Abstract:
An improved barbeque grill having a plurality of gas-fueled cooking surfaces which can be stored in stacked relation, yet can be moved into essentially side-by-side relation for cooking.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]     The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/217,706 filed Aug. 10, 2002, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/381,080 filed May 17, 2002, both of which are incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein in their entirety, including drawings. 
     
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD  
       [0002]     This invention relates to barbeque grills and is particularly directed to improved barbeque grills having a plurality of cooking surfaces.  
       BACKGROUND  
       [0003]     Outdoor cooking has long been a popular pastime and, in recent years, the development of barbeque grills has greatly increased the appeal of this practice. This has been especially true since the introduction of barbeque grills fueled with propane and the like. However, it is often necessary or desirable to cook several different types of foods for a single meal. Thus, some may prefer steaks, while others prefer chicken or seafood. Unfortunately, each of these different foods must be cooked at a respective temperature, whereas most gas-fueled grills only provide one burner. Consequently, it is necessary to cook the different foods sequentially, which greatly increases the amount of time required to prepare a meal and necessitates feeding the guests sequentially as their desired foods are cooked. Some multiple burner barbeque grills have been provided. However, these provide the burners is side-by-side arrangement which greatly increases the size of the grill and makes storage much more difficult. Thus, none of the prior art barbeque grills have been entirely satisfactory.  
       SUMMARY  
       [0004]     These disadvantages of the prior art are overcome with the present invention and an improved barbeque grill is provided which enables a user to cook several different types of foods simultaneously at respective temperatures, yet is compact and convenient to store when not in use  
         [0005]     These advantages of the present invention are preferably attained by providing a barbeque grill having a plurality of cooking surfaces which store in stacked relation, yet which can be moved into essentially side-by-side relation for cooking and which can quickly and easily be returned to the stacked position when no longer needed.  
         [0006]     Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved barbeque grill.  
         [0007]     Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved barbeque grill having a plurality of cooking surfaces.  
         [0008]     An additional object of the present invention is to provide an improved barbeque grill having a plurality of gas-fueled cooking surfaces.  
         [0009]     A further object of the present invention is to provide an improved barbeque grill having a plurality of gas-fueled cooking surfaces, yet which can be stored conveniently in a minimum of space.  
         [0010]     A specific object of the present invention is to provide an improved barbeque grill having a plurality of gas-fueled cooking surfaces which can be stored in stacked relation, yet can be moved into essentially side-by-side relation for cooking.  
         [0011]     These and other objects and features of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description, taken with reference to the figures of the accompanying drawing.  
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0012]      FIG. 1  is a front view showing a barbeque grill embodying the present invention, shown with the cooking surfaces in the stored position;  
         [0013]      FIG. 2  is a side view of the barbeque grill of  FIG. 1 ;  
         [0014]      FIG. 3  is a front view of the barbeque grill of  FIG. 1 , showing the cooking surfaces extended for use. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0015]     In that form of the present invention chosen for purposes of illustration,  FIG. 1  show a barbeque grill, indicated generally at  10  having a base  12  supported by a plurality of legs  14  supporting a plurality of cooking surfaces  16 ,  18  and  20 . Each of the cooking surfaces  16 ,  18  and  20  comprises a burner  22  and a food supporting surface  24 , such as a grill, griddle or the like. A fuel source, such as propane tank  26  may be stored in the base  12  and may be connected to supply the burners  22  in a conventional manner. Cooking surface  16  is mounted between several of the legs  14 , while cooking surfaces  18  and  20  are pivotally mounted on respective ones of the legs  14  and are swingable between a stored position, in line with cooking surface  16 , and an extended position, as seen in  FIG. 3 . If desired, the cooking surfaces  18  and  20  may be mounted so that in the extended position, they may be lowered to lie in the same plane with cooking surface  16 , as shown in dotted lines at  18 ′ and  20 ′.  
         [0016]     In use, cooking surfaces  18  and  20  are normally located in the stored position, as seen in  FIG. 1 , which allows the barbeque grill  10  to be stored conveniently in a minimum of space. When the user desired to do some cooking, they move the grill  10  to a desired location and swing cooking surfaces  18  and  20  to their extended positions. This provides the user with a plurality of cooking surfaces whose cooking temperatures may be individually controlled. Thus, cooking surface  16  may be adjusted to high heat for cooking steaks or the like, while cooking surfaces  18  and  20  may be set to lower cooking temperatures for cooking chicken, fish or other items. Also, if desired, the food supporting surface  24  of cooking surface  16  may be a grill, while the food supporting surface  24  of cooking surface  18  may be a griddle and the food supporting surface  24  of cooking surface  20  may be ribbed or otherwise formed for cooking specialized items. If desired, recesses  28  may be provided to allow receive beverage containers or the like and hooks  30  may be provided to allow cooking utensils or the like to be hung thereon.  
         [0017]     Obviously, numerous variations and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. Therefore, it should be clearly understood that the form of the present invention described above and shown in the figures of the accompanying drawing is illustrative only and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention.