Abstract:
A foldable supporting frame, comprising left and right supporting rods and a connecting rod in the middle; the supporting rods and the connecting rod can be pivotally connected. When folded, the supporting rods can be superposed on the connecting rod, forming a folded structure occupying limited space. When stretching the foldable supporting frame, the user only needs to stretch the supporting rods pivoted by the connecting pivots toward the two sides, thus the foldable supporting frame can be fully stretched and ready to be used. A grill body can be placed on top of the foldable supporting frame of the present invention, forming a grill with foldable supporting frame. The foldable supporting frame of the present invention, after using, can be fully folded through procedures in reverse of the aforementioned procedures for stretching.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    1. FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
           [0002]    The foldable supporting frame of the present invention uses pivots to connect the folding mechanism of the connecting rod and the supporting rods, thus replacing the assembly means of utilizing huge amount of screws employed by the prior arts, so as to accomplish the effects of easy assembly and disassembly as well as time-saving and convenience.  
           [0003]    2. DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART  
           [0004]    Since the advent of industrialization, the societal progress has been everlasting; it has especially become difficult for people nowadays to freely relax as the social competition and pressure heighten degree by degree. Thus, recreational activities able to release pressure are desperately sought after by work-laden people. However, domestic or overseas traveling and vacationing cost money, therefore are not affordable for all working people and students; in addition, it takes time to do domestic or overseas traveling and vacationing, for at least one or two days are necessary, some trips even take weeks to complete. As a result, for most work-laden people with limited resources of time and money, having barbecue is undoubtedly the best choice for them to relax and recuperate out of the constant pressure, since it costs much less in terms of time and money, and suitable for participation by the whole family members.  
           [0005]    As to the different design of grills provided in the market, the earliest type of the grill is of a fixated grill, with the grill body and supporting frame formed integrally. Such a grill causes inconvenience for the user by its cumbersome volume. Later on, such kind of fixated grill is improved by a grill assembly, which includes detachable grill body and the supporting frame jointed by screws, and can be detached after use, thus improving the drawback of the foregoing fixated grill that causes inconvenience for the user by its cumbersome volume.  
           [0006]    The grill  2 , as shown in FIG. 1, mainly includes a grill body  21  and a supporting frame  22 ; the supporting frame  22  comprises frame supports  221 , supporting rods  222  and connecting rods  223 , and screws  23  are used to joint such three components, and then the grill body  21  is placed on top of the supporting frame  22 , thus completes the assembly of the grill  2 .  
           [0007]    Nevertheless, because of the complicated structure of the grill  2 , a volume of complicated instruction manual must be enclosed with the grill  2 . In addition, the user, after purchasing such a grill  2 , must read the instruction manual carefully and complete the assembly step by step, a means of assembly that not only causes difficulty, but is also time-consuming, for user must spend great deal of time in both reading the manual and assembling the grill  2 . Thus, for those consumers who are not familiar with such technique, the grill  2  is to cause difficulty and inconvenience, and even prevents the user from successfully completing the assembly process.  
           [0008]    Therefore, the assembly grill  2  of the prior art though is designed to improve upon the drawback of the conventional grill&#39;s cumbersome volume that causes difficulty and inconvenience for the user to carry or store, it also causes problems out of complicated assembly process due to too many screw parts and thus time-consuming. The present invention, as a result, is to provide a design that simultaneously improves upon the drawbacks existed in the aforementioned prior arts; with a foldable supporting frame, the grill assembly equips with the advantages of easy assembly and disassembly, convenient to carry and not occupying too much space.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0009]    The main object of the invention is to provide a foldable supporting frame, comprising the left and right supporting rods and a connecting rod in the middle; such supporting rods and connecting rod are jointed by pivots, and when folding, the supporting rods are superposed on the connecting rod, thus forming a flat structure that occupies limited space. When using, the user only needs to stretch the supporting rods pivoted by the connecting pivots toward the two sides, thus the foldable supporting frame can be fully stretched and ready to be used. At the upper ends of the supporting rods in the present invention, fixating bolts are installed so that the grill body can be installed thereupon by placing the narrow reversed-V-shape grooves of the grill body into the fixating bolts, thus completing the assembly. When disassembling, the user only has to reverse the aforementioned steps of assembly to complete the steps of disassembly.  
