Foods and beverages: apparatus – Cooking – Confining – conforming or molding support
Reexamination Certificate
1999-12-06
2001-04-10
Alexander, Reginald L. (Department: 1761)
Foods and beverages: apparatus
Cooking
Confining, conforming or molding support
C099S444000, C099S449000, C220S573100, C220S743000, C220S756000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06213005
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to foil pans for roasting and oven baking of large foods, such as turkeys, hams, roasts and the like and, more particularly, to reinforcing such pans to resist buckling and twisting during the handling of the pans.
2. Description of the Related Art
Disposable aluminum foil pans for supporting large and heavy food items, such as turkeys, hams, roasts and the like, are widely used for cooking in ovens, and for transporting the food items to and from the ovens. To ensure quick distribution of heat and to make the pans so inexpensive that it is economically feasible to dispose of the pans after use, the pans are typically stamped from aluminum sheet material having a thickness on the order of 6.5 mils or less. This thickness is generally suitable for supporting food items of no more than twenty pounds.
As advantageous as these known pans are, the prior art pans tended to buckle and twist, especially when the sheet material thickness was reduced below 6.5 mils, and when the food items weighed more than twenty pounds, during transport of the pans to and from an oven. If there were liquids in the pans, such as gravy or cooking juices, care had to be exercised to prevent the liquids from spilling over the sides of the pans, or from leaking through cracks or splits in the pans caused by the buckled and twisted pans.
The art has attempted to solve the buckling and twisting problems in various ways. For example, crease lines were stamped in the base and side walls of some prior art pans to provide a measure of reinforcement. It was also known, for example, from U.S. Pat. No. 4,429,625, to roll, crimp or curl over the peripheral rims of some prior art pans to rigidify and add strength to the pans. However, the reliance upon the material of the pan itself often failed to prevent the buckling and twisting problems.
Other known techniques exemplified, for example, by U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,203,254 and No. 5,503,062 involve the use of outer support racks and/or inner support racks. These racks either directly support the food items above the base walls, or support the pans from below the base walls. Such racks are designed to be detachably mounted on the pans and, in use, frequently become dislodged from the pans, thereby defeating the reinforcement function at the very time it is most needed.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Objects of the Invention
Accordingly, it is a general object of this invention to reinforce a cooking pan by integrating a framework with the pan.
More particularly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a reinforced pan capable of supporting heavy food items in excess of twenty pounds.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a disposable cooking pan of durable construction and capable of transporting food items to and from an oven without buckling or twisting during transport.
Features of the Invention
In keeping with the above objects and others which will become apparent hereafter, one feature of the present invention resides, briefly stated, in a reinforced pan for supporting a food to be cooked. The pan includes a base wall constituted of a metallic foil and having a periphery, a side wall constituted of a metallic foil and extending in a generally upward direction from the periphery of the base wall, and a rim wall constituted of a metallic foil and extending along a generally outward direction from the side wall. The rim wall also extends along a peripheral course around the side wall.
In accordance with this invention, a channel network has at least one channel bounded by wall portions of at least one of the walls, and a rigid framework is integrated in the channel network. The framework has at least one reinforcing element fixedly mounted in and along said at least one channel to reinforce said at least one of the walls.
In the preferred embodiment, the rim wall has rim wall portions extending along the peripheral course, and the channel network has a rim channel bounded by the rim wall portions. The framework includes a rim element mounted in the rim channel to reinforce the rim. The framework also includes a pair of handles extending generally along the upward direction above the rim wall. The handles are connected to the rim element.
Preferably, the base wall has base wall portions, and the side wall has side wall portions. The channel network has a pair of base channels bounded by the base wall portions, and two pairs of side channels bounded by the side wall portions. Each of the base channels is aligned with, and extends between, a respective pair of the side channels. The framework includes a pair of pan elements, each of the pan elements being mounted in and along a respective one of the base channels and the respective aligned pair of the side channels. The base wall extends along a longitudinal direction, and the base channels extend in mutual parallelism along the longitudinal direction.
Another feature of the preferred embodiment resides in providing the base wall with additional base portions, and the side wall with additional side wall portions. The channel network has an additional base channel bounded by the additional base wall portions, and a pair of additional side channels bounded by the additional side wall portions. The additional base channel is aligned with, and extends between, the pair of additional side channels. The framework includes an additional pan element mounted in and along the additional base channel and the aligned pair of the additional side channels. The additional base channel extends along a transverse direction generally perpendicular to the longitudinal direction.
The framework is constituted of a one-piece metallic structure, such as steel wire. The pan walls have exterior surfaces facing away from the food to be cooked. The channel network includes a plurality of the channels, each of the channels being open at the exterior surfaces of the walls. Each channel has a generally U-shaped configuration.
The methods of making and reinforcing the pan are also within the scope of this invention as detailed below.
The novel features which are considered as characteristic of the invention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4186217 (1980-01-01), Tchack
patent: 4852760 (1989-08-01), Sarnoff et al.
patent: 5029721 (1991-07-01), Timpe
patent: 5503062 (1996-04-01), Buff, IV
patent: 6065629 (2000-05-01), Sarnoff et al.
Lax Beril
Sherman Aleksandr
Alexander Reginald L.
Kirschstein et al.
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