Barbeque grill

Abstract

A portable barbeque has opposed fuel trays that are rotatably attached to a base at their inner ends. The fuel trays rotate between an open position where fuel can be burned in them to cook food on grills supported above them, and a closed position where their upper edges abut one another and fuel in the trays is lit and is extinguished. Located in each fuel tray is a grill bracket which carries the grills at various distances above the fuel in the fuel trays. The grill bracket includes a base which is removably attached to the fuel tray and a pair of upright supports which extend outwardly from opposed ends of the base. A plurality of slots located in the supports carry the grill.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A portable barbeque is disclosed in White, U.S. Pat. No. 4,046,132, Malafouris, U.S. Pat. No. 4,133,335 and Malafouris, U.S. Pat. No. 4,158,992. This prior art barbeque has a pair of fuel trays that hold charcoal or a similar fuel. The trays are rotatably joined for movement between an open position for cooking and a closed position for storage. In addition, when the fuel trays are rotated to their closed position the fuel in the trays will be extinguished. Each tray has a pair of grill brackets having multiple slots formed in them which hold the grills which food is cooked on. The grills are movable between slots to regulate the cooking temperature.

This prior art barbeque has several shortcomings. First, it can be difficult to insert the grills into the slots in the grill brackets when the unit is in use and is hot. In addition, if the grill is not fully inserted into the slots, it may not become seated in the slots and may not be at the proper angle. This can be important when the grill is inserted in the lower most slots because the grill is placed there to hold the fuel in the fuel tray when the grill is closed to extinguish the fuel, and if it is not seated properly it may not be possible to move the fuel trays to their fully closed position. In addition, the grill brackets are attached to the fuel trays by riveting and after repeated use they can become loose and rotate to where they will not receive the grill. The grill brackets in opposed food trays are offset from one another to allow them to nest when the fuel trays are moved to their closed position. If fuel drops between a grill bracket and the side of the fuel tray, it will interfere with the grill bracket in the opposed fuel tray and the unit cannot be closed.

In this prior art barbeque, fuel stops are cast in the bottoms of the fuel trays, near the ends that abut one another, to hold the fuel in the fuel trays when they are rotated to their closed position. With time, these fuel stops bum out and are no longer effective. In addition, even when the fuel stops are intact, the fuel bunches up against them when the unit is closed. Having the fuel remain more evenly spread over the fuel trays would be desirable but having a second row of fuel stops located intermediate in the fuel tray would prevent placing parts of the barbeque in the fuel trays when the barbeque is packaged for sale.

Finally, the grills in the prior art barbeque of this type are installed and removed from the grill brackets by inserting the opposed fingers of a handle around the outer edge of the grill. However, if the fingers squeezed the grill tightly enough to pull it out of the slots, it is difficult to remove the handle from the grill without accidentally pulling the grill away from the grill brackets.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The barbeque of the subject invention includes a single grill bracket for each fuel tray. The grill bracket has a base which is removably attached to the bottom of the fuel tray and upright supports at each end of the base. The base and supports are a single unitary element. Slots located in the supports receive a grill and support it above fuel located in the fuel trays.

The foregoing and other objectives, features, and advantages of the invention will be more readily understood upon consideration of the following detailed description of the invention, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of a barbeque embodying the subject invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the barbeque, similar to FIG. 1, with the grill removed to show hidden detail.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a grill bracket which is an element of the subject invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a fence which is an element of the subject invention.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a grill which is an element of the subject invention.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing how the grill is removed from the barbeque.

FIGS. 8 and 9 are bottom views showing how the handle use to remove he grill is removed from the grill.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings, a portable barbeque 10 has two fuel trays 12 each of which is rotatably attached to a frame 11 which carries a central lighter drawer 14. Fixed legs 16 are attached to each side of the frame 11, and rotatable legs 18 are attached to the outer end of each fuel tray. The fuel trays rotate between an open position, shown in the drawings, where the barbeque can be used for cooking, and a closed position where the rims 20 of the fuel trays abut one another. In this closed position, the rotatable legs are rotated 90 degrees and can be used as a handle to carry the device. As is explained in U.S. Pat. No. 4,133,335, which is incorporated herein by reference, when the fuel trays are in their closed position, charcoal located in the fuel trays can be ignited by building a fire in the lighter draw 14. In addition, when the fuel trays are rotated to their closed position after the cooking is completed, fuel in the fuel trays can be extinguished by closing the openings 22 at the outer ends of the fuel trays.

