Angled Grilling Surface System for Flame-Free Fat Drainage

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing grill systems, including charcoal, gas, and electric grills, face challenges such as harmful substance migration into food, difficult handling due to direct heating, longer cooking times, and complex constructions that increase costs and weight, making flame-free grilling inefficient and costly.

Innovation Solution

A universal grill system with two interconnected grilling surfaces at an angle of 120°-170°, each with an inclination of 5-30°, supported by liquid collection containers and protective elements, allowing for even temperature distribution and easy cleaning, suitable for retrofitting various grill types without requiring specific placement.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Object-affected harmful factors

If lateral or indirect heating is used to avoid harmful substances, then food safety is improved, but handling difficulty increases and cooking time is extended

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveharmful substance migrationVSAvoidhandling difficulty
Core Design Contradiction:
Object-affected harmful factorsVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The grill grate is segmented into multiple longitudinal bars with grooves on their undersides, creating separate channels for fat drainage while maintaining direct heating contact between food and grate. This segmentation allows harmful fat to be channeled away without requiring complex lateral heating systems.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The harmful fat and liquids are extracted from the cooking process by channeling them through grooves in the grate bars into collection containers positioned below. This removes the harmful substance migration issue while keeping the simple direct heating structure intact.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

2Object-affected harmful factors

If indirect heating is used to prevent harmful substance migration, then food safety is improved, but cooking time increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveharmful substance migrationVSAvoidcooking time
Core Design Contradiction:
Object-affected harmful factorsVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The grill grate is segmented into multiple longitudinal bars with grooves on their undersides, creating separate channels for fat drainage while maintaining direct heating contact between food and grate. This segmentation allows harmful fat to be channeled away without requiring complex lateral heating systems.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The harmful fat and liquids are extracted from the cooking process by channeling them through grooves in the grate bars into collection containers positioned below. This removes the harmful substance migration issue while keeping the simple direct heating structure intact.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

3Loss of substance

If V-profiles with grooves are used to drain fat, then fat drainage is improved, but construction complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvefat drainageVSAvoidconstruction complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Loss of substanceVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

Instead of changing the entire grate structure to complex V-profiles, only the undersides of the grate bars are provided with simple grooves. This local modification provides effective fat drainage while maintaining the simplicity of the overall construction and allowing use of standard round rod gratés.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #3Local quality

Applied Scientific Principles

This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.

Function Achieved in This Case

Enables efficient, flame-free grilling with even temperature distribution, reduced risk of food slipping, and easy cleaning, while being adaptable to multiple grill shapes and sizes, thus enhancing grilling performance and usability.

Implementation Method 1

This is based on the principle of the wetting force between the fat and the grid

Methodology Applied
Scientific EffectWetting force: Wetting

Implementation Method 2

Patent application DE 102 010 039 695 discloses sloping grill grates which use wetting force/adhesion force to achieve smoke-free grilling

Methodology Applied
Scientific EffectAdhesion force: Adhesive

Implementation Method 3

As described in DE 299 03 212 U1 and DE 100 33 294 A1, it has proven advantageous that the fat can flow off along the underside of the grate if the grate has a slope

Methodology Applied
Scientific EffectGravity: Gravitation

Data Source

PatentEP2606789B1Grilling system for grilling without flames
Publication Date: 2017.10.04 ZHANG JIULAI
  • EP2606789B1 patent drawingFigure 1~3
  • EP2606789B1 patent drawingFigure 4

AI summary

The invention relates to a grill system 1 for placement on a grill grate 17 of a grill, with a first and a second grill food support surface 1a, 1b, the first grill food support surface 1a and the second crill food support surface 1b having no groove and at an angle of 120°-170° to one another are connected, and the grilled food support surfaces 1a, 1b each have an inclination of 5°-30° relative to the horizontal when placed on the horizontal grillage 17 and are each connected to at least one support element 5a, 5b, a first liquid collecting container 2a for receiving liquid, which is separated out over the first grilled food support surface 1a, a second liquid collecting container 2b for receiving liquid that is separated over the second grilled food support surface 1b, with the at least one support element 5a, 5b supporting the grilled food support surfaces 1a, 1b.