Adjustable outdoor cooking assembly
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing open fire cooking grills are often non-adjustable, making it difficult to control cooking temperatures, and are bulky, difficult to assemble, disassemble, and clean, with adjustment mechanisms that can be hazardous to use.
Innovation Solution
A portable outdoor cooking assembly with an adjustable cooking grate supported by poles, featuring a releasable locking mechanism and a grasping tool that allows users to adjust the grate's height without direct contact, enabling safe and easy temperature control and assembly.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the grate height is made adjustable, then cooking temperature control is improved, but the device complexity increases due to additional adjustment mechanisms
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by making the grate height adjustable rather than fixed. The grate can be positioned at multiple heights along the support pole, allowing dynamic adaptation to different cooking temperature requirements. This resolves the contradiction by enabling temperature control through height adjustment while keeping the adjustment mechanism relatively simple.
Solution Approach 2:
The support structure is segmented into multiple discrete height positions along the pole, with the grate capable of being positioned at specific intervals. This segmentation allows for simplified adjustment compared to continuous adjustment mechanisms, resolving the contradiction between adaptability and complexity.
2Reliability
If traditional locking mechanisms are used for adjustment, then the grate height can be secured, but user safety deteriorates due to exposure to high temperatures during adjustment
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a locking tool as an intermediary between the user and the locking mechanism. The user operates the locking mechanism remotely using this tool, avoiding direct contact with hot surfaces. This resolves the contradiction by maintaining reliable locking while protecting the user from thermal harm.
Solution Approach 2:
The locking function is separated from the adjustment function, with the locking mechanism operable independently using a separate tool. This allows the user to perform locking operations without being in direct contact with the hot grate or support structures, resolving the safety contradiction.
3Strength
If the grill structure is made bulky and rigid, then structural strength is improved, but ease of assembly and cleaning deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The grill structure is divided into separate modular components including the grate, support pole, and base. These segments can be easily assembled and disassembled without requiring complex fastening operations, resolving the contradiction between structural strength and ease of assembly.
Solution Approach 2:
The grate is designed as a separate removable component that can be easily extracted from the support structure for cleaning. This extraction capability maintains structural strength while significantly improving ease of cleaning, resolving the contradiction.
Data Source
AI summary
An outdoor cooking assembly includes a plurality of poles configured to support a cooking grate above an open fire. The grate is connected to the poles by a lockable adjustment mechanism that allows a user to adjust the height of the grate above the fire. The adjustment mechanism includes a plurality of sleeves that may be attached directly to the grate, or to a frame that supports the grate from below, and that are slidable on the support poles. The assembly also includes a releasable locking mechanism for preventing unintentional sliding movement of each sleeve along its pole, a locking tool allowing a user to manipulate the locking mechanism without touching locking mechanism, and a grasping tool allowing the user to reposition the grate without physically contacting the grate.