Claims
- 1. A two-sided grill comprising:
- an upper cooking platen;
- a lower cooking platen; and
- positioning means for disposing said upper cooking platen above said lower cooking platen, said positioning means including a hinge and a linear actuator,
- wherein said positioning means enables a first stage arcing movement of said upper cooking platen about said hinge toward said lower cooking platen, and a second stage vertical movement of said upper cooking platen in tandem with said linear actuator, thus allowing complete control of the degree of pressure said upper cooking platen places on a food product resting on said lower cooking platen.
- 2. The grill of claim 1, wherein during said second stage vertical movement, said upper cooking platen is parallel to said lower cooking platen.
- 3. The grill of claim 1, wherein said upper platen comprises a housing mechanically connected to both said hinge and said linear actuator, and an adjustable floating platen head portion.
- 4. The grill of claim 1, wherein said positioning means further includes a programmable computing device to control said first stage movement and said second stage movement of said upper cooking platen.
- 5. The grill of claim 1, wherein said linear actuator includes two vertical reciprocating guide shafts used to ensure that said upper cooking platen remains level.
- 6. The grill of claim 5, wherein said hinge includes an arm pivot/stop head for the purpose of converting said first stage movement of said upper cooking platen to said second stage movement at a set height of said upper cooking platen.
- 7. The grill of claim 6, wherein only one of said first stage movement and said second stage movement occurs at a single time.
- 8. The grill of claim 5, wherein said positioning means further includes:
- positioning switches on said two vertical reciprocating shafts; and
- a positioning pulse encoder receiving data from said positioning switches,
- wherein said positioning switches are offset from one another so that said data indicate a position of said upper cooking platen, and whether said two vertical reciprocating shafts are moving in tandem to keep said upper cooking platen level.
- 9. The grill of claim 1, wherein said positioning means further includes a safety system, which causes said upper platen to reverse direction if said upper platen encounters an obstruction.
- 10. The grill of claim 4, further comprising a user interface control linked to said programmable computing device.
- 11. The grill of claim 4, wherein said programmable computing device is an exchangeable EPROM.
- 12. The grill of claim 1, wherein said positioning means is capable of positioning said upper cooking platen to a set height above said lower cooking platen to within (+/-) 0.0015 inches.
- 13. The grill of claim 4, wherein said programmable computing device is programmed to:
- lower said upper cooking platen to apply pressure to a food product to sear one side of the food product;
- raise said upper cooking platen to release trapped steam from the food product;
- lower said upper cooking platen to apply pressure to the food product to sear another side of the food product; and
- control pressure on the food product until the food product is cooked through.
- 14. A clam shell grill comprising:
- a housing;
- a lower platen mounted to said housing;
- a positioning mechanism mounted to said housing; and
- an upper platen mounted to said positioning mechanism,
- wherein said positioning mechanism includes a linear motion bearing mounted to said housing, a linear actuator running through said linear motion bearing, and an arm pivot/stop head affixed to said vertical reciprocating shaft, said upper platen being adjoined to said arm pivot/stop head to enable vertical and arcing movement of said upper platen.
- 15. The grill of claim 14, wherein when said upper platen is lowered from an uppermost rotational position to a cooking position, said upper platen rotates with said arm pivot/stop head until said upper platen reaches a position parallel with said lower platen, at which point said arm pivot/stop head stops rotation of said upper platen, and said upper platen moves purely vertically to said cooking position.
- 16. A clam shell grill comprising:
- an upper cooking platen and a lower cooking platen;
- first and second activation switches that are manually operable from a non actuated to an actuated position; and
- control means responsive to said first and second activation switches being simultaneously operated from said non actuated position to said actuated position for moving said upper cooking platen from a non-cooking position to a cooking position.
- 17. A clam shell grill according to claim 16 further comprising:
- a support structure wherein said upper and lower platens are mounted to said support structure; and wherein said first and activation second switches are mounted to said support structure in spaced apart locations.
- 18. A clam shell grill comprising:
- a support structure;
- a lower cooking platen mounted to said support structure in a horizontal position;
- an upper cooking platen mounted to said support structure for movement between a cooking position and a non-cooking position;
- a motor for effecting said movement;
- means for monitoring said movement, said means for monitoring being capable of generating a signal indicative of the current position of said upper platen during said movement; and
- control means responsive to said signal for operating said motor to accurately position said upper platen to said cooking position.
- 19. A clam shell grill according to claim 18 wherein said control means is capable of operating operating said grill to conduct a cooking cycle in accordance with a set of cooking parameters for a food product to be grilled, said cooking parameters including a predetermined position of said upper platen for the beginning of a cook cycle, said control means being operable in accordance with said signal and said predetermined position parameter to accurately position said upper platen to said predetermined position.
- 20. A clam shell grill according to claim 19 further comprising:
- a grilling position of the upper platen during cooking, wherein said control means is capable of operating said motor during cooking of the food product to adjust the position of said upper platen in accordance with said grilling position parameter to thereby control pressure of said upper platen on said food product during cooking.
- 21. A clam shell grill according to claim 18, further comprising:
- a pivot mounted to said support structure, wherein said movement is a two phase motion, the first phase being vertical between the cooking position and an intermediate position above the lower platen and the second phase being rotational about said pivot between said intermediate position and said non-cooking position.
- 22. A clam shell grill comprising:
- a support structure;
- a lower cooking platen mounted to said support structure in a horizontal position;
- an upper cooking platen that is mounted to said support structure and that, during cooking of a food product, has a position separated from said lower platen by a gap; and
- control means for adjusting said position of said upper platen during cooking in accordance with a set of cooking conditions for said food product to thereby control the cooking pressure applied to said food product during cooking.
- 23. A clam shell grill according to claim 22 wherein said cooking conditions include a predetermined cook time, cooking temperature and upper platen position.
- 24. A clam shell grill according to claim 23 wherein said control means includes means for storing said set of cooking conditions for at least one food product.
- 25. A clam shell grill according to claim 24 wherein said control means includes input means operable to alter said cooking conditions.
- 26. A clam shell grill according to claim 25 further comprising:
- temperature sensing and reporting means for providing the temperatures of at least one of said upper and lower platens, wherein said control means controlls said upper and lower platens in accordance with a cook cycle that includes an initialization sequence including a temperature check that responds to said temperature sensing and reporting means to allow said cook cycle to proceed only when the temperature of said at least one platen is not too cool or not too excessively hot.
Parent Case Info
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/019,330, filed Jun. 6, 1996.
US Referenced Citations (27)
Foreign Referenced Citations (4)
Number |
Date |
Country |
2 575 913 |
Jul 1986 |
FRX |
2 588 062 |
Apr 1987 |
FRX |
2 638 627 |
May 1990 |
FRX |
WO 8703186 |
Jun 1987 |
WOX |