Patent Publication Number: US-2022211209-A1

Title: Means for stirring contents of a pot through a covered lid

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to cookware and, more particularly, a means for satisfactorily stirring contents of a pot through a covered lid. 
     While stirring hot food in an uncovered pot, the contents of the pot can bubble up and splatter causing physical harm to the person tending to the food as well as creating a mess on the stovetop and surrounding areas. 
     Relying on the manual use of a pot&#39;s lid as a shield against hot, splattering food still presents a problem because the user cannot simultaneously stir the contents satisfactorily and be shielded, as the user would need to raise the lid and insert and maneuver a stirring utensil. This necessary space, in turn, creates an opening for hot, splattering contents to get on the human&#39;s fingers, hand, wrist, arm, stovetop, articles of clothing, and any surrounding areas. 
     Other devices or systems in the field either require a user to at least lift a portion of the lid from the pot in order to stir its contents, or they do not appreciate that stirring is not as simple as moving a utensil randomly or haphazardly through just portion of the contents. 
     As for the requirement of detaching at least a portion of the lid, as mentioned above, current devices or systems do not work well because they allow contents of the pot to splatter beyond the pot while cooking. 
     Turning now to the importance of proper stirring, for those who care about the results of their cooking efforts, it is understood in the art of cooking that stirring is a purposefully act, with dos and don&#39;ts. Competent stirring includes, but is not necessarily limited to, the following purposes: to create a homogenous mixture; to evenly disperse temperature; and to alter the viscosity of a liquid (thicker or thinner). As a result, ensuring that the stirring utensil can reach the entirety of the bottom including the corners is important for preventing uneven temperature increases of the food stuff (e.g., preventing burning a portion of the contents), especially when stirring high viscosity liquids (think: sauces) over heat. 
     As can be seen, there is a need for a means for satisfactorily stirring contents of a pot through a covered lid. The present invention obviates the need to remove the lid from the cooking pot to any degree in order to stir its hot, splattering contents, thus fully shielding the user and surrounding areas against the bubbling contents during the stirring process. 
     The stir-through lid embodied by the present invention may include a self-minimizing, bristled pathway the utensil can stir through. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In one aspect of the present invention, a stir-through lid including a tortuous opening extending circuitously from a central point at or near the center of the stir-through lid to a peripheral point just inward of a periphery of the stir-through lid, wherein the peripheral point is disposed a peripheral distance along the stir-through lid from said periphery thereof, and wherein the central point is disposed a central distance along the stir-through lid from said center, wherein the peripheral distance is equal to or less than one-fourth a radial distance between said periphery and said center, and wherein the central distance is equal to or less than one-fourth the radial distance; a plurality of bristles occupying the tortuous opening from the central point to the peripheral point, wherein the plurality of bristles comprises a first plurality cantilevered from one edge of the tortuous opening and a second plurality cantilevered from an opposing edge of the tortuous opening so that a distal end of first and second pluralities interlock and/ or abut, wherein the plurality of bristles is flexible, resilient, and biased in an un-urged position in such a way as to be self-minimizing, and wherein the stir-through lid is transparent. 
     These and other features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following drawings, description and claims. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, shown in use; 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of a stir-through lid of the present invention; 
         FIG. 3  is a top plan view of an exemplary embodiment of the stir-through lid of present invention; 
         FIG. 4  is a detailed top plan view of an exemplary embodiment of a self-minimizing opening of the stir-through lid of the present invention; 
         FIG. 5  is a section view of an exemplary embodiment of the stir-through lid of the present invention, taken along line 5-5 of  FIG. 2 ; 
         FIG. 6  is a detailed section view of  FIG. 5 ; 
         FIG. 7  is a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, shown in use illustrating insertion of a utensil through the self-minimizing opening; 
         FIG. 8  is a section view of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, taken along line 8-8 of  FIG. 1 ; and 
         FIG. 9  is a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, shown in use illustrating sufficiently stirring through the stir-through lid of the present invention, whereby the stirring can purposefully reach the entirety of the bottom of the pot as well as the corners so that the contents of the pot can be evenly mixed, stirred, and/or heated. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The following detailed description is of the best currently contemplated modes of carrying out exemplary embodiments of the invention. The description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, but is made merely for the purpose of illustrating the general principles of the invention, since the scope of the invention is best defined by the appended claims. 
     Broadly, an embodiment of the present invention provides a stir-through lid providing a tortuous opening extending from or near the center of the stir-through lid circuitously until the tortuous opening ends just inward of the periphery of the stir-through lid. The tortuous opening is substantially filled with bristles extending from both edges of the tortuous opening so that the distal ends of the bristles abut and/or interlock. The bristles are flexible, resilient, and biased in a radial, un-urged position so that when a utensil is introduced through the bristles, the bristles are self-minimizing as they biasedly engage the introduced utensil. Finally, the tortuous opening enables the introduced utensil to reach the entirety of the cookware the lid operatively associates with, including the corners thereof. 
