Portable cooking appliance

• US 3,899,961 A
• Filed: 07/03/1973
• Issued: 08/19/1975
• Est. Priority Date: 07/06/1972
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Pierre J. Tanguy
• Original Assignee: Pierre J. Tanguy
• Inventors: Tanguy, Pierre J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Roberts, Edward L.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Henderson, Arthur O.
• Application Number:
  US05/376,240
• Time in Patent Office: 777 Days
• Field of Search: 99/419,420,421H,358,339-340,372-373,376-378,442,446 126/9,38,41,275
• US Class Current: 99/340
• CPC Class Codes: A47J 37/041 with food supports rotating about a horizontal axis A47J37/042 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: F24C 1/06 by replacing parts, e.g. replacing burners by electric heaters
• CPC Class Codes: F24C 1/08 solely adapted for radiation heating
• CPC Class Codes: F24C 1/16 with special adaptation for travelling, e.g. collapsible
• CPC Class Codes: F24C 3/047 Ranges
• CPC Class Codes: F24C 3/14 with special adaptation for travelling, e.g. collapsible

Abstract

A portable cooking appliance comprising a heating device mounted in an oven having a structure consisting of at least one base, side and rear walls and a top portion associated with an external hot-plate. The oven structure is capable of folding and of being housed within a portable case designed in two sections which consist of a bottom portion and a cover and at least one of which constitutes one of the components of the oven structure in the service position of the appliance, means being further provided for ensuring automatic unfolding of the oven structure as the portable case is opened.

Claims

1. In a portable and folding cooking appliance having a bottom and a cover which in folded position appear as a closed case, said appliance comprising an oven having a base and a rear wall respectively adjacent to the bottom and to the cover of said case, said oven moreover comprising collapsible side walls and a top portion associated with an external hotplate, and connecting means between said cover of the case and the top portion for an automatic unfolding operation of the structure of the oven when the case is opened;

the improvement wherein said connecting means comprise at least one rod having a pivot linkage on one of its ends and a slidable pivot linkage on the other end, each side wall of the oven comprising two substantially flat portions which are pivotally linked to each other and pivotally linked to the base and to the top portion of the oven respectively, said three pivot linkages comprising parallel axes which are horizontal in the service position of the appliance, on each side of the unfolded oven.

2. An appliance according to claim 1, wherein said side walls of the oven are attached to the bottom of the case by means of articulations which permit a sliding motion of the side walls along the pivot pins of the articulations, so as to bring the rear edge of the side walls into contact with the cover of the case in the service position of the appliance, and to move back said edge to a predetermined distance from the cover in order to fold the oven structure.

3. An appliance according to claim 1, wherein the side walls of the oven, on each side of the latter, have springtype articulations for producing action in the direction of automatic unfolding of the oven structure.

4. An appliance according to claim 1, wherein the intermediate articulation of each side wall has an opening stop in the service position, the pivot pin of said intermediate articulation being located beyond the plane of the adjacent pins in the service position of the appliance.

5. An appliance according to claim 1, comprising a roasting spit transverse to the side walls, wherein the rod of the spit is shorter than the width of the oven, the side walls having guiding channels having recesses for supporting the rod in the service position, and a rotating device removably attached on a side wall and having a shaft end which extends through a side wall of the oven and is coupled to the rod of the spit.

6. An appliance according to claim 1, comprising a portable case having an articulation device for pivotally mounting the cover on the bottom portion at the rear end of the oven in the service position of the appliance, wherein said articulation device comprises means for bringing the cover into contact with the rear edges of the side walls of the oven, and for moving back the cover away from said edges at the beginning of the closure movement of said cover, in order to fold back the side walls of the oven.

7. An appliance according to claim 6, wherein the articulation device for pivotally mounting the cover on the bottom portion comprises at least a pair of separate link arms having unequal lengths, the ends of each link arm being pivotally mounted respectively on a support bracket which is rigidly fixed to the cover and on a support bracket which is rigidly fixed to the bottom portion, the axes about which the ends of the link arms are pivoted on each of the support brackets aforesaid on the same side as the cover and on the same side as the bottom portion being located in a plane substantially parallel to the plane corresponding to the edge which joins the bottom portion to the coVer respectively, the two pivotal axes of the shorter link arm being located on the same side as the edge of the cover and of the edge of the bottom respectively with respect to the corresponding pivotal axes of the other link arm.

8. An appliance according to claim 7, wherein the pivotal link arms are located within the internal space of the portable case in the closed position of the cover, at least the shorter of the two link arms of each pair being curved to form a '"'"''"'"''"'"''"'"'U'"'"''"'"''"'"''"'"' which opens toward the lower edge of the cover in the open position, the profile of said edge coming into position at least partly within the '"'"''"'"''"'"''"'"'U'"'"''"'"''"'"''"'"' of the curved link arm in the fully open position of the cover.

9. An appliance according to claim 6, wherein the articulation device for pivotally mounting the cover on the bottom portion comprises at least one pair of separate link arms having unequal lengths, the ends of each link arm being pivotally mounted respectively on a support bracket which is rigidly fixed to the bottom portion and on a support bracket which is rigidly fixed to the cover, the axes about which the ends of the link arms are pivoted on each of said support brackets on the same side as the cover and on the same side as the bottom being located in a plane substantially parallel to the plane corresponding to the joining edges of the bottom portion and the cover, the two pivotal axes of the shorter link arm being located on the same side as the edges of the cover and of the bottom portion respectively with respect to the corresponding pivotal axes of the other link arm.

10. An appliance according to claim 9, wherein the pivotal link arms are located within the internal space of the portable case in the closed position of the cover, at least the shorter of the two link arms of each pair being curved to form a '"'"''"'"''"'"''"'"'U'"'"''"'"''"'"''"'"' which is open towards the lower edge of the cover in the open position, the profile of said edge being arranged to come into position at least partly within the U of the curved link arm in the fully open position of the cover.

11. A portable and collapsible cooking appliance having a bottom and a cover which in its closed position appears as a closed case, said appliance comprising an oven having a base and a rear wall respectively adjacent to the bottom and to the cover of said case, said oven moreover comprising collapsible side walls and a top portion associated with an external hotplate, connecting means between said cover of the case and the top portion of the oven for an automatic unfolding operation of the structure of the latter when the case is opened, said connecting means comprising at least one rod having a pivot linkage on one of its ends and a slidable linkage on the other end, the bottom portion and the cover of the portable case respectively constituting the base and the rear wall of the oven, the side walls of the oven being secured to the bottom portion of the case by means of articulations which permit a sliding motion of the slide walls along the pivot pins of said articulations so as to bring the rear edges of the side walls into contact with the cover of the portable case in the service position of the appliance and to move said edges to a predetermined distance from the cover in order to fold the oven structure.

12. An appliance according to claim 11, comprising a portable case provided with an articulation device for pivotally mounting the cover on the bottom portion at the rear end of the oven in the service position of the appliance, wherein said articulation device comprises means for bringing the cover into contact with the rear edges of the side wall of the oven in the service position and for moving the cover away from said edges at the beginning of the movement of closure of said cover in order to fold back the side walls of the oven.