Containers

A container for liquids having a cup-shaped base portion made of metal, and a shell portion permanently secured at its lower edge in liquid-tight manner to the upper edge of the base portion, the shell portion being made of a plastic material and being at least partially transparent or translucent.

This invention relates to containers for liquids, such as jugs, and more 
particularly but not in any limiting sense to containers for use as coffee 
percolators. 
Hitherto, conventional containers for use with hot liquids have usually had 
at least a major body portion made entirely of glass, for the advantage of 
visibility of the contents, or made entirely of metal or an opaque ceramic 
or other material, for the advantage of strength and unbreakability. Where 
the major body portion has been made of glass there has always been a 
serious drawback that such material is relatively fragile and is subject 
to breakage, particularly at the base which comes into contact with heat 
and is most likely to be struck against other objects when the container 
is in use. Whilst the use of metal, or strong ceramic, avoids this 
difficulty of breakage, it does not permit the desirable visibility of the 
contents of the container. 
It is accordingly the object of the present invention to provide an 
improved jug which combines the advantages of being at least partially 
transparent and at least partially made of an unbreakable material. 
According to the present invention a container for liquids comprises a 
cup-shaped base portion made of metal, and a shell portion permanently 
secured at its lower edge in liquid-tight manner to the upper edge of the 
base portion, the shell portion being made of a plastics material and 
being at least partially transparent or translucent. 
The liquid-tight securing of the lower edge of the shell portion to the 
upper edge of the base portion is preferably obtained by engagement of a 
rib on the lower edge of the shell portion within recessing bounded by a 
flange at the upper edge of the base portion, the shaping of the 
interfitting portions being such that the shell portion is locked against 
movement both vertically and laterally with respect to the base portion. 
In a convenient form of construction, the flange of the base portion 
defines a recess which opens upwardly, and an inturned lip which is spaced 
above and is opposed to the recess, the rib of the shell portion engaging 
into the recess, and between the recess-defining zone of the flange and 
its lip, whereby the shell portion is locked by the recess-defining zone 
and the intermediate portion of the flange against lateral movement. 
The shell portion may have a throat and handle assembly removably mounted 
thereon. Preferably the engagement between the assembly and the shell 
portion is made liquid-tight. In a preferred form of construction, the 
assembly defines a recess into which a neck on the shell portion is 
engaged by screw-threading. For better sealing, the shell portion may have 
two shoulders, one inside the neck and the other outside the neck, to 
receive in abutment the lower end of inner and outer walls of the assembly 
.

A container according to the present invention will now be described, by 
way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawing which is a 
sectional elevation. 
In the drawing there is shown a percolator container or jug having a main 
body portion "A" and a lid and handle assembly "B". The main body portion 
"A" is composed of a metal base portion 1 and an upper transparent 
plastics shell 2. The base portion 1 is cup-shaped, with an upstanding 
wall 3 at the upper edge of which is formed a flange 4 which presents an 
internal recess 5. Opposite to the recess 5, and above it, is an inturned 
lip 16. It will be appreciated that the shaping of the flange 4 is 
continued about the whole circumference of the wall 3. 
The plastics shell 2, made for example of polycarbonate material in crystal 
transparent finish and substantially unbreakable, has at its lower edge a 
radially outwardly projecting rib 7 which is adapted to seat into the 
space defined between the recess 5 and the lip 6, and which incorporates a 
depending bead 8 to seat into the recess 5. By this means, the shell 2 and 
the base portion 1 are securely locked together and cannot move relatively 
either laterally or vertically. Moreover, the engagement between the rib 7 
and the flange 4 is such that the connection between the two is liquid 
tight. 
At its upper end, the shell 2 has a neck 9 which is externally 
screw-threaded as at 10, and two shoulders 11 and 12 are formed one at the 
inside and one at the outside of the neck. 
The lid and handle assembly "B" is a two-piece assembly of a throat 13 and 
integral handle 14, on which is pivotably mounted an arm 15 carrying a lid 
16. The arm 15 is continued outwardly to form a knob 17 for actuation with 
the thumb to lift the lid. At its lower part, the throat 13 has a recess 
18 defined between an inner wall 19 and an outer wall 20, and the neck 9 
of the shell is received as a fluid-tight push fit in the recess 18. The 
inner face of the outer wall 20 is screw-threaded for engagement of the 
throat portion 13 onto the shell 2. When the two parts are fully engaged 
by the screw-threading, the lower end of the outer wall 20 abouts on the 
shoulder 12, and the lower end of the inner wall 19 abuts on the shoulder 
11, in sealing engagement. The lid and handle assembly could be made, for 
instance, of opaque polycarbonate plastics material. The base 1 could be 
made, for instance, of stainless steel. 
With such a construction, the entire container is substantially unbreakable 
under any normal usage short of deliberate destruction. The base is 
normally subjected to most blows when in use, and this is made of strong 
metal. The plastics portions, e.g. of polycarbonate are also capable of 
standing up to steam heat, under pressure, at 125.degree. C. (260.degree. 
F.), and are stain-resistant and odorless. The whole of the shell 2 is 
transparent and the advantage is thus obtained of having a container 
which, although permitting through vision, is nevertheless substantially 
unbreakable.