Patent Application
20240375027
The present disclosure relates generally to filtration systems for fluid heating devices such as food fryers.
The use of heated fluids such as oil in cooking is well known. For example, a food may be cooked by placing the food into heated oil. During the cooking process, the oil may accumulate particles from the food such as fried batter or flakes of food. This particulate reduces heating efficiency by absorbing some of the heat in the oil instead of allowing the heat to transfer to the food for cooking/heating. More heat and/or oil thus becomes necessary to maintain the cooking temperature and as a result more energy or fuel may be consumed to achieve the necessary oil temperature.
Previous attempts to overcome these problems have resulted in the addition of a filter to cooking systems such as fryers. In such systems, the cooking oil is pumped or pressurized to move through the filter to remove particulate from the oil and allow for better temperature maintenance and extended use of the oil. Filters, often implemented as a separate apparatus from the fryer, allow fryers to perform more cooking cycles using temperature controlled oil by cycling the oil through the filter to clean the oil.
However, previous implementations of filters suffered from the drawback of being difficult to replace or requiring the fryer/cooking system to be offline for service for extended periods, reducing system availability.
SUMMARY
The present disclosure provides an improved implementation of a filter in a filter canister to achieve increased filter accessibility for changing the filter, and a method of replacing the filter to achieve system maintenance efficiencies. A tiltable filter canister is configured for enclosing the filter used with a cooking system, such as a fryer.
The tiltable filter canister comprises a tiltable housing and a lid disposed adjacent to the tiltable housing and enclosing an interior of the filter canister. A seal is disposed between the tiltable housing and the lid. A handle is connected to the lid, and the handle is moveable between a first position and a second position. When the handle is in the first position the seal forms a vacuum tight seal of the filter canister. A connection point, e.g., a pin on opposite sides of the handle, connects the handle to the lid, and allows the handle to rotate between the first position and the second position. The opposed sides of the handle each comprise an arcuate surface, with each having a recess for receiving a stop on the lid when the handle is in the first position. The arcuate surface acts as a cam surface when the handle is moved from the first position to the second position. The arcuate surface ends at an abutment surface against which the stop abuts when the handle is in the second position. When the tiltable filter canister is in a first canister position of the tiltable housing, wherein the handle is in the first position, a filtering operation may be performed. When the tiltable filter canister is in a second canister position of the tiltable housing, wherein the handle is in the second position, the lid may be removed and a maintenance operation may be performed. A filtration media may be disposed within the interior of the tiltable housing to filter fluid during the filtering operation.
The tiltable filter canister of the present disclosure provides the tiltable housing for storing a filtration media such as a fabric filter, the housing having an inlet for receiving a fluid to be filtered, and an outlet for the filtered fluid to exit the tiltable filter canister. The lid covers a hollow space within the tiltable filter canister and encloses the filtration media therein. A seal such as an O-ring or a gasket may be used to seal the canister and ensure a substantial vacuum can be facilitated, and any fluid is retained within the tiltable filter canister during filtration.
As fluid is filtered through the filtration media within the tiltable filter canister, particulates such as food crumbs accumulate on the filtration media. Once the filtration media has filtered the fluid, e.g., fryer oil, for some period, the filtration media needs to be replaced. The vacuum within the tiltable filter canister may be eliminated or broken, by actuation of the handle moving the cam surface along a portion of the stop to unseal the tiltable filter canister, and the tiltable filter canister can be tilted for removal or access to perform a maintenance operation such as change out the filtration media or otherwise service the filter system.
To gain access to the interior of the tiltable filter canister, the handle may be actuated from the first position to the second position. Actuation of the handle may cause the vacuum tight seal between the lid and the housing to break via engagement of the cam surface against the stop. In an embodiment, actuation of the handle may result in a signal being sent when the handle is out of the first position, the signal indicating that the vacuum tight seal has been broken and signaling that the fluid may be pumped from within the tiltable filter canister in a purge operation. A signal to purge the fluid from inside the tiltable filter canister's housing may be sent to a pump to pump the fluid from the tiltable filter canister.
