Grill Grate Design for Homogeneous Temperature Distribution
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing grills suffer from non-homogeneous temperature distribution on the grate surface, leading to inconsistent cooking results, and are often too tall for comfortable use as a table grill.
Innovation Solution
A grill design featuring a grate with a closed central area that extends beyond the fuel container's side wall, made of heat-conductive material, and an open area with vents to direct combustion gases, ensuring even heat distribution through conduction and radiation, while maintaining a compact height.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the fuel container is centrally located at a distance from the bottom of the tub structure with a perforated peripheral wall, then the grill can be used as a table grill, but the height becomes too high
Solution Approach 1:
The grate is designed to extend in the radial direction beyond the fuel container's side wall alignment, creating an overhanging closed grate area. This dimensional extension in the radial direction allows the heat-conductive grate to distribute heat laterally, compensating for the reduced vertical distance between fuel container and grate, thereby maintaining usability while reducing overall height.
2Object-generated harmful factors
If the fuel container is centrally located with a perforated peripheral wall, then combustion gases can escape radially, but the temperature distribution on the grate surface becomes non-homogeneous
Solution Approach 1:
The grate is designed with differentiated zones: a closed central grate area directly above the fuel container that receives radial combustion gases and thermal radiation, and an extended closed grate area that overhangs the fuel container's side wall. The heat-conductive material in these zones distributes heat locally and laterally, creating homogeneous temperature distribution while maintaining combustion gas escape pathways through the perforated fuel container wall.
Solution Approach 2:
The heat-conductive grate material acts as an intermediary between the non-uniform heat source (fuel container with radial gas escape) and the cooking surface. It absorbs heat from direct combustion gas impact and thermal radiation in the central area, then conducts and distributes this heat laterally to the extended grate areas, transforming the non-homogeneous heat input into homogeneous surface temperature.
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
The design achieves a highly homogeneous temperature distribution across the grate surface, ensuring consistent cooking temperatures and a more compact, user-friendly form factor.
Implementation Method 1
The grate itself is made of a material that conducts heat well, such as cast iron. Due to the heat-conducting properties of the grate, this heat coupled into the grate is distributed over the entire closed grate area.
Implementation Method 2
this closed grate area is warmed or heated on the one hand by the impact on its underside by the direct flow of combustion gases rising centrally from the fuel tank and on the other hand by the thermal radiation (infrared radiation) emanating from the glowing charcoal.
Implementation Method 3
The food to be cooked on the grill is heated by the hot air escaping in the radial direction from the peripheral wall of the fuel container, which is designed as a perforated plate, and rising upwards.
Data Source
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AI summary
Described is a grill 1 with a trough structure 5 which is open at the top and has a peripheral side wall 8, with a fuel tank 12 arranged in the trough structure 5 at a distance from its side wall 8, with an air supply for supplying air into the fuel tank 12 on the underside and with a The grate 7 extends over the top opening 11 of the trough structure 5 and whose grate area 22 located above the fuel tank 12 is designed to be closed in alignment with the outline of the fuel tank 12 . The upper end of the fuel tank 12 extends, leaving only a small gap A, to the underside of the closed grate area 22 of the grate 7. The closed central grate area 22 of the grate 7, which is located above the fuel tank 12, extends over the to the side wall 8 of the trough structure 5 pointing lateral closure of the fuel container 12 in the direction of the edge closure of the grate 7 also. The grate 7 also has a closed peripheral edge area. Between the central, closed grate area 22 and the closed edge area 24 there is an open grate area 25 for letting the combustion gases out of the tub structure 5, in which open grate area 25 the central grate area 22 is connected to the edge area 24 by grate bars 26.