Abstract:
A park-style grill shelf for a park-style grill including a shelf portion and a connector portion. The connector portion having a first section, a second section spaced apart a predetermined distance from the first section, and a hanger portion connecting the first section and the second section. The first section of the connector portion is connected to the shelf portion such that the shelf portion is positioned at a substantially right angle relative to the first section of the connector portion. The connector portion of the park-style grill shelf is configured to fit over an upper edge of a side of the park-style grill to provide a convenient work space or storage area for items such as condiments, cooking utensils, and beverages.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/250,297, filed on Nov. 3, 2015, the entirety of which is hereby expressly incorporated herein by reference. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    Outdoor cooking has enjoyed great popularity for many years. County, state, and national park services often provide outdoor cooking grills for use by those participating in the recreation of the parks. These park-style grills are a tremendous convenience to the recreation enthusiasts, and also a considerable convenience to the park administrators in that they assure that fires, and the accompanying mess, are confined to certain areas. However, because they are exposed to harsh weather conditions, as well as stresses from use by the general public, these park-style grills are typically minimalistic in construction. 
         [0003]    Because the park-style grills are minimalistic, they do not have shelves which are common in larger commercial grills. Shelves provide convenient work space or storage areas for items such as condiments, cooking utensils, and beverages. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0004]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a prior art park-style grill. 
           [0005]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view of a park-style grill shelf constructed in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. 
           [0006]      FIG. 3  is a partial cross-sectional diagram depicting the park-style grill shelf disposed on the park-style grill in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. 
           [0007]      FIG. 4  is a partial cross-sectional diagram of another embodiment of a park-style grill shelf shown disposed on the park-style grill in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. 
           [0008]      FIG. 5  is a partial cross-sectional diagram of another embodiment of a park-style grill shelf shown mounted on the park-style grill in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. 
           [0009]      FIGS. 6-8  are perspective views showing the formation of a park-style grill shelf formed from a single piece of sheet material in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS 
       [0010]    Before explaining at least one embodiment of the inventive concepts disclosed herein in detail, it is to be understood that the inventive concepts are not limited in their application to the details of construction and the arrangement of the components or steps or methodologies set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The inventive concepts disclosed herein are capable of other embodiments, or of being practiced or carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting the inventive concepts disclosed and claimed herein in any way. 
         [0011]    In the following detailed description of embodiments, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a more thorough understanding of the inventive concepts. However, it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that the inventive concepts within the instant disclosure may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known features have not been described in detail to avoid unnecessarily complicating the instant disclosure. In addition, like reference numerals in the figures represent and refer to the same or similar element or function. 
         [0012]    As used herein, the terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “includes,” “including,” “has,” “having,” and any variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements is not necessarily limited to only those elements, and may include other elements not expressly listed or inherently present therein. 
         [0013]    Unless expressly stated to the contrary, “or” refers to an inclusive or and not to an exclusive or. For example, a condition A or B is satisfied by anyone of the following: A is true (or present) and B is false (or not present), A is false (or not present) and B is true (or present), and both A and B is true (or present). 
         [0014]    In addition, use of the “a” or “an” are employed to describe elements and components of the embodiments disclosed herein. This is done merely for convenience and to give a general sense of the inventive concepts. This description should be read to include one or at least one and the singular also includes the plural unless it is obvious that it is meant otherwise. 
         [0015]    As used herein, qualifiers like “substantially,” “about,” “approximately,” and combinations and variations thereof, are intended to include not only the exact amount or value that they qualify, but also some slight deviations therefrom, which may be due to manufacturing tolerances, measurement error, wear and tear, stresses exerted on various parts, and combinations thereof, for example. 
         [0016]    Finally, as used herein any reference to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” means that a particular element, feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment. The appearances of the phrase “in one embodiment” in various places in the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. 
         [0017]    Referring now to the drawings,  FIG. 1  illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a park-style grill  10  as is well known in the art. In the embodiment shown, the park-style grill  10  includes a firebox  12  having a bottom  14 , a first sidewall  16 , a second sidewall  18 , a rear wall  20 , and a grill  22 . The firebox  12  is adapted to receive a cooking fuel such as, for instance, charcoal or wood beneath the grill  22  for cooking purposes. 