Once the purge operation has been completed, the lid may be removed from the housing to provide access to the filtration media. The filtration media may be replaced and/or the tiltable filter canister may be otherwise serviced, e.g., the interior of the housing may be cleaned, or a blockage in the housing may be cleared, or the like. The lid may be re-placed on the housing and the handle may be actuated to the first position to form the vacuum tight seal between the lid and the housing.
To perform the maintenance operation the tiltable filter canister may be moved from a first canister position to a second canister position by tilting or rotating the tiltable filter canister. After the maintenance operation is complete, the tiltable filter canister may be moved from the second canister position to the first canister position to resume filtering operations. With the tiltable filter canister returned to the first position, fluid may be pumped through the system from a tank and the filtering operation may commence. The tiltable filter canister may be connected in the system using a quick disconnect fitting to allow toolless removal of the canister and toolless filtration media replacement. The filtration media may be changed daily and the filter housing may undergo monthly maintenance while minimizing the down time of the fryer. The tiltable filter canister may be positioned on a rotatable, quick-release interconnection to enable tilting or rotation of the tiltable filter canister from the first canister position to the second canister position and vice versa.
By way of example, a fryer is described using an embodiment of the tiltable filter canister. However, a person of ordinary skill in the art would understand that the present disclosure may be adapted for use with various other devices within and outside of the cooking industry. The tiltable filter canister may be used as described with any of various devices requiring the use of a filtration media that requires replacement or service.
The above summary has outlined, rather broadly, some features and advantages of the present disclosure in order that the detailed description that follows may be better understood. Additional features and advantages of the disclosure will be described below. It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that this disclosure may be readily utilized as a basis for modifying or designing other structures/processes/steps for carrying out the same purposes of the present disclosure. It should also be realized by those skilled in the art that such equivalent constructions do not depart from the teachings of the disclosure as set forth in the appended claims. The novel features, which are believed to be characteristic of the disclosure, both as to its organization, method of operation, or resultant product, together with further objects and advantages, will be better understood from the following description when considered in connection with the accompanying figures. It is to be expressly understood, however, that each of the figures is provided for the purpose of illustration and description only and is not intended as a definition of the limits of the present disclosure.
Embodiments of devices, systems, and methods are illustrated in the figures of the accompanying drawings which are meant to be exemplary and non-limiting, in which like references are intended to refer to like or corresponding parts, and in which:
The detailed description of aspects of the present disclosure set forth herein makes reference to the accompanying drawings, which show various embodiments by way of illustration. While these various embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the disclosure, it should be understood that other embodiments may be realized and that logical and mechanical changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure. Thus, the detailed description herein is presented for purposes of illustration only and not of limitation. For example, the steps recited in any of the method or process descriptions may be executed in any order and are not limited to the order presented. Moreover, references to a singular embodiment may include plural embodiments, and references to more than one component may include a singular embodiment.
Opposite sides of the handle 108 are connected to connection points, e.g., a pin 114, in this embodiment disposed on opposite sides of the lid 106. A spring clip or retaining ring 115 may be used to connect the handle 108 to the lid 106 at the pins 114, one on each side of the canister 100, and allows the handle 108 to rotate between the first position 124 and the second position. The opposite sides of the handle each comprise an arcuate surface or cam 125, with each side having a recess 126 for receiving a stop 112 when the handle is in the first position, and the arcuate surface 125 having an abutment surface 127 against which the stop 112 abuts when the handle is in the second position (best seen in
When the tiltable filter canister 100 is in a first canister position of the tiltable housing (substantially vertical), wherein the handle is in the first position, a filtering operation may be performed. When the tiltable filter canister is in a second canister position (tilted) of the tiltable housing, wherein the handle is in the second position, a maintenance operation may be performed. A filtration media may be disposed within the interior of the tiltable housing to filter fluid during the filtering operation. The handle 108 may rest against the stop 112, with the stop 112 engaged in the recess 126, when in the first position 124 wherein the vacuum tight seal is formed. The handle 108 may be rotated around the pin 114 to move from the first position 124 to the second position (132 shown in
Generally, during operation of the filter assembly 102, a fluid (e.g., cooking oil) may flow into the filtration media in the housing 104 of the tiltable filter canister 100 via a tank valve 116 connected to a fitting on a tank (not shown). It should be appreciated that any of various rotatable quick disconnects could be implemented as the tank valve 116 or a quick disconnect fitting 130 (best seen in
Over time, as the filtration media filters particulates from the fluid, it will need to be changed, or the tiltable filter canister 100 otherwise serviced. The inflow of fluid to the tiltable filter canister 100 may be interrupted by disconnecting the tank valve 116. Disconnecting the tank valve 116 from a quick disconnect fitting 130 may close a one-way valve in the tank valve 116 to prevent further flow of the fluid from the tank.
