Patent ID: 8857322

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 disposed between opposed portions of the housing structure and having outer surfaces adapted to transfer heat to the pre-cooked food product; a plurality of non-metallic gears, each non-metallic gear mounted on an end of a corresponding tube; a motor disposed within a cavity of the housing structure, the motor comprising a motor shaft and adapted to generate a rotational power through the motor shaft at a first rotational speed; a fan coupled to the motor; a drive sub-assembly coupled to the motor and adapted to transfer the rotational power from the shaft to the plurality of non-metallic gears at a second rotational speed; and a cover plate mounted within a plenum of the housing structure adjacent the non-metallic gears, the plenum at least partially defined by a side housing of the housing structure, the cover plate extending across a width of the plenum that is orthogonal to a length of the plurality of tubes that extend lengthwise between the opposed portions of the housing structure, wherein at least one of the plurality of non-metallic gears is mounted to the cover plate, the cover plate serves as a heat sink to receive heat transferred from the plurality of tubes through the plenum, and the cover plate comprises at least one aperture that permits airflow between the plenum and an ambient space, wherein the motor and the fan are mounted in a bottom portion of the housing arranged beneath the plurality of tubes, the fan positioned to circulate airflow between the plenum and the ambient space to cool the cover plate.