"Cooking tool"

[0001] The present invention relates to a cooking tool of the type having a containing body suitable for containing a dish and for being exposed to a heat source, such as a gas flame or a heating plate, as well as a gripping member, e.g. a handle or a knob for manually gripping and moving the entire cooking tool or part thereof. Prior examples of such cooking tools are for example pots and pans with or without lids .

[0002] One known type of cooking tool has a gripping member in metal, such as stainless steel, which heats up along with the container body and the user, in order to grasp the gripping member, must protect his/her hands with a pot holder, cloth or oven gloves .

[0003] To overcome such drawback pots with plastic or wooden handles have been proposed, the material of which does not heat up to the same extent as the container body and which can be grasped with bare hands and without the use of further protection. However, pots and pans with wooden or plastic handles cannot be used to prepare dishes baked in the oven given that the high temperatures (about 180°C) of the ovens would burn or damage the gripping member.

[0004] The purpose of the present invention is therefore to provide a cooking tool of the type specified above having characteristics such as to overcome the drawbacks of the prior art.

[0005] A particular purpose of the invention is to propose a cooking tool which is utilisable both inside the oven and on the hob and having a gripping member which does not heat up excessively together with the containing body.

[0006] These and other purposes are achieved by a cooking tool comprising a container body suitable for receiving a dish and intended to be exposed to a heat source, and at least one gripping member, wherein the gripping member comprises a metal support portion connected to a wall of the container body, a first metal covering plate arranged on a first side of the support portion, a second metal covering plate arranged on a second side of the support portion opposite to the first side, wherein between each one of the first and second covering plates and the support portion an isolation gap is formed for ventilation with ambient air.

[0007] Thanks to the formation of an isolation gap between the metal support portion and the metal covering plates the covering plates prove substantially thermally insulated from the support portion and, moreover, cooled on both sides by the ambient air. Given that the covering plates are made of metal they resist well to the high temperatures inside the oven and after extraction of the cooking tool from the oven, the covering plates of the gripping member cool very rapidly without however cooling the container body.

[0008] To provide a clearer understanding of the invention and appreciate its advantages some of its embodiments will be described below by way of non limiting examples with reference to the appended drawings, wherein:

- figure 1 is a schematised illustration of a cooking tool (frying pan) with a handle according to one embodiment of the invention;

- figure 2 is a schematised illustration of a further cooking tool (pot with lid) with two handles and a knob according to one embodiment of the invention;

- figure 3 is an exploded view of a gripping member of a cooking tool according to one embodiment;

- figure 4 is a cross-section view of the gripping member in figure 3 in an assembled configuration;

- figures 5 and 6 are perspective views of a handle for a frying pan in a dismantled and assembled configuration according to one embodiment;

- figures 7 and 8 are perspective views of a handle for a pot in a dismantled and assembled configuration according to one embodiment.

[0009] With reference to the drawings, a cooking tool 1, such as a pan or a pot with or without lid 13, is globally denoted by reference numeral 1 and comprises a container body 2 in particular in metal, ceramic or glass material, suitable for receiving a dish and intended to be exposed to a heat source, (in particular an electric or induction hot plate, a gas cooking hob or electric or gas oven) and at least one gripping member 3. The gripping member 3 comprises a metal support portion 4, connected to a wall of the container body 2, a first metal covering plate 5 arranged on a first side 14 of the support portion 4 and a second metal covering plate 6 arranged on a second side 15 of the support portion opposite to the first side 14.

[0010] Ac c o r di ng to one aspect of the invention, between each one of the first and second covering plates 5, 6 and the support portion 4 an isolation gap 8 is formed allowing the covering plates 5, 6 to be ventilated by ambient air on a side thereof facing towards the support portion 4.

