Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02560500 2006-09-01
FOLDED OVEN RACK
The present invention relates generally to an oven rack apparatus purposed to
support food or containers of food while cooking in a conventional domestic
oven. While
the focus of discussion will be on a domestic oven, it should be clear that
the apparatus
and its use should not be restricted thereto. It can easily be envisioned that
a rack as will
be disclosed herein can be used for a number of other purposes. Examples of
such, are
outdoor barbeque grilling surface over a gas element or charcoal, indoor
grilling surfaces,
and baker's cooling racks.
The design and use of an oven rack in domestic ovens is well taught and
documented in the art. Traditionally, the typical cleaning of such racks is
difficult due to
their rigid design and large overall size. Such cleaning whether effected
indoors or
outdoors, usually requires the use of a bathtub or suitably sized basin, to
allow for
complete submersion and proper cleaning.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
Numerous oven racks of varying structures are known and form part of the prior
art
which support food and food containers inside domestic cooking ovens. In most
cases, the
racks are comprised of a stainless steel material arranged in a perpendicular
grid fashion,
and are rigid in their design. An example of a convention rack can be found in
U.S. Pat.
No. 6,112,916 dated Sep. 5, 2000 and entitled "Oven Rack" in which the entire
frame is
rigid and non-configurable and the rack is slid into and out of the oven in
its fixed
configuration.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,349,717 dated Feb. 26, 2002 and entitled "Oven Rack System
Having Cutout Area and Insert Rack" and Canadian Patent No.702309 dated
Jan.19,1965
and entitled "Dual Purpose Oven Rack" teach variations of the conventional
rack in which
portions of the rack can be removed. However, unlike the invention taught
herein, the
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intended purpose of these inventions is to allow flexible placement of food
items in the
oven cavity that may exceed the height allowed when using a one-piece rigid
frame. In
each of these inventions, the outer frame is still rigid and would ultimately
remain difficult
to handle outside the oven cavity.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,553,523 dated Nov. 19, 1985 and entitled "Two-Way Adjustabie
Grate and Method for Adjusting the Length and Width" and U.S. Pat. No.
6,148,813 dated
Nov. 21, 2000 and entitled "Telescoping Oven Rack Assembly" disclose oven rack
designs
allowing configurable shapes. The former provides a rack capable of
compression and
extension in the plane, but is limited by the predefined size of each of the
two components
of the rack. The latter provides a telescoping component of the base rack for
sliding
outward of the oven cavity while the main rack remains in place. Neither the
telescoping
component nor the base component are substantially different in size and
neither will fit in
a standard kitchen sink or similar container for convenient cleaning and
washing.
Accordingly, there is a need to provide a supporting rack having a hinge
assembly, such
as to ensure ready foldability through the hinge assembly, whereby it may be
readily and
conveniently submersed in a standard kitchen sink or alternative washing or
cleaning
vehicle to facilitate cleaning of unwanted material from the supporting rack.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Thus, a primary object of the present invention is to provide a planar
supporting
surface comprising connection means adapted to allow connection of the planar
surface
with at least one other similar planar surface to form a unitary planar
surface for supporting
food or food containers. The connection means may take the form of a suitably
structured
hinge assembly, such as to ensure ready foldability through the hinged
connection,
whereby it may be readily and conveniently submersed in a standard kitchen
sink or
alternative washing or cleaning vehicle to facilitate cleaning of unwanted
material from the
supporting surface. The unitary planar supporting surface is adapted to be
removably
inserted into a cooking oven, and held in place therein. The area of the
unitary planar
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supporting surface is of substantially the same area as a sum of areas of the
planar
surface and said at least one other similar surface.
According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a
supporting
rack, comprising a planar surface comprising a first and a second portion;
connection
means adapted to allow the first and the second portion to be folded about
said
connection means to reduce the overall space occupied by the rack and to
facilitate
handling and storage of the rack, or to form a unitary planar supporting
surface for
supporting food or food containers; wherein said unitary planar supporting
surface is
adapted to be removably inserted into a cooking device, and maintained
therein; and
wherein said connection means further comprises a support member, the support
member being connected at one end to a bottom portion of the first portion of
the
planar supporting surface, and pivotally connected at another end to a plate
portion, the
plate portion being integrally connected underneath a bottom portion of the
second
portion of the planar supporting surface, whereby the first portion of the
planar
supporting surface can be pivoted downwardly, so as enable the supporting rack
to be
folded.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a
supporting rack for supporting food or food containers, comprising: a first
surface
portion and a second surface portion; connection means adapted to allow the
first
surface portion and the second surface portion to be folded about the
connection means
to reduce overall space occupied by the rack so as to facilitate handling and
storage
thereof and to form a unitary substantially planar supporting surface for
supporting food
or food containers; wherein the planar supporting surface is adapted to be
removably
inserted into a cooking device; and wherein the connection means comprises a
downwardly depending support member connected at one end to a bottom portion
of
the first surface portion and pivotally connected at another end to a plate
portion, the
plate portion being integrally connected to a bottom portion of the second
surface
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portion by a bracing member interconnected therebetween, whereby the first
surface
portion can be pivoted downwardly so as to enable the supporting rack to be
folded, and
whereby upward pivoting movement of the first surface portion is restricted by
a
downwardly depending rest member which is connected undemeath the second
surface
portion.
