DE202022001524U1 - Grill tongs with cleaning function - Google Patents

Abstract

Barbecue tongs with a cleaning function with two legs (1) and gripping jaws (2) for handling the food to be grilled, characterized in that the gripping jaws (2) are of the same design and have sharp edges, and that when the grill tongs are closed they lie parallel and congruent in the sharp-edged area.

Description

The invention relates to grill tongs which, in addition to holding and handling food to be grilled, also allow the grill grate to be cleaned during and after the grilling process.

Grilling tongs of known design work on the principle of tongs or tweezers and are used during the grilling process to place, move and remove the grilled food such as meat, sausages, fish or vegetables on the grill.

Where the food to be grilled comes into contact with the grillage, unwanted caking occurs on the grillage during the grilling process, which can be harmful to health and impede the evenness of the grilling process.

Cleaning methods are known for the grill grates usually made of cast iron, stainless steel or chrome-plated metal after the grilling process. The baked-on dirt on the grill grate is treated with aqueous solutions such as cola, baking soda solution or other softening liquids after the grilling process and then removed mechanically.

Another possibility is the thermal heating of the grill grates until charring or incineration of baked-on impurities, which are then removed mechanically.

In the case of purely mechanical cleaning processes, special grill grate spatulas or other special cleaning devices are used in addition to wire brushes.

The disadvantage is that the food to be grilled comes into contact with baked-on dirt during the grilling process, when turning the food to be grilled and, above all, when using the grill grate surfaces that have already been used. To prevent this, the grate with caked-on dirt must be replaced with a clean grate before additional grilled food is placed on it, or it must be cleaned with special cleaning equipment during the grilling process.

U.S. 8,256,808 B2 describes grilling tongs in combination with a stapler and an optional sharpened edge that can be used as a knife for slicing food. In addition, a container is described which is used to hold the tongs and accommodate sauces, for example.

DE 203 10 547 U1 discloses a grill grate cleaner for mechanical cleaning of grill grates with rods of different diameters. At the front end, the cleaning device has a flange with a number of grooves whose cross-sections have different diameters. After selecting the right radius, the round rods can be freed from unwanted adhesions by simply scraping them off.

DE 20 2013 011 358 U1 and DE 20 2013 005 601 U1 describe a grill grate spatula with adjustable individual cleaning teeth. Both the radii of the semicircular serrations and the distances between the individual serrations can be variably adjusted in order to optimally clean round grill grate rods mechanically by scraping them off.

DE 20 2017 002 108 U1 shows a grill grate cleaner for mechanical coarse cleaning of the grill device. At the ends of the bar-shaped grill grate cleaner there are tools that are used for rough cleaning of the grill grate bars on the one hand and hard-to-reach areas of the grill device on the other. After the rough cleaning has been completed, the final cleaning can then be easily carried out with a wire brush and cloth, for example.

DE 20 2004 001 863 U1 describes a cleaning device for the mechanical cleaning of grill grates, at the front end of which are angled V- or U-shaped tines, with which extensive cleaning is possible by pushing on the individual grill grate bars.

DE 299 06 603 U1 discloses a spatula-like grill grate cleaner with an adjustable cutout located at the front end, with which the different radii of the grill grate bars can be taken into account during mechanical cleaning by scraping movement.

DE 10 2006 051 272 A1 shows a grill grate cleaner at the front end of a push/pull rod, a scraper body is attached, which can be adjusted to the dimensions of the grill grate rods. In the case of mechanical cleaning, the scraper body is effective both when pulling and when pushing.

DE 20 2005 012 261 U1 includes a cleaning tool for grill grates designed as pliers or tweezers, which is suitable for mechanical cleaning of rod-shaped or tubular objects. When the tongs/tweezers are closed, the cleaning blades, which correspond to the size of the grill grate bars, grip the grill grate bars up to 100%.

