US1368152A - Electrically-heated culinary utensil - Google Patents

Description

W. D. HUFF. ELECTRICALLY HEATE'D cuLlNAHY UTENSIL.

, APPLICATION FILED IULY 3,1919. 1,368,152.

Patented Feb. 8, 1921.

Inl/611221: v t I yr/ygw/M W. D. HUFF.

ELECTRICALLY HEATED'CULINARY UTENSIL.

APPLICATION FILED JULY a. |919.

f 1,868,152. Patented Feb. 8,1921.

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WILLIAM DANIEL Burr, or LA FAYETTE, LOUISIANA, AssIeNoa or ONE-HALF 'ro JAMES I. coNNoLLY, or aoANoxE, VIRGINIA.

ELEcraIcALLY-IIEATED CULINARY UTENSIL.

Toallwhomtmy concern:v v l y Be it known that I WILLIAM DANIEL HUFF, a, citizen of the-nited State's,'resid ing at La Fayette, lin the parish of Lafayette and lState of- Louisiana, havejinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Electrically-Heated Culinary Utensils; andI do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as ywill enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same'. y

My present invention relates to improvements in electrically heated culinary utensils, and it is intended to provide an arrangement by means of which a minimum n amount of electricity may be used to accomplish the -desired heating result, and in which also the heat generated will be almost entirely concentrated in a comparatively small region, thus avoidin any disa reeable heating of the surroun ing atmosp ere, and causing inconvenience or discomfort to the attendants, as well as avoiding any unnecessary loss of heat. A

The invention is intended to be used in kitchens, pantries, or other convenient places Figure 1 shows three yof thevl devices mounted in a, framework, anduconstituting an electric range. v f y Fig., 2 is a front elevation on a larger scale ofone of the devices.

Fig. 3 shows a central vertical section through the device shown in 2, buts' with the electrical connections-and .other electrical parts omitted. u

Fig..`4 ows a view of the electric switch and connections', with the topl of the caseremoved. .cg

Fi 5 shows a section alon the line 55 of Flg. 4, and looking in the lrection of the vFigshows a section along the line 6 6 v VSpeciicuation of Letters Patent.

` Sulating piece. to whic Patented Feb. 8, 1921.

Application led July 3, 1919. -Serial No. 398,351.J

of Fig. 2, the parts being shown on a larger scale than inFig. 2.

Fig. 7 is a plan view of the electric heating coils shown in Fig. 6.

Fig. 8 shows a section along the line 8--8 of Fig. 7 and looking in the direction of the arrows.

Fig.- 9 is an inverted lan view of the inthe heating coils are connected. v

Fig. l0 is a sectional elevation showing the central connection common to all the heating coils.

'andv the insulating material surrounding the wire; and f Fig. 13 is a top plan view of the insulating plug to which the various heating coils are connected.

A represents any suitable framework, having suitable shelves a and a', and an angle'iron A which serves as a support for the heating retorts B, which are preferably constructed hollowed out, as at B9, in Fig. 3, and from this hollowed out portion the air is preferably exhausted so as to lessen .the conducting power of the walls of the chamber and retain the heat therein.

The retorts B may be made of metal, glass, or other suitable material, but preferably of flint or pyreX glass, having the walls of the vacuum chamber silvered as is well knownl inthe manufacture of thermos bottles.

The bottom of the retort is'perforated, as

-at B', to receive the insulating plug which will be hereinafter described.

C represents the container lin which the article to be cooked or. to be heated is placed, and this is preferably provided with a flange .B,` and mounted above this plug` is an insulating strip E which carries the series of heating coils.

I have shown threeof such coils F, F and,

,c having the asbestos gasket c to fit on the..

F2, but the number may be increased or decreased as desired. These coils are preferably formed of an inclosing tube f, containing a series of annular disks or beads f' of glass or other suitable material, through which ne heating wire f2 passes, the ends of this wire f2 being connected to the larger wire G, which is in turn connected to the conducting strip II secured beneath the insulating piece E.

rIhis strip H is connected to the central contact I-I', which projects down l into a metal tube I in the insulating plu D. rIhe inner ends of each of the coils F, 4' and F2 are connected to a corresponding contact K, by means of the rods G', see Fig. l0, and the closed end fo of the tubes, which projects down into the tubes I' in-the insulating plug D. The lower ends of these tubes are connected by the conductors L to the three pairs of superposed contact segments M of the switch arrangement shown in Figs. 4: and 5, which contacts are insulated from each other.

Projecting up into the tube I is the conducting post N, which carries the switch arm P, which arm comprises a spring member p and a contact plate p', notched as at p0 to engage one or the other of the sging holders Q, Q', Q2 and Q3. This post I also carries the lever arm R, preferably having a portion thereof made of insulating material, as at R', and carrying an indicator fr which passes over the front of the heating chamber, and the position of said indicator shows the position of the switch, or the number of heating units in circuit.

The current is shown as carried in by the conductor S, and is carried off or grounded by the conductor S', as shown in Fig. 4.

