Barbeque turner

Disclosed is a Barbeque Turner with a plate, an armature and a handle. Food, which is engaged by the plate, is turned by the pull of a trigger which actuates gears within the handle which, in turn, rotate that armature and the plate which is attached thereto.

CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
 None
 STATEMENTS AS TO RIGHTS TO INVENTIONS MADE UNDER FEDERALLY SPONSORED
 RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
 None
 BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
 1. Field of the Invention
 This invention relates generally to a device for turning over items that
 are being cooked. More particularly, this invention comprises a device
 that turns over items that are being barbequed or grilled.
 2. Description of the Related Art
 People who grill or barbeque food use manual devices, such as spatulas and
 forks, to turn the food that is being cooked. This is especially
 inconvenient when cooking with the newer barbeque ovens which have
 multiple, closely spaced cooking grids because there is not enough room to
 turn the food by hand. Around the turn of the century, there were several
 inventions that allowed food to be turned with a mechanical device.
 However, these inventions have their mechanisms open to the outside and
 are not well suited to modern safety standards, manufacturing or
 fabrication techniques. Therefore, it is desirable to have a simple,
 closed device that turns over the food being cooked that can easily be
 manufactured by modern techniques with modern materials.
 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
 The object of the current invention is to provide a device that can be used
 to turn over items that are being barbequed or cooked. The current
 invention provides such a device with a mechanically activated rotation
 mechanism.
 The invention comprises a handle, an armature and a plate. The handle
 contains a set of three gears, an external trigger and most of the
 armature. The user places the plate under the object to be turned and
 presses the trigger. The action of the trigger, through the gears, rotates
 the plate through 180 degrees and flips the object. A spring flips the
 plate back to the original position. The plate is removably fixed to the
 armature outside of the handle to facilitate changes in plates for
 different applications. The advantages of the invention are that the
 mechanism is closed and the user can flip the food in a narrow space
 because he need not turn his wrist when actuating the devise.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
 The preferred embodiment of the invention is best understood by referring
 to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 1 the present invention is comprised of
 a plate 1, an armature 2, and a handle 3.
 Referring further to FIG. 2, the plate 1 consists of a plate 4 and a rod 5.
 The forward portion 6 of the plate 4 is horizontal when in use and the
 rearward portion 7 of the plate is bent upward from the horizontal.
 Although the plate as illustrated is in the form of a spatula, other
 forms, such as a fork, may be used. The rod 5 has a front portion 8 that
 extends from and in the same plane as the rearward portion 7 of the plate
 4 and a rear portion 9 that bends back toward the horizontal and lies in
 the same plane as the forward portion 6 of the plate 4. The rod 5 is
 typically attached to the plate 1 with rivets 10. The rear portion 9 of
 the rod 5 is threaded 11 to allow other plates, such as a fork, to be
 attached to the armature 2. The armature 2 passes through a front bearing
 14 and a rear bearing 15 that are disposed in opposite ends of the handle
 3.
 Referring further to FIG. 3, the handle 3 is comprised of an inner sleeve
 25 and an outer sleeve 26. The inner sleeve can be metal, plastic or any
 other material that is convenient to fabricate, sufficiently strong and
 can withstand the heat. In the preferred embodiment of the invention,
 metal is used. The outer sleeve must be thermally insulating and able to
 withstand heat. Wood is used in the preferred invention.
 The front portion of the armature 2 has a sleeve 12 which is threaded 13 to
 engage the rear portion 9 of the rod 5. The armature is further stabilized
 by a mounting bracket 27 within the handle 3. A crown pinion gear 15 is
 attached to the portion of the armature 2 that is within the handle 3.
 A trigger 16 is attached to a trigger shaft 17 which is disposed in the
 handle 3 so as to be perpendicular to the armature 2. The trigger 16,
 which is attached to the trigger shaft 17, extends through an opening 18
 in the handle 3. A trigger guard 21 is mechanically attached with bolts 28
 to the handle 3 in the vicinity of the trigger 16 and the opening 18 in
 the handle 3.
 A trigger spur gear 19 is also attached to the trigger shaft 17. A transfer
 spur gear 29 is attached to a transfer shaft 20 that is disposed in the
 handle 3 so as to be parallel to the trigger shaft 17. The trigger shaft
 17, trigger spur gear 19, transfer shaft 20, and transfer spur gear 29 are
 all positioned relative to one another and the armature 2 and crown pinion
 gear 15 so the gears mesh as shown in FIG. 3. The number of teeth in each
 gear and the respective gear ratios are such that a squeeze of the trigger
 rotates the plate through approximately 180 degrees.
 While there are many trigger displacements, gear ratios and gear sizes that
 will accomplish this, the preferred embodiment uses a trigger displacement
 of 52 degrees, a 11/16" diameter pinion gear with 34 teeth, a 3/8"
 diameter spur gear with 20 teeth and a 5/16" diameter crown gear with 10
 teeth. The gears can be made of plastic, nylon, metal or any other
 convenient material that will withstand the heat.
 When the trigger 16 is released, the plate 4, is returned to its original
 position by a rotary spring 30 that is fixed between the armature 2 and
 the handle 3.
 In a second embodiment of the invention, as shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 as
 modified by FIG. 4, a trigger bevel gear 22 is attached to a trigger shaft
 17, a transfer bevel gear 23 is attached to the transfer shaft 20 and a
 bevel pinion gear 24 is attached to the armature 2. In this embodiment,
 the shafts may be oblique to one another if the bevel gears are hypoid.
 The trigger shaft 17, trigger bevel gear 22, transfer shaft 20, and
 transfer bevel gear 23 are all positioned relative to one another and the
 armature 2 and bevel pinion gear 24 so the gears mesh as shown in FIG. 4.
 While there are many trigger displacements, gear ratios and gear sizes
 that will accomplish this, the preferred embodiment uses a trigger
 displacement of 52 degrees, a 11/16" diameter pinion gear with 34 teeth, a
 3/8" diameter spur gear with 20 teeth and a 5/16" diameter crown gear with
 10 teeth.