Commercial hot air impingement cooking apparatus
First Claim
1. A countertop heated air impingement oven comprising:
- a housing;
a cooking chamber with said housing;
a heat conductive food support member horizontally supported within said cooking chamber;
upper plenum means, positioned above said plate member and defining an upper boundary of said cooking chamber, for receiving a supply of heated, pressurized air and converting the received air into a spaced series of downwardly directed, relatively high velocity air jets which laterally diffuse and at least partially overlap prior to striking and evenly blanketing at least a portion of the upper side surface of said food support member in a manner transferring air heat thereto at an accelerated rate;
lower plenum means, positioned below said plate member and defining a lower boundary of said cooking chamber, for receiving a supply of heated, pressurized air and converting the received air into a spaced series of upwardly directed, relatively high velocity air jets which laterally diffuse and at least partially overlap prior to striking and evenly blanketing the lower side surface of said food support member in a manner transferring air heat thereto at an accelerated rate;
a vertically extending baffle structure positioned in said housing and defining on one side thereof a side boundary of said cooking chamber;
a fan plenum positioned on the opposite side of said baffle structure within said housing, said fan plenum communicating with said upper and lower plenum means through supply passages positioned above and below said baffle structure, and communicating with said cooking chamber through a central opening extending horizontally through said baffle structure;
a fan impeller positioned in said fan plenum and drivable to create within said housing a recirculating flow of air which sequentially flows from said fan impeller through said supply passages into said upper and lower plenum means, through said upper and lower plenum means into said cooking chamber in the form of said impingement air jets, and from said cooking chamber through said central baffle structure opening into said fan impeller; and
heating means for heating said recirculating flow of air to a food cooking temperature.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Various representative commercial cooking devices are disclosed wherein a recirculating flow of heated air, at a food cooking temperature, is created within a housing in which a horizontally disposed food support and cooking member, such as a perforated metal plate, a solid griddle plate or a metal broiling grate, is positioned. A plenum structure is utilized to convert a portion of the continuously recirculated air into a spaced series of relatively high velocity heated air impingement jets which are caused to laterally diffuse and at least slightly overlap prior to striking at least one side surface of the food support structure. In this manner, each food support structure side surface subjected to such diffused jet impingement is evenly blanketed with heating air to thereby very uniformly transfer heat from the air to the food support structure, and thus to the food supported thereby, at an accelerated rate.
100 Citations
21 Claims
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1. A countertop heated air impingement oven comprising:
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a housing; a cooking chamber with said housing; a heat conductive food support member horizontally supported within said cooking chamber; upper plenum means, positioned above said plate member and defining an upper boundary of said cooking chamber, for receiving a supply of heated, pressurized air and converting the received air into a spaced series of downwardly directed, relatively high velocity air jets which laterally diffuse and at least partially overlap prior to striking and evenly blanketing at least a portion of the upper side surface of said food support member in a manner transferring air heat thereto at an accelerated rate; lower plenum means, positioned below said plate member and defining a lower boundary of said cooking chamber, for receiving a supply of heated, pressurized air and converting the received air into a spaced series of upwardly directed, relatively high velocity air jets which laterally diffuse and at least partially overlap prior to striking and evenly blanketing the lower side surface of said food support member in a manner transferring air heat thereto at an accelerated rate; a vertically extending baffle structure positioned in said housing and defining on one side thereof a side boundary of said cooking chamber; a fan plenum positioned on the opposite side of said baffle structure within said housing, said fan plenum communicating with said upper and lower plenum means through supply passages positioned above and below said baffle structure, and communicating with said cooking chamber through a central opening extending horizontally through said baffle structure; a fan impeller positioned in said fan plenum and drivable to create within said housing a recirculating flow of air which sequentially flows from said fan impeller through said supply passages into said upper and lower plenum means, through said upper and lower plenum means into said cooking chamber in the form of said impingement air jets, and from said cooking chamber through said central baffle structure opening into said fan impeller; and heating means for heating said recirculating flow of air to a food cooking temperature. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A heated air impingment cooking griddle comprising:
