U.S. patent application number 11/590091 was filed with the patent office on 2008-06-26 for oven for cooking cone-shaped foods.
Invention is credited to Frank Anthony Agnello.
Application Number | 20080149617 11/590091 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 39466461 |
Filed Date | 2008-06-26 |
United States Patent
Application |
20080149617 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Agnello; Frank Anthony |
June 26, 2008 |
OVEN FOR COOKING CONE-SHAPED FOODS
Abstract
A horizontal carousel conveyor carries cone-shaped foods and
other specialty-shaped foods through an oven, rotating the food on
a heating station as it passes by heating elements and through the
oven.
Inventors: |
Agnello; Frank Anthony;
(South Elgin, IL) |
Correspondence
Address: |
LADAS & PARRY LLP
224 SOUTH MICHIGAN AVENUE, SUITE 1600
CHICAGO
IL
60604
US
|
Family ID: |
39466461 |
Appl. No.: |
11/590091 |
Filed: |
October 31, 2006 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
219/388 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65G 17/36 20130101;
A21B 5/026 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
219/388 |
International
Class: |
F27B 9/06 20060101
F27B009/06 |
Claims
1. An oven comprising: a. a housing having an inlet and an outlet;
b. a heating element within the housing that directs thermal energy
substantially horizontally; and c. a carousel conveyor lying in a
substantially horizontal plane and carrying foodstuffs around a
continuous, horizontally-oriented loop, the foodstuffs passing into
the housing through the inlet, past the heating element and back
outside the housing through the; and d. a substantially cone-shaped
heating station that is removably attached to the carousel conveyor
and extending upwardly from said horizontal plane, said
substantially cone-shaped heating station for carrying foodstuffs
through the housing and past the heating element.
2. (canceled)
3. The oven of claim 1 wherein said heating station has a center
axis and rotates about a vertical axis as it moves along the
loop.
4. The oven of claim 1 wherein said heating station has a center
axis and rotates about a vertical axis only while it moves through
the housing.
5. (canceled)
6. The oven of claim 1 wherein said heating element is inclined at
an angle substantially equal to an inclination angle of the
cone-shaped heating station.
7. The oven of claim 1 wherein said heating element is located
along the pathway of the conveyor between the inlet and outlet.
8. The oven of claim I further comprising a speed motor coupled to
the carousel conveyor and driving said carousel conveyor.
9. The oven of claim 1 wherein said carousel conveyor is comprised
of metal links.
10. An oven comprising: a. a thermally insulated housing having
first and second openings; b. a first heating element within the
housing and positioned between the first and second openings, said
heating element directing thermal energy substantially
horizontally; and c. a carousel conveyor forming a closed
horizontal loop, said carousel being sized, shaped and arranged to
carry foodstuffs around a continuous, horizontally-oriented loop
that runs into the housing through the first opening, past the
heating element and back out from the housing through the second
opening, said carousel having a substantially cone-shaped heating
station, removably attached to the carousel conveyor, said
substantially cone-shaped heating station carrying foodstuffs
through the housing as the carousel conveyor moves.
11. The oven of claim 10 wherein said heating station extends
vertically from the conveyor and rotates about a vertical axis.
12. The oven of claim 10 wherein said heating station extends
vertically from the conveyor and rotates about a vertical axis only
when it moves through the housing.
13. (canceled)
14. The oven of claim 10 further comprising a variable speed motor
coupled to the carousel conveyor and driving said carousel
conveyor.
15. The oven of claim 10 wherein said first heating element is
mounted inside the housing and inside the conveyor loop.
16. The oven of claim 10 wherein the first heating element is
inside the conveyor loop and a second heating element is located
inside the housing and outside the conveyor loop.
17. An oven comprising: a. a substantially rectangular end
thermally-insulated housing having first and second openings in a
first side of the housing; b. a carousel conveyor forming a closed
horizontal loop, said carousel being sized, shaped and arranged to
carry foodstuffs on a substantially cone-shaped heating station
that extends vertically from a horizontal plane and which is
attached to the carousel conveyor, around a continuous path that
extends from outside the housing, into the housing through the
first opening and back out from the housing through the second
opening; and c. a heating element located within the housing and
along the positioned the horizontal loopy said heating element
directing thermal energy substantially horizontally.
