Back to results
US 5,813,394 AGranted
Cooking grill with moisture-insensitive flame detector
AssigneeConvenience Technologies, Inc.
InventorTodd W. Clifford
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The cooking grill has a moisture-insensitive flame detector capable of accurately determining the presence or absence of flame in the presence of moisture disposed adjacent to the burner. It also provides a more reliable ignition device and will relight the grill if the flame is blown out. The cooking grill also has an automatic shut-off to protect against the user forgetting to turn off the gas. It provides a lock-out system which prevents unauthorized use by individuals, such as children. Finally, the temperature in a grill or other cooking device can be controlled by cycling the burner on and off through microprocessor commands.
Claims20
A cooking grill which comprises:
- a food-positioning rack;
- a burner disposed below the rack for distributing a flame;
- a conduit for conveying a cooking fuel to the burner;
- a source of cooking fuel connected to the conduit;
- a control circuit;
- an electrically actuated fuel shut-off valve interposed on the conduit between the source of fuel and the burner and electrically connected to the control circuit;
- connective means for electrically connecting the control circuit to a source of electricity;
- and
- a flame detector electrically connected to the control circuit, the flame detector having a flame sensor and a hot surface igniter, the flame detector adapted to determine the presence or absence of flame in the presence of moisture disposed adjacent to the burner;
- wherein the control circuit, in response to a false signal from the flame sensor, switches on the hot surface igniter and opens the shut-off valve, then switches the hot surface igniter off after a predetermined period of time and closes the shut-off valve, so as to remove moisture from the flame sensor.
7 more elements
A cooking grill which comprises:
- a food-positioning rack;
- a burner disposed below the rack for distributing a flame;
- a conduit for conveying a cooking fuel to the burner;
- a source of cooking fuel connected to the conduit;
- a flame detector having a flame sensor and a hot surface igniter, the flame detector adapted to determine the presence or absence of flame in the presence of moisture disposed adjacent to the burner;
- a control circuit electrically connected to the flame detector;
- and
- connective means for electrically connecting the control circuit to a source of electricity;
- wherein the control circuit, in response to a false signal from the flame sensor, switches on the hot surface igniter and allows fuel to flow to the burner, then switches the hot surface igniter off after a predetermined period of time and stops fuel from flowing to the burner, so as to remove moisture from the flame sensor.
6 more elements
A cooking grill comprising:
- a food-positioning rack;
- a burner disposed below the rack for distributing a flame;
- a conduit for conveying a cooking fuel to the burner;
- a source of cooking fuel connected to the conduit;
- a control circuit:
- an electrically actuated fuel shut-off valve interposed on the conduit between the source of fuel and the burner and electrically connected to the control circuit;
- and
- wherein the control circuit substantially maintains an average predetermined cooking temperature without the aid of a temperature sensor by periodically opening and closing the shut-off valve in a predetermined pattern.
5 more elements
A cooking grill which comprises:
- a food-positioning rack;
- a burner disposed below the rack for distributing a flame;
- a conduit for conveying a cooking fuel to the burner;
- a source of cooking fuel connected to the conduit;
- a control circuit;
- an electrically actuated fuel shut-off valve interposed on the conduit between the source of fuel and the burner and electrically connected to the control circuit;
- a regulator in association with the shut-off valve for maintaining a substantially constant fuel flow rate such that a known amount of fuel is provided over time to the burner;
- and
- connective means for electrically connecting the control circuit to a source of electricity;
- wherein the cooking fuel is of a known quantity and the control circuit monitors the time the valve has been open.
7 more elements
A method for substantially maintaining an average predetermined cooking temperature without the aid of a temperature sensor, the method comprising:
- providing a cooking appliance having a burner, a conduit for conveying a cooking fuel to the burner, a source of cooking fuel connected to the conduit, an electrically actuated fuel shut-off valve interposed on the conduit between the source of fuel and the burner, and a control circuit electrically connected to the electrically actuated fuel shut-off valve;
- programming the control circuit with a program to periodically open and close the electrically actuated fuel shut-off valve in a predetermined pattern such that the average predetermined cooking temperature is substantially maintained;
- and
- opening and closing the electrically actuated fuel shut-off valve in response to the program of the control circuit.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.