           [0010]    When the present invention is fully stretched, a strengthening frame can be placed on top of the upper ends of the supporting rods, with the stopping portions to hold the supporting rods at both sides, thus the supporting frame of the present invention can be aligned and strengthened. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0011]    These and other features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with regard to the following description, appended claims and accompanying drawings where:  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 1 shows a front side view of the grill of the prior art;  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 2A shows a structural perspective view of the foldable supporting frame of the present invention being folded;  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 2B shows a structural perspective view of the foldable supporting frame of the present invention being stretched;  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 3 shows a side view of the first embodiment of the foldable supporting frame of the present invention;  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 4 shows a side view of the second embodiment of the foldable supporting frame of the present invention;  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 5 shows a side view of the third embodiment of the foldable supporting frame of the present invention; and  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 6 shows a side view of the embodiment of the foldable supporting frame of the present invention.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0019]    As shown in FIG. 2A and 2B, which show respectively the structural perspective view of the folded and stretched foldable supporting frame of the present invention, the foldable supporting frame  1  mainly includes supporting rods  11  and  12  and a connecting rod  13 ; the connecting rod  13  is a horizontally installed frame, and the supporting rods  11  and  12  are independent plain-surface frames installed at the two sides of the connecting rod  13  respectively, with pivots  141  and  142  connecting the supporting rods  11  and  12  to the connecting rod  13 , thus the supporting rods  11  and  12  can be moved by using pivots  141  and  142  as pivots, to be folded inward (as shown in FIG. 2A) or to be stretched outward (as shown in FIG. 2B).  
         [0020]    Please continue referring to FIG. 2A. In the foldable supporting frame  1  of the present invention, the supporting rods  11  and  12 , under folding condition, are folded inward to right and left respectively and superposed on top of the connecting rod  13 , thus forming a minimum-height structure that, formed by superposing rods, occupies limited space. When using, the foldable supporting frame  1  of the present invention can be stretched by rotating and stretching counter-clockwise the supporting rod  11  on the left with pivot  141  as pivot, and rotating and stretching clockwise to the right the supporting rod  12  on the right with pivot  142  as pivot. At this time, with the lower ends of the supporting rods  11  and  12  reaching the ground through rotation, the structure for common supporting frames is thus formed, as shown in FIG. 2B. After using, the supporting frame  1  of the present invention can be disassembled through reversing the aforementioned procedures, thus achieving the purpose of folding the supporting frame  1  after use.  
         [0021]    The first embodiment of the supporting frame  1  of the present invention is shown in FIG. 3 in accordance with FIG. 2A and 2B. The pivots  141  and  142 , used to pivotally joint the connecting rod  13  with the supporting rods  11  and  12  respectively, are L-shaped pivots oppositely facing each other on the left and on the right. The L-shaped pivots  141  and  142  both comprise a pair of chip-shaped units symmetrical to each other, which are jointed by the aligning portions  145  and  146 , and such aligning portions are also used as the stopping devices against the supporting rods  11  and  12  when stretching. The right end of the pivot  141  is fixatedly jointed to the connecting rod  13 , and the supporting rod  11  is to be fitted between the two chip-shaped units of the pivot  141 , with a pivot bolt  143  to pierce through and align. The rear side of the present invention is a mirror symmetry structure of the front side, therefore it is no need to be described here. The supporting rod  11 , with a pair of pivots  143  opposite to each other on the front and rear side as pivot, is to be folded by being rotated clockwise (as shown by the arrow of solid line in FIG. 3). While stretching, the supporting rod  11  is to be stretched by being rotated counterclockwise (as shown by the arrow of dotted line in FIG. 3), and after being stretched, the lower ends of the supporting rod  11  reach the ground and thus form the supporting legs; in addition, the aligning portion  145  is to work as the stopping and aligning mechanism of the supporting rod  11 , so as to prevent the supporting rod  11  from overstretching.  
