Pressure cooker

A pressure cooker comprising, in combination, a food receiving body having a cover for closing the open top thereof, said cover having a key portion which must be located in a receiving portion of the cooker body to permit closing the cover against the open top thereof, said cover when closed against the cooker body being rotatable in one direction relative thereto so as to establish a fluid type seal therebetween, and stop means limiting the angle to which the cover is rotatable in said one direction, the cooker body having an interiorly-located abutment adjacent its top edge the angular extent of which is less than the angle through which the cover is rotatable, said cover having a vent opening, a lock member having a stem slidably retained in said vent opening, the lock member being initially positioned immediately adjacent one end of said abutment when the cover is initially closed against the body, the lock member having a catch portion which hangs below the level of the abutment when the lock member is in a relaxed state so as to pass beneath the abutment as the cover is rotated to establish said fluid tight seal between the cooker body and cover, said catch portion of the lock member just clearing the other end of the abutment when the cover has been rotated through the full angle permitted by the stop means such that the lock member is free to rise as pressure develops in the cooker to seal said vent opening and locate its catch portion at the level of the abutment where it locks the cover against reverse rotation when the cooker is in a pressurized state, said catch portion of the lock member being trapped by the abutment should the cover be incompletely rotated to avoid pressure build up with the cooker.

In a pressure cooker embodying a vessel having a circular open top and a cover for closing said top, said cover having a depending circular flange which extends about the vessel top edge, the vessel having first circumferential extending spaced lugs disposed adjacent the vessel top edge, the cover flange having second circumferentially extending spaced lugs which are spaced to pass between the first lugs to a level therebelow when the cover is closed over the vessel open top, a seal member engageable between the vessel top edge and the cover when the cover is rotated on the vertical axis of the vessel open top to move the second lugs into underlying engagement with the first lugs to effect a fluid tight connection of the cover to the vessel, the improvement wherein the vessel has an interiorly located abutment adjacent the edge of its open top and the cover has a vertically reciprocal lock member embodying a stem having an attached large lower catch portion, the stem hanging loose in a provided vent opening in the cover in the unpressurized condition of the cover-closed vessel so as to locate its lower catch portion at a level below the abutment, said first and second circumferentially extending lugs being so sized and spaced that the second lugs can be lowered through the spaces between the first lugs to close the cover over the vessel only in a position which locates the catch portion of the lock member to a first side of the abutment, the cover further having stop means which limit relative rotation of the cover and vessel through an angular extent which is just sufficient to align the second lugs beneath the first lugs and pass said catch portion beneath the abutment from said first side thereof, said lock member when its catch portion is clear of the abutment being free to rise to close the vent opening and locate its catch portion at the level of the abutment so that the cover cannot be reverse-rotated and remains locked against separation from the vessel when in a pressurized state, the catch portion catching beneath the abutabutment when the cover is incompletely rotated to prevent pressure build up in the vessel except when the second lugs are properly aligned beneath the first lugs characterizing the fully closed position of the cover and the catch portion is clear of the abutment.

A pressure cooker comprising, in combination:

• a body, having an open top with a peripheral sealing surface, a normally vertical central axis, and a handle extending outward radially;
• a cover, for closing the open top of said body, having a rim with a peripheral sealing surface, a plurality of venting passages, and a handle extending outward radially, said cover and said body being mutually rotatable about said axis between a first relagive position, in which said handles are in alignment, and a second relative position, in which said handles are out of alignment by a predetermined angle at said axis;
• engagement means for enforcing engagement between said sealing surfaces in said first relative position of said cover and said body, to provide a seal for said cooker;
• engagement preventing means carried in part by said body and in part by said cover for preventing initial engagement between said sealing surfaces except in said second relative position at only said predetermined angle;
• and further independent safety lack means carried in part by said cover and in part by said body for preventing relative movement from said first position to said second position during a superpressure condition when the pressure sealed in said cooker exceeds that ambient to said cooker by more than a predetermined amount, and for venting said cooker except during said superpressure condition in said first relative position.