REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/939,874, filed Feb. 14, 2014, which is hereby specifically incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
TECHNICAL FIELD This disclosure related to cooking More particularly, this disclosure relates to ovens for cooking
BACKGROUND Cooking in an oven such as a brick oven involves maintaining proper air and cooking surface temperatures. A brick oven typically includes a heat source within the cooking chamber of the brick oven and situated at one side of the cooking chamber, and therefore cooking food such as pizza on a cooking surface in the brick oven typically requires turning of the food within the oven on the cooking surface to avoid overcooking one side of the food and undercooking the other side of the food. In addition, cooking multiple food items in succession requires maintaining the temperature of the cooking surface between removing cooked food and adding food to be cooked, often requiring the use of multiple removable baking stones. Baking stones typically require preheating to a certain temperature, so typically a single baking stone cannot be used to cook two food items in succession.
SUMMARY Disclosed is an oven comprising a cooking chamber floor including a ceramic blanket; and walls, the walls and cooking chamber floor defining a cooking chamber.
Also disclosed is an oven comprising walls including a panel; and a frame including an extruded corner post, the extruded corner post including an inner wall and an outer wall defining a channel, a portion of the panel positioned in the channel of the extruded corner post.
Also disclosed is a method of assembling an oven comprising fastening an extruded corner post to a frame of the oven through at least one fastener hole defined in an end of the extruded corner post; and sliding a lateral end of a panel into a channel defined between a inner wall and an outer wall of the extruded corner post.
Various implementations described in the present disclosure may include additional systems, methods, features, and advantages, which may not necessarily be expressly disclosed herein but will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art upon examination of the following detailed description and accompanying drawings. It is intended that all such systems, methods, features, and advantages be included within the present disclosure and protected by the accompanying claims.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The features and components of the following figures are illustrated to emphasize the general principles of the present disclosure. Corresponding features and components throughout the figures may be designated by matching reference characters for the sake of consistency and clarity.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a cooking oven.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a frame of the cooking oven of FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the cooking oven of FIG. 1 with a front wall and a fire box of the cooking oven removed.
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the cooking oven of FIG. 1 with an oven door and a fire box of the oven removed.
FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the cooking oven of FIG. 1 taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 1.
FIG. 6 is a side view of a side panel of the cooking oven of FIG. 1.
FIG. 7 is a top view of a corner post of the cooking oven of FIG. 1.
FIG. 8 is a perspective close-up view of a corner of the oven with a roof and an oven door of the oven removed.
FIG. 9 is a top view of a support clip.
FIG. 10 is a top view of a support clip installed in the oven of FIG. 1.
FIG. 11 is a bottom view of a second support clip installed in the oven of FIG. 1.
FIGS. 12A through 12G are various views of the cooking chamber floor of the oven of FIG. 1.
FIG. 13 is a perspective view of an upper plate of the cooking chamber floor of FIG. 12A.
FIG. 14 is a perspective view of a lower plate of the cooking chamber floor of FIG. 12A.
FIG. 15 is a perspective view of the oven of FIG. 1 from a bottom side of the oven with the roof and several panels of the oven removed.
FIG. 16 is a perspective close-up view of the support clip of FIG. 9 holding up the cooking chamber floor of FIG. 12A.
FIG. 17 is another perspective close-up view of the support clip of FIG. 9 holding up the cooking chamber floor of FIG. 12A.
FIG. 18 is a perspective view of an oven floor of the oven of FIG. 1.
FIG. 19 is a perspective view of the oven floor of FIG. 18 resting on a bottom cap of the frame of FIG. 2.
FIG. 20 is a bottom view of the oven floor of FIG. 18 resting on the bottom cap of the frame of FIG. 2.
FIG. 21 is a perspective view of a fire box of the oven of FIG. 1.
FIG. 22 is a top view of the fire box of FIG. 21.
FIG. 23 is another perspective view of the fire box of FIG. 21.
FIG. 24 is a perspective view of a vent cap of the fire box of FIG. 21.
FIG. 25 is a perspective back-side view of the cooking oven of FIG. 1 with the back panel of the oven removed.
FIG. 26 is a sectional view of the cooking oven of FIG. 1 taken along line 26-26 of FIG. 1.
FIG. 27 is a sectional view of the cooking oven of FIG. 1 taken along line 27-27 of FIG. 1.
FIG. 28 is a perspective view of another embodiment of a cooking oven with a roof of the cooking oven removed.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION Disclosed is a cooking oven, or hearth, and associated methods, systems, devices, and various apparatus. It would be understood by one of skill in the art that the disclosed cooking oven is described in but a few exemplary embodiments among many. No particular terminology or description should be considered limiting on the disclosure or the scope of any claims issuing therefrom.
One embodiment of an oven 100 is disclosed and described in FIG. 1. The oven 100 includes a front wall 110, side panels 120a,b (120b shown in FIG. 3), a back panel 130 (shown in FIG. 10), a roof 140, a frame 150, a fire box 160, an oven door 170 with a handle 172, and a cooking chamber floor 180. Front wall 110, side panels 120a,b, and back panel 130 define walls of the oven 100. In various embodiments, the walls of the oven 100 may be formed from a single or multiple curved panels, multiple flat panels, or a combination of curved and flat panels, and the disclosure of front wall 110, side panels 120a,b, and back panel 130 should not be considered limiting on the configuration of the walls of the oven 100 in the current disclosure.
