Abstract:
An ergonomic handle for a kitchen article is provided permitting three distinct holding positions. For that, on its lower face, it has a first transverse groove and a second transverse groove spaced apart from each other and, on its upper face, an upper housing. The handle is formed of two successive non aligned sections.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to handles for handling kitchen articles such as saucepans, braising pans or frying pans. 
     The U.S. Pat. No. 2 345 248 describes a kitchen article handle in which the lower face of the handle has a central concave part in the form of an arc defining a transverse housing in which four fingers may be accommodated. Accommodation is provided for the thumb on a lateral handle face. Such a handle is adapted to a grip in which the thumb is on the side of the handle. The forces required for holding the kitchen article are borne partially by the friction forces of the fingers on the side faces of the handle. The result is that holding the kitchen article requires appreciable force to produce said lateral friction, and the wrist is in an orientation which is not favorable for making tipping movements with a transverse axis. 
     The present invention has more particularly as an object to substantially improve the grip of the hand of the user on the kitchen article handle and to make this grip adapted to particular forces which appear between the hand of the user and the handle during movements which are imparted to the kitchen article during its normal use. 
     According to another object of the invention, the handle of the invention may be held in several ways, each way being adapted to a particular use of the kitchen article in a first holding position, the hand is relatively close to the kitchen article itself, so that holding accuracy is increased and the force required for carrying the kitchen article by the handle is reduced. 
     In a second position, the hand is spaced slightly away from the kitchen article body. 
     In a third position, the hand is very much removed from the kitchen article, and is thus protected from projections of food when cooking over a high heat. 
     In all positions of use, the hand adapts itself perfectly well to the particular shape of the handle of the invention, and this particular shape opposes the relative sliding of the handle and of the hand both in the longitudinal direction of the handle, and in the direction of axial rotation of the handle. 
     Furthermore, the shape of the handle of the invention is particularly well adapted to the use in which, for each of the positions of use, the user disposes his thumb longitudinally on the upper face of the handle, and his other fingers in opposition transversely under the lower face of the handle. It can be seen that the hand is thus in an optimum position for supporting and countering the forward tipping force imparted by the mass contained in the body of the kitchen article: the wrist joint is naturally disposed in an orientation making it possible to limit downward tipping of the kitchen article without muscular effort as well as making possible an appreciable angular movement of the joint to impart on the kitchen article upward tipping movements with transverse axis. The forces for holding the kitchen article are borne by the compression forces of the fingers on the upper and lower faces of the handle. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     To attain these objects as well as others, the handle of the invention comprises an elongate body, ending in a first end or attachment end providing connection of the handle with the kitchen article body and ending in a second end or free end; the handle comprises, on its lower part, a first transverse groove with rounded edges disposed at a small distance from the first end of the handle, this groove is formed so as to permit transverse engagement of a finger of the user; the handle has on its lower face a second transverse groove with rounded edges spaced apart from the first transverse groove in the direction of the second handle end, the second groove is intended to permit transverse engagement of a finger of the user. 
     The spacing between the first and second transverse grooves is advantageously greater than the normal transverse spacing between the little finger and the forefinger of the same hand of the user when the fingers are touching. 
     In a particular embodiment, the second transverse groove is spaced from the second end of the handle by a distance between 3 and 8 centimeters. Thus, the user may hold the handle with his forefinger engaged in the second transverse groove, whereas the second end of the handle is accommodated in the hollow of his hand. 
     The handle of the invention advantageously comprises a first handle section, included between the first handle end and the second transverse groove and a second handle section between the second handle end and the second transverse groove. The first and second handle sections are not aligned with each other and form therebetween a non flat angle. This angle may advantageously be between 10° and 20°. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     Other objects, characteristics and advantages of the present invention will be clear from the following description of particular embodiments, with reference to the accompanying figures in which: 
     FIG. 1 shows a side view of a handle in accordance with the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 shows a top view of the handle of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 shows a bottom view of the handle of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 4 shows a side view of a kitchen article fitted with a handle of the present invention, in a holding position in which the hand is close to the kitchen article; 
     FIG. 5 is a side view of the kitchen article of FIG. 4, the hand being in an intermediate position; and 
     FIG. 6 is a side view of the kitchen article of FIG. 4, the hand being in a position remote from the kitchen article. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, a handle 1 comprises an elongate body, ending in a first end 2 or attachment end, formed so as to be fitted and fixed on a kitchen article not shown. The handle ends oppositely in a second end or free end 3. 
