APPARATUS FOR FRYING FOOD PRODUCTS PARTICULARLY FOR DOMESTIC USE

Abstract: The apparatus for frying food products particularly for domestic use comprises a supporting body (2) for a tank (3) having its bottom (10) substantially inclined with respect to the resting base (11) of the supporting body and adapted to contain the oil for cooking the food product, a basket (4) removably associated within the tank and provided with a grip handle (5) for taking hold thereof, a lid (6) for the sealing closure of the tank and furthermore means (7,8,9) for heating the oil for a preset time and to a preset temperature.

Description: The present invention relates to an apparatus for frying food products particularly for domestic use. As is known, current apparata for frying food products, used mostly in the domestic environment, are provided with a body, having a lid, inside which is provided a tank for containing oil for cooking the food product. Generally the food product to be fried is placed by the user within a metallic basket with the double aim of facilitating, at the end of the operation, the drip-off of the excess oil and of allowing its extraction from the fryer. During the operation of the fryer, the basket is static and completely immersed, together with the food product placed therein, in the oil of the tank. For this reason, current known fryers, in order to achieve a perfect cooking or frying, necessarily use considerable amounts of oil, the initial heating whereof to the preset and optimum temperature entails a considerable expenditure of electric power and a relatively long time. Moreover, depending on the type of frying to be performed and on the type of food product to be fried, it is necessary to often perform top-ups with new oil, which is consumed during the use of the fryer, or even to replace it completely, entailing high operating costs for the fryer. Moreover, it should be noted that during the cooking, for example, of a food product consisting of different pieces having mutually variable dimensions, said pieces sometimes tend to join together, forming a single body and thus not being uniformly fried at the end of the operation. In order to avoid this disadvantage, the user must move, at preset intervals, the food product containment basket in order to obtain the separation of the individual pieces. W0 84 /03427 and CH-A-318752 both disclose electric fryers as defined in the precharacterizing part of claim 1. Said electric fryers do not have a tank having its walls extending orthogonally from the bottom of the tank that is inclined and do not have rotating means for rotating the basket about its axis such that the basket, housed in the tank, can be rotated accordingly and a cyclical immersion of the food in the cooking oil can be achieved. The aim proposed by the present invention is to eliminate the disadvantages described above by providing an apparatus for frying food products particularly for domestic use which has an extremely modest running cost since it requires, in order to execute optimum frying an extremely small amount of oil and accordingly a reduced energy consumption to heat the same to the optimum temperature. Within the scope of this aim, an important object of the invention is devise an apparatus for frying food products particularly for domestic use wherein the food product containment basket is automatically subject to a motion which prevents, during the cooking of said food product, the mutual joining of the pieces which compose it. Still another object of the present invention is to devise an apparatus for frying food products particularly for domestic use which, its external dimensions being equal to those of current fryers, has high internal capacity and can therefore fry a greater amount of food products. No least object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for frying food products particularly for domestic use featuring extremely short times for its preparation to cook the food product. This aim, as well as these and other objects, are achieved by an apparatus for frying fod products, particularly for domestic use as defined in the characterizing part of claim 1. Further characteristics and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the description of a preferred, but not exclusive, embodiment of the apparatus for frying food products particularly for domestic use according to the invention, illustrated only by way of non-limitative example in the accompanying drawings, wherein : figure 1 is a perspective view of the apparatus for frying according to the invention; figure 2 is a schematic transverse cross section view of the inspection port for inspecting the interior of the apparatus for frying according to the invention; figure 3 is a lateral elevation view, in transverse cross section, of the apparatus illustrated in figure 1 according to the invention; figure 4 is a plant view of the kinematic means for the movement of said basket inside the apparatus according to the invention. With particular reference to the above described figures, the aoparatus for frying food products particularly for domestic use according to the invention, generally indicated by the reference numeral 1 comprises a supporting body, generally indicated by 2, for a tank 3 for a containing oil adapted for cooking the food product to be fried. A basket 4 is accommodated inside the tank 3 and is provided with a handle 5 for its gripping so as to facilitate the extraction of the product to be fried out of the oil contained in said tank. The body 2 is upwardly provided with a closing lid 6 for the tank 3, adapted to prevent most of all the ejection of particles of boiling oil during the operation of the fryer and furthermore to protect the user from any danger. Means for heating the oil to a preset temperature are provided below the tank 3 and more precisely, for example, an electric resistor 7 activated by a control knob 8 and by a thermostat 9. Advantageously, the tank 3 is provided with its bottom 10 inclined with respect to the resting base 11 of the supporting body 2 of the fryer and accordingly the perimetral surfaces of the tank 3 extend orthogonally from the bottom 10 and are therefore inclined with respect to the walls 24 of the body 2. In this manner the tank 3 defines inside the body 2 an interspace provided, on the side facing towards the bottom 11, with a region 12 having a narrower cross section and with a region 13 having a wider cross section. Means for rotating the basket 4, generally indicated by 14, are accommodated in the wider region 13, and comprise for example a known motor reducer 15 arranged coaxially with respect to the tank 3 and to said basket 4. More in particular, the motor reducer 15 is provided with a shaft 16 which sealingly extends through the bottom 10 of the tank and inside the same so as to removably engage in an axial direction, and is rigidly associated in rotation with the basket 4 to cause its rotation about its own axis. The rotation of the basket occurs by means of an annular guide 18 provided thereon which in turn is supported by a semi-annular supporting element 19 provided with wheels 17 adapted to engage in said guide. The semi-annular supporting element 19 is associated, by kinematic means 20, with the handle 5 so as to move, according to the requirements, the basket from an operating position inside the tank 3 to a resting position outside the same and vice versa. More in detail, the kinematic means comprise a curved bar 21 having its ends 22 rotatably connected to the semi-annular supporting element 19 and an intermediate portion 23 thereof oscillably connected to the handle 5 so that the basket 4, in resting position, is arranged above the free surface of the oil contained in the tank and parallel thereto while, in working position, it is partially immersed in the oil and is coaxial to said tank 3. When the basket is in working position, the handle 5 is arranged parallel to the walls 24 of the body 2, while when the basket is in resting position it is perpendicular to said walls 24. The handle 5 is furthermore provided with a locking element and more precisely with a tooth 30, which can be activated by means of a button 31 and is adapted to lock the basket in resting position so as to allow the dripping of the oil from the already fried product without the need to move the closing lid 6. The body 2 is naturally provided with an inlet for access to the tank 3 the edges 25 whereof have an inclination which is substantially similar to the inclination of the bottom 10 thereof. The lid 6 is also provided with the perimetral portion of its edge shaped complementarily with respect to the edges 25 and having the same inclination as the access inlet, while the closing surface 26 of the lid is substantially parallel to the resting base 11 of the body 2 of the fryer. The closing surface 26 is furthermore provided with a port 27 provided with self-cleaning elements 28 which act during the sliding of the port so as to facilitate, on the part of the user, the internal inspection of the tank or of the product being fried even when the lid of said tank is closed. The self-cleaning elements 28 are defined by two rubber pads 33 adapted to remove any sprays of oil which deposit on the inner face of the port and supported by two walls 34 which define, with the closing surface 26, a chamber 35 inside which said port 27 slides. Only for the sake of greater precision, it should be furthermore observed that in the wider region 13 a chamber 31 is defined for the accommodation of accessories and more precisely, in the case at hand, of the power cable of the fryer, not illustrated in the drawings. The operation of the fryer according to the invention is apparent from what has been described and illustrated, in particular with reference to the above described figures it can be observed that by operating one of the two knobs 8, and precisely the one which activates the electric resistor, it is possible to heat the oil inside the tank 3 to a preset temperature. Advantageously, the time in which the basket 4, which contains the product to be fried, is to rotate about its own axis, by virtue of the presence of the rotary means 14, is selected by means of the other knob 8. In this manner the temperature of the oil inside the tank 3 is kept at a preset temperature by virtue of the presence of a thermostat 9 while the basket 4, due to the inclination of the tank 3 and of its bottom, cyclically immerses and extracts the product to be fried in the oil contained in said tank 3. In practice it has been observed that the fryer according to the invention is particularly advantageous in that it allows to fry, according to the dimensions of the basket, an amount of product with very little oil and moreover, by virtue of this last characteristic, to heat said oil to preset and optimum temperature levels in an extremely short time. Together with what has been mentioned, the additions of oil and the possible replacement thereof allow, due to their extremely modest quantities, the use of the fryer with extremely modest costs.

