GB2490672A

GB2490672A - Portable oven with burner nozzles arranged at different orientations.

Info

Publication number: GB2490672A
Application number: GB1107655.1A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Christopher John Brain
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2011-05-09
Filing date: 2011-05-09
Publication date: 2012-11-14
Also published as: GB201107655D0

Abstract

A portable oven comprises at least one burner tube 20 connectable at one end thereof to a gas supply. The burner tube has, for a first portion of its length, burner nozzles projecting substantially laterally, thereafter towards the distal end thereof the nozzles project progressively with a downward component. The oven may comprise a stainless steel body with cover panels, support bars above the at least one tube, a support mesh on the support bars and porous stone slabs on the mesh. The burner tube may taper along its length.

Description

MOBILE OVEN

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to mobile ovens, that is ovens which may be conveyed to a site, for example of an open air festival, to prepare food for quantities of people.

It is particularly concerned with a mobile/portable oven for the preparation of discrete complete dishes such as pizzas and the like.

Background to the Invention

Typically at an event such as a festival where a large number of people have assembled and require to be fed, queues will form at a particular eatery and it is important that people in a queue do not have to wait for a long time to receive their food. Preparing a large number of dishes in batches can achieve the objective. One problem however with the preparation of a plurality of discrete dishes such as pizzas in a single oven is ensuring consistency of temperature, particularly so that all the dishes can be completely cooked at the same time. Otherwise opening and closing the oven as some dishes become ready can affect the cooking of the others.

Well known of course are barbeque ovens of various kinds. These however are not suitable for the cooking of pizzas and the like where high all round temperature is required. Likewise in a pizza shop there are conveyor belt ovens for pizzas, but these are scarcely mobile/portable and could be bettered in terms of quantity per unit time.

The present invention enables provision of a mobile/portable oven in which a batch of dishes, particularly pizzas, pies, pasties such as Corn ish pasties, breads such as pitta and naan breads, heated wraps, fajitas and the like, can be reliably cooked in a short time.

Summary of the Invention

According to the present invention therefore a burner for a mobile oven comprises a burner tube connectable at a proximal end thereof to a gas supply, the tube having for a first portion of its length burner nozzles projecting substantially laterally, thereafter towards the distal end thereof the nozzles project progressively with a downward component.

The nozzles may comprise simply holes in a round section burner tube and the tube may be straight or serpentine. It has also been found that even temperature can be assisted by the nozzles being of a constant bore for a proportion of the length of the burner from the proximal end thereof and of a larger bore thereafter. The nozzles may be sited at 4 -6 mm intervals on each side of the tube.

Given a burner tube of the order of 120 to 130 cm long and 32 -35 mm outside diameter, the nozzles may project substantially laterally for the first 80 to 100 cm after which they project progressively with a downward component, to a maximum deflection of the order of 30° preferably 7° to 12° from lateral. Preferably the nozzles are simply holes in the burner tube. They may however be nozzles attached to the tube. In this latter case the holes for the burner nozzles may all have the same lateral position and the required deflection obtained in the form of the nozzle.

Typically the nozzle bore is of the order of 3.0mm for the first 30 -35 cm of the tube and of the order of 2.5mm thereafter.

Ideally a mobile/portable oven has at least two burner tubes in accordance with the invention, and these are connectable each to its own gas supply rather than to one such via a manifold. The gas supply to a mobile/portable oven is usually a canister or metal bottle of butane or the like gas.

A mobile/portable oven incorporating burners in accordance with the invention may comprise a base body in which the burners are mounted together with a series of support bars thereabove, transverse to the burners, a metal mesh supported above the support bars, and a series of cooking stones supported by the mesh.

The burners may be welded to the base body or bolted thereto via flanges formed thereon.

The support bars may lie removably in mounts formed on the base body, the length of the bars in relation to the local breadth of the body being such as to cater for thermal expansion. Alternatively the support bars may have hooked end members whereby they can simply rest upon the upper eddge of the base body side walls.

Likewise the size of the mesh in relation to the body is preferably arranged to cater for thermal expansion The base body is advantageously formed of stainless steel though vitreous coated steel may be used. The base body preferably incorporates at least one air vent below the level of the burner(s). To the base body are preferably attached legs, preferably detachably, and possibly wheels, also lifting handles. The base body may also incorporate support wall members, preferably at the ends thereof, for cover panel means. Preferably there are two cover panels and these are detachably mounted to the base body or hinged thereto. Preferably only on one side of the panel cover means there is a hatch extending lengthwise thereof and arranged for access by a paddle with which pizzas etc are emplaced and removed from the oven.

