Patent Application
20130298781
The invention relates to a cooking appliance, and more particularly to a portable, passive-convection cooking oven.
Stove top utensils typically cook food by conduction of heat from a heating element through the utensil to the food. In baking, the food and the heating element are contained in an oven, and radiant heat may be reflected from the walls of the oven, adding to the conducting heat, allowing higher temperatures to be obtained and hence, faster cooking of the food. A further refinement is to circulate the air within the oven, allowing heat to be transported by the hot air as well as conduction and radiating. This added heat transport makes a convection oven about 25% more effective than a conventional oven, i.e., food can be cooked in 25% less time. The circulating hot air also makes the heating significantly more even and allows the outer surfaces of the food to cook more quickly. This eliminates hot spots in the oven, and allows items such as, but not limited to, pizzas to be cooked with a crispier crust.
Problems with existing convection ovens are that the air typically has to be circulated by a fan driven by an electric motor. This necessitates cooking in the vicinity of an electric power outlet, making outdoor cooking challenging. The fans also tend to be noisy, a fact that can make cooking with a convection oven less desirable.
The present invention overcomes these problems by providing passive air circulation through innovative design of the components. The result is a portable, passive convection cooking oven that retains the advantages of a convectional convection oven while overcoming the disadvantages detailed above.
The relevant prior art involving convection ovens include:
U.S. Pat. No. 6,360,654 issued to Cornfield on Mar. 26, 2002 entitled “Multi-purpose cookware” that describes a cooker having a base unit and a cover. The cover includes a top and bottom ends. The bottom end has a circular edge extending straight and upwardly therefrom to form an annular wall. The annular wall further extends inwardly to form a top portion.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,196,115 issued to Tsao on Mar. 6, 2001 entitled “Structure of a multi-function cooking utensil” that describes a multi-function cooking utensil that simultaneously has the functions of frying, boiling, sautéing, deep-frying, and steaming food. It is composed of a pot member, a steaming member and a cover member. By means of a design of a fixing bolt on the upper rim of the cover member and the two lateral external sides of the steaming member and the pot member, users can change according to their need the detachable handle, or detachable grip, or detachable handle of the cover in order to lift the cooking utensil. In addition, by means of the design of several grooves of different depths in the internal rim of the lateral side of the steaming member and the pot member, and in compliance with several protruding rafters of a barbeque rack or a steaming tray provides the pot member and the steaming member several layers for cooking. Furthermore, by means of a plurality of steam holes deposed on the internal side of the bottom of the steaming member and a big hollow cavity from by stamping on the proper location, and a movable plate having several protruding rafters. Such arrangement allows the cooking utensil to have the steaming, boiling, deep-frying function. By the foregoing structural design with the mechanical parts, this invention can save energy and reduce the packing space, and further enhance the economic applicability effect.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,365,833 issued to Chen on Nov. 22, 1994 entitled “Pizza baking pan” that describes a pizza baking pan that includes a wok having a center through hole, a rack having an inside annular flange raised from a recessed center portion thereof and a plurality of vent holes around the border thereof surrounding the recessed center portion for passing heat, a ceramic baking plate supported on the inside annular flange inside the recessed center portion, and a dome cover covered on the rack over the ceramic baking plate and having a transparent lid in the center for viewing the inside of the pan.
US Patent Publication no. 20110236549 issued to Bedard on Sep. 29, 2011 entitled “Portable Cooking Device” that describes a portable cooking device suitable for baking foods such as pizza. The device can include a base with a cover, a fan mounted circulate air within the device, and a thermoelectric device for powering the fan.
Various related implements are, therefore, known in the art, but fail to address all of the problems solved by the invention described herein. One embodiment of this invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings and will be described in more detail herein below.
The present invention relates to a portable, passive-convection cooking oven.
In a preferred embodiment, the portable, passive-convection cooking oven may include a base structure containing a heat distributing convection plate over which a flat grill plate may be placed and a convex shaped lid to cover them all. The lid, flat grill plate and the base structure may each have a handle.
The base structure preferably has a flat base having circular hole. The circular hole may be shaped and sized to fit a domestic stove gas burner or electric heating ring, and the base may be made of a suitably heat conducting metal, alloy or ceramic, or a combination thereof.
The base may also have a side wall running long the entire outer perimeter, and a catchment rim running along the perimeter of the circular hole in the middle of the base, and one or more handles for lifting the base structure.
The heat distributing convection plate may have a convex or a conical heating surface that may be supported above a support ring by at least one elevating connector such that a gap is formed between the support ring and the heating surface. The heat distributing plate support ring may be sized and shaped to rest on the flat base between the inner catchment rim and the side wall. The heating surface may be convex shaped when viewed from above, and be sized and shaped so that all points on its perimeter protrude outward beyond the inner catchment rim surrounding the hole in the flat base plate.
A grill plate may be positioned above the heat distributing convection plate. In a preferred embodiment, the grill plate may, for instance, be a substantially flat grill plate and have a plurality of grill plate holes. The grill plate may be used to support food during the cooking process. The grill plate may also have at least one grill plate handle. The grill plate may be shaped and sized to rest on a horizontal lip protruding from the wall of the base such that it may be positioned above a top of the convection surface.
In a preferred embodiment, a lid having a centrally located top may also have a horizontally protruding lid lip that may be shaped and sized to rest on the grill plate, or on an upper, protruding lip of the wall of the base structure.
Therefore, the present invention succeeds in conferring the following, and others not mentioned, desirable and useful benefits and objectives.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a portable cooking utensil with a flow of air that produces the advantages of a convection oven without the use of an electric fan.
It is another object of the present invention to provide stove top cooking utensil that produces the advantages of a convection oven.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a convection oven that can be used outdoors by campers.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a passive, convection oven that can uniformly heat the surface of food that is being cooked in it.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a passive, convection oven that is simple to use.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a portable, passive-convection cooking oven, comprising a base structure comprising a substantially flat base having circular centered hole shaped and sized to fit a domestic stove gas burner or electric heating ring, and having a substantially upwardly oriented side wall, contiguous with, and running along the entire perimeter of said substantially flat base and said upwardly oriented side wall having at least one horizontally protruding base lip and at least one base handle attached to said upwardly oriented side wall; and an upwardly protruding, inner catchment rim running along the entire perimeter of said circular hole; a heat distributing convection plate having a heat distributing plate support ring, at least one elevating connector, connected at its first end to said convection plate support ring and at its second end to a substantially convex heating surface, said elevating connector being shaped and sized to maintain said substantially convex convection surface above said heat distributing plate support ring such that a fluidly connecting gap is formed between said heat distributing plate support ring and said substantially convex heating surface and where said heat distributing plate support ring is sized and shaped to rest on said substantially flat base between said upwardly protruding inner catchment rim and said upwardly oriented side wall and wherein all points on the perimeter of said substantially convex convection surface protrude outward beyond said upwardly protruding, inner catchment rim; a substantially flat grill plate, with a plurality of grill plate holes and at least one grill plate handle, said substantially flat grill plate being shaped and sized to rest on said horizontally protruding base lip above a top of said substantially convex convection surface; and a substantially convex lid having a centrally located top handle, said substantially convex lid having a horizontally protruding lid lip shaped and sized to rest either on said substantially flat grill plate or on said base structure.
The preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. Identical elements in the various figures are identified with the same reference numerals.
Various embodiments of the present invention are described in detail. Such embodiments are provided by way of explanation of the present invention, which is not intended to be limited thereto. In fact, those of ordinary skill in the art may appreciate upon reading the present specification and viewing the present drawings that various modifications and variations can be made thereto without exceeding the scope of the present inventive concepts.
In a preferred embodiment, the portable, passive-convection cooking oven 100 may have a base structure 110 that may have at least one base handle 130 attached to it. On top of the base structure 110 may be a removable, substantially convex lid 150. The lid 150 may have a horizontally protruding lid lip 170 that may allow it to rest on top of the base structure 110. The lid 150 may also have a centrally located top handle 160. Also shown in
The portable, passive-convection cooking oven 100 may be comprised of four parts.