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a housing having an upper side wall with an opening formed therein; a heated conductive, relatively large area griddle plate member horizontally supported within said opening and adapted to support a food item to be cooked; and heated air recirculating means for creating within said housing a recirculating flow of heated air; and jet forming means, spaced downwardly apart from said griddle plate member within said housing, for converting a portion of said recirculating flow of heated air into a mutually spaced series of upwardly directed, relatively high velocity heated air impingement jets which laterally diffuse and at least partially overlap prior to striking the bottom side surface of said griddle plate member to thereby evenly blanket it with heated air in a manner uniformly transferring heat from said recirculating air to said griddle plate member at an accelerated rate. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A heated air impingement cooking griddle comprising:
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a housing having a base portion with an opening in an upper side wall thereof, and a hollow lid portion having an opening in a lower side thereof, said lid portion being supported on said base portion for movement relative thereto between open and closed positions; an upper griddle plate member carried within and extending across said lid portion opening; a lower griddle plate member carried within and extending horizontally across said opening in said base portion, said upper and lower griddle plate members cooperating, when said lid portion is in its closed position, to contact upper and lower side surfaces of a food item positioned therebetween; upper supply plenum means, positioned in said lid portion and spaced upwardly from said upper griddle plate member, for receiving heated, pressurized air from a source thereof and discharging the received air in the form of a spaced series of downwardly directed, relatively high velocity heated air impingement jets which laterally diffuse and at least partially overlap prior to striking the top side surface of said upper griddle plate member to thereby evenly blanket it with transversely directed heated air in a manner uniformly transferring air heat to said upper griddle plate member at an accelerated rate; lower supply plenum means, positioned in said base portion and spaced downwardly from said lower griddle plate member, for receiving heated, pressurized air from a source thereof and discharging the received air in the form of a spaced series of upwardly directed, relatively high velocity heated air impingement jets which laterally diffuse and at least partially overlap prior to striking the bottom side surface of said lower griddle plate member to thereby evenly blanket with transversely directed heated air in a manner uniformly transferring air heat to said lower griddle plate member at an accelerated rate; and means for flowing recirculating heated air through said housing and causing said recirculating heated air to operatively traverse said upper and lower supply plenum means. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. Heated air impingement grill apparatus comprising:
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a housing having a base portion with an opening in an upper side wall thereof, and a hollow lid portion having an opening in a lower side thereof, said lid portion being supported on said base portion for movement relative thereto between open and closed positions; an upper grate member carried within and extending across said lid portion opening; a lower grate member carried within and extending across said base portion opening, said upper and lower grate members cooperating, when said lid portion is in its closed position, to contact upper and lower side surfaces of a food item positioned therebetween; upper supply plenum means, positioned in said lid portion and spaced upwardly from said upper grate member, for receiving heated, pressurized air from a source thereof and discharging the received air in the form of a spaced series of downwardly directed, relatively high velocity heated air impingement jets which laterally diffuse and at least partially overlap prior to striking the top side surface of said upper grate member to thereby evenly blanket it with heated air in a manner uniformly transferring air heat to said upper grate member at an accelerated rate; lower supply plenum means, positioned in said base portion and spaced downwardly from said lower grate member, for receiving heated, pressurized air from a source thereof and discharging the received air in the form of a spaced series of upwardly directed, relatively high velocity heated air impingement jets which laterally diffuse and at least partially overlap prior to striking the bottom side surface of said lower grate member to thereby evenly blanket it with heated air in a manner uniformly transferring air heat to said lower grate at an accelerated rate; a chamber positioned within said base portion generally below said lower supply plenum means; and means for flowing recirculating heated air through said housing and operatively through said upper and lower supply plenum means, including; a supply section having a fan therein which is drivable to force air into and through said upper and lower supply plenum means, a heating section for receiving air and having heating means therein for heating the received air, the interior of said heating section communicating with the interior of the supply section, and a return section for receiving a return flow of recirculating air and flowing it into said heating section, said supply, heating and return sections being positioned in a side-by-side relationship within said chamber and being removable therefrom through said base portion opening. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21)
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Specification