         [0022]    The supporting rod  12  and the pivot  142 , and the supporting  11  and the pivot  141  are facing one another correspondingly; the left end of the pivot  142  is fixated to the connecting rod  13 , and the supporting rod  12  is to be fitted between the two chip-shaped units of the pivot  142 , with the pivot bolt  144  to pierce through and align. Therefore, when folding, the supporting rod  12  can be rotated counterclockwise (as shown by the arrow of solid line in FIG. 3) with the pivot bolt  144  as pivot; when stretching, the supporting rod  12  can be rotated clockwise (as shown by the arrow of dotted line in FIG. 3), and the lower ends of the supporting rod  12  thus reach the ground and form the supporting legs. In addition, the aligning portion  145  is to work as the stopping and aligning mechanism of the supporting rod  11 , so as to prevent the supporting rod  11  from overstretching.  
         [0023]    The length of the pivot  142  is longer than that of the pivot  141 , and the position of the pivot  144  is higher than that of the corresponding pivot  143 , thus when the supporting rods  11  and  12  are to be folded inward, the supporting rod  12  is to be on top of the supporting rod  11 .  
         [0024]    The foldable supporting frame  1  of the present invention is further installed with a strengthening device to strengthen the structure of the foldable supporting frame  1  of the present invention, thus the degree of resistance to force by the foldable supporting frame  1  can be increased. The strengthening device can be installed between the two supporting rods  11  and  12  for supporting the supporting frame structure when the supporting rods  11  and  12  are fully stretched outwardly.  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 4 shows the perspective view of the second embodiment of the foldable supporting frame  1  of the present invention. This embodiment of the foldable supporting frame  1  utilizes the strengthening frame  15  as a strengthening device; the strengthening frame  15  is integrally formed frame, with the stopping portions  151  and  152  installed at the lower part of the strengthening frame  15 . Thus when the foldable supporting frame  1  is fully stretched, the user can place the left end of the strengthening frame  15  on top of the crossbar  111  of the supporting rod  11 , with the stopping portion  151  propping against the crossbar  111 ; at this time, the user can further utilizes the crossbar  111  as a fulcrum to lower the strengthening frame  15 , and the protruding portion of the lower end of the stopping portion  152  is to come into contact with the crossbar  121 , and then the user presses the strengthening frame  15  so as to make the stopping portion  152  smoothly slide down and prop against the supporting rod  12 . Therefore, the stopping portion  151  and  152  are respectively propped against the crossbars  111  and  121 , thus forming the strengthening structure for the foldable supporting frame  1 . This embodiment of the foldable supporting frame  1  employs the strengthening frame  15  to hold the fully stretched supporting rods  11  and  12  and to prevent the supporting rods  11  and  12  from folding inward and collapsing, thus forming the aligning device; also with the strengthening frame  15 , the degree of resistance to force by the foldable supporting frame  1  can be increased.  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 5 shows the perspective view of the third embodiment of the foldable supporting frame of the present invention. The present invention can further joint with a grill body  17 ; on top of the supporting rods  11  and  12  fixating bolts  16  are installed, which are of a rod-like structure, each with one end fixated to the supporting rods, and the other end forming a free end. At the lower part of the grill body  17 , jointing portions  171 , which are narrow reversed-V-shape grooves on top of which arc-shaped structures are formed, are installed in accordance with the positions of the fixating bolts  16 . Thus, when the grill body  17  is placed on top of the foldable supporting frame  1 , the fixating bolts  16  of the foldable supporting frame  1  are to enter into the narrow reversed-V-shape grooves of the grill body  17  until the fixating bolts  16  reach the bottom of the narrow reversed-V-shape grooves of the grill body  17  and fall into the arc-shaped portions. Thus the four corners of the grill body  17  can be fixated and supported by four sets of fixating bolts  16 .  
