This invention relates to electric liquid heating vessels and more particularly but not exclusively to water heating vessels.

In the West and particularly in the UK, boiling water for making hot beverages such as tea or coffee has been heated in electric kettles or jug kettles. Water is boiled as required and poured from the vessel through a spout, the user gripping a handle provided on the side or top of the kettle.

In the East however, it is more common to use a vessel having a somewhat greater capacity than the

Western kettle and which is left switched on even after an initial quantity of the heated contents have been used so that further quantities may be used some time later. These are known generally as 'electric air pots' . The contents are first heated to boiling and then kept hot by a thermostatic control usually operating a second, less powerful heating element. Liquid is dispensed from the electric air pot by means of a mechanically or electrically operated pump. This construction is however rather expensive and complex to manufacture.

It would be desirable therefore to provide an electric liquid heating vessel which has a relatively large capacity but which could be comfortably lifted, thereby obviating the need to provide a pump mechanism. Thus according to the present invention there is provided an electric liquid heating vessel, having an opening for pouring, electrical heating means for heating liquid in the vessel, and two spaced-apart pouring handles arranged such that, in use, said liquid heating vessel may be lifted using said pouring handles to pour liquid therefrom.

The present invention has the advantage that a greater quantity of liquid may be heated and dispensed without the need for expensive and complicated pumping means by providing a liquid heating vessel with two handles so that it can be lifted and tipped comfortably by a user using both hands.

According to a particularly preferred feature of the invention, the two handles are spaced apart vertically, most preferably substantially at the top and adjacent the base of the liquid heating vessel respectively. This has the advantage of making it easier to lift and tilt the vessel in a controlled manner. According to another preferred feature of the invention, both of the handles are located on the side of the vessel remote from the spout thereby keeping the hands of the user far away from the scalding water and steam when water is being poured from the vessel .

According to a further preferred feature of the invention, the lower handle is formed as a recess in the body of the vessel. Most preferably, the recess is formed to extend upwardly from a lower surface of the vessel. Such an arrangement allows the user more easily to support the weight of the vessel. A recess is also advantageous in making the vessel more visually attractive.

According to a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention, a handle, preferably the top pouring handle, is movable, preferably pivotable, between a pouring and a non-pouring position. In the preferred embodiment, the upper handle is pivotally mounted at the rear upper part of the vessel, and may be pivoted, for example from a vertical, non-pouring position ('up' position) to a generally horizontal, pouring, position ('down' position) in which it extends rearwardly to facilitate lifting of the vessel. The handle may have means for selectively retaining it in its two positions, for example clips which would require release by the

user .

The handle may itself be mounted in a fully or partially removable lid of the vessel which has means to hold it in position in use. The movement of the handle may have one or more additional functions. For example it can be used to move a cover to cover the pouring opening while the vessel is switched on, thus preventing an excessive escape of vapour and steam during heating. The cover can slide or pivot up to cover the spout but preferably the cover does not make a gas-tight seal to prevent the potentially dangerous build-up of pressure inside the vessel. The vessel may, therefore have a vent or the like to allow escape of steam in a controlled manner. In its pouring position, the cover is retracted to allow liquid to be poured through the opening.

In a more preferred embodiment the handle is also used to operate switching means for controlling the supply of current to the vessel heater which means that the heating means will automatically be de-activated when the handle is moved to its pouring position. For example pivoting movement of the handle could be transmitted through a suitable linkage to the trip lever arm of a control unit such as of the type generally described in WO 95/34187 selectively to connect or disconnect the electrical supply, or to a set of contacts in a control such as shown in WO 97/04694. Thus in the preferred embodiment, a user would merely have to perform a simple downward stroke on the handle to change the vessel from a heating condition to a ready-to-pour condition, the movement of the handle acting to turn the electrical supply on or off. Where the handle also operates a spout flap, this is convenient in that the vessel requires the spout flap to be in the closed position before current can be supplied to the heating element.

It is also preferred that the electrical supply to

the heater is of the cordless type allowing the vessel to be picked up more conveniently and more preferably it is of the type in which current may be supplied by the base regardless of the relative orientation of the vessel and the base, for example of the type described in WO 95/08204. This has the advantage that the base and vessel need not be aligned before the potentially heavy vessel is put down.

The vessel heating means may take any number of forms, for example an immersed heater, or more preferably a heater arranged on or around the base of the vessel. Most preferably, the heater is a so-called thick film printed heater moulded on the base of the vessel or on a plate forming at least part of the vessel base. Such arrangements are disclosed, for example, in WO 96/18331.

The control for the vessel may take a number of forms. Whilst it could conceivably comprise just a boiling control to turn off the heater in the event of liquid boiling in the vessel, it preferably is of the type in which after the liquid boils it is kept at a desired temperature. A suitable control of this type is disclosed in WO 97/04694. It preferably includes means to switch off electrical current if the heating element should overheat as can happen if the vessel is switched on without any liquid inside. It is also preferable that the control is formed as unit mounted underneath the base of the vessel. In one preferred embodiment, a control of the type generally described in WO 95/34187 may be used.

