AU2022201387A1 - A hotplate assembly for an electric barbeque - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to the field of electric barbeque. More specifically, the present invention relates to a hotplate assembly. 11 /11 100 '30 --ur40 - -50 Figure 8

Description

11 /11

100

'30

--ur40

- -50

Figure 8

A HOTPLATE ASSEMBLY FOR AN ELECTRIC BARBEQUE FIELD

The present disclosure relates to the field of electric barbeque. More specifically, the present invention relates to a hotplate assembly.

BACKGROUND

The background information herein below relates to the present disclosure but is not necessarily prior art.

Recently there has been a tremendous increase in people opting for stays in picnic camps and spending nights in remote locations. Enjoying life outdoors has always been a healthy aspect of recreational life worldwide. It is customary for families to gather in parks and enjoy a barbeque (BBQ). When such barbeques are arranged by a tourist company or hotel, there is pressure on the management as people demand fast and effective services for convenience. Traditional BBQs in parks require up to 20 minutes before any food item may be cooked on the BBQ (hot plates). However, this lag time is considered to be excessive and results in waste of time and energy.

While traveling to or staying in outdoor location people may have to face sudden rain which results in flooding of cloths, tents, and barbeques. A totally different method was required to cover the issues that arise when an appliance becomes flooded or water damaged. The method for maintenance and repair for such damaged appliances currently involves removal of the plate or heating element and all insulation, which is expensive and time consuming.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a cook top assembly which is suitable for incorporation into a barbecue and which addresses the problems of cook top assemblies known in the prior art as described above.

Many a times the available power supply is not able to provide sufficient voltage. Therefore the market demands an extra low voltage hotplate assembly which is economical, environmentally friendly, efficient and reliable.

There is therefore felt a need for a hotplate assembly for an electric barbeque that alleviates the aforementioned purposes.

OBJECTS

Some of the objects of the present disclosure, which at least one embodiment herein satisfies, are as follows:

An object of the present disclosure is to provide a hotplate assembly.

Another object of the present disclosure is to provide a hotplate assembly that functions at an extra low voltage.

Yet another object of the present disclosure is to provide a hotplate assembly which is economical, environmentally friendly, efficient and reliable.

Other objects and advantages of the present disclosure will be more apparent from the following description, which is not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.

Summary of Invention

The present invention provides a cook top assembly including:

a metal cooking plate; an uninsulated electrical heating element operable at extra low voltage; an insulating block or element block housing the element wherein the underside of the plate and the block is positioned to form an air gap or void thereby heating the cooking plate.

Preferably, the assembly is being included in a barbecue.

Preferably, the assembly comprises two sets of two elements

embedded in the block.

Preferably, the elements are laid in parallel.

Preferably, the block is ceramic.

Preferably, the air gap or void is at least 5mm.

Preferably, low voltage ranges from about 22V to 28V.

Preferably, the element comprises 1200°C Kanthal element wire.

In another aspect, the present invention provides a method of

assembling a cook top assembly as described above, the method

including: positioning a metal cooking plate and an uninsulated electrical heating element operable at extra low voltage, said element embedded in an insulating block to form an air gap or void thereby heating the cooking plate.

Preferably, low voltage ranges from about 22V to 24V.

Preferably, the element comprises 1200°C Kanthal thin element wire.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWING

A hotplate assembly for electric barbeques of the present disclosure will now be described with the help of the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure la and lb illustrate a top view and bottom view of ceramic element housing of the electric barbeque with wire elements provided thereon, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

Figure 2a and 2b illustrates a schematic front view and side view of a wire element of first type in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

Figure 2c and 2d illustrates a schematic front view and side view of a wire element of second type in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

Figure 3a illustrates a perspective view of the ceramic element housing, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

Figures 3b, 3c, 3d, 3e illustrate front view, side view, rear view and top view of the ceramic element housing of Figure 3a, respectively;

Figures 4a-4f illustrate geometric views the ceramic element housing, in accordance with another embodiment of the present disclosure;

Figures 5a-5d show the a stainless-steel bar with terminals for connecting to the extra low voltage power supply;

Figures 6a-6b show the another stainless-steel bar with terminals for connecting to the extra low voltage power supply;

Figure 7 illustrates a schematic view of the two types of wire elements when placed together; and

Figure 8 illustrates an exploded view of the barbeque of the present disclosure.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

100 - Barbeque

30 - Cooking plate

40 - Wire element

40a - First type wire element

40b - Second type wire element

50 - Ceramic element housing

75 - First type of interconnect bar

80 - Second type of interconnect bar

85 - Electric terminals

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments, of the present disclosure, will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawing.

