US1105532A - Cooking apparatus. - Google Patents

Description

R. M. G. PHILLIPS.

COOKING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION TILED MAY 7, 1914.

Patented July 28, 1914.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

QJVM 77L/WMM R. M. G. PHILLIPS.

COOKING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY '1, 1914.

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Patented July 28, 1914.

3 BHBETFSHEBT l.

R. M. 6- PHILLIPS.

COOKING APPARATUS.

APPLIOATIOH FILED KAY'I, 1914.

Patented July 28, 1914.

9 8HEBTSBHEET 3.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ROSS M. G. PHILLIPS, OF WEST HAVEN, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE AUTOMATIC sTovE oo., 0F MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, A CORPORATION.

cooKINe APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 28, 1914.

Application filed May/7, 1914. Serial No. 836,952.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Ross M. G. PHILLIPS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Vest Haven, in the county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Cooking Apparatus {and I do hereby declare the following, when taken in connection with the "accompanying drawings and the characters of reference marked thereon, to be a full,

clear, and exact description of the same, andv Fig. '4 a broken .detail view in horizontalv section on the line cd of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 a detached plan view on a larger scale of the laterally movable preheater-carrier of the apparatus. Fig. 6 a detached view of the preheatcr-carrier in vertical lonfgitudinal section. Fig. 7 a detached view 0 the preheater-ca-rrier in front elevation. F ig. 8 a view thereof in vertical section on the line cf of Fig. 5. Fi 9 a detached view in vertical section of tl e. visual fuel-level indicator. Fig. 10 a similar view of the air release valve. Fig. 11 a detached broken plan view of. the preheatehbowl stripped. 0 all. burner fittings. Fig. 12 a detached perspective view of the bridge of the visual fuel-level indicator.

My invention relates to an improvement in a cooking apparatus of the type shown and described in my pending application filed July 20, 1912, Serial No. 710,630,-' in which a food-container having ingress and egress draft-passages, is used in conjunctionwith a preheater adapted to act as a closure for the ingress draft-passage and in which the said food-container and preheater are normally spaced apart by spacing mechanism the releasing function of which is automatically controlled.

The object of my present invention is to construct a liquid fuel va or-burning apparatus of the type described.

With these ends in view, my invention consists in a liquid fuel vapor-burning cooking apparatus having certain details of constructionand combinations of parts as will be hereinafter described and pointed out in the claims.

Since my present invention relates primarily to different features of a slidin preheater-carrier, I will describe the di erent parts thereof before describing the other fea-- tures of the typical apparatus.

Incarrying out my invention, I employ a shallow -sheet-metal tray 2 having longitudinal side flanges 3 which fit into two parallel guide-wa' s it secured to the bottom of the casing 6 w ich 'is sup orted upon legs 7 The front wall-of .the sai casing 6-is formed at its lower edge with a large rectangular opening 8 .through which the tray 2 slides back and forth. The said opening 8 is entire ly closed when the tray 2 is in its closed position, by means or a vertical tray-front 9 riveted to the extreme forward end of the tray. The said tray-front 9 is itself formed with a sight-opening 10 normally closedby a door 11.formed atits lower end with a hinge 12 and furnished at its upper end with a handle 13. Upon its inner face the door 11 carries a glass 14 in which the flame will be reflected when the door is in its open posiii on which it is shown by broken lines in The tray 2 forming the preheater-carrier proper carries an elongated; metal bowl 15 formed at its upper edge with a horizontal flange 16 supporting a sheet metal plate 17 corresponding in general form to the bowl and supporting an insulating-pad 18 cemented to it and made of asbestos or other suitable material. The plate 17 and pad 18 are respectively formed with large circular openings 19 and 20 concentric with the rounded rear end of the bowl 15. That portion of the bowl lying below these openings constitutes, as it were, the combustion-chambar 21 of the preheater. Centrally within the said combustion-chamber 21 I locate a removable burner 22 of any approved construction and furnished with a removable circular baffle-plate 23. The said burner 22 is mounted upon a burner-nozzle 24 in tom of the bowl 15 is formed with a circular flange 28 the parallelends 29 of which are extended radially to meet the adjacent side wall of the bowl 15. The said flange 28 merges into the hubs 27 aforesaid and forms a shallow circular alcohol-cup 30 having a radial arm 31 over which the extreme inner end 32 of the fuel supply-pipe 33 extends. Within the alcohol-cup 30 rise two segmental supporting webs 34, 34, which provide intermediate support for the bridge 26 as clearly shown in Fi 6.

