Patent Application
20080202349
This invention generally relates to cooking apparatuses or equipment. More specifically, this invention relates to deep-frying apparatuses having a rotating basket.
Fried foods, such as fried shrimp, fried fish, fried chicken, etc., are tasteful. Two of the most important characteristics of fried foods are: outside, golden and crispy; and inside, juicy and tender.
Traditional deep fryers have a container sitting on a heater and a handle for use of handling the container. When deep-frying food, people have to stir or turn over food to facilitate heat transfer and uniform heating, especially when deep-frying battered food; which requires skill and labor.
Many products of deep-frying apparatuses are on the market and many patents have been issued.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,365,878, issued to Lau, on Apr. 2, 2002, illustrates an electric frying apparatus, with which a vertically moving basket is equipped.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,027,697, issued to De Longhi, on Jul. 2, 1991, teaches regarding a rotating oblique basket fryer for cyclic immersion cooking; which facilitates the elimination of moisture in the food, accelerates the heat exchange process, and favors uniform operating temperatures.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,845,707, issued to Xu, et al., on Jan. 25, 2006, teaches regarding an automatic cooking apparatus having a basket installed inside an inner pan for automated stirring and cooking. The basket is not rotating; instead, the stirrer is rotating.
However, prior art products have a full housing in designs, resulting in being too bulky for kitchens and too expensive to manufacture. Market testing has shown that consumers desire a deep frying apparatus that is compact and simple enough to be less bulky to save kitchen space and to be less expensive to manufacture. In additions, it is highly advantageous to introduce oil flow within the frying pan white food is fried. Favorable oil flow would facilitate heat transfer to food and distribute temperature more uniformly within the frying pan.
Therefore, it remains desirable to provide a deep frying apparatus that is innovative in design, such that it is less bulky to save kitchen space and less expensive to manufacture, and that includes a basket that rotates during frying food, such that heat exchange is facilitated and the temperature is distributed more uniformly within the frying pan.
Accordingly, the present invention is a deep-frying apparatus. This deep frying apparatus comprises a container having an open top and a sidewall for holding food, a lid for closing up the open top of the container, a support member fixedly engaged with the lower portion of the container and extended downward to a predetermined distance for adapting the container to stand on a base support or a horizontal counter top, a perforated basket rotatably installed inside the container for holding and rotating food, a heating tube installed on the bottom of the container for heating food, a co-rotation prevention member installed on the sidewall of the container for generating a favorable oil flow, as the basket rotates, and a motor installed inside the base support and removably coupled with the basket for driving the basket.
Accordingly, the followings are some of the objects, features, and advantages of the present invention.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a deep frying apparatus that is simple to use, less bulky to save kitchen space, and less expensive to manufacture.
It is a feature of the present invention that this deep frying apparatus includes a rotating basket, which rotates food and generates a favorable oil flow within the pan during deep-frying. The rotating basket is removably installed inside the container and is equipped with a removable handle.
It is another feature of the present invention that this deep-frying apparatus includes a support member for supporting the container. The upper end of the support member is fixedly engaged with the periphery of the bottom portion of the container and the lower end of the support member extends downward to a predetermined distance for adapting the container to stand on a base support or on a horizontal surface. The container together with the support member is removable, such that the container is convenient to dean after use and dishwasher safe.
It is a furthermore feature of the present invention that the heating tube is fixedly installed on the bottom of the container to save some cost associated with a full heater having a thermal diffusion plate, which requires significant amount of material and space. By directly installing the heating tube on the bottom of the container heating efficiency is significantly enhanced.
It is a still furthermore feature of the present invention that the container is not enclosed inside a housing, such that some cost and space associated with a full housing is saved, compared with prior art products.
It is an advantage of the present invention that the deep-frying apparatus is highly compact in design to save space and material cost.
Further more features and advantages of the present invention wilt be readily appreciated; as the same becomes better understood after reading the subsequent description when considered in connection with the non-limiting accompanying drawings.