Mounted in each fuel tray is a grill bracket 24 which supports a grill 26 at selected distances above the fuel in order to regulate the cooking temperature at the grill. Referring now also to FIG. 4, each grill bracket 24 includes a base 28 which is attached to the fuel tray 12 at the end of the fuel tray that is attached to the frame 11. The base preferably is semi-permanently attached to fuel tray but is removable when it becomes necessary to replace the grill bracket. This is accomplished in the embodiment illustrated by placing holes 29 in the base and attaching it to the fuel tray with bolts 31.

Located at each end of the base 28, and extending outwardly from it at 90 degrees, is a support 30. Each support contains a plurality of slots 32 which are sized to snugly receive one of the tabs 34 which is located at each side of the grill at its inside edge. The depth of the slots 32 becomes progressively larger moving from the outer extremity of the support toward the base 28. Each slot 32 is defined by a top face 34 and a bottom face 36 and the bottom face is larger than the top face. The longer bottom face facilitates insertion of the grill into the slots by resting the grill on the bottom face at an angle and then rotating it into place in the slot. The bottom face 37 of the bottom most slot 38 is even longer. In addition to making it easier to insert the grill into this bottom most slot, having a long bottom face ensures that the grill is fully seated in the slot and not angularly offset from where it should be. This is important because the grill is placed in the bottom most slot 38 when the fuel trays are moved to their closed position and if the grill is not fully seated, the fuel trays cannot be fully closed. Preferably the depth of the bottom face 36 of the bottom most slot 38 is at least 15% greater than the depth of the top face 40. Ideally, the depth of the bottom face would be approximately 50% greater than the depth of the top face.

Also located on the base 28 are a plurality of fuel stops 42 which extend outwardly from the base at 90 degrees. Finally, fuel blocks 44 extend sideways from each support 30 to prevent pieces of charcoal from getting lodged between the support and the side wall of the fuel trays which can prevent the fuel trays from being rotated to their closed positions. This can occur because the supports 30 on the grill bracket 24 located in one fuel tray are offset from the supports on the grill bracket in the other fuel tray to prevent them from interfering with one another when the grill trays are moved to their closed position. Pieces of fuel lodged between a support and the side of the fuel tray would interfere with the support on the grill bracket and the opposed fuel tray.

The grill brackets are a single unitary element which is attached to the fuel trays 12 through its base 28. This prevents the supports 30 from rotating if the attachment bolts 31 become loose. Also, by having the fuel stops 42 be part of the grill bracket rather than being integral with the fuel trays, they can be replaced when they become worn.

Also located in each fuel tray 12 is a fence 44, FIGS. 3 and 5. The fence 44 has a base 46 which is similar to the base 28 except that it does not have the holes 29. Located along one edge of the fence 44 are a plurality of fuel stops 48 which are similar to the fuel stops 38 on the grill bracket 24. The fence 44 is releasably attached to the fuel tray 12 at approximately its midpoint by inserting it under clips 50 which are attached to the fuel tray, FIGS. 2 and 3. While the clips 50 work well for this purpose, the fence could be releasably attached to the fuel tray in many other ways.

The grill 26 differs from the grill in the barbeque described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,133,338 only by having a raised boss 52 on its bottom surface at its front edge. The barbeque includes a handle 54, FIG. 7 which can be used to install or remove the grill or to move it between slots in the support bracket. The handle has a pair of fingers 56 which are arranged to fit around the grill when the handle is pushed towards the grill, FIGS. 7 and 8. When the handle is in place, the grill is squeezed between the fingers 56 so that the grill moves along with the handle. By placing the bottom finger next to the boss 52, the handle can be removed from the grill without pulling the grill along with it by rotating the handle around the boss 52, FIG. 9.

The cooking surface of the grill 26 shown in FIGS. 1 and 7 has rectangular openings 58 located over most of its extent. An alternative grill 60, FIG. 6, is divided into a first portion 61 which has openings 62 extending through it and a second portion 64 which has a solid cooking surface. This allows cooking items, such as pancakes and fried eggs, which cannot be cooked on a grill with openings. In the embodiment illustrated, the first and second portions are equal in size, but all that is required is that each covers a substantial portion of the entire grill so as to provide a meaningful cooking surface.

