Technical Field

[001 ] The present patent disclosure relates to a cooking device, and more specifically a smoker, a grill, a barbecue or the like. Background

[002] Cooking devices such as offset smokers and charcoal grills have been on the market for years and are well known in the art. The layout of such grills has remained consistently the same throughout the years. The grill layout usually features a cook box with a cover enclosing most of the span of the cook box. While this layout allows the grill to have side attachments, such as side burners or side shelves, it restricts the grill user to open the cook box cover in order to check the cooking state, to add or remove food on the grill grates, etc. The major problem with opening the cook box cover is the fact that the heat loss will be significant, potentially leading to unbalanced food cooking, longer cooking times and usage of more wood, charcoals or other combustible material used in barbecues, charcoal grills and smoker grills.

[003] Offset smokers are designed with an offset fire box that provides the separated cook box with smoke and heat through an opening at the bottom of one side of the cook box. Other types of smokers may have the combustible materials directly inside the cook box. To control the temperature and smoke production of the fire box or of the cook box, in order to obtain the desired cooking results in the cook box, the fire box or cook box have air vents that may be opened or closed to have different airflow intake. Although some air vents controls allow variable degrees of opening, the controls do not allow precise changes and often lead to overshooting the desired modification to temperature. Summary

[004] Applicant has investigated ways to improve the grilling and smoking capabilities of current cooking device designs. Repeated openings of the top cover to verify the food cooking and to add or remove food on the grill grates leads to substantial loss of heat that not only requires re-heating time but also significantly modifies the heat distribution inside the cook box. These variations result in uneven and inefficient cooking of certain food. Applicant has found that adding a side door to the cook box, which may be used to access food or to add and remove grill grates that may carry food, improves grilling capabilities. The side door having a much smaller effective opening area than the one from the top cover, heat loss is reduced and cooking is thus improved.

[005] Additionally, applicant has investigated the controls of the airflow systems found on the fire box of offset smokers or found at the bottom of cook boxes of other types of smokers. Applicant has found that precise control of multiple vents spread over the fire box, or of the bottom of cook boxes, width ultimately improves the user’s control of temperature and smoke being transferred to the cook box. This increase in control, mainly over the temperature, reduces the chance of overcompensating and thus improves the cooking quality.

[006] Applicant has also found that having grill grates that may be at least partially removed during cooking, allowing for easy adding and removing of food that are on the grill grates, also improve current designs. As a matter of fact, the ability to add or remove grill grates, which still have food on them, during cooking allows the user to minimize the time during which the top cover or side door are opened, resulting in the minimization of heat loss. Moreover, having the ability to partially pull the grill grate out also allows a user to verify food

[007] A broad aspect is a cooking device including a cook box further including at least two openings to allow access to the inside of the cook box, one of the at least two openings is from a top cover and a second of the at least two openings is through a hinged side door; and at least one grill grate for use in the cook box; where, in use, a surface of the at least one rack is accessible through the top cover opening when the hinged side door is closed and the surface of the at least one rack is further accessible through the hinged side door opening when the top cover is closed.

[008] In some embodiment, the hinged side door further comprises a locking mechanism, the locking mechanism being a slider and crank locking mechanism comprising one crank on which a handle and at least two connecting rods are joined, the handle controlling a rotation of the crank and each of the at least two connecting rods being further linked to sliders, wherein the sliders lock and seal the hinged side door when pushed through locking brackets joined to the cook box.

[009] In some embodiment, the hinged side door further comprises a locking mechanism, the locking mechanism being any one of a latch, a rack-and-pinion and a toggle lock mechanism.

[0010] In some embodiment, the at least one grill grate further comprises at least three sections, a middle section supported by two side sections, the middle section being able to slide in a transversal direction, and the at least three sections are able to slide in an axial direction.

