Abstract:
A kettle is presented whose spout lid opens automatically as if by magic when the user chooses to tilt the kettle. When a tea kettle is tilted to pour tea or another liquid, the spout lid opens automatically and in an amount proportional to the amount of the outward swing of a weight up to 27 degrees rotation of that weight. The weight is suspended from a spout lid assembly that sits atop the spout. The weight is coupled to the spout lid assembly by a coupling structure that in a preferred embodiment is a simple metal wire whose bottom portion is affixed to the weight and whose top portion is attached to the spout lid assembly. The weight is prevented from swinging outward more than 27 degrees by a stopper of the spout lid assembly that strikes the spout.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     The field of this invention is tea kettles, and more particularly, tea kettles that have a mechanism for automatically opening the spout lid.  
       Background of the Invention and Discussion of the Prior Art  
       [0002]     A common type of tea kettle is a kettle that whistles to alert the user that the water in the kettle is hot enough, i.e. near boiling point. The user then picks up the kettle and attempts to pour the near boiling liquid out of the kettle.  
         [0003]     A number of drawbacks associated with the use of these “whistling” tea kettles exist. One is that when pouring from them it is typically the case that the person holding the kettle has to perform two separate actions to successfully pour the hot water. One hand must lift and hold the kettle by its handle and tilt the kettle, which may be heavy and is definitely very hot on the outside surfaces, and, the other hand, or the same hand, has to open the lid on the spout of the kettle in order to permit water to pour out of the spout. In theory one could always open the lid prior to lifting the kettle but doing so may cause water to spill from the kettle if one is walking a significant distance with the kettle. Or one could intend to open the lid prior to lifting the kettle but forget to do so and be left with the need to open the lid while holding the kettle. Consequently, there are many scenarios in which the user has to open the spout lid while holding a heavy and very hot kettle.  
         [0004]     If the user first picks up the kettle with one hand, it is awkward to have to then manually open the spout lid. Besides the awkwardness of opening the spout lid while holding the kettle, opening the spout lid under any condition could be a tricky challenge due to the very hot surfaces on the kettle including the spout lid. It is noted that the spout lid is at least hot enough to allow hot steam from the liquid to traverse the hole in the lid, the process that generates the whistling sound. The user is pouring the kettle precisely because the water within it has approached boiling point and sufficient steam from the near-boiling water rushes past the hole in the spout lid.  
         [0005]     Some kettles have a plastic or rubber fixture affixed to the back of the metal spout lid so that the spout lid can be opened by pressing down on this fixture rather than by having to directly touch the actual hot lid. This is not a perfect solution however, because it still requires two actions to be performed—one, to pour the hot liquid out by tilting the kettle and two, to press down with an extended finger or fingers on the spout lid or on a plastic addendum affixed to the back of the spout lid. An additional problem is that there is always a risk of accidentally touching the metal portion of the spout lid or kettle adjacent the heat resistant fixture. The chance of this happening is heightened by the fact that the user is often trying to press down on the back of the spout lid to open it while simultaneously holding a heavy metal kettle filled with near boiling liquid.  
         [0006]     The insertion of this plastic or rubber fixture is also not a perfect solution because of the manufacturing difficulty of securely attaching the rubber or plastic fixture to the metal without it falling off.  
         [0007]     U.S. Pat. No. 6,006,959 is a kettle that attempts to solve the above problem by providing a kettle whose spout lid opens when the kettle handle is rotated. This kettle&#39;s spout lid, however, does not close automatically when the kettle is restored to its upright position—one has to manually close the spout lid after each instance of pouring. In addition, the spout lid on this kettle has only two positions. The lack of an in-between position between “open” and “closed” constitutes a drawback in certain situations. For example, a kettle may be heated in the kitchen but poured from in the dining room. If the user wants to lift the kettle and let off some steam from the kettle to cool off the water after it whistles but does not want to let too much steam out of the kettle while transporting the kettle from the kitchen to the dining room table, the user may not want the spout lid completely open. Furthermore, having an open position and a closed position for the spout lid is prosaic and not interesting. There is a need for a more interesting alternative. An additional drawback of the design in the &#39;959 patent is that the mechanism for causing the automatic opening of the spout lid is an intricate physical shape that may be disfavored by manufacturers.  
