BOWL AND BOWL ASSEMBLY

Abstract

A bowl with protuberances one the outer surface of the side wall of the bowl. A first bowl has a diameter greater than a second bowl. The two bowls form a bowl assembly wherein the protuberances of the inner bowl contact and abut the inner surface of the outer bowl to define a clearance gap between the two bowls, wherein if the bowls cool at different rates after being washed, the bowls are not jammed together. Each protuberance extends outwardly about one-fourth inch and the gap defined between the bowls has a clearance dimension of about one-fourth inch. The inner bowl has three protuberances and the outer bowl has four protuberances. The bowls are made of stainless steel and are mixing bowls.

Claims

1. A first bowl, comprising: a side wall having an inner surface, an outer surface, and a rim; a plurality of protuberances on the outer surface of the side wall, each protuberance extending outwardly of the outer surface of the side wall.

2. A bowl assembly comprising the first bowl of claim 1, and further comprising: a second bowl arranged in the first bowl, the second bowl comprising: a side wall having an inner surface, an outer surface, and a rim; a plurality of protuberances on the outer surface of the side wall, each protuberance on the second bowl extending outwardly of the outer surface of the side wall of the second bowl, and the protuberances on the side wall of the second bowl contacting the inner surface of the side wall of the first bowl; and wherein a gap is defined between the inner surface of the first bowl and the outer surface of the second bowl.

3. The bowl assembly of claim 2, wherein each protuberance on the outer surface of the side wall of the first bowl extends outwardly by approximately one-fourth inch; wherein each protuberance on the outer surface of the side wall of the second bowl extends outwardly by approximately one-fourth inch; and wherein the gap defined between the inner surface of the first bowl and the outer surface of the second bowl has a clearance dimension of about one-fourth inch.

4. The bowl assembly of claim 2, wherein the protuberances on the first bowl consist of between three to four protuberances and the protuberances on the second bowl consist between three to four protuberances.

5. The bowl assembly of claim 2, wherein the first bowl has a diameter greater than the diameter of the second bowl, and wherein the second bowl has three protuberances and the first bowl has four protuberances.

6. The bowl assembly of claim 2, wherein the protuberances on the first bowl are semi-spherical in shape, and wherein the protuberances on the second bowl are semi-spherical in shape.

7. The bowl assembly of claim 2, wherein the first bowl and the second bowl are made of a material selected from the group consisting of stainless-steel, plastic, and glass, and wherein the protuberances on the first bowl and the protuberances on the second bowl are formed of the same material as the material of the first bowl and the second bowl.

8. The bowl assembly of claim 7, wherein the material of the first bowl and the material of the second bowl is stainless steel.

9. The bowl assembly of claim 2, wherein the first bowl and the second bowl are mixing bowls.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0011] The components in the figures are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating the principles of the invention. Moreover, in the figures, like referenced numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the different views.

[0012] FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a first bowl of the present invention,

[0013] FIG. 2 is a front perspective view of a second bowl of the present invention.

[0014] FIG. 3 is a front perspective view illustrating the first bowl of FIG. 1 and the second bowl of FIG. 2 in a bowl assembly of the invention,

[0015] FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the bowl assembly of FIG. 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0016] Referring to FIG. 1, the present invention is embodied in a first circular bowl 10 having a side wall 20 extending around the entire circumference of the bowl 10 and which side wall 20 terminates in an upper circular rim 22. Side wall 20 has an outer surface 40 and an inner surface 50. In an embodiment of the invention, bowl 10 is a mixing bowl and in a further embodiment of the invention, bowl 10 is a stainless-steel mixing bowl. Still referring to FIG. 1, the outer surface 40 of side wall 20 of bowl 10 has a plurality of protuberances 30 circling around bowl 10 and located about mid-way down the length of side wall 20. As shown in FIG. 1, protuberances 30 extend outwardly from the outer surface 40 of side wall 20. Protuberances 30 are semi-spherical in shape. Bowl 10 also has a circular base 45 for allowing bowl 10 to rest on a surface in a manner well-known to those skilled in the art.

[0017] Referring to FIG. 2, a second circular bowl 10 is illustrated. Second circular bowl 10 has a side wall 20 that extends around the entire circumference of bowl 10 and which side wall 20 terminates in an upper circular rim 22. In an embodiment of the invention, second bowl 10 is a mixing bowl and in a further embodiment of the invention, second bowl 10 is a stainless-steel mixing bowl. Side wall 20 has an outer surface 40 and an inner surface 50. Still referring to FIG. 2, side wall 20 of second bowl 10 has a plurality of protuberances 30 circling around bowl 10 and located about mid-way down the length of side wall 20. As shown in FIG. 2, protuberances 30 extend outwardly from the outer surface 40 of side wall 20 of second bowl 10. Protuberances 30 are semi-spherical in shape. Second bowl 10 has a circular base 45 for allowing bowl 10 to rest on a surface in a manner well-known to those skilled in the art. When first bowl 10 and second bowl 10 are stacked or nested together in a bowl assembly, circular base 45 will abut against the inner surface 50 of first bowl 10.

[0018] FIG. 3 illustrates first bowl 10 and second bowl 10 forming a bowl assembly 10. Such bowl assembly 10 may be formed after the bowls 10, 10 have been washed in hot water and are in an expanded state. In this stacked or nested state, first bowl 10 is the outer bowl and second bowl 10 is the inner bowl. As is apparent, first bowl or outer bowl 10 has a diameter that is greater than the diameter of second bowl or inner bowl 10.