[0011] Thanks to the formation of the isolation gap 8 between the metal support portion 4 and the metal covering plates 5,6, the covering plates 5, 6 prove substantially thermally insulated from the support portion 4 and, moreover, cooled on both sides by the ambient air. Given that the covering plates 5, 6 are made of metal, they also resist well to the high temperatures inside the oven and, after extraction of the cooking tool 1 from the oven, the covering plates 5, 6 of the gripping member 3 cool very rapidly, without however cooling the container body 2.

[0012] According to one embodiment, at least one, but preferably both covering plates 5, 6 are connected to the support portion 4 through the interposition of an insulating insert 9, so as to prevent a direct contact between the covering plate, in particular its metal part, and the support portion 4. This way it is possible to avoid the conducting of heat from metal to metal from the container body 2 to the covering plates 5, 6 of the gripping member 3.

[0013] According to one embodiment, the support portion may comprise an elongated and/or flattened body for example in steel having at least one connecting end 17 for the connection of the gripping member 3 (for example by means of welding, screws or shaped couplings or monolithic realisation in one piece) with the container body 2 (in particular pot, pan or lid 13), as well as one, preferably at least two coupling holes 16, suitable for receiving the aforesaid insulating insert 9 and corresponding connecting means 10, 11 of the covering plates 5,6.

[0014] According to one embodiment, the insulating insert 9 has a substantially tubular shape (a closed or open transversal annular cross-section) with a through hole 25 and with a substantially cylindrical central portion 18 the outer radial surface 19 of which engages with a radially inner surface 20 of the coupling hole 16, and two flanges 21 formed on two opposite sides of the central portion 18 and protruding radially outwards so as to overlap an edge of the coupling hole 16 on both sides 14, 15 of the support portion 4. The insulating insert 9 may be elastically deformable or formed of several pieces to facilitate its correct positioning in the coupling hole 16. The insulating insert 9 is made in a low thermal conductivity material, preferably in heat- resistant silicone.

[0015] The connecting means 5, 6 of the covering plates 5,6 may comprise a first bush 10 protruding from the first covering plate 5 and having a base portion 22 adjacent to the first covering plate 5 and forming an annular shoulder 23 suitable for abutting against one of the flanges 21 of the insulating insert 9, as well as a (preferably internally) threaded portion 24 which extends from the base portion 22 and which is suitable for inserting in the through hole 25 of the insulating insert 9. This way, the base portion 22 acts as a spacer and defines the relative axial position between the first covering plate 5 and the flange 21 of the insulating insert 9 (defining together with the flange 21 the thickness of the first isolation and ventilation gap) and the threaded portion 24 determines the relative position and the connection between the first covering plate 5 and the support portion 4.

[0016] A second bush 11 protrudes from the second covering plate 6 and forms an annular shoulder 26 analogous to the shoulder 23 of the first bush 10 and suitable for abutting against the second flange 21 of the insulating insert 9. This way, the second bush 11 acts as a spacer and defines the relative axial position between the second covering plate 6 and the second flange 21 of the insulating insert 9 (defining together with the flange 21 the thickness of the second isolation and ventilation gap) . Axial direction is taken to mean the axial direction of the coupling hole 16 indicated by reference number 27 in figure 3.

[0017] The second bush 11 and the second covering plate 6 form a through hole 26 for housing an attachment screw 12 suitable for engaging the threaded portion 24 of the first bush 10 in such a way as to tighten the first bush 10 and the second bush 11 (together with their respective covering plates 5,6) against each other and axially against the insulation insert 9 positioned in the coupling hole 16.

[0018] The covering plates 5, 6 are preferably made from stainless steel sheet and have outer edges facing away from the container body 2 and extending beyond the profile of the support portion 4.

[0019] According to an alternative embodiment, the gripping member 3 comprises only one metal covering plate which extends substantially on two opposite sides of the support portion 4, wherein between said single covering plate and the support portion 4 the isolation gap 8 for ventilation with ambient air is formed .

[0020] Obviously, a person skilled in the art may make further modifications and variations to the cooking tool 1 according to the invention so as to satisfy contingent and specific requirements, while remaining within the sphere of protection of the invention as defined by the following claims.