The hatch may be of the order of 100mm deep. A cover plate may be arranged for covering the hatch, detachable from or hinged to the cover panel means.

The mesh may typically comprise a lattice formed of stainless steel bar 3mm diameter defining perforations 20 -30mm square.

The cooking stones may comprise square plates formed of natural porous igneous or lava rock. Alternatively they may be formed of terracotta. They are typically 20 - 30mm thick and 220 -230mm square.

In an oven having the dimensions 130cm long by 80cm broad and two straight burner tubes, a total of 15 plates may be deployed, leaving a gap of 50mm around the perimeter and perhaps 10 mm therebetween to allow heat to spread into the region above the plates. Clearly however the plates can be susceptible of arranging with gaps therebetween also. An advantage of an oven with dimensions of the order stated is that it can also be readily man-portable.

In such an oven ten to twelve nine inch (225mm) pizzas can be cooked at the same time. The advantage of cooking nine inch (225mm) pizzas rather than 12" (130mm) pizzas is that the former are usually sufficient for one person at a festival and do not require to be supplied at least partially cut into slices.

It is understood that an oven in accordance with the present invention can reach the operating temperature of about 500°C within about 15 minutes of starting and pizzas therein can be cooked in about 5 minutes. An advantage of cooking no more than -12 pizzas at a time is that a customer may not have to wait a long period to have a pizza prepared with a particular topping, though at a festival it will be usually possible within quite a short time to determine a preferred range of toppings quite few in number.

A temperature indicator may be incorporated in the oven and this, in the simplest case may merely be a light arranged to indicate that the operating temperature had been reached. Alternatively the indicator may have a scale arranged for showing approximate actual temperature within the oven.

Description of the Drawings

An embodiment of the present invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings of which: Figure 1 is a diagrammatic side view of a portable/mobile oven; Figure 2 is a diagrammatic end view of the oven of figure 1; Figure 3 is a part plan view of a support array; Figure 4 is a detail sketch of a panel cover; Figure 5 is a detail sketch of a hatch cover array; Figure 6 is a diagrammatic isometric view of the oven of figure 1; and Figure 7 is a diagrammatic side view of a burner;

Description of Preferred Embodiment

Figures 1 to 6 depict a portable oven comprising a base housing 10 with support legs 11 at one end and wheeled legs 12 at the other. The base 10 is formed as a trough with rectangular planform and isosceles pentagonal section having its apex at the bottom. At each end thereof are burner receiving holes lOa whilst on one side are hatch plate support brackets lOb. Also at each end of the base 10 a cover support wall 13 is detachably mounted thereto. Two cover lids 14, 15 are detachably mounted to the housing 10. The lids 14, 15 both comprise an angled panel with handles 16. Panel 15 has an access hatch 17 extending most of the length thereof.

A cover 18 is arranged for covering the hatch 17 and is mounted to the lid 15 via hook 18a on the cover and brackets 18b on the lid 15, and to rest in brackets lOb in the base 10. Extending along the base apex of the base body 10 is an air vent 19.

The legs 11 and 12 are detachably mounted to the housing 10.

Mounted within the base 10, somewhat above the bottom thereof, is a pair of straight burner bars 20, gas connector/tap units 21 and thermal couplers 21a whereto protrude from the ends of the base (the function of the thermal couplers 21a is to turn off the gas if and when the flame goes out). A shield bc protects the burner bars 20 and their taps 21 from accidental or unwanted adjustment. Somewhat above the burner bars 20 are transverse support bars 22. The support bars 22 have hooked ends 22a for fitting over the top edge of the base 20. The support bars 22 support a removable mesh 23 which is arranged to support in turn a plurality of square hot plates 24 formed of porous lava stone.

The mesh 23 comprises 3mm diameter stainless steel rod welded into a lattice defining 25mm square perforations.

The plates are 25mm deep and 225mm square.

The burner bar 20 shown in figure 5 is formed of 33mm round tube steel with a 1.5mm wall thickness. It is pierced laterally on both sides, at 5mm intervals, by burner nozzles 51. For approximately three quarters of its length the burner nozzles are right laterally disposed. Thereafter they progressively project downwards finishing at 12°. Also for the first 30cm length of the burner tube the nozzles have a bore of 3.0mm. Thereafter it is 2.5mm.