A vent cap 142 is placed over a hole 540 (shown in FIG. 5) defining a vent in the roof 140. The vent cap 142 includes a rotating top plate 144 for opening and closing the vent cap 142. The top plate 144 includes a tab 148 that can be used to rotate the top plate 144. The top plate 144 and vent cap 142 are connected by a bolt 146 extending through bolt holes (not shown) in the top plate 144 and vent cap 142 and tightened sufficiently to allow the top plate 144 to rotate relative to the vent cap 142. The vent cap 142, including the rotating top plate 144, may be constructed from aluminum or aluminized steel, or other materials in various embodiments.
FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of the frame 150. The frame 150 includes four corner posts 250a,b,c,d, a top cap 252, and a bottom cap 254. The top cap 252 includes four top frame pieces 256a,b,c,d, each top frame piece 256a,b,c,d including an L-shaped cross-section. The bottom cap 254 includes four bottom frame pieces 258a,b,c,d, each bottom frame piece 258a,b,c,d including an L-shaped cross-section. Each top frame piece 256a,b,c,d includes a plurality of fastener holes 266, two fastener holes 266 at each end of each top frame piece 256a,b,c,d. Top frame piece 256a includes four fastener holes 266a, top frame piece 256b includes four fastener holes 266b, top frame piece 256c includes four fastener holes 266c, and top frame piece 256d includes four fastener holes 266d. Each bottom frame piece 258a,b,c,d includes a plurality of fastener holes 268 (shown in FIG. 15), two fastener holes 268 at each end of each bottom frame piece 258a,b,c,d. Bottom frame piece 258a includes four fastener holes 268a, bottom frame piece 258b includes four fastener holes 268b, bottom frame piece 258c includes four fastener holes 268c, and bottom frame piece 258d includes four fastener holes 268d. Bottom frame piece 258a also defines a notch 262. The top cap 252 is connectable to the four corner posts 250a,b,c,d by a plurality of self-tapping screws through the plurality of fastener holes 266, and the bottom cap 254 is connectable to the four corner posts 250a,b,c,d by a plurality of self-tapping screws through the plurality of fastener holes 268. In various embodiments, the top cap 252 and bottom cap 254 may be connected to the four corner posts 250a,b,c,d by other connections in various embodiments, including non-self-tapping screws, bolts, welding, adhesives, or being formed integrally with each other, and the manner of connection should not be considered limiting.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the oven 100 with the front wall 110, back panel 130, the fire box 160, and the oven door 170 removed. As shown in FIG. 3, the cooking oven 100 also includes an oven floor 300 resting on the bottom cap 254. The oven floor 300 includes guide rails 310a,b for guiding the fire box 160 into and out of the oven 100. The oven 100 defines a heating chamber 330 below the cooking chamber floor 180 and further defines a cooking chamber 320 above the cooking chamber floor 180. The cooking chamber floor 180 fills the space between the side panels 120a,b, leaving a small air gap between the cooking chamber floor 180 and each of the side panels 120a,b to allow for heated air to move from the heating chamber 330 to the cooking chamber 320. The cooking chamber floor 180 also defines a cooking surface 384 facing upwards into the cooking chamber 320.
FIG. 4 shows a perspective view of the oven 100 with the back panel 130, the fire box 160, and the oven door 170 removed. As shown in FIG. 4, the front wall 110 defines an upper opening 410 and a lower opening 412. The upper opening 410 provides access to the cooking chamber 320 and the lower opening 412 provides access to the heating chamber 330 and is sized to accept the fire box 160. The cooking chamber floor 180 also defines a ledge 382 extending through the upper opening 410 of the front wall 110 and resting on the front wall 110.
Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the front wall 110 includes a plurality of clip holes 2612 around the upper opening 410 and a pair of gasket holes 2614a,b, one on each side of the upper opening 410. The clip holes 2612 are sized to accept a series of clips on a clip gasket (not shown) and the gasket holes 2614a,b are sized to accept each end of the clip gasket, so that the clip gasket can be mounted around the upper opening 410 to seal the oven door 170 in combination with a tadpole gasket 2590 (shown in FIG. 25) when the oven door 170 is closed. A clip gasket, or oven door gasket, is a rope-shaped gasket typically used around oven doors to provide a thermal seal around the oven door and typically include a series of wire clips extending radially from the gasket which may be pushed into a clip hole to mount the clip gasket around an oven door.
Likewise, shown in FIG. 4, the front wall 110 includes a plurality of clip holes 2616 around the lower opening 412 and a gasket hole 2618 centered below the lower opening 412. The clip holes 2616 are sized to accept a series of clips on a second clip gasket (not shown) and the gasket hole 2618 is sized to accept each end of the second clip gasket, so that the second clip gasket can be mounted around the lower opening 412 to seal a front panel 2140 (shown in FIG. 21) of the fire box 160 against the front wall 110 when the fire box 160 is in a closed position inside the oven 100.