[001 1] Another broad aspect is a cooking device including a combustion chamber further comprising at least one air intake vent; and an airflow intake control mechanism to variably occlude the at least one air intake vent, the precision airflow intake control mechanism being controlled through a rack-and-pinion system, the rack-and-pinion system further including a rotatable handle joined to a pinion and at least one rack comprising at least one aperture, the at least one rack operated by a rotation of the pinion, the rotation of the pinion being controlled by the turning of the rotatable handle and the at least one rack operation resulting in variable occlusion of the at least one air intake vent. [0012] In some embodiment, the cooking device is an offset smoker and the combustion chamber is a fire box connected to a cook box of the cooking device, the precision airflow intake control mechanism being located on the fire box.

[0013] In some embodiment, the cooking device is a smoker and the combustion chamber is at a lower portion of a cook box, the precision airflow intake control mechanism being located on the lower portion of the cook box.

[0014] In some embodiment, the combustion chamber is connected to a cook box as described in the first broad aspect.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0015] The invention will be better understood by way of the following detailed description of embodiments of the invention with reference to the appended drawings, in which:

[0016] Figure 1 is a front view of an exemplary cooking device, showing an offset fire box, a cook box with a closed top cover and side handles used to operate the offset fire box airflow control system and the side door opening and locking mechanism;

[0017] Figure 2 is a side view of an exemplary offset fire box airflow control system;

[0018] Figure 3A is a view of an exemplary cooking device with the cook box top cover removed in order to show an exemplary removable sectional grill grate in the cooking configuration;

[0019] Figure 3B is a view of an exemplary cooking device with the cook box top cover removed in order to show an exemplary removable sectional grill grate with its middle section partially pulled out;

[0020] Figure 3C is a view of an exemplary cooking device with the cook box top cover removed and the side door opened in order to show an exemplary removable sectional grill grate being removed from the side door; and [0021] Figure 4 is a side view of an exemplary side door of the cook box, illustrating an exemplary side door locking mechanism.

Detailed Description

[0022] In the present disclosure, by “cooking device”, it is a meant a device for smoking, grilling, charring and/or cooking food (e.g. vegetables, meat or fish) which may include, but is not limited to, an oven (e.g. for pizza), a barbecue (BBQ), a food smoker, a grill, a food cooker, etc. Aspects of the present disclosure concern a side access door for the cook box of a cooking device, a cooking device fire box precision airflow intake control mechanism and a removable sectional grill grate.

[0023] Reference is made to Figure 1 , showing the front view of an exemplary cooking device that may be a reverse flow offset smoker and charcoal grill. The exemplary cooking device illustrated may be used as an offset smoker or as a charcoal grill. When used as an offset smoker, wood or another combustible is added in the fire box 101 which is connected to the bottom portion of the cook box 103. The fire box 101 provides the smoke and temperature to the food being cooked in the cook box 103. As will be presented further with reference to Figure 2, the fire box 101 combustion is controlled via air vents that may be opened to create the desired temperature and smoke in the cook box 103. The air vents 200 opening is modulated by turning the rotatable handle 102 on the fire box 101 exterior side. When used as a charcoal grill, the fire box 101 may remain unused as the charcoals are added on the bottom baffle 306 of the cook box 103.

[0024] In other embodiments, the cooking device may be a propane (or other fuel types) barbecue which features a number of burners at the bottom of the cook box 103. In yet another embodiment, the cooking device is used as a smoker with a fire box included at the bottom of the cook box 103 and the airflow intake control system may be directly on the side of the cook box 103. [0025] The cook box 103 of the cooking device may have two openings allowing access to the interior of the cooking device and the food being cooked therein. A typical barbecue access, consisting of a top cover 100, may be used to open the cooking device on the length of the cooking surface of the cook box 103. As will be further detailed below in Figure 4, the cook box 103 also features a hinged side door 400 that allows a side access. The hinged side door 400 is operated, opened and locked or unlocked, by a handle 104.

[0026] The embodiment of Figure 1 , showing an offset smoker and charcoal grill may have a cook box and fire box made from 0.25” thick mild steel plates and may thus have significant weight. In order to move the cooking device, either for delivery or at the user’s convenience, the cooking device may be mounted on four steel wheels 105. Steel wheels from the opposite side of the fire box, thus the lighter side, may be mounted on an axle allowing the rotation of both wheels in order to directionally control the movement of the cooking device being moved. The cooking device may also have a handle connected to the wheels’ axle and there may further be a swivel hitch capable of being attached to an ATV or lawn tractor to ease the moving of the cooking device.

