Foods and beverages: apparatus – Cooking – Boiler or deep fat fryer type
Reexamination Certificate
2001-09-06
2002-04-09
Simone, Timothy F. (Department: 1761)
Foods and beverages: apparatus
Cooking
Boiler or deep fat fryer type
C099S344000, C099S330000, C099S337000, C126S351100, C126S391100
Reexamination Certificate
active
06367372
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a valve opening/closing device of a fryer for opening and closing an oil discharge valve of a ball valve type that is placed in an oil discharge pipe of a fryer for heating cooking oil that has been filled into an oil vat and cooking foods, and that opens and closes that pipe.
2. Description of Related Art
As shown in
FIG. 7
, conventional fryers of this type are provided with an oil discharge pipe
2
that extends from the bottom of an oil vat
1
, which is a box-shaped container opened on the top, and with an oil discharge valve
4
near an oil discharge collection portion
3
at the end of the oil discharge pipe
2
, the valve
4
being of a ball valve type that opens and closes the pipe pathway. As shown in FIG.
8
and
FIG. 9
, the oil discharge valve
4
is provided with the valve opening/closing device
5
being of a simple configuration made up of a rotating link portion
6
of a short length that is fixed to a rotating shaft
4
a
of the oil discharge valve
4
and that extends in a direction perpendicular to the axis thereof, and an operation link portion
7
that is rotatably attached at one end to the distal end of the rotating link portion
6
, that extends toward the front of the fryer and that is guided by a guide portion
8
provided on the housing of the fryer so as to be shifted substantially back and forth (in the direction of the arrow shown in the drawing). The valve opening/closing device
5
can put the oil discharge valve
4
into a closed state by pushing the operation link portion
7
rearward so that the rotating link portion
6
can be put into a position tilted 45° rearward with respect to a sideways orientation, and can put the oil discharge valve
4
into an open state by pulling the operation link portion
7
forward so that the rotating link portion
6
can be put into a position tilted 45° forward with respect to the sideways orientation. It is necessary that the valve opening/closing device
5
is of a simple configuration because many other parts are concentrated on the front side of the fryer.
When cleaning the inside of the oil vat
1
, or when the liquid rises to a higher level along with an expansion in volume when solid lard oil, for example, has been given into the oil vat
1
and melted into a liquid state from its original solid state, the oil discharge valve
4
of the above-described valve opening/closing device
5
is opened by operating the operation link portion
7
and the cooking oil in the oil vat
1
is passed through the oil discharge pipe
2
to discharge the oil and is collected within a tank
9
below the fryer.
Structurally, however, in an oil discharge valve of a ball valve type the torque becomes extremely large when starting to open the valve or when the finishing the closing of the valve. That is to say, when opening the valve, the ball is caused to rotate in a state in which air, for example, has been closed in by the through hole piercing the ball, and thus the air acts as a spring, so that it acts as a force that opposes the rotation. Also, when closing the valve, air, for example, is trapped within the through hole and the ball is rotated, and thus in a similar way the air, for example, acts as a spring and as a force in opposition to the rotation of the ball. Thus, with a configuration like that of conventional valve opening/closing devices in which the control link portion is pushed and pulled forward and backward, an extremely large force is required when opening and closing the valve, and for persons with little strength, such as women or elderly people, the opening operation is not easy, nor is it easy when closing the valve to completely close up the oil discharge valve. For that reason, there is the risk that the liquid level within the oil vat decreased due to oil leaking from the oil vat before the operator is aware of it, resulting in poorly cooked foods or accidents such as fire due to overheating the cooking oil. Additionally, because conventional valve opening/closing devices are of the configuration of pushing and pulling the control link portion forward and backward, there is also the problem that it is difficult to clearly judge whether the oil discharge valve is in an open state or a closed state by only looking at the control link portion.
The present invention solves the aforementioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a valve opening/closing device of a fryer, in which it is easy to open and close the oil discharge valve, and in which it is possible to confirm with one glance whether the oil discharge valve is in an open state or a closed state.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
To achieve the above-mentioned object, in accordance with a first aspect of the present invention, a valve opening/closing device of a fryer, wherein an oil discharge valve of a ball valve type is disposed in an oil discharge pipe that extends from a bottom of an oil vat for containing cooking oil and that discharges cooking oil from a discharge opening at its end into a tank, and wherein a pipe pathway through the oil discharge pipe opens and closes by opening and closing of the oil discharge valve, includes a long bar-shaped fixed link portion fixed at one end to the perimeter of a protruding position on a rotating shaft of the oil discharge valve, and extending at substantially right angles to the rotating shaft;
a first short bar-shaped rotating link portion fixed at one end to the rotating shaft of the oil discharge valve;
a second rotating link portion that is of a similar length to the first rotating link portion and disposed parallel thereto, and that is rotatably attached at one end to the other end of the fixed link portion;
a long bar-shaped coupling link portion rotatably fixed at both ends to the other ends of the first and second rotating link portions; and
a rotating lever fixed to the other end of the second link portion and extending therefrom.
With this configuration according to the first aspect of the invention, when the oil discharge valve is opened for discharging cooking oil from the oil vats, for example to clean the inside of the oil vats, by grabbing the rotating lever and rotating it around the other end of the fixed link portion it is possible to take advantage of the torque corresponding to the length of the second rotating link portion and the rotating lever, thus achieving a large rotating force with little effort. Also, by rotating the first rotating link portion via the coupling link portion coupled to the second rotating link portion, the rotating shaft of the oil discharge valve is rotated, making it possible to easily shift the oil discharge valve into an open state. In the same way it is also possible to easily shift the oil discharge valve into a closed state. Moreover, by looking at the position of the rotating lever corresponding to the open and closed states of the oil discharge valve, for example, by arranging the rotating lever such that it faces sideways or forward, it is possible to confirm with one look whether the oil discharge valve is in an open state or a closed state.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in a fryer according to the first aspect, the fixed link portion and the coupling link portion are in a bent shape, in which the portions are slightly bent at an intermediate portion in a longitudinal direction while maintaining a parallel state with one another, or the portions are in z-shape, wherein they are slightly bent and bent back. Thus, it is possible to dispose the link portions such that they do not come into contact with the oil discharge collection portion or the oil discharge valve on the oil discharge pipe, or with members at the periphery of the fryer.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4895137 (1990-01-01), Jones et al.
patent: 4945893 (1990-08-01), Manchester
patent: 4947824 (1990-08-01), Ejiri et al.
patent: 4949703 (1990-08-01), Ejiri et al.
patent: 5038753 (1991-08-01), Yokoyama et al.
patent: 5261322 (1993-11-01), Yokoyama et al.
pat
Chikazawa Hideo
Hayakawa Tsuneyasu
Kijimoto Hideki
Paloma Industries Limited
Pearson & Pearson LLP
Simone Timothy F.
LandOfFree
Valve opening/closing device of a fryer does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Valve opening/closing device of a fryer, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Valve opening/closing device of a fryer will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2917058