Foods and beverages: apparatus – Cooking – Diverse cooker types
Reexamination Certificate
2002-07-11
2003-09-30
Simone, Timothy F. (Department: 1761)
Foods and beverages: apparatus
Cooking
Diverse cooker types
C099S340000, C099S448000, C099S482000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06626089
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cooking and smoking apparatus for use in connection with cooking devices. The cooking and smoking apparatus has particular utility in connection with charcoal smoker and cooking device.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Cooking and smoking apparatuses are desirable for use in cooking meats and vegetables out of doors. Many people cook out of doors during recreational activities so as not to be separated from party guests. A cooker and smoker was sought that would automatically soak and add wood chips to the firebox to burn in a pre-determined fashion.
The use of cooking devices is known in the prior art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,300,444 to Muse discloses a cooker support system that has a cylindrical housing with a removable domed top closure, and supported by legs radially spaced around the body. The apparatus has a heat source located near the bottom of the housing and resting on top of the supporting legs. The water pan is located above the heat source and one or more grills are located above the water pan. The grills and the water pan are supported by hanger structures that engage the water pan and have integral loops forming planes of support for the grills. However, the Muse '444 patent does not include a drain pipe and venting port for automatically soaking wood chips and periodically exposing them to the fire box for forming pre-determined times of smoking.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,094,295 to Boswell et al discloses a charcoal and water smoker and cooker that includes a generally cylindrical body supporting a water pan. One or more supporting grilles with a base pan support the main body and also support a charcoal liner or pan for receiving a quantity of charcoal briquettes. The upper end of the main body is closed by a dome having a combined handle and heat indicator incorporated therein at the apex thereof. The main body is provided with a pair of diametrically opposed handles which enables the main body along with the water pan, grilles and dome to be lifted off of the base pan and charcoal liner in order to enable the charcoal to be replenished if necessary. The water pan and grill or grilles are supported interiorly of the main body by vertically spaced radially inwardly extending supporting clips. However, the Boswell et al '295 patent does not include a drain pipe and venting port for automatically soaking wood chips and periodically exposing them to the fire box for forming pre-determined times of smoking.
Lastly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,392,419 to Bonny discloses a cooking and smoking apparatus that comprises a housing enclosing the cooking and smoking space. A perforated shelf is inside the housing in the upper portion thereof for supporting materials to be cooked or smoked. A slideable drawer capable of being selectively positioned from entirely within the housing to entirely outside the housing an serving as a fire box with an adjustable damper, and with an outlet in the rear portion thereof for the passage of smoke into the internal space of the housing, and a smoke outlet in the housing upper portion. However, the Bonny '419 patent does not include a drain pipe and venting port for automatically soaking wood chips and periodically exposing them to the fire box for forming pre-determined times of smoking.
While the above-described devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not describe a cooking and smoking apparatus that allows charcoal smoker and cooking device. The Muse '444, Boswell et al '295 and Bonny '419 patents make no provision for a drain pipe and venting port for automatically soaking wood chips and periodically exposing them to the fire box for forming pre-determined times of smoking.
Therefore, a need exists for a new and improved cooking and smoking apparatus that can be used for charcoal smoker and cooking device. In this regard, the present invention substantially fulfills this need. In this respect, the cooking and smoking apparatus according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in doing so provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of charcoal smoker and cooking device.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of cooking devices now present in the prior art, the present invention provides an improved cooking and smoking apparatus, and overcomes the above-mentioned disadvantages and drawbacks of the prior art. As such, the general purpose of the present invention, which will be described subsequently in greater detail, is to provide a new and improved cooking and smoking apparatus and method which has all the advantages of the prior art mentioned heretofore and many novel features that result in a cooking and smoking apparatus which is not anticipated, rendered obvious, suggested, or even implied by the prior art, either alone or in any combination thereof.
To attain this, the present invention essentially comprises a housing that has an upper section and a firebox section. A drawer-like meat rack is slideably connected to the housing upper section. A coal rack is connected to the housing firebox section for holding charcoal. A drain is connected to the housing firebox section. The drain allows slow draining of water from wood chips placed in the housing firebox section. A vent is connected to the housing firebox section. The vent is capable of variable flow for regulating the burn rate of charcoal and wood chips.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention 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.
The invention may also include a stove shelf, a butane burner, a control valve, a butane gas connector, a gas bottle strap, a rack door, a door stop, a smoke stack, a drip pan, a drip pan door, a vent door, a tray, a frame and a plurality of wheels. There are, of course, additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims attached.
Numerous objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon a reading of the following detailed description of presently preferred, but nonetheless illustrative, embodiments of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. In this respect, before explaining the current embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of descriptions and should not be regarded as limiting.
As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved cooking and smoking apparatus that has all of the advantages of the prior art cooking devices and none of the disadvantages.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved cooking and smoking apparatus that may be easily and efficiently manufactured and marketed.
An even further object of the present invention is to provide a new and impr
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