Patent Application
20170280913
The present invention relates to a pour-over kettle for pouring hot water into a beverage container, and more particularly, to a knockdown pour-over kettle that is conveniently portable and may have differently sized spout portions selectively coupled thereto according to a user's actual need in use, and may also have a differently designed kettle cover detachably connected to an end thereof to transform the pour-over kettle into a thermo flask structure.
Generally, when someone wants to brew coffee, he/she will first grind an amount of roasted coffee beans to powder form and then use a brewing device to brew the ground coffee beans to make a cup of coffee. Different brewing devices and different brewing methods can produce different coffee tastes and flavors.
According to different coffee brewing methods, there are generally three types of coffee drinks, namely, instant coffee that is brewed by directly adding hot water to the prepared coffee powder, simmered coffee that is prepared by simmering ground coffee beans in a pot, and drip coffee that is brewed with hot water and paper filter. Generally, when make drip coffee, a pour-over kettle having a long narrow spout is used to control the flow and speed of hot water adding to the ground coffee beans.
Further, the temperature of hot water for brewing coffee also has an important influence on the flavor of drip coffee. Therefore, when make drip coffee, a thermometer will also be used to test the water temperature in the course of brewing coffee, so as to make a good cup of coffee with rich aroma.
The conventional integrally formed pour-over kettle has a large volume and is therefore not conveniently portable. In the event a different water flow and speed is required to brew a desired coffee, another pour-over kettle capable of providing such water flow and speed will be needed. That is, a user has to prepare multiple pour-over kettles of different spout sizes for making coffee drinks of different flavors. Besides, vapor and heat in the kettle body will leak via the air vent provided on the lid, bringing the hot water in the kettle body to cool quickly. Therefore, hot water of required temperature must be replenished from time to time.
Further, in most cases, the kettle body of the conventional pour-over kettle has an outer wall made of a copper material or a stainless steel material. Therefore, heat from the hot water will be directly transferred to the whole metal kettle body, and a user's hands touching the heated kettle body are easily burnt.
A primary object of the present invention is to provide a knockdown pour-over kettle, which is conveniently portable and allows a user not only to use another differently designed kettle cover to transform the kettle into a thermo flask structure, but also to use differently sized spout portions suitable for brewing different types of coffee drinks or other beverages.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a knockdown pour-over kettle, a cover of which is provided with air vents, which can be selectively closed or opened, and a through hole, via which a thermometer can be directly inserted into the kettle for testing the temperature of water in the kettle, making the knockdown pour-over kettle more convenient for brewing coffee or other beverages.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a knockdown pour-over kettle that has a kettle body formed of an inner and an outer wall, so that a vacuum inter-wall space is defined between the two walls, giving the kettle a thermal insulating effect and a burn-protection effect.
To achieve the above and other objects, the knockdown pour-over kettle according to the present invention includes a kettle body, a first kettle cover and a second kettle cover. The kettle body is a hollow cylindrical body formed of an inner wall and an outer wall. The cylindrical body has a first end defining a first opening and a second end defining a second opening; and the first opening, the second opening and the inner wall together define a liquid storing space therebetween.
The first kettle cover is installed in the first opening of the cylindrical body to close the first end of the kettle body, and the first kettle cover is selectively detachably from the first opening to open the first end of the kettle body.
The second kettle cover is installed in the second opening of the cylindrical body and includes a base portion configured to close the second end of the kettle body and a spout portion coupled to the base portion. The base portion has a communicating passage formed therein to communicate the spout portion with the liquid storing space. The kettle body, the first kettle cover and the second kettle cover are assembled together to serve as a pour-over kettle.
In addition, the knockdown pour-over kettle further includes a third kettle cover. When the second kettle cover is removed from the second opening of the cylindrical body, the third kettle cover can be installed in the second opening of the cylindrical body in place of the second kettle cover to give the kettle body a sealed bottom, whereby the kettle body, the first kettle cover and the third kettle cover are assembled together to form a structure functioning like a thermo flask.
The first kettle cover includes a lower cover portion and an upper cover portion. The lower cover portion is provided with at least one air vent for communicating the liquid storing space with a space outside the kettle body. The upper cover portion is movably assembled to the lower cover portion to cover the lower cover portion and close the at least one air vent. And, the upper cover portion is selectively movable relative to the lower cover portion to open the at least one air vent. Further, the inner wall and the outer wall of the cylindrical body of the kettle body together define between them an inter-wall space, which is in a vacuum state.
