Pizza box heater, components therefor and method

Details Pizza box heater, components therefor and method Pizza box heater, components therefor and method

1999-05-06

2001-04-24

Jeffery, John A. (Department: 3742)

Electric resistance heating devices

Heating devices

Concentrated heated air stream

C392S365000, C219S387000, C439S668000, C439S485000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06222987

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to the heating of pizza boxes for home and office delivery, components for such a system and a method for using such a system including other similar applications.
Pizza is being currently delivered to offices and residences after cooking at a central location. Various schemes for maintaining the heat of the pizza have been used and proposed in the past so that the pizza will arrive to the user in a still-heated condition. However, usually these previous proposals have fallen short of maintaining an ideal temperature for the pizza which is approximately 170 degrees Fahrenheit. Also, there has long been a need for a 12-volt or other battery outlet such as used in the common 12-volt direct current electrical system for a vehicle. Such an electrical outlet, which is primarily for cigarette lighters, may also be utilizable for many other applications. Unfortunately, many of these applications require a greater current draw than is available from a standard vehicle electrical outlet. If such a higher output current was available, numerous other applications could become available and old applications could become more efficient. The present electrical outlet is usually only rated for continuous usage at approximately 7.5 amps but if it is used continuously the amps drawn by higher currents would not work satisfactorily.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention utilizes an electric heater mounted in an insulated package which can also carry a pre-cooked pizza in a box. The heater is connected to an electrical plug which is air-cooled to permit the plug to be used with a high amperage rating and in a pre-existing electrical outlet such as a cigarette lighter. There is a cable which can be connected from the electrical plug to a mating cable or outlet from the electric heater. The heater is a flat heating member that permits raising the temperature to the desired range and it has an inlet fan that pulls in air from outside the heater container and forces it over the heating element and then out of the container. There is continuously circulating heated air within the package for heating the pizza. The electrical plug has a small fan that forces air around the inside of the plug and over the end components to keep them cool and permit the amperage rating to be maintained at a continuously high current output in the vicinity of 20 amps. Although the system was primarily designed for pizza box heaters, the electrical plug or similar plug can be utilized for powering other connected devices. A similar electrical plug and/or heater can be utilized for the delivery of heat or power to other devices and the methods for utilizing this system embraces the use of the various components either in combination or with other systems, such as portable jacks, thermoelectric refrigerators and so forth.
The numerous advantages of the invention will appear from the following description and appended claims, reference being made to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification wherein like reference characters designate corresponding parts in the several views.


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