A strainer 122 may be included in the filter assembly 102. The strainer 122 may be located inline to the fluid flow path to filter the fluid while the tiltable filter canister undergoes the purge operation. Additionally, the strainer 122 may provide additional filtering of particulates from the fluid during the filtering operation.
As illustrated in
The handle 108 may be secured to the lid 106 with a pin 114 and held in place with the retaining rings 115 on the pin 114. The handle 108 may rotate about the pin 114, with the cam surface (125 discussed hereinbefore) engaging the stop 112 to assist in breaking the vacuum, until the abutment surface 127 reaches the stop 112, so the handle is fully in the second position.
When the handle 108 is in the first position 124, shown and described in relation to
The handle 108 may be actuated from the first position (shown as 124 in
When the handle 108 is in the second position 132 the abutment surface 127 may rest against the stop 112. In this position, the housing lip 136 may be releasable from the lid lip 138 with the seal 110 resting/positioned on the surface of the housing lip 136 or the lid lip 138. The handle 108 in the second position 132 may be used to remove the lid 106 from the tiltable filter canister 100 and expose an interior (not shown) of the housing 104 for access to a filtration media within the tiltable filter canister 100.
During a filtering operation, the fluid, e.g., fryer oil, 352 may flow from the tank 350 out the tank fitting 316a connected to a tank valve (such as tank valve 116 shown in
The tiltable filter canister 300 may be emptied via a purge operation, wherein a pump 358 in the fryer 348 may be used for draining the tiltable filter canister 300. The pump 358 may exert a vacuum force through the diversion valve 356 on the purge line 320b to drain fluid 352 from inside the tiltable filter canister 300. The tank valve (such as tank valve 116 in
A lid 306 may enclose the interior of the housing 304 and form a vacuum tight seal against the housing as described hereinbefore. A handle 308, as described hereinbefore with respect to
A fluid reservoir 364 such as a “jug-in-box” (“JIB”) may be connected to the fluid flow path for adding fluid to the system if the fryer 348 detects the fluid level in the tank 350 is low. The fluid reservoir 364 may be connected to a fill valve 366 for directing fluid from the fluid reservoir 364 into the fluid flow path. The added fluid may join the filtered fluid from the filter assembly 302 and flow to the pump 358. If the fluid 352 is not at a predetermined temperature, it may need to be heated by a heat source such as a burner in a heat exchanger (not shown). The pump 358 may direct the fluid 352 from a pump outlet 368 to a heat exchanger inlet 370. The fluid 352 may be exposed to the heat source and raised to the predetermined temperature. The fluid 352 may be directed from a heat exchanger outlet 372 to the tank 350. GOT TO HERE
Filtration media within the tiltable filter canister 400 may be used to filter the fluid and remove particulates. When the filtration media is to be replaced, or the filter canister otherwise serviced such as for cleaning, the tiltable filter canister 400 may be tilted, as shown in
The tilted tiltable filter canister 400 shown in
In an embodiment, the rotation of the tiltable filter canister 400 may be from zero degrees) (0°) to approximately forty-five degrees (45°) from the substantially vertical position. The tiltable filter canister 400 may be rotated via the quick disconnect fitting, as illustrated in
Maintenance personnel may operate the quick disconnect fitting 530 and separate the tiltable filter canister 500 from the tank valve 516. In an embodiment, the tiltable filter canister 500 may be rotated or moved to the second canister position to release the quick disconnect fitting 530 from the tank valve 516. A purge disconnect 528 may disconnect the purge line 520 from the purge connection 520a to remove the tiltable filter canister from the filter assembly 502 for maintenance. Maintenance can include replacing the filtration media within the housing 504 once a day or periodically when the filtration media may need to be replaced. Maintenance may also include cleaning the interior of the tiltable filter canister 500 when needed, for example once a month as part of routine maintenance. In an embodiment, the filtration media within the housing 504 may be replaced by removing the lid 506 from the tiltable filter canister 500 while the tiltable filter canister 500 is in the first position 574.
