WO1998026700A1

WO1998026700A1 - Modular framing system for a barbecue

Info

Publication number: WO1998026700A1
Application number: PCT/AU1997/000844
Authority: WO
Inventors: David A. Christie
Original assignee: D.A. Christie Pty. Ltd.
Priority date: 1996-12-16
Filing date: 1997-12-12
Publication date: 1998-06-25
Also published as: AUPO422496A0; NZ335627A

Abstract

A modular framing system for a barbecue is disclosed which has corner posts (10) and intermediate posts (12). The corner post (10) has a central section (60) and outwardly projecting legs (72 and 74) and outwardly projecting legs (78 and 80). The legs (72 and 74) and (78 and 80) define spaces for receiving panels. An upper frame (14) and lower frame (16) receive the corner posts (10) and intermediate posts (12) and include flanges (94 and 96) for receiving the posts (10 and 12).

Description

MODULAR FRAMING SYSTEM FOR A BARBECUE

This invention relates to a modular framing system for a barbecue and to a barbecue formed from such a framing system.

Barbecues are manufactured in a number of different ways and in a number of difference configurations. Barbecues for domestic use are typically in the form of portable trolleys or spherical containers or may be made from brick or the like to be fixed in place in a garden. Public barbecues for use in parks or other public venues are often coin operated and are also usually formed from brick or the like by assembling the barbecue in place at the site of the barbecue. In recent times, barbecues for use in parks or other public places have been pre-fabricated and installed at the desired site. The design of barbecues particularly intended for use in public places depends on the particular use and a different design may be required and different manufacturing techniques used depending on the size of the barbecue required or the number of barbecues which are required.

The object of the present invention is to provide a modular framing system for a barbecue which enables barbecues to be manufactured in modular form so that different sized barbecues or different number of barbecues can be easily formed from the modular framing system without the need to specifically design and fabricate a barbecue of a particular size which may be required.

The invention may be said to reside in a modular framing system for a barbecue including: corner posts having a central section; a first projecting portion extending outwardly from the central section for receiving a side edge of a first panel; a second projecting portion extending outwardly from the central section substantially at right angles to the first projecting portion for receiving a side edge of a second panel; an upper rail having a channel section for receiving the corner post and a flange for connection to a top surface; and a lower rail having a channel section for receiving the corner post and a flange for connection to a base.

The corner posts and upper and lower rails enable the barbecue to be formed in modular sections so that by locating a number of modular sections together, a barbecue of a predetermined size or a number of barbecues can be formed from the modular framing system. Thus, the modular framing system can be used to make a barbecue of a predetermined size or a number of barbecues without the need to redesign and uniquely fabricate a number of barbecues or a particular sized barbecue.

Preferably, the modular framing system includes at least one intermediate post having a central section, a first projecting porting extending outwardly from the central section and a second projecting portion extending outwardly from the central section in an opposite direction to the first projecting portion and substantially parallel thereto, the first and second projecting portions being for receiving side edge portions of a panel.

Preferably the channel section of the upper and lower rails is also for receiving the intermediate post.

Preferably the first and second projecting portions comprise a first leg and a second leg spaced apart from the first leg. Preferably a short leg section is provided between the first and second legs extending substantially parallel to the first and second legs and terminating inwardly of the first and second legs, the short leg being located closer to one of the first or second legs than the other of the first or second legs. This enables a panel of a first large thickness to be received between the first and second legs or a panel of a second use thickness to be received between the one of the first or second legs and the short leg.

Preferably the central section of the corner post and the intermediate post includes C-shaped channels for receiving fasteners for securing the upper and lower rails to the corner posts and intermediate post.

Preferably the corner post, intermediate post, upper rail and lower rail are formed by extrusion.

Preferably the upper rail is provided with holes in both the channel section and the flange for receiving a fastener for receipt in the C-shaped channels of the central section of the corner post and the intermediate post, and the flange is provided with holes for receiving a fastener for securement to the base or the top surface.

Preferably the barbecue is completed by providing a top surface which includes a barbecuing section such as a plate, dish, grill or the like and by providing panel sections between the first and second projecting portions of the corner posts and, if included, the first and second projecting portions of the intermediate posts.

The invention also provides a barbecue including a modular framing system as described above.

Preferred embodiments of the invention will be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a barbecue embodying the invention; Figure 2 is a perspective view of a barbecue of a different size to the barbecue of Figure 1 also embodying the invention;

Figure 3 is a schematic plan view showing the layout of corner posts and intermediate posts of the barbecue of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a schematic plan view showing the layout of the corner posts of the barbecue of Figure 2;

Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view of an intermediate post according to the preferred embodiment of the invention;

Figure 6 is a cross-sectional view of a corner post according to the preferred embodiment of the invention;

Figure 7 is a cross-sectional view of an upper and lower rail according to the preferred embodiment of the invention;

Figure 8 shows a corner post receiving a panel;

Figure 9 shows a view of an intermediate post receiving a panel; Figure 10 is a plan view of a corner section and intermediate post section; and

Figure 11 is a cross-sectional view along the line X-IX of Figure 10.