FIG. 5 shows a sectional view of the oven 100 from the back side of the oven 100, with the back panel 130 removed. As shown in FIG. 5, a hinge mount 510 and a door latch 520 are mounted on the front wall 110 on either side of the upper opening 410. A door hinge 2670 is mounted on the hinge mount 510, mounting the oven door 170 on the front wall 110 and allowing the oven door 170 to be opened and closed. FIG. 5 also shows a thermometer sensor hole 550 defined in the front wall 110. The thermometer sensor hole 550 is sized to accept a thermometer with a temperature gauge (not shown) situated outside the cooking chamber 320 and with a temperature sensor extending through the thermometer sensor hole 550 into the cooking chamber 320 to read the temperature in the cooking chamber 320 during operation. In various embodiments, a gauge hole (not shown) is included on the outside of front wall 110 in order to house the entire temperature gauge. In various other embodiments, a gauge hole is not present. In various embodiments, a humidity sensor (not shown) for measuring the relative humidity of the cooking chamber 320 will be included with the oven 100.
FIG. 6 shows a side view of side panel 120a. In the current embodiment, side panels 120a,b and back panel 130 (shown in FIG. 10) are rectangular ceramic panels sized to slide into the top of frame 150 after top cap 252 is removed. In the current embodiment, side panels 120a,b, back panel 130, and roof 140 are cordierite, though other materials may be used in various embodiments. The front wall 110 is formed from metal such as aluminized steel or aluminum in the current embodiment, though other materials such as ceramic, including cordierite, may be used in various embodiments.
FIG. 7 shows a top view of a corner post 250 of the oven 100. As shown in FIG. 6, the corner post 250 includes an outer wall 710 having an L-shaped cross-section. The corner post 250 also includes an inner wall 720. The inner wall 720 includes a protrusion 730 having a first arm 732 and a second arm 734. The inner wall 720 defines a plurality of fastener holes 722. Two fastener holes 722a,b are defined on the first arm 732 and the second arm 734, respectively, and two fastener holes 722c,d are defined on the inner wall 720 in a cavity 740 defined between the outer wall 710 and the inner wall 720. The inner wall 720 also defines a pair of grooves 760a,b adjacent to the protrusion 730. The grooves 760a,b are each sized to accept a gasket such as a hog gasket. A hog gasket is a fiberglass tube-shaped gasket with a metal mesh inside it to keep it open or expanded. It may be stapled at one or each end to allow the gasket to be pushed into place with a wood dowel. The inner wall 720 also defines a pair of stop shoulders 724a,b adjacent to the outer wall 710. The outer wall 710 of corner post 250 defines a plurality of grooves 770. In various embodiments, grooves 770 represent aesthetic design features. In various embodiments, one or more grooves 770 prevent or hide sink marks that could otherwise be visible in outer wall 710 where outer wall 710 intersects with inner wall 720. Sink marks can become visible on extruded and molded parts that cool after exiting the mold or die, especially in areas of a part where part thickness changes abruptly such as at an intersection of two walls. The corner post 250 is symmetrical across a plane 750 extending diagonally through the corner post 250 to allow for easy manufacture of the corner posts 250a,b,c,d by producing and cutting a single extruded element, which lowers the cost of individual components and the cost of assembly of the oven 100. In various embodiments, corner post 250 is fabricated from aluminum or an alloy thereof, but the disclosure of aluminum and aluminum alloys for corner post 250, as well as the shape of corner post 250, should not be considered limiting, and various other materials or shapes may be present in various embodiments.
FIG. 8 shows a perspective close-up view of the oven 100 showing the interaction of the side panel 120a, the front wall 110, and the corner post 250a. The side panel 120a is slid into the space defined between the outer wall 710 and first arm 732 of the inner wall 720, which thereby define a channel sized to accept a portion of the side panel 120a, the side panel 120a resting against the stop shoulder 724a. The front wall 110 is slid into the space defined between the outer wall 710 and second arm 734 of the inner wall 720, which thereby define a channel sized to accept a portion of the front wall 110, the front wall 110 resting against the stop shoulder 724b. Prior to sliding the side panel 120a and the front wall 110 into place, gaskets may be placed into the grooves 760a,b. Side panel 120a rests in a similar arrangement with corner post 250b and front wall 110 rests in similar arrangement with corner post 250d. Side panel 120b is slid into corner posts 250c,d similarly to side panel 120a, and back panel 130 is slid into corner posts 250b,c similarly to side panels 120a,b. After sliding front wall 110, side panels 120a,b, and back panel 130 into corner posts 250a,b,c,d, the top cap 252 may be connected to corner posts 250a,b,c,d, and the roof 140 may thereafter be placed on top of the oven 100 with the roof 140 positioned on the top cap 252 of the frame 150.
