Abstract:
The present invention relates to a portable household food cooker capable of receiving a food mixture and producing food items in a continuous fashion. The continuous food cooker generally includes a housing and a hopper. The hopper is disposed above the housing for receiving the food mixture and for dispensing the food mixture into the cooker. The continuous food cooker also includes a hot roller assembly for forming and cooking the food mixture, a hot roller drive assembly operatively attached to at least one roller, and a cutter for cutting the produced food item at a desired length. The hot roller assembly includes at least one rotatable roller and at least one heating element for heating the at least one roller. The at least one roller and the at least one heating element are disposed internally to the housing.

Description:
A claim for domestic priority is made herein under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) to U.S. Provisional App. Ser. No. 60/673,114 filed on Apr. 20, 2005 and U.S. Provisional App. Ser. No. 60/689,215 filed on Jun. 10, 2005, the entire disclosures of which is incorporated herein by reference. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     The present invention relates to devices for producing food products in a continuous fashion. Particularly, the present invention is directed to the art of food production for the home and other small scale production settings. 
     Generally, large scale food production equipment that mold, cook, and fill food products are known in the art. Because this type of equipment is purposefully designed for large scale continuous production, the equipment is usually bulky, heavy, and expensive. However, the need for continuous food production equipment not only exists for large scale production facilities but for the common household as well. 
     Existing food cookers for the common household require a significant amount of user intervention. The user must individually apply a food mixture to a hot plate and meticulously observe the mixture such that it cooks thoroughly without burning. This process is inconvenient for the user because it is time consuming and must be repeated for each individual serving of food. In addition, it is often the case when such single serve equipment can produce inconsistent results based on the inattention of the user. For one reason or another, the user may become distracted or simply forget how long the mixture has been cooking. This results in either under or overcooked food. 
     Therefore, for the reasons discussed above, it is the objective of the present invention to provide certain improvements in the art of continuous food cooking devices. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention sets forth multiple novel improvements to the art of household food cooking devices. These improvements involve the consistency, volume, speed, and convenience with which food may be made in the home. The invention described herein is a device that is portable, simple to use, and is capable of producing food items in a continuous fashion. 
     The continuous food cooker generally includes a housing, a mixture hopper for receiving a food mixture, a hot roller assembly for forming and cooking the mixture, a hot roller drive assembly for driving the hot roller assembly, and a cutter assembly for cutting the produced food item. 
     In a first embodiment, the mixture hopper is disposed above the housing. The mixture hopper includes a reservoir and a synchronized mixture dispensing cam that is rotatably mounted at a lower region of the reservoir. The mixture dispensing cam meters the flow of uncooked food mixture into the hot roller assembly and dispenses the mixture in sync with the hot roller drive assembly. The mixture is cooked as it enters a cooking zone and passes through a channel between the hot rollers. The produced food item exits along a dispensing tray attached to the housing of the continuous food cooker. When the continuous food cooker is not in use, the dispensing tray may be folded in an upright closed position. As the cooked mixture glides along the dispensing tray, it passes under a cutter assembly. When the food item has reached the desired length, the user may depress a cutter to slice off a portion of the food item. 
     In a second embodiment the hot rollers are detachable from the hot roller assembly for cleaning and maintenance. 
     In a third embodiment the hot rollers, the roller journals, and one carrying handle are integrated so as to provide a convenient and aesthetic means of removing and replacing the detachable hot rollers. 
     In a fourth embodiment the hot rollers include a plurality of rectangular surface features that protrude along a cylindrical outer skin of the rollers (e.g. for producing waffles). 
     In a fifth embodiment the hot rollers are substantially smooth along a cylindrical outer skin of the rollers (e.g. for producing pancakes, bread, or cooking bacon). 
     In a sixth embodiment the hot rollers include a plurality of depressed surface features that are recessed along a cylindrical outer skin of the rollers (e.g. for producing cookies). 
     In a seventh embodiment the hot rollers include a plurality of strip-like longitudinally oriented surface features (e.g. for grilling sandwiches or toasting bread). 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The invention may take form in certain structures and components, several embodiments of which will be discussed in detail in this specification and illustrated in the accompanying drawings. In the drawings: 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a first embodiment of the continuous food cooker invention. 
