State of the art

The invention relates to a circular container with lid of the type defined in the preamble of claim 1.

With lids of this type it may present a problem as to what to do with the lid when you want to provide yourself from the container, which can be a pot, a cheeseboard or the like. A well-provided table seldom leaves further space, but the lid is necessary, either to retain the heat or to keep smell or steam in.

From GB Patent No. 596,508 is known a container with lid of the type defined in the preamble of claim 1 and which is adapted for serving and storing food articles. The lid is domed and provided with an opening in the form of a perman¬ ent cut in the dome for the removal of food articles being placed in chambers with radial partition walls. The con¬ struction is encumbered with the drawback that the cut in the lid is always open. Consequently, the construction is only suited for brief storage of food articles and prefer¬ ably for serving them. Intuitively, the construction is difficult to separate for cleaning and thus it is not par¬ ticularly hygienic. Finally, the container with lid is not adapted for use in the preparation of food articles and will hardly be suited for this purpose, not even if it is made of heat-stable material.

Advantages of the invention

By configuring the container with lid according to the in¬ vention and as defined in the characterizing portion of claim 1 the problem of the known constructions is solved. A configuration is achieved providing the possibility of

opening and inspecting or removing items, e.g. food art¬ icles, from the container without removing the lid. The lid can moreover be closed to the effect that smell, heat, steam or the like remains inside the container. Finally, the possibility is provided of lifting the lid and the con¬ tainer at once by means of the knob without separating the parts and in such a manner that the container with lid, open or closed, is well-balanced. Thus, further carrier knobs, requiring space and increasing production costs, are avoided.

It is a further advantage of the container with lid accord¬ ing to the invention that the knob does not engage with the container, as is the case in the above British patent and which restricts the use of the enclosed chamber, because the spindle passes centrally all the way through the en¬ closed chamber down to the bottom of the container.

The expression "partially stationary" which is used in the present application means that this part of the lid is sta¬ tionary when the rotatable part is rotated to open or close the lid. However, the expression is used partly because the whole lid may be rotated in relation to the container or it may be removed completely, cf. the following explanation.

By configuring the container with lid according to the in¬ vention and as defined in the characterizing portion of claim 2 it is achieved that apart from being a knob when the container with lid is lifted, the knob also constitutes the means or knob to be used when it is desired to move the rotatable lid part in relation to the partially stationary part. This only requires an insignificant force.

Additionally, both lid parts can be rotated at once and in relation to the container simply by bringing the knob into engagement with the stationary part in a limited lift.

Hereby the possibility is provided of rotating the whole lid freely in relation to the container without separating the parts and without changing the mutual position of the two lid parts.

By configuring the container with lid according to the in¬ vention and as defined in the characterizing portion of claim 3 it is achieved that the two lid parts can be separ¬ ated from each other and from the container, e.g. for cleaning purposes, this being possible without removing the knob from the partially stationary part. The knob may thus be made in one piece with the partially stationary part, or it may be a knob mounted on it.

By configuring the container with lid according to the in¬ vention as defined in the characterizing portion of claim 4 the lid and the bottom are coupled together as desired and in a simple, practical and cleaning-friendly manner.

By configuring the container with lid according to the in¬ vention and as defined in the characterizing portion of claim 5 further possibilities of use are provided, as for example a container with a plane bottom in one position is a container, while in the opposite position, i.e. the bot- torn facing upwards, it is a plate covered by the lid.

By configuring the container with lid according to the in¬ vention and as defined in the characterizing portion of claim 6 the possibility is provided of mounting or dis- mounting the lid from the container in a simple manner by a small radial displacement of the lid. The distance the com¬ paratively stationary lid part is to overlap the container in excess of 180° depends among other things on the mater¬ ial used for the lid part, viz. how resilient the part is, as the lid part may possibly become slightly deformed dur¬ ing the mounting or dismounting. As an example the compar-

atively stationary part encircles the container approx. 190° and is made of a partially resilient material to the effect that an unintentional separation of the lid and the container is avoided when the parts are moved simultan- eously, carried in the knob.

By configuring the container with lid according to the in¬ vention and as defined in the characterizing portion of claim 7 the possibility is provided of closing the lid rather tightly, which provides many practical advantages.

Depending on the material/materials the parts are made of, the container with lid according to the invention may be used for innumerable purposes, where claims 8, 9 and 10 describe particularly advantageous purposes of use related to the placing of food articles in the container.

