Abstract:
A barbecue table having a frame and a top connected to the frame. The top serves as a table and is formed by a flat metal plate. A heating element is arranged under the metal plate and connected to the frame. The heating element is mounted on the underside of the metal plate and heats the metal plate allowing food to be prepared thereon.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention relates to a barbecue table as described herein. Such a barbecue table is known from the American patent specification 4 108 142. 
     The wall member of this known barbecue forms a separate annular metal trough capable of collecting cooking liquids from the metal plate and at the same time together with the metal plate shielding the burner from wind. 
     Although the known barbecue table is portable, due to the trough it has large dimensions which makes it unsuitable to be taken along, for instance on recreational trips. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention has for its object to provide a barbecue table of the type described in the preamble which can be embodied compactly so that it can be carried easily, for instance for recreational purposes elsewhere. 
     This object is achieved with the barbecue table according to the invention in that the wall member is an upwardly diverging burner wind guard closely surrounding the burner and the metal plate at all sides extends beyond the wind guard. In this way, the table top with burner and wind guard can form a unit with relatively limited dimensions, which can easily be stored flatly, for instance on the bottom of a car trunk. 
     The burner is mounted on the sub-frame and the sub-frame is mounted on the frame against the underside of the metal plate. This feature is preferably used for a robust construction. The burner and sub-frame are mounted detachably in the preferred embodiment. The burner can then be easily detached together with the sub-frame and be transported or stored separately or, in the case of malfunction, simply be replaced by another. When the burner according to the invention is releasable it can also be used for other purposes, for instance for cooking. The sub-frame is then embodied in suitable manner such that a pan can be placed thereon. 
     A very advantageous further embodiment is possible if metal plate is fixed to the frame. Because the metal plate forms part of the frame, the further parts of the frame can be embodied very simply, so that a relatively light and compact unit is obtained which is still sufficiently strong and stable. 
     In a preferred embodiment it is achieved that the burner is held at the correct distance from the metal plate at all times so that optimum operation of this burner is ensured. 
     A very suitable further development in this respect is characterized in the preferred embodiment. The tube part bent into a V-shape forms an extra covering for the burner, whereby it continues to function well even in strong wind. 
     A suitable embodiment is characterized by the following. The wooden surface can be used as placing surface for the ingredients for cooking and frying and the tableware. The plate can be cleaned easily. Possible burnt-on parts can be loosened with a spatula, pushed over the free edge of the metal plate and collected thereunder. 
     A further favourable development in this respect is provided. The burnt-on parts loosened with a spatula can be pushed in the gutter which can be emptied afterwards. 
     For this purpose the gutter is preferably detachable. The barbecue table itself can remain in its place and the waste for disposal is taken with the gutter to a suitable place, where the gutter is emptied and cleaned. 
     A suitable embodiment is provided. The rectangular shape of the steel plate results in areas with a slightly lower temperature on the short sides, which are slightly further removed from the burner than the long sides, which areas are suitable for keeping already prepared food warm or for preheating food still to be prepared. The raised edges ensure that the oil used during frying does not drip off the plate, while the plate can however still be cleaned well using a spatula. 
     It is noted that from U.S. Pat. No. 3,794,013 a portable gas grill is known, comprising a metal plate having a gas burner mounted therebelow. The dimensions of said gas grill are very limited so that in principle it would be suitable for easy transportation. However, due to the long stretched form of the burner and the lack of any wind guard, it cannot be used outdoors in a satisfactory manner. 
     German “Offenlegungsschrift” 3 501 882 shows a barbecue table having a table top with a metal plate and no further elements below that metal plate, so that it can be easily transported. The plate, however, is heated by an electrical heating element, such that it can only function in the immediate vicinity of a mains outlet, so that it cannot be usefully taken along, for instance for recreational purposes in the countryside. 
     The invention is further elucidated in the following description with reference to the annexed figures. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the barbecue table according to the invention. 
     FIG. 2 shows a partly broken away view of the barbecue table shown in FIG.  1 . 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The barbecue table  1  according to the invention shown in FIG. 1 comprises a frame  2  by which a table top  9  is supported. The frame comprises two front legs  6  and a rear leg  7 . The front legs  6  are placed with their bent upper end into the end parts  5  of a flat-lying tube part  3  bent into a V-shape. Welded fixedly to the V-shaped tube part  3  is a standing tube stub  4  in which the leg  7  is received. 
