Patent Application
20070230538
1. Field of the Invention
One aspect of the present invention relates to a thermometer, and in certain embodiments, a thermometer for measuring the internal temperature of a cooking meat.
2. Background Art
Meat thermometers are used to measure the internal temperature and the cooking stage of a cooking meat. Meat thermometers can be useful for preventing overcooking, undercooking and indicating that the cooking meat has reached a temperature sufficient to eradicate pathogens that may otherwise cause food borne illness. Many meat thermometers have markings for recommended temperatures for cooking certain meats, for example, chicken, pork, and beef. Some recently introduced meat thermometers include light-emitting diodes or buzzers to alert the user when a desired temperature is met during cooking.
A typical meat thermometer is comprised of a rod, usually formed of metal, which is placed into the meat to be measured, and a display, usually a dial or LCD display. Dail meat thermometers typically include a dial face having temperature indicia arranged in a circular configuration and an indicator capable of rotational movement in response to a temperature change in the cooking meat. During use, the indicator becomes aligned with a temperature indicium that corresponds to the temperature that the rod is exposed to, i.e. the internal temperature of the cooking meat.
In order for the user to make use of the temperature reading, the user must be able to view the temperature indicia and the indicator position. It may be difficult to view the temperature indicia and indicator while cooking under low light or dark conditions, for example, outside barbequing at night. One proposal attempts to address this difficulty by applying a luminescent material coating onto a portion of the dial face. When exposed to low light or dark conditions, the luminescent ink glows and thereby accentuates the visibility of the temperature indicia. Although this approach may enhance the visibility of the temperature indicia, the visibility of the indicator is not addressed, thereby leaving the possibility that the user experiences difficulty in reading the indicated temperature of the cooking meat.
According to another proposal, a battery-powered light bulb can be secured to the interior or exterior of the meat thermometer to illuminate the dial face, including the indicia and indicator. While this approach may be successful in alleviating visibility problems in poor light conditions, it may add to material costs (e.g. light bulb, batteries, mounting assembly, battery housing, etc.) and bulkiness and size (e.g. battery housing). Therefore, this proposal does not satisfactorily address the visibility issue when utilizing a meat thermometer in poor light conditions.
There has been a recent rise in the consuming public's utilization of outdoor cooking, such as barbequing. With the recent upswing in such cooking techniques, being able to effectively use a meat thermometer in a poor light conditions has become a more pressing need for consumers. Therefore, there is a need to development a meat thermometer that addresses visibility concerns.
According to one embodiment of the present invention, a thermometer is disclosed. The thermometer includes a dial plate having a dial surface including indicia, a temperature probe and an indicator overlying and moveable relative to the dial plate and the indicia thereon to indicate a temperature reading corresponding to the temperature of the probe. At least a portion of the indicator has a luminescent composition to provide a glowing light to enhance the visibility of the temperature reading under low light to dark conditions.
According to another embodiment of the present invention, a thermometer is disclosed. The thermometer includes a dial plate having a dial surface including indicia, a temperature probe and an indicator overlying and moveable relative to the dial plate and the indicia thereon to indicate a temperature reading corresponding to the temperature of the probe. At least a portion of the indicator has a first luminescent composition and at least a portion of the dial plate has a second luminescent composition to provide glowing light to enhance the visibility of the temperature reading under low light conditions.
In yet another embodiment of the present invention, a thermometer is disclosed. The thermometer includes an elongated probe assembly and a dial case assembly. The elongated probe assembly includes an elongated temperature probe and a shaft situated within the elongated temperature probe and capable of rotational movement in response to a change in temperature of the probe. The dial case assembly includes a dial plate having a dial surface including indicia arranged in a circular configuration and an indicator overlying and rotatably moveable relative to the dial plate and the indicia thereon to indicate a temperature reading corresponding to the temperature of the probe. The indicator is rotatably moveable in response the rotational movement of the shaft. The elongated probe assembly and dial case assembly are rigidly connected. At least a portion of the indicator has a luminescent composition to provide a glowing light to enhance the visibility of the temperature reading under low light conditions.
These and other aspects of the present invention will be better understood in view of the attached drawings and following detailed description of the invention.
The features of the present invention which are believed to be novel are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The present invention, both as to its organization and manner of operation, together with further object and advantages thereof, may best be understood with reference to the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings which:
a and 2b are cross sectional views of the thermometer depicted in
As required, detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosed herein. However, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of an invention that may be embodied in various and alternative forms. Therefore, specific functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a representative basis for the claims and/or as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present invention.
Referring now to
Thermometer 10 generally includes dial case assembly 12 and probe assembly 14, which are joined to one another to provide a unitary construction. Referring now to
Dial case assembly 12 further includes an annular dial plate 22, annular transparent cover 24, and an annular dial case spacer 25. As depicted in
Dial case assembly 12 further includes an annular circumferential case wall 33 for joining the outermost flange section 20 of the unitary annular outer case wall 16, the outermost flange section 28 of annular dial plate 22, the annular dial case spacer 25, and the annular transparent cover 24. The joining of these structures can be accomplished with a press-fitting process or other suitable process known to one of ordinary skill in the art to provide a rigid assembly to dial case assembly 12. Annular dial recess 52 is formed between annular circumferential case wall 33 and unitary annular outer case wall 16 during the joining process.