FIG. 9 shows a top view of a support clip 900. The support clip 900 includes a clip body 910 and a bolt 950. The clip body 910 has a U-shaped cross-section includes an upper plate 920 and a lower plate 930 (shown in FIG. 16) extending from a base 940. The bolt 950 extends through a threaded hole (not shown) defined in the base 940 of the clip body 910. In the current embodiment, the bolt 950 is square-headed, but may be round-headed or hexagonal or any other shape in various embodiments. The bolt 950 may be replaced with a screw or other fastener in various other embodiments. Turning the bolt 950 moves the bolt 950 axially through the threaded hole relative to the clip body 910. The upper plate 920 and the lower plate 930 define a pair of grooves 912a,b and a flared portion 914. A support clip 900a is mounted on corner post 250b and a support clip 900b is mounted on corner post 250c. In various embodiments, support clip 900 is made from stainless steel. In various embodiments, support clip 900 is formed from one or more materials other than stainless steel including, but not limited to, aluminum or non-stainless steel. In the current embodiment, support clip 900 is formed from a flat blank into the shape disclosed. In various other embodiments, support clip 900 is formed into a solid shape from one or more processes including, but not limited to, machining, casting, extruding, and molding, with a hole for bolt 950 that is deeper than when support clip 900 is bent from a flat blank. In various embodiments, the threads of support clip 900 are of a different material or part of a separate fastener that is joined to clip body 910 of support clip 900.
FIG. 10 shows a top view of the oven 100 over the corner post 250c with the roof 140 removed. As shown in FIG. 10, the cooking chamber floor 180 rests on the upper plate 920 of the support clip 900b, which is mounted on corner post 250c. To install the support clip 900b on the corner post 250c, the support clip 900b is slid onto the top of corner post 250 with the flared portion 914 between the first arm 732 and the second arm 734 and with the grooves 912a,b surrounding the fastener holes 722a,b, respectively. The support clip 900b is slid to position the support clip 900b such that the cooking chamber floor 180 is in a horizontal position parallel with the oven bottom (and also with the ground in various embodiments) when the cooking chamber floor 180 is resting on the support clips 900a,b and the upper opening 410 of the front wall 110. The bolt 950 is thereafter tightened, contacting and digging into inner wall 720 and thereby pushing the flared portion 914 into first arm 732 and second arm 734 and thus preventing further sliding of the support clip 900b relative to the corner post 250c.
FIG. 11 shows support clip 900a from the bottom installed on corner post 250b similarly to support clip 900b on corner post 250c.
FIGS. 12A through 12G show various views of the cooking chamber floor 180. FIG. 12A shows a top view of the cooking chamber floor 180. FIG. 12B shows a cross-sectional view of the cooking chamber floor 180 taken along line 12B-12B in FIG. 12A. FIG. 12C shows a front side view of the cooking chamber floor 180. FIG. 12D shows a cross-sectional view of the cooking chamber floor 180 taken along line 12D-12D in FIG. 12C. FIG. 12E shows a perspective view of the cooking chamber floor 180. FIG. 12F shows a right side view of the cooking chamber floor 180. FIG. 12G shows a detail cross-sectional view of the cooking chamber floor 180 taken from detail 12G in FIG. 12B.
As shown in FIGS. 12B and 12D, the cooking chamber floor 180 is filled with a ceramic blanket 1200. The ceramic blanket 1200 is a blanket formed from ceramic fibers. In the current embodiment, the ceramic blanket 1200 is one inch thick, has a density of eight pounds per cubic foot, and is rated up to 2,800 degrees Fahrenheit, though the thickness, density, and temperature rating of the ceramic blanket 1200 may be different in various embodiments and the disclosed thickness, density, and temperature rating of the ceramic blanket 1200 should not be considered limiting on the current disclosure. Ceramic blanket 1200 may be formed with a variety of ceramic fiber materials, such as alumina, zirconia, silica, polycrystalline mullite, or other ceramic fiber materials or any combination thereof in various embodiments, and the material composition of the ceramic blanket 1200 should not be considered limiting on the current disclosure.
As shown in FIGS. 12A and 12D, the cooking chamber floor 180 defines a pair of notches 1280a,b adjacent to the ledge 382. In the current embodiment, the ceramic blanket 1200 does not extend into the ledge 382, but in other various embodiments the ceramic blanket 1200 may extend into and fill the ledge 382. In various embodiments the cooking chamber floor 180 may not include ledge 382 extending through the front wall 110 or may not include the pair of notches 1280a,b and still extend through the front wall 110 to provide a wider ledge 382.
As shown in FIG. 12G, the cooking chamber floor 180 includes an upper plate 1210 and a lower plate 1220. The lower plate 1220 is nested within the upper plate 1210, forming a hollow shell. A slight gap between the upper plate 1210 and the lower plate 1220 in FIG. 12G is shown for purpose of illustrating the upper plate 1210 and the lower plate 1220, and the upper plate 1210 and the lower plate 1220 are in contact with no gap in the current embodiment. In various other embodiments, a gap will be present between upper plate 1210 and lower plate 1220 in order to allow the lower plate 1220 to expand more than the upper plate 1210 while maintaining the shape of cooking chamber floor 180. The ceramic blanket 1200 is placed within the upper plate 1210 and the lower plate 1220. The cooking surface 384 is defined on the upper plate 1210. In the current embodiment, the upper plate 1210 is cooking-grade stainless steel (including, but not limited to, stainless steel grades meeting minimum National Sanitation Foundation (NSF) Standard 51 requirements) and the lower plate 1220 is aluminum or aluminized steel. In various embodiments, the upper plate 1210 will be made from a material other than stainless steel or the lower plate 1220 will be made from a material other than aluminum or aluminized steel. In various embodiments, the upper plate 1210 and the lower plate 1220 will be made from the same material. In various embodiments, the side panels 120a,b, back panel 130, front wall 110, and roof 140 each may be formed from a ceramic blanket in a metal shell or a shell made from other material, with the shell including one or more plates enclosing the ceramic blanket.
