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US 3,938,494 AGranted
Cooking apparatus
AssigneeGuaranteed Weather, Inc.
InventorMorton L. Clark
Life of this patent
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AssigneeGuaranteed Weather, Inc.
InventorMorton L. Clark
Estimating the term…
Cooking apparatus adapted for multi-purpose use as a grill, oven, stove or patio heater, and comprising a chamber formed by a lower housing section having upright walls and by a hinged cover for opening and closing the top of the chamber. The bottom of the chamber is open to admit a low velocity, large volume flow of fresh air into the chamber. A single gas burner extends lengthwise of the chamber adjacent the open bottom and can be regulated for cooking to produce a low, yellow-tipped blue flame which creates a narrow zone of incandescence in a much wider layer of incombustible bodies supported on a grate spaced above the burner. The cooking zone is spaced above the grate and contains one or more grills extending generally coextensive with the layer of incombustible material so that at least the major portion of the cooking area is horizontally offset out of vertical alignment with the zone of incandescence. The enclosure has a perimeter outlet smaller than the air inlet and located between the upper edges of the lower section walls and the overhanging side walls of the cover. The large volume air flow vertically upwardly through the vertically spaced zones is induced solely by convection currents generated by the burner and incombustible bodies, the latter serving as means for dispersing the heat, baffling the upward air flow and emitting radiant heat. Additional features include an exterior drip tray adapted to control admission of air to the chamber, an anti-flare grease diverter, a burner and grate subassembly which is readily removable and usable by itself as a fireplace heater, a cook-top cover and associated auxiliary cover.
A cooking device comprising in combination an enclosure having upright walls defining a chamber having a top and a bottom, burner means in said chamber above said bottom, a perforate grate above said burner means, a layer of perforate incombustible material disposed on said grate adapted to be heated by said burner means to incandescence in at least a narrow portion thereof directly over said burner means, a cover for closing the top of said chamber, means for supporting food to be cooked above said grate and adapted to allow heated air to rise past the food, gaseous fluid outlet means extending along said upright walls of said enclosure spaced below the uppermost portion of said cover and above said food support means whereby said device is vented to atmosphere through said outlet means, and air inlet means in the vicinity of said bottom of said enclosure having an area greater than that of said outlet means and correlated therewith and said burner means such that atmospheric air is inducted from the outside atmosphere via said air inlet means solely by convection currents generated by operation of said burner means and is heated as it flows freely upwardly sequentially past said burner means and said layer of material, the heated air thence flowing upwardly past said food support means and outwardly via said outlet means to atmosphere, said inlet-outlet-burner correlation being such that said inducted air flows at low velocity but in sufficiently high volume to cause a constant circulation of heated air around the food cooking on said food support means whereby any stagnant cold layer of air adjacent the food is stripped away by said flowing air to thereby effect more efficient radiant and convection heating of the food.
A cooking device comprising in combination an enclosure defining a chamber having four vertically stacked zones therein comprising a heat generating first zone, a heat dispersing and radiating second zone disposed immediately above said zone and containing incombustible air permeable means comprising a layer of incombustible bodies extending in the aggregate laterally generally coextensive with said cooking zone, a cooking third zone disposed immediately above said second zone containing food support means and a heat collecting fourth zone spaced immediately above said third zone, air inlet means in said enclosure comprising a perforate wall extending laterally generally coextensive with said layer and below said heat generating zone communicating said heat generating zone with the outside atmosphere below said heat dispersing zone, means defining a gaseous fluid outlet in said enclosure at an elevation generally between said third and fourth zones, and heat generating means comprising a single element burner in said first zone occupying only a minor portion of the lateral extent thereof, at least the major portions of said second and third zones being offset horizontally out of vertical alignment with said burner, the area of said outlet means being less than that of said inlet means and being correlated with the heat output of said burner and the dimensions of said enclosure to allow a low velocity relatively large volume flow of air to flow upwardly sequentially through said zones, said air current being generated solely by convection currents induced by the heat given off by said burner and said heat dispersing and radiating means.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.