In an operable embodiment of the present invention, the upper cover portion is provided with a through hole that extends from a top to a bottom of the upper cover portion. The through hole is able to align and communicate with one air vent on the lower cover portion through turning of the upper cover portion relative to the lower cover portion. The base portion of the second kettle cover has a bottom cover section, which is configured to be located outside the second opening to cover the second opening, and a raised section, which is located atop the bottom cover section to upwardly protrude into the second opening and is provided on around an outer surface with a locking section for fixing to the inner wall of the kettle body. The spout portion of the second kettle cover has an inlet end located closer to the base portion and an outlet end located farther from the base portion, and the inlet end has an inner diameter no smaller than that of the outlet end.
In another operable embodiment of the present invention, the upper cover portion includes a threaded stem and the lower cover portion includes a threaded hole for correspondingly meshing with the thread stem. When the upper cover portion is turned and the threaded stem is brought to move in a rotational motion, the threaded stem is also guided by the threaded hole of the lower cover portion to move up or down in a linear motion relative to the lower cover portion, bringing the upper cover portion to locate farther from or closer to the lower cover portion. According to this embodiment, the spout portion also has an inlet end having an inner diameter no smaller than that of an outlet end.
In a third operable embodiment of the present invention, the upper cover portion includes an engaging element and the lower cover portion is provided with an engaging hole for correspondingly receiving the engaging element therein. The engaging element is deformable to move into and engage with the engaging hole when the engaging element is subjected to a linear push and generates a compressive force against the engaging hole. On the other hand, the engaging element is deformable to disengage from the engaging hole when the engaging element is pulled relative to the engaging hole.
An O-ring is installed at an interface between the first kettle cover and the inner wall of the kettle body, and another O-ring between the second kettle cover and the inner wall of the kettle body, so as to avoid leakage of liquid from the liquid storing space via any joint tolerance for assembling the first and the second kettle cover to the kettle body.
The knockdown pour-over kettle of the present invention further includes a detachable handle, allowing a user to conveniently install the handle at the user's discretion. The handle includes a coupling portion for removably fitting around an outer side of the kettle body and a grip portion connected to the coupling portion.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a kettle cover for a knockdown pour-over kettle. The kettle cover is detachably installed on an open end of a kettle body of the knockdown pour-over kettle, allowing a user to conveniently remove it from the kettle body and install another desired type of kettle cover according to actual need in making coffee or other beverages.
To achieve the above object, the kettle cover for a knockdown pour-over kettle according to the present invention is configured for detachably installing in an opening of a kettle body of the knockdown pour-over kettle. The kettle cover includes a base portion and a spout portion. The base portion has a bottom cover section, which is configured to be located outside the opening of the kettle body to cover the opening, and a raised section, which is located atop the bottom cover section to upwardly protrude into the opening and is provided on around an outer surface with a locking section for fixing to an inner wall of the kettle body. Further, the base portion has a communicating passage formed therein to extend in a fluid-communicating manner from a top of the raised section to one side of the bottom cover section. The spout portion is coupled to an end of the communicating passage formed in the base portion and has an inlet end located closer to the base portion and an outlet end located farther from the base portion.
In an operable embodiment of the kettle cover, an O-ring is fitted on around a lower part of the raised section of the base portion, and the inlet end of the spout portion has an inner diameter larger than that of the outlet end. However, in another operable embodiment of the kettle cover, the inlet end of the spout portion is otherwise designed to have an inner diameter equal to that of the outlet end.
The present invention is characterized in that the kettle body, the first kettle cover, the second kettle cover and the third kettle cover of the knockdown pour-over kettle are detachably assembled to one another, so that the pour-over kettle is conveniently portable and allows a user to selectively install a second kettle cover that has a spout portion sized most suitable for making a cup of a desired beverage, or to replace the second kettle cover with the third kettle cover to transform the pour-over kettle into a thermo flask structure.
