Patent Application
20060076007
The present invention relates to commercial kitchen exhaust hoods and the construction thereof.
Kitchen exhaust hoods are utilized to exhaust air including smoke and grease from a kitchen area. In restaurant environments, kitchen exhaust hoods are of a commercial quality and are designed to handle substantial volumes of air. Generally a kitchen exhaust hood would include a top, a surrounding sidewall structure and an open bottom. Formed inside the kitchen exhaust hood is a grease containment area, which ordinarily will include a filter for filtering the exhaust air as it passes through the grease confinement area. Of course, the top of the hood is at least partially open and connects to a duct. An exhaust fan is typically provided in the duct or outside of the structure for inducing air from the kitchen, through the exhaust hood and into the duct.
Kitchen exhaust hoods are typically constructed of stainless steel. They include a series of subassemblies that are generally welded or fastened by other conventional means. Exhaust hood assemblies are often expensive because of the labor requirements to manufacture them and because of the cost of materials.
It is also desirable that exhaust hood designs be clean and smooth, especially from the exterior. In the past, many construction techniques utilized in fabricating exhaust hoods have involved procedures where weld seams are visible about the exterior surfaces of the hood. This detracts from the overall appearance and perhaps the marketability of exhaust hoods.
Therefore, there has been and continues to be a need for an exhaust hood design that facilitates an efficient fabrication and which, at the same time, yields a pleasing appearance that from the exterior, at least, is free of many weldment seams.
The present invention relates to a kitchen exhaust assembly having front and rear subassemblies. Rear subassembly is secured to the front subassembly and together the subassemblies include a top portion and opposed side surfaces. A pair of side panels is adapted to be connected to the front and rear subassemblies. To secure the side panels to the front and rear subassemblies, there is provided a series of threaded studs welded to either the front and rear subassemblies or to the side panels and projecting therefrom into and through openings formed in either the front and rear subassemblies or the side panels. To secure the side panels to the front and rear subassemblies, fasteners are provided that thread onto the threaded studs.
Further the present invention entails a method of fabricating a kitchen exhaust hood. This method entails forming front and rear subassemblies and securing the front and rear subassemblies together. A pair of side panels is adapted to be secured to the front and rear subassemblies. To secure the side panels to the front and rear subassemblies, the method entails securing a series of threaded studs by weldment to either the front or rear subassemblies or to the side panels and projecting the threaded studs therefrom into and through openings formed in either the front or rear subassemblies or the side panels. The method further includes securing fasteners to the threaded studs so as to retain the side panels about the exhaust hood assembly.
In addition, in one embodiment of the present invention, the exhaust hood assembly includes a sealed grease containment area. This sealed grease containment area is formed in part by a subassembly that is designed to receive and hold a filter through which air is exhausted in the course of air passing through the exhaust hood.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent and obvious from a study of the following description and the accompanying drawings, which are merely illustrative of such invention.
With further reference to the drawings, the kitchen hoods assembly of the present invention is shown therein and indicated generally by the numeral 10. As illustrated in
Turning first to the front subassembly 12, it comprises a center panel 16. Center panel 16, in one embodiment, is stamped or otherwise bent such that it includes a number of surfaces that lie at angles with respect to adjacent surfaces. Note, for example, that the lower portion of the center panel 16, as shown in
Front subassembly 12 includes side surfaces disposed on each side thereof that, as will be discussed later, lie generally adjacent side panels to be discussed subsequently herein. In any event, in
Turning to rear subassembly 14, this subassembly includes a center panel 24. Center panel 24 is also irregularly shaped and extends upwardly along the back of the rear subassembly 14 and turns to where a portion of the center panel forms a top portion 24A of the hood assembly. Rear subassembly 14 is reinforced by a series of laterally spaced ribs or reinforcing members 26. See
Like front subassembly 12, rear subassembly 14 includes side surfaces. In this case the side surfaces comprise opposed plates 30. Each plate 30 in this design assumes a generally triangular configuration. Formed around a portion of the border of the plates 30 is a series of openings 32 which, like the openings 22 in the plates 20, serves to receive threaded studs that are welded, in this design, to the side panels.
As illustrated in
To secure the front and rear subassemblies 12 and 14 together, there is provided a pair of side members 60. Side members 60, in this embodiment, are in the form of a pair of generally L-shaped or angled rails. Both horizontal and vertical portions of the respective rails include a series of openings 62. The assembly formed by securing the front and rear assemblies 12 and 14 together further include an intermediate top panel 64 as shown in
Intermediate panel 64 includes a flange 66, as shown in
As seen in
It is also advantageous to seal the hood assembly 10. Accordingly, as illustrated in
In order to facilitate the passing of exhaust air through the exhaust hood 10, an exhaust opening 94 is cut into the top of the hood assembly 10. See
To provide a finished appearance to hood assembly 10, a front panel 90 is secured across the front of the front subassembly 12. Front panel 90 can be secured in various ways to the hood assembly, but in one embodiment the front panel 90 would be welded to the front subassembly 12.
In order to suspend the hood assembly 10 from a ceiling or other overhead support structures, the top portion of the hood assembly can be provided with a series of hanger clips 92 as shown in
From the foregoing discussion, it is seen that the present invention entails a kitchen exhaust hood assembly that includes a number of subassemblies that are secured together through the use of threaded studs welded to components of the hood assembly and projecting therefrom through adjacent openings of other components. This technique or procedure for fabrication increases the efficiency of constructing and assembling the hood assembly, and provides a clean and smooth exterior surface for the hood assembly. Thus, weldment seams are minimized on the exterior of the hood assembly 10, giving rise to a pleasing, aesthetic appearance. In addition, the design provides for a sealed and airtight hood assembly including a sealed and generally airtight grease compartment. Various materials can be used for the hood assembly 10, but in one embodiment it is contemplated that the components and subassemblies would be constructed of stainless steel.
The present invention may, of course, be carried out in other specific ways than those herein set forth without departing from the scope and the essential characteristics of the invention. The present embodiments are therefore to be construed in all aspects as illustrative and not restrictive and all changes coming within the meaning and equivalency range of the appended claims are intended to be embraced therein.