         [0027]    Please continue referring to FIG. 5. The jointing portions  171  of the grill body  17  are furthered installed with locking chips  172 , which are L-shaped chip structures, on the top end of each a pivoting portion  173  is installed to joint with the jointing portion  171  of the grill body. A pushing/holding chip  174  is installed at the lower end of each locking chip  172 , and on the corresponding side of each pushing/holding chip  174  an arc-shaped opening is formed. Thus, after the grill body  17  is installed on top of the fixating bolts  16  of the foldable supporting frame  1 , the user can push and press the pushing/holding chips  174  to rotate the locking chips  172  with the pivoting portions  173  as pivots, and then the arc-shaped openings are to come into contact with the fixating bolts  16 , thus forming the aligning mechanism for the grill body  17  from the side. The two symmetrical locking chips  172  are installed on each jointing portion  171  of the grill body  17 , so the aligning mechanism is clampingly formed from both left and right sides.  
         [0028]    [0028]FIG. 6 shows a structural perspective view of another embodiment of the foldable supporting frame  1  of the present invention, wherein the main structure of the foldable supporting frame  1  includes the supporting rods  11  and  12  jointed on both sides of the connecting rod  13 ; when the supporting rods  11  and  12  are fully stretched respectively toward both sides, the strengthening frame  15  can be installed on top of the supporting rod  11  and the crossbar  111 , and the supporting rod  12  and the crossbar  121 , consequently the stopping portions  151  and  152  can respectively prop against the crossbar  111  and  121 , thus forming a strengthened supporting frame. At this time, the grill body  17  can be installed on top of the fully stretched supporting rods  11  and  12 , having the jointing portions  171  to contain the fixating bolts  16  and fix together, and further, by pushing and pressing the pushing/holding portions  174  of the locking chips  172 , the locking chips  172  can be steadily locked with the fixating bolts  16 , thus locking the grill body on top of the foldable supporting frame  1 .  
         [0029]    The present invention can be further installed with a grid  18 , on the lower side of which a multiple of protruding portions  181  are installed, while a multiple of aligning holes corresponding to the multiple of protruding portions  18  are installed on the upper side of the connecting rod  13 , thus when the grid  18  is placed on top of the connecting rod  13 , the multiple of protruding portions  181  of the grid  18  can be inserted into the multiple of aligning holes of the connecting rod  13 , therefore forming a flat surface for users to place accessories. As a result, the user, while barbequing, can place food items, sauces and other tools or material on the grid  18 . A multiple of hanging holes are to be installed on the crossbars of the strengthening frame  15  in the foldable supporting frame  1  of the present invention, so that a multiple of hooks  153  can be hung on such hanging holes to hang food items.  
         [0030]    Furthermore, sliding wheels can be further installed at the lower ends of the supporting rod  11 , forming the present invention as a cart-like structure; thus when lifting the supporting rod  12  off the ground, the user can push and move the foldable supporting frame  1  by the rotation of such sliding wheels.  
         [0031]    The handles  175  are installed on the grill body  17  of the present invention, providing the user with force-application points for moving, installing and storage, so that the user shall not be burned by the overheated grill body  17  after use. Also by pushing the pushing/holding portions  174  installed on the locking chips  172 , thus releasing the fixation points between grill body  17  and the foldable supporting frame  1 , the user can remove the grill body  17  from top of the foldable supporting frame  1  without being burned; therefore the safety of the grill set can be effectively improved.  
         [0032]    Although the present invention has been described in considerable detail with reference to certain preferred embodiments thereof, those skilled in the art can easily understand that all kinds of alterations and changes can be made within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. Therefore, the spirit and scope of the appended claims should not be limited to the description of the preferred embodiments contained herein.