GB2205731A - Electrically heated cooking appliance - Google Patents

Abstract

A self-contained electrically heated deep fat fryer or slow cooker has a hinged lid (6) covering the open top of a main body (1) in which the fat is heated. The lid is hinged to the body by laterally projecting trunnions (14) on the lid which are received each in an associated one of a pair of parallel oppositely directed grooves (13) extending down the outside of the upright wall of the fryer. The upper ends (15) of the grooves are closed and are turned inwards towards the body (1). The inturned upper ends (15) serve as pivots for initial hinging opening of the lid (6) which then slides down the grooves (13) to be held in an upright position at least in part below the level of the upper edge of the wall of the fryer. A condensation trap (30) and means (12, 28) for directing condensate to the trap are also described. <IMAGE>

Description

ELECTRICALLY-HEATED COOKING APPLIANCE This invention relates to self-contained, electrically-heated appliances for cooking or heating foodstuffs in liquids or foodstuffs of a liquid nature comprising a body forming or enclosing an open-topped vessel having, mounted on the outside of the vessel, an electric heating element, the appliance being provided with a hinged lid for covering the open top of the vessel. Such appliances are hereinafter referred to as "appliances of the kind described". Examples of appliances of the kind described are deep-fat fryers and so-called slow cookers.

The present invention is concerned with the hinging of the lid to the vessel and consists in an appliance of the kind described wherein the lid is hinged to the appliance at or close to the periphery of the lid by interengaging hinge parts on the lid and body which retain the lid pivotally to the body about a hinge axis movable relative to the body, whereby the lid can be swung from a closed position in which it covers the open top of the vessel to an open position in which it is held raised outside a wall of the body with said hinge axis displaced to a level lower than that which it occupies when the lid is in the closed position, and below the upper edge of the wall.

The invention enables the lid to be held securely in an upright position and the overall height of the appliance with the lid open can be less than for a lid hinged about a fixed axis.

The interengaging hinge parts on the lid and body preferably comprise co-axial trunnions on the lid which each engage an associated one of a pair of parallel, oppositely directed grooves or slots in the body the trunnions being slidable in the grooves or slots during movement of the lid from the closed position to the open position. Alternatively, the trunnions may be provided on the body, and the grooves or slots in the lid.

When the trunnions are provided on the lid, the grooves or slots may extend down the outside of the wall of the body. The wall of the body may comprise a substantially upright wall. Preferably the grooves or slots are closed at least at their upper ends so that when the lid is in its closed position the trunnions engage the closed upper ends of the grooves or slots and, in so doing, serve as pivots for initial hinging opening and final closing of the lid.

The lid is preferably provided with a handle, for use during opening the lid, which is at a position near the edge of the lid opposite the hinge. The handle is preferably shaped to encourage the user to keep his or her hand away from steam or hot vapour around the edge of the lid, for example, by being disposed on the top of the lid and having as the sole gripping surface a blind recess open towards the hinge. Such a lid handle also affords better control of the lid during sliding movement down the outside of the upright wall of the body.

Towards their upper ends the grooves or slots may turn inwards towards the middle of the body so that their closed upper ends lie at the inner ends of the turned portions. Especially in combination with a lid handle as previously described which causes the user to exert an inward pull on the lid, during opening, so holding the trunnions against the closed ends of the inwardly turned portions, this arrangement affords a more definite hinge axis.

The trunnions may be formed as part of plastics mouldings or metal castings or by projecting ends of a hinge pin mounted on the lid.

The side wall of each groove or slot is preferably provided at an intermediate position in its length with a gap through which the associated trunnion can pass thus permitting the lid to be disassembled from the body of the appliance for cleaning or filter changing.

Another problem with appliances of the kind described is the accumulation of condensate on the underside of the lid and in any filter and vent passages in the lid. When the lid is being opened droplets of condensate tends to combine and flow off the lid often falling into the interior of the vessel, This can cause spluttering on hot surfaces and is particularly undesirable when the vessel contains hot cooking oil or fat as in the case of deep fat fryers.

In order to alleviate the problems of condensation we prefer to provide means for directing condensate from the lid into a trap open to the atmosphere around the appliance and heated by the electric heating element bf the vessel to evaporate the condensate.