         [0008]     The present invention addresses the above problems and solves them in a manner that provides advantages not taught or demonstrated by the prior art.  
       SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION  
       [0009]     A kettle is presented whose spout lid opens automatically as if by magic when the user chooses to tilt the kettle. When a tea kettle is tilted to pour tea or another liquid, the spout lid opens automatically and in an amount proportional to the amount of the outward swing of a weight, at least during the up to 27 degree outward rotation of that weight. The weight is suspended from a spout lid assembly that sits atop the spout. The weight is coupled to the spout lid assembly by a coupling structure that in a preferred embodiment is a simple metal wire whose bottom portion is affixed to the weight and whose top portion is attached to the spout lid assembly. The weight is prevented from swinging outward more than 27 degrees by a stopper of the spout lid assembly that strikes the spout. The stopping mechanism and the position of the spout lid assembly along the spout together with the length and angle of the spout also ensure that the weight is not in the path of the falling stream of liquid being poured from the spout of the kettle.  
         [0010]     In a preferred embodiment, the spout lid assembly includes a bracket welded to the top surface of the spout, a stationary bracket cover, the spout lid, a movable plastic extension extending backward from the spout lid to the bracket and a lock plate that captures the top portion of the coupling structure in a frictional fit.  
       IMPORTANT OBJECTS AND ADVANTAGES  
       [0011]     The following important objects and advantages of the present invention are:  
         [0012]     (1) to provide a kettle whose spout lid opens automatically when the kettle is tiled;  
         [0013]     (2) to provide a kettle that is safe to pour hot liquid from;  
         [0014]     (3) to provide a kettle that can be used to pour hot liquid from without having to use two hands;  
         [0015]     (4) to provide a kettle that can be used to pour boiling liquid from without having to touch the spout lid;  
         [0016]     (5) to provide a kettle whose spout lid opens in an amount proportional to the amount that the pourer tilts the kettle, at least over a certain range of angles of the tilt;  
         [0017]     (6) to provide a kettle that does not require moving around one&#39;s fingers to manipulate any part of the kettle while pouring;  
         [0018]     (7) to provide a kettle that is easy to pour from;  
         [0019]     (8) to provide a kettle that is sleek;  
         [0020]     (9) to provide a kettle that is interesting to operate;  
         [0021]     (10) to provide a kettle that opens using gravity;  
         [0022]     (11) to provide a kettle whose automatic spout lid opening mechanism can be used regardless of the amount of liquid in the tea kettle;  
         [0023]     (12) to provide a kettle whose automatic spout lid opening mechanism can be used regardless of the materials used in the construction of the kettle;  
         [0024]     (13) to provide a kettle that pours automatically in a reliable manner;  
         [0025]     (14) to provide an automatically pouring tea kettle that is easy to manufacture;  
         [0026]     (15) to provide a kettle whose spout lid closes automatically when you put the kettle down or restore it to an upright position;  
         [0027]     (16) to provide a kettle that is easy to use;  
         [0028]     (17) to provide a kettle that has a weight suspended from a spout lid assembly;  
         [0029]     (18) to provide such a kettle wherein the weight never comes into contact with the body of the kettle even during the use of the kettle; and  
         [0030]     (19) to provide such a kettle wherein the automatic spout lid opening mechanism, including the weight, does not interfere with the process of pouring the liquid from the kettle or get in the path of the liquid being poured from the kettle. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0031]      FIG. 1  is a left side view of the tea kettle of the present invention;  
         [0032]      FIG. 2  is a front view thereof;  
         [0033]      FIG. 3  is a right side view thereof;  
         [0034]      FIG. 4  is a rear view thereof;  
         [0035]      FIG. 5  is a top view thereof;  
         [0036]      FIG. 6  is a bottom view thereof;  
         [0037]      FIG. 7  is a perspective view thereof;  
         [0038]      FIG. 8  is a left side view thereof in a tilted position during pouring;  
         [0039]      FIG. 9  is a sectional view taken along line  9 - 9  of  FIG. 3  with spout lid closed;  
         [0040]      FIG. 9A  is a sectional view similar to  FIG. 9  but with the bracket cover partially broken away and the spout lid in an open position;  
         [0041]      FIG. 10  is a fragmentary perspective view of the bracket attached to the spout in the kettle of the present invention;  
         [0042]      FIG. 11A  is a side view of a portion of the spout lid and spout lid extension in the spout lid assembly of the kettle of the present invention; and  
         [0043]      FIG. 11B  is a top view of the top portion of the coupling structure in the kettle of the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0044]     The apparatus of the present invention will now be illustrated by reference to the accompanying drawings. The kettle of the present invention has been assigned reference numeral  10 . Other elements have been assigned the reference numerals referred to below.  
