Abstract:
Foldable/collapsible cookware is shown having a flexible cooking surface, attached in face-to-face orientation with a heat-heat receiving surface having at least two parts. The first and second parts of the heat-receiving surface are movable between a first cooking position in which the flexible cooking surface is substantially unbent, and a second storage position in which the flexible cooking surface is substantially bent upon itself.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    Priority is hereby claimed to provisional application Ser. No. 62/045,161, filed Sep. 3, 2014, which is incorporated herein by reference. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    Disclosed herein is foldable and otherwise collapsible cookware that allows for compact storage and easy transport, yet can be used to cook food over an open flame heat source such as a gas range. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0003]    Cookware, of course, is used to hold and apply heat to food during preparation of the food. Exemplary pieces of cookware include stock pots, woks, frying pans and the like. As used herein, the word “cookware” refers generically to any of these and similar types of cookware. Although cookware comes in many different shapes and sizes, all cookware includes two basic elements: a first surface for receiving thermal energy from a heat source, i.e., the “heat-receiving surface,” and a second surface for applying the heat to raw food to be cooked, i.e., the “cooking surface.” In the case of conventional cookware, the heat-receiving surface and the cooking surface are the two opposing faces of a monolithic or laminar sheet of heat-transfer material—typically steel, copper, copper-coated steel, aluminum, these materials with the cooking surface further coated with an non-stick material, and the like. 
         [0004]    Cooking itself is a straightforward process and well known. In a typical process for cooking food, a piece of cookware holding the raw food to be cooked (or the raw food plus a liquid medium, such as water or cooking oil) is placed on a gas range having a burner. When ignited, the burner produces a flame that rises up in response to the pressure of the gas in the range&#39;s supply piping. The buoyancy of the hot air causes the flame to touch the heat-receiving surface of the cookware—i.e., the bottom of the pan. Thermal energy is transferred from the flame to the heat-receiving surface of the cookware via convection as well as thermal radiation. Thus, the heat-receiving surface absorbs the thermal energy from the burning gas from the range. Thermal conduction then transfers the thermal energy from the heat-receiving surface to the cooking surface of the cookware. The rate and efficiency of the heat transfer is a function of the material from which the cookware is made (for example, steel vs. copper vs. aluminum). The cooking surface of the cookware then transfers thermal energy to the food to be cooked via conduction and convection. 
         [0005]    The efficiency and rate at which the heat is transferred from the heat-receiving surface to the cooking surface for any given piece of cookware is dictated in major part by the heat capacity and the specific heat of the material from which the cookware is made. These two measures are sometimes confused: Heat capacity is the ratio of the amount of energy absorbed by the material to the associated temperature rise of the material (that is, energy input/temperature rise, for example Joules/Kelvin). Thus, materials having a low heat capacity are desired for cookware because a small amount of input energy yields a larger associated temperature rise. Specific heat is the heat capacity of a material per unit of mass (energy input/(temperature)(mass), for example, Joules/(gram)(Kelvin)). Again, materials having relatively low specific heats are desirable for cookware because they transfer heat efficiently. Because metals have very low heat capacity and specific heat, they are conventionally used for cookware. For example, iron has a specific heat of 0.444 J/g° C. The specific heat of aluminum is 0.900 J/g° C.; the specific heat of copper is 0.385 J/g° C. The low specific heat of copper thus makes it desirable as a cookware material. 
         [0006]    A drawback, of course, is that metals are heavy. Thus, while cast iron skillets and Dutch ovens are well known for their desirable cooking characteristics, cast iron cookware is very, very heavy. Aluminum gives the benefit of lighter weight, but lower thermal efficiency. Whatever metal is chosen, cookware tends to be bulky and difficult to store. Thus, there remains a long-felt and unmet need for cookware that is both thermally efficient and easy to store. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES 
         [0007]      FIG. 1  is a top perspective rendering of the foldable/collapsible cookware disclosed herein in the deployed, cooking position. 
           [0008]      FIG. 2  is a front perspective rendering of the foldable/collapsible cookware in the deployed, cooking position. 
           [0009]      FIG. 3  is a bottom perspective rendering of the flexible, cooking surface of the cookware, in isolation (i.e., removed from the heat-receiving surface). 
           [0010]      FIG. 4  is a top perspective rendering of the foldable/collapsible cookware in the folded position. 
           [0011]      FIG. 5  is a front elevation rendering of the foldable/collapsible cookware in the folded position. 