         FIG. 1A  is a horizontal sectional view of the first embodiment of the continuous food cooker through the hot roller assembly and the hot roller drive assembly. 
         FIG. 2  is a vertical sectional view of the first embodiment of the continuous food cooker through the hot roller assembly illustrating the cooking zone in and around the channel between the hot rollers. 
         FIG. 2A  is a perspective view of the first embodiment of the continuous food cooker illustrating the operation of the continuous food cooker. 
         FIG. 2B  is a perspective view of the first embodiment of the continuous food cooker illustrating the compact configuration of the continuous food cooker. 
         FIG. 3  is a frontal elevation view of a second embodiment and a third embodiment of the continuous food cooker illustrating the removable hot roller assembly and hopper. 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective view of a roller design used in a fourth embodiment of the continuous food cooker. 
         FIG. 4A  is a side elevation view of the roller design shown in  FIG. 4 . 
         FIG. 5  is a perspective view of a roller design used in a fifth embodiment of the continuous food cooker. 
         FIG. 5A  is a side elevation view of the roller design shown in  FIG. 5 . 
         FIG. 6  is a perspective view of a roller design used in a sixth embodiment of the continuous food cooker. 
         FIG. 6A  is a side elevation view of the roller design shown in  FIG. 6 . 
         FIG. 7  is a perspective view of a roller design used in a seventh embodiment of the continuous food cooker. 
         FIG. 7A  is a side elevation view of the roller design shown in  FIG. 7 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     With reference to  FIG. 1 , a first embodiment of a continuous food cooker  10  is shown which generally comprises a frame or housing  12 , a food mixture hopper  14 , a hot roller assembly  16 , a hot roller drive assembly  18  and a cutter assembly  20 . The housing generally includes a base  22 , a top panel  24 , a rear panel  26 , a left and right side panel  28 ,  30 , and a forward facing fold down dispensing tray  32 . The dispensing tray has two positions, an upright closed position and an open position. When the dispensing tray  32  is in the upright closed position, a hot roller cavity area  34  is defined directly behind the dispensing tray  32 . Generally, the hot roller assembly  16  is located in the upper portion of the hot roller cavity area  34 . In addition, the cutter assembly  20  is located in the forward facing region of the hot roller cavity  34 . The housing may be formed of a light weight plastic material, yet resilient enough to withstand high temperature. The base, the top panel, the rear panel and the side panels may all be formed together in a one-piece type construction. In addition, a pair of handles  29  may be fastened to side panels  28 ,  30 . The handles  29  provide a convenient gripping area for transporting the continuous food cooker. 
     The mixture hopper  14  generally includes a reservoir  36 , a removable lid  38 , a pair of downward projecting support members  40 , and a mixture dispensing cam  42 . A food mixture  2  may be placed in the reservoir  36 . The mixture dispensing cam  42  is located at a lower region of the reservoir  36  and serves as a valve for metering the flow of the food mixture  2 . The mixture dispensing cam  42  has a longitudinal dispensing slot  44 , a timing gear  46 , a driven end  48 , and a free end  50 . In the first embodiment, the timing gear  46  is operatively attached or connected to the hot roller assembly  16  such that when the hot roller assembly  16  is in motion, it is synchronized with the mixture dispensing cam  42  via the timing gear  46 . Also, the mixture hopper  14  may be formed of translucent plastic material such that it is easy for the user to determine what the level is of the food mixture  2 . The pair of downward projecting support members  40  engage the top panel  24  of the housing  12  of the continuous food cooker  10 . The downward projecting support members  40  engage the top panel  24  of the housing  12  such that the food mixture  2  is dispensed through the dispensing slot  44  in alignment with the hot roller assembly  16 . 
