The present invention relates to a cookware article and in particular to pots and pans with a double sidewall construction, in which a gap between the double walls provide thermal insulation.
Prior forms of hollow wall cooking vessels have inferior cooking performance to the extent that the most of the heating of the foodstuffs is from the bottom of the cookware vessel, as the sidewalls are not intended to conduct heat, but rather provide insulation.
Such constructions are susceptible to the exterior portion of the hollow wall closest to the heating source or flame is overheated and in the case of stainless steel rapidly develops a burned or tarnished appearance.
It is therefore a first object of the present invention to provide improved hollow wall cooking vessels wherein the cooking performance is not compromised by the insulating qualities, and the insulating qualities do not make the exterior susceptible to staining or burning.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide a method of forming a cookware article having these attributes wherein there is provided in the lower portion of the sidewalls between the inner and outer vessel a sufficient mass of thermally conductive material to avoid damage or discoloration from the heating element, such as flames.
In the present invention, the first object is achieved by providing a article of cookware, comprising a substantially horizontal bottom, substantially upright sidewall extending upward from and encircling said bottom to form a fluid retaining interior region, the upright sides walls terming in an upper surface to define a rim of the cookware article that is capable of holding fluid below the rim; the bottom and a lower portion of the upright sidewall having a clad construction of a at least of conductive metal laminated between tow layer of less conductive metal, wherein the upper portion of the sidewall is separated from the conductive metal to define a cavity, the cavity extending upward to an under surface of the rim, the under surface of the rim being formed of the inner layer of the cookware article.
The above and other objects, effects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description of the embodiments thereof taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
Referring to
In accordance with the present invention, the cooking vessel 100 has a bottom cooking surface 101 for direct exposure to a heat source. Upright walls 102 are connected to and surround the bottom 101 extending upward to a rim region 103. The lower portion 134 of the upright wall 102 has a laminated construction of three layers, 130, 120 and 110. In the upper portion 136 of the wall 102, the outer layer 130 is separated from the more thermally conducting inner 120 layer to form a cavity 135 at the upper wall portion 136. The outer layer 130 and inner layer 110 are connected within rim region 103 at a common outer rim 104 by a weld. The rim region includes an inner rim 106 at the upper extent of the inner wall defined generally by the inner layer 110.
It is preferable that the upper portion 136 of the wall 102 is about the same height as the lower portion 134, or about half the vertical height of the vessel 100.
Thus, the rim region includes a flange 107 extending from the inner rim 106 to the welded outer rim 104. In the preferred embodiments of
Within cavity 135 opposite flange 107 a portion of the interior layer 113 in an outward flared portion of the inner wall 110 is separated from more thermally conducting inner layer 120 adjacent to the weld 104. Preferably layer 110 is stainless steel and preferably between about 0.4 to 1 mm thick, layer 120 is preferably copper and preferably between about 0.5 to 2 mm thick, and layer 130 is also preferably stainless steel, particularly magnetic stainless steel, and preferably about 0.5 to 1 mm thick. Alternatively, layer 120 can be aluminum or copper clad aluminum, preferably between about 1-5 mm thick.
Another embodiment of the invention is a method for fabricating vessel 100, (
Further, the inner perform 220 can also be formed by brazing or otherwise attaching and boding two concentric and nesting single layer performs, such as stainless steel to copper, or by forming laminate in which planar disks of copper and stainless steel are concentrically aligned and then brazed together with a silver brazing compound before forming into the inner perform 220. Such a process can yield an alternative laminate structure shown in
In the process of joining the inner and outer preforms in
When the more thermally conducting layer 212 is copper, them a silver brazing compound is applied to the regions 250 where the interior of the outer vessel 230 contacts the exterior copper of the inner vessel 220. After attaching the inner and outer vessel, the adjacent portions of the rims are welded together at region 260 to form outer rim 104. In other embodiments impact bonding and/or ironing may be applied to join the performs in the steps shown in
However, alternative brazing compounds to silver for joining stainless steel and copper or aluminum are known, and may be deployed in other embodiments of the invention. It should also be appreciated that other brazing compounds than silver can be used, depending on the choice of metals for layers 120 and 130.
In the embodiment shown in
Further, when the outer metal is magnetic stainless steel for induction cooking the central area will only be heated indirectly; making the temperature measured thereat more representative of the food temperature at the bottom interior cooking surface.
In another embodiment of the invention vessel 100 may be fabrication from 3 previously formed preformed vessels, as is illustrated in
such as stainless steel to copper, or by forming laminate in which planar disks of copper and stainless steel are concentrically aligned and then brazed together with a silver brazing compound before forming into the inner perform 220. Such a process can yield an alternative laminate structure shown in
While the invention has been described in connection with a preferred embodiment, it is not intended to limit the scope of the invention to the particular form set forth, but on the contrary, it is intended to cover such alternatives, modifications, and equivalents as may be within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
The present application claims the benefit of priority to the US Provisional Patent Application of the same title, that was filed on Jan. 25, 2012, having application Ser. No. 61/590,798, and which is incorporated herein by reference. The present application also claims the benefit of priority to the PCT application of the same title, that was filed on 21 Jan. 2013, having International application no. PCT/U.S.2013/022403, and is incorporated herein by reference.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/US13/22403 | 1/21/2013 | WO | 00 | 7/21/2014 |
Number | Date | Country | |
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61590798 | Jan 2012 | US |