DE29502969U1 - Grill - Google Patents

Description

A18-94

AKO-ISMET Elektrogeräte GmbH & Co. KG Zeppelinstrasse 4 88353 Kißlegg

Description

Grill

The invention relates to a grill device with a drip tray that can be filled with water and with an electric tubular heating element arranged between the drip tray and a grill grate, wherein a switching device switches off the tubular heating element in the event of an overtemperature.

Such grills are well-known on the market. They are designed to be placed on a table. The food to be grilled is placed on the grill grate. The drip tray filled with water is used to collect fat dripping from the food. The water filling prevents the fat from burning on the drip tray. The water filling also acts as a heat shield by preventing excessive heat radiation towards the table.

After a certain period of operation, the water will have evaporated under the effect of the radiant heat of the tubular heating element, which is located above the water level. The radiant heat then acts directly on the drip tray. To avoid overheating, a temperature sensor connected to a switching device records the temperature of the drip tray. If the temperature is too high, the tubular heating element is switched off by the switching device.

switched off. This process is very slow, as the switch-off can only take place when the temperature of the entire drip tray or at least a large part of the drip tray is above the high water temperature required for operation. This is unfortunate because during this relatively long reaction time, fat in the drip tray can burn and its radiant heat can be emitted outwards. It is also unfortunate that the tubular heating element can only be switched on again when the drip tray has cooled down to well below the switch-off temperature. This can take a long time, so that grilling is significantly interrupted.

The object of the invention is to construct a grill device of the type mentioned at the beginning in such a way that the switching device responds quickly when the water evaporates.

According to the invention, the above object is achieved in that a heat-conducting sensor body is connected to the tubular heating element in a heat-conducting or heat-radiation-absorbing manner, that a part of the sensor body extends into the water-absorbing area of the drip tray and that the sensor body is connected to the switching device.

The sensor body is brought to a temperature via the heat-conducting connection with the tubular heating element that is significantly higher than the temperature at which the water evaporates. Since part of the sensor is in the water when there is sufficient water in the drip tray, its temperature is significantly reduced compared to the temperature of the tubular heating element. At this temperature, the switching device does not respond. However, if the water level in the drip tray drops so far as a result of the evaporation of the water that the above-mentioned part of the sensor body is also outside the water, the water can no longer reduce the temperature of the sensor body, so that the sensor body as a whole is heated by the

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Tubular heating element is quickly brought to a very high temperature at which the switching device switches off the tubular heating element. This happens before the drip tray itself reaches a very high temperature. In any case, the switching device does not depend on the drip tray reaching an overtemperature. This ensures that even if the water on the drip tray has mostly evaporated, fat does not burn and that the drip tray does not emit excessive heat radiation to the outside.

If the heater is switched off, the sensor body cools down quickly and allows - after refilling with water - the tubular heater to be switched on again without having to interrupt grilling for a longer period of time.

Another advantage is that the tubular heater switches off quickly when the assembly consisting of the tubular heater and the switching device is removed from the drip tray and placed on a table. There is therefore no risk of the table overheating.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the part of the sensor body that runs in the water-absorbing area of the drip tray is laid at a distance from the bottom of the drip tray. The described response of the switching device occurs when the water level in the drip tray is lower than the distance of the said part of the sensor body from the bottom of the drip tray. The response of the switching device is therefore not dependent on the drip tray being free of water.

Preferably, an optical and/or acoustic display device is connected to the switching device. This gives a warning signal when the water in the drip tray

has evaporated to such an extent that the part of the sensor body mentioned is above the water level. The tubular heating element does not have to switch off at the same time. The tubular heating element can switch off with a certain delay. The grill operation is not interrupted if water is refilled into the drip tray within the delay time.

Further advantageous embodiments of the invention emerge from the subclaims and the following description of exemplary embodiments. The drawing shows:

Figure 1 is a schematic sectional view of a grill,

Figure 2 is a partial view enlarged compared to Figure 1 and Figure 3 is a circuit diagram.

A table grill has a drip tray (2) underneath a tubular heating element (1) that runs in several turns. A removable grill grate (3) is provided above the tubular heating element (1).

The drip tray (2) must be filled with water (4) for grill operation. The water level (5) is below the tubular heating element (1).

One end (6) of a sensor body (7) with good heat conduction is bent and riveted around the cross-section of the tubular heater (1) and is thus connected to it in a heat-conducting and mechanical manner. The sensor body (7) is designed in the form of a strip or wire. It is made of a metal, for example copper or aluminum.