Description
BACKGROUND
[0001] Restaurants and food service providers that provide unusual
or unique foodstuffs often have a competitive advantage over
business that do not otherwise distinguish themselves. Because most
restaurants and food service providers cook or heat foodstuffs for
consumption before they are sold or served to a customer, the
ability to quickly and properly heat or cook a unique food item can
be important to the success of a food service business.
[0002] As used herein, the term "pizza cone" refers to an edible
cone, the interior of which is filled with pizza fillings, such as
meats, cheeses and other ingredients. The cone part of a pizza cone
is usually made from pizza dough, however, cones made from other
types of dough can also be filled with pizza fillings or other
foods.
[0003] Because of its shape, a pizza cone is particularly difficult
to heat and/or cook. If a cone is place on its "side" for cooking,
fillings inside the cone will spill or fall out of the cone as
temperature rises. If a cone is inverted so that the open end is
downward and placed on a flat surface for heating, the contents
will also spill when the cone is removed from a heating surface to
be turned upright. The best way to heat a filled cone is to heat
the cone while it is upright, i.e., with the pointed, narrow end of
the cone downward, in order to keep fillings in the cone as it the
cone is heated.
[0004] A problem with heating and/or cooking edible cones is that
their conical shape makes it difficult to evenly heat a cone from
top to bottom. A cone is also difficult to heat around its
perimeter. An oven that can uniformly heat a cone from top to
bottom and uniformly heat a cone completely around its perimeter
would be an improvement over the prior art.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0005] FIG. 1 shows a front elevation view of an oven for baking
cones and cone-shaped foods;
[0006] FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of the front side of an oven
showing a view of a horizontal carousel conveyor that carries
cone-shaped heating stations used to carry cone-shaped foods
through the oven;
[0007] FIG. 3A shows one embodiment of a heating station for use in
cooking or heating cone-shaped foods;
[0008] FIG. 3B shows a second embodiment of a heating station for
use in cooking or heating cone-shaped foods;
[0009] FIG. 4 shows a perspective view of the oven shown in FIG. 1
and FIG. 2 with the oven's upper housing removed to show the
routing of the carousel conveyor and an inclined heating element
used to heat cones;
[0010] FIG. 5 shows a perspective view of the oven's base unit as
viewed from the left side of the oven with the top of the oven's
base unit removed to show details of the horizontal carousel
conveyor;
[0011] FIG. 6 shows a perspective view of the oven's base unit as
viewed from the front of the oven with the top of the base unit
removed to show additional details of the carousel conveyor;
[0012] FIG. 7 shows the attachment of the links to each other and
how the links of the carousel conveyor ride in and are guided by
roller bearings;
[0013] FIG. 8 shows the mounting of a heating station to a link of
the carousel conveyor; and
[0014] FIG. 9 depicts the mounting holes in the heating station
base, by which the heating station is attached to a conveyor link;
and
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0015] FIG. 1 shows a rectangular-shaped oven 10 particularly
suited for baking cone-shaped dough and/or batter in order to cook
cone-shaped foodstuffs such as pizza cones and ice cream cones. As
set fort more fully below, the oven 10 can be readily adapted to
cook other shaped food stuffs.
[0016] As best seen in FIG. 1, the oven 10 has an upper housing or
box 12 having four sides, (left 14, right 16, front 18, and rear,
not shown) and a top 20. The sides and top are insulated to keep
heat within the oven's interior and to keep the exterior surfaces
of the sides and top cool to the touch.
[0017] The upper housing 12 is attached to the top surface 22 of a
base unit 24. In one embodiment, the upper housing 12 is attached
to the base unit 24 by a hinge that is attached to the base unit 24
along the top rear edge (not shown) of the base unit 24 and the
lower rear edge of the upper housing 12. The hinge between the
upper housing 12 and the base unit 24 allows the upper housing 12
to be pivoted upwardly in order to provide access to the interior
of the oven 10.
[0018] The base unit 24 has a left side 26, a right side 28, a rear
side (not shown), a front side 30, a top 22, and a bottom 32. As
can be seen in FIG. 1, the width of the upper housing 12 and the
width of the base unit 24 are substantially equal such that the
left and right sides of the upper housing 12 and the base unit 24
are substantially co-planar.
[0019] While the width of the upper housing 12 and the base unit 24
are the same, the depth of the base unit 24, is greater than the
depth of the upper housing 12. The greater depth of the base unit
24 over the depth of the upper housing 12 provides a shelf surface
34 that extends forwardly of the front side 18 of the upper housing
12. In one embodiment, the front shelf 34 extends past the front
side 18 of the upper housing 12 by about six inches.
