Claims:1. A grate assembly for a cooktop, the grate assembly comprising:
a grate comprising a plurality of space apart projections projecting inwards from an inner periphery of the grate to support a cooktop, each of the plurality of projections having a cavity;
a plurality of support elements, each of the plurality of support elements having a protrusion on a lateral side end, each of the plurality of support elements movably configured in the corresponding cavity of the projection of the grate such that the protrusion of each of the plurality of support elements extend outwardly from the corresponding cavity, wherein the protrusion of each of the plurality of support elements is adapted to allow sidling of the corresponding support elements between a retracted position, in which the plurality of support elements received in the corresponding cavity, and an extended position in which the at least a portion of the support elements is projected out of the corresponding cavity; and
a plurality of sliding means configured in the cavities of the set of projections, the plurality of sliding means configured to guide movement of the plurality of support elements between the retracted position and the extended position;
wherein the plurality of support elements, in the extended position, have a gap between projected ends of adjacent support elements smaller than a gap between free ends of adjacent projections of the plurality of projections.
2. The grate assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the plurality of support elements, in the extended position ,configured to support a cooking vessel with a small base on the grate.
3. The grate assembly as claimed in claim 2, wherein at least one of the plurality of support elements is moved towards the retracted position to provide tilted support to the cooking vessel.
4. The grate assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the protrusion provides assistance to an entity to grip the protrusion of the associated support element, and move the support element between the retracted position and the extended position.
5. The grate assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of sliding means comprises a set of guide rails.
6. The grate assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the grate assembly is made of any or a combination of cast iron, stainless steel, and heat resistant material.

Description:TECHNICAL FIELD
[0001] The present disclosure relates to a cooking grate and more particularly to a cooking grate assembly to provide support to cooking vessels of various diameter over a burner of a cooktop.

BACKGROUND
[0002] A conventional gas cooking appliance incorporates a cooktop which is generally formed of either ceramic, metal or glass. Generally the cooktop made of metal is coated with enamel for added durability. Nowadays, a cooktop is provided with more than two openings for receiving gas burners, and each gas burner is either fixed or loosely secured to the cooktop. Either a natural gas or propane gas cooking unit is generally used to provide an open flame to the cooking appliance through the gas burner.
[0003] A grate is utilized to separate cooking vessels and the burner, the grate is preferably made of metal or other hard material. The grate must have a surface for resting the cooking vessel. The grate are employed above the gas burner and relatively fixed in position, so that the energy transfer from the burner to the cooking vessel is optimized. The grate prevents damage to the burner and maintains an optimal distance between the cook top and the cooking vessel and therefore must be robust and endure the high temperatures associated with its location.
[0004] Conventional cooking grates are satisfactory when used with normal or large size cooking vessels, but they are incompatible to provide support to small size cooking vessels. The cooking vessel may have different diameter of vessel, therefore the grates must have a complementarily shaped supporting surface to guarantee a stable and safe support to the cooking vessel of various size. Nowadays, various cooktops are available in market, which includes a separate burner, where the grate is positioned to provide support to small cooking vessel especially. Although, the small burner is not used so much, mostly user tries to place the small cooking vessel on the normal burners only, as a consequence, either the flame turns off, or material in the small cooking vessel falls down due to loss of balance. Furthermore, nowadays a small grate is provided with the cooktop, which may be placed over the existing grate, and the small cooking vessel can be place over small grate. However, the cooktops comprises no space available for fixing the small grate, therefore mostly the small grate is misplaced in the kitchen, and the user has to waste lots of time and efforts to find it in the kitchen, whenever it is required.
[0005] Therefore, there is a need to overcome above mentioned problem of prior art by bringing a solution that provides a cooking grate for existing cooktops which facilitate in providing support to small and relatively large diameter cooking vessel.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
[0006] A general object of the present disclosure is to provide a cooking grate for cooktops.
[0007] An object of the present disclosure is to provide a cooking grate which can provide support to large as well as small cooking vessel over the burner.
[0008] Another object of the present disclosure is to provide a cooking grate which can provide a tilted support to the cooking vessel.
[0009] Yet another object of the present disclosure is to provide a cooking grate which can be fixed over existing burners effortlessly.
[0010] Still another object of the present disclosure is to provide a cooking grate that allows adjustability of the grates based on the requirement of users.

SUMMARY
[0011] According to an aspect, the present disclosure discloses a cooking grate for providing support to cooking vessels of large diameter, as well as small diameter over a burner of a cooktop.
