US 10,711,995 B2Granted

Dual-fuel gas-pellet burner assembly

AssigneeOriginal Pellet Grill Company LLC

InventorJoe Traeger

Life of this patent

Estimating the term…

Loading patent…

Abstract

Embodiments of the inventive concept provide a dual-fuel gas-pellet burner assembly. The dual-fuel gas-pellet burner assembly can include a cooking gas line, a cooking gas igniter, a motor-driven pellet auger, a combustion air channeling section enclosing the motor-driven pellet auger and at least a section of the cooking gas line, and a dual-fuel sectioned combustion chamber including a gas combustion section and a fire pot section. The gas combustion section includes a terminal end of the cooking gas line and the cooking gas igniter disposed therein. The fire pot section includes a terminal end of the motor-driven pellet auger disposed therein. The gas combustion section of the dual-fuel sectioned combustion chamber is partitioned off from the fire pot section by an internal separator wall. A control unit including a digital temperature display, a temperature dial, and a switch can receive a user selection among three different modes of operation.

Claims19

Dependent claims

A dual-fuel gas-pellet burner assembly, comprising:

a cooking gas line;
a cooking gas igniter;
a motor-driven pellet auger;
a combustion air channeling section enclosing the motor-driven pellet auger and at least a section of the cooking gas line;
and
a dual-fuel sectioned combustion chamber including a gas combustion section and a fire pot section,
wherein:
the gas combustion section includes a terminal end of the cooking gas line and the cooking gas igniter disposed therein, and the fire pot section includes a terminal end of the motor-driven pellet auger disposed therein;
the gas combustion section of the dual-fuel sectioned combustion chamber is partitioned off from the fire pot section by an internal separator wall;
an opening in the internal separator wall connects the gas combustion section of the dual- fuel sectioned combustion chamber to the fire pot section of the dual-fuel sectioned combustion chamber;
the motor-driven pellet auger is configured to deliver fuel pellets to the fire pot section of the dual-fuel sectioned combustion chamber;
the cooking gas igniter disposed in the gas combustion section of the dual-fuel sectioned combustion chamber is an electric igniter that is configured to ignite cooking gas received from the cooking gas line within the gas combustion section that is partitioned off from the fire pot section;
and
the opening in the internal separator wall is configured to permit the ignited cooking gas to enter the fire pot section of the dual-fuel sectioned combustion chamber to combust the fuel pellets.

11 more elements

A method for operating a dual-fuel gas-pellet burner assembly, the method comprising:

partitioning off a gas combustion section of a dual-fuel sectioned combustion chamber from a fire pot section of the dual-fuel sectioned combustion chamber by an internal separator wall;
connecting the gas combustion section of the dual-fuel sectioned combustion chamber to the fire pot section of the dual-fuel sectioned combustion chamber via an opening in the internal separator wall;
delivering, by a motor-driven pellet auger, fuel pellets to the fire pot section of the dual- fuel sectioned combustion chamber;
igniting, by a cooking gas igniter disposed in the gas combustion section of the dual-fuel sectioned combustion chamber, cooking gas received from a cooking gas line within the gas combustion section that is partitioned off from the fire pot section;
permitting, by the opening in the internal separator wall, the ignited cooking gas to enter the fire pot section of the dual-fuel sectioned combustion chamber;
combusting the fuel pellets by the ignited cooking gas;
channeling air through a combustion air channeling section into the fire pot section of the dual-fuel sectioned combustion chamber via one or more combustion air ports in a wall of the fire pot section;
wherein the fuel pellets are wood fuel pellets, the method further comprising:
forcing, by a combustion air fan coupled to a bottom wall of the combustion air channeling section, external air into the air channeling section, and into both of the gas combustion section and the fire pot section of the dual-fuel sectioned combustion chamber;
receiving and mixing, in the gas combustion section of the dual-fuel sectioned combustion chamber, the air with cooking gas;
igniting, by the cooking gas igniter, the mixture of the air and the cooking gas in the gas combustion section of the dual-fuel sectioned combustion chamber;
combining, by the fire pot section of the dual-fuel sectioned combustion chamber, the ignited mixture of the air and the cooking gas with the wood fuel pellets;
and
combusting, by the ignited mixture of the air and the cooking gas, the wood fuel pellets.

11 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 15/217,995Filed 23 Jul 2016 · continuation in part
Priority: 2 May 2013
Published: US 2016/0327263 A110 Nov 2016
Granted: 14 Jul 2020
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification8 codes

F23C 1/04
Combustion apparatus specially adapted for combustion of two or more kinds of fuel simultaneously or alternately, at least one kind of fuel…
A47J 37/0704
Roasting devices for outdoor use; Barbecues: with horizontal fire box
A47J 37/0713
With horizontal fire box: with gas burners
A47J 37/0786
Roasting devices for outdoor use; Barbecues: accessories

Family

Application61/818,841Us provisional application · filed 2 May 2013
Application14/120,191Parent of this continuation-in-part · filed 2 May 2014
US 2016/0327263 A1Pre-grant publication · published 10 Nov 2016
US 2014/0326232 A1Published application
US 10,711,995 B2This patent

From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.