Embodiments are provided so as to thoroughly and fully convey the scope of the present disclosure to the person skilled in the art. Numerous details, are set forth, relating to specific components, and methods, to provide a complete understanding of embodiments of the present disclosure. It will be apparent to the person skilled in the art that the details provided in the embodiments should not be construed to limit the scope of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, well-known processes, well-known apparatus structures, and well-known techniques are not described in detail.

The terminology used, in the present disclosure, is only for the purpose of explaining a particular embodiment and such terminology shall not be considered to limit the scope of the present disclosure. As used in the present disclosure, the forms "a", "an" and "the" may be intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly suggests otherwise. The terms "comprises", "comprising", "including" and "having" are open-ended transitional phrases and therefore specify the presence of stated features, elements, modules, units and/or components, but do not forbid the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.

When an element is referred to as being "mounted on", "engaged to", "connected to" or "coupled to" another element, it may be directly on, engaged, connected or coupled to the other element. As used herein, the term "and/or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed elements.

The terms first, second, third, etc., should not be construed to limit the scope of the present disclosure as the aforementioned terms may be only used to distinguish one element, component, region, layer or section from another component, region, layer or section. Terms such as first, second, third etc., when used herein do not imply a specific sequence or order unless clearly suggested by the present disclosure.

Terms such as "inner", "outer", "beneath", "below", "lower", "above", "upper" and the like, may be used in the present disclosure to describe relationships between different elements as depicted from the figures.

The prior combination of various types of electrical and thermal insulation has proven to be very successful in both heating and energy saving. A totally different method was required to cover the issues that arise when an appliance becomes flooded or water damaged. The method for maintenance and repair for such damaged appliances currently involves removal of the plate or element and all insulation, which is expensive and time consuming.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a cook top assembly which is suitable for incorporation into a barbecue and which addresses the problems of cook top assemblies known in the prior art.

A preferred embodiment of a hotplate assembly for electric barbeques, of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to Figure la through Figure 8.

Figure la and lb illustrate a top view and bottom view of a heating element provided on ceramic element housing 25, respectively.

The present disclosure envisages the use of two types of wire elements for heating. Figure 2a and 2b illustrates a schematic front view and side view of a wire element of first type in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 2c and 2d illustrates a schematic front view and side view of a wire element of second type in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

The new element design is configured to heat the entire air gap between element housing 50 and the stainless-steel cooking plate/surface 30 which results in more even plate temperature. Such even temperature was not possible with prior element designs. The use of high temperature element wire increases the void temperatures internally and thereby decreases the initial heat up time and power usage. The ceramic machined housing 50 is water resistant and if wet will dry out with use, eliminating the need to replace any insulation.

In an embodiment, a thinner, high temperature '1200°C Kanthal element wire is used to increase the length of the combined elements 40 by three times, thus increasing the coverage across the cooking plate/surface area 30. A combination of four separate elements (two 40a and two 40b) in parallel is inlaid into a specially designed high temperature solid ceramic base which simply drops into the existing element housing 50. This eliminates all the conventional thermal insulations that were used earlier.

A convenient power supply for a cook top assembly of the type discussed above is a solar power supply which may be supplied in combination with the cook top assembly or with the barbecue mounting and cook top assembly. Alternatively the cook top assembly may be supplied in combination with a switch mode power supply for powering of the cook top assembly from a relatively high power mains supply such as a 240V AC supply.

Other input sources within the scope of the invention include

DC/photovoltaic, alternators, wind generators, heat-exchange and other

electrical power sources.

If AC voltage higher than 42V is used, transformer (20) is used to step down the voltage to less than 42V, and ideally within a range of about 22V to 28V, with a preferred embodiment at around 24V. The preferred embodiment uses a toriodal transformer, but alternatives would be apparent to one of skill in the art, such as step down transformers and switch mode power supplies.

One of the advantages of the present invention is that, the Mica paper layer of electrical insulation was also eliminated as the elements would no longer be compressed against the cooking plate but will be separated by a minimum 5mm air gap. Figures 4a-4f illustrates a cross section of the hotplate assembly of the present disclosure. This air gap is heated via the elements and the heat from this heated air is transmitted to the cooking plate/surface 30.

Figures 5a-5d and 6a-6b show the first and second type of stainless-steel bars/plates (75 and 80) with terminals 85 for connecting to the extra low voltage power supply. Figure 7 shows the interconnect bars (75, 80) while Figures 3a-3e shows them installed into the rear of the ceramic block 50. Fig 8 shows an exploded view of the barbeque.

The hotplate assembly of the present invention works satisfactorily at extra low voltage, and hence prove to be economical, environmentally friendly, efficient and reliable.

For purposes of this application, the following definitions apply to

various terms:

"low voltage" means between 1V and 42V, and ideally within a range

of about 22V to 28V, with a preferred voltage of around 24V.

