Automatic cleaning gas barbecue grill

A gas barbecue grill which burns at least one type of cooking gas introduced therein from a source of such fuel and has interior surfaces that are automatically cleaned when heated to a predetermined elevated temperature above the principal cooking temperatures of said grill, which comprises:

• (a) a generally hemispherical main container having an interior defined by a bottom wall and by side walls, said side walls terminating in an upwardly facing opening, the walls of said main container having interior surfaces that are coated with a coating that includes an oxidizing catalyst, said main container bottom wall having a secondary air inlet opening;
• (b) an ellipsoid main container cover for said main container, the interior surface of said cover being coated with a coating that includes an oxidizing catalyst, said cover being approximately one-half as deep as said generally hemispherical main container;
• (c) a gas burner positioned in said main container, said burner having top, bottom and side walls, and having an outer peripheral portion, said walls of said gas burner defining a plurality of exit ports passing through said walls, said ports being located in said outer peripheral portion of the burner,
• said burner having a horizontal positioning plane that cuts substantially through the goemetric centers of said exit ports, said main container side walls extending downward from said upwardly facing opening of the main container at least to said positioning plane,
• said outer peripheral portion of the burner and said main container walls defining between them a passageway for air flow from said secondary air inlet opening upward around said burner, the cross-sectional area of said air flow passageway being at least as large as the cross-sectional area of said secondary air inlet opening in the bottom wall of said main container;
• (d) valve means for controlling the gas flow rate from said cooking gas source, said valve means providing:
• (i) at least one predetermined rate of flow of a given type of cooking gas for the principal cooking mode of operation of said grill, and
• (ii) at least one predetermined higher rate of flow of said given type of cooking gas for an automatic cleaning mode of operation of the grill, in which mode:
• the temperature along the interior surfaces of said main container walls and of said cover is maintained, at substantially all points along said surfaces, at a level at least high enough to cause substantially complete oxidation of small particles of charred foodstuffs, and fats, oils and sauces employed in cooking, that accumulate as waste materials on said interior surfaces during ordinary use,
• the temperature of the exterior surfaces of said main container walls and of said cover does not rise above an acceptable level, and
• the tips of the flame jets that project from said burner exit ports extend to locations adjacent said main container walls without damaging said coating on the interior surfaces of the walls;
• (e) means for operatively connecting said cooking gas source and said valve means;
• (f) means for mixing cooking gas from said gas source with air from outside said barbecue grill;
• (g) means extending through said main container bottom wall for introducing said mixture of cooking gas and primary air into said gas burner in the interior of said main container;
• (h) a grate to support a plurality of pieces of a refractory material, said pieces of refractory material being formed in a bed with an outer peripheral edge when positioned on said grate, a gap being formed between said outer peripheral edge and the interior surfaces of said side walls, with a plurality of smaller gaps between said pieces of refractory material, said grate having a top surface which is located in a first horizontal plane above said gas burner;
• and
• (i) a cooking grid for supporting foodstuffs above said burner within the grill, said cooking grid having a bottom surface located in a second horizontal plane above said grate,
• said horizontal positioning plane of the gas burner, said main container side walls, and said first horizontal plane in which the top surface of said grate is located defining a main combustion chamber,
• the volume of said main combustion chamber being approximately 10 percent to 28 percent of the total volume of the interior of said gas barbecue grill when said cover is in place upon said main container,
• the center of gravity of the air within the volume defined by said main combustion chamber being at a level that is spaced above the lowest point on the interior surface of said bottom wall of the main container, when said gas barbecue grill is standing upright in position for use in cooking, by a vertical distance approximately 48 percent to 62 percent of the vertical distance between said lowest point on the bottom wall and the level of the center of gravity of the air within the volume defined by said main container and the main container cover when the container cover is in place upon the main container,
• said grill having exhaust outlet means, the ratio, for said automatic cleaning mode of operation of said grill, between the total cross-sectional area of said exhaust outlet means and the total volume enclosed by said main container and said main container cover when said cover is in place upon said main container being such as to permit the escape of the exhaust mixture resulting from the combustion of said cooking gas and to avoid the accumulation within the grill of carbon monoxide above safe levels, while limiting the escape of said exhaust mixture from said gas barbecue grill to maintain the necessary waste material combustion temperature along the inner surfaces of said main container walls and of said cover.

