Patent ID: 8857320

Claim:
A roller grill for heating a pre-cooked food product, comprising: a housing structure adapted to support the roller grill; a plurality of tubes having outer surfaces adapted to transfer heat to the pre-cooked food product; a plurality of timing pulleys, each timing pulley mounted on an end of a corresponding tube and comprising a notched circumferential surface; and a drive assembly, comprising: a motor comprising a shaft, the motor adapted to generate rotational power through the shaft at a first rotational speed; a fan coupled to the motor, the fan and motor mounted in a bottom portion of the housing structure that is positioned beneath the plurality of tubes; a timing belt coupled to the motor and contactingly engaged with the notched circumferential surfaces of the timing pulleys, the timing belt adapted to transfer the rotational power generated by the motor to the tubes at a second rotational speed; and a plurality of idler pulleys mounted to a plenum plate of the housing structure, the plenum plate mounted within a plenum at least partially defined by a side housing of the housing structure, so that the timing belt contactingly traverses, in succession, the notched circumferential surface of a first one of the timing pulleys to transfer heat to the timing belt from the first one of the timing pulleys, and then a circumferential surface of a first one of the idler pulleys to transfer heat from the timing belt to the first one of the idler pulleys, and then the notched circumferential surface of a second one of the timing pulleys to transfer heat to the timing belt from the second one of the timing pulleys, wherein the plenum plate serves as a heat sink to receive heat transferred from the plurality of tubes through the plenum, the plenum plate comprising at least one aperture that permits airflow between the plenum and an ambient space, and the fan is positioned to circulate the airflow from the ambient space, through the bottom portion of the housing, and to the plenum to cool the plenum plate.