Two-part handle for a cooking vessel

Details Two-part handle for a cooking vessel Two-part handle for a cooking vessel

1999-11-08

2001-01-09

Pollard, Steven (Department: 3727)

Receptacles

Container attachment or adjunct

Handle, handle component, or handle adjunct

C220S755000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06170694

ABSTRACT:

The present invention relates to a perfected handle for a cooking vessel, and which is particularly suitable for manufacture using two different materials to achieve aesthetic and functional forms not otherwise achievable using materials normally employed for the purpose.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Cooking vessels (saucepans, frying-pans, etc.) are normally fitted with handles to enable the vessels to be gripped easily, even when hot; for which purpose, the best handles are obviously those with good thermal insulation properties.
Some known handles are made from thermosetting polymer materials, e.g. filled phenol-formaldehyde resins: though good thermal insulators, such materials have poor mechanical characteristics, are not easy to work into complex shapes, cannot be coloured as required, and are therefore poorly suited to the manufacture of handles with predetermined functional or aesthetic characteristics (e.g. mechanical strength, form and colour). Moreover, as is well known, such materials have a tendency to deteriorate in appearance, especially as a result of frequent washing.
Other handles are known in which a part made of phenol-formaldehyde resin (or other similar thermosetting material) is covered with or fitted to a part made of thermoplastic material, the well-known, favourable properties of which may thus be exploited to achieve any shape or colour of the thermoplastic part. This, however, poses the further problem of ensuring firm connection of parts made of different, normally incompatible materials. Handles, for example, are known in which a sheath of thermoplastic material is fitted over and secured to a core of thermosetting material using appropriate fastening means (screws or rivets). The thermoplastic sheath is also known—e.g. European Patent Application EP-A-808600—to be co-molded directly onto the thermosetting-resin part.
Besides requiring specially designed additional components (the fastening elements), mechanically connecting the two (phenol-formaldehyde-resin and thermoplastic) parts obviously also involves a fairly long assembly process, both of which result in an increase in overall production cost. Moreover, should the user wish to separate the parts made of different materials, e.g. to wash them differently, this involves yet another relatively painstaking operation, providing, of course, reversible fastening means (e.g. screws) have been used. On the other hand, co-molding two materials of substantially different physical and chemical characteristics calls for accurate control of the molding process, is a complex, relatively high-cost operation, is poorly suited to the formation of highly complex shapes, and obviously precludes any possibility of separating the two parts made of different materials.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a handle for a cooking vessel, designed to eliminate the aforementioned drawbacks typically associated with known handles. In particular, it is an object of the invention to provide a handle which is cheap and easy to produce, provides for a wide range of shapes, colours, colour combinations and designs in general, and at the same time is highly functional, strong, long-lasting and of good thermal insulation properties.
According to the present invention, there is provided a handle for a cooking vessel, the handle comprising a body made of a first material and having a first and a second boundary surface opposite and substantially facing each other, and an end portion having connecting means for connection to a cooking vessel; characterized by also comprising at least one through inner cavity between said opposite first and second boundary surfaces of said body; at least one corresponding insert made of a second material and fitted through said at least one through inner cavity with respective opposite ends located at said opposite first and second boundary surfaces of the body; and click-on fastening means for fastening said at least one insert inside said at least one through inner cavity.
The handle according to the present invention is therefore cheap and easy to produce; requires no complex co-molding or complex, time-consuming assembly operations; may be made in a wide range of designs, and in particular countless shapes, colours or colour combinations; and is at the same time highly functional, strong, long-lasting and of good thermal insulation properties. Moreover, the parts made of different materials may not only be assembled quickly and easily but also separated just as quickly and easily for appropriate cleaning/washing.


REFERENCES:
patent: 2133252 (1938-10-01), Moore et al.
patent: 2231222 (1941-02-01), Rosenheimer, Jr.
patent: 5025939 (1991-06-01), Bunn et al.
patent: 5279443 (1994-01-01), Koda et al.
patent: 195 06 419 (1996-03-01), None
patent: 195 13 245 (1996-10-01), None
patent: 0241410 (1987-10-01), None
patent: 0808600 (1997-11-01), None
patent: 2030846 (1980-04-01), None
European Search Report dated Jan. 25, 2000.

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