Deflector for an automatic food cooking machine

A deflector shield for an automatic food cooking machine. The automatic food cooking machine of the present invention includes a deflector shield that protects the gas outlet ports from grease, drippings, and other debris falling from the cooking food products. The shields are heated by the gas flames and therefore cook the food by radiant heat, while convective heat is directed around the edges of the shields and towards the food. Finally, the shields serve to protect the food products from direct exposure to the gas flames as required by USDA regulations.

BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates to an automatic food cooking machine. 
Automatic food cooking machines are generally well known in the art. In 
general, automatic food cooking machines use a conveyor system that slowly 
transports the food to be-cooked over a heat source. Under regulations 
promulgated by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the 
food products must be loaded and unloaded at separate locations by 
separate personnel. Additionally, USDA regulations require that the food 
must be protected from direct exposure to the heat source. 
Many automatic cooking machines are known in the art that comply with USDA 
regulations. For example, my previous automatic cooker includes a 
continuous conveyor that allows the food to make more than one pass over 
the heat source, thereby allowing a longer cooking time. For a more 
complete discussion of automatic food cooking machines, see my U.S. Pat. 
No. 4,947,741. During the cooking process a certain amount of grease, 
drippings, and other debris falls from the cooking food. If such items 
come into contact with the heat source the cooking process may be 
interrupted. For example, cookers typically use gas jets as the heat 
source, and if the jets become clogged the flame may go out or flare up, 
thus increasing smoke and/or reducing efficiency. Therefore, the heat 
source must be protected from the drippings. 
One approach in the past has been to provide a continuous plate located 
between the heat source and the food products. The plate is heated by the 
heat source, such as gas jets, and the food is thus cooked by radiant 
heat. The plate also serves to protect the heat source and collect the 
drippings. However, the drippings drop onto the hot plate, which tends to 
create more smoke. 
The present invention eliminates the problem discussed above by placing an 
angled deflector shield over the heating source. The angled deflector 
shield performs several functions. First, by virtue of its placement over 
the heating source, the deflector shield is heated by the gas jets and 
thus serves to cook the food by radiating heat. Secondly, convective heat 
is directed by the edges of the deflector shield and also serves to cook 
the food products. Finally, the drippings that have been deflected can be 
collected below the heat source, which thereby significantly reduces the 
amount of smoke. 
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide an automatic food 
cooker in which the heating source is protected from food drippings. 
It is another object of this invention to provide an automatic food cooker 
that includes a shield for the heating source that allows cooking by 
radiant as well as convective heat. 
A further object of this invention is to provide an automatic food cooker 
that collects food drippings at a point below the heat source. 
A still further object of this invention is to provide an automatic food 
cooker that produces less smoke. 
Other objects of this invention will become apparent upon a reading of the 
following description taken with the accompanying drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
The preferred embodiment herein described is not intended to be exhaustive 
or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed. Rather, it is 
chosen and described in order to illustrate the principles involved and to 
enable others skilled in the art to follow its teachings. 
Referring now to the drawings, an automatic food cooking machine 10 
includes a housing 12 having side walls 14, 16 and interconnecting top and 
bottom walls 18, 20. Housing 12 further includes end walls 22, 24. A 
continuous conveyor 26 circulates within housing 12. A plurality of food 
carriers 28 for carrying food products 30 are attached to conveyor 26 for 
circulation through housing 12. During the cooking process, grease, 
debris, and/or drippings 31 fall from the food products 30 towards bottom 
wall 20 of housing 12. For a more complete understanding of the 
construction and operation of conveyor 26 and food carriers 28, refer to 
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,499,380 and 4,947,741, which are incorporated herein by 
reference. 
Heating element 32 is disposed within housing 12 below carriers 28 and 
conveyor 26. Heating element 32 includes supply manifold 34 and a number 
of burner assemblies 36. Each burner assembly 36 includes one or more gas 
outlet ports 38 which are sized to hold a flame upon ignition. Heating 
element 32 is connected to a pressurized gas supply source (not shown) as 
is common in the industry. Burner assemblies 36 are connected to supply 
manifold 34 in spaced apart parallel relationship. Burner assemblies 36 
extend substantially across housing 12 from front wall 14 to rear wall 16, 
with outlet ports 38 spaced at intervals along burner assembly 36 to 
provide even distribution of heat. 
A number of shield plates 40 are mounted to walls 14 and 16 of housing 12 
by mounting brackets 42 in spaced apart parallel arrangement so that each 
shield plate 40 is parallel to and positioned over an adjacent burner 
assembly 36. Each shield plate 40 includes a central ridge 44 and a pair 
of plates 46, 47 diverging from the common central ridge 44. Central ridge 
44 of shield plate 40 is positioned over outlet ports 38 of adjacent 
burner assembly 36. Collection plate 48 is mounted to housing 12 below the 
shield plates 40 and burner assemblies 36. 
In operation, food products 30 are placed in carriers 28, which are then 
removably attached to conveyor 26. Conveyor 26 is driven by a conventional 
drive source (not shown) so that the carriers 28 containing food products 
are passed over heating element 32 which has been ignited so that gas 
flames are supported by the pressurized gas emerging from gas outlet ports 
38. The continuous conveyor allows the food products to circulate over the 
heating element a number of times to allow for more complete cooking. 
The flames emerging from gas outlet ports 38 of each burner assembly 36 
heat the adjacent shield plate 40 so that it radiates heat towards the 
food products. Further, the spacing between adjacent shield plates 40 
allows convective heat to circulate about the edges of diverging plates 
46, 47 of shield plate 40 which further serves to cook the food products. 
While the food products 30 are cooking, grease, debris and/or drippings 31 
fall from the food products towards the gas outlet ports 38. Instead of 
coming into contact with the outlet ports, the drippings 31 are deflected 
by the diverging plates 46, 47 of shield plate 40. The drippings are 
guided down the diverging plates 46, 47 of each shield plate 40 and fall 
to the collection plate 48 below. The collection plate can be angled to 
facilitate flow of the drippings to a collection point (not shown) as is 
common in the industry. 
It is understood that the above description does not limit the invention to 
the above-given details, but may be modified within the scope of the 
following claims.