In various embodiments, the cooking chamber floor 180 may have a one or more through holes for the placement of one or more anti-expansion bolts through the cooking chamber floor 180, each anti-expansion bolt having a head tightened against the upper plate 1210 by a nut threaded onto each anti-expansion bolt and tightened against the lower plate 1220. The anti-expansion bolts may have dome-shaped heads that blend with the cooking surface 384, or the anti-expansion bolts may have heads that otherwise lie flush with the cooking surface 384, so as to prevent the anti-expansion bolts from interfering with insertion or removal of food from the cooking chamber 320 or with use of cooking utensils within the cooking chamber 320. In various embodiments, one or more anti-expansion bolts will be replaced with a fastener, such as an internal stud welded to the inside of upper plate 1210, that is not exposed to the cooking chamber 320 or otherwise visible from the top side of cooking chamber floor 180 but will be partial or completely internal to cooking chamber floor 180. The anti-expansion bolts prevent the upper plate 1210 and the lower plate 1220 from moving away from each other during thermal expansion of the stainless steel of the upper plate 1210 relative to thermal expansion of the aluminum of the lower plate 1220, maintaining the shape of the cooking chamber floor 180. In various embodiments, through-holes and anti-expansion bolts are not required because the shape of cooking chamber floor 180 is sufficiently maintained without through-holes and anti-expansion bolts. One example among others of this embodiment would include cooking chamber floor 180 having upper plate 1210 and lower plate 1220 made out of the same material. In this example, upper plate 1210 and lower plate 1220 can be expected to expand at the same rate when heated and therefore maintain the shape of cooking chamber floor 180.
FIG. 13 is a perspective view of the upper plate 1210 of the cooking chamber floor 180. The upper plate 1210 includes a top panel 1310 and a downwardly-extending wall 1320 around an outer edge of the top panel 1310. The wall 1320 includes a front portion 1322 and a back portion 1324. The wall 1320 defines a pair of gaps 1326a,b between the front portion 1322 and the back portion 1324, though gaps 1326a,b may not be present in various embodiments or may be in different locations along the wall 1320 in various other embodiments. The wall 1320 defines a plurality of holes 1330 spaced around the wall 1320, though there may be any number of holes 1330, including zero holes 1330, in various embodiments.
In various embodiments, internal corners or intersections between surfaces may be given a radius or surfaces may be given a raised lip or radii may otherwise be added to corners or edges exposed inside cooking chamber 320 or heating chamber 330 in order to reduce or eliminate traps for food and to facilitate cleaning In various embodiments, these radii may be formed through one or more processes including, but not limited to, welding, caulking, metal forming, and molding,
FIG. 14 is a perspective view of the lower plate 1220 of the cooking chamber floor 180.
The lower plate 1220 includes a bottom panel 1410 and an upwardly-extending wall 1420 around an outer edge of the bottom panel 1410. The wall 1420 includes a front portion 1422 and a back portion 1424. The wall 1420 defines a pair of gaps 1426a,b between the front portion 1422 and the back portion 1424, though gaps may not be present in various embodiments or may be in different locations along the wall 1420 in various other embodiments. The wall 1420 defines a plurality of holes 1430 spaced around the wall 1420, though there may be any number of holes 1430, including zero holes 1430, in various embodiments. The top panel 1310 is sized larger than bottom panel 1410 so that wall 1420 of lower plate 1220 nests inside or inboard of wall 1320 of the upper plate 1210.
The plurality of holes 1430 of the lower plate 1220 are positioned along the wall 1420 such that the holes 1430 align with the holes 1330 of the upper plate 1210 along the wall 1320. The holes 1330 and 1430 are sized to accept a fastener to attach the upper plate 1210 to the lower plate 1220 to form cooking chamber floor 180. Fasteners may include nuts and bolts, pins, screws, or any other type of fastener. The upper plate 1210 may be attached to the lower plate 1220 by other types of fasteners that do not use holes 1330,1340, such as adhesives, welding, or clips. In various embodiments, upper plate 1210 and the lower plate 1220 may be formed from a single piece of sheet metal or may be formed by injection molding, extrusion, machining, or other methods, and the disclosed methods of forming or assembling cooking chamber floor 180 should not be considered limiting on the current disclosure.
FIG. 15 shows a perspective view of the oven 100 showing the cooking chamber floor 180 resting on the support clips 900a,b (900a not shown) and the upper opening 410 of the wall 110. The ledge 382 of the cooking chamber floor 180 rests on a support ledge 1500 defined at a bottom edge of the upper opening 410.
FIG. 16 and FIG. 17 show perspective close-up views of the support clip 900a holding up the cooking chamber floor 180. As shown in FIG. 16, the bolt 950 extends through base 940 of the body 910.
