Cover holder

Application filed March. 1

This invention relates to cover-holders for utensils having separate covers. It has for its chief object to provide a device which will be attachable to the top of the utensil in such 6 a way that it can hold the cover, when the cover is off the top, near or associated with the utensil, yet entirely out of the way of the person serving from the utensil, and in a position where it cannot cpme into contact with ¹⁰ the table or table-cloth.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an article of this nature which may be made from a single strip of inexpensive resilient sheet-material,—such as brass— ¹⁶ by a few simple stamping operations.

A further object of the invention is to provide an article of the class described which may be attractively finshed by silver or nickel plating, to present the appearance of ²⁰ other table ware and which may be readily washed, polished and otherwise handled in the same manner.

A few typical forms of the invention will be described in conjunction with the accom²⁵ panying drawings, but the invention is limited only by the scope,of the subjoined claims.

In these drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective of a casserole or the like having a separate cover associated there³⁰ with by the article of the present invention, the casserole-frame not being shown,;

Fig; 2 is a detailed sectional view along line 2—2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a perspective of the article of the ³⁶ present invention removed from the vessel;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of a blank from which the article can be made; '

Fig. 5 is _:a detailed sectional view of a vessei having a modified cover-holder;

Fig. 6 is a perspective of this cover holder·;

Fig. 7 is a detailed sectional view of a vessel having another form of the coverholder of the presen t invention, and • Fig. 8 is a perspective of the cover-holder.

Referring more in detail to the parts of the drawings by reference numerals, the main body 1 of the vessel has a cover 2 which is an entirely separate article therefrom. In _ using such vessels, the person serving removes the cover 2, and, to get it out of the

HOLDER , 1928. Serial No. 258,183.

way while serving from the dish, usually lays it alongside the dish on the table. Thus the cover is usually in the way of something else on the table, and what is more important, being usually covered with condensed vapors 55 from the contents of the dish and sometimes with the contents themselves, it drips on the cloth and spots it, or smears it, in either case damaging the cloth or table.

The present invention contemplates co remedying this situation by means of such an article as that designated by A in Fig. 1. This device can readily be attached, by a formation thereof, such as 3—here shown as a pair of converging spring-jaws 4—4'—over 65 any projecting edge of the vessel. Since most casseroles and the like, are made with horizontally extending lifting-handles, such as 5, the article is usually made to be sprung onto one of these horizontal handles. 70

Another portion of the article A is formed into a holder or rack 6 for holding the cover 2 in association with the utensil, open and out of the wa,y of the user, and preferably in the substantially vertical position shown. 75 This portion 6 can consist of a pair of coacting spring-jaws 7—7', which are formed from a continuation of the upper jaw 4 of the attaching portion 3, This rack portion 6 releasably but firmly engages the rim of the so cover, as shown, and serves to hold it securely and safely out of contact with the table cloth and out of the way of the person serving. It is obvious that it also provides a regular, convenient location for disposing 85 of the lid while serving, instead of having to find a location for the cover on the table every time it is removed.

The article of the present invention is adapted to be quickly and cheaply made, in a ⁹⁰few simple pressing operations, from.a blank such as 8, which consists of a single strip of resilient-material, spring brass for example. One end of the blank 8 is shaped into the attaching-clamp portion 3, and the rest of the ⁹⁵blank is bent up into a prolongation 9 of the upper jaw of the clamp 4, as shown in Fig. 3. This prolongation 9 is bent downwardly at any desired point, such as 10,—depending upon the size of the rack desired, to form a ¹⁰⁰

1,745,548 spring joint thereat, which joint insures a flexible and yielding rest for the lid.

The downward continuation 10 of the blank is interrupted as at 11, where the strip is bent ₅ horizontally but at an angle to the jaw 4, to thereby provide a spring-cushion seat 11 for the edge of the cover. The rest of the strip is bent upwardly at a suitable point 12,— depending upon the width of the cover it is ₁₀ to be used with,—to form the outer jaw 7' of the cover-holding clamp.

It is not essential that the base 11 of the cover-holding clamp be out of contact with the upper wall 4 of the lid-engaging clamp, _1δ but it is desirable in order that both bends 11 and 10, of the clamp may yield when the clamp is opened, thereby permitting a stiffer metal to be used than would be satisfactory if the bending were confined to the outer jaw 7'. 20 The handles and lid rims of the most widely used types of casseroles and the like are made of a standard fixed thickness, hence a single standard size of holder, such as that shown in Figs; 1-4, to correspond will have a wide 2₅ field of usefulness^ but of course the article may be made with the clamp and lid holder of different sizes and at different angles with respect to each other to fit the handles or rims and to hold the covers of other forms of dishes 30 and vessels.

Another embodiment of the same inventive idea is shown in Figs. 5 and 6, where the blank of resilient elastic material is given a slightly different form, by bending down35 wardly on an upper edge of the rack portion to form a clamping, portion 20 to fit over a narrower projection on the vessel—such as the rim of the guard 21, and the rack portion 22 is formed to open upwardly when so at₄₀ tached. This form of holder is just as well adapted to. general use with vessels, as is the other, and perhaps more so, due to its clamping a fixed-size guard member, 21.

In Figs, 7 and 8. there is shown a cpver₄₅ holder adapted for service with all forms of vessel-guards, and it comprises a rack portion 33 having one of its jaws 34 bent downwardly and then shaped to fit against the guard-member 21 near its rim,, where it can _ύ3 be attached in any suitable.manner but preferably by soldering or. riveting.

It is clear that this holder will do for any size or shape of vessel or guard, and though very simple and made of only one piece of 55 sheet-material, is. nevertheless almost indispensable for vessels having separate covers.