Figure 1 shows a double barbecue according to one embodiment of the invention. The double barbecue includes four corner posts 10 and two pair of intermediate posts 12.

The corner post 10 and intermediate post 12 are coupled to lower rails 14 and upper rails 16. The lower rails 14 are secured to a base such as a concrete block, the ground or the like as will be described hereinafter and the upper rails 16 are connected to a top surface 20. The top surface 20 has a downwardly extending flange 22 which covers the upper rails 16.

The top surface 20 includes barbecue areas 23 which may be in the form of removable dish-shaped barbecuing surfaces, grills, plates or the like which are well known and therefore will not be described in detail hereinafter. The dual barbecue of Figure 1 obviously includes two surfaces 22 and two separate gas or electric supplies (not shown) for providing heat to the barbecue areas 22. The gas or electric supply may be coin operated via vending units 24 in a manner which is also known and therefore will not be described in further detail .

Panels 28 and 30 are provided between the corner posts 10 and intermediate posts 12.

The panels 28 may be in the form of half-panel sections 28a which include the vending unit 24 and doors 28b which provide access to the interior of the barbecue and the panels 30 may be decorative panels formed from wood, stone or any other suitable material.

Figure 2 shows a barbecue according to a second embodiment in which the barbecue is only a single barbecue formed from corner post 10 and upper and lower rails 14 and 16 without the inclusion of any intermediate post 12.

Obviously, the modular nature of the barbecue which will be described in more details hereinafter enables the size of the barbecue to be increased to that further barbecue areas 23 may be included so as to provide three, four or even more barbecues and also enables the barbecues to be arranged in an L-shape or

Figures 3 and 4 show in plan the layout of the corner post 10 and intermediate post 12 (in the case of the embodiment of Figure 3) in schematic form with the lower rails 14, upper rails 16 and panels 28, 30 omitted.

The corner post 10, intermediate post 12, lower rails 14 and upper rails 16 are all formed from extruded sections.

Figure 5 shows a cross-section of the intermediate rail 12. The intermediate rail 12 includes a central section 40 of generally square configuration having sides 42, 44, 46 and 48. First and second legs 49 and 50 extend outwardly from the central section 40 and a second pair of first and second legs 52 and 54 extend outwardly from the central section 40 but in an opposite direction to the legs 49 and 50 as clearly shown in Figure 5. The sides 40 to 48 are each provided with a C-shaped channel 56 for receiving a fastener as will be described in more detail hereinafter. The sides 44 and 48 also include short legs 58 which extend in the same direction as the respective legs 49, 50 or 52, 54 but which terminate inwardly of the legs 49, 50 and 52,

54 respectively.

Figure 6 shows a cross-sectional view of a corner post 10. The corner post 10 has a central section 60 which is substantially identical to the central section 40 having sides 62, 64, 66 and 68. The sides 62 to 68 are provided with C-shaped channels 70 in the same manner as the intermediate post 12.

The side 66 has outwardly projecting legs 72 and 74 and a short leg 76. The side 64 is also provided with legs 78 and 80 and a short leg 82 which extend at right angles to the corresponding legs 72, 74 and 76.

Figure 7 shows a cross-sectional view of both the lower rail 14 and upper rail 16. The upper rail and lower rail are simply formed from the same extrusion by inverting the extrusion. The position shown in Figure 7 shows the position the rail would be in when used as a lower rail and to use the rail as an upper rail, the rail is rotated 180° or inverted from the position shown in Figure 7.

The rails 14 and 16 have channel section 90 formed from a horizontal wall 92 and side walls 94 and 96. As clearly shown in Figure 7, the horizontal wall 92 is arranged intermediate the ends of the side walls 94 and 96. Arranged at the end of the side wall 96 adjacent horizontal wall 92 is a flange 98.

Figure 8 shows how the corner post 10 receives panel 28, 30. A panel such as the panel labelled 28a in Figure 8 may be received between the legs 72 and 74 with an end 28a' of the panel 28a abutting the outer end of short leg 74. The panel 28a fits snugly between the legs 72 and 74 to be securely held therebetween. If a narrower panel is required, such as that indicated by reference 28b, the panel 28b may be located between leg 74 and shorter leg 76 so as to be snugly received therebetween. Similarly, panels can be arranged between the legs 78 and 80 and 78 and 82 in the same manner. The opposite side edges of the panels 28a or 28b are received in opposite corner post (not shown) or an intermediate post (not shown) . Figure 9 shows the panels 28a and 28b received in the intermediate posts 12 and it will be noted that the panels are arranged in the same manner as described with reference to Figure 8.

