Abstract:
A food-cooking apparatus having a bowl and a drainer configured to be substantially the same size for stacking one of the bowl and the drainer within the other, and attaching means for movably attaching the drainer and the bowl to one another to move from a retaining position wherein one of the drainer and the bowl is stacked within the other to a flipping position wherein the drainer and the bowl are facing each other, and the rims of the bowl and the drainer are sealingly compressed against each other.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention relates generally to cooking apparatuses. More particularly, the present invention relates to a cooking apparatus used for retaining and washing foods such as pasta, fruits and vegetables. 
   BACKGROUND OF INVENTION 
   The use of bowls and drainers to retain, rinse and drain foods like pasta, fruits and vegetables is very common. Typically, a bowl is used to retain the food either before or after washing, and a drainer is used to drain the water from the food after the food has been washed. The steps required for washing the food usually are (1) pour water into the bowl containing the food, (2) clean the food in the bowl with the water, (3) transfer the food from the bowl to the drainer either by manually handling the food or by manually lifting the bowl and tilting it over the drainer to drop the food into the drainer, (4) allow the food to sit in the drainer until the water is drained out, and (5) transfer the food back into the bowl either by manually handling the food or by manually lifting the drainer and tilting it over the bowl to drop the food back into the bowl. 
   The use of a separate bowl and a separate drainer to retain and wash the food as described above is not ideal, it would be burdensome and time consuming for the user (the cook) to manually handle the food to transfer them from the bowl to the drainer and from the drainer back to the bowl, as discussed in steps (3) and (5) above, if the cook chooses the more convenient and time-efficient way of transferring the food from one of the bowl and drainer to the other by tilting the one containing the food over the other, he might spill some of the food being dropped into the drainer or bowl or, even worse, he might drop the bowl or drainer while lifting and tilting it. 
   Therefore, it can be appreciated that there exists a need for a food-cooking apparatus, which can be used for retaining and washing food in a convenient and easy way that is not prone to accidents. The present invention substantially fulfills this need. 
   SUMMARY OF INVENTION 
   To overcome the deficiencies of the prior art described above, the present invention accordingly provides a food-cooking apparatus having a bowl and a drainer configured to be substantially the same size for stacking one of the bowl and the drainer within the other, and attachment apparatus, or means, for movably attaching the drainer and the bowl to one another to move from a retaining position wherein one of the drainer and the bowl is stacked within the other to a flipping position wherein the drainer and the bowl are facing each other. 
   Preferably, the bowl and the drainer are shaped as a segment of a sphere. The bowl can have two bowl studs adjacent its rim and diametrically opposed from one another, and the drainer can have two drainer studs adjacent its rim and diametrically opposed from one another. Where this is the case, the attaching means can be two members each comprising an elongated aperture for receiving and maintaining one of the bowl studs and one of the drainer studs, whereby the bowl stud and the drainer stud can slide within the aperture. 
   The present invention provides the advantage of allowing a user to wash foods such as pasta, fruits and vegetables in a convenient and time-efficient way without the risk of spilling any or all of the food being washed. 
   Other advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those ordinarily skilled in the art upon reading and understanding the description of the preferred embodiment which follows. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     Embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the attached Figures, wherein: 
       FIG. 1  is a top view of a bowl according to an embodiment of the invention. 
       FIG. 2  is a top view of a drainer according to an embodiment of the invention. 
       FIG. 3  is an enlarged side view of a stud of the bowl of  FIG. 1  or the drainer of  FIG. 2 . 
       FIG. 4  is a side view of an attachment strip according to an embodiment of the invention. 
       FIG. 5  is a side view of an embodiment of the invention showing the bowl of  FIG. 1  and the drainer of  FIG. 2  movably attached by the attachment strip of  FIG. 4 , the drainer being moved halfway between the retaining position and the flipping position. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
   Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. The present invention provides an apparatus for retaining and rinsing food. Generally, the apparatus is a combination of a retaining bowl and a drainer.  FIGS. 1 and 2  show a bowl  100  and a drainer  200  according to one embodiment of the invention. The bowl  100  and drainer  200  are preferably of a spherical shape: they can be shaped as a semi-sphere or any other segment of a sphere. The bowl has two diametrically opposed studs  101  adjacent to its inturned rim  102  and two diametrically opposed tongues  103  on the inturned rim  102  projecting substantially away from the bottom of the bowl  100 . The drainer  200  also has two diametrically opposed studs  101  adjacent to its inturned rim  202  and two diametrically opposed grooves  203  in the inturned rim  202 . In addition, the drainer, of course, has drain holes  201 , which are usually symmetrically arranged. When the drainer  200  is stacked within the bowl  100 , the tongues  103  engage the grooves  203  to lock the drainer against any rotational movement relative to the bowl. 
