Stove top shield
A stove top shield for protecting the burners of gas and electric stoves from spills and splatters of cooking utensils on adjacent burners of the stove, the shield comprising a metallized flame retardant material in sections encasing core plates for covering one or more burners on the stove.
This invention relates to kitchen stoves and particularly to a shield for protecting gas and electric stoves, and cook tops from splatters and spills when a stove is being used.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONKitchen stoves normally produce spills and splatters during meal preparation where stove top surfaces, burners, and catch pans beneath burners become spotted or covered with these spills and splatters. When a serious spill occurs as with a pot boiling over, immediate attention must be given to avoid baking a spill onto stove parts, the possibility of a stove fire from cooking oils, or billows of smoke from food smoldering on a hot burner. So in ordinary circumstances for sanitary and safe operation, stoves require attentive use and frequent cleaning.
Gas stoves, electric ranges, and cook tops for commercial and domestic kitchens are available and used in a variety of configurations and number of burner members, and are ordinarily available in four, five, and six burner configurations.
The present invention provides a stove top shield for protecting gas stoves and electric ranges from hazards of spills and splatters, for keeping dust and dirt away from burners and ranges not in use, and for easier stove maintenance. The invention in several preferred embodiments applies to commercial and domestic kitchen stoves in general use.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention provides an attractive, nonflammable, protective top shield to keep spills and splatters away from cook top surfaces, gas and electric stove top areas, burners, and burner spill pans while the stove is in use. The shield comprises a metallized fabric, preferably aluminized and silver in color, to overlie all burners on a stove and to be folded off burners selectively to accommodate use of one or more burners of the stove. When folded to expose a single burner for use, the shield protects the remaining burners and adjacent stove top areas by catching spills and splatters. The protective characteristic of the shield shortens or eliminates the need for removing heavy grates on a gas stove or burners on an electric stove to clean under them. The shield is easily wiped clean, has a decorative pattern allowing it to remain in place when the stove is not in use, and has a light reflecting surface to brighten the work area around a stove.
The shield according top the invention comprises several preferred embodiments including a single shield, as well as shields with a plurality of protective sections each generally rectangular in shape with each section having metallized fabric defining a pouch that encloses an inner core of aluminum or galvanized steel. The light reflecting surface of the shield is aluminized and silver in color. The shield sections are connected to each other across wide seams to facilitate shield folding in a manner wherein one or more burners of a stove or cook top are uncovered for cooking. If all burners are to be used, the shield is removed from the stove.
In preferred embodiments, the shield may be a single plate cover, two plate cover, a three plate cover, a for plate cover, or a six plate cover for gas ranges. For electric stoves and cook tops, the shield may have a single plate cover for each electric burner. In use a given stove configuration may use multiple embodiments of the invention. For example, a five burner stove or cook top may use a two plate cover together with an “L-shape” three plate cover.
In other uses, the shield its several embodiments may serve as a trivet over non-heat tolerant surfaces for case of stove-to-table placement of cooking utensils.
A preferred material for the shield is aluminized flame retardant material, sewn with non-flammable thread, with a core plate of aluminum or galvanized steel.
Specific examples are included in the following description for purposes of clarity, but various details can be changed within the scope of the present invention.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTIONAn object of the invention is to provide a stove top shield as an aid in keeping a clean stove or cook top.
Another object of the invention is to provide a stove top shield for protecting unused burners while cooking on one or more adjacent burners.
Another object of the invention is to provide unused stove top areas including burners with a nonflammable protective shield against spills and splatters coming from another burner in use.
Another object of the invention is to provide a metallized, light reflecting, nonflammable protective shield for improving the appearance of a kitchen stove.
Another object of the invention is to provide preferred embodiments of stove top shields to protect stove and cook top surfaces in a wide variety of commercial and domestic stoves and cook tops in general use.
Other and further objects of the invention will become apparent with an understanding of the following detailed description of the invention or upon employment of the invention.
Preferred embodiments of the invention have been chosen for detailed description to enable those having ordinary skill in the art to which the invention appertains to readily understand how to construct and use the invention and is shown in the accompanying drawing in which:
Referring to
The shield 20 comprises a fabric 22 (
In the preferred embodiment of
The inner core 24 comprises a plate of aluminum or galvanized steel with flat upper and lower surfaces to provide a stable surface cover. Each plate occupies substantially the full interior of its pouch 20h with sufficient interior space for slight plate movement when the shield is folded to one of the positions shown in
The sections are connected to each other across wide seams 20e to facilitate folding the shield in a manner wherein one, two, or three burners of a four burner stove are uncovered for cooking. When folded to the position of
In preferred embodiments, the shield may be a single plate cover, two plate cover, or four plate cover for gas ranges. For electric stoves and cook tops, the shield may have a single place cover for each electric burner. The stove top shield is a safe, durable, and attractive product providing years of use both in household and professional use.
