Abstract:
A novel football field grille is disclosed. The novel football field grill includes a firebox; a retractable lid mounted on the firebox, capable of retracting from a first closed position to a second open position; a hollow goalpost, having a first end and a second end, the first end of the goalpost mounted on the retractable lid, and the second end of the hollow goalpost in fluid communication with the firebox when the retractable lid is in the first closed position; and a support leg, mounted to the firebox to engage a surface.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is related to novelty grills, and in particular to a grille that is in the form of a football field. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Grilling outdoors is one of the most popular means of cooking in the United States. Especially during warm months, and even during the cold months of football season, many people can be seen grilling, such as those who engage in “tailgating” at a sporting event such as a football game. Additionally, Americans have a passion for sporting events, enjoy novelty sports items, and enjoy decorating items with a sports motif. 
     U.S. Design Pat. No. D425,367 directed towards an ornamental design of a barbeque grille shaped like a football, with shelves on either side of the football, which resemble half of a football field. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 6,209,533 is directed towards a smoker chamber and a firebox. The smoker chamber defines a smoker interior, which is adapted for receiving food items for smoking, and includes an opening for providing access to the smoker interior. The firebox engages in fluid communication with the smoker interior so that smoke produced within the firebox can flow into the smoker interior for smoking the food items placed therein. Preferably, the firebox is sized and shaped so that it is insertable through the opening and into the smoker interior. In embodiments so configured, the firebox may be placed within the smoker interior, such as during shipping of the smoker grill, thereby allowing components of the grill to be stored and shipped in a container that is smaller than could otherwise be utilized. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 5,184,599 is directed towards a self-contained cooker and grill having quadrilateral doors with a separate cooking grate attached to each door. Closure of all doors provides a conventional barbecue type cooker or smoker with a full sized grate and a common area for support of solid fuels. The multiple door cooker allows the operator to vary cooking times and heating of four different cooking surfaces. Each door can be opened independently allowing the operator to access the immediate cooking surface without disrupting the remaining cooking surfaces. An upper grate is provided in a fixed, movable, or rotational arrangement for adaptation to various cooking requirement. 
     U.S. Patent Application No. 20020134368 is directed towards a barbeque grill capable of being conveniently transported to remote outdoor locations, which is shaped to resemble the design of a toolbox. 
     There is a need, however, for a football field grille that can satisfy the novelty desire of America&#39;s sports fans which closely resembles a football field having goalposts as vents. None of the above prior art references satisfy this need. It would therefore be advantageous if a football field grille existed that when closed, included the additional novelty of having the smoke from the grill travel through mock goalposts. 
     OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide a football field grille for use by fans. 
     It is a further object of the present invention to provide a football field grille for use by fans having a firebox; a retractable lid mounted on the firebox, capable of retracting from a first closed position to a second open position; a hollow goalpost, having a first end and a second end, the first end of the goalpost mounted on the retractable lid, and the second end of the hollow goalpost in fluid communication with the firebox when the retractable lid is in the first closed position; and at least one support leg, mounted to the firebox to engage a surface. 
     It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a football field grille for use by fans having a firebox; a retractable lid mounted on the firebox, having a first half and a second half, capable of retracting from a first closed position to a second open position; a first set of hinges having first ends and second ends, and a second set of hinges having first ends and second ends, wherein the first ends of the first set of hinges are pivotally attached to the firebox and the second ends of the first set of hinges are pivotally attached to the first half of the retractable lid, and the first ends of the second set of hinges are pivotally attached to the firebox and the second ends of the second set of hinges are pivotally attached to the second half of the retractable lid; a hollow goalpost, having a first end and a second end, the first end of the goalpost mounted on the retractable lid, and the second end of the hollow goalpost in fluid communication with the firebox when the retractable lid is in the first closed position; a grate for cooking food on, wherein the grate is exposed when the retractable lid is in the second open position; a bracket having a first end and a second end, wherein the first end of the bracket is removably mounted on the firebox and the second end of the bracket is adapted to secure the football field grille to an object; and a support leg, mounted to the firebox to engage a surface. 
     In accordance with a first aspect of the present, a novel football field grille is provided. The football field grille includes a firebox; a retractable lid mounted on the firebox, capable of retracting from a first closed position to a second open position; a hollow goalpost, having a first end and a second end, the first end of the goalpost mounted on the retractable lid, and the second end of the hollow goalpost in fluid communication with the firebox when the retractable lid is in the first closed position; and at least one support leg, mounted to the firebox to engage a surface. 
     In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a novel football field grille is provided. The novel football field grill includes a firebox; a retractable lid mounted on the firebox, having a first half and a second half, capable of retracting from a first closed position to a second open position; a first set of hinges having first ends and second ends, and a second set of hinges having first ends and second ends, wherein the first ends of the first set of hinges are pivotally attached to the firebox and the second ends of the first set of hinges are pivotally attached to the first half of the retractable lid, and the first ends of the second set of hinges are pivotally attached to the firebox and the second ends of the second set of hinges are pivotally attached to the second half of the retractable lid; a hollow goalpost, having a first end and a second end, the first end of the goalpost mounted on the retractable lid, and the second end of the hollow goalpost in fluid communication with the firebox when the retractable lid is in the first closed position; a grate for cooking food on, wherein the grate is exposed when the retractable lid is in the second open position; a bracket having a first end and a second end, wherein the first end of the bracket is removably mounted on the firebox and the second end of the bracket is adapted to secure the football field grille to an object; and a support leg, mounted to the firebox to engage a surface. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The foregoing summary, as well as the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be better understood when read with reference to the appended drawings, wherein: 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a football field grille in accordance with the present invention in a closed position. 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the football field grille of  FIG. 1  shown in an open position. 