[0019] FIG. 4 further illustrates the stacked or nested relationship of the bowl assembly 10 of FIG. 3. As shown in FIG. 4, the protuberances 30 on the outer surface 40 of side wall 20 of second bowl 10 contact and abut against the inside surface 50 of outer or first bowl 10. This relationship defines a gap 60 indicated in FIG. 4 by a double headed arrow. Gap 60 spaces the side wall 20 of the inner bowl or second bowl 10 away from the side wall 20 of the outer bowl or first bowl 10.

[0020] As is apparent, in general, the abutting engagement of the protuberances on the outer surface of one bowl and the inside surface of another bowl to form a stacked or nested relationship between the two bowls will space and form a spacing or gap between the side wall of the inside bowl and the side wall of the outer bowl. When the bowls are hot as, for example, after washing, this spacing or gap will accommodate the differences in expansion and contraction of the two bowls 10, 10 during the cooling process.

[0021] In general, the outer bowl generally cools faster than the inner bowl. This phenomenon occurs in that the outer bowl is more exposed to the surrounding environment and thus blankets the inner bowl, resulting in the outer bowl cooling faster than the inner bowl. In view of the present invention, this difference in the cooling rates of the outer bowl and the inner bowl will not cause the bowls to jam together after the cooling process is complete. The gap 60 formed between the first bowl 10 and the second bowl 10 of the bowl assembly 10 of the invention tends to lessen the difference in cooling rates between the two bowls since air can flow through the gap 60, thereby conducting the heat away from the inner bowl 10. Without the protuberances 30 of inner bowl 10 the heat generally is not conducted away from the bowl assembly 10 in the instance when the two bowls 10, 10 are jammed together

[0022] With the convection heat transfer associated with the gap 60, the two bowls 10, 10 will cool generally at the same rate compared to the instance when one bowl is jammed inside the other bowl. That is, when the bowls are jammed together, the side wall of the outer bowl covers the side wall of the inner bowl such that the heat can only be transferred from the side wall of the inner bowl through the side wall of the outer wall with the heat transfer constant of the side wall of the inner bowl being affected by the heat transfer constant of the side wall of the outer bowl.

[0023] The size of the protuberances 30, 30 strongly influences their effectiveness. If the protuberances 30, 30 are too small, the heat transfer between the outer surface of the inner bowl and the inner surface of the outer bowl will be insufficient to allow proper cooling of the inner bowl relative to the outer bowl, particularly, when the cooling rate of the two bowls is different from each other. In this instance, the two bowls are likely to jam together during the cooling process. This condition defeats the purpose of the protuberances 30, 30. Additionally, if the protuberances 30, 30 are too small, the outer surface of the inner bowl may still come into abutting contact with the inside surface of an outer bowl, thereby still causing jamming of the two bowls 10, 10 together. However, if the protuberances are too large, they will interfere with the efficiency of the bowls themselves by requiring bowls which are either too large to be efficient and/or too large for efficient storage of the bowl assembly 10.

[0024] The inventor has found that the critical spacing between the adjacent stacked bowls 10, 10 is approximately one-fourth () inch. This dimension is large enough to permit proper relative cooling of the bowls while not requiring the bowls to be so large as to be inefficient. The one-fourth () inch clearance requires the radius of the semi-spherical protuberances 30, 30 to be sufficient to define this one-fourth () inch gap between the two bowls 10, 10. In an embodiment of the invention, the radius of the protuberances 30, 30 is approximately one-fourth () inch. In an embodiment of the invention it is important the protuberances 30, 30 be located on the side wall 20, 20 at the centerline thereof, whereby they protrude outwardly from the outer surface 40, 40 of bowl 10,10, respectively by approximately one-fourth () inch in order for the protuberances 30 of the inner bowl 10 to abut the inner surface 50 of the outer bowl 10, and in order to define a gap 60 between the two bowls 10, 10 of approximately one-fourth () inch. The inventor has found that having three or four protuberances 30, 30 evenly spaced away from each other around the circumference of the bowls, allows the bowls to be efficiently stacked both for cooling purposes after washing and for storing of the bowl assembly 10. In the invention, three protuberances may suitable for small bowls, and four protuberances may be suitable for larger bowls.

[0025] In an embodiment of the invention, the first bowl 10 and the second bowl 10 are made of a material selected from the group consisting of stainless-steel, plastic, and glass, and wherein the protuberances on the first bowl and the protuberances on the second bowl are formed of the same material as the material of the first bowl and the second bowl. In an embodiment of the invention, the first bowl 10 and second bowl 10 are made of stainless-steel and the protuberances 30, 30 are made of stainless steel. In an embodiment of the invention, the protuberances 30, 30 are formed on the outer surface 40, 40 of side wall 20, 20 respectively, during the manufacturing process of bowls 10, 10.

[0026] While the present invention has been described in connection with the preferred embodiments of the various figures, it is to be understood that other similar embodiments may be used or modifications and additions may be made to the described embodiments for performing the same function of the present invention without deviating there from. Accordingly, it is intended by the appended claims to cover a such changes and modifications to come within the spirit and scope of the invention.