Patent ID: 8857319

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 a pre-cooked food product; a plurality of tube gears, at least one tube gear mounted on an end of a corresponding tube; and a beltless drive assembly, comprising: a motor comprising a shaft adapted to rotate at a first rotational speed; a fan to circulate airflow between a volume of a side housing of the housing structure and an ambient space to cool a plenum panel mounted in the side housing; a plurality of idler gears mounted to a portion of the housing structure and contactingly engaged with the plurality of tube gears, the idler gears adapted to transfer a rotational power from the motor to all of the plurality of tube gears at a second rotational speed and at a common rotational direction; a drive gear coupled to the shaft of the motor, the drive gear adapted to transfer the rotational power from the motor to the plurality of idler gears; and at least one transfer gear in contacting engagement with at least one idler gear of the plurality of idler gears and adapted to transfer the rotational power from the drive gear to the at least one idler gear, wherein the plenum panel serves as a heat sink to receive heat from one or more of the plurality of tubes, the plenum panel mounted within the volume at least partially defined by a side panel of the housing structure, and at least one of the plurality of idler gears is mounted to the plenum panel, the plenum panel comprising at least one aperture permitting airflow between the volume and the ambient space, and the motor and the fan are mounted beneath the plurality of tubes in a bottom housing of the housing structure to permit airflow between the side housing and the ambient space.