Patent Application
20140008392
Not applicable.
The present invention relates to pitchers in general such as are typically used for serving beer, water or soda, for example in a restaurant, and pitchers with two or more handles or spouts in particular.
Where several persons participate in an activity involving the consumption of a liquid, be it beer, sangria, or water, the serving of the liquid, or the refill of serving containers, is often accomplished using self-service from a pitcher of the liquid.
When eating in a group, unless a buffet style service is arranged, the serving dishes are normally placed on the table where the meal is consumed. In such cases, often the liquid repasts which are served are made available in pitchers. Similarly when a restaurant is simultaneously serving a large number of people, pitchers of water, coffee or other drinks are typically left on the table where the individual diners can serve themselves by pouring liquid into their glasses. If another diner at the same table wishes to also refill his or her glass and the first diner cannot immediately reach his glass or is unsure about how much he would like in his glass or cup, etiquette dictates handing the pitcher to the second diner. Handing the pitcher from person to person is the normal way of passing a beverage from one person to another. Each person then helps himself to the quantity he desires or passes it on without taking any of the beverage.
Unlike a serving plate which can be grabbed conveniently from an opposite edge, a pitcher which incorporates a serving function involving a handle and an opposed spout is awkward to pass from one person to another. Either the person receiving the pitcher or the person passing the pitcher must handle the pitcher without access to the handle which is being used by the other party in the handoff of the pitcher. This is an awkward procedure which can result in the liquid within the pitcher spilling, or even a complete fumble with the loss of all contents of the pitcher. Further, the awkward process resulting from the handoff can result in contamination of the beverage because of contact with the receiving person's hands with the spout or the interior of the pitcher or even with the liquid contained in the pitcher. What is needed is a multi-handled pitcher which can be easily passed between people.
The pitcher of this invention comprises a container, typically of cylindrical or frustoconical shape, having a bottom, a peripheral wall and an upper lip. The pitcher has two or more spaced apart handles which are attached to the peripheral wall and preferably abutting the upper lip, and two or more pouring spouts on the upper lip. The pouring spouts are generally spaced 180° away from one of the two handles i.e., each spout is opposite one of the handles. The handles may be, for example, spaced about the peripheral lip about 30°, or 40°-180° apart. The handles for example can be spaced 90° apart so that the pitcher has a first handle, a second handle spaced 90° along the upper lip or about peripheral wall, a first spout spaced 90° along the upper lip from the second handle, and a second spout spaced 90° along the upper lip from the first spout and 90° along the upper lip or peripheral wall from the first handle. Preferably the pitcher will be nestable i.e. stackable for storage when empty. Nestablity of the pitcher is conferred by a frustoconical body section terminated by a generally circular bottom, and a de-nesting structure formed by a discontinuous, slightly larger frustoconical section which adjoins the frustoconical body and forms the upper lip which functions to limit nesting so the pitcher can be easily de-nested.
It should be understood that the two or multi-handled pitcher can be of any convenient volume, for example 60 ounces, 64 ounces or 4 pints or 2 metric liters.
It should further be understood that the two or multi-handled pitcher can be made out of any convenient material, advantageously one that can be injection molded and meets all the standards for food service liquid containers but can be glass, plastic, stainless steel, etc.
It should be understood the multi-handled pitcher can be used for any beverage.
It should be understood while the two-handled pitcher is preferably stackable, it may be made in non-stackable configurations.
The handles can be molded into location, and the mold can be designed to allow the locations of the handles to be changed in the mold.
Further objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
Referring more particularly to
Preferably the pitcher 20 will be nestable, i.e. stackable as shown in
Generally the spouts 34, 36 will always be opposite or nearly opposite one of the handles 30, 32. As shown in
LED lighting of pitchers is known for the fun or artistic effect. One or more LEDs is generally located in the base then driven by electronics to flash, or to change colors by switching to one of several different colored LEDs. The pitcher 20 can employ a similar system of lighting. The LEDs may be part of an assembly including a printed circuit board PCB-LED which snaps to the bottom of the pitcher 20. An acceleration sensor turns the LED on when the Pitcher is set down or bumped.
It is understood that the invention is not limited to the particular construction and arrangement of parts herein illustrated and described, but embraces all such modified forms thereof as come within the scope of the following claims.
This application claims benefit of priority of U.S. provisional App. No. 61/667,815, filed Jul. 3, 2012, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61667815 | Jul 2012 | US |