FIG. 18 shows the oven floor 300. Similarly to cooking chamber floor 180, the oven floor 300 includes a lower plate 1820 (shown in FIG. 20) nested in an upper plate 1810 with the space between the upper plate 1810 and the lower plate 1820 filled with a ceramic blanket 1800 (shown in FIG. 5) similar to ceramic blanket 1200. The upper plate 1810 includes a plurality of holes 1830 that align with a plurality of holes (not shown) in the lower plate 1820, all of which are sized to accept a fastener such as a pin, bolt, or screw, similar to upper plate 1210 and lower plate 1220 of cooking chamber floor 180. Upper plate 1810 and lower plate 1820 may be attached to each other by any method, include the methods previously described relating to upper plate 1210 and lower plate 1220, and the disclosed methods of forming or assembling oven floor 300 should not be considered limiting on the current disclosure. In the current embodiment, the upper plate 1810 and the lower plate 1820 are both aluminum or aluminized steel, though other materials including, but not limited to, stainless steel may be used in various embodiments. In various embodiments, the oven floor 300 may not be filled with a ceramic blanket 1800 and may be hollow or filled with another insulation material. The oven floor 300 may also be constructed of a solid material such as the materials of the side panels 120a,b, including cordierite.
FIG. 19 shows a perspective view of the oven floor 300 resting on the bottom cap 254.
The oven floor 300 is sized to rest on an inner edge of the bottom cap 254.
FIG. 20 shows a bottom view of the oven floor 300 resting on the bottom cap 254. In various embodiments, a gasket may be placed between the oven floor 300 and the bottom cap 254. To attach the bottom cap 254 to corner posts 250a,b,c,d, self tapping screws are screwed through the plurality of fastener holes 268 into the plurality of fastener holes 722 of each corner post 250a,b,c,d. Bottom frame pieces 258a,b,c,d also include fastener holes 2022a,b,c,d, respectively. To attach the bottom cap 254 to the oven floor 300, fasteners such as screws or bolts may be inserted through fastener holes 2022a,b,c,d into oven floor 300, which may have corresponding fasteners holes (not shown). Bottom cap 254 may also define four adjustment leg holes 2024a,b,c,d between each bottom frame piece 258a,b,c,d, respectively. The four adjustment leg holes 2024a,b,c,d may accept four adjustment legs (not shown) which may be used to level the oven 100.
FIG. 21 shows a perspective view of the fire box 160. The fire box 160 includes a body 2110, a grate 2120, a vent box 2130, a front panel 2140, a vent cap 2150, a handle 2160, and wheels 2170a,b (2170a shown in FIG. 22). The body 2110 includes side panels 2180a,b and a back panel 2190. The vent cap 2150 covers a vent hole 580 (shown in FIG. 5) defined in the front panel 2140 and is movable to uncover the vent hole 580 to allow air to enter the heating chamber 330. The vent cap 2150 includes a vent cap handle 2152 for moving the vent cap 2150 to cover and uncover the vent hole 580. The vent box 2130 provides a spacer between the front panel 2140 and the grate 2120 to prevent ash from escaping the vent hole 580 and to direct air flow through the vent hole 580 and under the grate 2120 to combustible materials on the grate 2120 during use. The wheels 2170a,b allow the fire box 160 to slide easily in and out of the heating chamber 330 by pulling and pushing the handle 2160. In the current embodiment, the handle 2160 is a grip-style handle that can be accessed from above or below. In the current embodiment, the handle 2160 is formed from a coiled metal wire and is also hollow, though other handles may be present in various embodiments. In various embodiments, it is be possible for a hollow handle 2160 to remain at a lower temperature, especially if made from a material that has a lower coefficient of thermal conductivity such as stainless steel for metals and any one or more of a number of non-metallic materials. In various embodiments, the handle has a coating or a cover for aesthetic or functional reasons. One functional reason for a coating or a cover would be to insulate against a handle which may be too hot to touch for some for some users.
FIG. 22 shows a top view of the fire box 160. As shown in FIG. 22, an axle 2270 extends through the body 2110 underneath the grate 2120 between the wheels 2170a,b. The grate 2120 defines a pattern of slots 2220 to hold combustible material above bottom floor of the body 2110. Any pattern of slots 2220 may be present in various embodiments and the specific pattern of slots 2220 shown in FIG. 22 should not be considered limiting on the current disclosure.
FIG. 23 shows a perspective view of the fire box 160 from the back side of the fire box 160. The vent box 2130 includes a back panel 2330. The back panel 2330 has a lower edge 2730 (shown in FIG. 27) that is raised above the body 2110 and is about level with the grate 2120 to allow air flow from the vent hole 580 under the lower edge 2730 and under the grate 2120 to the combustible material.
FIG. 24 shows a perspective view of the vent cap 2150. The vent cap 2150 includes a vent cover plate 2400 and a guide post 2450. In the current embodiment, the guide post 2450 has a square cross-section and a plurality of teeth 2452 defined along a bottom face of the guide post 2450 proximate the vent cover plate 2400. The number of teeth 2452 varies widely in various embodiments. In various embodiments, there will be a relatively large number of teeth 2452 spaced closely together to allow for fine positioning of the vent cap 2150. In various other embodiments, the teeth will be larger and/or spaced apart for fewer adjustment positions of vent cap 2150. The guide post 2450 is placed in a guide slot defined in a protrusion 582 (shown in FIG. 5) extending from the front panel 2140 into the center of the vent hole 580. In the current embodiment, the guide slot includes teeth so that the guide post 2450 may be held in various positions to allow various degrees of venting.