[0020] In the embodiment of the oven 10 shown in FIG. 1, the front
side 18 of the upper housing 12 is provided with a viewing window
36 by which an operator can view the cooking progress of cones or
other food stuffs passing through the oven 10. The viewing window
36 is preferably made from a translucent, heat-tolerant glass or
other translucent heat-tolerant material, such as quartz.
[0021] Importantly, the front side 18 of the upper housing 12 is
provided with two passage ways or openings 38 and 40. The openings
38 and 40 are spaced apart from each other in the front side 18 so
as to be located proximate to the left-hand side 14 and the right
hand side 16 respectively.
[0022] A motor-driven, variable speed conveyor mechanism enclosed
in the base unit 24 provides a closed-loop, horizontal carousel
conveyor 42 (hereafter conveyor 42) by which heating stations 44
attached to the conveyor are carried through the oven 10 in order
to cook foodstuffs in or on a heating station. As shown, the
heating stations 44 are vertically-oriented and sized, shaped and
arranged to hold cone-shaped items upright, i.e., with the narrow,
pointed end downwardly. The heating stations 44 pass into the oven
10 through a first one of the openings (38 or 40) and out from the
oven through the other opening (34 or 32). As can be seen in FIGS.
1, 2 and 4, the several heating stations 44 attached to the
conveyor 42 travel in the same, substantially-horizontal geometric
plane enabling the heating stations 44 and cones carried on them to
pass one or more vertically-oriented heating elements in the oven
10.
[0023] Referring to FIGS. 3A and 3B, the heating stations 44 in one
embodiment are cone-shaped wire baskets 45 having a geometric
center axis of symmetry (not shown). When the basket 45 is attached
to a mandrel 50 that is attached to a link of the conveyor 42, the
center axis of symmetry extends upward, orthogonal to the upper
surface 22 of the base unit 24. In a second embodiment, the heating
stations 44 are cone-shaped wire springs 46, which have a geometric
central axis (not shown) about which the coils of the springs are
wound. By placing a cone-shaped food item within a cone-shaped
basket or a cone-shaped coil, heat is able to reach the cone to
cook it as the basket or coil preserves the integrity of the
cone.
[0024] As can be seen in FIGS. 3A and 3B, the heating stations are
attached to a heating station carrier mandrel 50. As can be seen in
FIGS. 6, 7 and 8, the mandrel 50 is then attached to an individual
link 52 of the conveyor 42 so that as the conveyor 42 wends its way
around the base unit 24, the heating station 44 also moves around
the base unit 24. As best seen in FIGS. 9 and 10, two holes 52 and
54 in the heating station mandrel 50 allow the heating station 44
to be attached to conveyor links by machine screws, rivets or sheet
metal screws thereby enabling their removal for service. In an
alternate embodiment, however, the heating station mandrel 50 could
be welded to a link.
[0025] FIG. 4 shows a perspective view of the interior of the oven
10, i.e., with the upper housing 12 detached and removed from the
base unit 24 to reveal details of the conveyor's routing through
the oven 10. As can be seen in FIG. 4, a heater element 60 is
mounted to a triangularly-shaped sheet metal heater support bracket
62. Although a single inclined heater element 60 is shown,
alternate embodiments of the oven 10 include the use of multiple
inclined heater elements. In one alternate embodiment, one or more
heater elements are provided both inside and outside the conveyor
loop. In yet another embodiment, no heater element is within the
loop and one or more heater elements are provided outside the
conveyor loop.
[0026] The heater element 60 can be implemented using a gas burner,
electrically heated quartz, a resistive heating element, or a
combination of any two or more of them. The heater support bracket
62 is attached to the top surface 22 of the base unit 24 so that
the hypotenuse side 64 of the bracket 62 is closest to the conveyor
42. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, the heating stations 44 pass
between the heating element 60 and the rear or back side of the
oven's upper housing 12. Heat from the heater element 60 is
therefore directed rearward, i.e., toward the rear side or back of
the oven's upper housing 12 and away from the viewing window 36 in
the front side. The rear-ward direction of the heating element 60
away from the window 36 tends to reduce the transmission of
infrared heat from the oven.
