Pellet Grill Two-Piece Firebox for Even High-Temperature Grilling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Outdoor wood pellet fired cooking appliances face challenges in achieving high cooking grate temperatures across large surfaces due to difficulties in evenly distributing heat from a concentrated heat source and the expense of scaling up the auger drive and combustion air fan delivery, limiting their performance for grilling and requiring long warm-up times.
Innovation Solution
A double-walled enclosure system that directs combustion gases from a firepot to a cooking grate, with a baffle to prevent grease and solid particles from entering the firepot, and a design with increasing cross-sectional area and limited volume to enhance heat transfer and manage grease effectively, allowing for high temperatures across the cooking surface.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Area of stationary object
If a single firepot and baffle structure are used to distribute heat across a large cooking area, then the appliance can accommodate large quantities of meat, but the cooking grate temperature cannot exceed 600°F and warm-up time is considerably slower than gas grills
Solution Approach 1:
The single firepot is divided into multiple firepots (e.g., three firepots arranged in a triangle). Each firepot has its own combustion chamber and heat distribution system. This segmentation allows multiple concentrated heat sources to collectively cover a large cooking area while maintaining high temperatures across the entire surface, resolving the contradiction between large cooking area and high temperature capability.
2Loss of time
If the auger feed rate is increased to raise cooking temperatures quickly, then warm-up time may be reduced, but heat distribution becomes uneven and thermal loss in the baffle structure increases
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple firepots with individual auger feeds allow each combustion chamber to operate at optimal rates. The total heat output is distributed across multiple sources, enabling faster warm-up without overloading a single baffle structure. This reduces thermal loss while maintaining even heat distribution across the cooking surface.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs nested baffle structures within each firepot chamber, with inner and outer baffles creating controlled airflow paths. This nested design efficiently captures and directs heat from multiple firepots across the cooking area, minimizing thermal loss while maintaining even temperature distribution during rapid warm-up.
3Temperature
If variable configuration baffles are used to provide high heat at specific areas, then localized high temperature grilling is possible, but high temperatures cannot be achieved across the entire cooking surface
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple firepots arranged in a triangular configuration provide concentrated heat sources at different locations. Each firepot serves a specific zone of the cooking surface, allowing localized high-temperature grilling while the collective arrangement ensures uniform high temperature coverage across the entire cooking area, achieving both goals simultaneously.
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 system achieves even heating and high temperatures across a large cooking surface, enabling efficient grilling and searing while reducing thermal loss and warm-up time, and effectively managing grease and ash particles.
Implementation Method 1
The lower portion defines an opening that receives combustion gases from the combustion source
Implementation Method 2
combustion air pressurized and driven by an exterior fan through ductwork
Implementation Method 3
The floor slopes to a grease drain
Implementation Method 4
a baffle suspended within the upper portion over the opening in the floor
Implementation Method 5
An electrically driven auger transports small compressed wood pellets to a typically open top cylindrical combustion chamber
Implementation Method 6
An electrically driven auger transports small compressed wood pellets from an exterior hopper to a typically open top cylindrical combustion chamber
Implementation Method 7
combustion air pressurized and driven by an exterior fan through ductwork to an area surrounding the firepot
Implementation Method 8
The hot gas from the firepot is conveyed through a series of baffles to a cooking grate placed above the firepot and baffles where it heats the food placed on the cooking grate
Data Source
AI summary
An enclosure for use in a cooking grill. The enclosure has a lower portion defining an opening that receives combustion gases from a combustion source via a bottom opening, and an upper portion interposing the lower portion and the cooking grate and having a floor with an opening that receives the lower portion and combustion gases therefrom and directs them to the cooking grate. The floor slopes to a grease drain.