The guide post 2450 is inserted into the guide slot and over a support post 2760 (shown in FIG. 27) attached to the front panel 2140 and into a stop collar 2750 (shown in FIG. 27) fastened to the support post 2760. When the vent cover plate 2400 covers the vent hole 580, the guide post 2450 rests on the support post 2760 and the teeth 2452 of the guide post 2450 engage a matching set of teeth on the support post 2760 (shown in FIG. 27) to prevent the vent cap 2150 from being pulled out of the vent hole 580. To uncover the vent hole 580, the guide post 2450 must be lifted and slid out by lifting the handle 2152. The stop collar 2750 prevents the guide post 2450 from being lifted too far and aligns the guide post 2450 with the support post 2760.
In various embodiments, the guide post 2450 may be a threaded shaft and the guide slot may be a threaded hole to allow the vent cap 2150 to be turned by the vent cap handle 2152 to move the vent cap 2150 towards and away from the vent hole 580. In embodiments where the guide post 2450 is threaded, the vent cap handle 2152 being angled with respect to the guide post 2450 as shown in the current embodiment may act as an indicator of the degree to which the vent cap 2150 is distanced from the vent hole 580 so that a user may consistently set the amount of venting during subsequent uses of the oven 100, though in other embodiments the vent cap handle 2152 may not be angled and may extend straight outward from the vent cap 2150 to allow for easy turning of the handle 2152. In the current embodiment, the individual parts of fire box 160 are fabricated from stainless steel although the disclosure of stainless steel should not be considered limiting. In various other embodiments, other materials including, but not limited to, non-stainless steel may be used.
FIG. 25 shows a perspective view of the oven 100 from the back side of the oven 100, with the back panel 130 removed. As shown in FIG. 25, the fire box 160 is placed in the heating chamber 330 by rolling the fire box 160 into the heating chamber 330 on the wheels 2170a,b. In various embodiments and depending on the height and shape of back panel 2190 of fire box 160 relative to the height of lower opening 412, fire box 160 may be tilted during installation. The guide rails 310 guide the wheels 2170a,b of the fire box 160 into the heating chamber 330. In various embodiments, the guide rails 310 may surround the wheels 2170a,b on the top and the bottom and include a safety catch at ends of the guide rails 310a,b proximate the lower opening 412 to prevent the fire box 160 from accidentally being pulled completely out of the heating chamber 330 during use. In various embodiments, at least a portion of the back panel 2190 of fire box 160 is taller than lower opening 412 to prevent the fire box 160 from accidentally being pulled completely out of the heating chamber 330 during use. In various embodiments, the fire box 160 may be placed on a track system rather than on wheels 2170a,b to allow for the fire box 160 to be pulled out and pushed into the oven 100, with the track system connected to the oven floor 300 and with track interaction elements connected to the fire box 160. In various other embodiments, the fire box 160 may be placed directly on the oven floor 300 and slide over the oven floor 300 by metal-on-metal contact between the oven floor 300 and the body 2110.
FIG. 25 also shows the oven door 170 in the closed position covering the upper opening 410. The oven door 170 includes a door latch catch 2520 which latches with the door latch 520 when the oven door 170 is in the closed position. The door latch catch 2520 is connected to the handle 172 to allow the door latch catch 2520 to be lowered by lifting on the handle 172 to unlatch the door latch catch 2520 from the door latch 520. The oven door 170 also includes a window 2570 mounted in a window frame 2580 on the oven door 170. The oven door 170 also includes a tadpole gasket 2590 along a bottom of the oven door 170 to help seal the oven door 170 when in the closed position.
FIG. 26 shows a cross-sectional view of the oven 100 taken along line 26-26 in FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 26, the fire box 160 rests on the oven floor 300 between the guide rails 310a,b. The wheels 2170a,b contact the oven floor 300 beside the guide rails 310a,b, which keep the fire box 160 in place laterally between the side panels 120a,b. Also shown in FIG. 26 is the axle 2270 extending through the fire box 160 from wheel 2170a to wheel 2170b.
FIG. 26 also shows the cooking chamber floor 180 resting on the support clips 900a,b, which are attached to corner posts 250b,c, respectively. The cooking chamber floor 180 is shown spaced apart from side panels 120a,b, allowing air and smoke to flow from heating chamber 330 to cooking chamber 320.
FIG. 27 shows a cross-sectional view of the oven 100 taken along line 27-27 in FIG. 1.
As shown in FIG. 27, the vent box 2130 includes the back panel 2330 having a lower edge 2730 that defines an air path from the vent hole 580 into the vent box 2130 and below the lower edge 2730 to under the grate 2120 and then through the slots 2220 to combustible material resting on the grate 2120.
Also shown in FIG. 27 is the cooking chamber floor 180 resting on the support ledge 1500 and the support clip 900b. The handle 172 is also shown connected to the door latch catch 2520 through the oven door 170. The interaction between the door latch catch 2520 and the door latch 520 is also shown.
