Abstract:
This invention is a portable food grilling apparatus designed to be collapsible and foldable for easy transportation. A substantially hemispherical full sized kettle is sectioned into plurality of two or more kettle sections where each section is adapted to be fastened to form a full sized kettle when needed and unfastened to facilitate storage and transportation. The stand upon which the kettle is mounted is also which folds into a planar conformation. The kettle sections, cover, and catcher are further adapted to insert into each other so as to also form a planar conformation. These two sections are adapted to fit into a carrying case for easy transportation.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is a food grilling and barbecue apparatus designed to be foldable and collapsible and adapted to fit into a carrying case for easy portability. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Grilling as a way of cooking has existed since pre-historic times with our ancestors using wooden, metallic or stone structures to roast animals. Grilling has also been applied to the pit style cooking techniques originally used to slow cook hogs. Grilling, as a different way for preparing the food, led to regional variations and in time a variety of food was cooked in a similar fashion with hamburgers and hot dogs being recent additions to food grilled routinely. 
     A food grill is a device for cooking or barbecuing food by applying heat directly from below. There are several common varieties of such grills with most falling into either gas-fueled, or charcoal fueled. Grilling Apparatus generally utilizes a chamber where the cooking actually occurs with heat provided by a sub-apparatus that utilizes fuel that is typically either a form of combustible gas i.e. natural gas or propane, or some other form of combustible material i.e. charcoal or wood. 
     Traditionally, the outdoors gas grill or barbecue apparatus was designed as either an open fire charcoal type or a grill utilizing gas-fueled burners for an open broiler type design. These types of outdoor designs currently available in the market do not lend themselves to easy portability as either the large kettle structure and/or broiler makes it cumbersome for transportation. 
     What is needed is a portable food grilling apparatus that is regular in size for outdoor needs for normal food grilling and barbecuing events as well as is foldable and collapsible for easy portability and transportability. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The embodiments herein provide for enhancements to the existing apparatus currently available in the market place to serve as a portable grill for cooking or barbecuing food. Furthermore, the embodiments herein provide for enhancements to the process of folding the entire grilling apparatus into a form where it easily fits into a carrying case, or a similar carrying container. These embodiments will be described and illustrated primarily in relation to a grilling apparatus that works as a full sized grill capable of operating on a plurality of fuels in a dual use manner. Its dual use arising out of the same grill functioning adequately for serving guests at a backyard barbecue party, and as needed to be later collapsed into a compact form for easy transportation. 
     It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, however, that this description is not intended to limit the scope of the described embodiments to implementation on a particular shape. For example, the methods and apparatus described herein are applied to a multitude of kettle shapes including spherical, hemispherical, cube, and rectangular prism or a morphed volume generated from known or unknown shapes. 
     Thus, the embodiments described herein are implemented on a tripod shaped supporting structure. One skilled in the art will appreciate that such foldable support frames may be built to conform to tabular, truss or other similar configurations. 
     As disclosed herein, one skilled in the art will appreciate that the sectioning of the kettle and use of fasteners that enables the reassembled kettle to achieve a monolithic kettle conformation wherein the kettle sections are adapted to fit securely into one another. The support base structure is adapted to and takes folded conformation that occupies minimal volume and complements the shape of the kettle structure so that together the kettle structure and the support structure can occupy a predefined desired conformation and dimensions to fit into a carrying case that facilitates transportation. 
     In a similar manner the supporting base is also collapsible and can, in an embodiment of the invention, fold into a substantially planar conformation easily communicated to the interior of a carrying case wherein it occupies the bottom section of the case, whereupon the kettle assembly is subsequently stacked. Alternately, the kettle assembly when folded achieves a substantially planar conformation easily communicated to the interior of a carrying case wherein it occupies the bottom section of the case, whereupon the folded supporting based is stacked. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The invention will be described in conjunction with the attached drawings in which like referenced numerals designate like elements, and wherein, 
         FIG. 1  is a view of an embodiment of the foldable grill; 
         FIG. 2  is a view of an embodiment of the foldable grill; 
         FIGS. 3-4  illustrate the process of packaging the collapsible grill wherein the various components collapse are adapted fit into each other; 
         FIG. 5  illustrates the portable grill collapsed and packed into a carrying case; 
     
    
    
     
       
         
               
             
               
               
               
             
           
               
                   
               
               
                 DRAWINGS - Reference Numerals 
               
               
                   
               
             
             
               
                   
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                 Kettle Cover Handle 
                  6 
               
               
                   
                 Cover Vent 
                  7 
               
               
                   
                 Kettle Cover Handle 
                  8 
               
               
                   
                 Kettle Handle 
                  9 
               
               
                   
                 Upper Kettle Portion 
                 10 
               
               
                   
                 Kettle Fastener Clamp Receiver 
                  4 
               
               
                   
                 Kettle Fastener Clamp 
                 16 
               
               
                   