Annular dial recess 52 serves as a circumferential guide for positioning a desired temperature pointer indicator 60, as shown in
Moving back to
Probe assembly 14 further includes a central shaft 44 rotatably mounted in the lower end 34 of probe 32. A lower portion of central shaft 44 is surrounded by a thermal, bimetal, expansion spring 46 which serves to change a rotational position of the upper end of shaft 44 in response to a change in temperature of the probe 32. The upper end 48 of shaft 44 extends through journal section 42 of bushing 36 and the central opening 30 in dial plate 22, and rotatably moveable therein.
Upper end 48 has a transversely extending pointer indicator 50 affixed thereto. Pointer indicator 50 overlies dial plate 22 and the indicia 56 thereon, shown in
Turning now to
Dial face 54 further includes a legend 58 of recommended temperatures for meats and degree of doneness. As depicted in
Dail face 54 is partially coated or printed with a dial face coating 78. In certain embodiments, the dial face coating 78 is a luminescent composition. It should be appreciated that a luminescent composition can be any composition that is capable of a relatively low temperature emission of light. In at least one embodiment, the relatively low temperature is ambient temperature. According to one category of luminescent compositions, the compositions are capable of absorbing energy in the form of light and/or heat and emitting at least a portion of this stored energy in the absence of light, thereby generating “glowing light”. The luminescent composition can be a photoluminescent composition, e.g. phosphorescent or fluorescent composition. It should be appreciated that luminescent compositions are available in a variety of colors. Luminescent compositions are also available in a range of intensities.
According to
The upper surface of pointer indicator 50 is at least partially coated or printed with a pointer indicator coating 80. In certain embodiments, the pointer indicator coating 80 is a luminescent composition, for example, a luminescent ink. The luminescent ink can be coated onto the upper surface through a coating process, e.g. dip coating or roller coating. According to one embodiment, the luminescent ink can be obtained from Wing Shing Chemical Company Ltd. of Hong Kong. It should be appreciated that the luminescent ink can also be applied through a printing process known to one of ordinary skill in the art. While utilizing the thermometer 10 in low light or dark conditions, the pointer indicator coating 80 provides a glowing light that enhances the visibility of the pointer indicator 50 for the user. In the embodiment shown in
In at least one embodiment, the outer surface of the desired temperature pointer indicator 60 is at least partially coated with a luminescent composition. In one embodiment, at least the pointed end 62 is coated with the luminescent composition.
Dail face 54 also includes circular indicia 82 which serve to signify recommended cooking temperatures for beef rare, beef medium, beef well done, pork and chicken. The circular indicia 82 are printed on the dial face 54 with an ink or other suitable marking material. In at least one embodiment, a black ink is utilized. In at least one embodiment, the areas within circular indicia 82 are at least partially coated with a luminescent composition. It should be understood that other shapes can be used as recommended cooking temperature indicia, such as triangle, rectangle, etc.
According to one embodiment of the present invention, a combination of a dial face luminescent coating and pointer indicator luminescent coating is provided. The luminescent coatings can be comprised of the same luminescent composition. Alternatively, the dial face luminescent coating is comprised of a first luminescent composition and the pointer indicator luminescent coating is comprised of a second luminescent composition. The first luminescent composition can differ from the first luminescent composition based on color. For example, the glowing light produced by the first luminescent composition can be a shade of green and the second luminescent composition can be a shade of orange to provide an advantageous contrast between the dial and pointer to further enhance visibility under low light or dark conditions. As another non-limiting example, the glowing light produced by the first luminescent composition can have a first intensity and the second luminescent composition can have a second intensity to provide an advantageous contrast between the dial and pointer to further enhance visibility under low light or dark conditions. In one embodiment, the first intensity is greater than the second intensity. In another embodiment, the second intensity is greater than the first intensity.
In another embodiment, a combination of a dial face luminescent coating, a pointer indicator luminescent coating, and recommended cooking temperature indicia luminescent coating is provided. The luminescent coatings can be comprised of the same luminescent composition or at least two of the three coatings can be comprised of the same luminescent composition. Alternatively, the dial face luminescent coating is comprised of a first luminescent composition, the pointer indicator luminescent coating is comprised of a second luminescent composition, and the cooking temperature indicia luminescent coating is comprised of a third luminescent composition. The first, second and third luminescent compositions can differ from one another based on color. For example, the glowing light produced by the first luminescent composition can be a shade of green, the second luminescent composition can be a shade of orange, and the third luminescent composition can be a shade of yellow to provide an advantageous contrast between the dial, pointer, and recommended cooking temperature to further enhance visibility under low light or dark conditions. As another non-limiting example, the glowing light produced by the first luminescent composition can have a first intensity, the second luminescent composition can have a second intensity, and the third luminescent composition can have a third intensity to provide an advantageous contrast between the dial, pointer, and recommended cooking temperature indicia to further enhance visibility under low light or dark conditions. In one embodiment, the first intensity is greater than the second and third intensities. In another embodiment, the second intensity is greater than the first and third intensities. In yet another embodiment, the third intensity is grater than the first and second intensities.
While embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described, it is not intended that these embodiments illustrate and describe all possible forms of the invention. Rather, the words used in the specification are words of description rather than limitation, and it is understood that various changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