Reference is made to
A container 102, having an open top, a sidewalk and a central aperture on the bottom, is provided for holding food. The sidewall of container 102 is slightly tapered with a larger diameter on the top and a smaller diameter on the bottom. Container 102 is, preferably, coated with a non-stick material.
A lid 104 is provided for closing up the open top of container 102. Lid 104 is, preferably, made of a transparent material.
A venting device 105, removably installed on lid 104, is provided for exhausting cooking fumes. A filtering pad 105a, e.g., a sponge-like, or fabric, or activated carbon filtering pad, is provided for removing the grease content within the grease-laden cooking fumes for home environment protection.
A grasp handle 106 and a lift handle 108 are fixedly installed on the upper portion of the sidewall of container 102 for use of handling container 102.
A support member 110, having a generally tapered hollow cylindrical configuration, is provided for supporting container 102. The upper end of support member 110 is fixedly engaged with the periphery of the bottom portion of container 102 and the lower end of support member 110 is extended downward to a predetermined distance, such that container 102 is adapted to stand on a base support 112 or on a horizontal countertop. Support member 110 is provided also for enclosing the space underneath the bottom of container 102 into a protected space. Some windows or slots may be opened on support member 110 for venting heat, etc. Support member 110 is, preferably, made of a non-metal material of low thermal conductivity, such that container 102 together with support member 110 can directly stand on a counter top or a dinning table without the risk of overheating the same.
A perforated basket 114, removably and rotatably installed inside container 102, is provided for holding and rotating food, such as French fries, chicken nuggets, fish sticks, etc. There is a predetermined clearance between the bottom of basket 114 and the bottom of container 102 to avoid scratching between the two bottoms, as basket 114 rotates. Basket 114 rotates while deep-frying food, such that the food is rotated and the oil within container 102 is forced to move with respect to food, such that heat transfer is facilitated to save time and energy. Basket 114 includes a removable handle 114a. When basket 114 is installed inside container 102, handle 114a can be removed, as shown in
An electrical heating tube 116, having a generally circular configuration, is provided for heating food disposed inside container 102. Heating tube 116 is fixedly installed on the outside of the bottom of container 102, inserted into a groove 102a formed on the bottom of container 102, and disposed close to the periphery with a predetermined distance. The two electrical terminals of heating tube 116 are extended downward to a predetermined distance and are adapted to removably engage with an electrical power supply, as container 102 is installed in position on base support 112. There are significant advantages of installing heating tube 116 directly on the bottom of container 102. These advantages include saving a significant amount of material for building a full heater that has a thermal diffusion plate, resulting in space and cost saving and higher heat transfer efficiency.
A plurality of co-rotation prevention members 118 is integrally constructed inside container 102, on the sidewall, for preventing hot oil from co-rotating with basket 114, as basket 114 rotates. Members 118 include a rib-shaped elongated member that extends generally vertical along the sidewall of container 102. The upper ends of members 118 extend substantially to the upper portion of container 102. Members 118 are preferably disposed substantially close to handles 106 or 108, such that members 118 would not obstruct food unloading. Members 118 extend inward to a predetermined distance, away from the sidewall of container 102. The predetermined distance is determined based on the size of container 102. Proper clearance between members 118 and basket 114 should be maintained. When oil co-rotates with basket 114 and runs against members 118, as basket 114 rotates, the oil flow direction is diverted by member 118, resulting in favorable oil flow with respect to food, thereby facilitating heat transfer to and uniform heating of food.
A thermo plate 120, made of a material of high thermal conductivity, is fixedly installed on the bottom of container 102, at a location substantially close to heating tube 116, for removably engaging a thermostat 122. Thermostat 122 is installed on base support 112 and engaged with thermo plate 120 for detecting the temperature, as container 102 is installed in position on base support 112. Such temperature is used to control the electrical power to heating tube 116. The upper end of thermostat 122 protrudes upward above the upper surface of base support 112 with a pre-loading, e.g., via a spring member 122a. Thermostat 122 can be a digital sensor, such as a NTC or PTC, or an adjustable thermostat, or simply a temperature switch, as known to those skilled in the art.
