GB2354156A

GB2354156A - A cooker for doner kebabs

Info

Publication number: GB2354156A
Application number: GB0010424A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Coskun N Irfan; Eyvaz Yilmaz; Ozgur M Irfan
Original assignee: Inoksan Mutfak San Ve Tic A S
Current assignee: Inoksan Mutfak San Ve Tic A S
Priority date: 1999-09-16
Filing date: 2000-04-28
Publication date: 2001-03-21
Anticipated expiration: 2020-04-28
Also published as: IT250960Y1; FR2798573A1; ITAN20000020V0; ITAN20000020U1; FR2798573B3; GB2354156B; GB0010424D0; NL1015948C1

Abstract

A cooker for cooking doner kebab meat comprises a body having upper 1 and lower 2 parts, a spit 6 attached to the lower body part 2, a holding arm 7, heaters 4 and a tray 18. The meat is held on the spit 6 which may be swung towards or away from the heaters 4 by moving the holding arm 7 within bearing means 17. A protective plate 5 in the form of a single piece of arc-shaped glass covers the heating elements 4 to protect them from dirt and grease. The glass may be transparent, semi-transparent or coloured. It preferably has a radius of curvature of 235mm and a width of 340mm. The heating elements 4, which are preferably ceramic-fibre heaters formed under vacuum, are controlled by a control unit, and may be moved towards and away from the meat by movement of rollers (13, fig.5) and slide elements (12, 14, fig.5). The holding arm 7 may be fastened to the stainless steel body. The position of the holding arm 7 may be adjusted by unscrewing the threaded rod 8 and moving the holding arm 7 within the bearing means 17.

Description

2354156 A COOKER FOR DONER KEBABS

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a cooker for cooking doner kebabs uniformly and homogeneously, and for providing a hygienic cooking as well as a uniform heat transfer onto the said kebabs.

Background Art

Today, the doner kebabs is known to be cooked on doner furnaces in fast food centers, restaurants, etc. A conventional doner furnace basically comprise at least one heater, a vertical spit which rotates at a predetermined speed across the said heater to perform a io desired cooking of the doner kebab thereon, and a tray under the said spit for collecting melted fat wastes. The heaters can be operated electrically or by a gas supply. The vertical spit is maken closer to heaters by the adjustment openings at the top of the main body. This adjustment of the spit location is provided by a horizontal movement thereof. In case that the doner set on the spit against the heater is of a conical shape, the meat at the upper section cooks quickly, whereas the lower section of which requires more time to cook. In other words, it is not possible to obtain a homogenous cooking.

In conventional doner furnaces, the fat of the cooked materials spreads onto the heaters during cooking and this leads to an unhygienic ambience and also an unpleasant appearance. Several multi-part glass protectors are employed to prevent this unpleasant appearance. However, since these glass protectors are not present in form of a single complete piece, a special effort is required to clean the glass.

Another important drawback of the doner furnaces is that they do not have a movable body (heaters). Since the body of the existing doner furnaces is stationary, it is required to push doner by the help of hand in order to bring it closer to the beater. Consequently, said adjustment by this way causes the doner either to shift irregularly or to come out of its correct location or to contact the heater due to excessive pushing which results in the burning of the meat, in turn.

2 Description of The Invention

The object of the present invention is to provide an improved cooker for cooking doner kebabs uniformly and homogeneously.

It is still another object of the present invention is to provide a cooker that enables a hygienic operation conditions thereof According to present invention a cooker comprising an upper body and a lower body at which a spit for holding or carrying doner meat thereon is provided, and heaters operated by a heater control unit, a tray located on the lower body and a holding arm for positional arrangement of said spit manually by swinging movement and a slide-way apparatus for moving said heaters, and a protector layer serving as a barricade between the doner meat and the heaters to prevent the undesired fat spreading onto the latter and a hol der element is provided in bearing means fastened to a stainless carcass by engaging at least near the top region of said spit for said swinging movement.

The protector layer having a radius of curvature is embodied at least an arc-like single piece glass for providing a homogenous cooking of doner meat and for preventing fat spreading thereof Sledge means comprising rolling means, and slidable elements over one another via said rolling means therebetween is provided for displacing of the heating means.

Consequently, the distance between the upper and lower sections of the doner meat and the heaters can be kept constant, even if the meat is placed or wrapped in a conical shape. In other words, it is possible to obtain a homogenous heating by swinging movement of the top point of the spit and so keeping the distance proper between do ner meat and heaters in a bearing.

The glass protector has a radius of curvature and is embodied at least an arc-like single piece glass. Due to its complete single design, it is easier to clean the glass when desired. The circular construction wraps the meat to provide the uniform and homogenous cooking of wider slices.

Said glass has a special embodiment as well as thermal conduction properties so that the cooking efficiency is increased by providing a soft and direct heat exposure onto the meat.

