Skewer for rotiesserie

The skewer for a rotisserie for roasting chicken and the like is formed from a single piece with a straight spine portion having angularly extended drive wings fitting into the cavity of the chicken for positive rotation thereof. The skewer rotates with the reel plate of the rotisserie and relative to and includes support ends for mounting in the reel plates of the rotisserie that include constraints for limiting axial movement for precluding the possibility of inadvertent dislodgement of the skewer from the reel plates. The absence of corners, welds and crevices and the like facilitate cleanliness and avoids the propensity of collecting bacteria and potentially toxic substances.

CROSS REFERENCES 
This invention relates to the subject matter disclosed in copending patent 
application (Ser. No. 08/847,923) filed on even date by the inventor 
common to this patent application and entitled "Skewer Driver for 
Rotisserie" and in copending patent application (Ser. No. 08/347,924) 
filed on even date by the inventor common to this patent application and 
entitled "Self Centering Means of a Planetary System for a Rotisserie". 
Technical Field 
This invention relates to rotisseries for cooking chickens or other like 
foods and particularly to the spit or skewer used in the rotisserie. 
Background Art 
As is well known in the field of cooking, roasted and broiled chickens 
served in commercial eating establishments has become extremely popular in 
the past few years and that commercial cooking apparatus for cooking the 
chickens have been in high demand. One of the concerns when serving food 
to the public is that the apparatus used must be sanitary and free from 
bacteria or other potentially toxic contamination. Obviously, many types 
of personnel are employed to handle and clean the utensils that are used 
in cooking and hence, it is abundantly important that these utensils are 
easy to clean and to keep sanitary. One of the problems associated with 
commercial types of rotisseries is that the skewer is designed to hold 
several chickens and hence must be structurally sufficient to accommodate 
this problem. As a result, many of the spits of the type that rotate 
relative to a rotating drum are fabricated from several pieces that are 
joined by welding or other types of bonding methods where crevices and 
tight corners are formed which are difficult to clean and hence, become a 
source of supporting undesirable growths such as bacteria and the like. In 
other designs, the skewer includes a fork-like element or tines that are 
inserted in the chicken to prevent it from rotating relative to the skewer 
and these tines are attached to the skewer by some type of collar and 
screw or wing nut assembly. Again these devices have the propensity of 
retaining food bits and are difficult to clean. 
Another example of a spit is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,184,540 granted 
to Riccio on Feb. 9, 1993 and entitled "Cooking Apparatus with Rotisserie 
and Reclamation Trap". The spit in this disclosure include three 
equi-spaced radially extending fins extending the length of the spit 
defining drive shoulders that serve to rotate the food being cooked in the 
rotisserie. The fins are formed such that each at the central axis touch 
each other and form relatively tight corners. Again, these corners are in 
essence crevices that are somewhat difficult to clean and hence can 
collect food particles and end up with unsatisfactory sanitation problems. 
The cleaning problem in all types of rotisseries is acerbated by the fact 
that the chickens notoriously contain fat that melts in the cooking 
process which, in turn, drip and collect and accumulate on the various 
components of the rotisserie. It is to be understood that the type of 
rotisserie that is the concern in this invention is the types where the 
chickens are inserted on a skewer and the skewer is supported to a drum 
that rotates about a central axis of the rotisserie and the skewer rotates 
relative to the drum. 
I have found that I can obviate the problems noted in the above paragraphs 
by providing a skewer that is fabricated from a single metal piece that 
eliminates tight corners, joining components, welds, crevices and the like 
and yet is rigid in construction and capable of supporting several 
chickens. The skewer includes driving wings that radially extend from an 
arcuate shaped inner shaft and are configured to easily penetrate into the 
chicken and provide the driving means for rotating the chickens relative 
to the rotating drum. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
An object of this invention is to provide an improved skewer for a 
rotisserie of the type that includes a rotating drum and means to rotate 
the skewer relative to the rotating drum. 
A feature of this invention is a skewer that includes a one piece 
construction of uniform thickness including an arcuate elongated inner 
spine portion, a pair of spaced radially extending drive wings or fins 
extending the substantial distance of the elongated inner shaft. The wings 
extend from the inner spine portion to form substantially a 90 degree 
angle. The ends of the elongated spine portion are reduced and configured 
to be supported for rotary motion. One end is rounded to form a quasi 
circle in cross section to define a stub shaft for supporting one end of 
the skewer and the other end is configured in an arcuate shape to fit into 
a rotary skewer driver for supporting and imparting rotary motion to the 
skewer. The front and rear ends of the wings are tapered and configured to 
form a relatively pointed end for ease of inserting the skewer into the 
chicken. A tang adjacent to the end of the stub shaft and two radially 
abbreviated wings terminating at the same location as the tang limits the 
length of insertion of the stub shaft into the accommodating aperture 
formed in the rotating drum. 
