Abstract:
A grill device includes two independently controllable cooking sets confining two isolated cooking spaces such that two different meat pieces can be grilled therein under different cooking temperatures at the same time.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The invention relates to a grill device, more particularly to a grill device which has two independently controllable cooking sets. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     A conventional grill device includes a lower grill unit with a lower cooking member, an upper grill unit which is pivotally connected to the lower grill unit and which has an upper cooking member electrically coupled to the lower cooking member, and a control switch for controlling actuation and cooking temperature of the upper and lower cooking members. Some disadvantages encountered during use of the aforesaid conventional grill device are as follows: 
     1. In case two different meat pieces are grilled between a cooking space that is confined by the upper and lower cooking members under a controlled cooking temperature, over grilling of one of the meat pieces can result by virtue of different required cooking temperatures for the meat pieces. 
     2. Since the different meat pieces are not properly isolated from each other during grilling, the tastes of the meat pieces are likely to mix together. 
     3. In addition, the upper grill unit is formed as a single-piece. As such, half of the upper grill unit cannot be opened relative to the lower grill unit in order to fetch one of the meat pieces in case cooking of the latter is done. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The object of this invention is to provide a grill device with an upper grill unit that is formed as two independent upper halves having independently controllable cooking members that can eliminate the occurrence of the aforesaid disadvantages which result during use of the conventional grill device. 
     Accordingly, a grill device of the present invention includes a horizontal single-piece lower grill unit, a horizontal upper grill unit, a connecting unit, and a pair of control switches. The lower grill unit has a rear side and is provided with two lower cooking members. The upper grill unit is in the form of two independent upper halves which are superposed on the lower grill unit so as to dispose each of the upper halves at a closed position with respect to the lower grill unit. Each of the upper halves is provided with an upper cooking member which is registered with and which is electrically coupled to a respective one of the lower cooking members of the lower grill unit. The connecting unit includes an intermediate pivot seat which is fixed on and which extends upwardly from the rear side of the lower grill unit, and a pair of spaced apart left and right pivot seats which are fixed on the rear side of the lower grill unit and which are respectively spaced apart from two opposite sides of the intermediate pivot seat. Each of the upper halves is pivoted to a respective one of the pivot seats and a respective one of the opposite sides of the intermediate pivot seat. Each of the control switches is operable so as to control actuation and cooking temperature of a respective one of the lower cooking members of the lower grill unit and the upper cooking member of a corresponding one of the upper halves. 
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     Other features and advantages of this invention will become more apparent in the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments of this invention, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective top view of the preferred embodiment of a grill device of the present invention at a closed position; 
     FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the preferred embodiment at a half-open position; 
     FIG. 3 is a lateral sectional side view of the preferred embodiment, illustrating how upper and lower cooking members are mounted on upper and lower grill units; 
     FIG. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view of the preferred embodiment, illustrating how the upper grill unit is pivotally connected to the lower grill unit; and 
     FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a modified preferred embodiment at the half-open position. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Referring to FIGS. 1 to  4 , the preferred embodiment of a grill device of the present invention is shown to include a horizontal single-piece lower grill unit  1  with a rear side  120 , a horizontal upper grill unit  2  with a rear side  220 , a connecting unit, and a pair of control switches  3 . 
     As illustrated, the lower grill unit  1  has a base  11 , and a top  12  that is provided with two lower cooking members  32 . 
     The upper grill unit  2  includes two independent upper halves  21 , each of which is superposed on the lower grill unit  1  so as to dispose each of the upper halves  21  at a closed position with respect to the lower grill unit  1 , as best shown in FIG.  1 . Each of the upper halves  21  has a bottom  22  that is provided with an upper cooking member  31  which is registered with and which is electrically coupled to a respective one of the lower cooking members  32  of the lower grill unit  1 . 
     The connecting unit includes an intermediate pivot seat  124 , and a pair of aligned left and right pivot seats  125 . The intermediate pivot seat  124  is fixed on and extends upwardly from the rear side  120  of the lower grill unit  1 . The left and right pivot seats  125  are fixed on the rear side  120  of the lower grill unit  1  and are respectively spaced apart from two opposite sides of the intermediate pivot seat  124 . The rear side  220  of each of the upper halves  21  has two spaced apart pieces  224 , 225  from which aligned left and right pivots  13 ,  226  extend outwardly and laterally into slots that are formed in the pivot seats  125  and in the opposite sides of the intermediate pivot seat  124 . The slots in the intermediate pivot seat  124  and the left and right pivot seats  125  are dimensioned to permit raising of the upper halves  21  relative to the lower grill unit  1  by virtue of a piece of meat (not shown) that is confined between the upper halves  21  and the lower grill units  1 . Since the particular connection between the upper halves  21  and the lower grill unit  1  is not pertinent to the claimed invention, a detailed structure of the same is omitted herein for the sake of brevity. 
     Each of the control switches  3  is operable in a known manner so as to control actuation and cooking temperature of a respective one of the lower cooking members  32  of the lower grill unit  1  and the upper cooking member  31  of a corresponding one of the upper halves  21 . In this embodiment, the control switches  3  are mounted on the upper halves  21 , respectively, and are respectively provided with a temperature control knob  33 . 
     Referring to FIG. 5, a modified preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown to have a structure generally similar to the previous embodiment. The main difference resides in that an insulator spacer  14  is disposed between the lower cooking members  32  so as to form two isolated cooking spaces that are confined by the upper halves  21  and the lower cooking members  32 . In this embodiment, the control switches  3  are mounted on the lower grill unit  1  at two sides of the insulator spacer  14 . 
     With this invention thus explained, it is apparent that numerous modifications and variations can be made without departing from the scope and spirit of this invention. It is therefore intended that this invention be limited only as indicated in the appended claims.