US3606104A - Carafes - Google Patents

Abstract

A PLASTIC DRINKING WATER CARAFE PORTION WITH A REMOVABLE COVER HAVING AN INTEGRAL HINGED LID PORTION WHICH IS NORMALLY YIELDABLY SNAP-LOCKED IN A CLOSED CONDITION HUT WHICH COVER LID CAN BE READILY MANUALLY RELEASED FOR SWINGING MOVEMENT UPWARDLY TO AN PEN POSITION TO EXPOSE A RESTRICTED OPENING THROUGH WHICH WATER CAN BE POURED FROM THE CARAFE, SAID DISCHARGE OPENING BEING SMALL ENOUGH TO PREVENT ICE CUBES IN THE CARAFE FROM FALLING THEREFROM, WHICH CAN CAUSE ANNOYING SPLASHING OR SPILLAGE.

Description

p 20, 1971 c. H. RICKMEIER, JR 3,606,104

'CARAFES Filed Nov. 10, 1969 INVENTOR CARL H. RICKMEI ER, JR.

ATTORNEYS 3,606,104 CARAFES Carl H. Rickmeier, Jr., Sheboygan, Wis., assignor to The Vollrath C0., Sheboygan, Wis. Filed Nov. 10, 1969, Ser. No. 875,341 Int. Cl. 365d /72 US. Cl. 222-498 5 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A plastic drinking water carafe provided with a removable cover having an integral hinged lid portion which is normally yieldably snap-locked in a closed condition but which cover lid can be readily manually released for swinging movement upwardly to an open position to expose a restricted opening through which water can be poured from the carafe, said discharge opening being small enough to prevent ice cubes in the carafe from falling therefrom, which can cause annoying splashing or spillage.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention The present invention relates to water vessels. More particularly the invention relates to drinking water carafes for use in hospitals.

Description of the prior art The conventional vessels employed in hospitals or other institutions for holding drinking water ordinarily consist of an open-top pitcher or carafe which is positioned on the patients bedside table. When a patient desires a drink he pours the water from the vessel into his drinking glass. Unfortunately, with such open-top pitchers or carafes the ice cubes therein frequently fall out of the vessel during the pouring operation, particularly when the patient is attempting to pour from a lying-down or partially prone position, which causes spillage on the bedside table. The object of the present invention is to eliminate this hazard.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a carafe with a top cover adapted to be removed to permit the vessel to be filled with drinking water, as well as ice cubes, which cover member is provided with a hinged lid that can be swung to a raised position when it is desired to pour a drink, said raised lid exposing a relatively small opening allowing water to be freely poured from the carafe while preventing the escape of ice cubes therefrom. The result is that with said improved carafe it is possible to pour a drink without splashing or spilling water on the bedside table.

A further object of the invention is to provide a drinking water carafe wherein the top opening and pouring lip are covered when the carafe is not in use, thereby promoting sanitation.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a new, improved carafe which can be formed entirely of plastic, which is relatively inexpensive to manufacture as well as being durable.

A further object is to provide a plastic water carafe, as described, which is light in weight for easy handling.

Still further objects of the present invention are to provide a new, improved drinking water carafe which is otherwise particularly well adapted for its intended purposes, as will become apparent hereinafter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING In the accompanying drawing, wherein one preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated, the same ref- United States Patent 0 "ice 3,606,104 Patented Sept. 20, 1971 erence numerals designating the same parts in all of the views:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the complete carafe comprising the invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view showing the cover member with the lid therein in an open position;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of the carafe top portion in pouring position;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the carafe top portion with a part thereof shown in section; and

FIG. 5 is atop plan view of the carafe.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now more particularly to FIG. 1 of the drawing, illustrated therein is the complete water vessel, or so-called carafe, comprising the present invention. In accordance with the preferred embodiment of the invention, said carafe is formed of a resilient plastic such as polyethylene, whichis durable as well as being relatively inexpensive. It is to be understood, however, that other comparable materials could also be utilized; the invention is not to be limited in this respect. Moreover, while the illustrated carafe is contoured for easy gripping, the shape, as well as the size, of said carafe is not a critical feature of the present invention.

Said plastic carafe includes a generally cylindrical body 10 having a top cover member 11 removably fitted on the upper end thereof, the upper end of said body abutting the underside of said cover with a depending portion of said cover surrounding said body upper portion. As best appears in FIG. 4, said cover member 11 includes a ninwardly-protruding shoulder 12 formed on the depending, cylindrical portion thereof which is designed to be removably snapped into a complementary annular channel 13 in the upper portion of said carafe body to separably secure said cover thereon. Thus said top cover member can be readily temporarily removed when it is desired to fill the carafe with fresh water, there being a shoulder 19 formed on the exterior of said cover beneath which a users thumb can be positioned to facilitate the disengagement of said members, it being a simple matter to again mount said cover over the upper end of the body when the water supply has been replenished therein. In this respect, however, it is to be understood that said body and cover members could as well be formed with interfitting threads, or other means for separably joining the same, without departing from the spirit or intended scope of the invention.