US 5,934,721A discloses a multifunctional adjustable barbecue tongs, which has a straight cutting edge that can be used as a knife at the front end of the gripping surfaces of one leg and at the front End of the other leg includes prong-like recesses with cutting edges. The prong-like recesses serve to get under the grilled food and to lift it better.
Smooth surfaces of the grill grate can be cleaned with the straight cutting edge.
With the prong-like recesses at the front end of the other leg, differently shaped surfaces can be cleaned.
The disadvantage is that the prong-like recesses with the cutting edge must be adapted to the shape and arrangement of the grilling grate bars in order to be able to clean the corresponding grilling grate bars optimally.
Another disadvantage is that cleaning has to be done with the tongs open so that the given shape of the grill grate bars is as close as possible (smooth surface with angled cross-sections of the grill grate bars - cleaning using a straight cutting edge or curved surfaces with curved cross-sections of the grill grate bars - cleaning using the prong-like recesses) . The gripping surfaces of the grill tongs that come into contact with the food to be grilled are inevitably contaminated with the unwanted caking that has been removed.

The object of the invention is to be able to clean the areas of the grill grate that come into contact with the food to be grilled with the grill tongs during the grilling process without using other tools. This should be possible as universally as possible with differently shaped grill grate rods. In addition, contamination of the food to be grilled with the removed unwanted caking should be ruled out by the grill tongs.

According to the invention, the object is achieved by grill tongs of a known type with two legs (1) and gripping jaws (2) for handling the food to be grilled, in which the gripping jaws (2) are of the same design and have sharp edges. The sharp-edged areas of the gripping jaws (3, 4) are parallel and congruent when the grill tongs are closed.

With the closed grilling tongs, unwanted dirt adhering to the grilling grate bars can be removed during the grilling process by pressing and sliding the sharp-edged gripping jaws (2) over the grilling grate bars without contaminating the inner surfaces of the gripping jaws that come into contact with the food to be grilled.

By turning the closed grill tongs slightly with respect to the longitudinal axis while scraping off baked-on dirt, all areas of the grill grate surfaces that come into contact with the food to be grilled can be covered as far as possible.

The scraped-off dirt falls off the grill grate rods or settles on the outer surfaces of the gripping jaws (2) of the grill tongs, where they can be easily wiped off or scraped off.

The grill tongs, like grill tongs of a known type, are advantageously made up of two legs (1) which are movably connected to one another via a joint, with one side of the legs (1) being designed as a handle and the other side of the legs (1) on the front end gripping jaws (2) for handling the food to be grilled.

Like barbecue tongs of a known type, the barbecue tongs can also be constructed like tweezers from two arms (1) which are resiliently connected to one another at one end and have gripping jaws (2) at the other end.

According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the sharp-edged areas of the gripping jaws have angled and/or conic section-like contours (3, 4).

With the angled and/or conical contours (3, 4) of the sharp-edged areas of the gripping jaws, dirt is stripped off or removed from the grill grate. These configurations allow the greatest possible adaptation to the grill grate rods to be cleaned.

The legs of the angled contours (3) can be 1 mm to 20 mm long and the angle can be 30° to 180°. Grill grate rods with a flat contact surface can preferably be cleaned with the angled contours.

A conic section-like contour (4) of the sharp-edged areas of the gripping jaws can be parabolic, elliptical or hyperbolic. The length of the parabolic, elliptical or hyperbolic curvilinear contours is 1 mm to 20 mm long from the beginning to the end. Grill grate rods with a curved contact surface of the grill grate rods can preferably be cleaned with conic cut-like contours (4) of the sharp-edged areas of the gripping jaws of the grill tongs.

With the grill tongs according to the invention and their configurations, the inner surfaces of the gripping jaws that come into contact with the food to be grilled are not contaminated with the unwanted caking of the grill grates during the cleaning process during grilling.

With the grill tongs according to the invention, in addition to the conventional use of grill tongs, there is a simple, practicable solution for removing unwanted baked-on dirt from the grill grate mechanically, even during the grilling process and possibly afterwards, in order to largely avoid contact of food to be grilled with baked-on dirt.

This eliminates the need for special cleaning tools that are suitable for removing baked-on dirt from the grill grate during the grilling process.
The food to be grilled can thus be processed continuously without delay and contamination of the food to be grilled by the grill tongs according to the invention is ruled out.
The sharp-edged, angled and/or conical contours (3, 4) on the outer edges of the gripping jaws allow universal use with grill grates of various shapes and dimensions.
There are no costs for separate special cleaning tools.