[0027] In another embodiment, the cooking device may be a simple charcoal grill with a hinged side door and a top cover to access the inside of the cook box and may be devoid of a fire box and top air dampers 307. It will be appreciated by someone skilled in the art that the cooking device may be any other type of grill, such as a propane grill.

[0028] THE PRECISION AIRFLOW INTAKE CONTROL MECHANISM:

[0029] Reference is now made to Figure 2, presenting an exemplary fire box 101 precision airflow intake control mechanism. The precision airflow intake control mechanism is necessary to control the vents 200 that allow air to be added to the combustion chamber of the fire box 101. When vents 200 are further opened, higher airflow will be supplied to the fire box 101 and thus will lead to an increase in the combustion process which will result in an increase to the temperature and smoke created. Precise control of the vents 200 opening degree is therefore required in order to provide the user with a good control of the cooking temperature that are present in the cook box.

[0030] While the precision airflow intake control mechanism varies the occlusion area of the fire box’s vents, and thus vary the airflow being added to the system, the remaining portion of the offset smoker’s heating system as featured in the figures is described herein. A baffle 306 covers the bottom part of the cook box 103, such that the smoke input from the fire box 101 travels all the way to the opposite side of the cook box 103. Depending on the occlusion stage of the top air dampers 307, the chimneys, the smoke coming through the bottom baffle in the cook box 103 is redirected towards the other side of the cook box and towards the top. Thus, the operation of this reverse flow offset smoker allows the cook box to have an even distribution of heat and smoke.

[0031] The control of the temperature may be done through a combination of regulating airflow through the precision airflow intake control mechanism and the top air damper 307. For a fixed top air damper 307 occlusion, the temperature control may be done solely based on the use of the precision airflow intake control mechanism. The fire box 101 contains one or more combustion chambers in which combustible, such as wood, wood pellets, charcoals, is deposited. In the present embodiment, the side of the fire box 101 which has the vents and the precision airflow intake control mechanism is also the access door. With the door opened, combustible may be added in either one or all of the combustion chambers, depending on the desired output heat and smoke. The combustion chambers may also further feature racks that may be pulled out of the fire box 101 for easier combustible filling.

[0032] The precision airflow intake control mechanism is operated by the user through a rotatable handle 102. The rotatable handle 102 is joined to the pinion 203 of the rack- and-pinion system that drives the opening of the vents 200. In the embodiment of Figure 2, the fire box 101 has a two level configuration of combustion chamber, a bottom and a top combustion chamber, that may each accept wood logs or other combustible. This configuration thus require both vents 200 on the top and the bottom side of the fire box 101 in order to have precise control. The pinion 203 engages with a top rack 201 and a bottom rack 202 at the same time and transfers the user’s rotation of the rotatable handle 102 to a translation of the racks 201 , 202.

[0033] Using a rotatable handle, such as the preferred embodiment of Figure 2, also has the advantage of easing the operation of the air intake control from the user. As a matter of fact, not only is using the rotatable handle with the rack-and-pinion system more precise, it also ensures that the user may operate the system without burning himself or herself. Typical airflow intake control consist of a slider that is directly in contact with the fire box and is therefore heated to the same temperature as the rest of the fire box’s exterior surface. The rotatable handle has the advantage of being further away and only being connected to the heated surface through the pinion. In addition, the design of a rotatable handle allows the heat to be distributed over a much greater surface than a simple slider, thus allowing for better heat dissipation. For the aforementioned reasons, the operation of the airflow intake control mechanism is made easier and safer for the user.

[0034] The translation motion of the racks 201 , 202 modifies the occluding area of the vents 200 depending of the rack apertures alignment with the fire box’s vents. In the exemplary embodiment of Figure 2, the racks 201 , 202 feature 3 separate apertures that provide control of the airflow intake of the vents 200 depending on the rack’s apertures alignment with the vents 200.

