Abstract:
The present invention provides an electric heating apparatus with an automatic rotating food basket. With the present invention, the food basket assembly is suspended inside the fryer body, and the food basket assembly is driven by the rotating mechanism to rotate 360° in the fryer body. Therefore, during the process of frying food, the food and the basket rotate together and the food is immersed fully in the hot oil, which results in even flying with less oil, and more quantity of food can be cooked.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION  
       [0001]    The present invention claims priority of CN Patent Application No. 200620067665.5 filed on Nov. 14, 2006, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference for all purposes. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The present invention relates to an electric heating apparatus, especially to an electric fryer with a rotating food basket mechanism. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    Nowadays fryers or electric fryers sold in market normally consist of a housing, a top cover, a fryer body and a food basket, etc. During the process of heating, the basket filled with food is disposed in the fryer body, wherein the basket either stays still or swings in small angle. Because the food surfaces in basket are not evenly heated, it is likely that the food is fried uneven, that is, the food in the upper of the flyer is not cooked yet while the food at the fryer bottom is done. Therefore, less food can be put in the basket and the food should be immersed fully in the oil when the basket is put in the fryer body. Otherwise, the food above the oil surface cannot be fried properly, that is, the food which is immersed under the oil surface is cooked ready while the food above the oil surface is not cooked ready yet. During the process of flying food, the flying oil is heated up to nearly 200° C., so that users are unable to turn over the food in the fryer body to get even flying, because the hot oil may splash out to hurt people. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0004]    The present invention is aimed at solving the problems of prior art by providing an improved electric heating apparatus with a rotating food basket mechanism so as to fry food more effectively and evenly as well as saving oil. 
         [0005]    The electric heating apparatus with an automatic rotating food basket comprises a housing, a top cover mounted on the housing, a fryer body fixed inside said housing, a food basket assembly suspended inside said fryer body; and a rotating mechanism including a motor, a motor drive disk, a shifting fork, a rotating bracket and a basket drive shaft; 
         [0006]    wherein said motor is fixed on a motor support mounted on one side of the fryer body; and said motor drive disk is connected to a spindle of the motor; 
         [0007]    wherein one end of the rotating bracket near to the motor is connected with the shifting fork and the other end of the rotating bracket is connected with the basket drive shaft; and 
         [0008]    wherein said food basket assembly is driven by said basket drive shaft of said rotating mechanism to rotate 360° in the fryer body. 
         [0009]    The rotation of the motor drives the motor drive disk to rotate, meanwhile, the motor drive disk drives the shifting fork to rotate, in turn the shifting fork drives the rotating bracket to rotate, and then the rotating bracket drives the basket drive shaft to rotate, so as to rotate the food basket assembly. 
         [0010]    With the present invention, the food basket assembly is suspended inside the fryer body, and the food basket assembly is driven by the rotating mechanism to rotate 360° in the fryer body. Therefore, during the process of frying food, the food and the basket rotate together and the food is immersed fully in the hot oil. As long as the oil reaches half above the food, all the food in basket can be immersed in the hot oil during the rotation of food basket assembly which results in even frying with less oil, and more quantity of food can be cooked. 
         [0011]    The present invention has following advantages: 
         [0012]    The basket filled with food rotates 360° in uniform speed within the fryer body by the driving force from the rotating mechanism, so that the food can be evenly immersed in the hot oil, which results in less oil, and more food can be cooked within the same cooking time. 
         [0013]    The rotating mechanism is reasonably designed and sized. 
         [0014]    Thanks to the effective control by a timer and a temperature controller on the rotation cycle of rotating mechanism, the food cooking time and the oil temperature, the user is able to make his own recipe in accordance with different food types and quantities, which prevents the food from being cooked rare or overcooked due to uneven frying caused by prior random manual operations. Through tests, different food can be fried in different ways to have their best taste by different recipes. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0015]      FIG. 1  is a side cross-sectional view of the electric heating apparatus with an automatic rotating food basket according to embodiment 1 of the present invention; 
           [0016]      FIG. 2  is a front cross-sectional view of the electric heating apparatus as shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0017]      FIG. 3  is an enlarged view of the rotating mechanism (Part I) of the electric heating apparatus as shown in  FIG. 2 ; 
           [0018]      FIG. 4  is a perspective view of the rotating food basket of the electric heating apparatus as shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0019]      FIG. 5A  is a structural view of the rotating food basket as shown in  FIG. 4 ; 
           [0020]      FIG. 5B  is an enlarged view of Part II of the rotating food basket as shown in  FIG. 5A ; 
           [0021]      FIG. 6  is a schematic view showing a remote basket lid opening and automatic basket lid closing mechanism of the rotating food basket according to embodiment 1 of the present invention; 
           [0022]      FIG. 7A  is a schematic view showing a remote basket lid opening and automatic basket lid closing mechanism of the rotating food basket according to embodiment 2 of the present invention; 
           [0023]      FIG. 7B  is a partially enlarged view of  FIG. 7A  along C-C line; 
           [0024]      FIG. 8A  is a schematic view showing the movement direction in the course of opening the remote basket lid opening and automatic basket lid closing mechanism as shown in  FIG. 7A ; 
           [0025]      FIG. 8B  is a partially enlarged view of  FIG. 8A  along C-C line; 
           [0026]      FIG. 9  is a side view of the  FIG. 8A ; 
           [0027]      FIG. 10A  is a front view of the shifting fork of the electric heating apparatus as shown in  FIG. 2 ; 
           [0028]    FIG  10 B is a side view of the shifting fork as shown in  FIG. 10A ; 
           [0029]    FIG  11 A is a right side view of the rotating bracket of the electric heating apparatus as shown in  FIG. 2 ; 
           [0030]      FIG. 11B  is a sectional view of the rotating bracket as shown in  FIG. 11A ; 
           [0031]      FIG. 11C  is a left side view of the rotating bracket as shown in FIG  11 B. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Embodiment 1 
       [0032]    As shown in  FIG. 1 , the electric heating apparatus with an automatic rotating food basket comprises: a housing  10 , a fryer body  5 , a food basket assembly, a rotating mechanism I, and a top cover  1  mounted on the housing; wherein said fryer body  5  is fixed inside the housing  10 , and the food basket assembly is suspended inside the flyer body  5 . 
