Pressure cooker with improved safety
AssigneeSeb S.A.
InventorsJulien Guillaume, Eric Chameroy, Eric Rhetat
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The invention relates to a pressure cooking utensil comprising a vessel, a lid with an annular skirt, and a gasket interposed between the lid and the vessel, said gasket including a ring and a first lip in sealing contact with the top wall of the lid, said utensil being characterized in that it includes a leakage opening formed through said top wall, the annular skirt forming a stop abutment for the ring, said first lip presenting flexibility that is suitable, when the pressure that exists inside the enclosure exceeds a safety threshold, for causing the inside of the enclosure to communicate with the outside through the leakage opening.
Claims15
A cooking utensil for cooking food under pressure and comprising:
- a vessel;
- a lid for co-operating with said vessel to form a cooking enclosure, said lid having a top wall presenting a peripheral outline that is substantially circular or oval and from which there extends an annular skirt;
- a sealing gasket interposed between the lid and the vessel in order to enable the pressure inside the cooking enclosure to rise, said sealing gasket comprising:
- a peripheral annular ring;
- and together with
- a first flexible lip projecting from said peripheral annular ring towards the inside of the utensil in a direction that is mainly radially inwards, between a root secured to the peripheral annular ring and a free end portion in sealing contact with said top wall of the lid;
- and
- a leakage opening formed through said top wall above the sealing gasket so as to be hermetically closed by the sealing gasket so long as the pressure that exists inside the enclosure does not exceed a safety threshold,
- wherein the annular skirt forming forms a stop abutment for the peripheral annular ring preventing any outward radial movement of the sealing gasket in register with the leakage opening, and
- wherein said first flexible lip enables the free end portion to be pushed back locally through the leakage opening as soon as the pressure that exists inside the enclosure exceeds said safety threshold, thus causing the inside of the enclosure to communicate with the outside via the leakage opening in order to cause the pressure inside the enclosure to drop.
A method of safely depressurizing a utensil for cooking food under pressure, the utensil comprising:
- a vessel, a lid for co-operating with said vessel to form a cooking enclosure, said lid having a top wall presenting a peripheral outline that is substantially circular or oval, a sealing gasket interposed between the lid and the vessel, wherein said sealing gasket comprises a peripheral annular ring and a first flexible lip projecting from said peripheral annular ring towards the inside of the utensil in a direction that is mainly radially inwards, between a root secured to the peripheral annular ring and a free end portion in sealing contact with said top wall of the lid, and, a leakage opening formed through said top wall above the sealing gasket so as to be hermetically closed by the sealing gasket so long as the pressure that exists inside the enclosure does not exceed a safety threshold, said method, when the pressure exceeds the safety threshold, comprising the steps of:
- deforming the first flexible lip during which said first flexible lip bends sufficiently to cause the free end portion to be pushed locally through the leakage opening causing the inside of the enclosure to communicate with the outside through the leakage opening, thereby causing the pressure inside the enclosure to drop;
- and
- holding the peripheral annular ring such that any outward radial movement of the sealing gasket in register with the leakage opening is prevented under the effect of the pressure that exists inside the enclosure.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.