Abstract:
A Method of Securing Articles and an Electric Kettle Made by Such a Method There is disclosed a method of securing a stainless steel housing ( 12 ) for a kettle ( 10 ), a polypropylene or polycarbonate water gauge ( 14 ), and a polypropylele or polycarbonate backing element ( 16 A,  16 B,  16 C,  16 D,  16 E), including the steps of (a) welding the water gauge ( 14 ) with the backing element ( 16 A,  16 B,  16 C,  16 D,  16 E); (b) contacting and fixedly securing the housing ( 12 ) with the water gauge ( 14 ); and (c) positioning a silicon rubber sealing ring ( 18 A,  18 B,  18 C,  18 D,  18 E,  18 F) between and in contact with the housing ( 12 ) and the backing element ( 16 A,  16 B,  16 C,  16 D,  16 E) to thereby form a water-tight seal therebetween.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    This invention relates to a method of securing a plurality of articles, and an electric kettle made by such a method. Such an invention relates more particularly to the provision of an electric kettle with a water gauge.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    There are in existence a larger variety of electric kettles. Most such electric kettles do not include any water gauge whereby a user may inspect the amount of water in the kettles. In particular, in electric kettles having a metal housing, it has not thus far been technically feasible to incorporate a water gauge which, in order to be non-opaque to allow inspection of the interior of the housing, has to be made of a plastics material. However, given the repeated heating up and cooling down of the electric kettle, there exists the problem of ensuring that the engagement between the water gauge and the metal housing is water-tight.  
           [0003]    It is thus an object of the present invention to provide a method of securing a plurality of articles, and an electric kettle made by such a method, in which the above shortcomings are mitigated.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0004]    According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of securing at least a first, a second, and a third article, wherein said first article is made of a metal, and said second and third articles are made of a plastics material, wherein said method includes the steps of (a) fixedly securing said second article with said third article; (b) contacting and fixedly securing said first article with said second article; characterized in including a step of (c) positioning a sealing member between and in contact with said first, second and third articles to thereby form a water-tight seal therebetween.  
           [0005]    According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electric kettle including a metal housing member for containing water, a non-opaque water gauge and a backing member made of a plastics material, wherein said water gauge and said backing member are fixedly secured with each other, wherein said housing member contacts and is fixedly secured with said water gauge, characterized in that a sealing member is positioned between and in contact with said housing member, said backing member and said water gauge to thereby form a water-tight seal therebetween. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0006]    Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of examples, and with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:  
         [0007]    [0007]FIG. 1 shows a side view of an electric kettle according to the present invention;  
         [0008]    [0008]FIG. 2A shows a cross-sectional view of a first type of securing arrangement according to the present invention, taken along the line A-A of FIG. 1;  
         [0009]    [0009]FIG. 2B shows an enlarged view of the encircled portion shown in FIG. 2A;  
         [0010]    [0010]FIG. 2C shows an exploded view of the parts shown in FIG. 2B;  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 3A shows a cross-sectional view of a second type of securing arrangement according to the present invention, taken along the line A-A of FIG. 1;  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 3B shows an enlarged view of the encircled portion shown in FIG. 3A;  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 3C shows an exploded view of the parts shown in FIG. 3B;  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 4A shows a cross-sectional view of a third type of securing arrangement according to the present invention, taken along the line A-A of FIG. 1;  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 4B shows an enlarged view of the encircled portion shown in FIG. 4A;  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 4C shows an exploded view of the parts shown in FIG. 4B;  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 5A shows a cross-sectional view of a fourth type of securing arrangement according to the present invention, taken along the line A-A of FIG. 1;  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 5B shows an enlarged view of the encircled portion shown in FIG. 5A;  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 5C shows an exploded view of the parts shown in FIG. 5B;  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 6A shows a cross-sectional view of a fifth type of securing arrangement according to the present invention, taken along the line A-A of FIG. 1;  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 6B shows an enlarged view of the encircled portion shown in FIG. 6A;  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 6C shows an exploded view of the parts shown in FIG. 6B;  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 7A shows a cross-sectional view of a sixth type of securing arrangement according to the present invention, taken along the line A-A of FIG. 1;  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 7B shows an enlarged view of the encircled portion shown in FIG. 7A;  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 7C shows an exploded view of the parts shown in FIG. 7B;  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 8A shows a cross-sectional view of a seventh type of securing arrangement according to the present invention, taken along the line A-A of FIG. 1;  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 8B shows an enlarged view of the encircled portion shown in FIG. 8A;  
         [0028]    [0028]FIG. 8C shows an exploded view of the parts shown in FIG. 8B; and  
         [0029]    [0029]FIG. 9 shows an enlarged view of an eighth type of securing arrangement according to the present invention.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0030]    An electric kettle made in accordance with the present invention is shown in FIG. 1 as generally designated as  10 . The kettle  10  includes a lid releasably engageable with a stainless steel body  12  for containing liquid (e.g. water) to be boiled. Provided on the body  12  is a non-opaque (e.g. transparent) plastics water gauge  14  through which a user may inspect the level, and thus the amount, of water in the body  12 . The water gauge  14  may include an index or scale for indicating the amount of water in the body  12  of the kettle  10 . The water gauge  14  may be made of polypropylene or polycarbonate. In order to ensure that the engagement between the water gauge  14  and the body  12  is water-tight, eight different arrangements are provided.  