     Now with reference to  FIG. 1A , the hot roller assembly  16  is shown. In the first embodiment, the hot roller assembly  16  generally includes a first and a second hollow hot roller  52 ,  54 . Each roller has a driven end  56  and a free end  58 . The hot roller assembly  16  also includes heating elements  60  along with a plurality of roller journals  62 . The first and second hot rollers  52 ,  54  are aligned in a parallel configuration in close proximity to one another such that a mixture channel  53  is defined between them. The roller journals  62  act to capture the driven ends  56  and the free ends  58  of the first and second hot rollers  52 ,  54 . The heating elements  60  may be fixed either to the internal hollow portion of the rollers  52 ,  54  or they may be fixed to an internal support wall of the hot roller cavity  34 . However, fixing the heating elements  60  to the rollers  52 ,  54  will require the use of a slip ring in order to maintain an electrical connection with the heating elements  60 . Preferably, the heating elements  60  are fixed with respect to the hot roller cavity  34  such that a slip ring is not necessary thereby reducing the associated cost. In addition, more uniform heating of the hot rollers  52 ,  54  occurs when the heating elements  60  are stationary and the hot rollers  52 ,  54  are permitted to rotate about the heating elements  60 . The heating elements  60  are appropriately sized such that when electricity is passed through them, adequate heat is generated in order to heat the rollers  52 ,  54  and cook the mixture  2  as it passes through the channel  53 . Driven ends  56  of the rollers  52 ,  54  are driven by the hot roller drive assembly  18 . 
     The hot roller drive assembly  18  generally comprises a motor  64 , a reduction unit  66  and a gear train  70 . The motor  64  is coupled to a reduction unit  66  which acts to reduce the speed and increase the torque of the motor  64 . The reduction unit  66  includes an output shaft  68 . The output shaft  68  may be directly coupled to the first roller  52  or may be coupled to the first hot roller  52  through a series of gears. In the first embodiment, the output shaft  68  is directly connected to the first roller  52 . The second hot roller  54  is driven off of the output shaft through a gear train  70 . The first hot roller  52  and the second roller  54  rotate in opposite directions such that if the first hot roller  52  is rotating in a clockwise direction, the second hot roller  54  is rotating in a counter clockwise direction. It is also important that the hot rollers rotate at the same rate of speed. Otherwise, the food items will become distorted as they are cooked. 
     Now with reference to both  FIGS. 1 and 1A , the cutter assembly  20  is shown. The cutter assembly  20  generally comprises a cutter portion  72 , a cutter surface  74 , a cutter handle  76 , a pair of tracks  78  and a biasing element  80 . In the first embodiment, the cutter portion  72  is slidably engaged in the tracks  78 . The tracks  78  are vertically oriented in a forward region of the hot roller cavity  34 . The tracks  78  are disposed on either side of the hot roller cavity and provide a method of mounting the cutter portion  72 . The cutter portion  72  effectively has two positions, an upper and a lower position. The biasing elements  80  maintain the cutter portion  72  in the upper position. When the user desires to cut off a portion of the food item, the user pushes directly down on the handle portion  76  of the cutter portion  72  until slicing all the way through the food item. 
     Now with reference to  FIGS. 1A ,  2 , and  2 A, one cycle of operation of the continuous food cooker  10  will be discussed. After mixing the appropriate ingredients to form a food mixture  2 , the food mixture is placed in the reservoir of the mixture hopper  14 . By way of example only, and for the purposes of explaining one cycle of operation, the food mixture may be a pancake or waffle batter mixture. At this point, the food cooker  10  is plugged in and activated. Upon activating the continuous food cooker, the hot roller drive assembly  18  causes the first and second hollow hot rollers  52 ,  54  to rotate. As the first and second hot rollers  52 ,  54  are rotating, the heating elements  60  are receiving power and radiating heat. The hot rollers  52 ,  54  may operate at temperatures of approximately 900° F. in order to adequately cook the mixture  2 . At this point, the mixture hopper  14  is placed on the top panel  24  of the housing  12 . As the mixture hopper engages the housing  12 , the timing gear  46  of the batter dispensing cam  42  engages one of the gears of the gear train  70  of the hot roller drive assembly  18 . The mixture dispensing cam  42  will begin to rotate upon engaging the timing gear  46 . As the longitudinal dispensing slot  44  of the mixture dispensing cam  42  rotates into a vertical orientation, the mixture will flow through the longitudinal dispensing slot  44 . As the mixture  2  flows through the longitudinal dispensing slot  44 , it drips down into the channel  53  of the hot roller assembly  16 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 2 , a cooking zone  53   a  is formed around the channel  53 . The cooking zone  53   a  begins along a horizontal plane defined by the axis of rotation of both of the hot rollers  52 ,  54  and extends upward along the outer surface of the hot roller  53 ,  54  to an angle α approximately 45 degrees from the horizontal plane. The mixture  2  is initially “flash cooked” as it comes into contact with the hot outer surface of the hot rollers  52 ,  54  and continues to cook by conductive heat transfer from the hot rollers into the central area of the channel  53 . The hot rollers  52 ,  54  rotate at a rate appropriate to cook the mixture  2  without leaving it doughy or burnt. 