A gas barbecue grill which burns at least one type of cooking gas introduced therein from a source of such fuel and has interior surfaces that are automatically cleaned when heated to a predetermined elevated temperature above the principal cooking temperatures of said gas barbecue grill, which comprises:

• (a) a generally hemispherical main container having an interior defined by a bottom wall and by side walls, said side walls terminating in an upwardly facing opening, the walls of said main container having interior surfaces that are coated with a coating that includes an oxidizing catalyst, said main container bottom wall having a secondary air inlet opening;
• (b) an ellipsoid main container cover for said main container, the interior surface of said cover being coated with a coating that includes an oxidizing catalyst, said cover being approximately one-half as deep as said generally hemispherical main container;
• (c) a gas burner positioned in said main container, said burner having top, bottom and side walls, and having an outer peripheral portion, said walls of said gas burner defining a plurality of exit ports passing through said walls, said ports being located in said outer peripheral portion of the burner,
• said burner having a horizontal positioning plane that cuts substantially through the geometric centers of said exit ports, said main container side walls extending downward from said upwardly facing opening of the main container at least to said positioning plane,
• said outer peripheral portion of the burner and said main container walls defining between them a passageway for air flow from said secondary air inlet opening upward around said burner, the cross-sectional area of said air flow passageway being at least as large as the cross-sectional area of said secondary air inlet opening in the bottom wall of said main container;
• (d) valve means for controlling the gas flow rate from said cooking gas source, said valve means providing:
• (i) at least one predetermined rate of flow of a given type of cooking gas for the principal cooking mode of operation of said grill, and
• (ii) at least one predetermined higher rate of flow of said given type of cooking gas for an automatic cleaning mode of operation of the grill, in which mode:
• the temperature along the interior surfaces of said main container walls and of said cover is maintained, at substantially all points along said surfaces, at a level at least high enough to cause substantially complete oxidation of small particles of charred foodstuffs, and fats, oils and sauces employed in cooking, that accumulate as waste materials on said interior surfaces during ordinary use,
• the temperature of the exterior surfaces of said main container walls and of said cover does not rise above an acceptable level, and
• the tips of the flame jets that project from said burner exit ports extend to locations adjacent said main container walls without damaging said coating on the interior surfaces of the walls;
• (e) means for operatively connecting said cooking gas source and said valve means;
• (f) means for mixing cooking gas from said gas source with air from said primary air inlet opening;
• (g) means extending through said main container bottom wall for introducing said mixture of cooking gas and primary air into said gas burner in the interior of said main container;
• (h) a grate to support a plurality of pieces of a refractory material, said pieces of refractory material being formed in a bed with an outer peripheral edge when positioned on said grate, a gap being formed between said outer peripheral edge and the interior surfaces of said side walls, with a plurality of smaller gaps between said pieces of refractory material, said grate having a top surface which is located in a first horizontal plane above said gas burner;
• and
• (i) a cooking grid for supporting foodstuffs above said burner within the grill, said cooking grid having a bottom surface located in a second horizontal plane above said grate,
• said horizontal positioning plane of the gas burner, said main container side walls, and said first horizontal plane in which the top surface of said grate is located defining a main combustion chamber,
• the volume of said main combustion chamber being approximately 10 percent to 28 percent of the total volume of the interior of said gas barbecue grill when said cover is in place upon said main container,
• said gas burner horizontal positioning plane being spaced at a vertical distance above the lowest point on the interior surface of said bottom wall of the main contsiner, when said gas barbecue grill is standing upright in position for use in cooking, that is approximately 29 percent to 42 percent of the vertical distance between said lowest point on the bottom wall and the level of the center of the gravity of the air within the volume defined by said main container and the main container cover when the container cover is in place upon the main container,
• said horizontal plane of the top surface of said grate being spaced at a vertical distance above the lowest point on the interior surface of said bottom wall of the main container, when said gas barbecue grill is standing upright in position for use in cooking, said vertical distance being approximately 59 percent to 85 percent of said vertical distance of said center of gravity above said lowest point,
• said grill having exhaust outlet means, the ratio, for said automatic cleaning mode of operation of said grill, between the total cross-sectional area of said exhaust outlet means and the total volume enclosed by said main container and said main container cover when said cover is in place upon said main container being such as to permit the escape of the exhaust mixture resulting from the combustion of said cooking gas and to avoid the accumulation within the grill of carbon monoxide above safe levels, while limiting the escape of said exhaust mixture from said gas barbecue grill to maintain the necessary waste material combustion temperature along the inner surfaces of said main container walls and of said cover.