An embodiment of the present invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 shows an electric liquid heating vessel in accordance with the invention.

Fig. 2 shows the electric liquid heating vessel of Fig. 1, in cross-section, with the handle in the 'on'

position.

Fig. 3 shows the electric liquid heating vessel of Fig. 1, in cross-section, with the handle in the 'off' position. The electric liquid heating vessel 1 shown in Fig. 1 has a moulded plastics, double walled, body 2 with a lid 4 and an opening at the top formed into a spout 6 for pouring the contents. As can be seen from Figs 2 and 3, recessed handle 8 is moulded into the lower part of the vessel body 2, and into which the user places the fingers of one hand to provide partial support during lifting and pouring. The edge 10 of the handle is rounded to make it as comfortable as possible on the user's hand. A further handle 12 is mounted on the top of the vessel, providing the rest of the support required. The vessel 1 sits on a 'cordless' base unit 14 which has a so-called 360° connector 26 arranged on its upper surface. The base of the vessel proper has a mating connector 30. Examples of such a connector are disclosed in WO 95/08204

With further reference to Figs. 2 and 3, the handle 12 is mounted in a lid 4 which is sealingly mounted in the top of the vessel body 2. The handle 12 is pivotable around a pivot 16 between a generally vertical, heating, position ('up' position) , shown in Fig. 2 and a generally horizontal, pouring, position ('down' position) , shown in Fig. 3. The handle may be selectively and positively retained in either one of these positions, by a catch or other detent. An actuating member 18, which is fixed to or forms part of the handle 12, acts on an upstanding end portion 20a of flap 20 slidably mounted in the lid 4 selectively to close or open the pouring spout 6. Equally this flap could be arcuate and pivot to cover the opening when urged by an elongate member connected to it which is in a similar location to flap 20. This prevents the escape of excessive amounts of steam and vapour during heating.

When the liquid has been heated to the desired temperature e.g. after it has boiled, the handle 12 may be rotated anticlockwise ( as seen from ~'igs . 2 & 3) so allowing the flap 20 to retract, so opening the pouring spout 6. This retraction may be effected, for example, by a spring (not shown) acting on the flap.

Mounted in the bottom of the vessel are heating means, for example a printed track heater provided on a stainless steel plate 24. Suitable heating means are described, for example, in WO 96/18331 and WO 97/04694. Underneath this base is a control unit 28 which acts to switch off the current supply when the liquid in the vessel boils or when the heater overheats as can result from the vessel being switched on with no liquid inside. In the former case it could instead switch over to a

' simmer control ' which heats the liquid more slowly to maintain it within a given temperature range. An example of such a control is disclosed in PCT publication No. WO 97/04694. The control 28 may be provided with an over-centre mechanism such as a microswitch which is tripped upon the application of the downward pressure provided by a rod 22, through a suitable linkage. The end 22a of the rod is resiliently urged against a part of the handle 12 e.g. by a coil spring (not shown) around the rod. Rotation of the handle 12 from its 'up' to its 'down' position would push the rod 22 downwardly to trip the over-centre mechanism, thereby switching off the heater. Alternatively, the push-rod could act on a leaf spring which is one of a pair of contacts, to open the contacts .

Thus to pour the contents of the vessel, the handle 12 is first moved from its 'up' to its 'down' position. This opens the spout 6 and switches off the electrical supply to the element. It can then be used to lift the vessel from its corresponding current supplying base 14 and to pour out its contents. The user places the

fingers of one hand inside the recess 8a and the other hand is then used to grip the upper handle 12. The vessel can now be comfortably lifted and tilted in order to pour out the liquid. During pouring the weight is mostly supported along the inner face 8b of recess 8. The relatively large area over which the weight of the vessel is supported during both lifting and particularly pouring, ensures that the convenience of both operations is increased conferring obvious benefits in the manipulation of potentially scalding liquids.

Whilst a particular embodiment has been described here, usefulness of the invention is not limited to this embodiment. A person skilled in the art will readily see that a number of modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention. For example it is also envisaged that one of the handles could be retractable so as to be flush with the body, possibly such that it is only pulled out for use when the contents of the vessel are heavy enough to require two hands to lift them. The flap could be slid across manually against a spring and released by a button on the handle to avoid contact between the user's hand and steam. The invention may also suitably be embodied in a liquid heating vessel having controls and heating means different to those described. For example, the vessel may have a control of the type described in WO 95/34187. A linkage other than the push-rod shown could be used to transmit movement from the handle to the control. Also, a current cut-out switch could instead be associated with the lower handle, being engaged by a user when he or she grips the lower handle.