The tiltable filter canister 500 enables service of the filter assembly 502 quickly and while reducing the required downtime of prior systems. The rotation of the tiltable filter canister 500 allows for easier access to the interior of the tiltable filter canister 500 and the vacuum tight seal ensures liquid is retained within the tiltable filter canister 500, and the system is appropriately pressurized, during filtering operation. When the handle 508 is moved out of the first position 524, a purge operation may be used to drain fluid in the tiltable filter canister 500 out through the purge line 520 to remove fluid from the interior of the tiltable filter canister 500.
The canister handle may be lifted to remove the lid from the tiltable filter canister and provide access to the interior of the tiltable filter canister 608. With the tiltable filter canister in the first position, filtration media may be added 610 or replaced 612 in the tiltable filter canister. The tiltable filter canister may be tilted or rotated to a second canister position for undergoing maintenance 614. A maintenance operation may be performed 616 on the tiltable filter canister, such as cleaning particulates, e.g., clumps of batter, pieces of food from the interior of the tiltable filter canister or replacing a filtration media 612.
Referring still to
During a filtering operation 708, the fluid may be directed from the tank to the tiltable filter canister using a tank valve 710. The fluid may be filtered through filtration media in the tiltable filter canister 712. The filtered fluid may be directed through a filter line to a divert valve 714. The fluid may be directed to the heating element 716 for raising the fluid to the predetermined temperature. Once the fluid is at the predetermined temperature, the fluid is directed to the tank 718 to continue cooking the food item. A person of ordinary skill in the art will understand that the flow path may be continuous such that fluid is flowing into and out of the tank at a sufficient rate to maintain an approximately level amount of fluid in the tank during operation. As part of this continuous flow, the filter assembly may be constantly filtering the fluid as it passes through the filtration media.
During a purge operation 720, i.e., to substantially empty the filter housing of fluid, fluid flow from the tank to the tiltable filter canister may be stopped 722. For example, in an embodiment a tank valve may include a one-way valve which can be shut to stop flow from the tank to the tiltable filter canister 722 during the purge operation 720. The fluid in the tiltable filter canister may be drained and directed through a purge line to a divert valve 724. The purged fluid may be directed to the heating element 716 before returning to the tank 718.
A person of ordinary skill in the art would appreciate that although the embodiments illustrated in the figures shows a handle, with various physical features operating as described, the handle may be replaced with other elements for removing the lid from the housing, such as a lever, ratchet, or the like, without departing from this disclosure.
It should be understood that when an element is referred to as being “connected” or “coupled” to another element (or variations thereof), it can be directly connected or coupled to the other element or intervening elements may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directly connected” or “directly coupled” to another element (or variations thereof), there are no intervening elements present.
Benefits, other advantages, and solutions to problems have been described herein with regard to specific embodiments. However, the benefits, advantages, solutions to problems, and elements that may cause any benefit, advantage, or solution to occur or become more pronounced are not to be construed as critical, required, or essential features or elements of the disclosure. It should be appreciated that in the appended claims, reference to an element in the singular is not intended to mean “one and only one” unless explicitly so stated, but rather “one or more.”
Embodiments of the present disclosure are described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the present disclosure should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the present disclosure to those skilled in the art. As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “having,” “includes,” “including,” and/or variations thereof, when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.
Although illustrative embodiments of the present disclosure have been described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that the present disclosure is not limited to those precise embodiments, and that various other changes and modifications may be made by one skilled in the art without departing from the scope or spirit of the disclosure.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/501,451 filed May 11, 2023, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63501451 | May 2023 | US |