In Fig. 2 I have shown the current cut out entirely, the indicator 11 being to the left of the markings l, 2 and 3, which corres ondto the positions of the lock springs Q', Q2 and Q3.

In Fig. 4 I have shown one of the heating coils in circuit, the switch lever being shown in full lines, while the switch lever as indicated in dotted lines shows the position of the same when the electricity is cut out, as indicated in Fig. 2.

By turning the switch lever over to the right from the position shown in Fig. 4, I may cut in two or three of the heating coils, and again by swinging the lever to the left these heating coils may be cut out serz'atz'm.

The switch mechanism herein described is what is known as a snap switch, and operates as follows The central pin N has rigidly attached thereto the yoke T, with the two arms t and t', and when the switch lever is turned to the right, as in Fig. 4, the arm t will press the arm p, causing the plate p to snap out of engagement with one of the springs Q, Q', or the like. The resiliency of the arm p will cause the plate p' to snap into engagement with the next spring Q2.

Inturning the switch lever in the reverse direction, a similar action will be effected by the arm Z5 of the yoke rI`he various parts of the switch mechanism are inclosed in a box or casing W, having a bottom w made of insulating material, which casing may be secured to the angle iron A' by means of the screws w'.

The electric circuit to the various utensils is controlled by a switch X, shown in Fig. l.

It will be noted that the gasket c'of the container C will make a substantially airtight joint at the top of the heating chamber, thus imprisoning the heated air in said chamber, and preventing the escape of same should the pressure become excessive, in which-case the container will lift slightly, permitting the excess pressure of the air to be released; or the leakage of the air from the interior of the heating chamber may prevent any possibility of excess air pressure in the system.

By having very fine heating wire inclosed in curved tubes, a comparatively short heating wire may be used, and yet a high temperature may be secured, and by having this wire contained in an inert medium, such as nitrogen, it is not likely to become burnt out.

If it 'be desired to clean the heater at any time, it will be a simple matter to lift up the insulating strip E, and the parts carried thereby, and remove the heating coils fromV the heating chamber, and the same may be cleaned or repaired and replaced, if desired.

In the same way, the plug D may be lifted out of its socket, and also the switch box W may be removed by disengaging the screws w'.

It will be seen that the device may be cheaply constructed, and the parts may be made inter-changeable and duplicates substituted should they become worn or injured in any Wa It will be seen that the heating chambers are located and constructed so that they may be readily cleaned, either in place, or after being removed. A The heating element is shown as inclosed 1n a metal tube bent in a curved or spiral form, so that the resiliency of the tube will allow the coil to expand or contract without injuring the apparatus.

In order to prevent oxidization of the fine wire contained in the heating coil, I preferably exhaust the air from the tubes containing the heating members and fill up the vacuum thus created with nitrogen or some other inert gas preferably nitrogen as this may be so rea ilv secured.

By having the ,heating wire very fine and inclosed in glass disks or beads, and contained in a non-oxidizing medium, it is not likely to wear out or burn out, and thus the heater will last a lon time without the necessitv for replacing t e parts.

It will be obvious that various modifications might be made in the herein described apparatus and in the construction, combination and arrangement ofl parts which could be used without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is v l. Apparatus of the character described, comprising a cylindrical receptacle having double side and bottom walls spaced apart, and the double bottom walls formed with a cylindrical passage therethrough, the air being exhausted from the space between the said double walls, an insulating plug with -electrical conductors carried thereby removably mounted in said passage in s aid bottom walls, an insulating support carried said plug at its upper end, a heating co1 carried by said support, and means for completing an electric circuit through said conductors and through said coil, substantially as described.

2. Apparatus of the-character described, comprising a cylindrical receptacle having double side and bottom walls spaced apart, and the double bottom walls formed with a cylindrical passage therethrough, the alir being exhausted from the space between the said double walls, an insulating plug with electrical conductors carried thereby removably mounted in said passage in said bottom walls, an insulating support carried by said plug at its upper end, a plurality of heating coils carried by said support, and means for completing electric circuits serz'atz'm through said coils, substantiallv as described.

i space between the said double walls, an insulating plug with electrical conductors carried thereby removably mounted in said passage in said bottom walls, an insulating support carried by said plug at its upper end, a heating coil carried by said support, and means for completing an electric circuit through said conductors and through said coil, with a hollow cooking utensil adapted to project into said receptacle and provided with a flange adapted to lit snugly on said annular edge and to form a removable cover for said receptacle, substantially as described.

4. Apparatus of the character described, comprising a cylindrical receptacle having double side and bottom walls spaced apart,

ythe top of said double side walls being joined together to form a narrow rounded annular edge, and the double bottom walls formed with a cylindrical passage therethrough, the air being exhausted from the space between the said double walls, an insulating plug with electrical conductors carried thereby removably mounted in said passage in said bottom walls, an insulating support carried by said plug at its upper end, a plurality of heatingv coilscarried by said support, and means for completing electric circuits seriatz'm through said coils, with a hollow cooking utensil adapted to project into said receptacle and provided with a flange adapted to fit snugly on said annular edge and to form a removable cover for said receptacle, substantially as described.

WILLIAM DANIEL HUFF.

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