Patent Publication Number: US-2020275801-A1

Title: Device for Increasing Indoor Grilling Efficiency

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/812,310, filed Mar. 1, 2019, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     This invention relates generally to indoor grills, and more particularly to an indoor grill that more efficiently cooks food. 
     Indoor grills are popular household items allowing users to grill food on indoor countertops by heating metallic plates with electric power. Conventional indoor grills have various configurations. For example, certain conventional indoor grills have slightly angled units allowing grease to run off the metallic plates. In other examples, conventional indoor grills have shapes within their metallic plates, such as lines to simulate grill marks or novelty images. However, different configurations of conventional indoor grills result in similar cooking methods and cooking times, as the different configurations heat food from a metallic plate proximate to a top of food in the indoor grill and from another metallic plate proximate to a bottom of the food. top of the food and the bottom of the food. Thus, conventional indoor grill configurations have limited efficiency for cooking times and infusion of flavor to foods when cooking. 
     SUMMARY 
     To increase efficiency and speed of cooking foods on an indoor grill, an indoor grill comprises a plate and an additional plate. In various embodiments the plate is coupled to the additional plate via a hinge or other suitable fastener allowing a distance between the plate and the additional plate to be changed. A heating element is coupled to the plate and to the additional plate that is configured to transfer heat to one or more of the plate and the additional plate. In various embodiments, the plate includes one or more patterns of spikes that pierce a surface of food placed on the indoor grill when pressed against the food. Heat from the heating element is transferred to the spikes, so when the spikes pierce the food, heat from the spikes heats the food from below the surface of the food. In some embodiments, the additional plate also includes one or more patterns of spikes. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a plan view of an indoor grill comprising a plate having a pattern of spikes, in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 2  is a plan view of an indoor grill comprising a plate having a pattern of spikes in an open configuration, in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 3  is a plan view of an indoor grill with food positioned between a plate having a pattern of spikes and an additional plate, in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 4  is a side view of food onto which the plate having a pattern of spikes has been previously pressed, in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 5  is a side view of a plate having a pattern of spikes being pressed into food and heat transfer from the plate to the food, in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 6  is a plan view of an indoor grill having a plate with a pattern of spikes rotated about a horizontal axis, in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 7  shows plates of an indoor grill having sub-regions onto which food may be placed, in accordance with an embodiment. 
     
    
    
     The figures depict various embodiments of the present invention for purposes of illustration only. One skilled in the art will readily recognize from the following discussion that alternative embodiments of the structures and methods illustrated herein may be employed without departing from the principles of the invention described herein. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       FIG. 1  is a plan view of one embodiment of an indoor grill  1   a  comprising a plate having a pattern of spikes. The indoor grill  1   a  comprises a plate  1   b  and an additional plate  1   c . In various embodiments the plate  1   a  is coupled to the additional plate  1   c  via a hinge or other suitable fastener allowing a distance between the plate  1   b  and the additional plate  1   c  to be changed. A heating element  1   d  is coupled to the plate  1   a  and to the additional plate  1   b  that is configured to transfer heat to one or more of the plate  1   b  and the additional plate  1   c . In various embodiments, the plate  1   b  includes one or more patterns of spikes  1   e  that pierce a surface of food placed on the indoor grill  1   a  when pressed against the food. Heat from the heating element  1   d  is transferred to the spikes  1   e , so when the spikes  1   e  pierce the food, heat from the spikes  1   e  heats the food from below the surface of the food. In some embodiments, the additional plate  1   c  also includes one or more patterns of spikes.  FIG. 2  shows the indoor grill  1   a  in an open configuration with separation between the plate  1   b  and the additional plate  1   c .  FIG. 3  shows the indoor grill with food  3   a  positioned between the plate  1   b  and the additional plate  1   c.    
       FIG. 4  shows a side view of food  4   a  onto which a plate  1   b  having a pattern of spikes  1   e  has been previously pressed. As shown in  FIG. 4 , pressing the plate  1   b  with the pattern of spikes  1   e  into food  4   a  creates a pattern  4   b  of piercing upon the food.  FIG. 5  shows a side view of a plate  1   b  having a pattern of spikes  1   e  being pressed into food  5   a  and heat transfer to the food  5   a . As shown in  FIG. 5 , food  5   a  is positioned between the plate  1   b  having the pattern of spikes  1   e  and the additional plate  1   c . The plate  1   b  and the additional plate  1   c  contact the food  5   a , with the pattern of spikes  1   e  piercing a surface of the food  1   e . Heat from the plate  1   b  and the additional plate  1   c  is transferred to the food  5   a  via surfaces of the food  5   a  contacting the plate  1   b  and the additional plate  1   c . Similarly, heat from the spikes  1   e  is transferred to the food  5   a  where the spikes  1   e  pierced the surface of the food  5   a , allowing heat to be transferred to the food  5   a  below the surface of the food  5   a  contacting the plate  1   b.    
       FIG. 6  is a plan view of an indoor grill  1   a  including a plate  1   b  with a pattern of spikes  1   e  rotated about a horizontal axis. Rotating the indoor grill  1   a  around its horizontal axis allows fats or grease to drain from the plate  1   b  and from the additional plate  1   c . In various embodiments, the indoor grill  1   a  includes a catch basin  6   a  below the plate  1   b  and the additional plate  1   c  and positioned so fats or grease drain from the plate  1   a  and from the additional plate  1   c  into the catch basin  6   a  when the plate  1   a  and the additional plate  1   c  are rotated to be perpendicular to the horizontal axis of the indoor grill  1   a . In various embodiments, the catch basin  6   a  is positioned to be below a location where a surface of the plate  1   b  is nearest a surface of the additional plate  1   c  when the plate  1   b  and the additional plate  1   c  are perpendicular to the horizontal axis. 
       FIG. 7  shows plates of an indoor grill having sub-regions  7   a  onto which food may be placed, in accordance with an embodiment. In the example of  FIG. 7 , each plate of the indoor grill includes a plurality of sub-regions  7   a , with each sub-region  7   a  configured to receive a portion of food. A sub-region  7   a  of one of the plates includes a pattern of spikes configured to pierce food positioned on the sub-region  7   a , as further described above in conjunction with  FIG. 1 . In some embodiments sub-regions  7   a  on one of the plates include the pattern of spikes, while sub-regions  7   a  on the other plate does not include the pattern of spikes; in other embodiments, sub-regions  7   a  included on both plates include the pattern of spikes. The pattern of spikes is limited to being within the sub-regions  7   a , so portions of the plates outside of the sub-regions  7   a  do not include the pattern of spikes. The sub-regions  7   a  may have any suitable shape (e.g., circular, elliptical, rectangular, square, etc.) in various embodiments, and the plates may include different numbers of sub-regions  7   a  in different embodiments. 
     SUMMARY 
     The foregoing description of the embodiments of the invention has been presented for illustration; it is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Persons skilled in the relevant art can appreciate that many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above disclosure. 
     Finally, the language used in the specification has been principally selected for readability and instructional purposes, and it may not have been selected to delineate or circumscribe the inventive subject matter. It is therefore intended that the scope of the invention be limited not by this detailed description, but rather by any claims that issue on an application based hereon. Accordingly, the disclosure of the embodiments of the invention is intended to be illustrative, but not limiting, of the scope of the invention, which is set forth in the following claims.