         [0018]    Referring now to  FIG. 2 , one embodiment of a park-style grill shelf  50  is shown formed of a single piece of material such as, for instance, aluminum, steel, or stainless steel. In the illustrated embodiment, the park-style grill shelf  50  has a shelf portion  52 , a connector portion  54 , an upper surface  60 , a lower surface  62 , an outer edge  66 , and a bend  68 . The connector portion  54  of the park-style grill shelf  50  has a first section  70 , a hanger portion  72 , and a second section  74 . 
         [0019]    As illustrated in  FIG. 2 , the upper surface  60  and the lower surface  62  of the shelf portion  52  form substantially planar surfaces. When formed as a one piece unit from a single piece of material, the bend  68  defines an angle A ( FIG. 3 ) having an absolute value of a substantially 90° angle relative to the upper surface  60  of the shelf portion  52  and the upper surface  60  of the first section  70  of the connector portion  54 . Or, in other words, the bend  68  forms a right angle. The angle A may have an absolute value in a range from about 85° to about 95°. 
         [0020]    As illustrated in  FIG. 2 , in one embodiment of the park-style grill shelf  50 , the upper surface  60  and the lower surface  62  of the first section  70  form substantially planar surfaces. In another embodiment, the upper surface  60  and the lower surface  62  of the first section  70  form convex arcuate surfaces (not shown). In still another embodiment, the upper surface  60  and the lower surface  62  of the first section  70  form concave arcuate surfaces (not shown). 
         [0021]    As illustrated in  FIG. 3 , in one embodiment of the park-style grill shelf  50 , the connector portion  54  is formed to fit over an upper edge of the second sidewall  18  of the park-style grill  10  such that the shelf portion  52  extends outwardly away from the park-style grill  10  in a perpendicular relationship to the second sidewall  18 . In this embodiment, the hanger portion  72  of the connector portion  54  is radiused forming an arcuate angle B having an absolute value of a substantially 180° angle. The arcuate angle B may have an absolute value in a range from about 170° to about 190°. When the hanger portion  72  is formed as illustrated in  FIG. 3 , the lower surface  62  of the first section  70  is spaced apart from the lower surface  62  of the second section  74  by in a range of about 1/16 inch to about ½ inch. In an embodiment of the park-style grill shelf  50  where the hanger portion  72  forms an absolute angle of substantially 180°, the lower surface  62  of the first and second sections  70  and  74  will be spaced apart by the same distance along the entire width. However, it will be appreciated by a person of skill in the art that when the hanger portion  72  forms an absolute angle of more or less than 180° the lower surface  62  of the first and second sections  70  and  74  will be spaced apart by distances that differ along the width of the first and second sections  70  and  74 . 
         [0022]    In the embodiment illustrated in  FIG. 3 , when the connector portion  54  of the park-style grill shelf  50  is positioned over the upper edge of the second sidewall  18  of the park-style grill  10 , at least a portion of the lower surface  62  of the first and second sections  70  and  74  and the hanger portion  72  of the connector portion  54  will be in contact with the second sidewall  18 . 
         [0023]    Referring now to  FIG. 4 , another embodiment of a park-style grill shelf  100  is shown connected to the park-style grill  10 . In this embodiment, the park style grill shelf  100  is provided with a connector portion  102  having a first section  104 , a hanger portion  106 , and a second section  108 . The hanger portion  106  is defined by two substantially right angles C and D. The angles C and D may have absolute values in a range from about 80° to about 100°. For instance, in one embodiment, the angle D may have an absolute value of 80°, or in other words, angled slightly inward to provide a spring force for resiliently pressing against and frictionally engaging the second sidewall  18  of the park-style grill  10 , which is thereby clamped between first and second sections  104  and  108  of the connector portion  102 . 
         [0024]    The connector portion  102  may also include a spacer element  109  to space the first section  104  from the second sidewall  18  of the park-style grill  10  in a way that reduces the heat transferred to the park-style grill shelf  100  from the second sidewall  18  of the park-style grill  10 . The spacer element  109  may be made of a heat insulating material, such as silicone, and the spacer element  109  may be secured to the first section  104  by any suitable means, such as adhesives, bolts, screws, or rivets (not shown). 