[0012] In an aspect, a grate assembly for a cooktop is disclosed, the grate assembly may comprising a grate, which may comprises a plurality of space apart projections projecting inwards from an inner periphery of the grate to support a cooktop, each of the plurality of projections may have a cavity, and a plurality of support elements.
[0013] In an aspect, each of the plurality of support elements may have a protrusion on a lateral side end, each of the plurality of support elements may be movably configured in the corresponding cavity of the projection of the grate such that the protrusion of each of the plurality of support elements may be extended outwardly from the corresponding cavity, where the protrusion of each of the plurality of support elements may be adapted to allow sidling of the corresponding support elements between a retracted position and an extended position, where the plurality of support elements received in the corresponding cavity, and at least a portion of the support elements is projected out of the corresponding cavity respectively.
[0014] In an aspect, a plurality of sliding means may be configured in the cavities of the set of projections, the plurality of sliding means may be configured to guide movement of the plurality of support elements between the retracted position and the extended position, where the plurality of support elements, in the extended position, may have a gap between projected ends of adjacent support elements smaller than a gap between free ends of adjacent projections of the plurality of projections.
[0015] In an aspect, the plurality of support elements, in the extended position may be configured to support a cooking vessel with a small base on the grate.
[0016] In an aspect, at least one of the plurality of support elements may be moved towards the retracted position to provide tilted support to the cooking vessel.
[0017] In an aspect, the protrusion may provide assistance to an entity to grip the protrusion of the associated support element, and move the support element between the retracted position and the extended position.
[0018] In an aspect, each of the plurality of sliding means may comprise a set of guide rails.
[0019] In an aspect, the grate assembly may be made of any or a combination of cast iron, stainless steel, and heat resistant material.
[0020] The above and other mentioned objects and advantages of the present invention are described hereunder in greater details with reference to following accompanying non-limiting illustrative drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0021] It should be noted that the figures are not drawn to scale and that elements of similar structures and functions are generally represented by reference numerals for illustrative purposes throughout the figures. It also should be noted that the figures are only intended to facilitate the description of the preferred embodiments. The figure does not illustrate every aspect of the described embodiments and does not limit the scope of the present disclosure.
[0022] Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the present embodiment when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
[0023] FIG. 1A illustrates the perspective view of a cooking grate for providing support to cooking vessels of various diameter over a burner of a cooktop in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0024] FIG. 1B illustrates the exemplary view of a projection and a support member of the cooking grate for providing support to cooking vessels of various diameter over a burner of a cooktop in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0025] FIG. 1C illustrates the exemplary view of the support element inside the projection of the cooking grate for providing support to cooking vessels of various diameters over a burner of a cooktop in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0026] FIG. 1D illustrates the inside view of the projection and the support member of the cooking grate for providing support to cooking vessels of various diameter over a burner of a cooktop in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0027] The following is a detailed description of embodiments of the disclosure depicted in the accompanying drawings. The embodiments are in such detail as to communicate the disclosure. However, the amount of detail offered is not intended to limit the anticipated variations of embodiments; on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the present disclosure as defined by the appended claims.
[0028] Embodiments explained herein relates to a cooking grate and more particularly to a grate assembly to provide support to cooking vessels of various diameter over a burner of a cooktop.
[0029] In an aspect, the present disclosure discloses a cooking grate to provide support to large and small cooking vessel over a burner effortlessly.
[0030] In an embodiment, a grate assembly for a cooktop is disclosed, the grate assembly can include a grate, which can comprises a plurality of space apart projections projecting inwards from an inner periphery of the grate to support a cooktop, each of the plurality of projections can have a cavity, and a plurality of support elements.
[0031] In an embodiment, each of the plurality of support elements can have a protrusion on a lateral side end, each of the plurality of support elements can be movably configured in the corresponding cavity of the projection of the grate such that the protrusion of each of the plurality of support elements can be extended outwardly from the corresponding cavity, where the protrusion of each of the plurality of support elements may be adapted to allow sidling of the corresponding support elements between a retracted position and an extended position, where the plurality of support elements received in the corresponding cavity, and at least a portion of the support elements is projected out of the corresponding cavity respectively..
[0032] In an embodiment, a plurality of sliding means can be configured in the cavities of the set of projections, the plurality of sliding means can be configured to guide movement of the plurality of support elements between the retracted position and the extended position, where the plurality of support elements, in the extended position, can have a gap between projected ends of adjacent support elements smaller than a gap between free ends of adjacent projections of the plurality of projections.
[0033] In an embodiment, the plurality of support elements, in the extended position can be configured to support a cooking vessel with a small base on the grate.