         [0033]    As shown in  FIG. 1 , the electric heating apparatus further comprises: a timer  8 , a temperature controller  9 , a conductor sheet  11  and an electric heating tube  12 ; wherein the timer  8  is disposed on the front side of the housing  10 , the temperature controller  9  is connected with the fryer body  5  by means of the conductor sheet  11 , and the electric heating tube  12  is disposed at the bottom of the flyer body  5 . 
         [0034]    As shown in  FIGS. 2 and 3 , the rotating mechanism comprises: a motor  15 , a motor drive disk  14 , a shifting fork  13 , a rotating bracket or tank  19  and a basket drive shaft  20 ; wherein the motor  15  is fixed on a motor support  16  and the motor support  16  is mounted on the side of the fryer body  5 ; the motor drive disk  14  is connected to a spindle of the motor  15  by snap springs  17 ; and wherein by use of snap springs  18 , one end of the rotating bracket  19  near to the motor  15  is connected with the shifting fork  13  and the other end of the rotating bracket  19  is connected with the basket drive shaft  20 . 
         [0035]    As shown in  FIGS. 10A and 10B , the shifting fork  13  is a flat sheet metal structure with an inverted U shape, defining a rectangular slit  132 , which is opening downward, disposed on the lower part of the shifting fork  13 , with a through hole  131  disposed on the upper part of the shifting fork  13 ; a small cylinder, protruding from the motor drive disk  14 , is inserted into the slit  132  of the shifting fork  13 . 
         [0036]    As shown in  FIGS. 11A ,  11 B and  11 C, the rotating bracket  19  is mounted on the wall of the fryer body  5  with a connecting shaft  192  extending therefrom; the connecting shaft  192  further fits within the through hole  131  of the shifting fork  13 ; an installation slot  191  is disposed opposite to the connecting shaft  192  on the other side of the rotating bracket  19 , whereby an end of the basket drive shaft  20  is fixed or supported within the installation slot  191 . 
         [0037]    The longitudinal axes of the basket drive shaft  20 , the installation slot  191  of the rotating bracket  19 , and the through hole  131  of the shifting fork  13  coincide on the same line. 
         [0038]    The rotation of the motor  15  drives the motor drive disk  14  to rotate, meanwhile, the motor drive disk  14  drives the shifting fork  13  to rotate, in turn the shifting fork  13  drives the rotating bracket  19  to rotate, and then the rotating bracket  19  drives the basket drive shaft  20  to rotate, so as to rotate the food basket assembly. 
         [0039]    As shown in  FIGS. 1 ,  4 ,  5 A and  5 B, the food basket assembly mainly comprises: a cylindrically shaped basket net or cage  2 , left and right rings  3 , each of which is disposed separately on one of the two sides of the basket net  2 , a connector rod or skeleton  4 , a handle  6 , a fixing bar  7 , rotors  33 , a fixed basket lid disposed on the left side (the “left” and “right” herein are relatively designated and can be exchanged without any prejudice) of the basket net  2 , and a movable basket lid  34  disposed on the right side of the basket net  2 , etc. The fixing bar  7  is connected respectively with the left and right rings  3  by means of four rivets  30  so that the left and right rings  3  are tightly fastened. The fixing bar  7  is disposed in a horizontal direction, and the handle  6  extends outwardly perpendicular to the direction of the fixing bar  7 . The handle  6  and the fixing bar  7  are connected by the skeleton  4 , while the left and right rings  3  are used to support the whole basket assembly especially the basket net  2 . The left and right rings  3  are put on fixtures, which are located at the internal bottom of the fryer body, so that the left and right rings  3  themselves do not move. Tracks are disposed on the left and right rings  3 , for receiving the rotors  33 , which are disposed respectively on the two transverse sides of the basket net  2 , whereby the rotors  33  rotate in a circle around the left and right rings  3  along the track paths. When the rotation of the motor  15  drives the basket net  2  to rotate, the rotors  33  rotate synchronously with the basket net  2 . The function of the rotors  33  is: when the basket net  2  rotates, there is a relative movement between the rotors  33  and the tracks, which enables the basket net  2  to rotate about its longitudinal axis along the peripheries of the left and right rings  3  and reduces friction, thereby the basket net  2  can rotate 360° in the fryer body  5 . 
