Foods and beverages: apparatus – Cooking – Opposed heated mold or surface type
Reexamination Certificate
2000-11-28
2001-08-21
Simone, Timothy F. (Department: 1761)
Foods and beverages: apparatus
Cooking
Opposed heated mold or surface type
C099S379000, C099S380000, C099S400000, C099S425000, C099S445000, C099S446000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06276263
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a grill device, more particularly to a grill device with an upper grill unit capable of being retained at a half-open position or a horizontal fully-open position.
2. Description of the Related Art
Referring to
FIG. 1
, a conventional grill device
1
is shown to include a lower grill unit
5
with a rear side, an upper grill unit
4
with a rear side, and a connecting unit
3
which interconnects the rear sides of the upper and lower grill units
4
,
5
in such a manner that the upper grill unit
4
can be turned rearward from the lower grill unit
5
to a half-open position, in which a surface of the upper grill unit
4
abuts against a corner edge of the lower grill unit
5
so as to position the upper grill unit
4
on the lower grill unit
5
.
In order to grill a meat confined therebetween, the upper and lower grill units
4
,
5
are provided with upper and lower cooking members.
It is noted that the grilling range of the conventional grill device is limited, since the upper grill unit
4
is unable to turn to a horizontal fully-open position relative to the lower grill unit
5
.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of this invention is to provide a grill device having an upper grill unit which is adapted to be retained at a half-open position or a horizontal fully-open position with respect to a lower grill unit.
Accordingly, a grill device of the present invention includes a horizontal upper grill unit with a rear side, a horizontal lower grill unit with a rear side, and a connecting unit. The upper grill unit is superposed on the lower grill unit. The connecting unit interconnects the rear sides of the upper and lower grill units in such a manner that the upper grill unit can be turned rearward from the lower grill unit to a half-open position. The lower grill unit has a top that is provided with a lower cooking member. The upper grill unit has a bottom that is provided with an upper cooking member. The rear side of the upper grill unit has an upper notch, an upper abutment face that defines a front end of the upper notch, and two aligned upper pivot pins that are fixed in the upper notch and that are spaced apart from each other. The rear side of the lower grill unit has a lower notch, a lower abutment face that defines a front end of the lower notch, and two aligned lower pivot pins that are fixed in two sides of the lower notch and that are spaced apart from each other. The connecting unit includes a connecting block which has two elongated side surfaces. Each of the side surfaces of the connecting block has an upper portion that is formed with a pivot hole, and a lower portion that is formed with a vertical longitudinal slide slot. The upper pivot pins of the upper grill unit engage fittingly the pivot holes in the connecting block. The lower pivot pins of the lower grill unit are received slidably within the slide slots in the connecting block. The lower portion of the connecting block abuts against the lower abutment face of the lower grill unit so as to prevent rotation of the connecting block about the lower pivot pins while permit permitting rearward turning of the upper grill unit about the upper pivot pins to the half-open position, where the upper portion of the connecting block abuts against the upper abutment face of the upper grill unit so as to prevent further rearward turning of upper grill unit about the upper pivot pins. The slide slots in the connecting block respectively have a length so that, when the upper grill unit is pulled upward on the lower grill unit so as to move the lower pivot pins to lower ends of the slide slots in the connecting block, the lower portion of the connecting block separates from the lower abutment face of the lower grill unit, thereby permitting rearward turning of the upper grill unit to a horizontal fully-open position, where the upper and lower grill units are coplanar and where the upper cooking member of the upper grill unit faces upward. At the fully-open position, the cooking members of the grill device of the present invention provide a larger grilling space than that of the conventional grill device.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4088067 (1978-05-01), Kaebitzsch et al.
patent: 4178500 (1979-12-01), Brindopke
patent: 5363748 (1994-11-01), Boehm et al.
patent: 5606905 (1997-03-01), Boehm et al.
patent: 5845562 (1998-12-01), Deni et al.
patent: 5848567 (1998-12-01), Chiang
patent: 6012380 (2000-01-01), Hermansson
patent: 6170389 (2001-01-01), Brady
Simone Timothy F.
Trop Pruner & Hu P.C.
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