• 1a Zangenartige Grillzange
• 1b Pinzettenartige Grillzange
• 2 Draufsicht einer Greifbacke mit winkligen Konturen
• 3 Draufsicht einer Greifbacke mit kegelschnittartiger Kontur
• 4 Draufsicht einer Greifbacke mit winkliger und kegelschnittartiger Kontur

Exemplary embodiments of the invention are explained in more detail on the basis of the accompanying illustrations. show:

• 1a Tong-like barbecue tongs
• 1b Tweezers-like barbecue tongs
• 2 Top view of a gripper jaw with angled contours
• 3 Top view of a gripping jaw with a conic section-like contour
• 4 Top view of a gripping jaw with an angled and conic section-like contour

1a and 1b show barbecue tongs of a known type, the gripping jaws (2) of which are modified in such a way that the gripping jaws (2) are of the same design and have sharp edges. The sharp-edged areas of the gripping jaws are parallel and congruent when the grill tongs are closed.

1 a shows a pair of tong-like barbecue tongs made of two legs (1) which are movably connected to one another via a joint. One side of the pliers legs is designed as a handle. The other side of the tongs has gripping jaws (2) at the front end for handling the food to be grilled.

1 b shows grilling tongs which are constructed like tweezers from two arms (1) which are resiliently connected to one another at one end and on the other side there are gripping jaws (2) for handling the food to be grilled.

With the grill tongs closed, dirt can be scraped off the grill grate without contaminating the inner surfaces of the gripper jaws.

2 shows a gripping jaw (2) in plan view, in which the sharp-edged area of the gripping jaw has two angled contours (3).

Both gripping jaws (2) of the grilling tongs are designed in the same way, so that when the grilling tongs are closed, the sharp-edged areas of the gripping jaws are parallel and congruent.

The grill tongs with the gripping jaws 2 is suitable for cleaning preferably grill grate rods with a smooth surface during the grilling process, without contaminating the inner surfaces of the gripper jaws with unwanted caking.

3 shows a gripping jaw (2) in plan view, in which the sharp-edged area of the gripping jaw has a sharp-edged contour (4) like a conic section.

Both gripping jaws (2) of the grilling tongs are designed in the same way, so that when the grilling tongs are closed, the sharp-edged areas of the gripping jaws are parallel and congruent.

The grill tongs with the gripping jaws (2) are now in place 3 Ideal for cleaning grill grate rods with a curved surface.

4 shows a gripping jaw (2) in plan view, in which the sharp-edged area of the gripping jaw has an angled (3) and a conic section-like (4) sharp-edged contour.

Both gripping jaws (2) of the grilling tongs are designed in the same way, so that when the grilling tongs are closed, the sharp-edged areas of the gripping jaws are parallel and congruent.

With grill tongs with gripping jaws 4 both grill rods with a smooth or curved surface can be cleaned.

Reference List

(1)

leg

(2)

gripping jaws

(3)

sharp angular contours

(4)

sharp-edged conic section-like contours

QUOTES INCLUDED IN DESCRIPTION

This list of documents cited by the applicant was generated automatically and is included solely for the better information of the reader. The list is not part of the German patent or utility model application. The DPMA assumes no liability for any errors or omissions.

Patent Literature Cited

• US8256808B2 [0008]
• DE 20310547 U1 [0009]
• DE 202013011358 U1 [0010]
• DE 202013005601 U1 [0010]
• DE 202017002108 U1 [0011]
• DE 202004001863 U1 [0012]
• DE 29906603 U1 [0013]
• DE 102006051272 A1 [0014]
• DE 202005012261 U1 [0015]
• US5934721A [0016]

Claims (2)

Barbecue tongs with a cleaning function with two legs (1) and gripping jaws (2) for handling the food to be grilled, characterized in that the gripping jaws (2) are of the same design and have sharp edges, and that when the grill tongs are closed they lie parallel and congruent in the sharp-edged area. BBQ tongs after claim 1 , characterized in that the sharp-edged areas of the gripping jaws have angled and/or conic section-like contours (3, 4).

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