           [0012]      FIG. 6  is a side elevation rendering of the foldable/collapsible cookware in the folded position. 
           [0013]      FIG. 7  is a top perspective rendering of another version the foldable/collapsible cookware disclosed herein in the deployed, cooking position. 
           [0014]      FIG. 8  is a top perspective rendering of the version shown in  FIG. 7 , in the process of moving from the deployed, cooking position, into the folded or collapsed, storage position. 
           [0015]      FIG. 9  is a top perspective rendering of the version shown in  FIG. 7  in the folded or collapsed position. 
           [0016]      FIG. 10  is a top perspective, exploded rendering of the version of the foldable/collapsible cookware depicted in  FIG. 7 . 
       
    
    
       [0017]    Throughout all of the figures, the same reference numerals are used to identify the same structures. 
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0018]    Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , depicted is foldable/collapsible cookware  10 . The cookware includes a flexible cooking surface  12  and an optional, two-part, folding handle comprising handle members  16  and  16 ′. In one version of the cookware, the optional handle members  16  and  16 ′ (if present) are fixed (permanently or reversibly) to the flexible cooking surface  12  via a mounting bracket  14 . The mounting bracket  14  is attached to a center section  22 , described in detail below. (See  FIGS. 4 and 5 .) As depicted in  FIG. 1 , the mounting bracket  14  defines a channel  15 . Flanges  17  on the handle members  16  and  16 ′ are structured to engage within the channel  15  in mounting bracket  14 , thereby rotatably attaching the handle members to the mounting bracket  14 . 
         [0019]    Referring now to all of the drawing figures, the flexible cooking surface  12  is fabricated from any suitable, heat-resistant material. The material must be sufficiently flexible that it can be folded upon itself in the fashion depicted in  FIGS. 4 ,  5 , and  6 . The preferred material for the cooking surface  12  is heat-resistant silicone that has been cast or otherwise formed into the desired shape. As shown in the figures, the cooking surface  12  is formed into the shape of a skillet or frying pan—i.e., generally round with a low, sloping perimeter wall extending upward that allows easy access to the food within. This shape is exemplary, well known, and not limiting or exclusive. The cookware disclosed herein may take the shape of any type of conventional, well known cookware such as a stock pot, casserole, wok, sauté pan, etc., in any suitable shape (for example, round, square, rectangular, oval, etc.) Heat-resistant silicone sheet material is commercially available from several national and international suppliers, including Thunder Technologies LLC (Rochester Hills, Mich., USA), Dow Corning (Midland, Mich., USA), Softcare Silicone UK Limited (Leeds, West Yorkshire, England), and many others. 
         [0020]    Now referring specifically to FIGS.  2  and  4 - 6 , the cookware also includes a three-part heat-receiving surface. The heat-receiving surface comprises a central heat-receiving surface  22  to which are attached, in wing-like fashion, surfaces  18  and  18 ′. The wing-like heat-receiving surfaces  18  and  18 ′ serve a two-fold purpose. First, they function to give the cookware rigidity when in the deployed, cooking position. Second, they function to transfer heat from the chosen heat source to the flexible cooking surface  12 . The central heat-receiving surface  22  also serves these purposes, as well as providing a firm surface on which to mount bracket  14 . The bracket  14  may be mounted to the central heat-receiving surface  22  by any conventional means (permanent or reversible), such as nut and bolts, screws, rivets, welding, high-temperature adhesive, and the like. All three heat-receiving surfaces  18 ,  18 ′ and  22  are preferably made from those metals or glass conventionally used in the fabrication of cookware. Examples of such materials include, but are not limited to, aluminum, steel (e.g., stainless steels, carbon steels, alloy steels, and the like), iron (e.g., cast iron), brass, copper, glass, ceramic and “PYREX”—brand glasses. (“Pyrex” is a registered trademark of Corning Incorporated, Corning, N.Y., USA.) 
