Title

COOKING APPARATUS

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to cooking apparatus for use in commercial cooking and, in particular, but not exclusively, in food vending machines.

Background

It is known to use cooking apparatus for industrial cooking or vending machine applications. For example, in fast food outlets, cooking apparatus in the form of ovens with conveyors are used for grilling or heating foodstuffs. Similarly in vending machines, it is known to provide cooking apparatus for either heating precooked food held in a storage container within the machine, or to cook raw food held within a storage container.

Summary of the Invention

According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a cooking apparatus comprising: a container for holding a volume of a cooking liquid; a guide disposed in the container, the guide having a first portion submerged in the cooking liquid and an inclined portion extending from the first portion to an outlet of the apparatus; and, a transport system that transports a foodstuff along the guide through the first portion, up the inclined portion and to the outlet.

In one embodiment the first portion of the guide is provided with a plurality of holes through which the cooking liquid can flow.

The guide may comprise a back wall and side walls extending upwardly from opposite sides of the back wall. A length of the back wall in the incline portion of the guide may be provided with a plurality of holes through which the cooking liquid can drain back to the volume of cooking liquid.

The transport system may comprise at least one paddle for moving foodstuff through the guide, the paddle having an edge dimensioned to pass in close proximity to a surface of the guide along which the foodstuff is transported.

The transport system may further comprise a slide on which the foodstuff is initially deposited, the slide being inclined to direct foodstuff into the cooking liquid within the container.

The transport system may further comprise a pusher spaced from the at least one paddle which pushes any foodstuff on the slide into the cooking liquid in the container.

The transport system may further be arranged to pulse the motion of the foodstuff as it is being transported along the incline portion.

The first portion of the guide may be provided with a plurality of holes through which the cooking liquid can flow. In one embodiment the guide comprises a back wall and side walls extending upwardly from opposite sides of the back wall. In this embodiment a length of the back wall in the inclined portion of the guide is provided with a plurality of holes through which the cooking liquid can drain back to the volume of cooking liquid.

The cooking apparatus may further comprise a cowling located adjacent the transport system, the cowling having

a pair of spaced apart walls that extend along the slide and between which the paddle move. The side walls of the cowling can extend substantially to the outlet.

The cowling may also be formed with an upper wall that extends between the side walls of the cowling and across the first portion of the guide.

In one embodiment the transport system comprises respective endless chains to which the at least one paddles are coupled. In this embodiment the respective endless chains may have an upper run located between an inside wall of the container and respective side walls of the cowling.

Additionally side walls of the cowling can be provided with lateral flanges that overlie the upper run of an adjacent endless chain.

The transport system may be supported in and by the container and the cowling may be supported by container. Moreover, the container may be provided with a plurality of locating devices on opposite sides and the transport system and the cowling may each be provided with respective complementary first locating devices which engage respective locating devices on the container.

Brief Description of the Drawings

An embodiment of the present invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a schematic representation of a cooking apparatus in accordance with the present invention in a first state of operation;

Figure 2 is a schematic representation of the cooking apparatus shown in Figure 1 but in a second state of operation;

Figure 3 is a schematic representation of the cooking apparatus shown in Figures 1 and 2 in a third state of operation;

Figure 4 is a schematic representation of the cooking apparatus shown in Figures 1 - 3 in a fourth state of operation; Figure 5 is a photographic representation of a container and guide incorporated in the cooking apparatus shown in Figures 1 - 4 ;

Figure 6 is a photographic representation of the portion of a cooking apparatus shown in Figure 5 but with the addition of a transport system incorporated in the cooking apparatus; and,

Figure 7 is a photographic representation of the portion of the cooking apparatus shown in Figure 6 but with the addition of a cowling.

Detailed Description of Preferred Embodiment

A cooking apparatus 10 comprises a container 12 for holding a volume of a cooking liquid 14, a guide 16 and a transport system 18. The guide 16 is disposed in the container 12 and has a first portion 20 submerged in the cooking liquid 14 and an inclined portion 22 extending from the first portion 20 to an outlet 24 of the apparatus 10. The transport system 18 transports a foodstuff 26 such as potato cuts or chips along the guide 16 through the first portion 20, and thus through the cooking liquid 14, up the inclined portion 22 and to the outlet 24.

With particular reference to Figure 5, it can be seen that the container 12 is in the form of a open top rectangular box having an upper lip 30 provided with locating devices in the form of six upright pins 32, the pins 32 being

arranged in respective rows of three pins on two opposite sides of the lip 30. As can also be seen in Figure 5, heating elements 34 are disposed within the container 12 for heating the cooking liquid 14, which in present application of the apparatus is oil. The outlet 24 is in the form of a chute that directs the cooked foodstuff 26 to a dispensing area (not shown) .

Also as can be seen in Figures 1 and 5, the guide 16 is in the general shape of a letter "L" or "J" and is supported in an inclined orientation within the container 12. The first portion 20 of the guide 16 coincides with the general region of a corner of the "L" or "J" shape . The guide 16 is formed with a back wall 36 and side walls 38 extending upwardly from opposite sides of the back wall 36. The first portion 20 of the guide 16 is provided with a plurality of holes 40 to allow the cooking liquid to flow through the guide 16. Moreover, the back wall 36 is provided with a plurality of holes through a substantial portion of its length including along the inclined portion 22. The plurality of holes 40 are also formed in the side walls 38 in the region of the first portion 20. The guide 16 is supported above the heating elements 34 with the first portion submerged in the cooking liquid 14 and a portion of the inclined portion 22 elevated above a surface level 42 of the cooking liquid 14.

