Patent Application
20240157315
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The disclosure relates to bowl liners and more particularly pertains to a new bowl liner for lining a mixing bowl so that the mixing bowl can be used without soiling it.
The prior art relates to bowl liners for use with mixing bowls. The most pertinent prior art disclosure comes from U.S. Pat. No. 8,919,590 B2 (the '590 patent) which discloses an assembly of a mixing bowl, a liner and a lid, wherein the liner is configured to be closely received into the mixing bowl. However, the '590 patent and the rest of the prior art fail to disclose a mixing bowl and liner system wherein a spout protrudes from a rim of the liner for facilitating the pouring of liquid ingredients. The prior art also does not disclose a rim with a rib protruding around it for receiving a complementary groove in a lid therein to secure the lid to the liner.
An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a rigid mixing bowl defining a bowl cavity. The mixing bowl has an interior surface adjacent the bowl cavity and a top edge defining an opening to said bowl cavity. A liner is insertable into the bowl cavity and comprises a wall, a rim, and a spout. The wall is coextensive with the interior surface of the mixing bowl and the rim rests on the top edge of the mixing bowl when the liner is inserted into the mixing bowl. The spout is coupled to the rim and has a pair of ridges which protrude outwardly in converging alignment.
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
The rim 46 is coupled to the top edge 36 of the perimeter wall 28 and protrudes outwardly. The rim 46 has a top side 48 and a bottom side 50, wherein the bottom side 50 of the rim 46 resting on the top edge 18 of the mixing bowl 12 when the liner 22 is inserted into the bowl cavity 14. The rib 52 is coupled to and protrudes from an outer surface 54 of the rim 46. The rib 52 is centered between the top side 48 and the bottom side 50 of the rim 46. The spout 56 is coupled to the rim 46, having a pair of ridges 58 coupled to the rim 46 which extend outwardly in converging alignment.
A lid 60 is constructed of a resiliently flexible material and is positionable to cover the liner cavity 38 such that the opening 40 to the liner cavity 38 is closed. The lid 60 comprises a top wall 62 and an annular wall 64 extending from a perimeter edge 66 of the top wall 62. The annular wall 64 defines an aperture 68 and has a rim portion 70 and a spout portion 72, wherein the rim portion 70 has an interior surface complementary in shape to the rim 46 and the spout portion 72 protrudes outwardly from the rim portion 70 to define a notch 74. The notch 74 is a portion of the aperture 68 and is complementary in shape to the spout 56 such that the annular wall 64 is able to collectively receive the rim 46 and the spout 56 through the aperture 68 when the lid 60 covers the liner cavity 38. The top wall 62 bulges away from the mixing bowl 12 when the lid 60 covers the liner cavity 38. A groove 76 is positioned in the interior surface of the rim portion 70 of the annular wall 64 which is complementary in shape to the rib 52 so that the groove 76 receives the rib 52 therethrough when the annular wall 64 collectively receives the rim 46 and the spout 56 therethrough. The rib 52 engages the annular wall 64 when the lid 60 covers the liner cavity 38 such that the lid 60 is removably secured to the liner 22. A semicircular lift tab 78 protrudes outwardly from the perimeter edge 66 of the top wall 62 which is positioned opposite the spout portion 72 of the annular wall 64 which facilitates gripping of the lid 60 for removal from the liner 22. The lid 60 may be constructed of a plastic such as polyethylene or a like material. The liner 22 may also be constructed of a plastic such as polyethylene or a like material and may be the same material as the lid 60.
In use, the liner 22 is inserted into the bowl cavity 14 defined by the mixing bowl 12. Ingredients for mixing are placed into the liner 22 and mixed, possibly by a stand mixer 80. Then the liner 22 is removed from the mixing bowl 12, freeing up the mixing bowl 12 to be used again for mixing without requiring an intermediate cleaning step. Multiple liners 22 may also be used with the mixing bowl 12 consecutively so that several mixes can take place without cleaning the mixing bowl 12. The spout 56 facilitates pouring liquid ingredients. And the lid 60 covers the liner 22 so that the liner 22 may store mixed ingredients while sealing out air and preventing other items from falling into the liner 22.
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.
