Abstract:
The present invention provides a dual purpose roasting rack having opposed arms mounted to a roasting rack which are movable between two configurations. In the first configuration, the arms are substantially parallel to the base and food may be mounted on the roasting rack apparatus in a horizontal orientation. In the second configuration, the opposed arms sit substantially upright relative to the base and cooperate to enable food, such as poultry, to be cooked in a vertical orientation. The opposed arms may rotate between the two configurations and may interlock together while in the second configuration.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    Benefit of U.S. provisional patent application 61/764,828 filed Feb. 14, 2013 is claimed. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    The present disclosure relates in general to roasting racks for cooking food, such as food, and more particularly to a dual purpose roasting rack allowing for roasting of food in a horizontal or vertical mounted position. 
         [0003]    Roasting racks are known technology in the culinary fields and generally operate to elevate food for cooking, including meat, above a roasting pan to assist in even cooking, allow the collection of fat for other culinary purposes and to facilitate eventual cleaning of the roasting pan. Traditional roasting racks are of a design such that they lay substantially flat or co-planner relative to the surface, for example a roasting pan, on which they sit allowing for food to be placed on the rack while it is cooked. 
         [0004]    Vertical roasting racks and related implements are also known which sit substantially upright or perpendicular relative to the surface on which they sit and allow for the vertical mounting of food above a roasting pan or other device. Such vertical roasting racks have similar properties or features to a standard horizontal oriented roasting rack but provide further uses including supporting food to be cooked in an upright orientation. Upright positioning may provide preferable cooking conditions, particularly for poultry, and allow for more efficient use of cooking space. 
         [0005]    However, both traditional horizontal and vertically mounted roasting implements suffer from space inefficiencies as they may be bulky and require dedicated storage space in a kitchen. Should a person wish to have the option of mounting food in either a vertical or horizontal orientation, they would traditionally be required to acquire two separate apparatuses to do so. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0006]    Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a roasting rack apparatus that changeably provides a horizontal or vertical roasting rack in order to reduce the number of implements used in a kitchen and the requirement to purchase multiple implements. 
         [0007]    The present disclosure is directed to a dual purpose roasting rack having moveable arms providing a roasting rack with changeable configurations. 
         [0008]    In one embodiment, at least one set of opposed arms mounted on a base are moveable between a first and a second configuration. In the first configuration, the opposed arms are largely parallel to the surface that the base sits on. In the second configuration, the opposed arms cooperate to allow for food to be mounted thereon. 
         [0009]    In a further embodiment, the opposed arms may be rotationally connected to the base allowing for rotation of the arms between the first and second configurations. 
         [0010]    In a further embodiment, the opposed arms, each having a longitudinally opposed base connecting end at least one free end, may have more than one free ends providing more than one vertical roasting rack site. 
         [0011]    In a further embodiment, the opposed arms may cooperatively interlock with one another while in the second configuration. 
         [0012]    In one aspect the invention comprises a roasting rack apparatus comprising: a base; and at least one set of opposed arms movable between a first configuration and a second configuration where, in the first configuration, the at least one set of opposed arms is substantially parallel to the base and where, in the second configuration, the at least one set of opposed arms are substantially upright relative to the base. 
         [0013]    In another aspect the invention comprises a method of using a roasting rack apparatus comprising a base; and at least one set of opposed arms movable between a first configuration and a second configuration where, in the first configuration, the at least one set of opposed arms is substantially parallel to the base and where, in the second configuration, the at least one set of opposed arms are substantially upright relative to the base comprising the steps of: electing to cook food in either a first configuration or a second configuration; accordingly moving the roasting rack apparatus to either the first configuration or the second configuration; mounting food on the roasting rack apparatus; and cooking the food. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0014]    The examples will be described in further detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: 
           [0015]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of one embodiment of the roasting rack apparatus where the opposed arms are in the first configuration. 
           [0016]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the embodiment of  FIG. 1  where the opposed arms are in the second configuration. 
           [0017]      FIG. 3  is an illustration of one embodiment with food placed in the first configuration. 
           [0018]      FIG. 4  is an illustration of one embodiment with food mounted in a the second configuration. 
           [0019]      FIG. 5  is a top view of an alternative embodiment of the invention. 
           [0020]      FIG. 5A  is a side view of the embodiment in  FIG. 5  as seen from chord A-A. 
           [0021]      FIG. 6  is an enlarged perspective view of a set of opposed arms as seen in the embodiment in  FIGS. 1 and 2 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0022]      FIGS. 1 and 2  illustrate a roasting rack apparatus  101  made up of a base  102  and at least one set of opposed arms  103 .  FIG. 3  is an illustration of one embodiment with food placed in a first configuration.  FIG. 4  is an illustration of one embodiment with food mounted in a second configuration. As illustrated by  FIGS. 1 and 2 , each set of opposed arms are moveable between a first configuration as seen in  FIG. 1 , and a second configuration as seen in  FIG. 2 . 