FIG. 28 shows a perspective view of another embodiment of an oven 2600 with the roof 140 removed. The oven 2600 includes side panels 120a,b, front wall 110, back panel 130, and oven door 170. As shown in FIG. 28, the oven door 170 includes the door hinge 2670. As previously discussed, the door hinge 2670 is mounted on the hinge mount 510, mounting the oven door 170 on the front wall 110 and allowing the oven door 170 to be opened and closed. Further, as shown in FIG. 28, the front wall 110 includes the plurality of clip holes 2612 around the upper opening 410 and the pair of gasket holes 2614a,b, one on each side of the upper opening 410. The clip holes 2612 are sized to accept a series of clips on a clip gasket (not shown) and the gasket holes 2614a,b are sized to accept each end of the clip gasket, so that the clip gasket can be mounted around the upper opening 410 to seal the oven door 170 in combination with the tadpole gasket 2590.
Oven 2600 also includes a cooking chamber floor 2680. The cooking chamber floor 2680 is similar to cooking chamber floor 180 and further includes a plurality of notches 2682 adjacent side panels 120a,b and back panel 130 to increase air flow from the heating chamber 330 to cooking chamber 320. Oven 2600 also includes corner covers 2690a,b,c,d for firmly holding the cooking chamber floor 2680 in place and covering the corner posts 250a,b,c,d. Cooking chamber floor 2680 also includes corner chamfers 2684 to interface with the corner covers 2690a,b,c,d.
Oven 2600 also includes a fire box 2860. In the current embodiment, the fire box 2860 includes a front panel 2840, a vent cap 2850, and a handle 2865 mounted below the vent cap 2850 on the front panel 2840. The vent cap 2850 covers a vent hole (not shown) defined in the front panel 2840 and is movable to uncover the vent hole. In the current embodiment, the vent cap 2850 is hinged and includes a handle fastener hole 2852 sized to accept a fastener on a vent cap handle (not shown). Hinge of the vent cap 2850 may be oriented at an upper side, a lower side, a right side, or a left side of the vent cap 2850. In various embodiments, the vent cap 2850 may be configured to pull outward from the front panel 2840 similar to a drawer to uncover the vent hole.
To use the oven 100, a heat source including combustible materials such as charcoal, including lump or briquette charcoal, or wood is placed on the grate 2120 of the fire box 160 and lit, and the fire box 160 is slid into the heating chamber 330 to begin heating the heating chamber 330 and the cooking chamber 320. In various embodiments, a gas heat source such as propane may be used instead of combustible materials within the fire box 160 and the fire box 160 may not be present. In various other embodiments, the fire box 160 may not be present and the grate 2120 may be placed directly on the oven floor 300. The top plate 144 of the vent cap 142 and the vent cap 2150 are opened to allow air flow through the oven 100. The side panels 120a,b, and the back panel 130, and the cooking chamber floor 180 heat to a desired temperature. When the side panels 120a,b and the back panel 130 are formed from cordierite or other ceramics, the side panels 120a,b and the back panel 130 maintain a steady temperature even when the oven door 170 is opened. The ceramic blanket 1200 in the cooking chamber floor 180 also maintains a steady temperature, even after food is removed from the cooking surface 384. Because the ceramic blanket 1200 is composed of ceramic fibers and includes space between the fibers, the ceramic blanket 1200 also maintains a lower temperature than the side panels 120a,b and the back panel 130, shedding excess heat to prevent the temperature of the cooking chamber floor 180 from rising above a desired cooking temperature and thereby preventing food from overheating and burning. After heating up the oven 100, food may be placed in the cooking chamber 320 for cooking Baking stones are not required and food does not need to be rotated on the cooking surface 384 because the temperature of the cooking chamber floor 180 and the air within the cooking chamber 320 is even across the cooking chamber floor 180 and the air within the cooking chamber 320. In addition, food can be placed in the cooking chamber 320 in succession without waiting for the temperature within the cooking chamber 320 to return to the desired temperature after a first use.
One should note that conditional language, such as, among others, “can,” “could,” “might,” or “may,” unless specifically stated otherwise, or otherwise understood within the context as used, is generally intended to convey that certain embodiments include, while other embodiments do not include, certain features, elements and/or steps. Thus, such conditional language is not generally intended to imply that features, elements and/or steps are in any way required for one or more particular embodiments or that one or more particular embodiments necessarily include logic for deciding, with or without user input or prompting, whether these features, elements and/or steps are included or are to be performed in any particular embodiment.
It should be emphasized that the above-described embodiments are merely possible examples of implementations, merely set forth for a clear understanding of the principles of the present disclosure. Any process descriptions or blocks in flow diagrams should be understood as representing modules, segments, or portions of code which include one or more executable instructions for implementing specific logical functions or steps in the process, and alternate implementations are included in which functions may not be included or executed at all, may be executed out of order from that shown or discussed, including substantially concurrently or in reverse order, depending on the functionality involved, as would be understood by those reasonably skilled in the art of the present disclosure. Many variations and modifications may be made to the above-described embodiment(s) without departing substantially from the spirit and principles of the present disclosure. Further, the scope of the present disclosure is intended to cover any and all combinations and sub-combinations of all elements, features, and aspects discussed above. All such modifications and variations are intended to be included herein within the scope of the present disclosure, and all possible claims to individual aspects or combinations of elements or steps are intended to be supported by the present disclosure.
