Patent Publication Number: US-2023136239-A1

Title: Support Rack Assembly

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     Not Applicable 
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
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     THE NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT 
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     INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISC OR AS A TEXT FILE VIA THE OFFICE ELECTRONIC FILING SYSTEM. 
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     STATEMENT REGARDING PRIOR DISCLOSURES BY THE INVENTOR OR JOINT INVENTOR 
     Not Applicable 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     (1) Field of the Invention 
     The disclosure relates to support rack devices and more particularly pertains to a new support rack device for cooking food items in a cooking grill. The device includes a pair of stands and a plurality of washers that are each attached to a respective one of the stands. The device includes a plurality of bars that are each extendable through respective washers such that the bars extend between the pair stands. The stands are positionable on a cooking grill such that the bars are elevated over the cooking grill. A plurality of hooks is provided which can be extended through a food item and for suspending the food item from the bars. 
     (2) Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98 
     The prior art relates to support rack devices including a cylindrical smoker which includes a plurality of hooks for suspending a food item for cooking. The prior art discloses a wire frame that is positionable in a frying pan for supporting a food item in an upright orientation in the frying pan. The prior art discloses a support frame with a plurality of notches and a plurality of skewers that are insertable through a food item and which can be positioned in respective notches for suspending the food item in a cooking grill. The prior art discloses a cooking stand which includes a horizontal member which has a slidably adjustable length and a plurality of hooks which can be suspended from the horizontal member for suspending food items over a cooking grill. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a pair of stands that is each positionable in a cooking grill. Each of the stands is comprised of a heat resistant material to resist being damaged by heat of the cooking grill. Each of the stands has a plurality of support points that are disposed on the stands. A plurality of bars is each insertable through a respective one of the support points on each of the stands such that each of the bars is elevated above the cooking grill. A plurality of hooks is each of the hooks is suspendable from a respective one of the bars. Furthermore, each of the hooks can penetrate a food item thereby facilitating the food item to be suspended in the cooking grill for cooking the food item. 
     There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto. 
     The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S) 
       The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein: 
         FIG.  1    is a perspective view of a support rack assembly according to an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG.  2    is a front view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG.  3    is a back view of an embodiment of the disclosure showing a plurality of bars being slidably integrated into a pair of stands. 
         FIG.  4    is a bottom view of an embodiment of the disclosure showing a plurality of bars being slidably integrated into a pair of stands. 
         FIG.  5    is a perspective in-use view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to  FIGS.  1  through  5    thereof, a new support rack device embodying the principles and concepts of an embodiment of the disclosure and generally designated by the reference numeral  10  will be described. 
     As best illustrated in  FIGS.  1  through  5   , the support rack assembly  10  generally comprises a pair of stands  12  that is each of the stands  12  is positionable in a cooking grill  14 . Each of the stands  12  can be positioned on opposite ends of the cooking grill  14  with respect to each other. The cooking grill  14  may comprise a charcoal grill, a smoker, a gas grill or any other type of cooking grill that employs a heat source for cooking food. Each of the stands  12  is comprised of a heat resistant material to resist being damaged by heat of the cooking grill  14 . Additionally, each of the stands  12  has a plurality of support points  16  that are disposed on the stands  12 . 
     Each of the stands  12  comprises a member  18  that has a first end  20  and a second end  22 , and the member  18  is elongated between the first end  20  and the second end  22 . The member  18  has a pair of bends  24  that is each integrated in the member  18 . Each of the bends  24  is spaced from a respective one of the first end  20  and the second end  22  to define a pair of outward portions  26  of the member  18  that are oriented at an obtuse angle with a central portion  28  of the member  18 . Furthermore, each of the first end  20  and the second end  22  is associated with a respective one of the outward portions  26 . Each of the first end  20  and the second end  22  rests on a support  30  in the cooking grill  14  such that the central portion  28  of the member  18  is horizontally oriented. 
     Each of the stands  12  includes a plurality of washers  32  that each has a perimeter edge  34  and a hole  36 . The perimeter edge  34  of each of the washers  32  is coupled to the central portion  28  of the member  18  having each of the washers  32  extending downwardly from the central portion  28  such that each of the washers  32  defines a respective one of the support points  16 . Each of the washers  32  is oriented to lay on a plane that is oriented parallel to a lengthwise axis of the central portion  28 . Moreover, the washers  32  are spaced apart from each other and are distributed along a full length of the central portion  28 . 
     A plurality of bars  38  is provided and each of the bars  38  is insertable through a respective one of the support  30  points on each of the stands  12  such that each of the bars  38  is elevated above the cooking grill  14 . Moreover, each of the bars  38  is oriented to extend along a horizontal axis when the bars  38  are inserted through the respective support  30  points. Each of the bars  38  has a primary end  40  and a secondary end  42 , and each of the bars  38  is elongated between the primary end  40  and the secondary end  42 . Each of the primary end  40  and the secondary end  42  is insertable through the hole  36  in a respective one of the washers  32  on the central portion  28  of each of the stands  12 . Additionally, each of the bars  38  is comprised of a heat resistant material to resist being damaged by heat of the cooking grill  14 . 
     A plurality of hooks  44  is provided and each of the hooks  44  is suspendable from a respective one of the bars  38 . Each of the hooks  44  has a pointed end  46  which can penetrate a food item  48  thereby facilitating the food item  48  to be suspended in the cooking grill  14  for cooking the food item  48 . The food item  48  may be a meat product, such as whole chicken or a rack of ribs, a vegetable product or any other type of food item that is commonly cooked in a cooking grill. Each of the hooks  44  has a distal end  50  with respect to the pointed end  46  and each of the hooks  44  has a first curve  52  that is integrated into the hooks  44 . The first curve  52  extends from the distal end  50  of a respective hook  44  toward the pointed end  46  of the respective hook  40 . 
     Each of the hooks  44  has a second curve  54  that is integrated into the hooks  44 . The second curve  54  extends from the pointed end  46  of a respective hook  44  toward the first curve  52  of the respective hook. Additionally, the second curve  54  curves in an opposite direction with respect to the first curve  52  such that the distal end  50  is directed toward the pointed end  46 . The first curve  52  of each of the hooks  44  rests on the respective bar  38  having the hooks  44  extending downwardly from the respective bar  38  and having the pointed end  46  being directed upwardly toward the respective bar  38 . In this way the second curve  54  on each of the hooks  44  can support  30  the food item  48  when the pointed end  46  is extended through the food item  48 . Additionally, the pointed end  46  on each of the hooks  44  tapers to a point. 
     In use, each of the stands  12  is positioned at a preferred location on the cooking grill  14  and one or more of the bars  38 , depending on a user&#39;s preference, are extended through respective washers  32  on the stands  12 . In this way the one or more bars  38  are supported above the cooking grill  14  in a horizontal orientation. The pointed end  46  on a chosen number of the hooks  44  is inserted through the food item  48 , depending on the number of food items that are being cooked in the cooking grill  14 . Each of the chosen number of hooks  44  is suspended on a respective bar  38 . In this way the food item  48 s can be supported above the cooking grill  14  thereby facilitating the food items  48  to be strategically positioned for optimal cooking heat. Thus, the food items  48  can be cooked more slowly than might otherwise be possible. 
     With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure. 
     Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.