Patent Application
20140053823
This invention relates generally to a portable, all-terrain outdoor barbeque grill, and more particularly an outdoor barbeque grill constructed to be directly attachable to a hitch receiver at the rear end of a vehicle while being transferred, and constructed to be easily moved by a user once detached from the receiver hitch.
Due to the growing popularity of leisure, recreational and other outdoor activities, such as fishing, camping, cookouts and tailgating at sporting and other events, numerous approaches and devices have been devised to permit the people partaking in and attending these events to take various outdoor accessories, in particular various outdoor grilling accessories. In some cases a campfire may be built; however, campfires may be difficult to build and many of these venues do not permit campfires. A public barbeque grill may be utilized; however, many of these public grills are unsanitary, in a state of disrepair or not available at the particular venue. Another option is for the person to bring a personal grill to be set up and used at the venue; however, transporting a grill occupies much of the valuable storage inside the vehicle, plus the grill may not be packed away until it has completely cooled. A personal grill may be permanently attached to the vehicle, which may be unsatisfactory for many people because of the trouble associated therewith when the grill is not in use during their daily activities. A grill may be attached to a trailer to be hauled behind the vehicle; however, this results in the rear door of the vehicle being blocked when the barbeque and trailer are attached.
It is therefore desirable to provide a portable, all-terrain outdoor barbeque grill directly securable to the rear end of the vehicle.
It is further desirable to provide a portable, all-terrain outdoor barbeque grill that is quickly and effortlessly attached and detached from the hitch receiver by a user.
It is yet further desirable to provide a portable, all-terrain outdoor barbeque grill that does not require a separate swing arm or waste of valuable interior cargo room of the vehicle, leaving the cargo room for supplies and other personal affects.
In general, in a first aspect, the invention relates to a portable, all-terrain cabinet for an outdoor grill. The cabinet includes a structural frame having an upper end configured for receipt of a grill head. The structural frame can form an interior compartment configured to house a fuel tank. A plurality of wheels are attached to a lower end of the structural frame, and the wheels may include oversized dolly tires rotatably connected to the lower end of the structural frame. The cabinet can also include a generally U-shaped dolly handle attached to a rear side of the structural frame. The rear side of the structural frame has cross-member support beams to prevent warping of the cabinet during usage. Also, a receiver tube having a longitudinal bore is secured to the lower end of the structural frame. In addition, a drawbar tube, which may include at least one beveled terminal end, is receivable within the longitudinal bore of the receiver tube. The cabinet can also include a door hingedly attached to a front side of the structural frame.
The structural frame of the cabinet may be constructed from a first side frame, a second side frame opposing the first side frame, a front frame, and a rear frame opposing the front frame. In this configuration, the front frame and the rear frame are respectively attached to the first side frame and the second side frame forming the interior compartment of the cabinet. In addition, the cabinet may include a generally planar floor having an opening therethrough. The floor may be generally perpendicular to the first side frame, the second side frame, the front frame and the rear frame. Additionally, the first side frame, the second side frame and the rear frame may include outer sheet metal walls to enclose the interior compartment of the cabinet. Moreover, the receiver tube may be secured to the rear frame and the front frame below the floor of the cabinet. Opposing receiver tube plates can also be respectively secured to the rear frame and the front frame, and in this configuration, the receiver tube can be secured between the receiver tube plates. Each of the receiver plates has an opening axially aligned with the longitudinal bore of the receiver tube.
The cabinet can also include a tank holder assembly disposed within the interior compartment of the cabinet. The tank holder assembly can be constructed from a generally U-shaped tank holder base attached to the receiver tube. The tank holder base includes opposing arms having inwardly tapered terminal ends. In addition, a front loop member is attached to the arms of the tank holder base, and a rear loop member opposing the front loop member is also attached to the arms of the tank holder base. A tank support plate can be attached to an upper surface of the receiver tube, and be generally aligned along parallel planes with a floor. The tank support plate may further be disposed generally within a central opening of the floor.
In general, in a second aspect, the invention relates to an outdoor grill removably attachable to a hitch receiver at a rear end of a vehicle. The grill includes a grill head and a portable grill cabinet having the grill head mounted thereon. The cabinet is constructed from a structural frame. A receiver tube having a longitudinal bore is secured to the structural frame of the cabinet. A drawbar tube is receivable within the longitudinal bore of the receiver tube, and may include a beveled terminal end. Moreover, wheels, such as front casters and rear oversized dolly tires, along with a dolly handle having opposing arms, are attached to the cabinet.
The grill head of the outdoor grill can include a grill cover hingedly attached to a firebox. The grill head may be a natural gas or liquid propane grill head, a smoker grill head or a charcoal grill head. Additionally, at least one door may be hingedly attached to the cabinet. The structural frame can be constructed from a first side wall, a second side wall and a rear wall, with the rear wall having structural cross-beams to prevent warping of the cabinet during usage and/or due to heat. Furthermore, the outdoor grill can include a tank holder assembly attached to and disposed within the interior compartment of the cabinet.
Other advantages and features will be apparent from the following description, and from the claims.
The devices and methods discussed herein are merely illustrative of specific manners in which to make and use this invention and are not to be interpreted as limiting in scope.
While the invention has been described with a certain degree of particularity, it is to be noted that many modifications may be made in the construction and the arrangement of the structural and function details disclosed herein without departing from the scope of the invention. It is understood that the invention is not limited to the embodiments set forth herein for purposes of exemplification.