         [0040]    As shown in  FIG. 6 , an opening is disposed on the right side of the basket net  2  of the electric heating apparatus for letting food in and out, and a basket lid  34  is disposed on the opening which can be opened remotely and closed automatically. The electric heating apparatus further comprises a remote basket lid opening and automatic basket lid closing mechanism which is connected with the basket lid  34 , so that the opening and closing of the basket lid  34  is controlled. As shown in  FIGS. 4 ,  5 A,  5 B and  6 , the remote basket lid opening and automatic basket lid closing mechanism comprises: a press button  31  and a connecting rod  32 , which are respectively connected with the handle  6  and, a rocker arm  35 , which is connected with the basket lid  34 , pivot pins  36  and  37 , and a compression spring  38 . The basket lid  34  and the rocker arm  35  are riveted together. The two pivot pins  36  and  37  are disposed on one end of the rocker arm  35 , and the pivot pin  36  is further connected with the right ring  3 , so that the rocker arm  35  and the basket lid  34  can rotate horizontally about the pivot pin  36 . The rocker arm  35  and the connecting rod  32  are connected on their ends by means of the pivot pin  37 , so that the connecting rod  32  can rotate horizontally about the pivot pin  37  when the rocker arm  35  is rotating horizontally about the pivot pin  36 . Because the rocker arm  35  and the connecting rod  32  are connected by the pivot pin  37 , the rocker arm  35  and the connecting rod  32  can move horizontally together; the compression spring  38 , which is disposed inside the handle  6  and connected with the connecting rod  32 , is compressed. After pulling the whole basket assembly with food out of the fryer body  5 , a user can press on the press button  31  on the side of the handle  6 , then one end of the connecting rod  32  rotates about a pivot pin inside the handle  6 , and the connecting rod  32  moves in the same direction as the press button  31 ; at this time the connecting rod  32  pulls the rocker arm  35  to rotate horizontally about the pivot pin  36 , at last the basket lid  34  rotates with the rocker arm  35  and then the basket lid  34  is opened to let the food out. When releasing the press button  31 , the connecting rod  32  resets under the pressure from the compression spring  38 , then the basket lid  34  is closed automatically. When cooking food the basket lid  34  is closed; when the food is finished cooking, the basket assembly with food can be pulled out of the fryer body  5 , then the basket lid  34  can be opened remotely and closed automatically. 
       Embodiment 2 
       [0041]    The difference between the embodiment 2 and the embodiment 1 is that the embodiment 2 employs another remote basket lid opening and automatic basket lid closing mechanism. 
         [0042]    As shown in  FIGS. 7A ,  7 B,  8 A and  8 B, an opening is disposed on the right side of the basket net  2  of the electric heating apparatus for letting food in and out, and a basket lid  44  is disposed on the opening which can be opened remotely and closed automatically. When cooking food the basket lid  44  is closed; when the food is finished cooking, the basket assembly with food can be pulled out of the fryer body  5 , and then the basket lid  44  can be opened remotely and closed automatically. The remote basket lid opening and automatic basket lid closing mechanism comprises: a press button  40 , which is disposed on the handle  6 , a first pulling line  41 , which is disposed in the direction of the movement of the press button  40 , a rocker arm  43  with its one end connected with the basket lid  44 , a second pulling line  45  by which the rocker arm  43  and the first pulling line  41  are connected, a pivot pin  46 , and a torsion spring  47 . The basket lid  44  and the rocker arm  43  are riveted together, and the pivot pin  46  is disposed on the other end of the rocker arm  43 , so that the rocker arm  43  and the basket lid  44  can rotate about the pivot pin  46  in the upright direction. In addition, the torsion spring  47  is disposed on the pivot pin  46  so that the rocker arm  43  and the basket lid  44  are biased by the torsion spring  47  to rotate automatically about the pivot pin  46  to close the basket lid  44 . One end of the second pulling line  45  is connected with the end of the rocker arm  43  near the pivot pin, the other end of the second pulling line  45  is fixed on the left ring  3  of the food basket assembly; one end of the first pulling line  41  is connected with the middle point of the second pulling line  45  and the other end of the first pulling line  41  is connected with the press button  40  of the handle  6 . As shown in  FIG. 9 , when pushing the press button  40  backward, the first pulling line  41  moves accordingly, then the second pulling line  45  curves toward the press button  40 , then the right end of the second pulling line  45  drives the rocker arm  43  and the basket lid  44  to rotate about the pivot pin  46 , at last the basket lid  44  is opened to let the food out. When releasing the press button  40  to be reset, the rocker arm  43  and the basket lid  44  which are biased by the torsion spring  47 , rotate automatically about the pivot pin  46  to close the basket lid  44 , so that the basket lid  44  is closed remotely and/or automatically.