[0035] The racks 201 , 202 slide in multiple brackets 206 that blocks the rack’s degrees of freedom except for the desired translation axis. Additionally, the brackets 206 may be used as a simple stopping mechanism when the racks 201 , 202 include a stopping pin 204. The stopping pins 204 ensures that the racks 201 , 202 remain restricted in their useful area and may not be fully removed through rotation of the rotatable handle 102. [0036] While not illustrated, an indicator providing indication of the airflow levels may be provided in association with the handle 102 to guide the user to adjust the handle position. For example, the indicator may be a numbered indicator with numbers ranging from 0 to 10, zero representing a fully closed vent configuration and ten representing a fully opened vent configuration. The handle 102 could then be turned until a pointer faces the desired indicator number.

[0037] While the preferred embodiment of the airflow intake control mechanism is a rack-and-pinion type of control mechanism, other equivalent mechanism may be considered. A person skilled in the art would understand how to incorporate mechanism, such as a slider directly controlled by a handle, a slider and crank mechanism that uses a rotatable handle to transfer a rotation to a slider occluding the vents, or any other mechanism that may be used to precisely control the airflow being supplied to the fire box.

[0038] In other embodiments, the vents 200 may be one or more openings of different shapes (e.g. square, circular, etc.) and the apertures of the racks may also feature one or more openings of different shapes.

[0039] In another embodiment, the precision airflow intake control mechanism may either have one or more than two separated vents controlled by one or more rotatable handles. It will be understood that the fire box may have a single combustion chamber or multiple combustion chambers, and that when the fire box feature multiple combustion chambers, they may either each be controlled through a separate rack-and-pinion system or there may be a single rack-and-pinion system to control an airflow intake that supplies all of the multiple combustion chambers.

[0040] In yet other embodiments, the precision airflow intake control mechanism may control the airflow being supplied directly to the cook box. These embodiments include when the cooking device is a smoker without a separate fire box, thus when combustible are used at the bottom of the cook box, and similarly include when the cooking device is used as a charcoal grill.

[0041 ] THE REMOVABLE SECTIONAL GRILL GRATE:

[0042] Reference is now made to Figure 3A, 3B and 3C, presenting views of an exemplary cooking device with the cook box top cover removed to illustrate exemplary grill grate configurations.

[0043] The exemplary grill grate design shown in the embodiment of Figure 3A is a removable sectional grill grate which features 3 separate sections: a middle section 300 and two side sections 301 , 302. Both side sections 301 and 302 support the middle section 300 on lower brackets, such that the middle section 300 may completely slide out of the sectional grill grate assembly. The middle section 300 may thus be removed through the opening of the cook box’s top cover, while side sections remain in place.

[0044] The cook box 103 may be able to accommodate one or more grill grates. The preferred embodiment being able to accommodate a stack of three grill grates while still leaving sufficient space in-between the grill grates to allow thick food cuts to be cooked. The grill grates may be supported by any means in the cook box 103, such as by brackets, bolts, pins or sliders. A bracket or slider arrangement is preferred as it eases the movement of adding and removing the grill grates in place inside the cook box. The bracket and slider also ensures that the adding or removing of the grill grates will be done in a leveled manner, therefore reducing the risk of losing food that could slide off the grill grate if it was not held even. Where the bracket is the simpler solution, the slider allows for a quicker removal of the grill grate which also requires less force from the user.

[0045] Figure 3B illustrates the exemplary grill grate with the middle section 300 being pulled in the transversal axis. The middle section 300 of the grill grate may have a handle 304 to aid the user in pulling the section towards the exterior of the cooking device.

[0046] Figure 3B also illustrates the grill grate being laid on a bracket that is installed on the full length of the aft section of the cook box 103. This bracket allows the grill grate to have stability and also allows a complete support when the grill grate is slide out from the side door 400, as will be further presented in the description of Figure 3C. While the aft cook box 103 bracket is on the full length of the cook box, the front brackets supporting the grill grate may be only on the sides of the cook box 103, such that they support the two outer section of the grill grate 301 , 302. Since the cook box 103 may accommodate multiple grill grates, such as the three grill grates that the preferred embodiment accommodates, one of the bottom grill grate front support bracket may be on the full length of the cook box 103.