A first part may be the base structure 110. In a preferred embodiment, the base structure 110 may include a substantially flat base 200 having an approximately centered hole 210 and a base handle 130. The hole 210 is preferably shaped and sized to fit a standard, domestic stove, or oven, gas burner or electric heating ring. Although the hole may be circular in a preferred embodiment, one of ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate that the hole may be of any suitable shape such as, but not limited to, an oval, a rectangle, a cookie cup type outline, or some combination thereof.
In a preferred embodiment, the hole may be shaped and sized to fit on top of standard, domestic stove, or oven, gas burner or electric heating element. The hole may, however, also, or instead, be designed to fit over a standard, domestic stove heating element and rest on the stove top. As domestic stove heating elements typically range in diameter from range in size from 6 to 8 inches in diameter, the hole of this invention may preferably have a diameter in, but not limited to, a range from 3 to 9 inches.
The base structure 110 may also have an inner catchment rim 230 that protrudes upwards and is seamlessly made part of the base 200 and runs the entire perimeter of the circular hole 210. The upwardly protruding, inner catchment rim 230 may serve to, but is not limited to, prevent any liquid falling through the circular hole 210 on to an oven burner or gas heating element.
In a preferred embodiment, the base structure 110 may also have an upwardly oriented, side wall 220 that may be, but is not limited to, be substantially vertical. The base structure 110 may also include a lower horizontal base lip 235, an upper horizontal base lip 245 and a horizontally protruding base lip 120. The horizontally protruding base lip 120 may, for instance, serve to support the substantially convex lid 150. The horizontally protruding base lip 120 may, therefore, be shaped and sized to match the horizontally protruding lid lip 170 of the lid 150.
The upper horizontal base lip 245 may, for instance, serve to support the substantially flat grill plate 215 and may, therefore, be shaped and sized to match a perimeter of the substantially flat grill plate 215.
A second part may be the heat distributing convection plate 250. In a preferred embodiment, the heat distributing convection plate 250 may include a substantially convex heating surface 280 with convection openings 290, a heat distributing plate support ring 260 and one or more elevating connectors 270. The elevating connector 270 may, for instance, be serve to locate the substantially convex heating surface 280 over the circular hole 210 in the base structure 110. The heat distributing plate support ring 260 may be sized and shaped to rest on the substantially flat, base 200 between the upwardly protruding, inner catchment rim 230 and the inside perimeter of the lower horizontal base lip 235 of the base structure 110.
The elevating connector 270 may, at one of its ends, rigidly attach to the heat distributing plate support ring 260, and at the other end, rigidly attach to the substantially convex heating surface 280. This attachment may be such that gaps are created between the periphery of the heating surface 280 and the top of the support ring 260. These gaps may allow air heated by a source of heat located in a vicinity of the circular hole 210 such as, but not limited to, an oven gas ring, an electric heating plate, a log fire, a camping gas ring, or some combination thereof, to circulate up over the top of the substantially convex heating surface 280, up to and through the substantially flat grill plate 215 and into the space between the substantially flat grill plate 215 and the inside of the substantially convex lid 150. The heat distributing convection plate 250 may also include convection openings 290 in the substantially convex heating surface 280. These convection openings 290 may have upwardly projecting peripheries that may, for instance, be made by a technique such as, but not limited to, punching the holes up from below. The convection openings 290 may further aid the heated air to circulate up from the heat source located in a vicinity of the circular hole 210 to the space between the substantially flat grill plate 215 and the inside of the substantially convex lid 150 where one or more items to be heated or cooked may be residing.
The substantially convex heating surface 280 may have a shape that slopes down to its periphery such as, but not limited to, a cone having a downward slope of less than 30 degrees, or, in a more preferred embodiment, less than 15 degrees.
The substantially convex heating surface 280 is preferably sized such that all points on its periphery extend beyond that upwardly protruding, inner catchment rim 230 of the base structure 110 when the portable, passive-convection cooking oven 100 is assembled. In that way, any liquid dripping down from the substantially flat grill plate 215 may be directed to fall into the channel on the substantially flat, base 200, the upwardly protruding, inner catchment rim 230 and the lower horizontal base lip 235 or the side wall 220.
