Pellet grills
AssigneeWeber-Stephen Products LLC
InventorsBrian Donnelly, Ryan P. Lundberg, David Jonathan Eckhardt
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Pellet grills and associated methods of operation are disclosed. An example pellet grill includes a lid, a cooking chamber, an engine, and one or more processors. The lid is movable between a closed position and an open position. The engine is configured to output heat to the cooking chamber. The one or more processors are configured to detect a closing movement of the lid. In response to detecting the closing movement, the one or more processors are configured to command the engine to operate in an increased output mode that increases the heat output of the engine.
Claims21
A pellet grill, comprising:
- a lid movable between a closed position and an open position;
- a cooking chamber;
- an engine configured to output heat to the cooking chamber, the engine including a burn pot, an auger, an auger motor, a fan, and a hopper, the burn pot configured to combust pellet fuel contained within the burn pot, the auger configured to transport pellet fuel from the hopper to the burn pot, the auger motor configured to control operation of the auger, the fan configured to generate a flow of air from the fan to the burn pot;
- and
- one or more processors configured to:
- detect a closing movement of the lid;
- and
- in response to detecting the closing movement, command the engine to operate in an increased output mode that maximizes the heat output of the engine by causing the auger motor and the fan to maximize a rate of combustion of pellet fuel within the burn pot, wherein operation of the engine in the increased output mode increases a temperature within the cooking chamber as quickly as the engine is capable of.
A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed, cause one or more processors of a pellet grill to at least:
- detect a closing movement of a lid of the pellet grill, the lid movable between a closed position and an open position, the pellet grill further including a cooking chamber and an engine, the engine configured to output heat to the cooking chamber, the engine including a burn pot, an auger, an auger motor, a fan, and a hopper, the burn pot configured to combust pellet fuel contained within the burn pot, the auger configured to transport pellet fuel from the hopper to the burn pot, the auger motor configured to control operation of the auger, the fan configured to generate a flow of air from the fan to the burn pot;
- and
- in response to detecting the closing movement, command the engine of the pellet grill to operate in an increased output mode that causes maximizes the heat output of the engine by causing the auger motor and the fan to increase maximize a rate of combustion of pellet fuel within the burn pot, wherein operation of the engine in the increased output mode increases a temperature within the cooking chamber as quickly as the engine is capable of.
A method, comprising:
- detecting, via one or more processors of a pellet grill, a closing movement of a lid of the pellet grill, the lid movable between a closed position and an open position, the pellet grill further including a cooking chamber and an engine, the engine configured to output heat to the cooking chamber, the engine including a burn pot, an auger, an auger motor, a fan, and a hopper, the burn pot configured to combust pellet fuel contained within the burn pot, the auger configured to transport pellet fuel from the hopper to the burn pot, the auger motor configured to control operation of the auger, the fan configured to generate a flow of air from the fan to the burn pot;
- and
- in response to detecting the closing movement, commanding, via the one or more processors, the engine of the pellet grill to operate in an increased output mode that causes maximizes the heat output of the engine by causing the auger motor and the fan to increase maximize a rate of combustion of pellet fuel within the burn pot, wherein operation of the engine in the increased output mode increases a temperature within the cooking chamber as quickly as the engine is capable of.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.