determined by the external temperature dial; however, the instrument may need to be moved within the oven or replaced occasionally.
For such instruments to be most effective, they must be viewable from a small window in the oven door. Fixed, immovable instruments may often be blocked by pans or the like. Frequent adjusting of the cooking racks may also create issues for viewing a fixed instrument.
In addition, for food quality control purposes, commercial refrigeration units or warming/cooling chambers, such as commonly used in restaurants and food storage facilities, often require monitoring of parameters to ensure that the ambient of the unit or chamber is within acceptable parameters. These commercial units and chambers often have wire rack shelving or an equivalent surface within which because of the uneven-ness of the surfaces, do not provide the best placement of prior art instruments.
The device of the present application solves these and other problems of prior art instrument stands used in the industry. An instrument stand which is readily viewable, movable and detachable from within a controlled environment, such as an oven or freezer, is disclosed herein.
There is disclosed herein an improved instrument stand which avoids the disadvantages of prior devices while affording additional structural and operating advantages.
In general terms the instrument stand comprises a body, a biasing element, and at least one hook member. The body is capable of connecting to the instrument and the biasing element is connected to the body, wherein the biasing element biases the body in a direction of support. The hook member is either connected to the biasing element or the body, and in both cases, the hook member opposes the direction of bias by the biasing element.
In certain specific embodiments of the present invention, it is envisioned that the instrument stand, which supports an instrument on a wire rack or similar surface, comprises a body capable of connecting to an instrument, at least two legs connected to the body, wherein when contacting a surface the legs bias the body in a direction opposite the surface, and a hook member connected to one of either a leg or the body, wherein the hook member is capable of engaging the surface to thereby oppose the bias by the legs.
In an embodiment of the invention, the stand does not have an instrument attached, but such is attachable and detachable. In other embodiments, the instrument is permanently affixed. In addition, the instrument stand can also be constructed of two, individual pieces. In another embodiment of the present invention there is an instrument stand for holding an instrument, the instrument stand comprising a first body, a second body, a biasing element, and at least one hook member. Both the first body and second bodies are capable of connecting to the instrument. The biasing element is connected to the first body and biases the first body in a direction, and the hook member is connected to the second body and opposes the direction of bias by the biasing element. Additional embodiments also envision the instrument stand being sold along with an instrument.
For the purpose of facilitating an understanding of the subject matter sought to be protected, there are illustrated in the accompanying drawings embodiments thereof, from an inspection of which, when considered in connection with the following description, the subject matter sought to be protected, its construction and operation, and many of its advantages should be readily understood and appreciated.
While this invention is susceptible of embodiments in many different forms, there is shown in the drawings and will herein be described in detail a preferred embodiment of the invention with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the principles of the invention and is not intended to limit the broad aspect of the invention to embodiments illustrated.
By “instrument” it is meant a device used to measure some environment condition, such as temperature, pressure, humidity, vibration, time, etc., and having a viewable display, such as a digital or analog meter. The instrument is shown to be a circular analog gauge, but may be most any shape, size and electronic configuration. The actual instrument forms no part of the invention other than to be capable of attachment to the disclosed stand in any known manner.
By “surface” it is meant an area upon which the disclosed instrument stand is positioned. In the most common cases, the surface will be a wire grate or rack used commonly in ovens, grills, refrigerators, and freezers for supporting food and the like. Other non-wired areas may be suitable with only minor variations to the disclosed invention.
Referring to
Still referring to
Another attachment point is located on the opposite end of the body 12 and is used to attach an instrument 30. Alternatively, the body 12 may have a surface that allows for gluing or welding the body 12 to both the biasing member 16 (including the hook member 14) and the instrument 30. The body 12 may also include an instrument case (not shown) or enclosure (not shown) at one end which is used to encapsulate the instrument 30. As shown in
Biasing element 16, which is connected to body 12, is used to bias the body 12 in a direction. In the illustrated embodiment, the biasing element 16 is preferably two identical legs extending from the connection point to the body 12. The legs are preferably integral to one another, being formed from a single piece of steel or the like, but may be configured in any number of ways to bias the body 12 and attached instrument 30 from a surface. In the particular embodiment shown in
The instrument stand 10 may be mounted to a horizontal surface, as in a standard kitchen oven, or in other situations to a slanted or completely vertical surface—e.g., an angled display surface in a freezer or refrigerated enclosure or a side surface to prevent taking up horizontal storage space. As pictured in
In use, with reference to
Additionally, the hook member 14 is preferably attached as shown in
To remove the stand 10, the hook member 14 is disengaged by pressing the stand 10 toward the surface and shifting the stand 10 to move the hook member 14 out of engagement with the wire member. Then, lifting the stand 10 away from the surface, removal is complete.
The matter set forth in the foregoing description and accompanying drawings is offered by way of illustration only and not as a limitation. While particular embodiments have been shown and described, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that changes and modifications may be made without departing from the broader aspects of applicants' contribution. The actual scope of the protection sought is intended to be defined in the following claims when viewed in their proper perspective based on the prior art.