The present invention contemplates and teaches the provision of a rack
suitable
for use in a domestic oven, or the like, which comprises a unitary surface
embodying a
plurality of rack-like supporting surfaces of convenient structure and
dimensions such as
to ensure ready foldability through a hinged connection. The rack may assume
varying
shapes in practice, including rectangular, quadrilateral, circular,
elliptical, a rack with
rounded comers and perhaps others, and providing the structural feature of the
inclusion of a hinged connection, so as to enable the ready folding of one
larger rack
surface into two smaller surfaces to facilitate the cleaning thereof.
In a preferred embodiment, the rack of the present invention preferably
includes
rods comprised of stainless steel materials. Alternatively, the rack may
include rods
comprising aluminum alloys capable of withstanding heat normally developed in
a
domestic oven or other such heated equipment.
The rack of the present invention preferably includes a plurality of rods
arranged
in perpendicular disposition.
However, rack structures falling within the scope of the present invention
embodying rods of non-perpendicular disposition may also be found workable in
practice, providing the overall structure includes the feature of a secure,
hinged
connection to ensure foldability of one larger planar rack surface into two
smaller
surfaces. The rack of the present invention preferably includes a hinged
mechanism
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whereby, in one preferred structure, the hinged connection includes a support
member
connected, at one end, to a bottom portion of a first half of the outer frame.
At another
end of the support member, the support member is pivotally connected to a
plate
portion, and the plate portion is integrally connected to a bottom portion of
the second
half of the outer frame, whereby the first half of the outer frame can be
pivoted
downwardly, so as enable the oven rack to be folded into half of its usual
length.
Upward pivoting movement of the first half of the outer frame is restricted by
a rest
member provided on a second half of the outer frame.
The rack of the present invention is preferably structured so, that in use,
the at
least two smaller portions of the rack may be readily and conveniently
submersed in a
standard kitchen sink or altemative washing or cleaning vehicle to facilitate
the cleaning
of unwanted material from the rack.
The rack of the present invention is preferably, and indeed normally, used in
practice to support food or food containers inside a domestic cooking oven. It
is also
envisioned that the rack of the present invention may be used to support food
or food
containers on an outdoor cooking grill comprising a heat source of any one of
gas,
charcoal or the like. In addition, the rack may be used to support food or
food containers
to allow for proper ventilation in the normal cooling process.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Embodiments of the present invention will be further described with reference
to
the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the oven rack of the present
invention;
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FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a hinged mechanism allowing folding of the
halves of the rack in accordance with the present invention; and
FIG. 3 is a cut away view of the hinged mechanism of Figure 2; and
FIG.4 is a blown up side view of the hinged mechanism of Figures 2 and 3.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Figures 1 and 2 show an exemplary embodiment of the oven rack of the present
invention. As can be seen in Figure 2, the oven rack comprises a pivotally
connected
first half 7 of the outer frame and a second half 13 of the outer frame, the
frame forming
a unitary planar supporting surface adapted to be removably inserted into a
cooking
device, it being understood that cooking device can be a domestic or
commercial
cooking oven, an outdoor grilling device, or the like. It will also be
understood that such
frame can be adapted to interface with supporting slots provided along inner
walls of an
oven cavity, for example, or to interface with supporting slots provided along
inner walls
of a grilling device. With reference again to Figure 1, the oven rack
comprises an
outside frame 3, cross rods 2, and a joining mechanism 1. The outside frame 3
is a
rectangular shape with rounded corners containing a centrally located rod
parallel to the
longer sides of the rectangle. Each of these three rods are divided near their
centre to
allow for the joining mechanism 1. Cross rods 2 extend perpendicularly from
the three
longer rods, connecting the centre rod to each of the outside rods, resulting
in a grid
pattern.
Figures 2, 3 and 4 show an amplified view of the joining mechanism 1 in which
the mechanics of the joint are evident. It is shown that the joining mechanism
1 is made
up of a support member 5 connected at one end to a bottom portion of a first
half 7 of
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the outer frame. Preferably, support member 5 is welded onto the bottom
portion of a
first half 7 of the outer frame. At another end of the support member 5, the
support
member is pivotally connected at 4 to plate portion 9, whereby the first half
7 of the
outer frame can be pivoted, so as to enable the oven rack to be folded. The
plate
portion 9 is positioned beneath the first surface portion and the second
surface portion
on the rack. Upward pivoting movement of the first half 7 of the outer frame
is restricted
by a downwardly depending rest member 11 on a second half 13 of the outer
frame, as
can be seen in Figure 4.
Of course, it will be understood that the first half 7 of the outer frame and
the
second half 13 of the outer frame will preferably be substantially similar in
size, but one
skilled in the art will appreciate that these could be of different sizes
also.
In a preferred embodiment, rest member 11 is welded onto a lower portion of
the
second half 13 of the outer frame, and near where the separation point 15 is
between
the first half 7 and the second half 13 of the outer frame. In this manner,
preferably,
when the first half 7 of the outer frame is pivoted upwardly, so that the oven
rack of the
present invention is to assume its full, complete length, rest member 11
restricts this
upward pivoting movement of the first half 7 of the outer frame so that it
assumes a
substantially planar position with the second half 13 of the outer frame.
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