The description of the invention is intended to be read in connection with the accompanying drawings, which are to be considered part of the entire written description of this invention. In the description, relative terms such as “front,” “rear,” “lower,” “upper,” “horizontal,” “vertical,” “above,” “below,” “up,” “down,” “top” and “bottom” as well as derivatives thereof (e.g., “horizontally,” “downwardly,” “upwardly” etc.) should be construed to refer to the orientation as then described or as shown in the drawings under discussion. These relative terms are for convenience of description and do not require that the machine be constructed or the method to be operated in a particular orientation. Terms, such as “connected,” “connecting,” “attached,” “attaching,” “join” and “joining” are used interchangeably and refer to one structure or surface being secured to another structure or surface or integrally fabricated in one piece, such as by welding, binding with adhesives, riveting, threaded fasteners, or bending in the form of a crimped seam. Structural steel and sheet metal are the usual starting materials for fabrication, and welding wire, flux, and fasteners may join the fabricated pieces. Further, the fabricated pieces may be finished, such as with paint, powder coat, chrome or nickel plating.
An outdoor barbeque grill 10 is directly attachable to a hitch receiver at a rear end of a vehicle. Grill 10 is removably attached to a receiver hitch on a rear end of a vehicle (not shown). The receiver hitch may be a tubular trailer hitch readily available on sport utility vehicles, pickup trucks, vans and other recreational vehicles. The receiver hitch is typically constructed from a hollow tube that has a rearward facing female tubular end and aligning pin receiver holes in the sides of the hollow tube. A hitch locking pin (not shown) may be used to removably secure the grill 10 to the receiver hitch.
Referring to the figures of the drawings, wherein like numerals of reference designate like elements throughout the several views, and initially to
Referring now to
As seen in
Rear frame 28 may also include a receiver tube rear plate 66 having an opening 68 therethrough. Receiver tube rear plate 66 is connected to an inner surface of lower support beam 56 of rear frame 28. A receiver tube front plate 70 may be connected to an inner surface of lower support beam 54 of front frame 26, and may also include an opening 72 therethrough that is axially aligned with the opening 68 of the receiver tube rear plate 66.
A receiver tube 74 is connected between receiver tube rear plate 66 and receiver tube front plate 70. Receiver tube 74 includes a longitudinal bore 76 that is axially aligned with opening 72 of receiver tube front plate 70 and opening 68 of receiver tube rear plate 66. Opposing sides at terminal ends of receiver tube 74 include aligned holes 78. Receiver tube 74 may also include generally U-shaped fastener plates 80, which straddle receiver tube 74 and which may be respectively connected to receiver tube rear plate 66 and receiver tube front plate 70. Receiver tube 74 may also include a tank support plate 82 connected to an upper surface. Tank support plate 82 is generally aligned along parallel planes with floor 20, and is positioned within an opening 19 of floor 20 of cabinet 14.
Drawbar tube 110 is selectively received within bore 76 of and connected to receiver tube 74. As illustrated, drawbar tube 110 includes an array of holes 112 along opposing sides through which the hitch locking pin may pass. Array of holes 112 allows the user to selectively adjust the space between the vehicle and grill 10, when grill 10 is attached to the vehicle. Drawbar tube 110 also includes a beveled terminal end 114 along an upper surface. Beveled terminal end 114 of drawbar tube 110 aids the user in aligning drawbar tube 110 with the opening of the female end of the hitch receiver of the vehicle. Drawbar stop collar 116 may be adjustably connected to drawbar tube 110 in order to position grill 10 closer to or further from the vehicle. Drawbar tube 110 is sized and shaped to fit into the standard tubular hitch receiver or may be sized and shaped to fit other hitch receiver openings.
Grill 10 may further include a tank holder assembly 84 connected to tank support plate 82 within cabinet 14. Tank holder assembly 84 is constructed to retain the source of gas while grill 10 is attached to and being transported by the vehicle, while grill 10 is removed from the vehicle by a user, and also while grill 10 is being moved over all terrains to the user's preferred grilling location, whether that be at home, at a campsite, while tailgating or otherwise. As shown in
Turning now to
In addition, cabinet 14 may include one or more side tables 104. As shown in
The opening of the female end of the hitch receiver is generally two inches by two inches, which is commonly provided in the standard tow package on most sport utility vehicles, pickup trucks and other recreational vehicles. To removably secure grill 10 to this type of hitch receiver, grill 10 is tilted back on rear tires 98 and beveled terminal end 114 of drawbar tube 110 is inserted into the rearward facing female end of the vehicle's receiver hitch. Grill 10 is then lifted by the user to longitudinally align receiver tube 110 and the receiver hitch, and is slid in until the selected holes 112 along opposing sides of drawbar tube 110 are aligned with the pin receiver holes in the receiver hitch. The hitch locking pin may be then inserted, securing grill 10 to the vehicle. At this point, stop collar 116 may be slide in contact with the receiver hitch and suitably secured into place, such as depicted using a generally L-shaped bolt 118. With stop collar 116 positioned according to the user's selection, grill 10 can subsequently be slid until the receiver hitch of the vehicle contacts stop collar 116 secured to drawbar tube 110, with holes 112 and the pin receiver holes in the receiver hitch of the vehicle being accurately aligned for receipt of the hitch locking pin. In keeping with the scope of the invention, a person having ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that grill 10 may be configured for use with other types of receiver hitches, such as but not limited to, draw bar and ball hitches (not shown).
Whereas, the devices and methods have been described in relation to the drawings and claims, it should be understood that other and further modifications, apart from those shown or suggested herein, may be made within the scope of this invention.