         [0023]    The base  102  may have a variety of possible structural formations, though for simplicity of cleaning and storage it may be a roasting rack and may be made of a wire frame. The base must be sufficiently rigid to support the weight of food set upon it and to keep such food  310  elevated above a roasting pan  309  or other surface. Roasting racks which may form the base are generally known, and various structural configurations can provide the required rigidity. The roasting rack shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2  provides an example structural configuration comprising a wire type roasting rack. 
         [0024]    As illustrated in  FIG. 6 , each arm of the at least one set of opposed arms  603  comprises at least one first, free end  605 , and at least one longitudinally opposite base mounting end  604 . These opposed arms may comprise a wire frame or be solid pieces of material, provided that in either case they are dimensionally sufficient to not hinder the placement of food in the first configuration and to cooperate with food when in the second configuration. 
         [0025]    The opposed arms may be formed from a variety of suitable rigid and durable materials including aluminum, enamel coated metals and stainless steel which are resistant to high temperatures commonly found in ovens and other cooking sites. 
         [0026]    In an enlarged view of one embodiment, as seen in  FIG. 6 , the opposed arms  603  comprise wire frames where a single wire is formed such that it has two or more base mounting ends  604  and its middle portion forms the free end  605 . 
         [0027]    In a further embodiment, as illustrated in  FIG. 5 , the opposed arms  503  may have sufficient free ends  505  to mount more than one piece of food per opposed set of arms. One aspect of such an embodiment would be to form a single wire such that its ends are base ends  504 , while its middle portion is formed into multiple free ends as shown in  FIG. 5 . 
         [0028]    As illustrated in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the opposed arms are movable between the first configuration and the second configuration. While in the first configuration, the sets of opposed arms  103  may rest on the base  102  and sit generally flat. In this position, the opposed arms do not interfere with and may support the placement of food  310  on the roasting rack apparatus  301  as shown in  FIG. 3 . 
         [0029]    While in the second configuration, the opposed arms cooperate to interact with food  410  in a generally vertical position. A common form of food to be mounted in such a way is poultry which, upon preparation, generally presents a cavity (not shown) allowing an interface for vertical mounting. Such interfacing prevents the food from falling over when placed in a generally upright position.  FIG. 4  illustrates food  410  in a vertically mounted position on sets of opposed arms  103  (hidden in  FIG. 4 ). 
         [0030]    In an alternative embodiment, while in the second configuration, the opposed arms  103  may cooperate to hold food in a generally vertical orientation by cooperating with the exterior surface of the food. 
         [0031]    While  FIGS. 1 and 2  illustrate sets of opposed arms which are independently rotationally mounted, it will be appreciated that other forms of mounting would be effective. For example, this could be accomplished by the interaction of the tips of the opposed arms  103  (if the arms are wire formed) or of extruded pegs (where the arms are of solid material) with fixed holes or eyelets (not shown) on the base allowing for changing of the opposed arms&#39; configuration between the first and second configurations. 
         [0032]    Rotational mounting of the opposed arms  103  may be accomplished through a variety of means, but may be done by the mounting or integrally forming loops at the base mounting ends  604  of the opposed arms  603  to receive and cooperate with the structure of the base  602  to allow for rotation of the opposed arms about the roasting rack, as shown in  FIGS. 1 ,  2  and  6 . Other forms of rotational mounting may also be apparent, such as forming the base mounting end  504  to have protrusions or extension which interface with eyelets  509  drilled, formed from or mounted on the base  502 . This form of mounting is shown in  FIG. 5 . It will be appreciated that other forms of rotational mounting are known and may suitably be employed to allow for rotation of the arms between the first and second configurations. 
         [0033]    While the opposed arms  103  may be mounted on the base  102  to cooperate to hold food in a generally vertical position without touching one another, the arms may rest on one another while in the second configuration to increase the strength and rigidity of the arm structure while in this configuration. Accordingly, in a further embodiment, the one or more sets of opposed arms  103  may meet and interlock when both are in the second configuration. Specifically, the free ends  605  of the opposed arms may be formed such that the arms rest upon one another while in the upright position. 
         [0034]    Interlocking may be effected by cutting at least one notch  608  into the top of a solid material arm, or forming a wire arm to have such a notch resulting one or more notches  608  and one or more protuberances  607 . Said notches  608  and protuberances  607  may be cut or formed in opposite fashion such that a notch from a first arm marries with a protuberance from an opposed second arm. This cooperative interaction is most clearly shown in  FIG. 6 . 
         [0035]    In a further embodiment, the structural formation of the roasting rack apparatus may be formed such that the at least one set of opposed arms occupy only a portion of the roasting rack area when in the second configuration. Such a structure allows for a portion of the apparatus to be effectively in the second configuration and able to support vertical food, while a portion remains in the first configuration allowing for the generally flat laying of food. 
         [0036]    While this invention has been described with reference to illustrative embodiments and examples, the description is not intended to be construed in a limiting sense. Thus, various modification of the illustrative embodiments, as well as other embodiments of the invention, will be apparent to persons skilled in the art upon reference to this description. It is therefore contemplated that the appended claims will cover any such modifications or embodiments.