Note : Les descriptions sont présentées dans la langue officielle dans laquelle elles ont été soumises.
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This invention relates to cooking pans and more
particularly to an improved combination of vegetable cooking
pans and covers so designed as to enable convenient stacking
and storage of the set when not in use.
I BACKGROUND OF THE I~VENTION
Sets of cooking pans of different diameters and depths
are well known in the art. Generally, such cooking pans are
provided with an equal number of covers properly dimensioned
for each of ~he pans respectively. Both the pans and covers
are normally provided with handles, generally of heat resistant
hard plastic material. The pan handles may be one or two in
number, generally extending laterally from the outside wall of
the pan while the cover handle is normally positioned at the
~i centrs1 top so that it extends upwardly.
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With pan sets of the foregoing type as well as other
conventional cooking pans, storage of the same has always
. ~ been a problem. While it is possible, of course, to nest
different diameter pans of different depths together to minimize
storage space, such nesting is often not conve.nient as a
consequence of radially extending handles on the pans which
may cause tilting of one pan in the other. Also, the covers
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the~selves are di~ficuLt to store primarily because of the
centrally located top projecting handle.
t BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION
1: :
Bearin~ the fore~oin~ considerations in mind, the
~30 present invention contemplates ~he provision o an improved
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set of vegetable cooking pans and covers overcoming the
foregoing problems of storage. More particularly, the
cooking pans and covers of this invention are so constructed
as to permit nesting of the pans with their associated
covers by inverting each cover and nesting it in its
corresponding pan and thence nesting the assemblies together
without interference between the handle thereby providing an
overall unitary assembly of the set for convenient storage.
In the preferred embodiment an additional pan is provided so
dimensioned as to serve as a cover when inverted with one of
the other pans to provide a maximu~ volume assembly useful
in cooking certain vegetables.
Thus, in accordance with the present teachings, a set
of vegetable cooking pans and covers is provided which
includes in combination:
(a) first, second and third pans having radially
outwardly and thence upwardly curved annular lips at the
upper edges of their openings of given progressively decreasing
first, second and third diameters as measured across the
upwardly curved portions of the annular lips respeatively,
the remaining portions of the pans having given fourth, fifth
and sixth progressively decreasing outside diameters
` respectively and progressively decreasing first, second and
third depth so that the remaining portions of the second pan
~ ~ can be received in the first pan and the remaining portion of
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the third pan can be receivedin the second pan to thereby
nest the three pans for easy storage; and
(b) first, second and third covers for said first,
second and third pans respectively, the covers having radially
outwardly extending lips terminating in bottom radiused edges,
the diameters of the lips being less than their respective first,
second and third diameters of the pans but greater than the
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respective fourth, fifth and sixth diameters so that the
bottom radiused edges of the covers will seat in sealing
relationship on the upwardly curved portions of the lips of
the pans, the remaining portions of the covers having
progressively decreasing seventh, eighth, and ninth outside
diameters respectively, the seventh diameter being inter-
mediate the fourth and fifth diameters of the remaining
portions of the first and second pans, the eighth diameter
being intermediate the fifth and six diameters of the
remaining portions of the second and third pans, and the
ninth diameter being less than the sixth diameter of the
remaining portion of the third pan, the covers all having the
same height, the height being less than the third depth
of the third pan so that the covers can be inverted and the
remaining portions received in the pans respectively with the
cover lips seated on and supported by the upwardly curved
:; portions of the pan lips whereby the covers are stored with
the pans by inverting and nesting the covers respectively with
the pans and thence stacking the pans, the remaining portion
of the second pan being received in the remaining portion of
the first inverted cover and the remaining portion of the
third pan being received in the remaining portion of the second
inverted cover further including a fourth pan having a radially
outwardly extending lip terminating in a top radiused edge,
the diameter of the lip corresponding to the first diameter
so that the fourth pan can be inverted and its top raised edge
::: seated in sealing relationship on the upwardly curved portion
of the lip on the first pan to cover the same and provide a
maximum closed cooling volume for the set, the remaining
portion of the fourth pan having a tenth outside diameter
greater than the fourth outside dîameter and a depth less than
the first depth so that the remaining portions of the first
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pan is nested in the fourth pan for convenient storage of
the entire set of pans and covers.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
A better understanding of this invention will be had
by now referring to a preferred embodiment thereof as
illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:
FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the basic pans
with their associated covers together with an additional pan
making up the vegetable cooking set in accord with the
invention;
FIGURE 2 is an exploded perspective view of the pans
and covers of FIGURE 1 oriented in a vertical array
preparatory to stacking to provide a unitary assembly for
convenient storage;
FIGURE 3 is a cross section of the pans of FIGURE 2
in assembled stacked positions for storage; and
FIGURE 4 is a greatly enlarged fragmentary cross
section of a portion of the stacked array enclosed within
the circular arrow 4 of FIGURE 3.