3 The upper body of the cooker is movable and the heaters are made closer to the meat by means of an slide-way mechanism. Thus, it is easier to bring the heaters closer to the meat and the movement can be kept at a desired adjustment. Moreover, ceramic-fiber heaters formed under vacuum are embodied in the doner furnace. By this way, it is possible to keep the weight of the furnace rather low, as compared to those of its competitors including brick and ceramic heaters. As these heaters in three vertical rows can be controlled separately, it is possible to save energy when the doner meat gets thinner by turning off the desired rows.

Description of Figures

Figure I is a perspective view of the doner furnace.

Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view showing the motor part of the furnace.

Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view of a slipway construction of the furnace.

Figure 4 is a cross-sectional perspective view of a chassis.

Figure 5 is a perspective view of the disassembly of the said chassis.

Figure 6 is a perspective view of the motion way of a spit.

Figure 7 is an exploded perspective view of the doner furnace according to invention.

Reference Numbers I. Upper Body 12. Inner bearing sheets 2. Lower body 13. Rolling means 3. Carcass 14. Outer bearing sheets 4. Heaters 15. Fixation sheet 5. Protector layer 16. Connection sheet 6. Spit 17. Bearing means 7. Holder element 17a. Adjustment opening 8. Tightening handle 18. Tray 9. Motor 19. Holding arm 10. Motor connection piece 20. V bearings 11. Supporting group 21. Heater control unit 4 Detailed Description of The Invention

As seen in Figure 1, a spit (6), on which the meat is to be wrapped, and a lower body (2) supporting said spit (6) from bottom and are located on a stainless upper body (1). In order to keep said spit in a desired position, a stainless carcass (3) and a bearing means (17) lying parallel from said carcass (3) to the floor are embodied. At one end of said bearing (17), there is a spit holder element (7), said element enabling an swinging movement of the spit (6) by a horizontal axis of rotation at one end disposed in lower body. Within the bearing (17) providing angle, a tightening handle (8) comprising of a bolt head and sections for screw is used to fix the moving holder element (7).. The tightening handle (8) moves within the adjustment opening (17a) to form desired angle and to provide proper fixing. The tightening handle (8) is screwed to the holder element (7). When it is required to form an angle, the tightening handle (8) is loosened to provide the movement of the holder element (7) within the bearing (17). When it is needed to fix the spit (6) connected to the holder element (7), the tightening handle (8) is tightened to provide the fixing of the 15 spit (6). A holding arm (19) allows the spit (6) to be adjusted appropriately. There is a motor under a tray (18) seated on said lower body (2), said motor allowing the spit (6) to rotate perpendicular to said lower body (2) so as to cook the meat entirely as the spit (6) is rotated through this axis by the motor (9). It is also possible to rotate the spit (6) manually, using said holding arm (19) in case the operator may require to do so. The 20 control of electric heaters (4) is carried out by a heater control unit (21) and the electrical heaters (4) for cooking the meat wrapped on the spit (6) is provided with a protector layer (5) having a arc-like shape. The arc-like shape of said protector layer (5) having a radius of curvature ensures to cook the meat more homogeneously. The protector layer (5) preferably made up of glass serves as an barricade between the material to be cooked and 25 the heater to prevent the undesired fat spreading onto the heater. Furthermore, it is easier to clean the protector layer (5) since it is arc-like shape and a complete single piece. The protector layer (5), which is one of the most important embodiments of the apparatus provided according to the invention, can be employed optionally as transparent, semitransparent or colored. In an embodiment of the invention, said arc-like shaped protector 30 layer can be embodied with a radius of curvature of 200-3 00 mm, preferably 23 5 min and a width of 300-400 mm, preferably 340 nim. Further characteristics of the glass protector layer are as follows:

Thermal Load Capacity:

Maximum temperature for continuous operation (100- 10 - 000 hrs) 680 OC Maximum temperature for short-term operation (< 100 hrs) 750 OC Thermal expansion coefficient a 20-700 OC (0.0 0.3) x 10-'K-' Resistance to thermal gradients (RTG) max. Temp. gradient for continuous operation (>I 00 hrs) 650 K min. temp. gradient for short-term operation (< 100 hrs) 750 K Thermal shock resistance (TSR) The material will be unaffected by rapid cooling to ambient temperature from maximum allowable operating temperatures.

Specific gravity p 2.56 g/CM3 Tensile strength in bending (surface at normal operating condition) 30 N/mm.' Figure 2 illustrates a motor (9) placed on the lower body (2) via the lower body supporting group (11). Said motor (9) provides the automatic rotation of the spit (6) whose axis of rotation is in vertical direction with respect to floor and therefore uniform cooking of the meat wrapped on the spit. The motor (9) is disposed in the lower body supporting group 5 (11) by means of a motor connection piece (10).

