Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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TITLE: MULTI-LEVEL BARBEOUE WARMING RACK
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to an outdoor
grill having a multi-level warming rack which is pivotally
secured to the barbeque and moves in position when the
grill is open.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Outdoor barbeque grills and warming racks for
barbeque grills are well known. Many of these barbeque
grills have a lower housing and an upper housing and the
upper housing is pivotally connected to the lower housing
to move between a closed position, defining a cooking
chamber to an open position exposing the lower housing for
access of any food supported thereon. Typically, the lower
housing supports a stationary cooking grill at one of a
number of different height positions. A warming rack which
is smaller in size than the cooking grill is pivotally
secured to the upper housing and includes a pivoting front
link to move with the upper housing in a manner to keep the
warming rack generally horizontal. The warming rack in the
closed position of the upper housing is closer to the
cooking grill and in the raised position, moves upwardly
and rearwardly to provide better access to the cooking
grill. This warming rack typically includes a rod member
pivotally secured in ports in the housing and a front
pivoting linkage arrangement for providing the necessary
parallelogram linkage.
The upper housing is typically quite high and in
many cases, there is sufficient room to provide a second
warming rack. The second warming rack is pivotally secured
to the first warming rack by a linkage and is supported in
a slot in the upper housing to allow for the additional
movement provided at the upper housing. These types of
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warming racks have not proven popular, possibly because of
the further modifications required to the upper housing as
well as the somewhat complicated linkages involved.
The concept of the second warming rack is
desirable, however, the additional costs and apparent
complications, provide a substantial obstacle to the use of
the structures.
The present invention provides a simple cost
effective arrangement for overcoming the above deficiencies
and providing the benefits of a second warming rack.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A barbeque grill according to the present invention
comprises upper and lower housing members which cooperate
to form a hinged connection along adjacent edges with the
housings moving between a closed position forming an
enclosure within which food is grilled to an open position,
providing full access to the lower housing member. The
barbeque grill further comprises a cooking grill located
within the lower housing and a warming rack arrangement
thereabove. The warming rack arrangement includes a first
rack and a second rack which are fixed, one to the other,
and stacked one above the other. The second rack is
generally parallel to the first rack. The first rack
includes a front pivoting linkage supporting said rack on
the sides of the lower housing and a pivoting arrangement
supporting the first rack from the upper housing at a rear
edge of the first rack. The pivoting linkage and the
pivoting arrangement cooperate to maintain the first rack
generally horizontal. With this arrangement, the second
rack maintains its spacing from the first rack as they are
fixed one to the other, and as the second rack is generally
parallel to the first rack, it also maintains the same
orientation as the first rack during movement of the first
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rack when the housings are moved from the closed to the
open position.
According to an aspect of the invention, the second
rack is supported in a cantilever manner from a rear
portion of the first rack.
According to a further aspect of the invention, the
first rack and the second rack are connected adjacent rear
portions the first and second rack by a forwardly inclined
support arrangement forming an extension of the first rack.
According to yet a further aspect of the invention,
the second rack is smaller in depth than the first rack and
is located above and within the depths of the first rack.
According to yet a further aspect of the invention,
the second rack is sized to be approximately half the size
of the first rack and located primarily above a rear
portion of the first rack.
According to yet a further aspect of the invention,
the first rack has a multiplicity of parallel elongate
members extending in a front to back direction, which form
a food support surface of the first rack. These elongate
members at the back of the first rack bend upwardly and
forwardly joining with the second rack and forming a food
support surface of the second rack. The elongate members
are preferrably the wire or bar members of the racks.
According to yet a further aspect of the invention,
the first and second rack includes reinforcing members
extending across the elongate members and secured thereto.
According to yet a further aspect of the invention,
the elongate members at a back edge of the second rack
include a bent section to stiffen the members providing the
cantilevered support of the second rack.
