Abstract:
Disclosed is a Barbeque Turner with a plate, an armature and a handle. Food, which is engaged by the plate, is turned by the pull of a trigger which actuates gears within the handle which, in turn, rotate that armature and the plate which is attached thereto.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     None 
     STATEMENTS AS TO RIGHTS TO INVENTIONS MADE UNDER FEDERALLY SPONSORED 
     RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT 
     None 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     This invention relates generally to a device for turning over items that are being cooked. More particularly, this invention comprises a device that turns over items that are being barbequed or grilled. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     People who grill or barbeque food use manual devices, such as spatulas and forks, to turn the food that is being cooked. This is especially inconvenient when cooking with the newer barbeque ovens which have multiple, closely spaced cooking grids because there is not enough room to turn the food by hand. Around the turn of the century, there were several inventions that allowed food to be turned with a mechanical device. However, these inventions have their mechanisms open to the outside and are not well suited to modern safety standards, manufacturing or fabrication techniques. Therefore, it is desirable to have a simple, closed device that turns over the food being cooked that can easily be manufactured by modern techniques with modern materials. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The object of the current invention is to provide a device that can be used to turn over items that are being barbequed or cooked. The current invention provides such a device with a mechanically activated rotation mechanism. 
     The invention comprises a handle, an armature and a plate. The handle contains a set of three gears, an external trigger and most of the armature. The user places the plate under the object to be turned and presses the trigger. The action of the trigger, through the gears, rotates the plate through 180 degrees and flips the object. A spring flips the plate back to the original position. The plate is removably fixed to the armature outside of the handle to facilitate changes in plates for different applications. The advantages of the invention are that the mechanism is closed and the user can flip the food in a narrow space because he need not turn his wrist when actuating the devise. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is an isometric view of the invention. 
     FIG. 2 is a top view of the invention. 
     FIG. 3 is a side cross section of the handle of the invention. 
     FIG. 4 is a front cross sectional view of the gears for an alternate preferred embodiment. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     The preferred embodiment of the invention is best understood by referring to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 1 the present invention is comprised of a plate  1 , an armature  2 , and a handle  3 . 
     Referring further to FIG. 2, the plate  1  consists of a plate  4  and a rod  5 . The forward portion  6  of the plate  4  is horizontal when in use and the rearward portion  7  of the plate is bent upward from the horizontal. Although the plate as illustrated is in the form of a spatula, other forms, such as a fork, may be used. The rod  5  has a front portion  8  that extends from and in the same plane as the rearward portion  7  of the plate  4  and a rear portion  9  that bends back toward the horizontal and lies in the same plane as the forward portion  6  of the plate  4 . The rod  5  is typically attached to the plate  1  with rivets  10 . The rear portion  9  of the rod  5  is threaded  11  to allow other plates, such as a fork, to be attached to the armature  2 . The armature  2  passes through a front bearing  14  and a rear bearing  15  that are disposed in opposite ends of the handle  3 . 
     Referring further to FIG. 3, the handle  3  is comprised of an inner sleeve  25  and an outer sleeve  26 . The inner sleeve can be metal, plastic or any other material that is convenient to fabricate, sufficiently strong and can withstand the heat. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, metal is used. The outer sleeve must be thermally insulating and able to withstand heat. Wood is used in the preferred invention. 
     The front portion of the armature  2  has a sleeve  12  which is threaded  13  to engage the rear portion  9  of the rod  5 . The armature is further stabilized by a mounting bracket  27  within the handle  3 . A crown pinion gear  15  is attached to the portion of the armature  2  that is within the handle  3 . 
     A trigger  16  is attached to a trigger shaft  17  which is disposed in the handle  3  so as to be perpendicular to the armature  2 . The trigger  16 , which is attached to the trigger shaft  17 , extends through an opening  18  in the handle  3 . A trigger guard  21  is mechanically attached with bolts  28  to the handle  3  in the vicinity of the trigger  16  and the opening  18  in the handle  3 . 
     A trigger spur gear  19  is also attached to the trigger shaft  17 . A transfer spur gear  29  is attached to a transfer shaft  20  that is disposed in the handle  3  so as to be parallel to the trigger shaft  17 . The trigger shaft  17 , trigger spur gear  19 , transfer shaft  20 , and transfer spur gear  29  are all positioned relative to one another and the armature  2  and crown pinion gear  15  so the gears mesh as shown in FIG.  3 . The number of teeth in each gear and the respective gear ratios are such that a squeeze of the trigger rotates the plate through approximately 180 degrees. 
     While there are many trigger displacements, gear ratios and gear sizes that will accomplish this, the preferred embodiment uses a trigger displacement of 52 degrees, a {fraction (11/16)}″ diameter pinion gear with 34 teeth, a ⅜″ diameter spur gear with 20 teeth and a {fraction (5/16)}″ diameter crown gear with 10 teeth. The gears can be made of plastic, nylon, metal or any other convenient material that will withstand the heat. 
     When the trigger  16  is released, the plate  4 , is returned to its original position by a rotary spring  30  that is fixed between the armature  2  and the handle  3 . 
     In a second embodiment of the invention, as shown in FIGS. 1,  2  and  3  as modified by FIG. 4, a trigger bevel gear  22  is attached to a trigger shaft  17 , a transfer bevel gear  23  is attached to the transfer shaft  20  and a bevel pinion gear  24  is attached to the armature  2 . In this embodiment, the shafts may be oblique to one another if the bevel gears are hypoid. The trigger shaft  17 , trigger bevel gear  22 , transfer shaft  20 , and transfer bevel gear  23  are all positioned relative to one another and the armature  2  and bevel pinion gear  24  so the gears mesh as shown in FIG.  4 . While there are many trigger displacements, gear ratios and gear sizes that will accomplish this, the preferred embodiment uses a trigger displacement of 52 degrees, a {fraction (11/16)}″ diameter pinion gear with 34 teeth, a ⅜″ diameter spur gear with 20 teeth and a {fraction (5/16)}″ diameter crown gear with 10 teeth.