Foods and beverages: apparatus – Beverage – Infusors
Reexamination Certificate
2001-06-06
2003-12-02
Alexander, Reginald L. (Department: 1761)
Foods and beverages: apparatus
Beverage
Infusors
C099S318000, C099S323000, C099S323300, C210S238000, C210S464000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06655261
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a tea/coffee pot comprising a pot body designed to be filled with a liquid, and a strainer body which is arranged therein and is pivotable by means of a handling device between a submerged position and an emerged position and which comprises at least one compartment for receiving an additional substance, such as tea leaves, ground coffee, or the like.
A generic tea pot comprising a tea receiving device is known from DE 44 32 547 A1. Said hollow semispherical pot is provided in the area of its handle with a pivot bearing in the form of an upwardly oriented, projecting flat body. The pivot bearing is arranged at the upper end of the handle and serves to receive an opening of a pivot lever whose one end has arranged thereon a spherical strainer body. The opening inside the pivot lever is positioned in the central area of the pivot lever, but at a greater distance relative to the strainer body than to the opposite end. The lever portion which is designed as a handling device at the other side of the opening is adapted to the contour of the handle and can be locked thereonto. In the non-locked state, the strainer body is in a downwardly pivoted position so that the body can be submerged, for instance into hot water, if necessary (submerged position). The strainer body is located in this position near the bottom of the pot body. The strainer body is pivoted upwards into a position substantially above the water surface (emerged position) by a user pressing onto the upper side of the handling portion of the pivot lever. As soon as the handling area has come into contact with the outer contour of the handle, a locking operation is performed by means of an arresting device, so that the strainer body is held in this lifted position.
Such a configuration has the drawback that a relatively long lever arm section must be present between the pivot bearing and the strainer body to sufficiently lift and lower the same. However, to prevent any disturbing action of the handling area of the lever arm, the arm must not exceed a specific length in practice. This results in disadvantageous lever ratios, whereby the force to be applied must be relatively high on the one hand. On the other hand, the force cannot be applied in very accurately metered amounts, so that the strainer body is sometimes virtually flung out of the liquid and is suddenly stopped by the abutment of the handling area on the handle. That is why an anti-splash means must be provided at any rate so that no liquid is thrown out of the pot. If the lid has been forgotten by mistake, this might have unpleasant consequences. Furthermore, such a solution is only suited for relatively flat and very broad pots because only with such pots can the desired distances be covered by the pivotal movement.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore the object of the present invention to improve a pot of the above-mentioned type such that the handling of the strainer body is improved.
In a generic pot this object is achieved in that the handling device comprises a pull element and that the pot body has provided thereon a guiding device in which the pull element is displaceably guided along a predetermined path for pivoting the strainer body.
Although it is already known in the prior art that in particular chain-like pull elements are used for transferring a strainer body from a submerged position into an emerged position, these elements were most of the time passed centrally through the lid of the pot and then dangled downwards on the outside, thereby presenting an obstacle in part. According to further constructions the handling device was additionally locked onto the pot so that the pull means was under a permanent tension. However, with these designs, an unlocking of the lid and serious scalds were observed in part because of the tensile stress of the pull element.
By contrast, the present invention has the advantage that the pull element is exactly guided in a guiding device and is displaceably guided along an exactly predetermined path. This means that the pull element is only displaceable along said predetermined path and does not freely dangle from the pot in the emerged position of the strainer body. Especially with children, freely dangling pull elements or pull elements that could freely be gripped outside the pot have so far been popular toys in the prior art, which partly resulted in accidents by the pot being knocked over due to pulling on the pull element.
Thanks to a diverse design of the guiding device, the invention makes it possible to predetermine the most different paths for movably guiding the pull element. Furthermore, a pulling force on a pull element can be dosed much better, and because of the fact that there is no gearing—in contrast to a pivot lever system, the displacement movement of the pull element can be converted into a direct vertical displacement of the strainer body. The risk of an accident is thereby reduced considerably.
A further essential advantage of the invention is of course the fact that no storage place has to be provided for the strainer body because said body can preferably be moved into a position which is within the pot and above the liquid level. Thus during the whole preparing and subsequent serving process the strainer body remains within the pot body so that the drinking pleasure is not lastingly marred by the cumbersome removal of a strainer body from the pot.
To avoid excessive loads on the pull element, for instance by a sliding movement along an edge, the pull element according to one variant is guided in longitudinally displaceable fashion in the guiding device along a curved path which is in particular convex relative to a pot axis. Thanks to the convexly curved path relative to the pot axis, the pull element remains near the pot so that guiding devices projecting to a superfluously wide extent need not be provided. A guiding along the outer contour of the pot is also possible with such a design. Furthermore, advantageous frictional conditions are created in the guiding device because in the case of a curved path there will be no abrupt rise in frictional forces.
Advantageously, the pull element may be a component which is substantially rigid and adapted to the path predetermined by the guiding device. The term “rigid component” is just to rule out entirely flexible pull elements, such as bands, cords, chains, or the like. The component should be designed such that it does not change its shape in the unloaded state. All of the disadvantages inherent to such flexible pull elements are thereby eliminated. The pull element and the guiding device may be designed as components which can be telescoped into one another, so that a substantially hidden displacement of the pull element takes place, or a displacement adapted to the contour of the pot. Since the pull element is rigid, it can additionally receive bending forces, so that the element can freely project beyond a specific area in a direction transverse to its longitudinal extension. This is e.g. the case when the pull element in the submerged position of the strainer body is mainly moved out of the guiding device. It is thereby possible to assume the most different positions of the strainer body inside the pot body, even if the guiding device is arranged laterally on the pot.
Advantageously, the pull element in an emerged position of the strainer body can mainly be withdrawn into the guiding device and held therein. The bending load which, for instance, a rigid pull element is subjected to in the emerged position is thereby reduced to a very considerable extent. It should be borne in mind that in the emerged position the strainer body with its wet filling has a much greater weight than prior to submersion into the liquid.
As a rule, the prior-art pots have a lid which is detachably mounted on an upper pot opening. The lid can e.g. be inserted into the pot opening and screwed into or onto the pot opening. Furthermore, hinged lids are known that are e.g. pivotably supported at one si
Alexander Reginald L.
Emsa Werke Wulf GmbH & Co. KG
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