         [0021]    In one version of the cookware, the cooking surface  12  and  22 ′ (see below and  FIG. 3 ) and the heat-receiving surfaces  18 ,  18 ′, and  22  are joined together via an adhesive, such as high-temperature resistant glue. As shown in  FIG. 3 , the flexible cooking surface  12  includes a pair of fold lines or depressions  20  bracketing a central portion  22 ′ of the cooking surface  12  that enable the surface  12  to fold easily and repeatably into a storage position as shown in  FIGS. 4 ,  5  and  6 . That is, in one version of the cookware the fold lines  20  act as a living hinges that enable the surfaces  18  and  18 ′ to rotate smoothly with respect to central surface  22 , without bunching or binding of the cooking surface  12  about surface  22 ′ (see  FIG. 1 ). In this version of the cookware, the surfaces  18  and  18 ′ are not directly attached to the central surface  22 . Rather, all three of surfaces  18 ,  18 ′ and  22  are attached to the cooking surface  12  and fold lines  20  function as hinges to move the surfaces  18  and  18 ′ from a first cooking position (as shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 ) to a second storage position (as shown in  FIGS. 4 ,  5 , and  6 ). Alternatively, the surfaces  18  and  18 ′ may be directly attached to central surface  22  via at least two hinges—at least a first hinge linking surface  18  to surface  22 , and at least a second hinge linking surface  18 ′ to surface  22 . 
         [0022]    In the storage position, which is illustrated in  FIGS. 4 ,  5 , and  6 , the heat-receiving surfaces  18  and  18 ′ are folded/collapsed upward, toward one another, sandwiching the cooking surface  12  between surfaces  18  and  18 ′. The attached flexible cooking surface  12  is thus folded upon itself. The two handle members  16  and  16 ′ can then be rotated from a first cooking position as shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , to a second storage position in which the handle member  16  is resting against heat-receiving surface  18  and handle member  16 ′ is resting against heat-receiving surface  18 ′. See  FIG. 6 , for example. In the storage position, the space occupied by the cookware  10  is very nearly cut in half. 
         [0023]      FIG. 7  depicts another version of the cookware in which handle  16 ″ is a monolithic assembly that is mounted via mounting bracket  14  and fastener  28  to surface  22  of the cookware. (See also  FIG. 10 .)  FIG. 8  shows how the handle  16 ″ is rotatable to the storage position. The cooking surface  12  is then foldable upward as shown in  FIG. 8  so that the handle  16 ″ is enveloped by the two wings of the cooking surface. A closing mechanism,  24  and  26  is included to reversibly lock the cookware in the storage position. As shown in  FIG. 8 , the closing mechanism comprises a simple hook  24  and tab  26 . Any suitable closing mechanism, such as a spring-loaded latch, slot-and-tab closure, and the like, may also be used. Mounting bracket  14  is shown, along with fastener  28 . 
         [0024]      FIG. 9  shows the version of the cookware as shown in  FIG. 7 , but in the closed, storage position. The handle  16 ″ has been rotated into the interior, and thus is not visible (except for the end that attaches to the mounting bracket  14  via fastener  28 . Surface  22  is visible, as is one of the heat-receiving surfaces  18 . The other heat-receiving surface,  18 ′, is hidden from view in  FIG. 9 . The closing mechanism,  24  and  26 , is shown in shadow in both the latched position and unlatched position. 
         [0025]      FIG. 10  shows the version of the cookware as shown in  FIG. 7 , but in exploded view. As disclosed earlier, the cooking surface  12  attaches to heat-receiving surfaces  18  and  18 ′, as well as central surface  22 . Heat-receiving surfaces  18  and  18 ′ are attached in wing-like fashion to the central surface  22  and are movable between the cooking position (as shown in  FIG. 10 ) and the storage position (as shown in  FIG. 9 ). The handle  16 ″ attaches to the mounting bracket  14  via fastener  28 , and is movable between the cooking position (as shown in  FIG. 10 ) the storage position (as shown in  FIG. 9 ). The closing mechanism,  24  and  26 , is shown detached from the cooking surface  12 . As shown in  FIG. 10 , the closing mechanism,  24  and  26 , attaches in rivet-like fashion to mating apertures in the sides of the cooking surface  12 . 
         [0026]    Numerical ranges as used herein are intended to include every number and subset of numbers contained within that range, whether specifically disclosed or not. Further, these numerical ranges should be construed as providing support for a claim directed to any number or subset of numbers in that range. For example, a disclosure of from 1 to 10 should be construed as supporting a range of from 2 to 8, from 3 to 7, from 1 to 9, from 3.6 to 4.6, from 3.5 to 9.9, and so forth. 
         [0027]    All references to singular characteristics or limitations of the present invention shall include the corresponding plural characteristic or limitation, and vice-versa, unless otherwise specified or clearly implied to the contrary by the context in which the reference is made. The indefinite articles “a” and “an” mean “one or more” unless clearly stated otherwise. 
         [0028]    The cookware disclosed herein may can comprise, consist of, or consist essentially of the essential elements and limitations of disclosed herein, as well as any additional or optional components, structures, or limitations known in the art of cookware.