In order that the pre eater as a whole may automatically accommodate itself to the bottom 35 of the vertically movable food-container 36 when the same is in its heat-conserving or lowered position in which its ingress draft-passage 37 formed in the center ofits bottom 35 is closed by the preheater, the lower face of the bowl 15 is formed with a rounded bearing-lug 38 by which the entire bottom of the bowl is raised just enough above the upper face of the bottom of the tray 2 to permit the bowl to rock upon the said bearing-lug 38 which permits the accommodation of the plane of the insulating-pad 18 to the plane of the bottom 35 of the food-container if any difference exists between these planes when the food-container 36 descends into its lowered position. A rivet 39 passing through the bearing-lug 38 fastens the bowl. 15 to the tray 2. l

The tapering forward end of the bowl 15 forms in effect an air-passage 40 supplying abundant air to the combustion-chamber 21 and taking air from air-ports 42and 43 respectively formed in the forward ends of the plate 17 and pad 18. In this connection I wish it understood that I do not limit myself to the use in the bowl 15 of the burner of the particular construction described since other forms of burners might answer the purpose.

The burner, whatever its specific construction, has liquid fuel supplied .to it through the pipe 33 which extends forward over the bot-tom of the tray 2,-the pipe being given sufiicient downward pitch from its inner arm' 32 to its outer end to insure its being drained into a liquid fuel-tank 44 suspended from the front end of the tray 2 by means of straps 45 the upper ends of whlch are applied to the front-plate 9 of,

the tray. The outer end of. the pipe 33 the said spring-latch between them.

"ually operable plunger 49.

As long as suflicient pressure of air is maintained within the tank 44, the fuel therein will be forced into the burner. To cut off the supply of fuel to the burner, I employ an air-release valve comprising a valve-body which is fastened to the bottom of the tray 2 close to the forward end of the preheater-bowl in position to be operated by the bottom 35 of the food-container 36 when the same descends into its closed position. An air-pipe 51 leads'forward from the valve-body 50 through the tray front 9 and is connected with an elbow '52 carried by a short nipple 53 mounted in the top of the tank 44 and opening into the air space thereof. The said air-escape valve is furnished with a hollow plunger 54 mounted in a threaded gland 55 screwed into the upper end of the valve-body 50. At its upper end the plunger 54 is furnished with an abutment-head 56 and formed with a transverse air-outlet port 57. Near its lowerend the said plunger 54 is formed with a transverse air-inlet port 58, while its extreme lower end is closed by a threaded plug 59 mounting a cup-shaped valve 60 carrying a washer 61 which co-acts with a valve-seat 62 formed by the lower end of the gland 55. The projecting lower end of the plug 59 forms a support for the upper end of a helicalspring 63 located in the bottom of the valve-body 50 and exerting a constant effortto lift the plunger into its elevated position in which its air-inlet port is closed and in which the washer 61 in the cup-valve 60 is crowded against the valve-seat62.

For maintaining the air-escape valvein its open position, I employ a spring-latch 64 depending from the abutment-head 56 and bent to form a cam-like locking-shoulder 65 co-acting with a locking-pin 66 extending between'two parallel vertical guide-flanges 67 formed upon the body 50 and receiving The lower end of the latch 64 is bent to form a circular fin er-piece 68. By reference to Fig. 10, it w1ll be seen that when the plunger 54-is depressed to move the air-inlet port 58 into its open position. the locking'shoulder 65 will ride over the locking-pin 66 and be engaged with the lower face thereof so as to lock the air-escape valve in it's 0 en position, whereby the pressure in the uel tank 44 will be reduced to that of the atmospher j ofthe pump 48, until the finger-piece 68 has been grasped and the spring-latch 6a sprung outward to release the shoulder 65 tram the pin 66 after which the spring 63 will assert itself to lift the plunger 54 and close its inlet air-port58.

To notify user of the apparatus when sufficient air-pressure has been developed within the tank 44, I set a thin, slightly concave-convex .disk 69 into a cincular opening '70 formed for its reception in the middle of the front wall of the tank. The said disk 69 is predetermined in size and thickness so that when the pnessure in the tank 44 has been raised to a predetermined number of pounds, the disk will snap outward with a neport which notifies the user of the device to stop pumping. The disk (59 may now be ignored untii the next time the tank at is to be charged with compressed air when pressurc of the thumb upon the disk forces it to snap inward with a corresponding report.