         [0045]     As seen from  FIGS. 1-11B , a kettle  10  for holding a liquid such as tea is presented. The kettle  10  comprises a body  20  defining a cavity (not shown in drawings) for storing a liquid, the body  20  having a spout  24  defining an opening into the cavity, the spout  24  for pouring the liquid out of the cavity. Kettle  10  also includes a spout lid assembly  25  sitting atop the top surface of spout  24 . The spout lid  26  of spout lid assembly  25  typically has a hole in its center for emitting steam from the liquid stored in the kettle  10  in a manner that causes a whistling sound. The present invention, however, is not necessarily limited to kettles having an aperture in their spout lid. The cavity in body  20  is a storage space for a liquid, such as is used in the inside of tea kettles.  
         [0046]     In a preferred embodiment, the spout lid assembly  25  has been defined as including the spout lid  26 , the spout lid extension  26   a , the lock plate  29  and stopping member  88 , the stationary bracket  21  sitting on the spout  24  and the bracket cover  87 . Spout lid assembly is thus defined to include everything situated above spout  24 , except for the top portion of the coupling structure  50 . The movable portion of spout lid assembly  25  includes the spout lid  26 , spout lid extension  26   a  and lock plate  29  but not bracket  21  or bracket cover  87 .  
         [0047]     The kettle  10  also includes a handle  30 , preferably made out of a non-slip material, a weight  40  and a coupling structure  50  coupling the weight  40  to the spout lid assembly  25 . The weight  40  is suspended from the spout lid assembly  25  by the coupling structure  50  and the weight  40  is free to swing outward, that is away from body  20 , from a standing position nearly adjacent body when body  20  is tilted for pouring. The swinging of weight  40  outward causes spout lid  26  to open in an amount proportional to the degree to which weight  40  swings outward up to 27 degrees rotation of weight  40 .  
         [0048]     It is noted that the description of weight  40  as swinging “outward” refers to its swinging away from body  20 . “Outward” is a term that is relative to the body  20  of kettle  10 . Thus, when body  20  of kettle  10  is tilted, weight  40  actually remains stationary in its rotational relationship relative to the floor. This requires weight  40  to swing outward relative to body  20 .  
         [0049]     Coupling structure  50  can be anything that couples weight  40  to spout lid assembly  25 . In a preferred embodiment, coupling structure  50  is an elongated metal wire whose top portion  50   a  is securely attached to the spout lid assembly  25 . The specific means of secure attachment is not essential, although a particular means of such secure attachment is described below and in  FIGS. 9, 9A .  
         [0050]     It is noted that welding plastic to metal is not typically an ideal way to make a secure attachment. Kettle  10 , including coupling structure  50  is preferably made of metal. Spout lid assembly  25  is preferably made of plastic, except for bracket  21  and spout lid  26  of spout lid assembly  25  which are made of metal, in the case of lid  26  to accommodate the hot steam whistling out of it. Accordingly, in a preferred embodiment, coupling structure  50  is attached to spout lid assembly  25  via a frictional fit. Thus, for example, a top portion  50   a  of coupling structure  50  is disposed within spout lid assembly  25  by a frictional fit between lock plate  29  and spout lid extension  26   a . In part to assist in maintaining such a frictional fit, lock plate  29 , preferably made of plastic, forms part of spout lid assembly  25 .  
