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US 2003/0196940 A1Published application
Fryer filtration arrangement
AssigneeIllinois Tool Works Inc.
InventorAlfred Edward Mullaney JR.
Life of this patent
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AssigneeIllinois Tool Works Inc.
InventorAlfred Edward Mullaney JR.
Estimating the term…
A fryer filtration arrangement includes an oil drain pan and associated filter assembly. The filter assembly may be removably connected to the pan by a friction fit coupling arrangement. The pan may be positioned in latch-free movable drawer. The fryer vat may be shaped such that particulate matter settles therein along a substantially linear region and oil circulated during a filtration operation may flow along the substantially linear region to push the settled particulate matter to the pan and filter assembly.
A filtration arrangement for a fryer, comprising:
A filtration arrangement for a fryer, comprising:
A filtration arrangement for a fryer, comprising:
A filtration arrangement for a fryer, comprising:
An oil filter assembly for a fryer, the filter assembly comprising:
A filtration arrangement for a fryer, comprising:
A filtration arrangement for a fryer, comprising:
A filtration arrangement for a fryer, comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.
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Rigidly mounted in or on tanks or reservoirs: filtering elements with a horizontal or inclined rotation or symmetry axis submerged in tanks or…
Deep fat fryers, e.g. for frying fish or chips: with means for filtering the frying liquid
Deep fat fryers, e.g. for frying fish or chips: heated with burners
Liquid purification or separation: fat fryer
Term end not estimated
The present invention relates generally to deep-fat fryers and, more particularly, to a deep-fat fryer cooking oil filtration arrangement.
A typical deep-fat fryer will include a fryer vat containing a heating bath of cooking oil. The cooking oil is adapted to receive baskets of food products such that the food products will be immersed within and cooked by the heated cooking oil. Such fryers may also include a heat exchanger and a pump. The pump is responsible for continuously pumping the cooking oil from the fryer vat, through the heat exchanger and back into the fryer vat such that the cooking oil remains at a substantially constant temperature, thereby allowing the food products to be evenly and consistently cooked within the fryer vat. More recently, fryers have been manufactured with in vat fire tubes and associated burners, with combusted gases being passed therethrough to heat the oil, eliminating the need to constantly pump the oil from the vat through a heat exchanger.
To extend the useful life of the cooking oil, it is a common practice to filter the particulate food matter from the cooking oil to minimize the carbonization of such food matter within the cooking oil. Some conventional fryers utilize a batch filtration system, in which the cooking oil is drained from the fryer vat and then manually or mechanically filtered before returning the cleansed cooking oil back to the fryer vat. Other conventional fryers utilize a continuous filtration system, in which a continuous filter is placed within the fluid path of the cooking oil, so as to continuously filter the cooking oil as it is being recirculated between the fryer vat and the pump/heat exchanger.
FIG. 1 is a front perspective of one embodiment of a fryer including a filtration arrangement;
FIG. 2 is a side elevation of the oil pan and associated filter assembly of the fryer of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a cross-section of one embodiment of a return coupler which extends from the pan of FIG. 2;
Referring to drawing FIG. 1, a perspective view of a typical fryer 10 including two fryer vats 12A and 12B is shown. Each fryer vat includes at least one respective basket 16A and 16B which is automatically movable upward and downward via respective positioning guides 18A and 18B in a manner well known in the art. The fryer 10 includes a frame 20 which preferably includes associated housing 22 such as stainless steel. A front panel 24 of the fryer 10 includes a control and display panel 26A and 26B for each fryer vat. The lower portion of the housing frame includes a set of doors 30A, 30B which are movable between open and closed positions, and which are illustrated in the open position. Below the doors 30A, 30B a drawer 32 which is movable between open and closed positions relative to the frame 20 is provided, the drawer being illustrated in the open position. Positioned within the drawer 32 is an oil receiving pan 34 having a rim 36 which sits on rails 38 of the drawer 32. Handles 40 extend from the interior sidewalls of the pan 34 to allow the pan to be easily picked up and removed from the drawer to facilitate cleaning at a location away from the fryer 10. Positioning of the handles 40 on the inner portion of the pan helps facilitate simple positioning of the pan in the drawer 32. As used herein, the term “pan” is intended to broadly encompass any oil receiving container, unless otherwise specifically indicated.
A basket type screen 42 is removably positioned within the pan 34 for filtering out debris entering the pan 34 within oil which is drained from one of the fryer vats 12A and 12B. At the bottom of the pan 34 a filter assembly 45 is provided for filtering the oil. An oil return path from the pan 34 back to the fryer vat 12A, 12B is formed in part by a coupler 44 which is connected to and extends from a front sidewall of the pan 34. The illustrated coupler 44 extends rearwardly back toward the fryer frame 20. A corresponding coupler 46 (FIG. 2) is positioned on the fryer frame 20, with the two couplers aligned for slidingly mating with each other in a friction fit arrangement when the drawer 32 is moved to a closed position.
In the illustrated fryer 10, each vat 16A, 16B includes an associated exhaust stack 200A, 200B formed at the back of the fryer for venting combustion gases produced by the oil heating system which includes in vat fire tubes as will be described in more detail below with reference to FIGS. 8 and 9.