Charcoal grill discharge collector

The charcoal grill discharge collector is to be used on a charcoal grill of the type having a round, kettle-like body supported by a plurality of inclined legs for the purpose of capturing and storing ash, embers and bits of charcoal emanating from the grill body's vent ports.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
Disposition of ash generated in a charcoal grill used for cooking has long 
been a problem from the standpoints of safety, cleanliness, convenience 
and ability to maintain a continuous burn. Some grills have an impervious 
metal body with no provision for discharge of ash and cooking must be 
interrupted after a few hours for removal of ash buildup which would 
otherwise extinguish the fire. Newer grills have vent ports to provide air 
for combustion and serve as an escape for ash which upon release is free 
to be carried away by the wind either before or after reaching an 
insufficient storage area. Ash not properly confined can be hazardous when 
hot and a filthy nuisance at any time. 
Kettle grills have become extremely popular but thus far lack adequate ash 
capture capability and storage capacity due to space limitations between 
grill support legs. This invention accommodates grills of all sizes and 
permits placement of an extraordinarily large and volumious collector in 
close proximity to vent ports from which ash emanates. Slots in the 
collector's sidewall provide clearance for the grill's legs thereby 
allowing the collector to be raised close to the grill while the sections 
of the collector sidewall between slots function as windshields so ash can 
fall into the collector's storage area before being blown away by the 
wind. The collector's entry leg slot is deeper and of special shape to 
permit placing the collector between the grill's legs. A baffle is needed 
inside the collector for isolating the entry leg slot from the ash storage 
area to permit ash build up rather than spilling out of the entry leg 
slot, especially when a collector full of ash is removed from under the 
grill. The specially shaped entry leg slot of the collector and associated 
baffle are critical innovations of this invention because they allow the 
collector to be easily removed from under the grill while maintaining a 
complete upright orientation so none of the ash contents are spilled. 
After the collector is placed under the grill and raised into position it 
is suspended from a bolt protruding from the bottom center of the grill 
which is engaged by a hanger bar assembly equipped with a latching feature 
affixed to the top of the collector. The latching mechanism is activiated 
by thumb pressure on operation tabs positioned adjacent to the collector's 
handles. The user can conveniently grasp both collector handles and then 
operate the innovative latching mechanism with one or both thumbs to 
engage or release the locking mechanism. 
Advantages of the charcoal grill discharge collector are that it is easy to 
use, stays securely in place, safe for the user and the environment, 
eliminates most of the ash mess associated with charcoal grilling and 
considerably extends the interval between ash removals.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
This charcoal grill discharge collector invention is to be used on a 
charcoal fired grill, shown in FIG. 1, normally used for cooking and 
consisting of a grill body 1 with multiple vent ports 2 and containing a 
cooking grill 3 and charcoal grate 4, all of which are supported by a 
plurality of diverging legs 5 affixed to the underside of the grill body 
1. 
The charcoal grill discharge collector consists of a pot-like collector 6 
having handles 17, an entry leg slot 9, multiple regular leg slots 8, ash 
baffle 7 held in place with rivets 10, a hanger bar assembly 28 made up of 
support bar 12 and locking bar 11 held loosely together with rivets 14 and 
rivet washers 20, all of which are mounted on collector rim 29 with rivets 
16, and, a hanger bolt 15 affixed to the bottom center of the grill body 
1. 
Collector 6, shown in FIG. 4, is a rimmed pot-like metal container having a 
continuous vertical side interrupted by a plurality of symmetrical regular 
leg slots 8 and a deeper, asymmetrical entry leg slot 9 where the radius 
at all slot bottoms is the same and the radii's vertical center lines are 
spaced to coincide with grill legs with one side of entry leg slot 9 
relieved from a point of tangency with the bottom radius to the collector 
rim 29 for clearance permitting a leg 5 entry into the collector 6 
interior during placement of collector 6 between legs 5 and under the 
grill body 1 necessitating entry leg slot 9 be isolated from ash drop area 
26 buildup in collector 6 interior by a sheet metal baffle 7 secured 
inside collector 6 with rivets 10. Two collector handles 17 and collector 
rim rivet holes 25 are diametrically opposed and centered about the 
collector with collector handles 17 near the top of collector 6 and within 
a user's thumb reach of operating tabs 23 on locking bar 11 which is part 
of hanger bar assembly 28 secured to collector 6 with rivets 16 in holes 
24 of support bar 12 and holes 25 in collector rim 29. 
Hanger bar assembly 28, shown in exploded view FIG. 5, has two holes 24 for 
mounting it at collector rim holes 25 with rivets 16 and is made up of 
locking bar 11 loosely assembled with clearance 27 to support bar 12 with 
rivets 14 in holes 18 of locking bar 11 and slots 21 of support bar 12 and 
set against rivet washers 20 on the underside of support bar 12 for free 
movement of locking bar 11 relative to support bar 12 as limited by the 
shank of rivet 14 in slot 21, shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, such that the large 
diameter of keyhole locking slot 13 in locking bar 11 may align with 
hanger bolt clearance hole 19 in support bar 12 at one extreme of the 
movement, shown in FIG. 2, whereas the center of the small diameter of 
keyhole locking slot 13 may simultaneously align with the centers of 
hanger bolt clearance hole 19 and hanger bolt 15 for entrapment of hanger 
bolt 15 after it enters both bars at the other extreme of locking bar 11 
movement, shown in FIG. 3, caused by pressure put on operation tab 23. 
When locking bar 11 is shuttled into the engagement position of keyhole 
locking slot 13 with hanger bolt 15, shown in the charcoal grill discharge 
collector's normal service position of FIG. 3, locking bar 11 relaxes as 
its snubber hole 22 centers over the head of collector mounting rivet 16 
which in any other position flexes and stresses locking bar 11 because 
clearance 27 shown exaggerated for drawing clarity is really only a 
fraction of the head height of collector mounting rivet 16, whereby the 
interference of the head of collector rivet 16 in snubber hole 22 of 
locking bar 11 provides the safety feature of restraining locking bar 11 
in its engagement position to counter the effects of system vibration due 
to wind or grill movement.