Patent Description:
A griddle (plancha) is used for cooking, baking, or roasting meats, bread, and vegetables. It has an upper surface, wherein the food is placed, heated evenly by heat transfer from the lower surface. The surface is generally a flat metal surface that can be heated by various heating sources such as gas or electricity.

The vast majority of griddles are composed of aluminium, cast iron, and various kinds of steel, which are heated directly or indirectly by flame or electrical elements to offer different cooking options for the users.

An anti-splash guard is a device partially or fully surrounding the griddle to prevent hot liquids or greases from spitting out of the cooking surface, which often happens when food is cooked at elevated temperatures. For user's convenience, stopping or at least reducing the splattering of hot liquids in the surrounding of the griddle reduces the cleaning time after use. Nevertheless, such anti-splash guards increase the height of the griddle, making them bulkier for limited storage space in a kitchen.

Griddles are usually only used in barbequing events, which happens occasionally. Therefore, their storage always requires a significant space, which is not convenient for many users, especially if their storage spaces are limited. Accordingly, there is a need to reduce the volume of griddles with splash guard.

According to the invention, the cooking device has limited heating power to reduce splashes. The maximal power should not exceed <NUM> watts, preferably <NUM> watts, most preferably <NUM> watts. The griddle comprises a first heat spreading zone with low power (keep warm zone) and a second heat spreading zone with high power (cooking zone) to achieve these limitations while keeping a sufficient cooking capacity.

Utility model <CIT> describes an electric roaster device provided with three detachable windshields connected to two flexible connecting sleeves to make it convenient for storage. However, assembling and disassembling these windshields before and after every use might damage their interlocking and make it difficult for the user to use them. In addition, solving the storage issue by providing multiple parts can make them easy to lose. Therefore, a solution to overcome these challenges more conveniently for the user is needed.

Document <CIT> also discloses a cooking device having a removable anti-splash guard.

The present invention discloses a cooking device comprising:.

According to preferred embodiments, the invention includes at least one or an appropriate combination of the following features:.

All figures represent entire or partial elements of the cooking device according to the present invention.

Referring to <FIG>, a cooking device <NUM> of the present invention is shown. As shown therein, the cooking device <NUM> has a cooking plate <NUM>, a controlling unit <NUM>, and a removable and repositionable anti-splash guard <NUM>. This kind of cooking device <NUM> is made for outdoor and indoor use and configured to be readily movable by a user such that the cooking device <NUM> is portable.

The cooking plate <NUM> is installed horizontally and on top of the controlling unit <NUM>. It allows the user to directly lay down the food to be cooked. The cooking plate <NUM> may define a rectangular or square shape and can have various dimensions.

With reference to <FIG>, the cooking device <NUM> includes a controlling unit <NUM> having two control knobs <NUM> and <NUM>' equipped with light indicators <NUM> and <NUM>' that allow the user to control each of the two heating zones separately. A zoom-in illustration of the control knob <NUM> with the light indicator <NUM> is shown in <FIG>.

Referring to <FIG>, <FIG>, the cooking device <NUM> may include a front side <NUM>, a rear side <NUM>, a right side <NUM>, a left side <NUM>, an upper side <NUM> and a bottom side <NUM>. The front side <NUM> is the side where the user stands for operating the cooking device <NUM>. The rear side <NUM> is opposite the front side <NUM> of the cooking device <NUM> and comprises the integrated cord storage <NUM> (see <FIG>). The right side <NUM> is on the user's right side when standing in front of the front side <NUM> and is opposite the left side <NUM>. The upper side <NUM> is opposite the bottom side <NUM> of the cooking device <NUM>. In specific embodiments, the bottom side <NUM> of the cooking device <NUM> includes attachable or detachable legs but may also include anti-slip pads or surfaces, breakable wheels or rollers, or any stabilising system. Furthermore, the bottom side <NUM> may include height adjustable legs or pads for better stability of the cooking device <NUM> and for defining an inclination so that the greases and liquids released from food can more easily descend to the grease drip tray <NUM> shown in <FIG>.