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The multi-level warming rack of the present
invention is easy to manufacture and is easy to install and
use. It has no additional pivoting linkages relative to a
first warming rack yet it provides additional warming
surfaces at a height above the first rack and thus gives
the user a further option for cooking and warming.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Preferred embodiments of the invention are shown in
the drawings, wherein:
Figure 1 is a perspective view of a barbeque grill
in the open position and having the multi-level warming
rack;
Figure 2 is a partial perspective view showing
details of the multi-level warming rack;
Figure 3 is an end view showing the warming rack in
a closed orientation of the barbeque grill;
Figure 4 is an end view showing the warming rack
with the barbeque grill in an open orientation.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
The barbeque grill 2 shown in Figure 1 includes a
lower housing 4 and an upper housing 6 which typically
include a hinged connection 8 along a rear edge of the
housing. The lower housing supports a cooking grill 10 at
an upper surface of the lower housing. A gas burner 12 is
provided in the lower part of the housing. The upper
housing is movable relative to the lower housing from the
closed orientation of Figure 3 to the open orientation of
Figures 1 and 4.
A warming rack arrangement 40 includes a first rack
42, and a second rack 44 which is fixed to and moves with
the first rack. The first rack has a multiplicity of
individual tines 46 or wire bars which run in a front to
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back direction with the tines being parallel. The tines
adjacent the back 58 of the rack arrangement bend upwardly
and forwardly to form the upwardly forwardly orientated
section 62. This portion terminates in a stiffening bend
64 provided at the rear of the second rack. The tines 46
then extend forwardly and form part of the second rack 44.
The first rack includes stationary tie bars 48 and
50 which are each fixed to the tines 46. The second rack
includes at a front edge thereof, tie bar 52. One tie bar
has proven sufficient for the second rack, however,
additional tie bars can be provided as desired.
The tie bar 50 of the first rack includes
extensions 51 on either side of the rack which pass through
ports 70 in the upper housing and form a pivot type
connection with these extensions. This arrangement is
common with a first warming rack.
The warming rack arrangement adjacent the front
portion of the first rack includes a pivoting linkage 66.
The pivoting linkage 66 includes two downwardly extending
arms 67 and 69 which engage the lower housing on either
side thereof, and generally form a loose pivot connection
with the side of the lower housings. These members are
joined by a connecting section 71 which passes under the
tines 40 and forms a pivot connection with the first rack.
This is a similar support arrangement for a single tier
warming rack used with gas grills.
In Figure 2, it can be see how the individual tines
46 extend to the back portion 58 of the first rack and then
undergo a curved bend indicated as 60 to join with the
upwardly and forwardly extending portion 62. The tines
then include the upper stiffening bend 64 prior to joining
the body of the second rack 44. The stiffening bends also
form a back raised edge to the second rack. The tines 46
are held at the front edge of the second rack by means of
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the tie bar 52 which is secured to each of the tines. It
can be appreciated that the first warming rack and the
second warming rack can be initially made as a horizontal
warming rack with tie bars 48 and 50 being located on one
side of the racks with tie bar 52 located to the opposite
side of the racks. This flat rack can then be bent to form
bends 60 and 64 as well as the inclined portion 62. The
second rack is fixed to the first rack and is parallel to
the first rack. The linkage arrangement associated with
the first rack maintains a generally horizontal orientation
of the first rack during movement of the upper housing from
the closed position to the open position. As the first
rack remains generally horizontal in this movement, so will
the second rack.
20
The multi-level warming rack of the present
invention, can be manufactured in a simple cost effective
manner and provides additional warming capacity due to the
presence of the second rack.
The second rack is supported in a cantilever manner
from the back of the first rack and extends over a rear
portion of the first rack but terminates well short of the
front of the first rack. This arrangement allows good
access to the first rack which is of a larger surface area
while also allowing the second rack to be easily accessed.
The upwardly and forwardly angled portion 62 generally
corresponds with the upwardly and forwardly angled portion
of the upper housing when it is in the closed position.
Thus it is desirable to move the second warming rack
slightly forwardly of the first rack to accommodate the
decreasing volume of the upper housing.
The warming rack has been described with respect to
support of the second rack above the first rack by means of
the tines 46, however, other arrangements are possible. By
using the tines, the rack can be easily made in a
horizontal manner and then bent to the desired
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configuration. It can also be appreciated that other
support arrangements can be used and the present invention
is not limited to this particular support arrangement. The
second rack is fixed relative to the first rack and
basically relies on the movement of the first rack to
control the movement of the second rack.
Although various preferred embodiments of the
present invention have been described herein in detail, it
will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, that
variations may be made thereto without departing from the
spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended
claims.