         FIG. 3  is a top plan view of a bracket in accordance with the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring now to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to the same components across the several views and in particular to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , there is shown a football field grille  10 . The football field grille  10  includes a firebox  11  and a retractable lid  12 , and support legs  30 . 
     The firebox  11  includes the support legs  30  attached to the bottom of the firebox  11  to support the firebox  11  on a surface. Also attached to the firebox  11  are a first set of hinged scissor links  21 . The first set of hinged scissor links  21  have first ends  22  and second ends  23 . The first ends  22  of the first set of hinged scissor links  21  are pivotally mounted on the firebox  11 . A second set of hinged scissor links  31  include first ends  32  and second ends  33 . The first ends  32  of the second set of hinged scissor links  31  are likewise pivotally mounted on the firebox  11 . In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, four support legs  30  are employed, however, any number of support legs  30  known to one of ordinary skill in the art may be used, including only one support leg  30 . 
     The retractable lid  12  includes a first half  40  and a second half  50 . A seam  18  separates the first half  40  of the retractable lid  12  from the second half  50  of the retractable lid  12 . The second ends  23  of the first set of hinged scissor links  21  are pivotally mounted on the first half  40  of the retractable lid  12 , hingedly attaching the first half  40  of the retractable lid  12  to the firebox  11 . The second ends  33  of the second set of hinged scissor links  31  are pivotally mounted on the second half  50  of the retractable lid  12 , hingedly attaching the second half  50  of the retractable lid  12  to the firebox  11 . Mounted on the top of the first half  40  and second half  50  of the retractable lid  12  are goalposts  15 . The goalposts  15  include a first end  16  and a second end  17 . Both the first end  16  and the second end  17  of the goalposts  15  are open such that the first end  16  and the second end  17  are in fluid communication with each other. The first ends  16  of the goalposts  15  are mounted on the top of the retractable lid  12 , such that the open second end  17  is in fluid communication with the interior of the football field grille  10  when the retractable lid  12  is in the closed position. During cooking, this provides that smoke ‘S’ will flow into the first ends  16  and out of the second ends  17  of the goalposts  15 , producing a desired novel appearance of smoke coming out of the top of the goalposts  15 . 
     Referring now to  FIG. 2 , the football field grille  10  is shown with the retractable lid  12  in the open position. This is achieved by sliding the first half  40  of the rectractable lid  12  in the direction of the arrow S, and the by sliding the second half  50  of the retractable lid  12  in the direction of the arrow S′, separating the first half  40  of the retractable lid  12  from the second half  50  of the retractable lid  12  at a common seam  18 . As shown in  FIG. 2 , this exposes the grill G for cooking. As the first half  40  of the retractable lid  12  is slid in the direction of the arrow S, the first set of hinged scissor links  21  pivot about their first ends  22  and second ends  23  to maintain the connection of the first half  40  of the retractable lid  12  to the firebox  11 . Likewise, as the second half  50  of the retractable lid  12  is slid in the direction of the arrow S′, the second set of hinged scissor links  31  pivot about their first ends  32  and second ends  33  to maintain the connection of the second half  50  of the retractable lid  12  to the firebox  11 . 
     Referring now to  FIG. 3 , a bracket  60  may also be provided to secure the football field grille  10  to an object such as a vehicle. The bracket  60  has a first end  61  and a second end  62 . The first end  61  of the bracket  60  includes a mount  63  for attachment to the firebox  11  of the football field grille  10 . The second end  62  of the bracket  60  includes a mount  64  adapted to attach to the object such as the vehicle. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the mount  64  on the second end  62  of the bracket  60  includes a hole to slide into a hitch of the vehicle. The mount  63  at the first end  62  of the bracket  60  includes a hole  66  to secure the football field grille  10  to the bracket  60  and another hole (not shown) to receive the football field grille  10 . 
     In view of the foregoing disclosure, some advantages of the present invention can be seen. For example, a novel football field grille is disclosed. The novel football field grille is in the shape of a football field and has goalposts on the top so that smoke can come out of the goalposts when the grille is closed. This invention satisfies the desire of Americans to grill as well as incorporating Americans passion for sports such as football. The grille is easy to transport and has easy an easy to open close lid. 
     While the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described and illustrated, modifications may be made by one of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims. For example, in a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the grille would use charcoal or propane, however, any fuel known to one of ordinary skill in the art may be used. Furthermore, in a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the bracket described is a square tube, however any known shape to one of ordinary skill in the art may be employed to form the bracket. The material from which the football field grille is made in a preferred embodiment of the present invention is metal, however, any material known to one of ordinary skill in the art that would allow the football field grille to function as a grille may be employed.