The lid preferably includes means for collecting the condensate and discharging it in the region of the hinge into a passage leading down the outside of the body into the trap.

When the lid includes a vent, with or without a filter, condensate is apt to form during cooking in the vent passages of the closed lid. Means is preferably provided for diverting such condensate from returning to the interior of the vessel and directing it into the trap, even while the lid is closed.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a plan view of a deep-fat fryer according to the invention; Figure 2 is a cross-section on line II-II of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a fragmentary view in the direction of the arrow III in Figure 2, partly in section on the left-hand side of the centre line; Figure 4 is a plan view of a lid partly dismantled to show interior details; Figure 5 is a fragmentary section on line V-V of Figure 4; Figure 6 is a fragmentary section on line VI-VI of Figure 4; Figure 7 is a fragmentary section similar to part of Figure 2 to illustrate an operating feature of the appliance, and Figure 8 is a view similar to Figure 7 showing the appliance with the lid open.

The deep-fat fryer shown in the drawings is a self-contained, electrically heated appliance having a body 1 comprising an outer metal casing 2 and an open-topped vessel 3 made of metal and lining the casing 2. On the outside of a base 4 of the vessel 3 a tubular-sheathed, electric heating element 5 is mounted. The appliance has a hinged lid 6 for covering the open top of the vessel 3. There is a perforate basket 7 in the vessel 3 which is vertically movable to lower foodstuff to be cooked into hot cooking oil or fat contained in the vessel 3 and to raise the foodstuff above the surface thereof and allow it to drain.

The lid 6 is connected to the body 1 by a plastics moulding 8 secured to the rear of the body 1 and including a rear lifting handle 9 for the appliance.

There is also a lifting handle 10 on the front of the appliance. The moulding 8 includes two spaced pillar portions 11 defining between them an upright passage 12 which is open at the rear of the appliance. On the outer side walls of the pillars upright, parallel grooves 13 are formed facing away, one from the other.

The grooves 13 are engaged by co-axial trunnions 14 formed on depending portions of the lid 6 and facing one towards the other. Each of the grooves 13 has at its upper end a portion 15 which is turned inwards towards the middle of the body 1. The grooves 13 are closed at both ends and, to enable the trunnions 14 to enter, the side wall of each groove is provided at an intermediate point with a gap 16 through which the associated trunnion 14 can pass for mounting the lid 6 on the body and removing it therefrom.

The main portion of the lid 6 is a plastics moulding and is provided with a viewing window 17 in the well 18 in which, near the edge of the lid furthest from the trunnions, is provided a handle 19 for opening the lid. The handle 19 is a separate component comprising a top wall 19a, a back wall 19b and end walls 19c and defines with the floor 18a of the well 18 a blind recess 20 opening into the well and towards the middle of the appliance. The natural way to grip the handle 19 is to insert the user's fingers into the opening of the recess. The user's hand is thus kept away from steam and hot vapours escaping from the edge of the opening lid.The formation of the handle as a separate component, the lining of the side walls of the well 18 within the recess by the end walls 19c of the handle, and the provision of ribs 18b on the floor 18a of the well all help to protect users' fingers from excessive heat.

When opened by lifting the handle 19, the lid 6 pivots about the hinge axis defined by the engagement of the trunnions 14 with the closed upper ends of the grooves in the inturned portions 15. After the lid has been swung some way towards the upright position the trunnions 14 can slide down the upright portions of the grooves 13 allowing the lid to be lowered partly below the upper edge of the upright wall of the body 1. The shape of the handle 19 assists control of the lid while it is being lowered. When the lid has been fully lowered, to the position shown in broken lines in Figure 2, its rear edge rests on the top of the lifting handle 8 which prevents its tipping backwards. The lid is prevented from falling forwards by the upright wall of the body 1. The shape of the handle 19 also assists manoeuvring the trunnions 14 through the gaps 16 while mounting or removing the lid.

The lid 6 is provided with a filtered vent and according to the second aspect of the invention means is provided for dealing with condensate formed in this region.