The drawing

The invention will be explained in closer detail in the following with reference to the drawing showing two embodi¬ ments of the invention, in that

fig. 1 shows a diametrical, vertical, plane section through a first embodiment of the invention, namely the section II-II in fig. 2,

fig. 2 shows a section I-I in the embodiment in fig. 1, and

fig. 3 shows a section corresponding to fig. 1, but in another embodiment.

Description of the embodiments

Figs. 1 and 2 show the invention in the form of a circular

storing or serving plate 2 with a lid 1, e.g. a cheese-dish cover, but where the lid comprises two parts, viz. a par¬ tially stationary part 4 and a part 3 being rotatable in relation to the part 4.

The partially stationary part 4 extends along approx. 180°, for example 190°, of the rim of the container 4, see espe¬ cially fig. 2. The container 4 has a low, annual edge along the rim of its bottom in which is configured an annual, ■ radial, outward-facing groove 12, and the lid part 4 has a corresponding inward-facing or turned-in edge 13 for en¬ gagement with the groove 12 as shown. As shown, the groove 12 is larger than the inward-facing part 13 to the effect that the lid part 4 can be rotated in relation to the bot- torn 4 by a gentle lift in a knob 5 with a handle 6, as a downward-facing part 8 enters into engagement with or rests against the underside of the lid part 4. Simultaneously the lid part 3 is rotated because it is mounted fixedly on the knob 5, cf. the below explanation.

The rotatable part 3 comprises or is provided with a knob 5 with a handle 6 placed centrally in relation to the con¬ tainer and the lid part 3 moreover rests partly on the rim of the container 2 and partly on the preferably stationary lid part 4, see fig. 1. From fig. 2 it appears that the lid part 3 overlaps the lid part 4. Besides, from fig. 2 it appears that each of the lid parts 3 and 4 encircles at least 180° and preferably 190° of the circumference of the container resulting in a diametrical area 11 where the lid parts overlap each other.

The knob 5 comprises a downward-facing pin 7 arranged to pass through an opening 9 in the partially stationary part 4. As shown in the drawing the downward-facing pin 7 com- prises a transverse lower part 8 placed at a distance from the underside of the lid part 4. The opening 9 can be shap-

ed fully or partially as the transverse part 8 and it can be of such size that the part 8 can pass through the open¬ ing. Additionally, see figs. 1 and 2, an indentation 10 can be configured on the underside of the lid part 4 for en- gagement with the transverse part 8, if the knob 5 is lift¬ ed. This indentation is used if rotation of the entire lid 1 in relation to the bottom 2 is called for.

If the lid 3 is rotated to a certain angle in relation to the lid part 4, the transverse part 8 will be able to pass through the opening 9 allowing the parts to be separated for cleaning purposes. The said angle is preferably so that the lid part 3 is transverse in relation to the lid part 4. The lid part 4 is removed from the bottom 2 by a short, radial displacement which is possible because the lid part 4 is made of a partially resilient material.

When the lid 1 is placed on the bottom 2 and completely independent of the position of the lid part 3 in relation to the lid part 4 it is possible to lift the container with lid by means of the knob 5 and the handle 6 without separ¬ ating the parts, provided that the directly transverse po¬ sition allowing the two parts to be separated, cf. the above, is avoided.

Fig. 1 shows that the groove 12 is placed comparatively centrally in the bottom 2 allowing the bottom to be turned around and still enter into engagement with the lid thus providing two possibilities of positioning the bottom, either as a plate with a certain depth or as a plane plate, e.g. for serving purposes.

Fig. 3 shows a second embodiment of the invention where the transverse part 14 on the knob 5 only comprises a one-sided pin compared with fig. 1 where the transverse part compris¬ es a T-shaped member. If the opening 9 is configured cor-

respondingly, this means that the lid part 3 must be trans¬ verse to a certain side in relation to the lid part 4 for the parts to be separable.

Additionally, it appears that the groove is annual and faces inwards and that the partially stationary part 4 has an annual, outward-facing flange 13 for engagement with the bottom 2. Among other things, this is an advantage because condensate gathering on the inside of the lid will run back to the container 2 which is the case if, as an example, the container with lid is a frying pan with lid or an ovenproof dish with lid arranged to be placed in an oven or the like.

It will be obvious to a person skilled in the art that the container with lid according to the invention can be pro¬ duced in many different embodiments and be made of many different materials without deviating from that which is defined in the claims, especially depending on the purposes of the container with lid.