Patent Application
20200221906
The present invention relates, in general, to a lid holder apparatus, in particular to a condensation collection lid holder apparatus.
While cooking or heating items such as, for example, foodstuffs in pots, pans, bowls, and the like, it sometimes proves necessary to cover the latter with lids during the heating or cooking process. Customarily, cover lids for these devices are provided with handles to enable their removal during or after the cooking/heating process. In addition, cooked and/or heated foodstuffs are often transferred to serving bowls which may also be covered with lids. The underside of the lids, however, are typically laden with condensed moisture emanating from the contents of the pot, pan, or bowl, as well as portions of the contents undergoing cooking or heating. It eventually becomes necessary to access the contents of the cooking/heating/serving device, which requires removal of the cover/lid. This requires placement of the latter somewhere in order to free the hands of the operator to perform any necessary function with respect to the contents.
Ordinarily, the lid/covers are placed on an adjacent work surface, which results in any moisture or debris which has condensed or spattered onto the underside of the lid/cover to be deposited on the resting surface, thus creating an unsightly mess. Moreover, if the contents undergoing heating or cooking are foodstuffs, there exists the health risks associated with the retention on the work surface of any food debris deposited thereon from the lid/cover, since it may contain or develop harmful bacteria.
So-called cooking “caddies” are available which are designed to hold covers/lids of heating/cooking or food serving devices; however, these typically can only accommodate a single lid/cover and are not designed to allow run-off and collection of any condensed or spattered moisture or foodstuffs. In addition, the prior art devices suffer from the further disadvantage that they do not enable placement therein of utensils employed in the cooking process.
The above-discussed disadvantages associated with the currently available prior art devices are overcome and the objects of the invention are realized by a disassembleable device amenable to convenient placement on a surface immediately adjacent to a location where at least one pot, pan, or bowl covered with a lid and containing materials is undergoing cooking or heating, the device being adapted to hold plural lids, when removed from the pot, pan or bowl, in a position such that any of the materials undergoing cooking or heating which has condensed or spattered on the underside of the lids exposed thereto will gravitate exclusively into and be collected by the device, and also being adapted to hold any utensil employed in the cooking or heating process in a position such that any of the materials undergoing cooking or heating deposited thereon will remain in the device.
The following detailed description is of the best currently contemplated modes of carrying out exemplary embodiments of the invention. The description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, but is made merely for the purpose of illustrating the general principles of the invention, since the scope of the invention is best defined by the appended claims.
The device of the invention enables the user thereof the convenience of maintaining a clean, orderly and health risk-free environment while cooking, heating, or serving food stuffs. It is amenable for use by professional and non-professional food preparers and servers to place lids, prevent spills, moisture rings, from cluttering the surrounding work area. The device of the invention is disassembleable for easy cleaning and storage and is capable of holding multiple lids simultaneously in a position in which condensed and spattered material will readily drain into a collection area for easy disposal. Moreover, the device of the invention is capable of holding a cooking/heating utensil.
Referring to the drawings,
The preferred device 10 of the invention preferably has a triangular bowl shaped base 12. The lid stands 26 and 28 are secured to the base 12 by being inserted into groove 18 in the base and into grooved rod/stand 24. The indentation 14 in base 12 serves the function of catching condensation or other residue which gravitationally falls thereinto from lids/covers (not shown) positioned therein on lid stands 26 and 28. Indentation 20 provides a resting place for a cooking utensil. The device 10 when assembled has multiple levels and notches 30 to accommodate multiple lids, tops and covers of varying shapes and sizes at the same time.
It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the stand/rod 24 may conform to any convenient shape or size suitable for housing grooves 32 capable of supporting holder stands 26 and 28.
Although, the device of the invention has been shown comprising a single utensil holder 20, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that additional indentations may be included in base 12 for holding multiple utensils without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
The device 10 of the invention is easily dismantled by simply disengaging the lid stands 26 and 28 from the grooves 18 in the base 12 and the grooves 32 in rod/stand 24. Rod/stand 24 is also easily removed by disengagement from the groove in base 12.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, one or more hinge mechanisms are substituted for the rod/stand 24 for the purpose of joining and stabilizing the holder stands 26 and 28 at the apex of the triangular base 12. Referring to
The device of the invention may be provided ready for use in assembled form or in as a kit containing its component, packaged with instructions for its assembly into a usable device.
It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the device of the invention may be constructed from any suitable non-toxic material, preferably one which will withstand machine washing such as, for example, plastic, glass, stone, stainless steel, aluminum, and mixtures thereof