With further reference to <FIG> and <FIG>, the cooking device <NUM> includes a removable and repositionable anti-splash guard <NUM> that is selectively positioned on the working position and housed by its edges <NUM>, <NUM>', and <NUM>" (see <FIG>) in the side groove <NUM> (See <FIG>) between the cooking plate <NUM> and the controlling unit <NUM>. As shown therein, the anti-splash guard <NUM> has three vertical sidewalls rising toward the rear side <NUM> of the cooking device <NUM> and closely surrounding the cooking plate <NUM>. The sidewalls of the anti-splash guard <NUM> are approximately <NUM> high on the rear wall and start with a height of approximately <NUM> on the left and right side, until they reach the exact height of the rear wall. The anti-splash guard <NUM> entirely slides back through the side groove <NUM> between the cooking plate <NUM> and the controlling unit <NUM> and can be removed. After use, the anti-splash guard <NUM> can be flipped upside down and slid ahead through said side groove <NUM> to be in the storing position (See <FIG>). In this way, the user may decide to use various positions of the anti-splash guard <NUM> based on the desired application.

As will be readily appreciated, the anti-splash guard <NUM> prevents the liquid released from food items during cooking from splattering from the cooking plate <NUM> to the surrounding area of the cooking device <NUM>. Accordingly, the splattering of liquids on the surrounding areas of the cooking device <NUM> is substantially reduced or eliminated. Notably, the anti-splash guard <NUM> is easily removable from the cooking device <NUM> through the side groove <NUM> and repositionable by flipping it upside down and sliding it onto the same side groove <NUM>. In addition, flipping the sidewalls into the cooking device <NUM> will save significant space. Preferably, the anti-splash guard <NUM> is made from metal and has a non-stick coating to make the cleaning action easier for the user.

The working position of the anti-splash guard <NUM> is defined when the sidewalls are surrounding the cooking plate <NUM> rising towards the rear side of the cooking device <NUM>. As shown in <FIG>, <FIG>, the anti-splash guard <NUM> is positioned by sliding the edges <NUM>, <NUM>', and <NUM>" from the rear side <NUM> to the front side <NUM> of the cooking device <NUM> through the sides groove <NUM> formed by the vertical gap between the controlling unit <NUM> and the cooking plate <NUM>.

The storing position of the anti-splash guard <NUM> is defined when the sidewalls surrounding the cooking plate <NUM> falls towards the rear side <NUM> of the cooking device <NUM>. As shown in <FIG>, the anti-splash guard <NUM> is positioned by sliding the edges <NUM>, <NUM>', and <NUM>" from the rear side <NUM> to the front side <NUM> of the cooking device <NUM> through the side groove <NUM> formed by the vertical gap between the controlling unit <NUM> and the cooking plate <NUM>. Notably, the anti-splash guard <NUM> in the storing position is flipped upside down from the working position.

With reference to <FIG>, <FIG>, <FIG>, <FIG>, the steps for positioning the anti-splash guard <NUM> from the working position to the storing position are illustrated respectively. <FIG> shows the anti-splash guard <NUM> in working position. Then, <FIG> shows the anti-splash guard <NUM> sliding back partially toward the rear side <NUM> of the cooking device <NUM> before its complete separation in <FIG>. Later, the anti-splash guard <NUM> is flipped upside down and prepared to have its edges <NUM>, <NUM>', and <NUM>" slid into the vertical side groove <NUM> positioned between the controlling unit <NUM> and the cooking plate <NUM> from the rear side <NUM> to the front side <NUM> of the cooking device <NUM>, as shown in <FIG>. The position of the anti-splash guard <NUM> in <FIG> is similar to the position shown in <FIG>, except that the anti-splash guard <NUM> is flipped upside down. Lastly, the <FIG> shows the end sliding position of the anti-splash guard <NUM>, which represents the storing position. The sidewalls partially cover the sides of the controlling unit <NUM>, reducing the necessary storage volume.