A third part may be a substantially flat grill plate 215. The substantially flat grill plate 215 may be shaped and sized to fit onto, and be supported by, the upper horizontal base lip 245 of the base structure 110. In a preferred embodiment, the substantially flat grill plate 215 may have one or more grill plate holes 225 and preferably one or more grill plate handles 140. The grill plate holes 225 may allow heated air to circulate up through the substantially flat grill plate 215, while the grill plate 215 supports one or more items to be heated or cooked. The one or more grill plate handle 140 may serve to place and remove the substantially flat grill plate 215 on the upper horizontal base lip 245 of the base structure 110.
A fourth part may be the substantially convex lid 150. The lid 150 may have a lid upper surface 155 that may be substantially flat. The lid upper surface 155 may be joined to a lid side wall 165 to form a contiguous whole. The lid side wall 165 may also be joined at its lower periphery to a horizontally protruding lid lip 170. The substantially convex lid 150 may also have a centrally located top handle 160.
The parts that may make up the portable, passive-convection cooking oven 100, i.e., the base structure 110, the heat distributing convection plate 250, the substantially flat grill plate 215 and the substantially convex lid 150 may be made of any suitable material, or combination of materials, or materials and coatings that maintain their structural integrity at a temperature of at least 500 degrees Fahrenheit. Suitable materials include, but are not limited to, metal, metal alloys, anodized aluminum, aluminum with/or without an interior and/or an exterior lining of stainless steel, carbon steel, enameled carbon steel, stainless steel, cast iron, enameled cast iron, copper, copper with an interior and/or an exterior lining of stainless steel, a suitable glass, a suitable ceramic, alumina, mullite, silicon carbide or some combination thereof.
The parts may be coated, or otherwise treated, with a suitable material or coating to modify on or more functional or aesthetic surface characteristics such as, but not limited to, a color of the surface, a texture of the surface, a washablity or cleaning characteristics of the surface, the corrosion characteristics of a surface, the non-stick property of a surface or some combination thereof. For instance, coatings to make the surface a non-stick surface may include, but are not limited to, Teflon™ a.k.a. polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), perfluoroalkoxy (PFA), fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP), ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE) or some combination thereof. Coatings to affect the color of a surface may include, but are not limited to, ceramic coatings, silicone coats such as, but not limited to, methyl polysiloxane, phenyl polysiloxane, or methyl phenyl polysiloxane, with or without suitable high temperature stable pigments such as, but not limited to, zinc oxide (white), cadmium sulfide (yellow/orange), cobalt (blue), titanium dioxide (white), iron oxide (red), copper salts (green) or some combination thereof.
The heat distributing convection plate 250 may be shaped and sized to rest on the substantially flat, base 200 such that it completely covers the circular hole 210 in the base of the base structure 110. The portable, passive-convection cooking oven 100 may also have an upwardly oriented, side wall 220 with a lower horizontal base lip 235 an upper horizontal base lip 245 and a horizontally protruding base lip 120.
In this embodiment, the heat distributing convection plate 250 may have a heat distributing plate support ring 260 connected to one or more elevating connector 270 that support a substantially convex heating surface 280. The substantially convex heating surface 280 may, however, consist of one or more of wedge shaped convex corrugations 610 separated by one or more wedge shaped flat surfaces 620. Either the of wedge shaped convex corrugations 610 or the wedge shaped flat surfaces 620, or both, may have one or more convection openings 290. These convection openings 290 may have upwardly protruding rims.
The heat distributing convection plate 250 is shown resting on the base structure 110. The base structure 110 may have a substantially flat, base 200 and an upwardly oriented side wall 220 that may be, but is not limited to being, substantially vertical. The heat distributing convection plate 250 may have a centrally located apex 310 from which it slopes down toward a perimeter 810 of said substantially convex convection surface 280. The substantially convex heating surface 280 may also contain one or more convection openings 290 that are through holes with upwardly projecting rims. The upwardly projecting rims may, for instance, serve to prevent liquids falling from grill plate above from falling through to the heat source below.
As shown in cross-section in
The substantially flat, square, metallic or ceramic base structure 1010 may include a horizontally protruding base lip 120 and an upwardly oriented side wall 220. A single extended substantially solid handle 410 may also be attached to the square base structure 1010.
In this embodiment, the heat distributing convection plate 250 may have a substantially conical, convex convection surface 1110. The substantially conical, convex convection surface 1110 may, for instance, have a single convection opening 290 that may be located at the top of the substantially conical, convex convection surface 1110.
