대표
청구항
▼
What is claimed is: 1. A household appliance for cooking food under pressure, the appliance comprising: a bowl (1) and a lid (2) designed to be mounted on and locked onto said bowl (1) to form a leak-tight cooking vessel; locking/unlocking means (3) having jaws or segments, and moving between a locking position in which the lid (2) is locked relative to the bowl (1) and an unlocking position; and decompression means (6) for decompressing the vessel, which means are activatable regardless of the pressure level prevailing inside the vessel; wherein said l...
What is claimed is: 1. A household appliance for cooking food under pressure, the appliance comprising: a bowl (1) and a lid (2) designed to be mounted on and locked onto said bowl (1) to form a leak-tight cooking vessel; locking/unlocking means (3) having jaws or segments, and moving between a locking position in which the lid (2) is locked relative to the bowl (1) and an unlocking position; and decompression means (6) for decompressing the vessel, which means are activatable regardless of the pressure level prevailing inside the vessel; wherein said locking/unlocking means (3) and said decompression means (6) are connected functionally to a single, common control member (7, 7A, 7B), said control member (7, 7A, 7B) making it possible to cause the lid (2) to be locked onto and unlocked from the bowl (1), and to cause the vessel to be decompressed. 2. An appliance according to claim 1, wherein the control member (7, 7A, 7B) is designed for finding itself in a predetermined locking and decompression position in which said control member (7, 7A, 7B) co-operates with the locking/unlocking means (3) and with the decompression means (6) so that the locking/unlocking means find themselves in their locking position, while the decompression means are activated. 3. An appliance according to claim 1, wherein the control member (7, 7A, 7B) is designed for finding itself in an unlocking and a decompression position, in which said control member (7, 7A, 7B) co-operates with the locking/unlocking means (3) and with the decompression means (6) so that the locking/unlocking means (3) find themselves in their unlocking position, while the decompression means (6) are activated. 4. An appliance according to claim 1, wherein the control member (7, 7A, 7B) is designed for finding itself in a substantially leaktight locking position, in which said control member (7, 7A, 7B) co-operates with the locking/unlocking means (3) and with the decompression means (6) so that the locking/unlocking means (3) find themselves in their locking position, while the decompression means (6) are deactivated. 5. An appliance according to claim 4, wherein: the control member (7, 7A, 7B) is designed for finding itself in a predetermined locking and decompression position in which said control member (7, 15 7A, 7B) co-operates with the locking/unlocking means (3) and with the decompression means (6) so that the locking/unlocking means find themselves in their locking position, while the decompression means are activated; and the control member (7, 7A, 7B) is designed so that when it moves from its substantially leaktight locking position to its locking and decompression position, it generates substantially no displacement of the locking/unlocking means (3). 6. An appliance according to claim 1, wherein the control member (7, 7A, 7B) is mounted to move in rotation relative to the lid (2). 7. An appliance according to claim 1, wherein the locking/unlocking means (3) comprise at least one locking element (4, 5) for locking the lid (2) relative to the bowl (1), said at least one element (4, 5) being mounted to move in radial translation relative to the lid (2), via corresponding drive means (4A, 5A), between the locking position and the unlocking position. 8. An appliance according to claim 7, wherein the control member (7, 7A, 7B) is connected functionally to the drive means (4A, 5A) so as to govern movement thereof. 9. An appliance according to claim 8, wherein the drive means (4A, 5A) comprise at least one drive arm guided in translation relative to the lid (2), and having firstly an outer end connected to the jaw (4, 5), and secondly an inner end provided with an axial guide stud (4B, 5B) serving to co-operate functionally with the control member (7 7A, 7B). 10. An appliance according to claim 9, wherein: the control member (7, 7A, 7B) is designed to be suitable for finding itself in a predetermined locking and decompression position in which said control member (7, 7A, 7B) co-operates with the locking/unlocking means (3) and with the decompression means (6) so that the locking/unlocking means find themselves in their locking position, while the decompression means are activated; the control member (7, 7A, 7B) is designed to be suitable for finding itself in an unlocking and a decompression position, in which said control member (7,7A, 7B) co-operates with the locking/unlocking means (3) and with the decompression means (6) so that the locking/unlocking means (3) find themselves in their unlocking position, while the decompression means (6) are activated; the control member (7, 7A, 7B) is mounted to move in rotation relative to the lid (2); and the control member (7, 7A, 7B) is provided with at least one unlocking ramp (11A, 11B) arranged so that, when the control member (7, 7A, 7B) turns from its locking and decompression position to its unlocking and decompression position, the unlocking ramp (11A, 11B) engages the corresponding axial guide stud (4B, 5B) and pushes it, thereby causing the drive means (4A, 5A) to move in translation from the locking position in which the lid (2) is locked to the unlocking position in which the lid is unlocked (2). 11. An appliance according to claim 9, wherein: the control member (7, 7A, 7B) is designed to be suitable for finding itself in a predetermined locking and decompression position in which said control member (7, 7A, 7B) co-operates with the locking/unlocking means (3) and with the decompression means (6) so that the locking/unlocking means find themselves in their locking position, while the decompression means are activated; the control member (7, 7A, 7B) is designed to be suitable for finding itself in an unlocking an decompression position, in which said control member (7, 7A, 7B) co-operates with the locking/unlocking means (3) and with the decompression means (6) so that the locking/unlocking means (3) find themselves in their unlocking position, while the decompression means (6) are activated; the control member (7, 7A, 7B) is mounted to move in rotation relative to the lid (2), and the control member (7, 7A, 7B) is provided with at least one locking ramp (12A, 12B) arranged so that, when the control member (7, 7A, 7B) turns from its unlocking and decompression position to its locking and decompression position, the locking ramp (12A, 12B) engages the corresponding axial guide stud (4B, 5B) and pushes it, thereby causing the drive means (4A, 5A) to move in translation from the unlocking position in which the lid (2) is unlocked to the locking position in which the lid (2) is locked. 