                 Tripod Leg Attachment 
                 17 
               
               
                   
                 Front Tripod Leg 
                 18a 
               
               
                   
                 Rear Tripod Legs 
                 18b 
               
               
                   
                 Tripod Leg Fastener 
                 19 
               
               
                   
                 Kettle Cover 
                 20 
               
               
                   
                 Tripod Leg Fastener Receptacle 
                 21 
               
               
                   
                 Wheel 
                 22 
               
               
                   
                 Tripod Base 
                 24 
               
               
                   
                 Axle 
                 26 
               
               
                   
                 Tripod Frame to Leg Snap 
                 28 
               
               
                   
                 Lower Kettle Portion 
                 30 
               
               
                   
                 Ash Catcher Tray Snap 
                 32 
               
               
                   
                 Ash Catcher Tray 
                 40 
               
               
                   
                 Carrying Case 
                 50 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The use of grilling, or barbecue cooking over open flame, can be traced back to the ancient time and cooking over smoke and flame is traceable to the time when humans transitioned from foraging plants to eating meat. Humans realized that meat was efficient source of nutrition with provided a readily available source of protein. The early human also discovered that the easiest ways to preserve meat was to smoke it over open flame. The heat provided by open flame killed harmful pathogens and also made meat tender and therefore easier to eat. The effect of smoking meat—with smoke coming into contact with the meat—also acted as a preservative thereby preventing it from getting spoiled. 
     This preferred method of cooking meat is the reason that using grill or barbecue is popular within our culture. Barbecue grills are used in festivities and generally associated with outdoors, with families backyards generally equipped with a barbecue. With the passage of time we began using different types of grills based on what we found to be convenient. We have been using gas grills for quickness and efficiency, charcoal grills for that old-fashioned barbecue flavor, and portable barbecues to save space on a balcony or deck. Electric grills are also gaining popularity due to their convenience although the traditional taste of barbeque has been associated with cooking with fire and smoke. 
     What is disclosed in herein is a food grilling apparatus that is designed for ease of portability. The disclosed invention is not limited by the source of fuel used and can be adapted for use with different types of heat sources. The disclosed invention can be easily disassembled and folded into a compact form and carried in a case. The portable design does not compromise on the size of the kettle; the overall volume and spaciousness of the kettle is preserved by cutting the kettle into a plurality of sections that are each provisioned with a plurality of fasteners tore-assemble kettle sections into a full sized kettle. 
     The food grilling apparatus&#39; kettle is mounted on a tripod frame also designed to facilitate portability. In an embodiment of the invention, the grilling apparatus is mounted upon a three-legged tripod frame. The legs of the griller are detachable from the kettle. The base of the tripod legs is supported by a frame that is provisioned with an axle that allows the installation of a pair of wheels to help move the grill about. The frame is foldable, and allows the entire support structure to be collapsed into a compact planar conformation that is readily packaged into a carrying case for easy portability. 
     Illustrated next in  FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an embodiment of the invention wherein the grilling kettle is split into two parts. The kettle is the part of the food grill where the food items are cooked. In an embodiment of the invention, the kettle is split into an Upper Kettle Portion  10  and a Lower Kettle Portion  30 . The Upper Kettle Portion  10  and the Lower Kettle Portion  30  are secured through a plurality of fasteners. Each of the plurality of fastener has a Kettle Fastener Clamp  14  that is fixedly attached to the Lower Kettle Portion  30 , and a Kettle Fastener Clamp Receiver  16  fixedly attached to the Upper Kettle Portion  10 . The Kettle Fastener Clamp  14  and Kettle Fastener Clamp Receiver  16  when engaged with each other form a fully constrained assembly of the Upper Kettle Portion  10  and the Lower Kettle Portion  30 . 