         [0051]     In one alternative embodiment, coupling structure  50  can be welded or glued to spout lid assembly  25 .  
         [0052]     The spout lid assembly  25  is not limited to the structure described above in the accompanying drawings. Spout lid assembly  25  must, however, be attachable to coupling structure  50  and be capable of opening spout lid  26  with the outward swinging of weight  40 . Preferably, such opening of lid  26  should be through a continuous spectrum of rotational positions and be able to operate so that liquid in body  20  pours out safely from spout  24  of kettle  10  without coming into contact with weight  40  or otherwise interfering with the automatic spout lid opening mechanism. In a preferred embodiment, spout lid assembly  25  includes spout lid extension  26   a  that extends backward from lid  26  along a top surface of spout  24  to a point from which coupling structure  50  holding weight  40  can be suspended without touching liquid pouring from spout  24 .  
         [0053]     In the closed position shown in  FIGS. 1-7 , the spout lid  26  covers the spout  24 . In an open position, as best seen from  FIG. 8 , and  FIG. 9A , spout lid  26  opens in a continuous spectrum of rotational degrees sufficient to allow liquid to pour comfortably out of spout  24 .  
         [0054]     In a preferred embodiment, spout lid assembly  25  includes a bracket  21  that is welded to the top surface of spout  24 . The bracket  21  is stationary and in one embodiment contains semi-arcuate grooves on each side to allow elongated top portion  50   a  of coupling structure  50  to rest thereon. The spout lid extension  26   a  together with lock plate  29  also rest on bracket  21  in a manner that allows this movable part of spout lid assembly  25  including lid  26  to move or rotate relative to spout  24 . As best seen in  FIG. 11   b , the middle part of the top portion  50   a  of coupling structure  50  projects in a direction perpendicular to the remainder of top portion  50   a  of coupling structure  50  and thereby presses against the moving part of spout lid assembly  25  so that when weight  40  swings outward the moving part of spout lid assembly  25  also moves. This is best appreciated from  FIGS. 9, 9A ,  11   b  showing that the main portion of spout lid assembly  25  is able to move relative to bracket  21  and relative to spout  24  while bracket cover  87  is stationary.  
         [0055]     As best seen from  FIGS. 8 and 9 , when a user grasps handle  30  to tilt kettle  10 , the existence of coupling structure  50  securely coupling spout lid assembly  25  to weight  40  causes the outward swinging of weight  40  to pull the movable portion of spout lid assembly  25  (that is, all of spout lid assembly  25  except for bracket  21  and bracket cover  87 ) backward thus opening lid  26 .  
         [0056]     It is noted that at no time is weight  40  or coupling structure  50  in contact with the body  20  of kettle. A small clearance is maintained between body  20  of kettle and weight  40  (as well as coupling structure  50 ) by positioning bracket  21  of spout lid assembly  25 , from which coupling structure  50  holding weight  40  is suspended, just far enough along spout  24  to create a small clearance of approximately one quarter inch. Thus, use of kettle will not lead to weight  40  scratching or damaging body  20  of kettle. As best appreciated from  FIG. 8 , weight  40  swings outward away from body  20  up to a maximum point representing approximately 27 degrees of rotational movement from the standing position of weight  40  depicted in  FIGS. 1, 3 ,  7  near body  20  of kettle.  
         [0057]     Although weight  40  can be made of any material and be shaped in any form that does not result in weight  40  banging into body  20  during use, in one preferred embodiment, weight  40  comprises a dense metal such as lead. In this manner, weight  40  need not be too bulky. Weight  40  needs to be heavy enough to exert a force sufficient to pull downward against spout lid assembly  25  but that force need not be very much. In a preferred embodiment, weight  40  weighs approximately two to three ounces for a kettle  10  that is made primarily of metal and has a total weight of between approximately one pound 12 ounces and approximately two pounds and 10 ounces.  