A cook top assembly of the type described may be provided in combination with a

solar panel power supply using a 24V DC nominal standard solar regulator.

Alternatively the cook top assembly may be run from mains power. In that event it

is recommended that an efficient switch mode power supply be used to convert the

240V mains power to 24V rather than a transformer with its associated losses.

The foregoing description of the embodiments has been provided for purposes of illustration and not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Individual components of a particular embodiment are generally not limited to that particular embodiment, but, are interchangeable. Such variations are not

to be regarded as a departure from the present disclosure, and all such modifications are considered to be within the scope of the present disclosure.

TECHNICAL ADVANCEMENTS

The present disclosure described herein above has several technical advantages including, but not limited to, the realization of a hotplate assembly for electric barbeques which:

can be installed in conventional barbeques;

• saves energy;

• reduces the time required for initiating cooking on the barbeque; and

* functions efficiently on extra lower voltage supply.

The embodiments herein and the various features and advantageous details thereof are explained with reference to the non-limiting embodiments in the following description. Descriptions of well-known components and processing techniques are omitted so as to not unnecessarily obscure the embodiments herein. The examples used herein are intended merely to facilitate an understanding of ways in which the embodiments herein may be practiced and to further enable those of skill in the art to practice the embodiments herein. Accordingly, the examples should not be construed as limiting the scope of the embodiments herein.

The foregoing description of the specific embodiments so fully reveal the general nature of the embodiments herein that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily modify and/or adapt for various applications such specific embodiments without departing from the generic concept, and, therefore, such adaptations and modifications should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalents of the disclosed embodiments. It is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation. Therefore, while the embodiments herein have been described in terms of preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the embodiments herein can be practiced with modification within the spirit and scope of the embodiments as described herein.

While considerable emphasis has been placed herein on the components and component parts of the preferred embodiments, it will be appreciated that many embodiments can be made and that many changes can be made in the preferred embodiments without departing from the principles of the disclosure. These and other changes in the preferred embodiment as well as other embodiments of the disclosure will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the disclosure herein, whereby it is to be distinctly understood that the foregoing descriptive matter is to be interpreted merely as illustrative of the disclosure and not as a limitation.

Claims (1)

1. Claims

   The claims defining the invention are as follows:

   Claim 1

   A cook top assembly including:

   a metal cooking plate;

   an uninsulated electrical heating element operable at extra low voltage;

   an insulating block or element block housing the element

   wherein the underside of the plate and the block is positioned to form an air gap or

   void thereby heating the cooking plate.

   .0

   Claim 2

   The cook top assembly as claimed in claim 1, the assembly being included in a

   barbecue.

   Claim 3

   .s The cook top assembly as defined in any one of claims 1 or 2 comprising two sets of

   two elements embedded in the block.

   Claim 4

   The assembly according to claim 3 wherein the elements are laid in parallel.

   Claim 5

   The assembly according to any one of claims 1-4 wherein the block is ceramic.

   Claim 6

   The assembly according to any one of claims 1-5 wherein the air gap or void is at

   least 5mm.

   Claim 7

   The assembly according to any one of claims 1 to 6 wherein low voltage ranges from about 22V to 28V.

   Claim 8 The assembly according to any one of claims 1 to 7 wherein the element comprises .0 1200°C Kanthal element wire.

   Claim 9

   A method of assembling a cook top assembly as defined in claim 1, the method

   including:

   .5 positioning a metal cooking plate and an uninsulated electrical heating element

   operable at extra low voltage, said element embedded in an insulating block to form

   an air gap or void thereby heating the cooking plate.

   Claim 10

   The method according to claim 9 wherein low voltage ranges from about 22V to 28V.

   Claim 11 The method according to any one of claims 9 or 10 wherein the element comprises 1200°C Kanthal element wire.

   1 /11 2022201387

   Figure 1a Figure 1b

   2 /11 2022201387

   40a

   Figure 2a Figure 2b

   3 /11 2022201387

   40b

   Figure 2c Figure 2d

   4 /11 2022201387

   50

   40

   Figure 3a 40 50 50 50

   Figure 3b Figure 3c Figure 3d Figure 3b

   5 /11

   Figure 3e

   6 /11 2022201387

   50

   40

   Figure 4a 50 50

   Figure 4c Figure 4b

   7 /11 2022201387

   50

   Figure 4d 50

   Figure 4e Figure 4f

   8 /11 2022201387

   75 85

   Figure 5a 75

   Figure 5b

   85 75

   Figure 5c 75

   Figure 5d

   9 /11 2022201387

   80 85

   Figure 6a Figure 6b

   10 /11 2022201387

   40a 40b 40a

   40b Figure 7

   11 /11 2022201387

   100

   30

   40

   50

   Figure 8