With particular reference to Figures 1, 6 and 7 the transport system 18 comprises (in this instance two) paddles 44a and 44b (hereafter referred to collectively as "paddles" 44) and two pusher plates 46a and 46b (hereinafter referred to in general as "pushers" 46) . The transport system 18 further comprises a slide 48 in the form of a plate which is inclined substantially parallel to the incline portion 22 of the guide 16. The paddles 44 and pushers 46 are coupled with an endless drive which in this embodiment is in the form of a pair of endless chains

50, on each side of the slide 48. Each chain 50 engages a drive sprocket 52 and an idler sprocket 54. The drive sprockets 52 are located above the lip 30 of the container 12 and are coupled to a common drive shaft 56. One end of the drive shaft 56 is provided with a key 58 which engages a socket attached to a shaft of a drive motor (not shown) for imparting torque to the drive shaft 56.

As depicted most clearly in Figures 6 and 7 the paddles 44 are dimensioned so as to pass in close proximity to the interior surface of the guide 16 as they are rotated through the guide 16. This minimises the likelihood of foodstuff which has been cooked in the cooking liquid 14 from escaping between the paddle 44 and the guide 16. The transport system 18 is supported in and by the container 12 by virtue of two small lateral flanges (not shown) each having a hole that engages a respective pin 32 on the container 12 nearest the outlet 24.

Referring to Figures 1 and 7, the apparatus 10 further includes a cowling 59 that sits on top of the transport system 18 and is provided with a pair of laterally extending flanges 60 each formed with complementary locating devices in the form of a pair of holes for engaging respective pins 32. The cowling 59 has a pair of opposed side walls 62 located inside of the chains 50 and sitting on or adjacent the slide 48. Each side wall 62 has a lateral flange 63 that overlies an upper run of an adjacent chain 50. An upper wall 64 of the cowling 59 extends across the top of, and is connected to, the side walls 62 near a portion of the cowling 59 nearest the idler sprockets 54. The upper wall 64 thus overlies the first portion of the 20 of the guide 16. The upper wall 64 may act as a condenser to condense liquid vapours (i.e. oil vapours) carried in fumes? generated by a cooking operation. The condensate can drip from the upper wall 14

back to the volume of oil 14. This thus acts as an initial filtering or conditioning step for the fumes.

The operation of the cooking apparatus 10 will now be described with particular reference to Figures 1 - 4. Figure 1 depicts the apparatus 10 in a first state of operation with the foodstuff 26 being dispensed from a dispensing chute 66 located above the transport mechanism 28 and arranged so that the foodstuff 26 falls between the side walls 62 of the cowling 59 and onto the slide 48. The foodstuff 26 collects or banks behind the paddle 44a. Once the required volume or dose of foodstuff 26 has been dispensed from the dispensing chute 66 the transport system 18 is operated to rotate the chains 50 in the clockwise direction so that the foodstuff 26 is pushed by pusher 46a or otherwise slides down the slide 48 behind the paddle 44a toward the cooking liquid 14.

Eventually, the foodstuff 26 is transported into the cooking liquid 14 within the first portion 20 of the guide 18 as shown in Figure 2. Depending on the cooking time, the transport system 18 may be halted for a predetermined time or alternately is allowed to continue to rotate at a speed such that at the time the next paddle 44b is moved into the guide 18 the foodstuff 26 has been cooked sufficiently for dispensing and consumption.

As the paddle 44b is moved by the transport system 18 it collects the foodstuff 26 and transports the foodstuff 26 up the inclined portion 22 as shown in Figure 3. Due to the holes 40 formed in the inclined portion and in particular in the back wall 36 of the inclined portion, excess cooking liquid drains through the holes 40 back into the volume of cooking liquid 14. To assist in the drainage, the motor driving the transport system 18 can pulse the motion of the chains 50 and thus the paddles 44 to cause an agitation in the foodstuff 26 to enhance the

removal and drainage of excess cooking liquid. Eventually, as shown in Figure 4, the transport system 18 transports the foodstuff 26 to the outlet 24 where it can fall to a container or dispensing area (not shown) . The apparatus 10 is now ready for cooking a further batch of foodstuff 26.

Now that an embodiment of the invention has been described in detail it will be apparent to those skilled in the relevant arts that numerous modifications and variations may be made without departing from the basic inventive concepts. For example, the paddles 44 are depicted as being sheets or plates of steel. However the paddles 44 can be formed as a sheet of mesh or plate provided with a plurality of holes to allow passage of cooking liquid. Further, if desired, the slide 48 which is depicted as a stationery sheet of steel can be replaced with a steel belt or mesh that rotates with the chains 50. Also, while the apparatus 10 is shown as comprising two paddles 44a and 44b, it is envisaged that the system could further operate with a single paddle 44 which is rotated twice by the transport mechanism where, in the first rotation the single paddle transports the foodstuff 26 down the slide 48 and into the cooking liquid 14 within the guide 16, and on a second rotation moves in behind the foodstuff 26 within the cooking liquid and pushes the foodstuff 26 up along the guide and in particular the inclined portion 22 to the outlet 24.

All such modifications and variations together with others that would be obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art are deemed to be within the scope of the present invention the nature of which is to be determined from the above description and the appended claims.