     The Upper Kettle Portion  10  is equipped with a Kettle Cover  20  that includes a Kettle Cover Handle  6  and a Cover Vent  7 . The Lower Kettle Portion  30  is attached to a support frame. In an embodiment of the invention the support frame is shaped like a tripod having an upper end and a lower end. The tripod structure comprises of one Front Tripod Leg  18   a , and two Rear Tripod Legs  18   b  wherein each of Front Tripod Leg  18   a  and Rear Tripod Legs  18   b  is connected to the upper end and the lower end of the support frame. The upper end of the Front Tripod Leg  18   a  and the upper ends of the Rear Tripod Legs  18   b  are each attached to the Lower Kettle Portion  30  using a Tripod Leg Attachment  17 . The lower end of the Front Tripod Leg  18   a  and lower ends of the Rear Tripod Legs  18   b  are attached to a Tripod Base  24  wherein the Tripod Base  24  comprises of a plurality of beams including an Axle  26 . The Axle  26  includes two ends. The Axle  26  runs through holes in the lower end of the Rear Tripod Legs  18   b  adapted to receive the Axle  26 . The lower end of the Front Tripod Leg  18   a  is connected to Tripod Frame-to-Leg Attachment  28 . A wheel  22  is mounted on each of the two ends of the Axle  26 . Tripod Base  24  is adapted to support Front Tripod Leg  18   a  and Rear Tripod Legs  18   b  in a sturdy position enabling the grilling process to occur in a stable and sturdy kettle resting on a firm foundation. 
     An Ash Catcher Tray  40  is encapsulated within a plurality Front Tripod Leg  18   a  and Rear Tripod Legs  18   b . A plurality of Ash Catcher Tray Snaps  32  engages the rim of the Ash Catcher tray to hold Ash Catcher Tray  40  in place. A further use of the Ash Catcher Tray  40  is to prevent any food pieces dropping out of the kettle onto the floor or ground. 
     Illustrated next in  FIG. 2  is a perspective view of an embodiment of the invention. The Upper Kettle Portion  10  is equipped with a plurality of handles  9 . The Kettle Cover  20  is provisioned with a Kettle Cover Handle  8 . The upper end of the Front Tripod Leg  18   a  and Rear Tripod Legs  18   b  are each attached to the Lower Kettle Portion  30  using a Tripod Leg Attachment  17 . The Lower Kettle Portion  30  includes a plurality of Vents  7 . The Tripod Leg Attachment  17  is affixed to the Front Tripod Leg  18   a  and Rear Tripod Legs  18   b  using a Fastener  19  inserted into a hole  21  running through the Tripod Leg Attachment  17  and Front Tripod Leg  18   a  and Rear Tripod Legs  18   b.    
     In an embodiment of the invention, the kettle potions are constructed with lightweight mild steel metal with a baked enamel finish to prevent corrosion. In an embodiment of the invention, the kettle portions are made up of some form of heat resistant synthetic composite material. In an embodiment of the invention, the Lower Kettle Portion  30  is constructed with two layered shells wherein the inner shell provides insulation and is constructed using spun fiberglass, and the outer shell is lightweight protective and cosmetic material with the resulting configuration having the advantage of maintaining a much lower temperature of the outer shell whereby reducing the cooling time required before placement of the grill in a Carrying Case  50 . In an embodiment of the invention, the Lower Kettle Portion  30  includes a temperature indicator attached to the outer surface to visually indicate or display a message with information of the temperature of the kettle or otherwise indicate that the kettle is cool enough to handle and transport. 
     Illustrated next in  FIGS. 3-4  are the steps for a process of folding and packing an embodiment of the invention. The Upper Kettle Portion  10  is adapted to hold the Kettle Cover  20 . The Kettle Cover  20  is adapted to hold the Lower Kettle Portion  30 . The Lower Kettle Portion  30  is adapted to hold the Ash Catcher Tray  40 . 
     As illustrated in  FIG. 3 , the tripod assembly is packaged by disengaging the Tripod Frame to Leg Snap  28  thereby making the Tripod Base  24  free to rotate about the Axle  26 . With the Ash Catcher Tray  40  previously removed the Tripod Base is rotated till it is aligned with the plane formed by the two Rear Tripod Legs  18   b . In this manner, the Tripod Base  24 , Rear Tripod Legs  18   b  collectively conforms into a compact planar structure. 
     As illustrated in  FIG. 4  in an embodiment of the invention the kettle assembly includes the Upper Kettle Portion  10 , Lower Kettle Portion  30 , Kettle Cover  20 , and the Ash Catcher Tray  40 . Unfastening the plurality of Kettle Fastener Clamp Receiver  14  from Kettle Fastener Clamp  16  and disengaging the Upper Kettle Portion  10  from the Lower Kettle Portion  30  to begin packing the kettle assembly for portability. Next, the Kettle Cover  20  is placed inside the Upper Kettle Assembly  10 . Next the Lower Kettle Assembly is placed inside the Kettle Cover  20 . Next, the Ash Catcher Tray  40  is inserted into Lower Kettle Assembly  30 . 
     Illustrated in  FIG. 5  is the Grilling Apparatus disclosed in a packaged conformation. The tripod assembly and the wheels are placed in conformation with the compact kettle assembly. The packaging conformation uses the tripod assembly as the base upon which the kettle assembly is stacked. In another packaging conformation, the kettle assembly acts as the base upon which the tripod assembly is stacked. The stacked conformation allows the two subunits to be easily packaged into a case as illustrated. 
     While several aspects have been presented in the foregoing detailed description, it should be understood that a vast number of variations exist and these aspects are merely an example, and it is not intended to limit the scope, applicability or configuration of the invention in any way. Rather, the foregoing detailed description provides those of ordinary skill in the art with a convenient guide for implementing a desired aspect of the invention and various changes can be made in the function and arrangements of the embodiments of the invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims. The foregoing description is illustrative of particular embodiments of the invention, but is not meant to be a limitation upon the practice thereof. The following claims, including all equivalents thereof, are intended to define the scope of the invention.