The disk therefore constitutes an auditory air-pressure signal.

For filling the tank 44 with liquid fuel, I

provide a removable nipple or filler-cap 71 mounting a. needle-valve 72 which may be operated for reducing the air pressure in the tank if too high.

To indicate to the person filling the tank when the proper level has been reached, I employ a visual fluid-level indicator comprising a glass dome 73 having its lower cdge formed with an outwardly turned flange 74 extending under a flange 75 turned inward from the upper end of a threaded nipple 76 mounted in the top of the tank 44, furnished with a knurled edge 77 and receiving a fixed retaining-shell 78 bent inward at its upper end to form a flange 79 constitutin a bearing for a gasket 80 upon which the flange 74 of the dome 7 3 rests, the shell 78 being crowded into the nipple 76 before being fixed in place therein until the flanges 74, 75 and 79, and the gasket 80 are crowded together. From the lower end of the shell 78 I suspend a concentrically arranged cup 81 by means of a transverse bridge 82 formed at each end with a pair of arms 83, 84, bent in opposite directions and providing for the attachment of the bridge at each end to the shell and t0 the cup. The said bridge 82 is formed with a central opening 85 for the reception and guidance of a vertically movable stem 86 furnished at its upper end with a ball-signal 87 and carrying at its lower end a float 88 and a ball-valve 89, the latter being located directly below said float and co-acting with a seat 90 formed in the bottom of the cup 81 which is also formed with a port 91 through which the extreme lower end of the stem 86 projects and which permits the cup to both fill and discharge. Under this construction the ball-signal 87 does .not gradually rise in the glass dome 73 as the fluid level in the tank 44 gradually rises when the tank is being charged. On the contrary, the ball- :sign-al 87 rises suddenly just as the maximum fluid level is reached. This result is accomplished by positioning the upper edge of the cup 81 a trifle lower than the maximum fluid level so that just before the maximum fluid level is reached, the fluid will begin to flow into the cup 81 over the upper edge thereof. As soon as suflicient fluid has thus entered the cup to raise the ball-valve 89 from its seat 90, the cup will fill both from the top and bottom, with the result of speedily lifting the float 88 and hence of throwing up the ball 87 into the top of the dome 73, thus signaling to the person filling the tank that the maximum fluid level therein has been reached. As the fluid level in the tank recedes, the float 88 will correspondingly fall by the flowage of the fluid in the cup out through the port 91 which will not be closed by the valve 90 until practically all of the fluid has been drained out of the cup.

The tray 2 is drawn out into its open po- 1 sition for lighting .the preheater-burner 29.

and pushed back into its closed position to register the preheater-burncr with the ingress-draft passage 37 in the food-container 36, by means of a handle 92 the ends of which pass under the straps 45. For supporting the outer end of the tray when the same is in its open position, I employ a removable support 93 made from a single piece of heavy wire the upper ends of which are turned inward at a right angle for the purpose of being hooked into sockets 94 in the ends of the handle 92.

Having. now described the movable preheater-carrier, the burner, the fuel-tank and the several appurtenances thereof, I will describe the other features of the typical apparatus.

The double-walled vertically movable foodcontainer 36 already in part described, is provided at its lower end, as shown, with an annular insulating ring'95 which rests upon the insulating-pad 18 of the preheater when the food-container is in its closed or lowered position. At its upper end, the said foodcontainer is provided with a double-walled cover 96 lined with insulating material and provided with handles 97. and swinging locking-clips 98. The said cover 96 is formed with a concentric egress draft-passage 99 automatically closed upon the descent of the food-container by means of a suitable valve 100 suspended from the outer end. of a lever 101 mounted in a bracket 10*2 fastened to the top of the cover, the said valve being normally held in its elevated position by means of a spring 103 located under the lever at a. point in front of its pivot 104. The rear end of the lever 1'01 projects beyond the rear edge of the cover ln'to a loop 105 formed in the upper end of a valve-operating frame 106 the legs of which are passed downward into the rear portion of the casing 5 through the annular topplate 107 thereof and fastened in place by means of a clamp 108 secured to t e inner face of the rear wall of the said casing.