As more clearly shown in Figures 2 and 4, the rearward part of a main part 20 of the lid 6 is formed with segmental shaped chamber 22 having a perforate base 23 to support a filter element 24. The chamber 22 has a removable cover 25 (shown also in Figure 1) pierced by vent slots 26. The cover 25 is formed with depending peripheral flanges 27 the lower edge of which is spaced from the adjacent portion of the main part 21 of the lid to permit the further escape of steam and vapour. The cover 25 is so mounted on the main part 21 of the lid so as to remain as cool as possible in order to encourage condensation on its inside surfaces.

Below the flanges 27 the main part 21 of the lid is formed with arcuate gutters 28 which, when the lid is closed, slope downwards towards the hinge region as shown in Figure 5. At the rear of the appliance there is a gap in the rear wall of the gutters 28 to allow condensate to discharge down the passage 12 between the pillars 11 as shown in Figure 7. At the lower end of the passage 12 there is an opening 29 through which condensate can fall into a condensate trap 30. The trap 30 has thin walls to assist conduction of heat for evaporating the condensate and received mainly by radiation from the heating element 5, the adjacent parts of the vessel 3 and a heat shield panel 31 below the base of the vessel 3.

Figure 8 shows the path followed by the condensate into the trap 30 when the lid is open. In this position condensate on the under surfaces of the lid will also be collected and flow into the trap.

Claims (15)

1. A self-contained, electrically heated appliance of the kind described in which the lid is hinged to the appliance at or close to the periphery of the lid by interengaging hinge parts on the lid and body which retain the lid pivotally to the body about a hinge axis movable relative to the body, whereby the lid can be swung from a closed position in which it covers the open top of the vessel to an open position in which it is held raised outside a wall of the body with said hinge axis displaced to a level lower than that which it occupies when the lid is in the closed position, and below the upper edge of the wall.

2. An appliance according to claim 1 in which the interengaging hinge parts on the lid and body comprise co-axial trunnions on the lid, or body, which each engage an associated one of a pair of parallel, oppositely directed grooves or slots in the body, or lid, the trunnions being slidable in the grooves or slots during movement of the lid from the closed position to the open position.

3. An appliance according to claim 2 in which the trunnions are provided-on the lid and the grooves or slots extend down the outside of the wall of the body.

4. An appliance according to claim 3 in which the grooves or slots are closed at least at their upper ends so that when the lid is in its closed position the trunnions engage the closed upper ends of the grooves or slots and, in so doing, serve as pivots for initial hinging opening and final closing of the lid.

5. An appliance according to claim 4 in which the grooves or slots have portions towards their upper ends which are turned inwards towards the middle of the body so that their closed upper ends lie at the inner ends of the turned portions.

6. An appliance according to any of claims 2 to 5 in which the side wall of each groove or slot is provided at an intermediate position in its length with a gap through which the associated trunnion can pass thus permitting the lid to be disassembled from the body of the appliance.

7. An appliance according to any preceding claim in which the wall of the body comprises a substantially upright wall.

8. An appliance according to any preceding claim in which the interengaging hinge parts on the body are provided in a plastics moulding secured to the wall of the body.

9. An appliance according to any preceding claim in which the lid is provided with a handle, for use during opening the lid, which is at a position near the edge of the lid opposite the hinge.

10. An appliance according to claim 9 in which the handle is disposed on the top of the lid and has as the sole gripping surface a blind recess open towards the hinge so as to encourage the user to keep his or her hand away from steam or hot vapour around the edge of the lid.

11. An appliance according to any preceding claim in which the lid is held upright -in its fully open position by a biasing engagement of an exterior surface of the lid against a formation provided on the body at a region of the body spaced from the upper edge of the upright wall, the biasing engagement urging the lid towards the upright wall against which the lid leans.

12. An appliance according to any preceding claim in which means is provided for directing condensate which forms in use on the lid from the lid into a trap open to the atmosphere around the appliance and heated by the electric heating element of the vessel to evaporate the condensate.

13. An appliance according to claim 8 in which the lid includes means for collecting the condensate and discharging it in the region of the hinge into a passage leading down the outside of the body into the trap.

14. An appliance according to claim 12 or claim 13 in which the lid is provided with vent passages and means is provided for diverting condensate which forms in use in the vent passages from returning to the interior of the vessel and directing it into the trap, even when the lid is closed.

15. A self-contained, electrically-heated appliance substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.