     The lower face 4 of the handle comprises a first transverse groove 5, with rounded edges, disposed at a small distance from the first end 2 of the handle; the handle has on its lower face 4 a second transverse groove 6 with rounded edges spaced apart from the first transverse groove in the direction of the second handle end 3. 
     The spacing E between the first 5 and second 6 transverse grooves, or distance separating the bottom of the grooves, is advantageously between about 7 and 9 cm. Thus, this spacing E is greater than the mean distance between the little finger and the forefinger of the same hand of a normal user, when his fingers are touching. 
     In the embodiment shown in the figures, the transverse grooves 5 and 6 advantageously have a cylindrical shape with semi-circular section, the dimension of the section being just sufficient to permit accommodation of a finger, as shown in the drawings. 
     The upper face 7 of the handle comprises a housing 8 substantially opposite the first groove 5. Housing 8, in the embodiment shown, is an elliptical recess for accommodating the end of a thumb of the user. The upper housing 8 is slightly offset in the direction of the first handle end 2 with respect to the first transverse groove 5, as shown in the figures. It will be noted in FIG. 1 that, in the vicinity of the first end 2 of the handle, the upper face 7 has a raised nose portion 9, providing spacing of the thumb with respect to the kitchen article. The raised portion 9 serves as thumb positioning limiter, so as to avoid any contact with the metal parts of the kitchen article which may possibly be hot. 
     Similarly, in the vicinity of the first end 2 of the handle, the lower face 4 of the handle has a recess for limiting the positioning of the fingers of the hand and avoiding any contact with the metal parts of the kitchen article which may possibly be hot. 
     In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the handle comprises two parts not aligned with respect to each other: a first handle section 10 included between the second transverse groove 6 and the first handle end 2 and a second handle section 11 between the second transverse groove 6 and the second end 3 of the handle. The first and second handle sections form therebetween a non flat angle, advantageously between 10° and 20°. As can be seen in the figure, the orientation of the handle sections with respect to each other is such that the lower faces of the first handle section 10 and second handle section 11 are brought close together. 
     The transverse section of the handle is advantageously flattened, and such that the width of the handle is greater than its height: the upper 7 and lower 4 faces are wider than the lateral faces of the handle. 
     The handle portion between the first transverse groove 5 and the second transverse groove 6 advantageously has a cross section whose form and size are substantially constant whatever the longitudinal position considered along the handle. The same goes for the handle portion between the second transverse groove 6 and the second end 3 of the handle. 
     When the handle is fixed to a kitchen article body, the lower face of the handle is oriented in the same direction as the lower face of the kitchen article In other words, the lower face of the handle is turned downwards when the kitchen article is placed flat on a horizontal plane. 
     The use of a handle according to the present invention is illustrated in FIGS. 4 to 6. 
     In FIG. 4, the position of the hand is shown for taking the container off the cooking heat. In this position, the thumb is accommodated in housing 8, the forefinger is disposed transversely with respect to the handle and is accommodated in the first transverse groove 5 it can be seen that the little finger is in an intermediate position between the first transverse groove 5 and the second transverse groove 6, or engaged in the second groove 6. The hand is then in a close up position with respect to the kitchen article, which tends to reduce the force required for carrying it; closing in of the hand to the kitchen article is however limited both by the first transverse groove 5 and the upper housing 8 and the raised portion 9. 
     A kitchen article held by a hand disposed in an intermediate position is shown in FIG. 5. This position makes it possible to handle the container on the cooking heat during cooking. In this position, the third finger is accommodated in the second transverse groove 6 whereas the forefinger is in an intermediate position between the first transverse groove 5 and the second transverse groove 6. The thumb bears against the upper face of the handle and the second section 11 of the handle follows the hollow of the hand. 
     In FIG. 6 is shown the third position for holding the kitchen article with the handle of the present invention. This position is particularly well adapted for frying or browning foods in the case of using a frying pan. In this position, the forefinger is accommodated in the second transverse groove 6, the thumb bears against the upper face of the handle, and the second end 3 of the handle is accommodated in the hollow of the hand. 
     The present invention is not limited to the embodiments which have been explicitly described, but includes the different variants and generalizations thereof contained within the scope of the following claims.