Base Support 112, disposed underneath container 102, is provided for supporting container 102. The upper portion of base support 112 is removably engaged with the inner periphery of the lower portion of support member 110. As container 102 is installed in position on base support 112, thermostat 122 is engaged with thermo plate 120, or directly with the bottom of container 102, and the electrical terminals of heating tube 116 are removably connected with an electrical port 112c on base support 112 for electrical supply.
A motor 124 is installed inside base support 112 for providing rotation power to basket 114. Motor 124 is removablely coupled with a drive shaft 126, as container 102 is installed in position. Drive shaft 126 is threaded through the central aperture on the bottom of container 102. The upper end of shaft 126 is removably engaged with basket 114 through a basket coupling element 114c for supporting and rotating basket 114 and the lower end of shaft 126 is coupled with motor 124 through a Coupling device 132. A seal device 130 is provided for sealing off the interface between shaft 126 and the bottom of container 102.
Bushing 136 is co-axial to shaft 126 and is fixedly and sealingly engaged with the bottom of container 102. Packing 138 is inserted into a groove cut around shaft 126. A plurality of packing 138 can be provided for more reliable sealing as known to those skilled in the art. When inserted into bushing 136 together with shaft 126, packing 138 is compressed and squeezed against shaft 126 and bushing 136 to seal off the interface thereof. Bushing 136 extends upward to a predetermined height above the bottom of container 102, such that the upper end of bushing 136 and packing 138 are disposed above the bottom of container 102 and such that the requirement on seal device 130 is significantly reduced. The clearance between bushing 136 and shaft 126 is minimized for ideal sealing performance, but, shaft 126 should be able to rotate with minimal friction resistance, which requires high precision of the fitting surfaces thereof.
Materials for packing 138 are extremely important when selecting the proper packing for an application. Basic requirements include heat resistance, wearing resistance, elasticity, etc.
Seal device 130 can, alternatively, take many other forms, such as bushing, labyrinth, packing, or combinations of multiple forms for ideal performance, as known to those skilled in the art and suggested by this invention disclosure.
Accordingly, as container 102 is properly installed in position on base support 112, thermostat 122 is engaged with thermo plate 120, or directly with the bottom of container 102, the electrical terminals of heating tube 116 are connected with electrical port 112c, motor 124 is coupled with shaft 126, and detector 128 is depressed to confirm that container 102 is well in position. Deep-frying apparatus 100 is, now, ready for cooking.
Motor 124 is installed on the bottom of container 102. A plurality of insulation block 202 of low thermal conductivity is provided in between motor 124 and the bottom of container 102 for shielding motor 124 away from heat transferred from the bottom of container 102. An adjustable thermostat 204, installed directly on the bottom of container 102, is provided for controlling the temperature of heating tube 116. A bottom cap 206 is provided for closing up the open bottom of support member 110.
Reference is made to
Accordingly, readers will see that this deep-frying apparatus of the present invention is highly compact to save kitchen space and manufacturing cost. The container is removable from the base support, such that it is convenient for cleaning after use and dishwasher safe. The support member adapts the container to stand directly on counter tops or dinning tables without the risk of overheating the same. The deep-frying apparatus can have secondary uses, such as boiling, steaming food, etc.
The present invention has been described in an illustrative manner. It is to be understood that the terminology, which has been used, is intended to be in the nature of words of description rather than of limitation.
Although this invention has been described in its preferred forms and structures with a certain degree of particularity, these should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention but as merely providing illustrations of some of the presently preferred embodiments of this invention.
Thus it is understood that the present disclosure of the preferred forms can be changed in the details of construction and in the combination and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.