For holding the food-container 36 in spaced relation to the preheater during the heat-charging period, I employ spacingmechanism consisting, as herein shown, of two vertically movable spacing or suspension-bars 109 located opposite each other and having their main portions set inward to form vertical guides 110 which assist in keeping the food-container centered. The said bars 109 are furnished at their upper and lower ends with slots 111 for the reception of guide-pins 112 extending inward from the opposite side walls of the casing 5. At their lower ends, the bars 109 are formed with horizontal suspensi m-arms 113 upon which the food-container 36 actually rests. The said bars 109 are elevated for lifting the food-container 36 by means of a lever system comprising a horizontally arranged yoke 114 extending forwardly in the casing 5 and having its respective arms connected by pins 115 to the lower ends of the bars 109 and formed with slots 116 receiving alincd studs 117 upon which the yoke itself swings. The bowed forward portion .of the yoke is pivotally connected at its center with the lower end of a lifting-rod 118 extending upward through a perforation in the flat top or plate 107 of the casing 5. The said rod 118 carries a spacingmembcr 119 forming at its lower end a spacing-shoultlcr 120. and at its upper end a stopshoulder 121. The projecting upper end of the rod 118 termi nates in a handle or grip 122 The fowl-container 36 is latched. as it were. in spaced relation to the preheater, by means of a bell-crank latch 1223 (Figs. 2, 3 and 4) hung within the front of the casing is upon a stud 121 and having its lower end adapted to be inscrted under the spacingshoulder of the spacing-mcmber 119. The horizontal upper arm of the latch 45 terminates at its outer end in a depending lug 125 which rests upon a tripping-lever" length of time it is (l* -il1(l to use the preheater.

126 hung by its inner end upon a stud 121' and entered at its opposite end into an automatic controlling or timing mechanism 128 which may be of any approved construction such as that shown in my copending applicatio Serial No. 782.245. filed Aug. 23, 1912. A spring 129 connected with the lever 126. exerts a constant efi'ort to lift it and so swing the latch 123 on its stud 121 for the release of the rod 118, and hence of the suspensionyoke 114, whereby the food-container 36 is released or fired and allowed to descend by gravity into its heat-conserving position in which 'its annular insulating-plate 75 rests upon the insulating pad 18 of the preheater and whereby the preheater is made to act as a closure and seal for the ingress draft-passage 37 of the food-container 36. The said tripping-lever 126 is provided with a handle 130 projecting forward through a slot 131 formed in the front of the casing 5, in position to co-act with the handle 132 of a setting-lever 133 which is located in front of a graduated dial 134 applied to the front of the casing. The said lever 133 is formed in its upper end with a pointer 135 which sweeps over the said dial and is mounted upon the projecting forward end of an arbor 136 constituting a member of the automatic controlling mechanism. The said arbor in turn carries a timing-disk 137 (Fig. 3) having a radial timing-slot 138 which receives a timing-pin 139 carried by the said tripping-lever 126 as more fully described in my pending application referred to. By means of the setting-lever 133 the controlling mechanism 128 is set to at a predetermined time. release the tripping-lever 126 and permit the same to be lifted by the spring 129 for swinging the latch 123 on its stud 124 for releasing the rod 128, and hence the food-container 36.

To forestall. or. as it were, anticipate the action of the automatic controlling mechanism 128, as may sometimes be desired for one reason or another, I' mount a forestalling-pin 140 in the lower arm of the latch 1:23 and extend the same forward through a slot 141 in the front of the casing 5. By manually moving the projecting forward end of this pin 140, the latch 123 may be swung at any time so as to release or fire the food-container 36 and permit the descent of the same into its heat-conserving position.