     With reference to  FIG. 2A , a waffle  4  is made in a continuous fashion as it progresses through the hot roller cavity  34  and out the front of the continuous food cooker  10  gliding along the dispensing tray  32 . The user may elect to create a waffle as long or short as they desire. Once the waffle has reached a length of their preference, the user can apply pressure to the cutter portion  72  of the cutter assembly  20 , pushing in a downward direction to engage the cutter surface  74  with the waffle  4 . The user may repeat the cutting process as the waffles continue to be produced by the continuous food cooker until the user has as many waffles as he or she desires. When the user has finished using the continuous food cooker machine, they may power it off and store any unused mixture by applying the removable lid to the hopper  14  and placing the hopper in a refrigerated area. In addition, the user of the continuous food cooker  10  may elect to remove the hot rollers  52 ,  54  (as in the process described below with reference to  FIG. 3 ) in order to clean the hot rollers  52 ,  54  and the hot roller cavity  34  of the continuous food cooker  10 . 
     Now with reference to  FIG. 2B , the continuous food cooker  10  is shown in its compact configuration. The compact configuration allows the continuous food cooker  10  to be stored or transported with ease. As shown in  FIG. 5 , the dispensing tray  32  is in the upright closed position, the hopper  14  is engaged on the housing  12 , and the removable lid  38  is attached. In this configuration, the continuous food cooker  10  consumes a limited amount space such that it may be stored in a typical overhead or under the counter kitchen cabinet. In addition to its compact design, the use of resilient plastic materials in fabrication allow the continuous food cooker  10  to be lightweight and transported with minimal effort or inconvenience. 
     Now with reference to  FIG. 3 , a second embodiment and a third embodiment of the continuous food cooker  200 ,  300  is shown. In particular, the mixture hopper  214 ,  314  and the hot rollers are removeable from the housing  212 ,  312  for the purposes of cleaning and maintenance. Also, the hopper  214 ,  314  may be removed from the top panel  224 ,  324  of the housing  212 ,  312  simply by lifting the hopper  214 ,  314  in an upward motion. When uncooked food mixture remains and the user wishes to store the unused food mixture, the user may apply the removable lid  228 ,  338  to the hopper  214 ,  314  before refrigerating the food mixture. In a third embodiment of the continuous food cooker  300 , one of the carrying handles  329  may be integrated with the free end  358  of the hot rollers  352 ,  354  and the roller journals  362 . As shown in  FIG. 3 , the user of the continuous food cooker  300  may grip handle  329  and in one outward pulling motion remove the hot rollers  352 ,  354  from the housing  312  as a one piece assembly. 
     Now with reference to  FIGS. 4 through 7 , a series of different rollers may be used in the continuous food cooker invention for cooking, forming, grilling or toasting various types of food. In order to accommodate a variety of foods and food texture preferences, the rollers may be equipped with a multitude of different surface features. With reference to  FIG. 4 , a fourth embodiment of the continuous food cooker may have rollers  452 ,  454  having a plurality of rectangular protrusions  455  as surface features. The protrusions  455  of the fourth embodiment shown in  FIG. 4  extend perpendicularly outward from a cylindrical outer skin  457 . Naturally, any number of surface features may be arranged along the cylindrical outer skin to form a desired pattern. The rollers  452 ,  454  of the fourth embodiment are very similar to the rollers  52  and  54  of the first embodiment. By way of example, the rectangular protrusions  455  of the fourth embodiment would be particularly useful in forming and cooking waffles. In this case, as the mixture flows between the rollers  452 ,  454 , and takes on certain impressions created by the rectangular protrusions  455 . Thus, the resulting waffle would have the characteristic grid-like square depressions on either side of the waffle. With reference to  FIG. 4A , a side elevation view of a driven end  456  of the rollers  452 ,  454  is shown.  FIG. 4A  clearly illustrates the arrangement of the rectangular protrusion  455  in eight rows formed along the longitudinal axis of the rollers  452 ,  454 . 