The end(6) is followed by a part(8) of the

sensor body (7) which runs in the direction of the bottom of the drip tray (2). A part (9) of the sensor body (7) extends in the water-absorbing area of the drip tray (2) parallel to the bottom of the drip tray (2). The sensor body (7) then forms a further part (10) which extends from the drip tray (2) to a bimetal regulator (11) as a switching device. The part (10) is connected in a heat-conducting manner to a screw (12) of the bimetal regulator (11). A tab (13) supporting the tubular heating element (1) is also located on the screw (12). The bimetal regulator (11) is arranged in a switch housing (14) which has a push button (15) for switching the tubular heating element (1) on and off. Electrically, the push button (15) and the switching contact (11') of the bimetal regulator (11) are connected in series. The tubular heating element (1), the switch housing (14) and the sensor body (7) form an assembly that can be handled separately from the drip tray (2). This can be removed from the drip tray (2).

The switching state is displayed by means of an optical and/or acoustic display device (16). This is integrated into the push button (15).

In the embodiment, the part (9) of the sensor body (7) is laid directly on the bottom of the drip tray (2). In another embodiment, the part (9) of the sensor body (7) can run parallel to the bottom of the drip tray (2) at a distance from it. Here too, however, the part (9) is located significantly below the filling water level (5).

The functionality of the sensor body (7) described is essentially as follows:

In grill mode, where the filling water level (5) initially exists, the food placed on the grill grate (3) is heated by the radiant heat of the

Tubular heating element (1). Any fat that comes out drips into the water (4). The water (4) is also heated by the radiant heat from the tubular heating element (1) and gradually evaporates. The end (6) of the sensor body (7) which is in heat-conducting connection with the tubular heating element (1) is heated to a very high temperature, for example around 500 ⁰ C. However, the temperature does not yet have a decisive effect on the bimetal regulator (11) because it is reduced in particular in the part (9) of the sensor body (7) which extends through the water (4). The part (9) of the sensor body (7) is preferably designed to be longer than the end (6) in the longitudinal direction of the sensor body (7).

When the water (4) has evaporated to such an extent that the water level (5) has sunk to or below the part (9), i.e. the part (9) is more or less in the air, the high temperature of the tubular heating element (1) emanating from the end (6) is hardly reduced any more, so that the high temperature now quickly affects the bimetal regulator (11). Its switching contact (11') opens, whereby the tubular heating element (1) is switched off and the display device (16) is switched on (see Fig. 3). In the drip tray (2) there may still be water residues binding the dripped fat. These do not evaporate further. In particular, the fat does not burn and the drip tray (2) does not reach such high temperatures that could lead to damaging heat radiation to the outside or damage to the drip tray (2).

If the part (9) of the sensor body (7) is at a distance from the bottom of the drip tray (2), the high temperature of the tubular heating element (1) already affects the switching device (ll) when there is still a certain water level in the drip tray (2), so there is neither an immediate danger of fat burning nor of the drip tray (2) becoming too hot. The

The residual water level guaranteed by the distance can be used to switch on the indicator device before the tubular heating element (1) switches off. During grilling, it is then possible to refill water in response to the signal from the indicator device before the tubular heating element (1) switches off and thus inevitably interrupts grilling. It is also possible to use a known hydraulic temperature sensor as the sensor body, in which a liquid is located in a tube that expands in accordance with the increase in temperature.

Claims (9)

Grill requirements 1. Grill with a drip tray that can be filled with water and an electric tubular heating element arranged between this and a grill grate, whereby a switching device switches off the tubular heating element in the event of an overtemperature, characterized, that a heat-conducting sensor body (7) is connected to the tubular heating element (l) in a heat-conducting or heat-radiation-absorbing manner, that a part (9) of the sensor body (7) extends into the water-absorbing area of the drip tray (2) and that the sensor body (7) is connected to the switching device (d1). 2. Grill according to claim 1,
characterized, that the part (9) of the sensor body (7) extending in the water-absorbing area of the drip tray (2) lies, viewed in the length of the sensor body (7), between the end (6) connected in a heat-conducting manner to the tubular heating element (1) and the end (10) connected to the switching device (11). 3. Grill according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the part (9) of the sensor body (7) running in the water-absorbing area of the drip tray (2) runs at a distance from the bottom of the drip tray (2). 4. Grill according to claim 3,
characterized, that the said part{9) of the sensor body(7) runs parallel to the water level(5). 5,- Grill according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the sensor body (7) is strip-shaped or wire-shaped. 6. Grill according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that that the sensor body (7) is made of a metal with good heat conduction. 7. Grill according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the sensor body (7) is made of copper or aluminum. 8. Grill according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that one end (6) of the sensor body (7) is bent around the tubular heater (1). 9. Grill according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that an optical and/or acoustic display device is connected to the switching device{ll).