The terms and expressions which have been employed in the foregoing specification are used therein as terms of description and not of limitation, and there is no intention, in the use of such terms and expressions, of excluding equivalents of the features shown and described or portions thereof, it being recognized that the scope of the invention is defined and limited only by the claims which follow.

Claims

1. A portable barbeque having opposed fuel trays with grills releasably supported above them, comprising a grill bracket having:

(a) a base which is releasably attached to said fuel tray;

(b) a pair of upright supports which extend outwardly from opposed ends of said base;

(c) a plurality of aligned slots located in said supports which are arranged to receive a grill; wherein

(d) said base and said supports are a single unitary element one of which is attached to each of said fuel trays.

2. The barbeque of claim 1 wherein said grill bracket includes a plurality of fuel stops which extend outwardly from said base between said supports.

3. The barbeque of claim 1 wherein said grill bracket includes fuel blocks which extend sideways from at least one of said supports away from said base.

4. The barbeque of claim 1 wherein said slots have depths, and said depths become progressively greater from an outside end to an inside end of said supports.

5. The barbeque of claim 4 wherein each said slot is defined by a top face and a bottom face and the depth of said top face is less than the depth of said bottom face.

6. The barbeque of claim 5 wherein there is an inner most slot and the difference between the depths of the top and bottom faces is greater for such inner most slot than it is for the remainder of the slots.

7. The barbeque of claim 6 wherein the depth of the bottom face of such inner most slot is at least 15% greater than the depth of the associated top face.

8. The barbeque of claim 6 wherein the depth of the bottom face of such inner most slot is 50% greater than the depth of the associated top face.

9. The barbeque of claim 1 including a fence which is releasably attached to said fuel tray intermediate its ends, said fence having a plurality of fuel stops which extend into said fuel tray.

10. The barbeque of claim 1 including a grill which is receivable by said grill brackets, a substantial portion of said grill having a solid cooking surface and a substantial portion of said grill having a cooking surface with a plurality of openings.

11. The barbeque of claim 1 further comprising:

(a) a grill which is receivable in said grill bracket;

(b) a handle having a pair of fingers that are configured to fit around said grill to facilitate installing and removing said grill in said grill bracket; wherein

(c) said grill includes a raised boss on an outer edge thereof which allows said handle to be removed from said grill without pulling said grill out of said grill bracket, by placing said fingers alongside of said boss and rotating said handle against said boss to remove it from said grill.

12. A grill support bracket for a barbeque comprising:

(a) an upright support having a plurality of slots defined therein which releasably receive a grill; and

(b) said slots have depths, said depths becoming progressively greater moving from an outer end of said support toward an inner end of said support.

13. The grill support bracket of claim 12 wherein each said slot is defined by a top face and a bottom face, and the depth of said top face is less than the depth of said bottom face.

14. The support bracket of claim 13 wherein there is an inner most slot and the difference between the depths of the top and bottom faces is greater for said inner most slot than it is for the remainder of the slots.

15. The grill support bracket of claim 14 wherein the depth of the bottom face of said inner most slot is at least 15% greater than the depth of the associated top face.

16. The grill support bracket of claim 14 wherein the depth of the bottom face of said inner most slot is 50% greater than the depth of the associated top face.

17. A portable barbeque having opposed trays which hold fuel comprising fences which are releasably attachable to said fuel trays intermediate its ends, said fences having a plurality of fuel stops which extend outwardly therefrom.

18. A grill for a portable barbeque comprising a cooking surface wherein a substantial portion of said cooking surface is solid and a substantial portion of said cooking surface has a plurality of openings.

19. A removal system for a portable barbeque comprising:

(a) a grill which is receivable in a grill bracket located in said barbeque;

(b) a handle having a pair of fingers that are configured to fit on opposed sides of said grill to facilitate installing and removing said grill and said grill brackets; wherein

(c) said grill includes a raised boss on an outer edge thereof which allows said handle to be removed from said grill without pulling said grill out of said grill bracket by placing said fingers alongside of said boss and rotating said handle against said boss to remove it from said grill.