         [0031]    According to the first arrangement, and as shown in FIGS. 2A to  2 C, the stainless steel body  12  is secured with both a first type of water gauge  14 A, a first type of backing element  16 A, and a first type of sealing ring  18 A to form a water-tight seal. The backing element  16 A may be made of polypropylene or polycarbonate. If both the water gauge  14 A and the backing element  16 A are made of polypropylene, they may be fixedly secured with each other by high-frequency welding or hot-plate welding. If both of them are made of polycarbonate, they may be fixedly secured with each other by high-frequency welding, hotplate welding or ultra-sonic welding. The endless silicon rubber sealing ring  18 A is positioned among and in contact with the housing  12 , the water gauge  14 A and the backing element  16 A. The silicon rubber sealing ring  18 A is circular in cross section. It can be seen that the backing element  16 A includes a ridge  20 A which is received within a channel  22 A of the water gauge  14 A.  
         [0032]    [0032]FIGS. 3A to  3 C show a second arrangement whereby the stainless steel body  12  is fixedly secured with both the first type of water gauge  14 A and the first type of backing element  16 A, to form a water-tight seal. The main difference in this arrangement is a sealing ring  18 B. This sealing ring  18 B is elongate in cross section with two flat surfaces. It can be seen in FIG. 3B that one flat surface abuts an inner surface of the steel body  12 , while another flat surface abuts the backing element  16 A.  
         [0033]    [0033]FIGS. 4A to  4 C show a third arrangement whereby the stainless steel body  12  is fixedly secured with the first type of water gauge  14 A, a second type of backing element  16 B and a third type of sealing ring  18 C, to form a water-tight seal. In this arrangement, the portion of the body  12  to be engaged with the backing element  16 B is bent. This bent portion  12 A is received within a cavity between the water gauge  14 A, the backing element  16 A and the sealing ring  18 C. As can be seen, the sealing ring  18 C is substantially rectangular in cross-section, and is in contact with the water gauge  14 A, the backing element  16 A and the bent portion  12 A of the body  12 .  
         [0034]    [0034]FIGS. 5A to  5 C show a fourth arrangement whereby the stainless steel body  12  is fixedly secured with the first type of water gauge  14 A, the second type of backing element  16 B and the sealing ring  18 C, to form a water-tight seal. In the arrangement shown in FIGS. 4A to  4 C, the sealing ring  18 C is in contact with the outer surface of the body  12 , the water gauge  14 A and the backing element  16 B, whereas in the arrangement shown in FIGS. 5A to  5 C, the sealing ring  18 C is in contact with the inner surface of the body  12  and the backing element  16 B, but is out of contact with the water gauge  14 A.  
         [0035]    [0035]FIGS. 6A to  6 C show a fifth arrangement whereby the stainless steel body  12  is fixedly secured with a second type of water gauge  14 B, a third type of backing element  16 C and a fourth type of sealing ring  18 D, to form a water-tight seal. It can be seen in particular that the body  12  includes a stepped portion  12 B, which is engaged with, and is received within a cavity among, the water gauge  14 B, the backing element  16 C and the sealing ring  18 D. To enhance the aesthetic appearance of the water gauge  14 B, a recess  24  is formed on the outer surface of the water gauge  14 B.  
         [0036]    Turning to FIGS. 7A to  7 C, such show a sixth arrangement whereby the housing  12  is fixedly secured with the first type of water gauge  14 A, a fourth type of backing element  16 D and a fifth type of sealing ring  18 E, to form a water-tight seal. In this arrangement, the sealing ring  18 E includes two arms and is of a substantially U-shaped cross section. The bent portion  12 A of the housing  12  is received within the cavity between the arms of the sealing ring  18 E.  
         [0037]    [0037]FIGS. 8A to  8 C show a seventh arrangement whereby the housing  12  is fixedly secured with the second type of water gauge  14 B, the fourth type of backing element  16 D, and the fifth type of sealing ring  18 E, to form a water-tight seal. In this arrangement, the housing  12  includes a stepped portion  12 B, which is received within the cavity between the arms of the sealing ring  18 E.  
         [0038]    Turning now to FIG. 9, such shows an eighth arrangement whereby the housing  12  is fixedly secured with a third type of water gauge  14 C, a fifth type of backing element  16 E, and a sixth type of sealing ring  18 F, to form a water-tight seal. In this arrangement, the sealing ring  18 F is also substantially U-shaped in cross-section, and receives a bent portion of the housing  12  sidewardly. In addition, an iron wire ring  28  is positioned between the water gauge  14 C and the backing element  16 E.