Cooking appliance

Abstract

A cooking appliance comprising a container for containing a cooking liquid, an electrical heating element for heating cooking liquid in the container, and a food receptacle supported in the container for angular movement about a horizontal pivot axis. The receptacle has a portion that is perforated to let in cooking liquid in the container for cooking the food articles. A drive mechanism serves to move the food receptacle about the pivot axis. The food receptacle includes a wall extending at least partially around the pivot axis. The wall includes a plurality of fixed traps for trapping and carrying the food articles out of the cooking liquid upon relative upward movement of the receptacle and then allowing the food articles to fall back down upon further upward movement of the receptacle.

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a cooking appliance that is used particularly but not exclusively for frying food.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] Cooking appliances of the type in general concerned are known, for example as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,077,555, in which a puddle frame is pivoted about a horizontal axis in a stationary food basket submerged partially in cooking oil for agitating food articles in the basket. The frame inevitably breaks or squashes the food articles. In another known cooking appliance, there is used a cylindrical basket that is rotated centrally about a vertical axis to agitate the food articles contained therein, but a relatively large amount of cooking oil is reeded and the food articles cannot be agitated sufficiently thoroughly.

[0003] The subject invention seeks to mitigate or at least alleviate such problems by providing an improved cooking appliance.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0004] According to the invention, there is provided a cooking appliance comprising a container for containing a cooking liquid, an electrical heating element associated with the container for heating cooking liquid in the container, and a food receptacle supported in the container for angular movement about a substantially horizontal pivot axis. The receptacle has a portion that is perforated to let in cooking liquid in the container for cooking food articles received in the receptacle. A drive mechanism is included for moving the food receptacle about the pivot axis. The food receptacle includes a wall extending at least partially around the pivot axis. The wall includes a plurality of traps fixed thereto for trapping and carrying the food articles out of the cooking liquid upon relative upward movement of the receptacle and then allowing the food articles to fall back down upon further upward movement of the receptacle.

[0005] Preferably, the food receptacle has a substantially at least part circular cross-section at right angles to the pivot axis, and a central axis coinciding with the pivot axis.

[0006] More preferably, the container has a cross-section that is substantially the same as but marginally larger than that of the food receptacle, together sharing a common central axis.

[0007] It is preferred that the food receptacle comprises a screen basket.

[0008] Preferably, the receptacle portion and wall comprise screen parts.

[0009] It is preferred that the receptacle wall has a general shape that is substantially at least part cylindrical and has a central axis coinciding with the pivot axis.

[0010] Preferably, the traps are spaced apart angularly about the pivot axis.

[0011] In a preferred embodiment, the traps comprise protrusions on an inner surface of the receptacle wall.

[0012] More preferably, the receptacle wall has a substantially at least part cylindrical general shape that extends equidistantly round the pivot axis and has opposite ends, across which ends at least some of the protrusions extend.

[0013] Further more preferably, at least two, upper and lower ones of the protrusions have respective generally triangular cross-sections each having opposite sides, the sides of the upper protrusion being inclined at a relatively larger angle to the receptacle wall than those of the lower protrusion.

[0014] Alternatively, with the receptacle wall extending at least partially around the pivot axis, the traps may comprise recesses in an inner surface of the receptacle wall.

[0015] Preferably, the receptacle wall extends equidistantly at least partially around the pivot axis and are bent in a wavy manner to form the traps.

[0016] In a first preferred embodiment, the food receptacle has a generally semi-cylindrical shape about the pivot axis, and the drive mechanism is adapted to pivot the food receptacle in a reciprocating manner.

[0017] In a second preferred embodiment, the food receptacle has a generally cylindrical shape about the pivot axis, and the drive mechanism is adapted to rotate the food receptacle continuously in one direction.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0018] The invention will now be more particularly described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0019] FIG. 1 is a simplified cross-sectional end view of a first embodiment of a cooking appliance in accordance with the invention, the appliance including a semi-cylindrical receptacle for containing food articles;

[0020] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the food receptacle of FIG. 1;

[0021] FIG. 3 is a simplified cross-sectional side view of the cooking appliance of FIG. 1;

[0022] FIG. 4 is a detailed cross-sectional end view of the cooking appliance of FIG. 1;

[0023] FIG. 5 is a detailed cross-sectional side view of the cooking appliance of FIG. 3;

[0024] FIG. 6 is a simplified cross-sectional end view of a second embodiment of a cooking appliance in accordance with the invention, the appliance including a cylindrical receptacle for containing food articles;

[0025] FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the food receptacle of FIG. 6; and

[0026] FIG. 8 is a simplified cross-sectional side view of the cooking appliance of FIG. 6.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0027] Referring initially to FIGS. 1 to 5 of the drawings, there is shown a first cooking appliance 10 embodying the invention, which comprises a rectangular box-like housing 100, a generally semi-cylindrical stainless steel food receptacle 200 pivotable about a horizontal central axis X1, and a drive mechanism 300 for pivoting the receptacle 200. The housing 100 has a main body 110 housing the food receptacle 200 and driving mechanism 300, and includes a top lid 120 hinged at one end for closing the body 110.