     Now with reference to  FIG. 5 , a fifth embodiment of the rollers  552 ,  554  is shown. In this case, the rollers  552 ,  554  have no surface features along a cylindrical outer skin  557 . In fact, as the food mixture enters the channel between the rollers  552 ,  554 , the resulting cooked food product will have a very smooth surface on either side of the food product. By way of example, this embodiment of the rollers  552 ,  554  may be used in making pancakes or cooking bacon. In addition, one particular advantage of using the continuous food cooker to cook bacon using the rollers  552 ,  554  is that it results in healthier bacon with less fat, grease, and oil as compared to conventional methods of cooking bacon. Pressure exerted onto the bacon as it passes between the heated rollers  552 ,  554  not only facilitates the cooking of the bacon, but also serves to squeeze out excess oil, fat and other greases that are a result of the cooking process. In the case of cooking thin sliced meat products (such as bacon, chicken, or steak), the user may opt to remove the hopper and manually feed the strips of meat into and between the rollers  552 , 554 .  FIG. 5A  shows a side elevation view of a driven end  556  of the rollers  552 ,  554  clearly illustrating that there are no surface features in this particular embodiment. 
     Now with reference to  FIG. 6 , a sixth embodiment of the continuous food cooker utilizing a pair of rollers  652 ,  654  is shown. In this embodiment, the rollers  652 ,  654  are particularly suited for cooking doughy-type products such as cookies. The surface features of the rollers  652 ,  654  consist of circular or oval-like depressions  655  in a cylindrical outer skin  657  of the roller  652 ,  654 . As before, any number of depressions  655  may be arranged along the outer skin  657 . To further illustrate the depressions  655  in the rollers  652 ,  654 ,  FIG. 6A  illustrates the side elevation view of a driven end of the rollers  652 ,  654 . The dashed lines shown in  FIG. 6A  would represent the overall width and depth of the depressions  655  in a cross-sectional view of the rollers  652 ,  654 . In this embodiment, the rollers  652 ,  654  may be located in close proximity to one another such that the cylindrical outer skin  657  of each roller would be nearly touching the other. In addition, the two rollers  652 ,  654  would be synchronized such that the depressions  655  come into alignment within the cooking zone as the two rollers rotate. By maintaining a very close tolerance between the two rollers  652 ,  654  any amount of trimming required about the perimeter of the cooked food product, such as a cookie, would be reduced to a minimum. 
     With reference to  FIG. 7 , a seventh embodiment of the rollers  752 ,  754  is shown. In the seventh embodiment, the rollers  752 ,  754  have a plurality of longitudinally oriented strips or grooves  755 . The strips  755  may either protrude outward from a cylindrical outer skin  757  or they may be recessed. The rollers  752 ,  754  of the seventh embodiment would be particularly suited for gripping harder surface-type food products such as in toasting or grilling sandwiches, subs, or slices of bread. To further illustrate the surface features  755  of the rollers  752 ,  754 ,  FIG. 7A  shows a side elevation view of a driven end  756  of the rollers  752 ,  754 . As shown in  FIG. 7A , the surface features or strips  755  protrude outwardly from the cylindrical outer skin  757 . 
     Lastly, it should be noted that yet other embodiments of the continuous food cooker may incorporate a hot roller adjustment assembly for adjusting the mixture channel to accommodate various types of food items. The adjustment assembly could be manually operated by rotating a threaded drive screw or could be automatic such that the mixture channel automatically increases or decreases in size to maintain a fixed amount of pressure exerted between the hot rollers and onto the food item being cooked. This automatic method of adjustment could be accomplished by hingedly suspending one of the hot rollers in parallel configuration to the other while having a biasing element, such as an extension spring, maintain tension between the rollers. Furthermore, additional embodiments of the continuous food cooker provide for a hot roller drive assembly that includes a hot roller speed adjustment assembly using a rheostat, pulse width modulator, or transmission having different gear ratios. Finally, any of the embodiments described above may also include a temperature adjustable hot roller heater element for adjusting the cooking temperature depending on the food item or user preference. 
     Several exemplary embodiments have thus been described. Modifications and alterations may occur to others upon reading and understanding the proceeding detailed description. It is intended that the exemplary embodiments be construed as including all such modifications and alterations insofar as they come within the scope of the appended claims or equivalence thereof.