Claims: Apparatus for frying food products particularly for domestic use, comprising: a supporting body (2) for a tank (3) for containing oil for cooking the food product, a basket (4) removably associated within said tank and provided with a handle (5) for the grip thereof, a lid (6) for the sealing closure of said tank, means (7,8,9) for heating said oil for a preset time and at preset temperature, characterized in that said tank (3) has its bottom (10) substantially inclined with respect to the resting base (11) of said supporting body and the wall of said tank extend substantially orthogonally from said bottom (10), rotating means (14) beeing provided for rotating said basket about its axis inside and coaxially with respect to said tank for the cyclically immersion of said food product in said oil. Apparatus for frying according to claim 1, characterized in that said tank defines with said body an interspace provided, at least on the side of said bottom (10) with at least one region with a narrower cross section (12) and with at least one region with a wider cross section (13) accomodating said means for the rotation (14) of said basket. Apparatus for frying according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said means for rotation (14) are substantially coaxial with respect to said tank (3) and to said basket (4). Apparatus for frying according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises an inlet for access to said tank (3) its edges (25) having an inclination substantially similar to the inclination of said bottom (10). Apparatus for frying according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said lid (6) is provided with the perimetral edge portion facing towards said tank (3) having the same inclination as said access inlet, and with the closing surface (26) of said access inlet substantially parallel to said resting base (11) of said supporting body (2). Apparatus for frying according to one or more of one preceding claims, characterized in that said handle (5) is connected, by kinematic means (20), to a semi-anular supporting element (19) provided with wheels (17) which engage slideably in an annular guide (18) of said basket, said kinematic means being adapted for the movement of said basket from a working position inside said tank to a resting position outside the same and vice versa. Apparatus for frying according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said basket in said resting position is located above the free surface of said oil. Apparatus for frying according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said basket in said working position is partially immersed in said oil. Apparatus for frying according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said handle (5) is substantially parallel to the walls (24) of said supporting body in said working position and is substantially perpendicular thereto in said resting position. Apparatus for frying according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said closing surface (26) of said lid (26) is provided with a small port (27) having self-cleaning elements which can be activated by its sliding for the internal inspection of said tank when said lid is associated with said body. Apparatus for frying according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said means for rotation comprise a motor reducer (15) having preselectable speeds and provided with a shaft (16) which sealingly extends in said tank, is removably connected in an axial direction to the base of said basket, and is rigidly associated in rotation therewith. Apparatus for frying according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said kinematic means comprise at least one curved bar (21) having its edges (22) rotatably connected to said semi-anular supporting element (19) and an intermediate region (23) thereof oscillably connected to said handle (5) an element (30,31) for locking said basket being furthermore provided associated with said handle, for the retention thereof in said resting position. Apparatus for frying according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises, in said wider cross section, an accessory-holder chamber (31).

Inventors: DE' LONGHI, GIUSEPPE
Applicants: DE' LONGHI S.P.A.
Application year: 1987
Main classification: A47J37
IPC codes: A47J37