Patent Application
20230069335
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The disclosure relates to grilling assemblies and more particularly pertains to a new grilling assembly for uniform grilling of food with reduced flareups. The present invention discloses a grilling assembly comprising both gas burners and heating elements positioned on opposed sides of the housing, wherein one or both of the gas burners and the heating elements can be utilized for grilling a food item positioned vertically between the opposed sides.
The prior art relates to grilling assemblies. Prior art grilling assemblies may comprise gas burners or heating elements positioned bilaterally to a food item to be grilled, with the food item being suspended from a top of the grilling assembly or positioned on a spit or in a rack. What is lacking in the prior art is a grilling assembly comprising both gas burners and heating elements positioned on opposed sides of the housing, wherein one or both of the gas burners and the heating elements can be utilized for grilling a food item positioned vertically between the opposed sides. Also lacking in the prior art is a grilling assembly having a box positioned atop the housing, which is warmed by heat transfer, and which can be used for warming and baking.
An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a housing, which defines an interior space. An opening is positioned in a front of the housing and is configured for insertion of a retaining unit, which is engaged to a food item. The food item is positioned in the interior space substantially equally distant from opposed sides of the housing. A first door is hingedly engaged to the housing and is positioned to selectively close the opening. A pair of heaters is engaged singly to the opposed sides of the housing and is positioned in the interior space. The heaters are configured to selectively heat the interior space to grill the food item. A controller is engaged to the housing and is operationally engaged to the pair of heaters. The controller is positioned to selectively control heat output from the pair of heaters.
The vertical grilling assembly also may comprise a box, which is engaged to a top of the housing and which defines an internal space. A lower facet of the box comprises the top of the housing. The top comprises one or both of brick and stone and thus is configured for heat transfer from the interior space to the internal space. An aperture is positioned in a forward facet of the box. A second door is engaged to the box and is positioned to selectively close the aperture. Food items can be positioned in the box, on the top of the housing, for warming or baking.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.
The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:
With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to
As best illustrated in
An opening 16 is positioned in a front 18 of the housing 12 and is configured for insertion of a retaining unit 20, which is engaged to a food item 22, so that the food item 22 is positioned in the interior space 14 substantially equally distant from opposed sides 24 of the housing 12. A variety of retaining units 20 are anticipated to be useful in positioning various types of food items 22, such as, for example, rib racks, hinged baskets, and the like.
A first door 26 is hingedly engaged to the housing 12 and is positioned to selectively close the opening 16. A handle 28 is engaged to the first door 26 and is configured to be grasped in a hand of a user so that the user is positioned to open and to close the first door 26.
A pair of heaters 30 is engaged singly to the opposed sides 24 of the housing 12 and is positioned in the interior space 14. The heaters 30 are configured to selectively heat the interior space 14 to grill the food item 22. Each heater 30 comprises one or both of a heating element 32 and a gas burner 34.
A controller 36 is engaged to the housing 12 and is operationally engaged to the pair of heaters 30. The controller 36 is positioned to control heat output from the pair of heaters 30. The controller 36 may comprise a pair of knobs 38, or other controlling means, such as, but not limited to, electronic controllers, slides, and the like. Each knob 38 is operationally engaged to a respective one of the heating element 32 and the gas burner 34. As shown in
A slot 40 is positioned in the front 18 of the housing 12, proximate to a bottom 42 of the housing 12, as shown in
A first thermometer 46 is engaged to the housing 12 and is configured to display a temperature of the interior space 14. As shown in
A pipe 48 is engaged to the housing 12 so that the pipe 48 is in fluidic communication with the interior space 14. The pipe 48 is configured to vent smoke and fumes from the interior space 14. A lower cutout 50 is positioned in a back 52 of the housing 12. The lower cutout 50 is configured to allow for intake of air into the interior space 14, which is required when using the gas burner 34. The lower cutout 50 is louvered and thus is selectively closable, which may be desired when only the heating element 32 is in use.
A set of legs 54 is engaged to and extends from the bottom 42 of the housing 12. The legs 54 are configured to elevate the housing 12 from a surface. The first door 26 thus is positioned at a comfortable height for the user to access the opening 16.
A power cord 56 is engaged to and extends from the housing 12. The power cord 56 is operationally engaged to the heating element 32 and thus is configured to operationally engage the heating element 32 to a source of electrical current.
A connector 58 is engaged to the housing 12 and is operationally engaged to the gas burner 34. The connector 58 is configured to operationally engage a hose extending from a gas source so that the gas burner 34 is fluidically engaged to the gas source. An igniter 60 is engaged to the housing 12 and is operationally engaged to the gas burner 34. The igniter 60 is configured to ignite gas flowing from the gas burner 34.
The vertical grilling assembly 10 also may comprise a box 62, which is engaged to a top 64 of the housing 12, and which defines an internal space 66. A lower facet 68 of the box 62 comprises the top 64 of the housing 12. The top 64 of the housing 12 comprises one or both of brick and stone and thus is configured for heat transfer from the interior space 14 to the internal space 66.
An upper facet 70 of the box 62 may be arcuate, as shown in
A second thermometer 80 is engaged to the box 62 and is configured to display a temperature of the internal space 66. An upper cutout 82 is positioned in a rear facet 84 of the box 62 and is configured to allow for intake of air into the internal space 66. The upper cutout 82 is louvered so that the upper cutout 82 is selectively closable.
In use, the interior space 14 is preheated to a desired temperature by actuating the controller 36. The food item 22 is engaged to the retaining unit 20 and the retaining unit 20 then is positioned in the interior space 14 until the food item 22 is grilled. Drippings from the food item 22 are collected in the tray 44, which can be removed for cleaning as needed.
With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.