         [0058]     It is noted that the above automatic spout lid opening mechanism works well regardless of the amount of liquid in the kettle  10  and it works well essentially independent of the weight of kettle body  20 . Notwithstanding this, spout lid  26  should preferably be made of a sufficiently heavy material such as metal to ensure that lid  26  does not open suddenly by the weight of weight  40  when kettle  10  is tilted for pouring.  
         [0059]     The automatic spout lid opening mechanism described above for the present invention also functions independent of the material that the kettle  10  is made of and independent of the weight of the kettle  10 . However, in one preferred embodiment, body  20  should be at least heavy enough to ensure that swishing back and forth of liquid inside body  20  does not unduly shake kettle  10  and hence interfere with the smooth performance of the mechanism for opening of spout lid  26 . This is accomplished by maintaining the walls of body  20  thick enough (or using heavy enough material) to make body  20  weigh enough using well known techniques and materials known in the art of kettle manufacturing. For example, in one preferred embodiment wherein the material of the entire kettle  10  is made of enamel on steel except for the plastic portion of spout lid assembly  25  (everything except bracket  21  and lid  26 ) and except for the weight  40  (which is made of lead), the total weight of the tea kettle  10  is approximately 2 pounds and 10 ounces. In a second preferred embodiment, wherein everything in kettle  10  except the weight  40  and plastic portion of spout lid assembly  25  is made of stainless steel, the entire kettle  10  weighs approximately 1 pound and 12 ounces. The weight of weight  40 , in a preferred embodiment, is approximately 2 to 3 ounces, and in one preferred embodiment ideally 2.5 ounces.  
         [0060]     In order for the self-pouring mechanism to operate effectively, it is obviously advantageous that the liquid being poured out of kettle  10  not strike weight  40 . To accomplish this objective, the bracket  21  holding the top portion  50   a  of coupling structure  50  carrying weight  40  should be placed along spout  24  at a position that puts it sufficiently away from body  20 . Consistent with this objective, spout  24  should not be unduly short, the angle that spout  24  makes with body  20  should not be steep and a stopping mechanism should be employed, typically as part of spout lid assembly  25 .  
         [0061]     Although the present invention is in no way limited to any particular dimension, angle or type of material, purely by way of illustration, in one preferred embodiment, the objective of the pouring liquid not falling into weight  40  is accomplished by making spout  24  approximately 3 and ¾ inches long on its bottom surface and approximately 3 inches long on its top surface, making the angle that spout  24  makes with the body  20  of kettle  10  approximately as shown in  FIGS. 1 and 3  and having the point at which the top portion  50   a  of coupling structure  50  crosses the top surface of spout  24  be approximately 1 and ¾ inches from body  20  as measured along the top surface of spout  24 .  
         [0062]     As noted, a stopping mechanism is also used to prevent the spout lid  26  from opening too much, which in turn prevents the weight  40  from swinging out too far. The stopping mechanism can be anything that is suitable to accomplish this purpose. In one preferred embodiment of the stopping mechanism, lock plate  29  of spout lid assembly  25  includes a stopping member  88 . In this embodiment, the end of lock plate  29  that is distal to the spout lid  26  contains a lip  88  that will strike spout  24  after a certain amount of rotational opening of spout lid  26 . Thus, in a preferred embodiment, upon weight  40  swinging outward approximately 27 rotational degrees from its standing position, lip  88  contacts spout  24 . Alternatively, lock plate  29  has no lip but is long enough to bump into spout  24  at a certain point in the rotation of movable portion of spout lid assembly  25  relative to spout  24 , i.e. upon weight  40  swinging outward approximately 27 degrees.  
         [0063]     It is to be understood that while the apparatus of this invention have been described and illustrated in detail, the above-described embodiments are simply illustrative of the principles of the invention. It is to be understood also that various other modifications and changes may be devised by those skilled in the art which will embody the principles of the invention and fall within the spirit and scope thereof. It is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described. The spirit and scope of this invention are limited only by the spirit and scope of the following claims.