[0028] Also housed within the body 110 is a generally deep semi-cylindrical fixed aluminum pot 130 that has a rectangular top opening. The food receptacle 200 lies horizontally inside the pot 130, together sharing a common horizontal central axis that coincides with the pivot axis X1. The drive mechanism 300 is located outside the pot 130, at one end thereof.

[0029] The food receptacle 200 is a screen basket having a pair of generally semi-circular solid vertical end walls 210 and a generally shallow semi-cylindrical meshed or perforated base wall 220. The base wall 220 extends horizontally at right angles across the end walls 210 and equidistantly round or about the pivot axis X1.

[0030] A rectangular rigid wire frame 230 connects across the tops of the end walls 210 for reinforcement or support, through which food articles, such as potato chips, can be loaded into the basket 200. The basket 200 has a generally semi-circular cross-section that is flatter than that of the pot 130, and a marginally smaller diameter for being held in the pot 130 as a rotational sliding fit about the pivot axis X1.

[0031] Both basket end walls 210 include respective upstanding apertured lugs 212 aligned with each other along the pivot axis X1. A pair of aligned hinges 214 and 216 support the basket 200 by its respective lugs 212 for pivotal movement about the axis X1 in opposite directions, such that the basket 200 can rotate back-and-forth through an angle of about 70° on either side of the axis X1.

[0032] The drive mechanism 300 incorporates a bottom electric motor 310 driving a horizontal output worm gear 320 that is in mesh with an upward train of four double gearwheels 321 to 324 for speed reduction. The upper gearwheel 324 is fixed on a horizontal shaft 325 that includes an eccentric crank pin 326. The second hinge 216 is a horizontal shaft fitted with a small gearwheel 218. The drive mechanism 300 includes a third horizontal, middle shaft 330 immediately below the hinge shaft 216, which is fitted with another small gearwheel 332. The two gearwheels 218 and 332 are in mesh such that the hinge shaft 216 is rotatable by the middle shaft 330. The middle shaft 330 includes an eccentric crank pin 334.

[0033] A connecting rod 340 connects across the two crank pins 326 and 334. While the first crank pin 326 is driven to turn in one direction by the motor 310 via the gear train 321 to 324, etc., the rod 340 converts such a rotating action into angular reciprocation for the middle shaft 330 and in turn the hinge shaft 216. Thus, the hinge shaft 216 turns in opposite directions to swing the food basket 200 back-and-forth inside the pot 130, through an angle of about 70° on either side of the pivot axis X1.

[0034] The pot 130 serves to contain a relatively small amount (say 375 ml) of cooking liquid, such as edible oil, that submerges the lowermost space (as shown by dotted lines in FIG. 1) of the food basket 200 at any angular position thereof. An electrical heater 140 is installed right at the bottom of the pot 130 to heat up the oil (say to 200° C.) for cooking the potato chips.

[0035] The basket 200 includes, on the inner surface of its base wall 220, a plurality of food traps formed by ridges 222 each having a triangular cross-section. The ridges 222 extend at right angles across the end walls 210 and are spaced apart angularly about the pivot axis X1. As part of the base wall 220, the ridges 222 are likewise meshed or perforated. The ridges 222 are relatively short (in terms of height) and are separated to form co-parallel shallow recesses or channels 224 between them for temporarily trapping or retaining the potato chips.

[0036] During swinging of the food basket 200, the potato chips are conveyed upwards on the rising side of the basket wall 220. The chips at the top of the heap will gradually roll or slide (or fall) back down, while those at the bottom remain trapped in the channels 224 as retained by the ridges 222. When the basket 200 swings to the uppermost position (FIG. 1 or 4), most of those bottom chips previously entrapped will have brought up and then allowed to roll back down thereby becoming situated at the top of the heap. Thus, the chips at the bottom (being fried in the oil) are turned upwards to the top (out of the oil), and the same action takes place when the basket 200 swings in the opposite direction. The action repeats in cycle until all the potato chips are cooked.

[0037] The ridges 222 are made not too tall to ensure that all the potato chips that have been lifted can go back down. All the ridges 222, especially those upper ones on either side that are more clearly so, have a generally triangular cross-section having opposite sides. The sides of upper ridges 222′ are inclined at a relatively larger angle to the basket base wall 220 than those of lower ridges 222″. The difference in gradient causes the potato chips to move down from different heights and/or at different times, thereby ensuring thorough agitation of the chips. In particular, the chips trapped by the upper ridges 222′ will be swung up to a higher level that is sufficient to allow them to turn over before falling down.

[0038] The traps, i.e. ridges 222 and channels 224, are produced by bending the basket base wall 220 in a wavy manner. In a different construction, the traps may be provided by any other forms of protrusions, such as knobs, bosses or posts, fixed on the basket base wall 220, which are spaced apart to create cavities therebetween for trapping or catching food articles.

[0039] It is envisaged that the bottom inner surface of the food basket 200 may be left empty (as a wider channel 224) or made flat so that the bottom food articles can move about freely without being jammed in place.

[0040] FIGS. 6 to 8 show a second cooking appliance 10A embodying the invention, which has a construction similar to that of the first cooking appliance 10, with equivalent parts designated by the same reference numerals suffixed by a letter “A”. The major differences lie in that the food basket 200A has a generally cylindrical shape and that the drive mechanism 300A is adapted to rotate the basket 200A continuously in one direction.

[0041] The food basket 200A is likewise a screen basket, having a pair of generally circular solid vertical end walls 210A and a generally cylindrical meshed or perforated peripheral wall 220A extending horizontally at right angles across the end walls 210A. The cylindrical basket 200A is supported centrally for rotation about the pivot axis X1 for tumbling food articles, such as potato chips, contained therein.

[0042] The peripheral wall 220A includes a hinged segment 230A that is openable like a lid to allow food articles to be loaded into the basket 200A. The wall 220A is stamped into a wavy shape to form the ridges 222A and channels 224A before it is bent into a cylinder and then connected to the end walls 210A to form the food basket 200A.

[0043] The aluminum pot 130A remains generally semi-cylindrical, having a diameter that is marginally larger than that of the basket 200A for holding the basket 200A partially (about half) therein as a rotational sliding fit about the pivot axis X1. The drive mechanism 300A likewise incorporates an electric motor and a speed-reduction gearbox, for rotating the food basket 200A slowly in either one direction.

[0044] In the case of both cooking appliances 10 and 10A, as the food articles are to be turned and mixed by themselves without the use of any agitator, they can be kept intact without being broken into smaller pieces or squashed. Given that the food articles will be turned continuously, a relatively small amount of cooking liquid can be used, which by reason of its small quantity can be heated up to the required cooking temperature (200° c.) in a relatively short time (5 minutes).

[0045] The invention has been given by way of example only, and various other modifications and/or variations to the described embodiments may be made by persons skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention as specified in the accompanying claims.

Claims

1. A cooking appliance comprising:

a container for containing a cooking liquid;

an electrical heating element associated with the container for heating cooking liquid in the container;

a food receptacle supported in the container for angular movement about a substantially horizontal pivot axis, the receptacle having a portion that is perforated to let in cooking liquid in the container for cooking food articles received in the receptacle; and

a drive mechanism for moving the food receptacle about the pivot axis;

wherein the food receptacle includes a wall extending at least partially around the pivot axis, the wall including a plurality of traps fixed thereto for trapping and carrying said food articles out of said cooking liquid upon relative upward movement of the receptacle and then allowing said food articles to fall back down upon further upward movement of the receptacle.

2. The cooking appliance as claimed in claim 1, wherein the food receptacle has a substantially at least part circular cross-section at right angles to the pivot axis, and a central axis coinciding with the pivot axis.

3. The cooking appliance as claimed in claim 2, wherein the container has a cross-section that is substantially the same as but marginally larger than that of the food receptacle, together sharing a common central axis.

4. The cooking appliance as claimed in claim 1, wherein the food receptacle comprises a screen basket.

5. The cooking appliance as claimed in claim 1, wherein the receptacle portion and wall comprise screen parts.

6. The cooking appliance as claimed in claim 1, wherein the receptacle wall has a general shape that is substantially at least part cylindrical and has a central axis coinciding with the pivot axis.

7. The cooking appliance as claimed in claim 1, wherein the traps are spaced apart angularly about the pivot axis.

8. The cooking appliance as claimed in claim 1, wherein the traps comprise protrusions on an inner surface of the receptacle wall.

9. The cooking appliance as claimed in claim 8, wherein the receptacle wall has a substantially at least part cylindrical general shape that extends equidistantly round the pivot axis and has opposite ends, across which ends at least some of the protrusions extend.

10. The cooking appliance as claimed in claim 9, wherein at least two, upper and lower ones of the protrusions have respective generally triangular cross-sections each having opposite sides, the sides of the upper protrusion being inclined at a relatively larger angle to the receptacle wall than those of the lower protrusion.

11. The cooking appliance as claimed in claim 1, wherein the receptacle wall extends at least partially around the pivot axis, and the traps comprise recesses in an inner surface of the receptacle wall.

12. The cooking appliance as claimed in claim 1, wherein the receptacle wall extends equidistantly at least partially around the pivot axis and are bent in a wavy manner to form the traps.

13. The cooking appliance as claimed in claim 1, wherein the food receptacle has a generally semi-cylindrical shape about the pivot axis, and the drive mechanism is adapted to pivot the food receptacle in a reciprocating manner.

14. The cooking appliance as claimed in claim 1, wherein the food receptacle has a generally cylindrical shape about the pivot axis, and the drive mechanism is adapted to rotate the food receptacle continuously in one direction.