Figure 3 is the cross-section of a sledge means of the furnace. A slipping bearing fixation sheet (15) and an outer bearing sheets (14) above the inner sheet are fixed to the lower body (2) with a connection element. The inner bearing sheets (12) can move over the outer bearing sheet (14) with the help of rolling means, preferably balls, (13) therebetween and this movement is transmitted to the upper body (1) with the connection sheet (16). In this way, the upper body (1) and the heaters (4) connected thereon are moved to arrange their distance. from the doner meat. The movement is carried out by said rolling means (13) placed within V bearings (20).

Moreover ceramic-fiber said heaters (4) formed under vacuum are embodied in the doner furnace. By this way, it is possible to keep the weight of the furnace rather low, as compared to those of its competitors including brick and ceramic heaters. As these heaters in three vertical rows can be controlled separately, it is possible to save energy when the doner meat gets thinner by turning off the desired rows.

6 The figures 4 and 5 show the perspective view of the cross-section and disassembly of the lower body (chassis). In this view, in the apparatus, the slipping bearing fixation sheet (15) and the outer bearing sheet (14) are assembled to each other, said apparatus being placed within the lower body (2) mounted to the upper body (1) and the connection sheet (16).

The rolling means (13) placed in the V bearings (20) of the outer bearing sheet (14) can stand inside the V bearings by means of inner bearing sheets (12). In other words, the inner bearing sheets (12) cover the rolling means (13) to allow them to hide inside the V bearings (20) and to move. The balls move parallel to one another.

Preferably, totally 6 balls (13) are used, as being three in the upper and three in the lower io section. Thus, it is possible to bring the heaters (4) closer to the material to be cooked.

In Figure 6, the swinging movement of the spit (6) as described in Figure I and this swinging movement is illustrated with the aid of dash lines. The swinging movement provided in this way makes it possible to cook all parts of the meat, uniformly and homogeneously.

Figure 7 shows the perspective view of the doner furnace in exploded form, described in the previous figures.

7

Claims

1. A cooker for cooking doner kebabs uniformly and homogeneously, comprising an upper and a lower bodies at which a spit for holding doner meat is placed on the latter, and heaters operated by a heater control unit. a tray located on the lower body and a holding arm for positional arrangement of said spit manually by swinging movement against the heaters and a slide- way apparatus for moving said heaters, and a protector layer serving as a barricade between the doner meat and the heaters to prevent the undesired fat spreading onto the latter; characterized in that a holder element is provided in bearing means by engaging at least near the top region of said spit for said swinging movement of said spit in that said protector layer having a radius of curvature is embodied as at least an arc-like single piece glass for providing a homogenous cooking of doner meat and for preventing fat spreading thereof, and in that sledge means comprising rolling means and slidable elements over one another via said rolling means therebetween is provided for displacing of the heating means.

2. A cooker according to claim 1 characterized in that said holder element is embodied for rotating said spit about a horizontal axis.

3. A cooker according to claim I characterized in that said bearing means is fastened to a stainless carcass

4. A cooker according to claim I characterized in that said holder element is movable inside said bearing means for providing displacement of said spit

5. A cooker according to claim I characterized in that a tightening handle with a threaded rod disposed the axis thereof is embodied for providing tightening and loosening operations of said holder element through an adjustment opening grooved in said bearing means 8

6. A cooker according to Claim 1, wherein said protector layer is made of a glass protector and is placed in front of the heaters said glass protector being transparent, semi-transparent or colored.

7. A cooker according to Claim 6, wherein said protector layer is embodied with a radius of curvature of 200-300 mm, preferably 235 mm and a width of 300- 400 mm, preferably 340 mm.

8. A cooker according to Claim 6, wherein said protector layer have preferably a thermal expansion coefficient between 20-700 OC of (0.0 0.3) x 10-5K-la and 3 preferably a specific gravity of 2.56 g/cm.

io

9. A cooker according to Claim I characterized in that said lower body is supported by a supporting group fastened to said lower body by plurality of elements.

10. A cooker according to Claim 4 characterized in that a motor is disposed between the supporting group, and said motor is housed such that the direction of rotation of the pivot means is in vertical direction with respect to floor.

11. A cooker according to claim 1 characterized in that a slipping bearing fixation sheet and an outer bearing sheet are assembled to said lower body; balls are placed in V bearings of said outer bearing sheet - said upper body is movable inside bearings by means of said balls by covering said lower and upper V bearings with the inner bearing sheet and the bearings and the displacement means are supported by a connection sheet

12. A cooker according to claim 1, wherein preferably ceramic-fiber heaters formed under vacuum are embodied in the doner furnace, and the weight of the furnace is kept in considerably low levels thereby.

13. A cooker according to any one of the previous claims, characterized in that said heaters are arranged preferably in three vertical rows such that they can be controlled individually.

14. A cooker for cooking doner kebabs substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.