Roller grill assembly for cooking human food

Details Roller grill assembly for cooking human food Roller grill assembly for cooking human food

2002-02-21

2004-08-31

Becker, Drew (Department: 1761)

Foods and beverages: apparatus

Cooking

With observation means

C099S393000, C099S395000, C099S427000, C099S44300R, C099S441000, C099S444000, C219S214000, C219S469000, C219S470000, C219S471000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06782802

ABSTRACT:

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
Not applicable.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to assemblies for cooking human food, and in particular to such assemblies that use heated tubes that are rotatably mounted to a housing so that food can be placed upon the roller tubes to be heated. The invention also relates to guard covers for human food cooking assemblies so that germs such as from sneezing, and contaminants in the ambient air, are blocked from impinging upon the food.
Heretofore, heating and cooking assemblies have used rotatable roller tubes for heating and cooking food. Roller tube cooking is especially adaptable to heating and cooking products that have an elongated shape, such as hot dogs and wieners. In the prior art, the roller tubes had been mounted to the housing by bearings. However, the load exerted by the tube upon such bearings has caused deformation, and has caused wear and tear upon the bearing so that grease and other liquids have passed through the bearing seals to enter other parts of the housing such as the drive assembly of the housing.
Prior roller tube heating assemblies have used drive systems that have employed a chain driven by a rotatable sprocket or gear. The chain has been connected to sprockets or gears mounted at the ends of the roller tubes so that rotation of the drive sprocket or drive gear rotates the roller tubes. In the prior art, the roller heating tubes have been mounted in a row horizontally relative to the housing, or in some cases, at an angle of about 15 degrees relative to the housing, with their central axes extending in a straight line. However, there have been problems caused by the application of the drive chain force from the drive member directly to pulling a roller tube. This has resulted in distorting the end of that roller tube, and also in distorting the bearing with which the roller tube is mounted to allow grease and liquids to pass by the bearing into enclosures such as into the area housing the drive components.
Further, with roller tubes aligned at an angle of about 15° relative to the housing in the prior art, inconvenience has arisen in an operator trying to serve food from the grill when the operator is located at the end of the grill at the upper incline of the tubes. Additionally, with a 15° incline of the tubes, food products can roll down toward the bottom of the tubes if they are bumped by a serving instrument during the serving process or a rearrangement process.
A consideration in roller grills is conservation and distribution of the heat that is applied to the roller tubes. Prior heated roller tubes have had elongated, spiral heating elements covered by sheathes, which extend through the center of the tubes. However, because heat is lost at the ends of the roller tubes, it is desirable to a greater distribution of heat at the ends of the tubes than in the center part of the tubes to provide a more uniform temperature along the entire roller tube. There is also a need to provide heat to the roller tubes so that the food products are maintained at a sanitary temperature of 140° Fahrenheit.
Previous food cooking heating assemblies have employed controls for controlling the supply of power, controlling the temperature of the roller tubes, controlling the heating time, and using display lights to indicate the state of control members. Such controls have been mounted on a control panel of a food cooking assembly. Such controls have been exposed to view during operation, and also exposed to possible impingement or bumping by a person or by some object moved about the assembly, to change the setting of a control. In the prior art, drawers or containers have been used to store items such as buns or other foods, in proximity with a heating assembly.
Heretofore, guards have been used to cover food cooking and heating assemblies to help resist germs and contaminants from coming into contact with the food located with a heating or cooking assembly. Such guards have been comprised of transparent material, such as plastic. In the prior art, such guards have had hinged components which can be lifted to allow access to the food under the guard cover. A problem with this type of unit has been that the operators using them have, at times, lifted the component up to have access to the food, but not returned the hinged member to a lower position to better cover the food. Prior guards have had pass-through types of structure wherein there are openings at the ends of the guard with a passage connecting the openings. A problem with these guards is that one could sneeze or cough into the openings into the passage to contaminate the food, or other contaminants could float through the openings to contact the food. In the prior art, food guards have used openings covered by flaps with the guard structure including a rigid ledge connecting the bottom part of the guard beneath the opening. A problem with these types of guards is that the ledge at the bottom of the opening hinders accessibility to food and makes it more difficult to see the food.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention improves over the prior art and provides a number of advantages for heating and cooking human food, and for protecting the food from contaminants. The present invention provides a drive system for rotating tubular rollers used for heating and cooking foods. The invention provided a means for driving the roller tubes to rotate relative to the housing which include a drive member mounted to the housing and driven by a power source such as a motor. The roller tubes are provided with driving engagement structure such as a sprocket or a gear. The roller tubes are aligned in a group so that there is a roller tube at each end of the group. The invention further provides an idler member that includes a sprocket, gear, or the like, mounted with the housing as by a stud. Drive linkage such as a drive chain is drivingly connected with the drive member, with the roller tube drive engagement structure, and with the idler member. The connection is such that the direction of movement of the drive linkage is that the drive member pulls the linkage so that the linkage moves from the engagement with the roller tubes toward and about the idler member, and thence from the idler member to the drive member. In other words, the drive member is pulling the linkage in the direction from the idler member toward the drive member without any tubular heating members located in between. This arrangement thus allows the pulling force that is transmitted by the linkage from the drive member to be directly transmitted to the idler member, rather than directly transmitted to the end of one of the roller tubes. The force applied by the linkage against the idler member is transferred to the housing. After the linkage passes from the idler member to the drive member, it extends about the drive member to move next to engagement with the engagement means of the roller tubes. Reinforcing structure, such as a strut with an opening to allow passage of the linkage, can also be used in mounting the idler member to the housing to better withstand the forces of the drive linkage exerted about it, and to resist distortion of the idler member and its mounting.
The invention also provides a bearing sealing assembly for mounting the individual roller tubes in a food cooking assembly. The sealing assembly comprises a bearing member and an annular sealing member. The bearing member has a bore that receives the roller tube therethrough. The bore has a section with an annular shape to receive the annular sealing member. In the preferred embodiment, the annular member is an O-ring with an outer curved surface, and the bearing bore section that receives the O-ring has a similar curved surface, so that when the O-ring is expanded to fit about the roller tube, the O-ring outer surface rests against the conforming surface of the bore section. The bearing member can also be provided with an annular rim section with a flat surface that engages a flat surf

Affiliated with

Also associated with

Rating

Roller grill assembly for cooking human food does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.

If you have personal experience with Roller grill assembly for cooking human food, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Roller grill assembly for cooking human food will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3353418