Barbecue grill

A barbecue grill using a longitudinally extended cage of metal strips for retaining combustible material during combustion and connected to supports for carrying rotatable spits at a plurality of positions around the periphery of the cage.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The present invention relates to barbecue grills and particularly to such 
grills carrying rotatable spits. 
2. Relation to the Prior Art 
It has been common in outdoor barbecues to position spits over a pit or bed 
or coals. These beds of coals are commonly laid directly on the ground or 
in metallic pans. The result is an inadequate and poorly controlled supply 
of combustion air as well as poor uniformity in the distribution of heat. 
The position of the spits normally directly over the burning material 
results in a rather limited space available for the spits. This results in 
exposure of the barbecue material to the maximum amount of smoke and flame 
produced. 
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
Now in accordance with the present invention a barbecue grill is provided 
in which the combustible material is retained in a longitudinally extended 
cage with rotatable spits supported around the periphery of the cage 
whereby the material being barbecued has increased space availability 
while being out of the direct path of smoke and flames. At the same time 
the cage arrangement allows for improved access of combustion air 
providing more complete and uniform combustion.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
The barbecue grill of the invention is supported between first end support 
10 and second end support 11 suitably made of steel plates. Plates 10 and 
11 are connected in spaced relationship by longitudinally extending metal 
strips 12. Metal strips 12 are arranged in a longitudinally extending 
rectangular configuration to form cage 13. Each strip is connected at a 
first end to plate 10 and at a second end to plate 11, suitably by 
welding. Metal strips 12 are suitably one centimeter wide by two to five 
millimeters thick and may be spaced one and a half centimeters apart to 
form two sides and a bottom leaving an open top. In a preferred design, 
strips 12 take the form of cylindrical rods about one centimeter in 
diameter. Frames or solid plates 14, 15 and 16 positioned inside the cage 
formed by strips 12, provide additional support to eliminate sagging, 
warping or bending of strips 12. While frames 14, 15 and 16 are shown as 
solid plates, they may instead be rectangular frames open in the middle. 
Frame 15 is positioned close to first end support 10. Second frame 16 is 
positioned close to end support 11. Additional frames 14, in a number 
depending on the length of the grill, are spaced evenly between frames 15 
and 16. Each of metal strips 12 is suitably connected to each frame by 
welding. End supports 10 and 11 extend below metal strips 12 to support 
cage 13 clear of the ground. Supports 10 and 11 also extend laterally 
beyond the sides of cage 13 to provide means for supporting spits. 
End support 10 has handle 17 mounted centrally near the top on the side 
facing away from cage 13. A similar handle (not shown) on plate 11 
provides means for carrying. Motor 18 for driving rotatable spits is also 
mounted to plate 10. Motor 18 drives chain 20 by suitable reduction gears 
and sprocket (not shown). Chain 20 is depicted as the type used on 
bicycles and is supported along a rectangular path by sprockets 21, 22, 24 
and 25 all mounted to plate 10. Guide rails 26 and 27 mounted from plate 
10 are positioned adjacent to the vertically extended positions of chain 
20 to prevent inward flexing of the chain. One side of plate 10 carries 
three slots 30, 32 and 35 facing similar slots 31, 34 and 36 in plate 11. 
The other side of plate 10 has slots 37 and 40 facing similar slots 38 and 
41 in plate 11. Spits 42 and 44 are depicted with spit 42 resting in slots 
37 and 38, and spit 44 resting in slots 40 and 41 Slots 37 and 38 are deep 
so as to bring spit 42 close to chain 20. Sprocket 45 engaging chain 20 is 
thus a sprocket of small diameter. Slots 40 and 41 are relatively shallow 
compared to slots 37 and 38 so that spit 44 is spaced relatively distant 
from chain 20 and sprocket 46 on spit 44 has a diameter relatively large 
compared to that of sprocket 45. Thus spit 44 is designed for supporting a 
fairly large piece of meat for barbecuing while spit 42 is designed to 
carry small pieces. At the same time the differences in sprocket diameters 
results in spit 44 revolving at a much slower rate than spit 42. The 
number of slots for carrying spits and the depth of the slots is not 
critical and can be made to provide a maximum of versatility. It will be 
seen that guide rails 26 and 27 are used to maintain chain 20 in firm 
contact with the sprockets of the various spits. The slots for carrying 
the spits are angled downwardly and are desirably notched with a steeper 
downward angle at their inner ends to keep the spit sprockets in firm 
engagement with chain 20. In operation, cage 13 is loaded with charcoal or 
other material suitable for barbecue purposes, ignited with charcoal 
lighter or other means and allowed to burn until smoke is largely 
dissipated and an adequate temperature is reached. Meat to be cooked is 
placed on spits having appropriate sprocket sizes and the spits are placed 
in the proper slots. Motor 18 can be started before or after the spits are 
inserted. 
The number of spits that may be used simultaneously is limited by the size 
of the barbecue grill as well as by the food being cooked. It will be 
recognized that more slots will normally be provided than can be used for 
spits at any one time. This allows for greater flexibility of choice in 
the spacing of spits from cage 13 and in the speed of rotation of the 
spits. 
Dimensions, types are thicknesses of metal are selectable within a fairly 
wide range. For most purposes, the inventive grill will have a cage 13 
that is 60 to 120 centimeters in length, 30 to 50 centimeters in height 
and 10 to 30 centimeters in width. These dimensions are not critical 
limitations, but merely the most practical dimensions for most purposes. 
The spacing of strips 12 is selected to retain the most usual sizes of 
combustion material and the thickness and composition of the metal is 
selected to withstand the barbecue temperatures taking into consideration 
also the cost of the metal and its weight where portability is required. 
Thus 6 millimeter steel plate is probably the heaviest metal suitable for 
plates 10 and 11. Cast metals will usually permit use of lighter weight 
components while still providing adequate resistance to the effects of 
heat. Thus considerable variation in the configuration of the inventive 
grill is contemplated. Nor is the rectangular design necessary. An oval 
cross-section can be used, by way of example. 
Thus while a specific embodiment of the invention has been described, it is 
intended to cover the invention as set forth in the scope of the following 
claims.