   It should become obvious to a person of skill in the art after reading the description of the invention that the tongues and grooves could be reversed so that the rim of the bowl would have grooves in it and the rim of the drainer would have tongues. As such, the bowl can be stacked on top of the drainer in a similar manner to the one described above. Other locking means for locking one of the bowl and drainer against rotational movement relative to the other when stacked should also be obvious to a skilled person. 
     FIG. 3  shows in an enlarged view a stud  101  of the bowl of  FIG. 1  or the drainer of  FIG. 2 , which has a rod member  301  and a circular disc  302  mounted at the end of the rod member  301 .  FIG. 4  shows an attaching strip  401  for attaching the bowl  100  and drainer  200  to one another. The strip  401  has an elongated aperture in it for receiving and maintaining one of the studs of the bowl  100  and one of the studs of the drainer  200 . The width of the aperture is greater than the diameter of the rod members  301  to allow the studs  101  to slide within the strip  401 , but are smaller than the diameter of the discs  302  to allow the strip  401  to maintain the studs  101  once received. The strip  401  could be made of resilient deformable plastic that can be deformed to receive the studs  101  (or the discs  302  thereof), and then maintains the studs  101  when returned to its normal undeformable condition. Other attachment apparatus, or means, for movably attaching the bowl  100  and the drainer  200  to one another should be obvious to those skilled in the art. 
   Reference is now made to  FIG. 5  to illustrate the operation of the invention. Although suitable for many types of foods such as pasta, fruits and vegetables, for simplicity, the operation of the invention will be described with fruits in mind. As described above, the drainer  200  can be stacked within the bowl  100  and locked against rotational movement in the stacked position. In this position, the apparatus can be used for retaining the fruits. When one desires to wash (rinse) the fruits, one can do so by going through the following step:
         1. Fill the bowl  100  with water. The bowl  100  can be filled with water with the drainer  200  being stacked within it or, alternatively, the bowl  100  can be stacked within the drainer  200 , as explained above, and filled with water.  FIG. 5  is in line with the first arrangement. Accordingly, the following steps will also be in line with the option of having the drainer  200  stacked within the bowl  100 .   2. Wash the fruits while they are being soaked in the water.   3. Lift the drainer  200  vertically upward and move it in the direction of arrow  501  until the rims  102  and  202  of the drainer  200  and the bowl  100  are facing each other (i.e., the planes of the two rims are parallel to each other). By doing so, the fruits will drop from the drainer  200  into the bowl  100 . Of course, if the bowl  100  was stacked on top of and within the drainer  200 , the fruits would already be in the bowl  100 , and the user would have to lift the bowl  100  vertically upward and move the drainer  200  from below the bowl  100  in the direction of arrow  501 .   4. Align the rims  102  and  202  of the drainer  200  and the bowl  100  with one another and press them against each other. As shown in  FIG. 5 , the tongues  103  and the complimentary grooves  203  are positioned to the side of the inturned rims  102  and  202 , respectively.   5. Flip the apparatus  500  over a sink to allow the fruits and water to fall from the bowl  100  into the drainer  200  and allow the water be drained out of the drainer  200  through drain holes  201 .   6. After all of the water has drained out, lift the inverted bowl  100  vertically upward (disengaging the two rims  102  and  202 ), and move it in a similar manner as the one described above in step (3) so the drainer  200  is stacked again within the bowl  100  for maintaining the washed fruits within it.       

   The above description and accompanying drawings are presented to enable any person skilled in the art to make use of the invention and is provided in the context of a particular application and its requirements. Various modifications to the disclosed embodiments, will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments and applications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Thus, the present invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and features disclosed herein. The appended claims, properly construed, form the only limitation upon the scope of the invention.