Patent Application
20080115676
The present invention relates to a retractable structure of a grill, and more particularly to a retractable structure with an upper grill cover capable of having displacement and rotation travels with respect to a lower grill base.
With the development of science and technology and the advancement of our society, people have increasingly higher demands on basic necessities of life including food, clothing, housing and transportation. For instance, consumers simply need to have appropriate materials and simple knowledge for the operations of a common electric grill to bake muffins or fry sliced meat, or other foodstuffs. Home made muffins and foods are not only sanitary and delicious, but also are money-saving, time-saving and convenient, and thus they are welcome by consumers and become a prevailing custom.
Referring to R.O.C. Pat. Publication No. 497695 entitled “Upper grill cover opening structure of an electric grill” and U.S. Pat. No. 6,016,741 for the disclosure of traditional electric grills, a grill mainly includes an upper grill cover and a lower grill base pivotally coupled with each other by a hinge, and the upper grill cover and the lower grill base have an upper casing and a lower casing disposed at the top and bottom of the grill respectively, so that the upper grill cover can be turned over by the hinge and stacked onto the lower grill base to close the grill, or the latched upper and lower casings can be lifted perpendicularly with the lateral side of the lower grill base. The grill can be used for baking or frying food when the upper grill cover is stacked on and engaged with the lower grill base.
Although the foregoing hinge can achieve the purpose of lifting open the upper grill cover, the following shortcomings still exist in the practical application of a grill. To achieve an evener grilling effect, the upper grill cover and the lower grill base of an electric grill generally have heat conductors that can be turned over together with the upper grill cover. The foodstuff such as sliced meat can be clamped to achieve a double-sided grilling effect. However, if a foodstuff with a larger thickness is grilled, the too-thick foodstuff will be restricted (as shown in
Therefore, it is a primary objective of the present invention to provide a retractable structure of a grill wherein its upper grill cover can be turned open with respect to the lower grill base and maintained horizontally and displaced with respect to the lower grill base to fit the thickness of different foodstuffs and carry out a stepless adjustment.
A secondary objective of the present invention is to maintain the foodstuff in a horizontal contact with the upper grill cover while the foodstuff is being cooked to form a grill mark on the surface of the foodstuff and provide even heating.
A third objective of the present invention is to provide a more convenient operation simply by lifting and turning over the upper grill cover.
A fourth objective of the present invention is to drain excessive grease into a drip pan under the grill and along an inclined grill to facilitate users to clean up the grill after its use.
To achieve the foregoing objectives, a preferred embodiment of the present invention comprises: a lower grill base with a connecting groove disposed at a rear end of the lower grill base and a limit portion disposed on a sidewall of the connecting groove, and an upper grill cover and the lower grill base define a space for containing a foodstuff. The upper grill cover has a combining portion connected to the connecting groove, and a lower edge of the combining portion has a limit member for passing the combing portion, such that the upper grill cover can be in a horizontal contact with the foodstuff to provide a displacement travel of the foodstuff with respect to the lower grill base and define an opening angle and a closing angle by the limit member to have a rotation travel with respect to said lower grill base.
The present invention will now be described in more detail hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings as follows:
Referring to
The upper grill cover 20 and the lower grill base 10 have corresponding upper and lower heat conductors 24, 14, and the interior of the upper and lower heat conductors 24, 14 includes an electric heating pipe (not shown in the figure) with a heating function, wherein the upper and lower heat conductors 24, 14 install a plurality of rows of protruding strips 141 for forming a grill mark on the surface of the cooked foodstuff that can make the foodstuff look better, and the lower heat conductor 14 has an inclination, and the lower grill base 10 has an oil drain outlet 15 and a containing space 16 interconnected with the oil drain outlet 15, and the containing space 16 includes a detachable drip pan 17, so that excessive grease will flow along the inclination into the drip pan 17. While enjoying good food, we also can take care of our health. Further, the drip pan 17 adopts a detachable design to facilitate users to clean up the grill afterwards.
Referring to
Referring to
While the invention has been described by means of specific embodiments, numerous modifications and variations could be made thereto by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention set forth in the claims.
