Improvements in Electrically Heated Grills or Grates.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 18th Oct., 1894
Complete Specification Left, 16th July, 1895-Accepted, 24th Aug., 1895
TRUVIDIONAL DI ECIFICATION.
Improvements in Electrically Heated Grills or Grates.
I, FRIEDRICH WILHELM SCHIndler, Manufacturer, of Kennelbach near
Bregenz, Austria-Hungary, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
This invention has for its object, to construct a grill adapted to be heated by
electric currents without unnecessary waste.
For this purpose, I employ hollow bars, of enamelled sheet metal or other
suitable material and preferably V shaped or U shaped, the apex or sharp edge
being at the top, while the base or open end is at the bottom. Some or all of the
said bars forming the grill or gridiron contain one or more heating wires, for
instance one heating wire arranged immediately below the upper edge and
insulated from the metal by the enamel surface, in which case the said wire is
preferably held up and supported parallel to the edge of the bar by another
enamelled sheet metal bar situated within the first bar and filled with slag wool or
other material suitable to prevent loss of heat downward.
Or several heating wires may be placed one above the other and insulated from
each other and from the inside of the grate bar.
Instead of grate bars open at the bottom, cylindrical or other tubular bars may
be used, into which the heating wire is introduced from the ends.
To regulate the heating effect, means may be provided for placing one or more
wires of each bar in the heating circuit, or for switching some bars entirely out of
circuit, while other bars are heated by the current, or for connecting two or more
wires either in series or in parallel, according to requirements. The drip pan or
gravy dish usually forming part of the grill may also be kept warm by insulated
heating wires placed in grooves or ducts formed in the underside or in the interior
of the said pan.
It is not essential, that each grate bar should contain a heating wire, the heating
bars may be placed in alternation with ordinary supporting bars, and the parallel
bars may be connected with one another by cross bars.
The heating wires are preferably made of thin platinum, either plain or helically
coiled, but other suitable couductors of electricity may be employed, to heat the
interior of the hollow bars.
Dated this 18th day of October 1894.
FAIRFAX & WETTER,
Agents for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Electrically Heated Grills or Grates.
I, FRIEDRICH WILHELM SCHINDLER, Manufacturer, of Kennelbach near
Bregenz, Austria Hungary, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and
in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement:-
This invention has for its object, to construct a grill adapted to be heated by an

page_text: electric current without unnecessary waste, said grill forming a broken surface
with open spaces between the bars, as in ordinary grills, and being provided with
drip pan for collecting any liquid which may drop between the bars.
For this purpose I make the grill of or with hollow grate bars, of enamelled
sheet metal, and either tubular or of inverted trough shape, each grate ba
containing an insulated heating coil or other suitable conductor or several insulated
conductors.
In the case of channel-shaped (inverted trough shaped or V shaped) grate bars
the heating wire is preferably held up and supported parallel to the edge of the
bar by another enamelled sheet metal bar situated within the first bar and filled up
with asbestos, slag-wool or other material suitable to prevent loss of heat down
ward. In the case of cylindrical bars, the ends of the same are brazed into metallic
cheeks, and the heating coils are introduced through the ends of the bars.
To regulate the heating effect, the heating wires are arranged in two or more
parallel groups, and means are provided for placing one or more groups in circuit
as may be required.
The drip pan or gravy dish usually forming part of the grill may be kept warm
by insulated heating wires placed in the base of the grill.
It is not essential, that each grate bar should contain a heating wire, the heating
bars may be placed in alternation with ordinary supporting bars, and the parallel
bars may be connected with one another by cross bars.
In the accompanying drawings
Fig. 1 is a plan of a grill embodying my invention,
Fig. 2 is a vertical section through three adjoining channel-shaped grate bars,
Fig. 3, a vertical section through three tubular grate bars,
Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the grate, after removal of the casing which normally
covers the cheek of the grate.
Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the cheek on the opposite side of the grate,
Fig. 6 is a diagram of the heating circuits.