[0047] Being able to pull out the middle section 300 of the grill grate, whether partially or completely, has many advantages. For example, the cooking device user may quickly remove the middle section 300 on which at least part of the food that is cooking in the cooking device is located; the user may then check to see if the food is cooked as desired or may add or remove some of the food on the middle section 300 of the grill grate. While performing these actions, the user that has completely removed the middle portion 300 of the grill grate may have closed the top cover 100, such that the heat loss of the cook box 103 is minimized and that the remaining food being cooked may continue to be evenly cooked.

[0048] Another example of the use of being able to pull out the middle section 300 of the grill grate lies with the fact that it is easier to check the cooking of the food on that portion without getting burnt. More often than not, when using a barbecue grill or smoker, a user must either remove the food being cooked to verify the state of cooking or the user must do so right above the heat source, which is not only uncomfortable but also increases the chance of being burnt. Therefore, pulling partially the middle section 300 of the grill grate allows a user to verify the state of cooking while not being directly above the heat source and while not removing the food from the heated grill grate (thus the food being cooked will not lose as much heat as if it is removed completely). [0049] In some embodiments, the cooking device may have multiple grill grates positioned with a vertical separation big enough to allow cooking food on each of the grill grates. Therefore, another useful feature of the removable middle section 300, is to have access to the food being cooked on lower grill grates.

[0050] In some embodiments, the middle portion 300 may slide out of the two side portions 301 , 302 while being supported on bottom brackets fixed on the side sections 301 , 302. In other embodiments, the middle section 300 of the grill grate may be supported through grooves in the side sections 301 , 302, such that the middle section 300 has lips on each sides that may be slide into the grooves of each of the grill grate side sections 301 , 302.

[0051] Figure 3C illustrates the exemplary removable sectional grill grate being removed or added from the hinged side door. When all the grill grate sections 300, 301 and 302 are aligned, the grill grate assembly may be pulled out axially through the hinged side door. In order to facilitate the pulling out of the grill grate axially, the side section 301 may include a handle 303.

[0052] The ability to add and remove the grill grate axially from the hinged side door is beneficial for certain types of cooking. As a matter of fact, when cooking pizza on the cooking device, opening the side door to add or remove the grill grate holding the desired pizza and further closing the side door afterwards ensures the conservation of the majority of the heat mass required to continue cooking other pizzas. Where the example is given for pizza, it is also optimal, when compared to using the top cover access, for any other types of baking and, for similar reasons, is also optimal for any types of smoking.

[0053] THE COOK BOX HINGED SIDE DOOR AND LOCKING MECHANISM:

[0054] Reference is now made to Figure 4, which illustrates an exemplary cook box hinged side door 400 equipped with an exemplary locking mechanism.

[0055] In order to minimize heat loss during the operation of a barbecue, it is critical to ensure minimal gaps between the different openings and the parts which effectively closes them. The cook box 103 top cover 100 opening does not necessitate more than a handle to open and close the cover, as once it is closed, the weight of the top cover 100 itself ensures that the opening is closed at its maximum.

[0056] For an embodiment of a cook box 103 with a side door 400, there has to be a locking mechanism of some sort in order to seal the door with the cook box once it is closed. Otherwise, the side door 400 may be slightly opened and heat will be lost through the gap. Moreover, if the cooking device is a smoker, smoke will escape through the gap instead of through the chimneys, which may result in uncomfortable cooking conditions due to possibly being enveloped by smoke.

[0057] As expressed in the removable grill grate section, having a side door 400 to access the food being cooked is useful in many situations. The side door 400 allows the main top cover to remain closed while the user accesses, or adds and removes, food and grill grates. Since the main opening, the top cover 100, remains closed, most of the heat mass inside the cook box 103 will be kept. Therefore, using a side door 400 access to the food may result in more efficient continuous cooking, a more even cooking of the food and a lesser time required for the food to be perfectly cooked since there is less need to bring back up the internal cook box temperature.

[0058] Not only is the side door useful for different types of cooking, it also provides an easy access to clean some parts of the cook box that are typically harder to reach when there is only an access through the top cover. For instance, if the cooking device is used as a charcoal grill, it is much easier to remove the used coals through the side door 400 than scooping them up through the top cover access. For example, the user may open the side door 400, place a garbage bin underneath the side door 400 access and push the used coals through the top cover 100 access directly into the garbage bin.