To use the portable oven described above with reference to the accompanying drawings, the support bars 22 and mesh 23 are emplaced. The stones 24 are arranged on the mesh leaving a gap all around between the stone array and the base body walls. The burner bars 20 are connected to calor gas cylinders and, with the support bars 22, mesh 23, stones 24 and cover panels 14, 15 in place gas is turned on and ignited. The oven is left with the gas full on for about 10 minutes to reach cooking temperature (500°C).

Then the cover 18 is opened and the uncooked pizzas emplaced on the stones with a paddle. The cover 18 is then replaced, whereafter cooking takes 5 minutes.

A particular embodiment of the oven above described has a base body 10 53" (1 35cm) long, plus the overhang of the shield lOc (20cm), a breadth of 31" (80cm) and is 40" (100cm) high. The base body 10, supports 13, cover panels 14, 15, 18 and shield bc are all formed of stainless steel.

Claims

CLAIMS1. A burner for a mobile oven comprises a burner tube connectable at a proximal end thereof to a gas supply, the tube having for a first portion of its length burner nozzles projecting substantially laterally, thereafter towards the distal end thereof the nozzles project progressively with a downward component.
2. A burner as claimed in claim 1 and wherein the maximum downward component is obtained in a nozzle with 7° to 12° deflection.
3. A burner as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2 of the order of 120 to 150cm long and wherein the nozzles project substantially laterally for the first 80 to 100cm after which they project progressively with a downward component.
4. A burner as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3 and wherein the nozzles are of a first bore for a proportion of the length of the burner from the proximal end thereof and of a second bore thereafter.
5. A burner as claimed in claim 4 and wherein the first bore is 3.0mm.
6. A burner as claimed in claim 4 or claim 5 and wherein the second bore is 2.5mm.
7. A burner as claimed in any one of claims 4 to 6 and of the order of 120 to 130 cm long and wherein the proportion of the first bore length is 30 -35cm.
8. A burner as claimed in any one of the preceding claims and wherein the burner has a round section and the nozzles comprise holes therein.
9. A burner as claimed in any one of the preceding claims and which is a straight tube.
10. A burner as claimed in any one of the preceding claims and wherein the nozzles are sited at 4 -6mm intervals on each side of the tube.
11. A mobile/portable oven having a burner as claimed in any one of the preceding claims.
12. An oven as claimed in claim 11 and having at least two of said burner tubes in parallel array.
13. An oven as claimed in claim 12 and wherein said at least two burner tubes are connectable each to its own gas supply.
14. An oven as claimed in any one of claims 11 to 13 and comprising a base body in which the burners are mounted, a series of support bars carried on the base body above the burners, a metal mesh supported above the support bars, and a series of cooking stones supported by the mesh.
15. An oven as claimed in claim 14 and wherein support bars have hooked end members whereby they can rest upon the upper edge of the base body side walls.
16. An oven as claimed in claim 14 or claim 15 and wherein the mesh comprises a lattice formed of stainless steel bar 3mm diameter defining perforations 20-30mm square.
17. An oven as claimed in any one of claims 14 to 16 and wherein the cooking stones comprise square plates formed of natural porous igneous or lava rock.
18. An oven as claimed in claim 17 and wherein the cooking stones are 20 - 30mm thick and 220 -230mm square.
19. An oven as claimed in any one of claims 14 to 18 and wherein the base body is formed of stainless steel.
20. An oven as claimed in any one of claims 14 tol9 and wherein the base body incorporates at least one air vent below the level of the burner(s).
21. An oven as claimed in any one of claims 14 to 20 and wherein the base body has detachable legs.
22. An oven as claimed in any one of claims 14 to 21 and having wheels.
23. An oven as claimed in any one of claims 14 to 22 and having cover panels extending the length thereof.
24. An oven as claimed in claim 23 and wherein the base body incorporates support wall members at the ends thereof for supporting the cover panels.
25. An oven as claimed in claim 23 or claim 24 and having two cover panels each detachably mounted to the base body.
26. An oven as claimed in any one of claims 14 to 25 and having a hatch extending lengthwise thereof and arranged for access by a paddle with which pizzas etc are emplaced and removed from the oven.
27. An oven as claimed in claim 26 and wherein the hatch is of the order of 100mm deep.
28. An oven as claimed in claim 26 or claim 27 and having a cover plate arranged for covering the hatch.
29. An oven as claimed in claim 28 and wherein the cover plate is detachable from or hinged to the cover panel means.
30. A burner substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
31. An oven substantially as herein before described with reference to the accompanying drawings.-10 -