     Referring now to  FIGS. 1 through 9 , the present invention may include a stir-through lid  12  made of, preferably, transparent or translucent material (such as glass, tempered glass, plasticized material or other synthetic material), wherein the stir-through lid  12  has a peripheral rim  10  dimensioned and adapted to enclose an opening of an operatively associable cookware  22 . The cookware  22  may be anything suitable for cooking or baking (including but not limited to a pot, saucepan, wok, and the like) having a cavity for contents, wherein the cavity communicates to said opening enclosed by the stir-through lid  12 . The stir-through lid  12  may or may not have a handle  20 , which may extend from the peripheral rim  10 , be centrally disposed, or located anywhere along an exterior portion of the stir-through lid  12 . The handle  20  may be a vented knob. 
     The stir-through lid  12  provides a tortuous opening  14  that communicates to said opening; in other words, the tortuous opening  14  is operative between an exterior and an interior of the stir-through lid  12 . The tortuous opening  14  may define or be defined by a spiral or a curve which emanates from a central point  40 , at or near the center of the stir-through lid  12 , wherein the tortuous opening  14  moves farther away as it revolves around the central point  40 . In certain embodiments, the curvature of the tortuous opening  14  is on a plane that winds around the central point  40  at a continuously increasing or decreasing distance from the central point  40 . In other embodiments, the curvature of the tortuous opening  14  is three-dimensional and turns around an axis at a constant or continuously varying distance while moving parallel to the axis. The tortuous opening  14  terminates just inward from the outer perimeter/peripheral rim  10  at a peripheral point  50 . 
     The distance between peripheral point  50  and the perimeter/peripheral rim  10  (herein, the “peripheral distance”) may be equal to or less than one-third the ‘radius’ of the stir-through lid  12  (assuming the lid  12  is circular, which it may not be in certain embodiments)—i.e., the distance between the perimeter/peripheral rim  10  and the center of the stir-through lid  12 . The distance between central point  40  and the center of the stir-through lid  12  (herein, the “central distance”) may be equal to or less than one-third the ‘radius’ of the stir-through lid  12 . By way of example, if the stir-through lid  12  were circular and had a radius of nine inches, the peripheral distance (between the peripheral point  50  and the perimeter/peripheral rim  10 ) would be three inches or less, while the central distance would be three inches or less. Yet in other embodiments, the central point  40  and the peripheral point  50  could be a shared point, as the tortuous opening  14  where a circular or oval shape. 
     The tortuous opening  14  may be similar to a strip filled with bristles  18  protruding from both sides of the tortuous opening  14 , wherein the bristles  18  interlock and/or abut. Specifically, the bristles  18  may extend radially from each of the opposing edges of the tortuous opening  14  so that the distal ends of the bristles  18  interlock and/or abut tip to tip (as shown in  FIG. 5 ) or the distal ends may be offset so as to nest in the spaced afforded by two opposing bristles  18 . In short, the number, positioning, radial extent, width, orientation and shape of bristles  18  may vary from that illustrated. 
     The bristles  18  may be flexible, resilient, tapered protrusions, whereby the tortuous opening  14  is self-minimizing—i.e., the tortuous opening  14  resiliently allows for introduction of a cooking utensil  24  therethrough, as necessary, by urging the flexible bristles  18  to pivot or bend downward toward the cookware  22  (as illustrated in  FIG. 8 ); though, the bristles  18  are elastically biased in the planar, un-urged, radial position (as illustrated in  FIG. 6 ), thereby minimizing the size of the opening around the inserted portion of the utensil  24 , when the utensil  24  is in use. Moreover, this bias enables the bristles  18  to hold the utensil  24  in place, as illustrated in  FIG. 8 . 
     The proximal ends of the bristles  18  may be connected to and/or in the opposing edges by way of slots  16  or other connection methodologies. In other embodiments, the tortuous opening  14  may be reconfigured in a variety of pathway design beyond the indicated spiral yet perform a similar function; the tortuous opening  14  could zig-zag or take the shape of a square, circle, or any other shaping. 
     A method of using the present invention may include the following. The stir-through lid  12  disclosed above may be provided. A user  26  can insert the stirring utensil  24  into the bristled tortuous opening  14  and guide it along the bristled pathway freely in any direction. The bristling  18  is interlocking, serving as teeth or guides that allow the user to leave the utensil in the pathing upright without falling over in any direction, yet users can easily pass the utensil  24  in and out of the bristled pathway. 
     To use the present invention, the user  26  would affix the stir-through lid  12  to the cookware  22 , insert their applicable stirring utensil  24  into the bristled pathway of the tortuous opening  14 , and guide it along the pathing in their desired direction: enabling the working end of the utensil  24  to reach and engage the entirety of the bottom of the cookware  22 , including the corners. 
     Additionally, the present invention can also be used to cover other containers beyond cooking pots that have contents that need to be stirred, mixed, or agitated. 
     It should be understood, of course, that the foregoing relates to exemplary embodiments of the invention and that modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims.