METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MAINTAINING STABLE FLAME CONDITIONS IN A GAS BURNER
A gas burner apparatus comprising a burner base disposed over a gas burner, a burner head disposed over the burner base, and one or more burner covers disposed over the burner head. A method comprising a burner base over a gas burner, providing a burner headwith one or more burner ports over the burner base, providing one or more burner covers over the burner head, and sliding one or more burner covers over at least one of the one or more burner ports.
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FIELD OF INVENTIONThe present invention relates in general to cooking assemblies, and more particularly, to a gas burner apparatus and the method for providing both a high burning rate of such apparatus when needed and maintaining stable flame conditions when the burning rate of such apparatus is reduced.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONIn conventional gas cooking appliances, a plurality of gas burners are arranged in an array on a gas cook top. A manifold connects the plurality of gas burners to a source of gas fuel and the valves on the manifolds allows the user to adjust the flow of gas to the burners. Typically, gas burners are annular or circular in shape. There are also flame-generating ports disposed around the burner to provide a ring of burning flames emanating from the ports when the user adjusts the flow of gas to the burner. However, conventional gas burners fail to provide a wide range of heating capability, for example, from high burning rates with low-time-to-boil to low burning rates with simmering capability. Thus, a user who wants to run at high burning rates to cook food as quickly as possible may not be able to turn the burner down low enough to keep the burner at a consistent burning rate for simmering food. The lower burning rate will also save fuel if the user decides to keep the burner running so that there will be no heat up delay when the burner is restarted. Therefore, a need exists for a burner apparatus that allows users to maintain a low burning rate and more consistent burning flames without the need to completely turn off the burner and the ability to run at a high burning rate to cook the food when needed.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention provides an apparatus and a method for maintaining stable flame conditions of a gas burner without sacrificing the burning rate at the top end. In one aspect of the present disclosure, a gas burner apparatus is provided comprising a burner base disposed over a gas burner, a burner head disposed over the burner base, and one or more burner covers disposed over the burner head.
A gas burner apparatus is disclosed in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure. A gas burner apparatus comprising a burner base disposed over a gas burner, a burner head disposed over the burner hot plate base and one or more burner covers slidably disposed over the burner head.
A method for maintaining stable burning flames of a gas burner is also disclosed. The method comprises providing a burner base over a gas burner, providing a burner head with one or more burner ports over the burner base, providing one or more burner covers over the burner head, and sliding the one or more burner covers over at least one of the one or more burner ports.
The following description and drawings set forth in detail a number of illustrative embodiments of the invention. These embodiments are indicative of but a few of the various ways in which the present invention may be utilized.
A more complete appreciation of the present invention is provided by reference to the following detailed description of the appended drawings and figures. The following descriptions, in conjunction with the appended figures, enable a person having skill in the art to recognize the numerous advantages and features of the present invention by understanding the various disclosed embodiments. The following figures are utilized to best illustrate these features.
The following discussion is presented to enable a person skilled in the art to make and use the invention. The general principles described herein may be applied to embodiments and applications other than those detailed below without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims. The present invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and features disclosed herein.
Referring to
Referring to
A flow of gas may be provided from gas burner 100 through a channel opening 112 in the burner base 202. The channel opening 112 provides an opening for a circumferential channel that connects between a gas supply (not shown) and the burner head 204 to supply a gas flow for the burning flames. A valve (not shown) may be used to control the amount of gas flow provided to the burner head 204 from the gas supply. In such case, the user may control the amount of gas supply to the burner ports by adjusting the valve.
The burner base 202, burner head 204, and the one or more slidable burner port covers 206 may be manufactured using any one of various materials known to be useful for conducting heat to a food product while generally maintaining a desired temperature. One example of materials is a metal coated with a material with a low coefficient of friction, such as polytetrafluoroethylene. However, other types of metal known to be useful in conducting heat may be used to construct burner base 202, burner head 204, and the one or more slidable burner port covers 206 without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
The burner head 204 further comprises one or more alignment openings 404, 406, 408, 410 disposed around the one or more burner ports 412. In this embodiment, four alignment openings 404, 406, 408, and 410 are shown with one pair of alignment openings 404 and 406 being disposed on one side of the burner head 204 and the other pair of alignment openings 408 and 410 being disposed on the other side of the burner head 204. The pair of alignment openings 404 and 406 disposed on one side of the burner head 204 is used to align a first slidable burner port cover 206. The pair of alignment openings 408 and 410 disposed on the other side of the burner head 204 is used to align a second slidable burner port cover 206.
Referring to
The burner head 204 also comprises one or more channels 502, 504, and 506 providing conduits for burning flames. In one embodiment, channel 506 is provided to connect between the center opening 402 and the one or more burner ports 508 to channel burning flames to the one or more burner ports 510 within the burner head 204.
Another channel 502 is provided to connect between the one or more burner ports 510 within the burner head 204 and the outward facing surface of the burner head 204 to channel burning flames to one or more burner ports 512 formed on the outward facing surface of the burner head 204. In this way, a ring of even burning flames may be provided to the side of burner head 204 for cooking in addition to the burner ports 106 formed on the outward facing surface 108 of the gas burner 100.
The burner head 204 further comprises a channel 504 connecting between the one or more burner ports 510 within the burner head 204 and the top surface 414 of the burner head 204 as described in
Referring to
While the one or more burner ports 412 and 512 are arranged in a circular manner, other arrangements of burner ports 412 and 512 may be used without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. In addition, the number of burner ports 412 and 512 as depicted in
Referring to
As discussed above, a user may want to run at high burning rates to cook food as quickly as possible. However, given the limitations of gas burner 100, the user may not be able to turn the burner down low enough to keep the burner at a consistent burning rate for simmering food. Using slidable burner port cover 206, the burning rate of flames emanating from the top surface 414 of the burner head 204 may be reduced to a lower burning rate for consistent burning flames without the need to turn the burner completely off.
In one embodiment, the burning rate is reduced by closing the one or more burner ports 412 and 512 of the burner head 204 after the slidable burner port cover 206 is disposed over the burner head 204. To close the one or more burner ports 412 and 512, the one or more circular caps 704 of the slidable burner port cover 206 is slid along the one or more alignment openings 404, 406, 408 and 410 of the burner head 204 in a direction towards the center of the burner head 204. Once the more or more slidable burner ports 412 and 512 are closed, less burner port area is provided on the top surface 414 of the burner head 204. This means that less gas is required for the burner and fuel is conserved even if the user decides to keep the burner running. In addition, more stable flame conditions are achieved when the one or more burner ports 412 and 512 are closed for simmering food. More details regarding closing the one or more burner ports are discussed with reference to
If the user decides to keep the burner running, there will be no heat up delay for restarting the burner because the user may simply turn up the burner and open the one or more burner ports 412 and 512 to increase the burning rate of the flames emanating from the top surface 414 of the burner head 204 by sliding the burner port cover 206 away from the center of the burner head 204. Referring to
Referring to
Similarly, slidable burner port cover 904 is slid into a closed position by sliding the caps 910 and 912 of the burner port cover 904 to the left direction 916 towards the center of the burner head 204 along the pair of alignment openings 408 and 410. After the slidable burner port cover 904 is slid into a closed position, caps 910 and 912 are aligned with the right side of the alignment openings 408 and 410 or the side that is far away from the center of the burner head 204.
By sliding the burner port covers 902 and 904 to a closed position as illustrated in this figure, at least one of the one or more burner ports 412 and 512 are closed and the amount and burning rate of flames emanating from the one or more burner ports 412 and 512 are significantly reduced and more consistent burning flames are achieved. In other words, the slidable burner port covers 902 and 904, if slid into a closed position, keep the burning rate of flames emanating from the one or more burner ports 412 and 512 to a minimal consistent level without completely turning off the gas burner 100. In this way, the user may keep the burner running and conserve gas at the same time.
Referring to
Next, process 1000 continues to step 1004 to provide a burner head 204 with one or more burner ports over the burner base 202. For example, burner head 204 with one or more burner ports 412 and 512 may be placed over the burner base 202.
Next, process 1000 then continues to step 1006 to provide one or more slidable burner covers over the burner head. For example, one or more slidable burner port covers 206 may be placed over the burner head 204 by aligning the one or more circular caps 704 of the burner port covers 206 with the one or more alignment openings, such as alignment openings 404, 406.
Next, process 1000 then completes at step 1008 to slide the one or more slidable burner port covers 206 over at least one of the one or more burner ports 412 and 512. For example, the one or more slidable burner port covers 206 may be placed over the one or more burner ports 412 and 512 by sliding one or more circular caps 704 of slidable burner port covers 206 towards the center of the burner head 204 along the one or more pair of alignment openings 404 and 406 located on the burner head 204.
In addition to providing burner port covers such as burner port cover 206, a single movable burner port cover may be provided over the top surface 414 of the burner head 204 to cover the one or more burner ports 412 and 512 in order to reduce the burning rate. Referring to
In addition, movable burner port cover 1110 comprises a plurality of extensions 1106, which extend from the outer edge of the integrated burner port cover 1100. In this embodiment, four extensions 1106 are provided which extend from the outer edge of the movable burner port cover 1100 at 0, 90, 180, and 270 degree angle respectively. The plurality of extensions 1106 allow the user to rotate, move, or slide the movable burner port cover 1110 over across the top surface 414 of the burner head 204 such that the movable burner port cover 1100 is disposed over the one or more burner ports 412 and 512. Thus, instead of having to slide both slidable burner port covers 902 and 904 along the pair of alignment openings 404 and 406 to cover the one or more burner ports 412 and 512, the user only needs to rotate, move, or slide a single movable burner port cover 1110 to cover the one or more burner ports 412 and 512.
Although the invention has been shown and described with respect to a certain preferred embodiment or embodiments, it is obvious that equivalent alterations and modifications will occur to others skilled in the art upon the reading and understanding of this specification and the annexed drawings. In addition, while a particular feature of the invention may have been disclosed with respect to only one of several embodiments, such feature may be combined with one or more other features of the other embodiments as may be desired. It is therefore, contemplated that the claims will cover any such modifications or embodiments that fall within the true scope of the invention.
Claims
1. A gas burner apparatus comprising:
- a burner base disposed over a gas burner;
- a burner head disposed over the burner base; and
- one or more burner covers slidably disposed over the burner head.
2. The gas burner apparatus of claim 1, wherein the burner base is independent from the burner head.
3. The gas burner apparatus of claim 1, wherein the burner base comprises a channel having a circular opening at a center of the burner base.
4. The gas burner apparatus of claim 1, wherein the burner base comprises a plurality of caps for positioning the burner base over the gas burner.
5. The gas burner apparatus of claim 1, wherein the burner head comprises:
- a channel having a circular opening at a center of the burner head;
- a first set of one or more burner ports disposed around the circular opening on a top surface of the burner head; and
- one or more alignment openings disposed around the one or more burner ports.
6. The gas burner apparatus of claim 5, wherein the one or more burner ports are arranged in a circumferential manner around the circular opening.
7. The gas burner apparatus of claim 5, wherein the one or more alignment openings comprises:
- a first pair of alignment openings disposed on one side of the burner head; and
- a second pair of alignment openings disposed on another side of the burner head.
8. The gas burner apparatus of claim 7, wherein the first pair of alignment openings are used to align a first burner cover and the second pair of alignment openings are used to align a second burner cover.
9. The gas burner apparatus of claim 5, wherein the burner head comprises one or more channels, and wherein a first channel connects between the circular opening and the first set of one or more burner ports.
10. The gas burner apparatus of claim 9, further comprising a second set of one or more burner ports disposed around an outward facing surface of the burner head.
11. The gas burner apparatus of claim 10, wherein a second channel connects between the circular opening and the second set of one or more burner ports.
12. The gas burner apparatus of claim 5, wherein the one or more burner covers are semi-circular in shape and comprise a slot and one or more circular caps.
13. The gas burner apparatus of claim 12, wherein the slot is disposed near an outer edge of the one or more burner covers and the one or more circular caps are disposed near a center of the one or more burner covers.
14. The gas burner apparatus of claim 12, wherein the one or more circular caps are aligned with the one or more alignment openings of the burner head when the one or more burner covers are disposed over the burner head.
15. The gas burner apparatus of claim 14, wherein the one or more burner covers are disposed over the burner head in an open position when:
- a first pair of the one or more circular caps are aligned to a side of a first pair of the one or more alignment openings, whereby the circular caps are positioned at a point closest to the center of the burner head; and
- a second pair of the one or more circular caps are aligned to a side of a second pair of the one or more alignment openings, whereby the circular caps are positioned at a point closest to the center of the burner head.
16. The gas burner apparatus of claim 15, wherein the one or more burner covers are disposed over the one or more burner ports in a closed position when:
- a first pair of the one or more circular caps are aligned to a side of a first pair of the one or more alignment openings, whereby the circular caps are positioned at a point furtherest from the center of the burner head; and,
- a second pair of the one or more circular caps are aligned to a side of a second pair of the one or more alignment openings, whereby the circular caps are positioned at a point furtherest from the center of the burner head.
17. A method for maintaining stable flame conditions of a gas burner comprising:
- providing a burner base over a gas burner;
- providing a burner head with one or more burner ports over the burner base;
- providing one or more burner covers over the burner head; and
- sliding the one or more burner covers over at least one of the one or more burner ports.
18. The method of claim 17, wherein providing a burner head with one or more burner ports over the burner base comprises:
- providing a circular opening at a center of the burner head;
- providing one or more burner ports around the circular opening; and
- providing one or more alignment openings around the one or more burner ports.
19. The method of claim 18, wherein providing one or more burner covers over the burner head comprises:
- providing one or more circular caps on the one or more burner covers; and
- aligning the one or more circular caps with the one or more alignment openings of the burner head.
20. The method of claim 19, wherein providing one or more burner covers over the burner head further comprises:
- aligning a first pair of the one or more circular caps to a side of a first pair of the one or more alignment openings close to the center of the burner head; and
- aligning a second pair of the one or more circular caps to a side of a second pair of the one or more alignment openings close to the center of the burner head.
21. The method of claim 20, wherein sliding one or more burner covers over at least one of the one or more burner ports comprises:
- sliding the one or more circular caps towards the center of the burner head along the one or more alignment openings, wherein the first pair of the one or more circular caps is aligned with a side of the first pair of the one or more alignment openings far away from the center of the burner head, and wherein the second pair of the one or more circular caps is aligned with a side of the second pair of the one or more alignment openings far away from the center of the burner head.
22. A gas burner apparatus comprising:
- a burner base disposed over a gas burner;
- a burner head disposed over the burner base; and
- a movable burner port cover disposed over one or more burner ports of the burner head.
23. The gas burner apparatus of claim 22, wherein the movable port burner cover comprises:
- a center opening;
- one or more holes disposed around the center opening;
- a slot disposed around an outer edge of the movable burner port cover; and
- a plurality of extensions extending from the outer edge of the movable burner port cover.
Type: Application
Filed: Oct 9, 2009
Publication Date: Apr 14, 2011
Applicant: AMERICAN WYOTT CORPORATION (Dallas, TX)
Inventors: Roger A. Schwierking (Cheyenne, WY), Kenneth P. Gross (Cheyenne, WY)
Application Number: 12/576,647
International Classification: F23D 14/46 (20060101); F23D 14/62 (20060101);