In this embodiment, as in all embodiments of the portable, passive-convection cooking oven 100, a handle such as, but not limited to, a single extended substantially solid handle 410, or any of the other handle types and shapes described or illustrated in this application, may be attached to the base structure 110.
In this embodiment, the heat distributing convection plate 250 may be formed, in part, of one or more metallic or ceramic, wedge shaped sections of a cone 1210. The metallic or ceramic, wedge shaped sections of a cone 1210 may be joined to each other by one or more linear, concave conduits 1220. The heat distributing convection plate 250 may have one or more substantially centrally located convection openings 290. Also shown is a single extended substantially solid handle 410.
The substantially square or rectangular passive-convection cooking oven 1300 may, for instance, have a bow shaped handle 1340 attached to an upper surface of the substantially square, or rectangular, domed lid 1320. The temperature thermometer 1350 may also be attached to the upper surface of the substantially square or rectangular shaped, domed lid 1320. The temperature thermometer 1350 may be of any suitable type for measuring temperatures in the general cooking range of about 150 to 550 degrees Fahrenheit. The temperature thermometer 1350 may, for instance, have a heat sensor such as, but not limited to, a bimetallic sensor or a liquid or gas filled sensor, or a vapor-tension based sensor, or some combination thereof.
The substantially square or rectangular shaped, domed lid 1320 may, for instance, fit onto a substantially square or rectangular shaped, base structure 1310, the two items having been sized and shaped to be a matching fit to each other. The base structure 1310 may have one or more short, base handles 130 attached to its sides.
There may also be an opening in the lower portion of the domed lid for a grill paddle handle 1360. This opening may, for instance, allow the domed lid 1320 to fit onto the base structure 1310 in such a way that there is a seal between the two items at all points on a periphery of one of them, except in a vicinity of the opening 1360. The opening 1360 may, when assembled form a seal with a portion of a handle of the grill paddle.
The dome shaped lid 1700 may have a curved, upper surface of dome shaped lid 1710. The dome shaped lid 1700 may also have one or more side-wall slits 1730 located near a base of the dome shaped lid 1710. These side-wall slits 1730 may allow some of the hot air or steam to vent out from the pan. This may, for instance, help prevent too much pressure building up underneath the lid when the oven is being used.
The lower end 2010 of the integrated thermometer and lid handle may, for instance, be rigidly or removably attached to a lid. The upper end of lid handle 2020 may be separated from the lower end 2010 by a waist region 2030. The waist portion 2030 of the integrated thermometer and lid handle may, for instance, be functional to facilitate a good grip on the handle.
The temperature thermometer 1350 may include a thermometer scale 2040, a thermometer indicator needle 2050 and a thermometer indicator needle pivot 2060.
The thermometer indicator needle pivot 2060 may, for instance, be connected to a heat sensor (not shown) that may be a sensor suitable for measuring temperatures in a range such as, but not limited to, a range of 250 to 550 degrees Fahrenheit. This may, for instance, be a heat sensor such as, but not limited to, bimetal sensor, a liquid or gas filled sensor, or a vapor-tension-based sensor or some combination thereof. The thermometer scale 2040 may be graduated in a suitable scale such as, but not limited to, degrees Fahrenheit or degrees Celsius or some combination thereof. During use, the thermometer indicator needle 2050 may, for instance, move under the influence of the heat sensor acting through the thermometer indicator needle pivot 2060 so as to indicate a temperature measure in or near the inside of the portable, passive-convection cooking oven.
As shown in
As shown in
One way to use the convection oven of this invention is to make pizza pie. When the pizza crust is very large it may however, happen that all the grill plate holes will be covered by the pizza crust and this would impair air circulation in the oven. Solutions to this problem are provided by various designs of the grill plate shown in
As is shown in
Although this invention has been described with a certain degree of particularity, it is to be understood that the present disclosure has been made only by way of illustration and that numerous changes in the details of construction and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention.
This application claims the priority of U.S. Ser. No. 61/621,182 filed on Apr. 6, 2012, the contents of which are fully incorporated herein by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61621182 | Apr 2012 | US |