[0059] The side door 400 may be mounted on hinges 405 as it eases the operation of the side door 400. The handle 104 may be used to operate both the opening/closing of the side door 400 and the locking/unlocking of the locking mechanism. In the present embodiment, the locking mechanism is a slider and crank type locking mechanism with two sliders locking the top and bottom portions of the side door 400.

[0060] The slider and crank locking mechanism may have a crank 401 on which the handle 104 is fixed. Connecting rods 402 are also joined to the crank 401 such that when the handle 104 is rotated, the rotation motion is transferred through the crank 401 to the connecting rods 402. The connecting rods 402 may rotate around the rigid connection point joining the connecting rod 402 to the crank 401. The connecting rods 402 are joined similarly to sliders 403. The rotation of the connecting rod 402 drives the displacement of the slider 403. In order to obtain a strictly straight translation, the sliders 403 slide through a directing bracket 404. The locking and unlocking of the side door 400 is done when the sliders 403 go through the slit of a locking bracket 305 that is fixed to the cook box 103.

[0061] Rotating the handle 104 therefore moves the sliders in or out of the locking brackets 305 slits depending on the rotation direction. The embodiment featured in Figure 4 comprises two sliders 403 connected to the same crank 401 and that may thus lock and unlock the side door 400 at the same time. Reciprocating locking mechanism on both side of the side door may be important to obtain a tight seal when the door is closed.

[0062] In some embodiments, the side door 400 may feature a sealing material (e.g. fiberglass rope) to ensure that there is no gap between the side door 400 and the cook box 103 once the side door is closed and locked. Some embodiments may feature only one locking mechanism, for example a toggle lock on the opposite side of the hinges 405, that may not be able to apply enough force throughout the entirety of the side door 400 contour connecting with the cook box 103, such that the press fit is not sufficient to ensure the absence of gaps. These embodiments may therefore require a seal to be added to the cook box or to the side door to limit the potential gaps.

[0063] The preferred embodiment presented in Figure 4 features a top and a bottom locking mechanism that are sufficient to apply enough force to the full length of the connecting region between the side door 400 and the cook box 103, such that the fit resulting from the locking is enough to ensure that there is no remaining gaps. The side door 400 and the cook box 103 may have overlapping lips to ensure that the enclosure is properly sealed when the side door 400 is closed. The overlapping lips have a minimal gap in between in order to have a sealed enclosure while not having any misalignments. The locking mechanism ensures that the seal created by the overlapping of both steel parts remain in a tight fit configuration.

[0064] In other embodiments, there may be only one slider 403 used to lock and unlock the side door 400 or there may be more than two. The slider and crank locking mechanism may also be replaced by other door locking mechanism, such as by using a latch or a toggle locking mechanism. In another embodiment, the locking mechanism may be a locking mechanism using a rack-and-pinion system, where the rack locks the side door in place by being pushed through the slit of a bracket fixed to the cook box. It will be understood by someone skilled in the art that any variants of mechanism that ensures the side door remains tightly closed may be used without diverging from the teachings of the present disclosure.

[0065] Although the invention has been described with reference to preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that modifications may be resorted to as will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Such modifications and variations are to be considered within the purview and scope of the present invention.

[0066] Representative, non-limiting examples of the present invention were described above in detail with reference to the attached drawing. This detailed description is merely intended to teach a person of skill in the art further details for practicing preferred aspects of the present teachings and is not intended to limit the scope of the invention. Furthermore, each of the additional features and teachings disclosed above and below may be utilized separately or in conjunction with other features and teachings.

[0067] Moreover, combinations of features and steps disclosed in the above detailed description, as well as in the experimental examples, may not be necessary to practice the invention in the broadest sense, and are instead taught merely to particularly describe representative examples of the invention. Furthermore, various features of the above- described representative examples, as well as the various independent and dependent claims below, may be combined in ways that are not specifically and explicitly enumerated in order to provide additional useful embodiments of the present teachings.