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DF.TAII.EI) DES~RIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring first to FI&URE 1, the set of vegetable
cooking pans includes first, second and third pans indicated
at 10, 11 and 12 having radially outwardly and thence upwardly
curved annular lips 13, 14 and 15 respectively at the upper
edges of their openings. The radially outwardly and thence
upwardly curved portions of these lips are similar, the
radially outwardly extending portion for the pan 1.0 being
indicated at 16 and its upwardly curved portion being indicated
at 17.
The diameters of the lips as measured across the
upwardly curved portions constitute first, second and third
~progressively decreasing diameters indicated by the symbols
Dl, D2 and D3 in FIGURE 1. Further, the remaining portions
~: of the pans 10, 11 and 12 have fourth, fifth and sixth
progressively decreasing outside diameters designated by
the symbols D4, D5 and D6 respectively, and progressively
dcreasing first, second and third depths .indieated by the
symbols Hl, H2 and H3. With this arrangement, the remaining
portion of the second pan can be received in the first pan
and the remaining portion of the third pan can be receîved
in the second pan to thereby nest the three pans for easy
: storage.
25 : Normally, however, the pans would not be nested
directly together as described above since each pan has
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associated with it a cover and it is more desirable to store
the pans with their associated covers as a unitary overall
assembly. Thus, still referring to FIGURE 1 the set includes
~lrst, second and third covers 18, 1~ and 20 respectively,
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the ~over 18 being sho~n exploded away from the first pan IO
while the covers 19 and 20 are sho~n positloned to cover the
second and third pans.
These covers have radially outwardly extending lips
each terminating in bottom radiused edges such as illustrated
for the cover 18 at 21 and 22. The diameters of ~hese lips
correspond respectively to the first, second and third diameters
Dl, D2 and D3 of the pans so that the bottom radiused edges
of the covers will seat in sealing relationship on the upwardly
curved portions of the lips of the pans. The remaining
portions of the covers have progressively decreasing seventh,
eighth and ninth outside diameters indicated by the-symbols
D7, D8 and D9 respectively, the seventh diameter being
; inter~ediate the fourth and fifth diameters of the remaining
15 portions of the irst and second pans D4 and D5, the eighth
: ~ diameter D8 being intermediate the fifth and sixth diameters
D5 and D6 of the second and third pans, and the ninth diameter
D9 being less than the sixth diameter D6 of the third pan.
All of the covers have the same height designated H4 which
~:20 height i6 less than the third depth H3 of the third pan so
: that:the covers can be inverted and their remaining port-Lons
: received in the pans respectively with the cover lips seated
:on and supported by the upwardly curved portions of the pan
lips.
