TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a connecting element for connecting a cooking vessel, e.g. a pan, to a gripping element, e.g. a handle; the connecting element presenting, at a first end wall, a hole for a screw with which to connect the gripping element, and, at a second end wall opposite the first, a projecting portion designed to melt when the connecting element is welded to the vessel. The present invention also relates to a method of producing such connecting elements.

BACKGROUND ART

Connecting elements of the aforementioned type are normally formed from a parallelepiped bar, usually of steel or aluminium, using standard machine tools, e.g. lathes.

In addition to being relatively slow and complicated and involving a certain amount of wastage, the above method also presents a further serious

drawback: up to now, the projecting portion designed to melt when the connecting element is welded to the vessel has always been circular, owing to the impossibility, on commonly used machine tools, of mass producing connecting elements with projecting portions of any other shape. The size and shape of the projecting portion, however, are extremely important by virtue of the strength of the connection being directly related to the mass that is melted when welding the connecting element to the vessel. In addition to the impossibility of using other than round projecting portions, as yet any increase in the area of the portion requires an increase in welding power which invariably damages the surface coating of the vessel in the weld region - thus making it less attractive to the buyer - and also involves replacing - at considerable cost - the welding units normally used for connecting the gripping element to the vessel.

Finally, the circular shape of known projecting portions invariably results in their at least partially penetrating the wall of the vessel, thus resulting, on the exposed face of the vessel opposite that to which the element is secured, in an unsightly swelling which also makes the vessel less attractive to the buyer. DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide a connecting element of the aforementioned type, presenting a portion designed to melt when the element

is welded to the vessel, and which in turn presents a melting surface of substantially the same area but with a greater perimeter than known portions, for achieving stronger welds for a given welding power. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a connecting element presenting a projecting portion which, when welding the connecting element, does not damage the walls of the vessel.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method of producing such connecting elements, and which provides for reducing production time and cost and involves no wastage.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

According to the present invention, there are provided a connecting element and a production method in conformance with the accompanying Claims.

A non-limiting embodiment of the present invention will be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 shows an enlarged schematic side view of a connecting element in accordance with the present invention;

Figure 2 shows an enlarged schematic front view of a connecting element in accordance with the present invention;

Figure 3 shows an enlarged schematic side view of a variation of the connecting element according to the present invention.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Number 1 in the accompanying drawings indicates a substantially parallelepiped connecting element presenting, at a first end wall 2, a hole 3 for a screw (not shown) with which to connect a handle (not shown) , and, at the other end wall 4, a portion 5 projecting in relation to end wall 4 and designed to melt when the connecting element is welded to the wall of a vessel (not shown) . More specifically, in the example shown, end wall 2 is rectangular and is connected to the body of element 1 by beveled corners 2A to assist the fitment on to element 1 of the usual appropriately shaped parts of the gripping element (not shown) . Hole 3 presents a portion 3A adjacent to wall 2 and slightly larger in diameter than the remaining portion 3B. More specifically, portion 3A presents the same diameter as a self-threading, e.g. three-lobed, screw (not shown) , to assist alignment of the screw when inserted inside the hole. In the example shown, the other end wall 4 of element 1 slopes in relation to the longitudinal axis L of the element to assist fitment of the element to vessels, such as frying pans, wherein the walls slope in relation to the bottom. End wall 4 is connected to the top wall of element

1 by a recess 6 to assist grip and automatic alignment of the element.

Projecting portion 5 is truncated-pyramid-shaped

with polygonal bases, and, in the example shown, is rectangular. As the thickness of portion 5 in relation to the size of element 1 is negligible so that it may be considered as being substantially two-dimensional, the shape of portion 5 in the following description will be referred to simply as polygonal.

Portion 5 does not extend from the entire surface of end wall 4 which in fact presents an exposed peripheral portion 8 (Figure 2) , and portion 5 presents an edge 5A (Figure 1) sloping in relation to wall 4; both of which characteristics are related to the particular method by which the elements are produced according to the invention.

Centrally, portion 5 presents a conventional conical tip 7 for contacting the wall of the vessel and "initiating" welding; and, in the Figure 1 embodiment, the free surface 5B of portion 5 is slightly convex so that portion 5 gradually and at least partly penetrates the vessel, but with less distortion of the wall of the vessel as compared with known portions, by virtue of the convex shape of surface 5B and the polygonal shape of portion 5.

As already stated, portion 5 is melted during welding, and, according to the present invention, presents a much larger perimeter than known circular portions (as shown by way of comparison by the dot-and-dash line V in Figure 2) .

For a given area, portion 5 therefore presents a

larger perimeter and hence a larger gripping surface as compared with the portions of known connecting elements, so that the element according to the present invention is capable of withstanding greater stress, in particular torsional stress and "shrinkage" by the screw, when the handle is fitted to it.

Portion 5 may be in the form of a polygon other than as shown; and element 1 according to the invention may present parallel end walls 2 and 4 (as shown in Figure 3), i.e. for fitment to vessels, such as saucepans, with vertical walls in relation to the bottom. Portion 5, however, is preferably substantially square, as this provides for better grip for a given surface area as compared with known circular portions. The connecting element according to the invention is formed by pressing, preferably cold; a portion of a normal metal bar, e.g. of aluminium or steel, being placed inside a mold and pressed once or more to form a connecting element of the type described. Pressing the connecting element is much faster than using standard machine tools, involves no waste, and therefore provides for reducing production time and cost as compared with known production methods.

What is more, pressing element 1 provides for achieving a polygonal shape of portion 5 and hence a greater peripheral gripping surface as compared with circular portions.

Clearly, changes may be made to the embodiments

described and illustrated herein by way of example without, however, departing from the scope of the present invention. In particular, element 1 may be any elongated shape, and portion 5 may be of any shape other than that shown. For example, both the body of element 1 and portion 5 may present a hexagonal section.