GAS GRILL

• US 20100132692A1
• Filed: 12/01/2008
• Published: 06/03/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 12/01/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Haier US Appliance Solutions, Inc. DBA GE Appliances (Haier Group Company)
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: Shaffer, Timothy Scott
• Granted Patent: US 8,863,734 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 126/39.E
• CPC Class Codes: A47J 37/0713 with gas burners
• CPC Class Codes: A47J 37/0786 Accessories
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 137/87096 Valves with separate, correlated, actuators
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 137/87265 Dividing into parallel flow paths with recombining

Abstract

A control system for a gas grill is disclosed. The gas grill has a cooking surface. The control system includes at least two fuel flow valves located between a fuel source and at least one grill burner, a user interface unit configured to receive grill operation settings, at least one temperature sensor disposed adjacent to the cooking surface and configured to detect at least a grill operating temperature and a control unit configured to, receive the grill operation settings from the user interface unit, receive the grill operating temperature from the at least one temperature sensor, and automatically control the at least one fuel flow valve for modulating the amount of fuel delivered to the at least one grill burner to maintain the grill operating temperature at a predetermined temperature based on the operation settings and the grill operating temperature.

Claims

1. A control system for a gas grill having a cooking surface, comprising:

at least two fuel flow valves located between a fuel source and at least one grill burner of the gas grill;

a user interface unit configured to receive a grill operation setting;

at least one temperature sensor disposed adjacent to the cooking surface and configured to detect at least a grill operating temperature; and

a control unit configured to;

receive the grill operation setting from the user interface unit,

receive the grill operating temperature from the at least one temperature sensor, and

automatically control the at least two fuel flow valves for modulating the amount of fuel delivered to the at least one grill burner to maintain the grill operating temperature at a predetermined temperature based on the operation setting and the grill operating temperature.

2. The control system of claim 1, wherein the gas grill includes a plurality of grilling zones, the control unit being configured to independently maintain the grill operating temperature at a respective predetermined temperature for each of the grilling zones.

3. The control system of claim 1, further comprising at least one food temperature probe configured to detect a food temperature of food being cooked on the gas grill, wherein the control unit is configured to receive the food temperature and present an indication of the food temperature through the user interface unit.

4. The control system of claim 1, wherein the control unit is further configured to:

cause the at least one burner to operate at a maximum combustion rate when the grill operating temperature is below the predetermined temperature;

cause the at least one burner to operate at a minimum combustion rate when the grill operating temperature is above the predetermined temperature; and

stop a flow of fuel to the at least one burner when a flare-up condition is detected by the at least one temperature sensor.

5. The control system of claim 1, further comprising a transmitter connected to the control unit, and a portable receiver with a second user interface unit, the transmitter being configured to transmit grill operating information to the portable receiver for presentment on the second user interface unit.

6. The control system of claim 1, wherein the at least one burner comprises a hi-flow burner and a low-flow burner.

7. The control system of claim 1, wherein the user interface unit comprises one or more of analog and electronic control devices

8. A gas grill comprising:

a plurality of grilling zones each having at least one burner and a cooking surface;

a temperature sensor located within each of the grilling zones and adjacent to the respective cooking surface, the temperature sensor being configured to detect an operating temperature of said each of the grilling zones;

a user interface unit for receiving a grill operating setting for said each of the grilling zones; and

a control unit configured to automatically control a temperature of said each of the grilling zones based on a respective operating temperature of said each of the grilling zones and the respective grill operating setting for said each of the grilling zones.

9. The gas grill of claim 8, further comprising at least two fuel flow valves connected to the control unit for controlling an amount of fuel transferred to the at least one burner of each of the grilling zones, wherein the at least two fuel flow valves comprise at least two of electronically operated valves and manually operated valves.

10. The gas grill of claim 9, wherein the at least two fuel flow valves comprise a manually operated valve coupled in series with at least one electronically controlled valve.

11. The gas grill of claim 9, wherein the at least two fuel flow valves comprise a manually operated valve coupled in parallel with at least one electronically controlled valve.

12. The gas grill of claim 8, wherein the at least one burner of each of the grilling zones comprises a hi-flow burner and a low-flow burner.

13. The gas grill of claim 8, further comprising at least one food temperature probe configured to detect a food temperature of food being cooked on the gas grill, wherein the control unit is configured to receive the food temperature and present an indication of the food temperature through the user interface unit.

14. The gas grill of claim 8, wherein the control unit is further configured to:

cause the at least one burner of a respective grilling zone to operate at a maximum combustion rate when a grill operating temperature of the respective grilling zone is below a predetermined temperature set point;

cause the at least one burner of the respective grilling zone to operate at a minimum combustion rate when the grill operating temperature of the respective grilling zone is above the predetermined temperature set point; and

stop a flow of fuel to the at least one burner of the respective grilling zone when a flare-up condition is detected in the respective grilling zone by the respective temperature sensor.

15. The gas grill of claim 8, further comprising a portable receiver and a transmitter connected to the control unit and the portable receiver, the portable receiver having a second user interface unit, the transmitter being configured to transmit grill operating information to the portable receiver for presentment on the second user interface unit.

16. A method for controlling a gas grill having a plurality of grilling zones each having at least one burner, the method comprising:

sensing a grill operating temperature of a respective grilling zone;

determining a temperature difference between the grill operating temperature and a predetermined grill temperature set point; and

automatically modulating the at least one burner of the respective grilling zone in response to the temperature difference.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the modulating step comprises:

operating the at least one burner at a maximum combustion rate when the grill operating temperature is below the predetermined grill temperature set point;

operating the at least one burner at a minimum combustion rate when the grill operating temperature is above the predetermined grill temperature set point; and

stopping a flow of fuel to the at least one burner when a flare-up condition is detected.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the operating temperature of each grilling zone is independently controlled to maintain the each grilling zone at a respective predetermined grill temperature set point.

19. The method of claim 16, further comprising transmitting grill operating information of the gas grill to a portable receiver.

20. The method of claim 16, further comprising presenting a status of food being cooked in the respective grilling zone through a user interface unit of the gas grill.