The foregoing and other features of the present invention will become more 
apparent from the following description and accompanying drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
While in its preferred embodiment the skewer of this invention is being 
described in conjunction with a commercial type of rotisserie, as one 
skilled in this art will appreciate, this skewer has utility for other 
types of rotisseries and including, but not limited to residential types 
of skewers. Additionally, it will be appreciated that in certain 
commercial rotisseries, double ovens with like amount of skewers are 
mounted in side-to-side relationship. 
Reference is now being made to FIGS. 1-6 which disclose in detail the 
construction of the skewer. First, looking at FIG. 1 which is a schematic 
view of the rotisserie and the skewer, it will be noted that the 
rotisserie is an open type of oven generally indicated by reference 
numeral 10, having the opposite side walls 12 and 14, bottom wall 16 and 
the top wall 16. Fitted to the top wall is a gas fired heater 20 of the 
type that generates substantially 1600 degrees Fahrenheit that is mounted 
on a bias in the front end of the oven. A suitable heater is described in 
U.S. Pat. No. 4,927,355 granted to Haire et al on May 22, 1990 and 
entitled "Burner Assembly". A pair of rotating drums or reel plates 22 and 
24 axially spaced relative to each other are supported to shaft 26 that is 
journalled in the bearings (not shown) supported in the apertures and 
formed in the side walls 12 and 14 for rotary motion. A suitable electric 
motor 28 and belt or chain are suitably connected to a drive pulley or 
sprocket gear for imparting continuous rotary motion to reel plates 22 and 
24. A plurality of planet gears 21 rotatably supported to the reel plate 
24 mesh with the bull or sun gear 23 that is soothingly restrained from 
rotating by side wall 14. As the reel plates 22 and 24 rotate by virtue of 
the motor 28 about central axis of shaft 26, the individual planet gears 
meshing with the teeth of sun gear or bull gear 23, rotate relative to the 
reel plates 22 and 24 causing the chickens to rotate in the cooking 
compartment of the rotisserie and rotate about the skewers that rotate 
relative to the reel plates. In this construction a different portion of 
the chickens face the heater 20 and its full intensity for each revolution 
until a full cycle, which say, may be every five revolutions of the reel 
plates, is attained. This not only effectuates even roasting, but also 
prevents overcooking any one portion of the chicken. 
As noted in FIG. 2, the skewer generally indicated by reference numeral 30 
is comprised of a single elongated piece 32 fabricated from a metal or 
metal alloy and preferably stainless steel having a generally uniform 
thickness that is configured with opposing ends 34 and 36 for rotatably 
supporting the skewer to the reel plates 22 and 24. Essentially, the 
skewer includes a straight, elongated and arcuate spine portion 38 that 
circumscribes an arc that is substantially 270 degrees with the apex 41 or 
the point tangent to the vertical diameter facing the bottom of the skewer 
and defines an open ended trough. Opposing wings 40 and 42 angularly 
extend from opposing side edge portions of the spine portion 38 at the 
points remote from the apex 41 and form relative to each other a 90 degree 
angle and generally define a quasi U-shaped member in cross section. 
Obviously, each of the wings 40 and 42 relative to the apex 41 of the 
spine portion forms a 45 degree angle. These dimensions are only 
illustrative as they may vary depending on the particular application. As 
noted the aft and fore edges 44 and 46 and 44a and 46a of wings 40 and 42 
are tapered toward the spine portion 38, say, 60 degrees relative to apex 
41 to form a front and rear facing pointed end. This serves to facilitate 
the mounting and removal of the chickens on the skewer. 
