Tabletop Cooking Assembly with Exhaust Plenum for Indoor Smoke Capture
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing tabletop cooking assemblies fail to capture smoke and grease particulates effectively indoors without the need for outdoor venting or additional air makeup, leading to lingering odors and inefficiencies in smoke removal.
Innovation Solution
A tabletop cooking assembly featuring a burner element, a pan, a grill, an exhaust plenum with apertures, an exhaust duct, and filter assemblies with metal and wool fiber filters, and a blower that draws smoke away from the grill and exhausts it outside, achieving efficient smoke capture and filtration.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If high velocity blowers are used to capture smoke, then smoke capture is improved, but noise increases and the grill is cooled
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the velocity parameter of the blower from high velocity (750 fpm in prior art) to low velocity (less than 500 fpm), achieving adequate smoke capture without the harmful effects of noise and grill cooling. This parameter optimization resolves the contradiction between smoke capture effectiveness and harmful side effects.
2Productivity
If large overhead ducts are used to capture smoke, then smoke capture is improved, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the smoke capture function from the traditional large overhead duct system and implements it through a compact exhaust plenum with apertures positioned adjacent to the grill. This extraction eliminates the need for complex large ductwork while maintaining effective smoke capture.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of using large ducts in the horizontal plane, the patent positions exhaust apertures in the vertical plane adjacent to the grill, creating a three-dimensional smoke capture approach that reduces the footprint and complexity of the duct system.
3Device complexity
If downdraft systems are used, then device complexity is reduced, but smoke capture is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the exhaust system into multiple apertures distributed around the perimeter of the exhaust plenum, allowing smoke to be captured from multiple locations simultaneously. This segmentation provides effective smoke capture with a simpler system than traditional overhead ducts.
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 solution enables effective smoke capture and filtration, reducing odor lingering and eliminating the need for outdoor venting, while maintaining a quiet and efficient operation, with smoke capture rates of 90-100% and grease particulate removal below 5 ppm, suitable for indoor use without additional air makeup.
Implementation Method 1
a blower in fluid communication with the exhaust duct and the at least one filter assembly for exhausting the smoke from the exhaust duct to an area outside of and immediately adjacent to the tabletop cooking assembly
Implementation Method 2
at least one filter assembly is in fluid communication with the exhaust duct having at least one filter disposed therein for filtering grease from the smoke as the smoke passes through the at least one filter
Data Source
AI summary
A tabletop cooking assembly for preparing foods thereon includes a burner element, a pan surrounding the burner element, a grill adjacent to the burner element, and an exhaust plenum adjacent to the grill having a plurality of apertures for drawing smoke away from the grill and an outlet for exhausting smoke therefrom. The exhaust plenum forms a defined volume around the grill to draw the smoke into the exhaust plenum and away from the grill such that the smoke does not pass through the grill or about the burner element. An exhaust duct and at least one filter assembly having at least one filter disposed therein are in fluid communication with the exhaust plenum for filtering grease. The subject invention also includes a blower for exhausting the smoke from the exhaust duct to an area outside of and immediately adjacent to the tabletop cooking assembly.