The grate represented by Figs. 1 and 2 chiefly consists of channel-shaped or
V shaped bars a, a, set into a pair of side plates or cheeks A, each bar containing
an insulated beating coil & extending along the upper edge of the bar and held in
place by a trough-shaped sheet metal bar c placed in the interior of the grate bar.
The heating wire of each grate bar enters the same through an orifice formed in
a block d of insulating material, which block carries a clamping screw serving as a
terminal, as shown in Fig. 4.
The blocks d, d, are rectangular and placed in a row between two parallel guide
rails B, B, held together at the ends by means of stays. The terminal of each
insulating block d is connected by a wire with one of two omnibus bars C, C',
serving to conduct the current from one end of the grate to the other, said omnibus
bars or main conductors being connected with the terminals of the grill, which is
preferably a three-pole contact device E, as indicated by Fig. 6.
The opposite ends of the heating wires pass through rectangular insulating
blocks e, arranged in a row between two parallel guide rails F, F, as shown by
Fig. 5. Each block serves for two heating wires, the ends of which are joined to
the same screw-clamp serving as a terminal. Each of the terminals is connected
by a wire with an omnibus bar D serving as a return conductor to the three way
contact E. The return conductor D is mounted on brackets fixed to an insulated
plate N, as shown.
The juice or gravy which drops from the meat placed on the grate, passes
between the grate bars upon the base plate G, which is hollow and contains a
heating block similar to those used in my electric hot-plates. This heating block
may be supplied with current from a pair of terminals H and serves to keep the
juice hot, which runs over the base plate G into the gravy dish g forming .an
extension of the same. Other suitable means for the electric heating of the base
plate may, however, be employed.
The entire grate is mounted on a foundation plate K by means of a hinge joint

page_text: placed near its lower end, and may be held at the desired inclination by means of
racks L hinged to the opposite end of the plate K right and left thereof, said racks
being connected at the top by a horizontal handle H.
In the modification represented by Fig. 3 the grate bars are formed by metallic
tubes a lined inside with enamel or other suitable insulating material, and brazed
at their ends into the metallic cheeks A, or otherwise secured to the same, so as to
exclude moisture.
The heating coils consist preferably of thin platinum wire ( Fig. 3) coiled
helically on a string of asbestos or other suitable core, but the heater may have
any other suitable shape, and may consist of any other suitable metal.
Grates constructed according to my invention are applicable not only for
cooking provisions, but also for other heating purposes. The grate bars are not
necessarily straight, but may form curves or broken lines, and may have any
convenient shape or cross section.
I am aware, that electric grills have been made, which consist of a metal plate
provided on its upper surface with parallel ribs or ridges, while the lower surface
is adapted to be heated by electric currents, and I do not, therefore, claim electrio
grates or grills in general. My grates or grills are chiefly composed of grate bars
with slots or narrow air spaces between, said slots or air spaces being similar to
those existing in ordinary grates or grills and having a similar purpose.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. An electric grill or grate comprising in its construction hollow grate bars
which contain insulated heating wires or analogous conductors, and means for
connecting said wires with the terminals of an electric circuit, substantially as
described.
2. An electric grill or grate comprising in its construction a series of hollow
grate bars containing electric heating wires, a pair of hollow cheeks or casings
supporting the ends of the said grate bars and containing electric main conductors
or omnibus bars connected with the said heating wires in two or more groups, and
means for connecting the said main conductors with the terminals of an electric
circuit, substantially as described.
3. An electric grill or grate having a series of hollow grate bars adapted to be
heated by electric conductors passing through the interior of said bars, a base plate
and gravy dish adapted to receive the liquid dropping between the grate bars, and
an electric heating circuit adapted to maintain the said grate bars and base-plate
at an elevated temperature, substantially as described.
4. The various forms of hollow grate bars and circuit connections as described
and represented by the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 12th day of July 1895.
FAIRFAX & WETTER,
433, Strand, London, Agents.