ln using my improved cooking apparatus, the fuel tank 44 is filled through t e nipple or cap 71 until the ball-signal 8? suddenly rises in the dome T3 to indicate that the maximum fluid level has been reached. The subsequent steps in the operationof the apparatus must now be taken in the following predetermined sequence which is necessary in its main features for the operation of the a pparatus and for safety. In the first place, the timing device 128 is set according to the The fowl-container 36 is then lifted by the handle 12'. into position to be suspended in spaced relation above the preheater by the action of the bell-crank lever 123 which will not function to suspend the container until after the timing device has been so set. the setting of the timing device being a condition precedent upon the opera- 69 is now snapped tion of the spacing mechanism for suspending the container. The raising and suspension of the food-container, releases the preheater, and hence the preheater-carrier or tray which may now be drawn outward into its open osition by means of its handle 92. Alcohol is now poured into the shallow cup 30 and ignited for heating the burner 22, the baflie-plate 23 and the inner end 32 of the fuel pipe 33 to the degree required for the vaporization of the liquid fuel. Just before the alcohol flame goes out, the air-releasevalve is manually closed (having been opened by the last preceding descent of the food-container 36 into its closed position) by pulling outward upon its finger-piece 68 which disengages the top of the shoulder 65 from the lower face of the pin 66 and permits the spring 63 to assert itself in raising the hollow plunger 5 4 into position to shut off its air-inlet port 58. After the air-release valve has been closed, a few strokes of the pump 48 will start the liquid fuel flowing through the pipe 33. By the time this modicum of fuel reaches the burner 22 it will be vaporized and lighted by the last flickerings of the alcohol. The signal disk inward by the thumb and the pump 48 is operated until the disk 69 pops out with a report and signals to stop pumping. It is necessary, as I may here explain, to light the fuel vapor as soon as it begins to generate, since otherwise it would continue to escape during the entire pumping 0 eration and cool 0 the burner. The tray is now pushed back into its closed position to register the preheater-burner wit the ingress draft-passage 37 in the lower end of the food-container which is now in its elevated position. The burner continues to burn until the automatic controlling mechanism operates to function the spacing-mechanism to release the food-container which then descends into its closed position at which time both its inlet passage37 and its egress assage 99 are automatically closed and sea ed and the burner extinguished. AS the burner is being extinguished, the container 36 descends upon the air-escape valve which it depresses and locks in its open position, permitting the almost instantaneous escape of the compressed air in thefiuid tank. As the compressed air escapes, any oil that remains in the burner or pipe 33 is sucked back into the fuel-tank so that there is no chance for the entrance of any smoke or odor into the food-container after the preheater is extinguished.

1. In a cooking apparatus, the combination with a vertically movable food-container having ingress and egress draft-passages, of a preheater adapted to act as a closure for the said ingress draft-passage, one of the said parts being movable with respect to the other, spacing mechanism for holding the said movable part in spaced relation to the other art, means for automatically controlling tlie releasing function of the said spacing-mechanism, a fuel tank connected with the preheater, and an air-escape valve connected with the said tank and automatically opened by the movement of the said movable part to stop the feeding of fuel from the tank to the preheater.

2. In a cooking apparatus, the combination with a vertically movable food-container having ingress and egress draft-passages of a preheater ada ted to act as a closure for the said ingress raft-passage, spacing-mechanism for holding the food-container above the preheater in s aced relation thereto, means for automatical y controlling the function of the spacing-mechanism in re- I wh ch descends upon closing of its said in grass draft-passage, a fuel tank connected with the preheater, an air-pump for the fuel tank, and an air-escape valve connected with the tank and automatically opened bythe descent of the food-container to stop t e feeding of fuel from the tank to the reheater.

3. In a cooking a paratus, tiie combination with. a vertically movable food-container having ingress and egress draft-passages, of a preheater adapted to act as a closure for the said ingress draft-passage, one of the said arts being movable with respect to the ot er, spacing-mechanism for holding the said movable part in spaced relation to the other art, means for automati cally controlling the releasing function of the said spacing-mechanism, a fuel tank connected with the preheater, an air-pump for the fuel tank, and an air-escape valve connected with the said tank and automatically opened by the movement of the said movable part to stop the feeding of fuel from the tank to the preheater. I

4. In a cooking a paratus, the combination with a vertica 1y movable food-container having ingress and egress draft-passages, of a preheater adapted to act as a closure for the said ingress draftassage, one of the said parts being movabe with respect to the other, s acing-mechanism for holding the said mova le part in s aced relation to the other part, means or automatically controlling the releasing function of the said spacing-mechanism, a fuel-tank connected with the preheater, an air-pump for the fuel tank, an air-escape valve connected with the said tank and automatically opened by the movement of the said movable part to stop the feeding of fuel from the tank to the preheater, and a visual fluidlevel indicator mounted inthe tank.