     The legs  6 ,  7  are mutually connected about halfway along their height by a support surface  8 . This provides a greater rigidity to the frame, so that the table top  9  is supported in stable manner. 
     In the case the barbecue table  1  is embodied for disassembly the support surface  8  can be fastened to the legs  6 ,  7  with for instance bolts with wing nuts. 
     The table top  9  is partly formed by a substantially flat metal plate  10 , which in this embodiment is a 6 mm thick steel plate. With this thickness and this material a very advantageous frying surface is obtained which has a uniform temperature and a good heat capacity. 
     The table top  9  further comprises a wooden surface  11  extending on three sides round the rectangular steel plate  10 . This surface  11  can be used for setting down ingredients, tableware and the like. Since wood is a good heat insulator, objects placed on wooden surface  11  will not be heated, even when steel plate  10  is heated to a high temperature. 
     As shown particularly in FIG. 2, the edge  23  of the steel plate is bent upward through a small angle, in particular an angle of about 5°. The raised edge  23  ensures that oil and/or other liquids used in frying cannot drip off the plate. Even when table top  9  is not disposed entirely horizontally, the liquids used will still remain lying on the plate in reliable manner. 
     On the other hand, the raised edges  23  do not hinder cleaning of the plate. The plate can easily be scraped clean with a spatula, wherein the scrapings can be collected on the free edge of steel plate  10 . 
     In the shown preferred embodiment a detachable gutter  19  is arranged along the free edge of steel plate  10  to collect the scrapings. This gutter is fixed using threaded ends which are spot welded to plate  10  and which have wing nuts  20  engaging thereon. The gutter  19  can be detached simply by slightly loosening wing nuts  20  and the scrapings collected in gutter  19  can be thrown away at a suitable location. 
     As shown particularly in FIG. 2, the burner  12  is provided with a wind guard  16  which forms part of a sub-frame with which the burner is fixed to the frame  2  against the underside of plate  10 . The wind guard  16  is mounted close-fittingly in the bend of the V-shaped tube part  3 . The wind guard  16  is provided with a plurality of slotted apertures in its periphery through which secondary combustion air is supplied to burner  12 . By fitting the burner with wind guard  16  in the bend of V-shaped tube part  3  a good wind sealing is obtained. The V-shaped tube part  3  forms an extra shield preventing the wind from blowing directly against the burner via the apertures in wind guard  16 . For optimum operation of the shielding effect the barbecue table  1  is placed with the rear leg  7  in the direction of the wind. 
     The burner  12  is mounted in a sub-frame which is provided with supports  17 , the upper edges  18  of which normally speaking define a supporting surface for an object for heating such as a pan. The burner  12  is mounted with this sub-frame to the frame  2  such that the upper edges  18  of supports  17  at least almost make contact with the underside of plate  10 . The supports  17  thus form a spacer which defines the correct distance from the burner  12  to the plate  10 . 
     In FIG. 2 only the burner head of burner  12  is shown. Extending downward in per se known manner on the underside of the burner head is a shaft through which the combustion gas is supplied. On the underside the burner carries a coupling  14  to which a gas bottle can be screwed. As shown in FIG. 1, a gas bottle  13  of considerable capacity can be used. A large gas bottle  13  is used particularly when barbecue table  1  is intended as an emergency provision and will thus be used a great deal. When a large gas bottle  13  is used the support surface  8  is mounted to legs  6 ,  7  at a height such that the gas bottle is supported by the support surface  8 . 
     For recreational use of the barbecue table  1  according to the invention a smaller gas bottle can be used, so that barbecue table  1  becomes easily transportable. The support surface  8  can in that case be used for temporary setting aside of ingredients, kitchen utensils and the like. 
     The burner is releasably attached to the frame  2 , so that it can also be used separately together with a gas bottle. 
     The invention is not limited to the embodiment shown in the figures but comprises all embodiment variants which fall within the scope of the accompanying claims.