The end 34 of skewer 30 is reduced and is configured in a generally 
circular shape that serves as a stub shaft 48 that is dimensioned to fit 
into the aperture formed in the reel plate 22 for being supported therein 
for rotary motion. The opposing side edges 50 and 52 of the stub shaft 48 
may be spaced relative to each other for ease of manufacturing and the 
space would depend on the freedom of rotary motion in the bearing formed 
in the aperture of the reel plate 22. The opposing end 36 is likewise 
reduced and tapered toward the apex 41 to form the tapered surface 53 (see 
FIG. 2) to define a combined pointed end and drive end that fits into a 
recess formed in the skewer drive which as will be described in more 
detail immediately herein below. The pointed portion of end 36 also serves 
to facilitate the insertion of the skewer into the chicken cavity much 
like a pointed spear. Tang 60 punched out from the spine 32 extends 
radially outward from the bottom surface and serves to limit the axial 
movement of the skewer when inserted into the aperture formed in the reel 
plate 22. The shoulders 44c and 46c of the extended wing portions 44b and 
46b as shown in FIGS. 2A, 2B and 2C serve the same purpose as the tang 60 
in limiting axial movement as the skewer rotates through one complete 
rotation, i.e. 360 degrees, about its axis. As noted, and as evident from 
viewing FIGS. 2A, 2B and 2C, since the skewer rotates relative to reel 
plate 22 and is at a different relative location with respect to the reel 
plate 22 and since the diameter of aperture 27 in reel plate 22 is larger 
than the diameter of the stub shaft 48, the gravitational forces on the 
skewer will place the tang 60 out of contact with the reel plate during 
certain angles of revolution and without any precautions could cause the 
skewer to migrate further into the aperture and cause the skewer to become 
dislodged from the skewer driver 54. To obviate this problem the extended 
wing portions 44b and 46b project radially outward and define shoulders 
44c and 46c that engage the reel plate 22 at given gravitational 
orientations of the skewer (when the tang 60 is out of engagement) to 
constrain axial movement and avoid the inadvertent dislodging of the 
skewer from the skewer driver. 
To install the skewer the stub shaft 48 is first inserted into the aperture 
27 in the reel plate 22 that serves as a journal bearing and is moved 
axially toward the left side as viewed in FIG. 1 until the end 32 of the 
skewer aligns with the opening in the skewer driver 54. The diameter of 
aperture 27 is sufficiently large to allow the end 34, including tang 60 
and wing portions 46b and 44b to penetrate therein. This allows the skewer 
30 to move sufficiently to the left as viewed in FIG. 1 to allow the end 
32 to be inserted in the skewer driver 54. As noted in FIG. 7, skewer 
driver 54 is a hollow sleeve that is affixed to the planet gear 21 at one 
end as shown in FIGS. 1 and 7. The other end opposite the planet gear 21 
defines the recess formed by the pin 56 and the wall of the hollow sleeve. 
The pin 56 extends through the sleeve and bisects the circular bore 
defined by the sleeve so that either portion on either side of the pin 56 
defines the recess that accommodates the end 34 of skewer 30. The skewer 
drive end 36 fits into either recess which facilitates the assembly of the 
skewer in the rotisserie. 
As is apparent from the foregoing, the tapered portion 53 fits into either 
one of these recesses and engages the pin 56. This tapered portion 53 
serves the dual function of rotary driving the skewer with the rotation of 
the planet gear 21 and limiting the axial movement of the skewer in one 
direction. Hence, the end 34 that is inserted in the reel plate 22 is 
allowed to penetrate the bearing and can travel until the tapered portion 
44 and 44 of the wings prevent further penetration. The skewer is then 
moved to the right for installing the end 36 in the driver skewer 54 and 
the tang 60 or the shoulders 44c and 46c are withdrawn from the aperture 
27 and one or the other comes into engagement with the front face of reel 
plate 22 and prevents further axial movement in the left direction. With 
the stub shaft 48 now in the operative position the tapered end 36 is in 
proper position in the skewer driver 54 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 7. The 
tapered portion 53 is now in engagement with the drive pin 56. When stub 
shaft 48 is riding on the bearing formed in aperture 43 during rotisserie 
operation, the amount of axial retracting movement of skewer 30 is 
constrained by the tapered surface 53 on the tapered end 36 in one axial 
direction and the tang 60 and shoulders 44c and 46c in the opposite axial 
direction to prevent the skewer from inadvertently falling out of the 
skewer driver 54 and reel plate 22. 
In accordance with this invention, the skewer which is a one piece unit of 
uniform cross section is formed with virtually no crevices, no corners, no 
separate bonded or welded pieces and screws or the like that would have 
the propensity to collect food matter. It is essentially a smooth piece 
that is easy to clean and hence, easy to keep sanitary. The skewer is 
easily mounted in and removed from the rotisserie and the skewer is easily 
inserted in the cavity of the chickens. The wings engage the inner 
structure of the chicken and serve as a driving means to assure a positive 
rotation of the chickens with the rotation of the skewer and the rotation 
of the reel plate. This obviously is extremely important in rotisseries 
that operate in these high temperature ranges. In addition, the skewer is 
easy to insert into the reel plates of the rotisserie and is so designed 
as to assure the positive rotation of the skewer and the inadvertent 
dislodgement of the skewer from either the skewer driver or the bearing 
defined by aperture 27 in the reel plate 22. 
Although this invention has been shown and described with respect to 
detailed embodiments thereof, it will be appreciated and understood by 
those skilled in the art that various changes in form and detail thereof 
may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the claimed 
invention.