[0027] The hypotenuse side 64 of the heater support bracket 62 is
shown in the figure to be inclined at an angle .theta. with respect
to the top surface 22 of the base unit 24. The angle .theta.
corresponds to the angle formed by the "sides" of the cooking
stations 42 with respect to the upper surface 30 of the base unit
24. By inclining the heater element 60 to the inclination angle of
the cooking stations 42 or the inclination of a shaped food stuff,
heat from the heater element 60 is directed horizontally toward
foodstuffs on the heating stations 44 that pass in front of the
heating element 60. In most cone applications, the angle .theta. is
between about 10 and 30 degrees.
[0028] An advantage to inclining the heating element 60 is that
foodstuffs carried on the heating stations that are also "angled,"
are heated more uniformly. Put another way, if the heater element
60 was not inclined and if the axis of a cone passing in front of
the heating element 60 was also not inclined, evenly heating a
cone-shaped foodstuff would be problematic. If the heating element
60 were vertical and if the cone's axis was also vertical, the wide
part of a cone would be too close to the heating element 60, or the
narrow pointed end would be too far from the heating element to
evenly heat a cone from top to bottom. Portions of a cone farther
away from the heating element 60 would either be undercooked while
portions of a cone close to the heating element 60 would be
overcooked or over heated. By inclining or tilting the heating
element 60 as shown, horizontally-directed heat from the heating
element 60 enables a cone shaped foodstuff or a cone filled with
foodstuffs to be heated more uniformly from top to bottom.
[0029] FIG. 6 shows a top view of the base portion 24 of the oven
10 but with the top surface 22 removed to expose details of the
horizontal conveyor 42, which is formed from several vertical belt
links 52 joined to each other by vertically-oriented hinge joints
64. As can be seen in the figure, the belt links 52 are rectangular
plates. The vertical orientation of the hinge joints allows the
links 52 to form a continuous belt, which can travel horizontally
around a pathway and thus move items, such as heating stations that
carry food stuffs, in a horizontal plane.
[0030] The assembled belt links 52 that form the continuous, closed
loop horizontal conveyor 42 ride in journals of bearings 66 that
are placed around the interior of the base unit 24 to define the
conveyor's pathway. The conveyor's links 52 are held upright and
under a moderate tension by pliable rollers 68 located at each
corner 70 of the base unit 24.
[0031] The tension exerted on the conveyor 42 is provided by the
resilient material from which the rollers 68 are formed. The amount
of tension exerted on the conveyor 42 keeps the conveyor 42
frictionally engaged to the rollers 68.
[0032] Inasmuch as the conveyor 42 is part of an oven, oven
components, including the conveyor, are made from heat-tolerant
materials. In one embodiment, the links 62 of the conveyor were
made from aluminum plate. The pliable rollers were formed from
polyester.
[0033] The conveyor 42 is driven by a motor located beneath the
bottom of a plate 76 so as to be protected from heat emanating from
the upper portion of the oven. The motor is preferably a variable
speed motor in order to provide some control over foodstuff heating
other than by the heat energy provided by the heating element
60.
[0034] Referring now to FIGS. 8 and 9, the structure of a heating
station 42 is shown in greater detail. The heating station 42 has
the cone-shaped basket or coil attached to a mandrel 50, the top of
which is formed to have relatively large diameter wheel 80 having a
central axis of rotation. The outer circumference of the wheel 80
is formed to have a chamfer into which a heat-resistant nylon or
neoprene O-ring 82 is placed. When a heating station 42 is attached
to a conveyor link 52, the O-ring 82 will frictionally engage a
sheet metal drive plate 84 that runs along the pathway traced out
by the O-rings 82 as the mandrel is carried around the pathway of
the conveyor 42. The drive plate 84 is adjustable and moved
inwardly so that the O-rings ride against the drive plate to cause
the wheel 80 and the attached heating station 42 to rotate as the
heating station 42 moves. Thus, when the conveyor 42 moves, the
heating station 42 rotates, so long as there is a drive plate 84
that is engaged by the O-ring 82.
[0035] As shown in FIG. 6, the drive plate extends from the left
side of the base unit 24, across the back of the base unit 24 and
part way up the right side 28 of the base unit 24 in order to
rotate the heating stations 42 as they move through the upper
housing 12 of the oven 10 and past the heating element 60.
[0036] While the description above is of one embodiment, the true
scope of the invention is set forth in the following claims.
* * * * *