With reference still to FIG. 4, it will be seen that the upper wall of the cover member 11 has a longitudinal notch or indentation 14 formed on the underside thereof, which notched line forms a hinge of reduced thickness extending across and between spaced points located on the periphery of said cover to define a generally semicircular lid 15. As will be seen, said lid 15 includes a downwardly-directed flange portion 15, there being a lip 16 (FIG. 4) formed integrally on the inner surface of said lid flange which is designed to snap lock beneath a coacting shoulder element 17 formed on the cover. A protruding tab or shoulder 18 on said lid exterior permits a user to readily forcibly disengage said interfitting resilient locking elements when it is desired to open the lid, said lid 15 then being swingable upwardly about the hinge line 14 from its normal position flush with the surface of the cover to the raised, open position illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3. Due to the design of said hinge element when said lid member is swung upwardly it tends to remain in said open position until manually urged downwardly again.

The depending portion of the cover 11 has an arcuate recess 30 extending inwardly through part of the thickness of the depending portion of the cover. This recess is bounded by a, circumferential shoulder 31 and by end shoulders 32. The recess is positioned to receive the lid flange 15 when the lid is in the closed position of FIGS. 1 and 4 and, when closed, it is to be noted from FIG. 1 that the ends of the lid flange 15' are adjacent the ends 32 of the cover recess and that the arcuate lower edge of the lid flange is closed against the circumferential shoulder 31. It is also to be noted from FIG. 1 that, when the lid is closed, the outer surface of the flange 15 of the lid is substantially flush with the outer surface of the depending portion of the cover 11.

As is shown in FIG. 3 of the drawing, the opening 21 at the upper end of the body which is partially exposed when the cover lid 15 is swung upwardly to its open position is of suflicient size to permit the ready discharge of water from the carafe, as indicated diagrammatically by the arrows in said drawing, but said opening is small enough to prevent the escape of ice cubes 22 therefrom.

The result is that with the present invention a hospital patient or attendant can pour a drink 'without the ice cubes falling from the carafe, which is apt to cause the water to splash or spill on the beside table. This is a distinct improvement over the conventional open-top water pitchers or carafes heretofore utilized in hospitals. Moreover, in contrast to said conventional, open-top vessels, the cover member featured in the present invention promotes sanitation by keeping both the top opening and pouring lip covered when the carafe is not in use.

While the present invention has been designed primarily for use in hospitals, it can also be advantageously employed for numerous other applications, of course. The invention is by no means to be limited in this respect. Similarly, while one preferred embodiment of the new carafe structure has been disclosed in detail herein, numerous variations or modifications thereof will undoubtedly occur to those skilled in the art. What is intended to be covered herein, therefore, is not only the illustrated form of the invention but also any variations or modifications thereof as may come within the spirit of said invention.

What I claim is:

1. A carafe formed of resilient plastic comprising a body of circular cross section having a flat bottom and an open top, a circular cover removably mounted on the upper end of said body, said cover having a flat top with an annular depending portion fitting over the upper end of said body, an outer portion of the top of said cover being swingable on a chordal hinge line which extends from one side of the periphery of the cover top to the opposite side, said hinge line being substantially shorter than the diameter of said top and defining a lid which is substantially less than semi-circular, the peripheral portion of said lid having a depending flange throughout its length provided with end portions and with an arcuate lower edge, the depending portion of said cover having an arcuate recess extending inwardly through part of its thickness, which recess is bounded by a circumferential shoulder and by end shoulders, said recess being positioned to receive the lid flange when the lid is in closed position, with the ends of the lid flange positioned adjacent the ends of the cover recess and with the arcuate lower edge of the lid flange closed against the circumferential shoulder of the cover, and means for releasably holding the lid in closed position.

2. A carafe as claimed in claim 1 in which the thickness of the lid flange is such with respect to the depth of the adjacent cover recess that when the lid is closed the outer surface of the flange of the lid is substantially flush with the outer surface of the depending portion of the cover.

3. A carafe as claimed in claim 1 in which the hinge line is formed by an indentation line on the underside of the cover whereby the lid is normally urged to a partially-raised position.

4. A carafe as claimed in claim 1 in which there is an annular, outwardly-opening, recessed channel formed in the upper portion of the body spaced below the upper end thereof, and in which the cover has inwardly-extending projecting means removably snapped into said recessed channel of the body to removably secure the cover in position.

5. A carafe as claimed in claim 1 in which the cooperating means on the lid and cover for releasably holding the lid in closed position comprises an outwardly-projecting shoulder on the recessed portion of the cover above the circumferential shoulder and an inwardly-projecting lip on the interior of the lid flange positioned to snap beneath said shoulder.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,950,847 8/ 1960 Tupper 222-556X 3,018,931 1/1962 Westgate 222556X 3,212,686 10/1965 Pierro et al. 222556X 3,227,330 1/ 1966 Sadler 222-556X 3,499,588 3/1970 Bartilson et a1 222556 M. H-ENSON WOOD, In, Primary Examiner M. Y. MAR, Assistant Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 222533, 556, 562

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