The anti-splash guard <NUM> may be controlled by a release button <NUM>. The release button <NUM> maintains a fixed position of the anti-splash guard <NUM> in both positions, namely the working position and the storing position. The release button <NUM> can also function to unlock the anti-splash guard <NUM> so that a user can slide and flip the anti-splash guard <NUM> from the working position to the storing position and vice versa. In particular, actuating the release button <NUM> unlocks the engagement of the edges <NUM>, <NUM>', and <NUM>" of the anti-splash guard <NUM> with the side groove <NUM>, thereby enabling a user to change the position of the anti-splash guard <NUM> from the working position to the storing position and vice versa. Additionally, the release button <NUM> can also lock the engagement of the edges <NUM>, <NUM>', and <NUM>" of the anti-splash guard <NUM> with the side groove <NUM>, enabling the fixation of the anti-splash guard in the desired position.

As shown in <FIG>, the upper side <NUM> of the cooking device <NUM> may include a cooking plate <NUM> with various heat spreading zones. A first heat spreading zone with low power and a second heat spreading zone with high power may be distributed in different ways depending on the user's need. For example, the second heat spreading zone may define the cooking zone with a temperature up to around <NUM>, preferably <NUM>, and the first heat spreading zone may define the keep warm zone at a temperature lower than the temperature of the second heat spreading zone, to around <NUM> and preferably <NUM>. Furthermore, the main objective is to use the same mechanical structure and the same cooking plate for different geographical areas with different network voltages and available power limits. The cooking plate <NUM> is made with a material with a lower conductivity than aluminium, preferably stainless steel, which requires a lower power density to reach a minimum cooking temperature of more than <NUM>. This power may be achieved by allocating all or part of the total surface of the cooking plate <NUM> without physical delimitation by using resistive heating elements having different geometries plated under the cooking plate <NUM>, instead of inductive heating elements, taking advantage of the horizontal non-conductivity in the thickness of the cooking plate <NUM> to make the different zones coexist. The total heating power of the cooking device <NUM> does not exceed <NUM> watts, preferably <NUM> watts, more preferably <NUM> watts. Using two heat spreading zones makes it possible to reach high temperatures in a specific zone without exceeding the heating power and keeps the other zone at a lower heating temperature for other purposes, such as keeping the food warm. Apart from the simple separation of the two heat spreading zones controlled separately, the first heat spreading zone with low power and a second heat spreading zone with high power may be separated horizontally or vertically, but one zone may also surround one another partially or entirely. In this manner, the user may decide to use various geographical distributions of the two heat spreading zones based on the desired application.

<FIG> illustrates an integrated cord storage <NUM> located on the rear side <NUM> of the cooking device <NUM>. The electrical cord <NUM> used to supply the cooking device <NUM> with the needed power might be wound around it, making it convenient for a user to store the electrical cord <NUM> after use or during the transport of the cooking device <NUM>.

With further reference to <FIG>, the cooking device <NUM> includes a recessed handle <NUM> that allows a user to lift and transport the cooking device <NUM> easily and safely without being burnt or getting dirty. Another recessed area <NUM>' is also present on the opposite side of the cooking device <NUM> shown in <FIG>.

Claim 1:
A cooking device (<NUM>) comprising:
- a controlling unit (<NUM>);
- a cooking plate (<NUM>) on which the food to be cooked is directly laid down;
- a removable and repositionable anti-splash guard (<NUM>) comprising two positions, a working position surrounding the heating zones by edges rising towards the rear side (<NUM>) of the cooking device (<NUM>) and a storing position
characterized in that, in the storing position, the anti-splash guard (<NUM>) is flipped upside down and is slid onto a side groove (<NUM>) on the side contour of the cooking device (<NUM>).