12. An appliance according to claim 11, wherein: the control member (7, 7A, 7B) is designed to be suitable for finding itself in a predetermined locking and decompression position in which said control member (7, 7A, 7B) co-operates with the locking/unlocking means (3) and with the decompression means (6) so that the locking/unlocking means find themselves in their locking position, while the decompression means are activated; the control member (7, 7A, 7B) is designed to be suitable for finding itself in a substantially leaktight locking position, in which said control member (7, 7A, 7B) co-operates with the locking/unlocking means (3) and with the decompression means (6) so that the locking/unlocking means (3) find themselves in their locking position, while the decompression means (6) are deactivated; and the locking ramp (12A, 12B) is extended by position-holding means (13A, 13B) for holding the corresponding axial stud (4B, 5B) in position, said position-holding means (13A, 13B) being arranged so that, when the control member (7) turns, under the action of the user, from its locking and decompression position to its substantially leaktight locking position, or from its substantially leaktight locking position to its locking and decompression position, the corresponding axial stud (4B, 5B) and thus the corresponding drive means (4A, 5A) are held substantially stationary in the locking position in which the lid (2) is locked. 13. An appliance according to claim 1, further comprising pressure-regulating means (6) arranged to maintain the relative pressure prevailing inside the vessel at a predetermined and substantially constant value referred to as the "operating pressure". 14. An appliance according to claim 13, wherein the pressure-regulating means (6) comprise a pressure-regulating valve which is sensitive to the pressure prevailing inside the vessel and which is mounted to move at least between: a resilient return and abutment position or "leaktight" position, in which it shuts off communication between the vessel and the outside so long as the pressure prevailing inside the vessel is substantially no higher than the operating pressure; and at least one leakage position in, which it puts the inside of the vessel into communication with the outside whenever the pressure inside the vessel exceeds the operating pressure. 15. An appliance according to claim 14, wherein the regulating valve (6) includes activatable engagement means (6A) which, when they are activated, make it possible to place the pressure-regulating valve (6) in the leakage position, so that said valve (6) also forms activatable decompression means. 16. An appliance according to claim 15, wherein: the control member (7, 7A,7B) is designed to be suitable for finding itself in a predetermined locking and decompression position in which said control member (7, 7A, 7B) co-operates with the locking/unlocking means (3) and with the decompression means (6) so that the locking/unlocking means find themselves in their locking position, while the decompression means are activated; the control member (7, 7A, 7B) is designed to be suitable for finding itself in a substantially leaktight locking position, in which said control member (7, 7A, 7B) co-operates with the locking/unlocking means (3) and with the decompression means (6) so that the locking/unlocking means (3) find themselves in their locking position, while the decompression means (6) are deactivated; the control member (7, 7A, 7B) is mounted to move in rotation relative to the lid (2); and the control member (7, 7A, 7B) is provided with a decompression ramp (18) designed to co-operate with the engagement means (6A) so that, when the control member (7, 7A, 7B) turns from its substantially leaktight locking position to its locking and decompression position, the decompression ramp (18) engages the engagement means (6A) and pushes them axially upwards, thereby causing the pressure-regulating valve (6) to move from its leaktight position to its leakage position. 17. An appliance according to claim 1, further comprising opening safety means (20) sensitive to the pressure and/or to the temperature prevailing inside the vessel. 18. An appliance according to claim 17, wherein the opening safety means (20) are designed to interact with the locking/unlocking means (3) so as to prevent the lid (2) from being locked relative to the bowl (1) when the pressure prevailing inside the vessel is greater than a predetermined value or "opening safety pressure" and/or when the temperature prevailing inside the vessel is greater than a predetermined value or "opening safety temperature". 19. An appliance according to claim 18, wherein: the control member (7, 7A, 7B) is designed to be suitable for finding itself in a predetermined locking and decompression position in which said control member (7, 7A, 7B) co-operates with the locking/unlocking means (3) and with the decompression means (6) so that the locking/unlocking means find themselves in their locking position, while the decompression means are activated; the control member (7, 7A, 7B) is designed to be suitable for finding itself in an unlocking an decompression position, in which said control member (7, 7A, 7B) co-operates with the locking/unlocking means (3) and with the decompression means (6) so that the locking/unlocking means (3) find themselves in their unlocking position, while the decompression means (6) are activated; and the opening safety means (20) are designed to prevent the control member (7, 7A, 7B) from going from its locking and decompression position to its unlocking and decompression position so long as the pressure prevailing inside the vessel is greater than the safety pressure and/or so long as the temperature prevailing inside the vessel is greater than the safety temperature. 20. An appliance according to claim 17, wherein the opening safety means (20) comprise a pressure-gauge rod (20) mounted to move between a low position in which it allows the lid (2) to be locked/unlocked relative to the bowl (1) and a high position, in which it interacts with the locking/unlocking means to prevent the lid (2) from being unlocked relative to the bowl (1). 21. An appliance according to claim 1, that is constituted by a pressure cooker.