Further, the first kettle cover for the knockdown pour-over kettle of the present invention is formed of an upper cover portion and a lower cover portion that are movable relative to each other, and the upper and the lower cover portion are provided with a through hole and at least one air vent, respectively. The through hole can be aligned with one of the air vents by turning the upper cover portion relative to the lower cover portion. With these arrangements, a user can insert a thermometer into the kettle for testing the temperature of the hot water stored in the pour-over kettle without the need of removing the first kettle cover from the kettle body.
The structure and the technical means adopted by the present invention to achieve the above and other objects can be best understood by referring to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments and the accompanying drawings, wherein
The present invention will now be described with some preferred embodiments thereof and by referring to the accompanying drawings. For the purpose of easy to understand, elements that are the same in the preferred embodiments are denoted by the same reference numerals.
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Further, the cylindrical body 210 is provided on the inner wall 211 at the first end 213 with a first internal thread 210a, and at the second end 215 with a second internal thread 210b. The inner wall 211 gradually reduces in diametrical size from the first end 213 and the second end 215 toward a middle portion of the inner wall 211 and accordingly shows a radially inward curved configuration. However, it is understood the above described inner wall design is only illustrative and not intended to limit the present invention in any way. That is, the inner wall 211 may be otherwise a straight wall linearly extended from the first end 213 to the second end 215, such that the liquid storing space 218 defined therein is a cylindrical space (not shown).
The first kettle cover 22 is installed in the first opening 214 of the cylindrical body 210 to close the first end 213 of the kettle body 21. Further, the first kettle cover 22 can be selectively detached from the first opening 214 to open the first end 213 of the kettle body 21.
The first kettle cover 22 includes a lower cover portion 221 and an upper cover portion 222. The lower cover portion 221 is provided with at least one air vent 221a for communicating the liquid storing space 218 with a space outside the kettle body 21. In the illustrated first embodiment, two air vents 221a can be seen in the drawings. The upper cover portion 222 is movably assembled to the lower cover portion 221 to cover the latter and close the air vents 221a. The upper cover portion 222 can be selectively moved relative to the lower cover portion 221, such that a parting space is produced between the upper cover portion 222 and the lower cover portion 221 to enable communication of the air vents 221a with the space outside the kettle body 21.
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The spout portion 232 has an inlet end 232a located closer to the base portion 231 and an outlet end 232b located farther from the base portion 231. The inlet end 232a is provided with an external thread 232c for meshing with the internal thread 231f in the communicating passage 231e. Further, the inlet end 232a has an inner diameter larger than that of the outlet end 232b.
An O-ring 223 can be installed at an interface between the first kettle cover 22 and the inner wall 211 of the kettle body 21, and another O-ring 233 between the second kettle cover 23 and the inner wall 211 of the kettle body 21, so as to avoid leakage of liquid from the liquid storing space 218 via any joint tolerance for assembling the first and the second kettle cover 22, 23 to the kettle body 21. In the illustrated first embodiment, the O-ring 223 for the first kettle cover 22 is fitted on around the lower cover portion 221, and the O-ring 233 for the second kettle cover 23 is fitted on around the raised section 231b between the locking section 231c and the bottom cover section 231a.
To use the knockdown pour-over kettle 20, first turn the first kettle cover 22 at the lower cover portion 221 thereof, so as to remove the first kettle cover 22 from the knockdown pour-over kettle 20 and open the first end 213. Then, pour hot water 25 into the liquid storing space 218 of the kettle body 21 via the first opening 214 and then put back and turn the lower cover portion 221 of the first kettle cover 22 again to close the first end 213 of the knockdown pour-over kettle 20.
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Further, a handle 27 can be detachably assembled to an outer side of the kettle body 21 of the knockdown pour-over kettle 20. The handle 27 includes a coupling portion 271 and a grip portion 272. As shown in
However, it is understood the above description of the kettle body 21 is only illustrative. For example, in another operable embodiment, the kettle body 21 may be otherwise provided with a coupling member, to which the coupling portion 271 of the handle 27 can be assembled. Many other simple changes and modifications in the configuration of the kettle body 21 can be still carried out and should be considered a part of the concept of the detachable handle 27.
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The present invention has been described with some preferred embodiments thereof and it is understood that many changes and modifications in the described embodiments can be carried out without departing from the scope and the spirit of the invention that is intended to be limited only by the appended claims.