5. In a cooking ap aratus, the combination with a vertical y movable food-container having ingress and egress draft-pasleasing the container the preheater for the sages, of a preheater adapted to act as a closure for the, said ingress draft-passage, one of the said parts being movable with respect to the other, spacing-mechanism for holding the said movable part in spaced relation to the other art, means for automatically controlling t e releasing function of the said spacing-mechanism, a fuel-tank connected with the preheater, an air-pump for the fuel-tank,-an air-pressure signal, an air-escape valve connected with the said tank and automatically opened by the movement of the said movable part to sto the feeding of fuel from the tank to the preheater, and a visual fluid-level indicator mounted in the tank.

6. In a cooking apparatus, the combination with a vertically movable food-container having an ingress and an egress draftpassage, of a preheater forming a closure for the said ingress draft-passage, spacingmechanism for holding the container in spaced relation above the preheater, means for automatically controllin the releasing function of the spacing-mec anism, a laterally movable tray upon which the preheater is mounted, and means applied to the outer end of the tray for supporting the same in its open positlon.

7. In a cooking a aratus, the combination with a vertical y movable food-container having an ingress draft-passage and an egress draft-passage, of a preheater adapted to act as a closure for the said ingress draft-passage, a laterally movable tray' upon which the preheater is mounted, a fueltank at the outer end of the said tray, an air-escape valve connected with the said tank and operated by the descent of the food-container for permitting the compressed air to escape from the fuel-tank and stopping the feeding of fuel from the tank to the preheater.

8. In a cooking apparatus,the combination with a vertically movable food-container formed at its lower end with an ingress draftpassage, of a preheater adapted to act as a closure for the said ingress draftpassage, spacing-mechanism for holding the food-container above the preheater in spaced relation thereto, means for automatically controlling the function of the spacingmechanism in releasing the container, a laterally movable tray carrying the preheater, a fuel-tank at outer end of the said tray, an air-escape valve connected with the fuel tank and automatically opened by the descent of the food-container, an airpump. and a fluid-level indicator and an air-pressure signal connected with the said tank.

9. In a cooking apparatus, the combination with a vertically movable food-container formed at its lower end with an in gress draft-passage and at its upper end with an egress draft-passage, of u preheater and an air-escape valve adapted to be automatically opened and locked in its open p0 sition by the descent of the food-container.

10. In a cooking apparatus, the combination with a vertically movable food-container formed at its lower end with an ingress draft-passage and at its upper end with an egress draft-passage, of a preheater adapted to act as a closure for the said ingress draft-passage, spacing-mechanism for holding the food-container above the preheater in spaced relation thereto, means for automatically controlling the function of the spacing-mechanism in releasing the container, means for supplying liquid fuel under air-pressure to the preheater, and an airescape valve for stopping the feeding of the liquid fuel, the said valve being automatically opened by the descent of the food-container the lifting of which into s aced relation to the preheater must prece e the closing of the said air escape valve.

11. In a cooking apparatus, the combination with a vertically movable food-com tainer formed at its lower end with an ingress draft-passage and at its upper end with an egress draft-passage, of a preheater acting as a closure for the said ingress draftpassage, spacing-mechanism for holding the food-container above the preheater in spaced relation thereto, means for automatically controlling the function of the spacingmechanism in releasing the container, a laterally movable tray upon which the preheater is mounted, a fuel tank at the outer end of the said tray, an air-pump connected with the said tank, and an air-escape valve connected with the tank and mounted upon said tray in position to be automatically opened by the descent of the food container into its closed position.

12. In a cooking apparatus, the combination with a vertically movable food-com tainer formed at its lower end with an ingress draft-passage and at its upper end with an egress draft-passage, of a preheater adapted to act as a closure for the said ingress draft-passage, spacing mechanism for holding the food-container above the preheater in spaced relation thereto, means for automatically controlling the function of the spacing-mechanism in releasing the container, a laterally movable tray upon which the preheater is numnted, a fuel tank at the outer end of the tray, a fuel pipe leading from the tank to the burner of the preheater, an .r-pump connected with the tank,

an air-escape valve connected with the tank In testimony whereof, I have signed this and mounted upon the tray in position to be specification in the presence of two subscrib- 10 opened by the descent of the food-container, ing witnesses. and means for automatically locking the air pum in its open position, and the lifting of the food-container being a condition prece- Witnesses: dent to the manual unlocking and closing of M. P. NICHOLS, the said valve. C. L. NEED.

ROSS M. G. PHILLIPS.

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