Kettle with retained spout lid

Abstract

A kettle has a spout closure movable between open and closed conditions, and an actuator assembly manually operable for effecting movement of the closure between the open and closed conditions, the actuator assembly including a retaining mechanism for retaining the closure in each of its open and closed conditions.

1 . A kettle comprising: 
 a vessel,    a spout communicating with the vessel,    a handle on the vessel,    a closure movable between open and closed conditions relative to the spout, and    an actuator assembly carried by the vessel and coupled to the closure and manually operable for effecting movement of the closure between its open and closed conditions,    the actuator assembly including a retaining mechanism for retaining the closure in each of its open and closed conditions.    
   
   
       2 . The kettle of  claim 1 , wherein the actuator assembly is disposed on the handle.  
   
   
       3 . The kettle of  claim 1 , wherein the closure is mounted for pivotal movement between its open and closed conditions.  
   
   
       4 . The kettle of  claim 3 , wherein the closure is mounted on the handle.  
   
   
       5 . The kettle of  claim 1 , wherein the actuator assembly is disposed for pivotal movement relative to the handle.  
   
   
       6 . The kettle of  claim 5 , wherein the actuator assembly projects downwardly beneath the handle in a first position corresponding to the closed condition of the closure for actuation by a finger of a user's hand, 
 the actuator assembly projecting upwardly above the handle in a second position corresponding to the open condition of the closure for actuation by the sum of a user's hand.    
   
   
       7 . The kettle of  claim 1 , wherein the actuator assembly includes a first lever and the closure includes a second lever engageable with the first lever.  
   
   
       8 . the kettle of  claim 7 , wherein the first and second levers respectively have first and second teeth disposed in meshing engagement with each other.  
   
   
       9 . The vessel of  claim 1 , wherein the retaining mechanism includes an over-center spring and engageable with the closure for resiliently retaining it in each of its open and closed conditions.  
   
   
       10 . The kettle of  claim 8 , wherein the spring is a leaf spring.