Figures 10 and 11 show in more detail the manner in which the corner posts 10, intermediate post 12, lower posts 14 and upper rails 16 are connected to form a barbecue frame.

Figure 11 shows the intermediate post 12 from the side and secured to lower rail 14, upper rail 16 and to top surface 20 and a base 75. As is clearly shown in Figure 11, the upper rail 14 and lower rail 16 are inverted with respect to one another so that the channel sections 90 face and are open towards one another. The post 12 is received in the channel sections 90 of the lower rail 14 and upper rail 16 with the post 12 being received snugly between the sides 94 and 96.

As is best shown in Figure 10, the upper and lower rails (only the upper rail 16 being shown in Figure 10) are cut at 45° angles as shown by line 99 so that two upper rail sections 16 can be formed together in a mitre joint along the line 99 to form the corner of the barbecue. The horizontal section 90 is provided with a set of four holes 102 at the or each location of an intermediate post 12. The holes are formed in the same pattern as the C-shaped channels 56 as can clearly been seen in Figure 10. The holes 102 may be formed by punching or the like after the rails 14, 16 are extruded and cut to size. The set of holes 102 may be located at predetermined spaced distances along the rail 16 depending on the modular width of the panels 28, 30. The ends of the rails 16 adjacent mitre joint 99 are each provided with two openings 104 so as to form exactly the same pattern as the channels 70 of the corner post 10. Thus, the corner post 10 and intermediate post 12 can be arranged so that the holes 104 and 102 are in registry with the C-shaped channels 70 and 56 respectively.

Fasteners such as self-tapping screws or the like may then be located through the holes 102 and 104 and screwed into the C-shaped channels 56 and 70 to secure the upper rail 16 and lower rail 14 to the corner posts 10 and 12 as is shown in Figures 10 and 11.

The flanges 98 are also provided with holes 110 at predetermined spacings for receiving screws, bolts or the like 107 for securing the lower rail 14 and upper rail 16 to base 75 and top surface 20 respectively. Thus, according to the preferred embodiments of the invention, the modular framing system formed of the corner post 10, intermediate post 12, lower rails 14 and upper rails 16 can be used to form the framework of a barbecue of a particular size in modular fashion so that any number of barbecue areas 22 thereby providing any number of barbecues or any size of barbecue can be formed using a public place such as a park or the like.

In other embodiments, sink units (not shown) could be included in the table top surface instead of one or more of the barbecue areas 22. The region between the barbecue areas 22 or barbecue areas and sinks (not shown) can be used as a table top for storage or preparation of food during cooking.

Since modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention may readily be effected by persons skilled within the art, it is to be understood that this invention is not limited to the particular embodiments described by way of example hereinabove.

Claims

THE CLAIMS DEFINING THE INVENTION ARE AS FOLLOWS:

1. A modular framing system for a barbecue including: corner posts having a central section; a first projecting portion extending outwardly from the central section for receiving a side edge of a first panel; a second projecting portion extending outwardly from the central section substantially at right angles to the first projecting portion for receiving a side edge of a second panel; an upper rail having a channel section for receiving the corner post and a flange for connection to a top surface; and a lower rail having a channel section for receiving the corner post and a flange for connection to a base.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the modular framing system includes at least one intermediate post having a central section, a first projecting porting extending outwardly from the central section and a second projecting portion extending outwardly from the central section in an opposite direction to the first projecting portion and substantially parallel thereto, the first and second projecting portions being for receiving side edge portions of a panel.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the channel section of the upper and lower rails is also for receiving the intermediate post.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the first and second projecting portions comprise a first leg and a second leg spaced apart from the first leg.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein a short leg section is provided between the first and second legs extending substantially parallel to the first and second legs and terminating inwardly of the first and second legs, the short leg being located closer to one of the first or second legs than the other of the first or second legs.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the central section of the corner post and the intermediate post includes C-shaped channels for receiving fasteners for securing the upper and lower rails to the corner posts and intermediate post.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the corner post, intermediate post, upper rail and lower rail are formed by extrusion.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the upper rail is provided with holes in both the channel section and the flange for receiving a fastener for receipt in the C-shaped channels of the central section of the corner post and the intermediate post, and the flange is provided with holes for receiving a fastener for securement to the base or the top surface.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the barbecue is completed by providing a top surface which includes a barbecuing section such as a plate, dish, grill or the like and by providing panel sections between the first and second projecting portions of the comer posts and, if included, the first and second projecting portions of the intermediate posts.

10. A barbecue including a modular framing system as claimed in claim 1.