The shield may be prepared from a continuous sheet S of metallized fabric as shown in
Referring now to
The shield 20 of
Shield 20, intended to selectively cover all burners on stove 50, is shown covering a single burner in
The shields versatility is apparent in
A separate two section shield 20 joined along horizontal seam 20e provides protection for the remaining two burners 61, 62 either of which may be used by folding one section over the other.
The shields of
The embodiments of the invention described herein are presented in general configuration that may be reduced to specific measurements corresponding to specific sizes of a designated stow manufacturer.
In other uses, the shield in several embodiments may serve as a trivet over non-heat tolerant surfaces for ease of stove-to-table placement of cooking utensils.
Various changes may be made to the structure embodying the principles of the invention. The foregoing embodiments are set forth in an illustrative and not in a limiting sense. The scope of the invention is defined by the claims appended hereto.
Claims
1. A stove top protective shield for stoves having at least one burner, the shield comprising
- a fabric 22 having an outer layer of metallized flame retardant material,
- and an inner layer 22a of flame resistant fabric,
- the shield fabric connected to define a pouch lined by the inner layer fabric and with an outer layer of metallized material,
- a core plate positioned within the pouch, and
- the shield seamed along peripheral edges with non-flammable material.
2. A stove top protective shield for stoves having a plurality of burners, the shield comprising
- a fabric having an outer layer of metallized flame retardant material,
- and an inner layer of aramid,
- the fabric connected to define a plurality of sections lined by the inner layer and with an outer layer of metallized material,
- each section defining a pouch,
- interior seams separating each section, a metallic core plate positioned within each pouch, and
- the fabric sewn along peripheral edges and interior seams with non-flammable sewing material.
3. A stove top protective shield for stoves having a plurality of burners, the shield comprising
- a fabric having an outer layer of metallized flame retardant material,
- and an inner layer of heat resistant fabric,
- the shield connected to define a plurality of sections lined by an inner layer of heat resistant fabric and with an outer layer of metallized material, each section defining a pouch,
- interior seams separating each section,
- a metallic core plate positioned within each pouch,
- the fabric sewn along peripheral edges and interior seams with non-flammable sewing material whereby the shield can cover the plurality of burners, and can be folded on interior seams to uncover one or more burners for use.
4. A shield as defined in claim 3 in which the outer layer is comprised of aluminized flame retardant material.
5. A shield as defined in claim 3 in which the inner layer is comprised of one of aramid rip-stop knit and aramid twill.
6. A shield as defined in claim 3 having two upper sections and two lower sections, and split between the two lower sections so that one of the lower sections can be folded along a seam to overlie an upper section independently of the other lower section.
7. A shield as defined in claim 3 in which the core plate is comprised of aluminum.
8. A shield as defined in claim 3 in which the core plate is comprised of steel.
9. A shield as defined in claim 3 having four sections.
10. A shield as defined in claim 9 in which three sections of the shield can be folded to overlie the fourth section.
11. A stove top protective shield for a stove having a set of burners selected from a group consisting of a set of five burners and a set of six burners, the shield comprising
- a fabric having an outer layer of metallized flame retardant material and an inner layer of flame resistant fabric,
- the shield having six sections, each section having upper and lower fabric portions attached at their margins and defining an interior pouch,
- a metallic core plate positioned within each pouch,
- a first group of three shield sections placed side-by-side with first and second sections of the group attached side-by-side by an interior seam and with second and third sections of the group attached side-by-side by an interior seam,
- a second group of three shield sections placed top to bottom with three sections of the first group,
- the top edges of the second group sections attached by interior seams to the bottom edges of the first group of shields so that the shield when placed on a stove with a selected set of burners can be folded by section to selectively uncover all but one of the burners.
12. A stove top protective shield for a stove having a set of burners, the shield comprising
- a fabric having an outer layer of metallized flame retardant material and an inner layer of flame resistant fabric, the shield having three sections, each section having upper and lower fabric portions attached at their margins and defining an interior pouch,
- a metallic core plate positioned within each pouch,
- a first and second shield sections placed and attached side-by-side by an interior seam,
- a third shield section placed top to bottom with one of the first and second shields, the top edge of one of the first and second shields attached by interior seam to the bottom edge of the third shield section so that the shield when placed on a stove can be folded by section to selectively uncover one or two of the burners.
Type: Application
Filed: Sep 30, 2011
Publication Date: Apr 4, 2013
Inventor: Mary Ida Bonadio (Rhinebeck, NY)
Application Number: 13/200,792