Patent ID: 7704387

Claim:
A fryer, comprising: a first fryer vat and a second fryer vat; a pan for receiving oil drained from the first fryer vat and/or second fryer vat, a filter assembly within the pan for filtering oil; a first oil drain path leading from an outlet opening of the first fryer vat to the pan; a second oil drain path leading from an outlet opening of the second fryer vat to the pan; an oil return path for delivering oil from the pan back to the first and second fryer vats, the oil return path including a common path portion and a first separate portion leading to the first flyer vat and a second separate portion leading to the second fryer vat; a first automated valve located to control whether flow can occur along the first separate portion of the oil return path back to the first fryer vat, a second automated valve located to control whether flow can occur along the second separate portion of the oil return path back to the second fryer vat; a control unit connected for controlling a condition of the first automated valve and for controlling a condition of the second automated valve; and at least one user input device associated with the control unit for triggering the control unit to open either the first automated valve for a filtration operation of the first fryer vat or the second automated valve for a filtration operation of the second fryer vat, wherein the first oil drain path includes a first manually controlled drain valve and the second oil drain path includes a second manually controlled drain valve, and wherein the control unit is configured to detect the OPEN/CLOSED condition of each of the first manually controlled drain valve and the second manually controlled drain valve, the at least one user input device comprises a single user input device, the control unit responds to the single input device by opening the first automated valve or the second automated valve in accordance with which of the first manually controlled drain valve and the second manually controlled drain valve is open.