         [0025]    While the park-style grill shelf  50  and  100  are shown positioned over the upper edge of the second sidewall  18  of the park-style grill  10  in  FIGS. 3 and 4 , it will be appreciated by a person of skill in the art that the connector portion  54  may be positioned over any one of the first sidewall  16 , the second sidewall  18 , or the back wall  20 . 
         [0026]    Referring now to  FIG. 5 , another embodiment of a park-style grill shelf  110  is shown connected to the park-style grill  10 . In this embodiment, the park-style grill  110  is provided with a connector portion  112  having a section  114 , extending from a shelf portion  116  at an angle A. The angle A may have an absolute value in a range from about 85° to about 95°. 
         [0027]    The connector portion  112  is further provided with a plurality of magnets  118  for connecting the park-style grill shelf  110  to the park-style grill  10 . As shown in  FIG. 5 , the magnets  118  are fastened to the section  114  of the connector portion  112  using adhesive. It should be noted, however, that in other embodiments of the park-style grill shelf  110 , the magnets  118  may be secured in other ways, such as using bolts, screws, or rivets (not shown). 
         [0028]    As illustrated in  FIGS. 2-5 , in some embodiments the park-style grill shelf  50 ,  100 , and  110  can readily be fabricated from a single piece of sheet material such as, for instance, aluminum, steel, or stainless steel, using conventional metal-forming techniques to produce the park-style grill shelf  50 ,  100 , and  110  without welding or other joining steps. In other embodiments, the park-style grill shelf  50 ,  100 , and  110  may be fabricated using other methods and techniques. For instance, the shelf portion  52  and the connector portion  54  may be formed as separate pieces and fastened together using a fastening method, such as welding. 
         [0029]      FIGS. 6-8  show the process of forming a park-style grill shelf  120 , which is similar to the park-style grill shelf  50 , as a one piece unit from a single piece of sheet material  122  in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. Referring now to  FIG. 6  in particular, the sheet material  122  is provided with an upper surface  124 , a lower surface  126 , and an outer edge  128  and is shown having dimensions of substantially 8 inches by 8 inches. 
         [0030]    As illustrated in  FIG. 7 , a bend  130  is formed in the sheet material  122  substantially 6 inches along the upper surface  124  of the sheet material  122 . The bend  130  forms an angle E having an absolute angle of substantially 90° relative to the upper surface  124  of the sheet material  122 . The bend  130  serves to delineate a shelf portion  132  and a connector portion  134  of the park-style grill shelf  120 . In this embodiment, the shelf portion  132  is substantially 6 inches wide and the connector portion  134  is substantially 2 inches wide when measured along the upper surface  124  of the sheet material  122 . 
         [0031]      FIG. 8  shows a hanger portion  136  formed in the connector portion  134  of the park-style grill shelf  120 . The hanger portion  136  of the connector portion  134  is radiused forming an arcuate angle F having an absolute value of a substantially 180° angle. A center of the arcuate angle F is substantially 1 inch from the bend  130  measured along the upper surface  132  of the sheet material  122 . In this embodiment, an inside radius of the hanger portion  136  is ⅛ inch. As shown in  FIG. 8 , the hanger portion  136  separates the connector portion into a first section  138  and a second section  140 . 
         [0032]    In one embodiment, the park-style grill shelf  120  may be formed of 18 gauge sheet material  122 . It should be noted, however, that in other embodiments the sheet material  122  may be 10 gauge, 11 gauge, 12 gauge, 13 gauge, 14 gauge, 15 gauge, 16, gauge, 17 gauge, 18 gauge, 19 gauge, or 20 gauge. 
         [0033]    The dimensions used to describe the sheet material  122 , the bend  130 , and the arcuate angle F of the park-style grill shelf  120  are for illustration purposes only. In other embodiments, the sheet material  122  may be provided having other dimensions and the placement of the bend  130 , and the arcuate angle F may be adjusted accordingly. 
         [0034]    From the above description, it is clear that the inventive concepts disclosed herein are well adapted to carry out the objects and to attain the advantages mentioned herein, as well as those inherent in the invention. While exemplary embodiments of the inventive concepts have been described for purposes of this disclosure, it will be understood that numerous changes may be made which will readily suggest themselves to those skilled in the art and which are accomplished within the spirit of the inventive concepts disclosed.