: 25~ Still referrin~ to FIGURE 1, the first, second
; and third pans, lQ, 11 and 12 are provided with diametrically
; opposite handles secured to exterior portions of their
remaining portions as indicated at 23l 24 for the pan lO;
25,26 Eor ~he pan 11; and 27,28 for the pan 12~ The handles
25 and 26 on the second pan 11 and the handles 27 and 2~ on
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the third pan 12 are positioned closer to the tops of these
pans than to the bottoms so that they will clear the annular
l:ips of the inverted first and second covers when the pans
and co~ers are respectively nested for storage.
The three covers themselves include first, second
and third top central handles 29, 30 and 31 respectively
extending upwardly as shown. The heretofore referred to
first, second and third depths Hl, H2 and H3 of the pans
are sufficient that the top central handles on the covers
will not touch the bottoms of these pans when the covers
are respectively inverted and nested therein.
The preferred embodiment of the set of vegetable
cooking pans and covers shown in FIGURE 1 includes a fourth
pan indicated at 32 in the lower left of FIGURE 1 having
a radially outwardly extending lip 33 terminating in a
top radiused edge 34. The diameter of this lip corresponds
to the first diameter Dl so that this fourth pan can be
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inverted and its top radiused edge 34 seated in sealing
relatioship on the upwardly curved portion 17 of the lip
on the first pan 10 to cover the same and provide a maximum
closed cooking volume for the set. The remaining portion
o the fourth pan includes diametrically opposite handle~
35 and 36 and has a tenth outside diameter D10 greater than
the fourth outside diameter D4 of the first pan 10 and a
depth ~5 less than the first depth Hl of the first pan so
that the remaining portion o the first pan can be nested
in this fourth pan for convenient storage of the entire
set of pans and covers.
Referring now to FIGURE 2, the various pans and covers
~ 30 described in FIGURF, 1 are sho~m in exploded ver~ical array
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properly oriented prepara~ory to stacking the same for
convenient storage. Thus, the fourth pan 32 is shown at
the bottom positioned to receive the first pan 10, the
cover 18 for the first pan being inverted preparatory to
being received in the open top of the first pan.
Similarly, as shown in FIGURE 2 the second and
third pans and their associated covers in inverted relationship
are illustrated.
FIGURE 3 illustrates the various pans and covers
of FIGURE 2 in cross section and in their nested relationship
to provide a unitary assembly for convenient storage. It will
be evident from FIGURE 3 that the stacking for storage purposes
can readily be effected without any interference between the
handles of the pans and the handles for the covers, all as
1 15 a consequence of the specific dimensioning described.
t~ FIGURE 4 shows in greatly enlarged fragmentary view
the manner in which the first cover 18 cooperates with the
1~ first pan 10 described in FIGURE 1 when the cover 18 is
¦~ inverted and nested therein. Thus, because the diameter of
the lip 21 for the cover 18 indicated at Dl is the same as
the diameter as measured across the upwardly curved portion
¦ I - 17 o~ the lip for the pan 10~ ~he cover lip 21 will neatly -
l~ seat ~ithin the curved portion. In the enlarged view of
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FIGURE 4, the bottom radiused edge of the lip 21 for the
cover 18 is again designated 22, this radiused edge corresponding
to the upwardly curved portion 17 when the cover is in its
normal position to cover the pan 10. In other words, these
respective curved surfaces mate to provide the heretofore
referred to desirable sealing.
From all of the foregoing it will be understood that
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the covers can be stored with the pans by simply inverting
and nesting the covers respectively with the pans and thence
stacking the pans, the remaining portion of the second pan
being received in the remaining portion of the first inverted
cover and the remaining portion of the third pan being
received in the remaining portion of the second inverted cover.
The thirdinverted cover will simply nest within the third -
pan as illustrated. Where the fourth pan 32 described in
FIGURE 1 is included as part of the set, it will receive
the re~aining portion of the first pan 10 as also shown and
described.
The present invention has thus provided a set of
vege~able cooking pans and covers which can be conveniently
stored together in a minimum of space without interference
between the handles and wherein the geometry is such that
a stable stacked unitary assembly for convenient storage
¦~ results.
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