[0034] In an embodiment, at least one of the plurality of support elements can be moved towards the retracted position to provide tilted support to the cooking vessel.
[0035] In an embodiment, the protrusion can provide assistance to an entity to grip the protrusion of the associated support element to move the support element between the retracted position and the extended position.
[0036] In an embodiment, each of the plurality of sliding means can include a set of guide rails.
[0037] In an embodiment, the grate assembly can be made of any or a combination of cast iron, stainless steel, and heat resistant material.
[0038] Referring to FIG. 1A, where a perspective view of proposed cooking grate assembly 100 is shown, the proposed grate assembly 100 can include a grate 102, a set of projections 104, and a plurality of support elements 110 to provide supports to a small cooking vessel over the burner of a cooktop.
[0039] In an embodiment, the grate 102 can include the set of projections 104 (collectively referred as projections 104 and individually referred as projection 104, herein) projecting inwards from an inner periphery 106 of the grate 102. Each of the set of projections 104 can space apart from the other, and each projection 104 can have a cavity 108. In an exemplary embodiment, each of the set of projections 104 can be arranged on the periphery 106 such that support can be provided to a base surface of a cooking vessel from all sides.
[0040] In an embodiment, the grate assembly can be made of any or a combination of cast iron, stainless steel, heat resistant material, or materials able to withstand the high temperatures found in gas cooking applications without substantial alteration of its shape or composition.
[0041] In an embodiment, the grate assembly 100 can include the plurality of support elements 110 (collectively referred as support elements 110 and individually referred as support element 110, herein), and each of the plurality of support elements 110 can have a protrusion 112 on a lateral side end. As also shown in FIG. 1B, each of the plurality of support elements 110 can be movably configured in the corresponding cavity 108 of the projection 104 such that the protrusion 112 of each of the plurality of support elements 110 can be extended outwardly from the corresponding cavity 108.
[0042] In an embodiment, the protrusion 112 of each of the plurality of support elements 110 can be adapted to enable sliding of the corresponding support elements 110 between a retracted position and an extended position. The plurality of support elements 110 can be received in the corresponding cavity 108 in the retracted position, and at least a portion of the support elements 110 can be projected out of the corresponding cavity 108 in extended position.
[0043] In an exemplary embodiment, a user can hold the protrusion 112 of the support element 110 with the hand, and the support element 110 can be moved back and forth in the cavity 108 easily. The user can move the support element 110 in a first direction, and at least a portion of the support elements can be projected out towards the burner to provide support to a small vessel such as tadka pan, mini pan, and the likes. The support elements 110 can be moved back inside the cavity 108, by moving the corresponding support elements 110 in a second direction.
[0044] In an exemplary embodiment, at least one of the support elements 110 can be opened to provide a tilted support to a cooking vessel such as to heat a small amount of oil, ghee and the likes, the user can open at least one of the support elements 110 at the same time other support elements 110 can be closed, thus the cooking vessel can be tilted and oil or ghee can be heated easily.
[0045] In an embodiment, a plurality of sliding means (not shown) can be configured within the cavities 108 of the set of projection 104. The plurality of sliding means can be configured to guide movement of the plurality of the support elements between the retracted position and the extended positions. In another embodiment, each of the plurality of sliding means can include a guide rails configured at bottom surface of the projections 104 inside the cavity 108, which facilitates in moving the plurality of support elements 110 inside the cavity smoothly.
[0046] In an embodiment, the plurality of support elements 110 in the extended position can have a gap between projected ends of adjacent support elements 110 smaller than a gap between free ends of adjacent projections 104 of the plurality of projections 104.
[0047] Referring to FIG. 1C, where an exemplary view of the projection 104 with a support element 110 is disclosed. In an exemplary embodiment, the projection 104 and the support element 110 can have an elongated shape which can provide a proper support to the cooking vessel. In another exemplary embodiment, the projection 104 and the support element 110 can be of any shape that can rest on burner or cooktop in such a way to provide support to a small cooking vessel centered on top of it. For larger cooking and for off-centered cooking the shape the projection 104 and the support element 110 can be such that which cooperate with a surface of the cooking vessel to provide support.
[0048] Referring to FIG. 1D, where an inside view of the projection 104 is disclosed. The projection 104 can have a front end 104-A and a rear end 104-B, where the first end can be fixed with the periphery and the second end is near the burner. The support element 110 can have a first end 110-A and a second end 110-B, and the structure of the front end 104-A and the first end 110-A of the support element 110 can be formed such that, when the user moves the support element 110 towards the burner, the front end 104-A can obstruct the second end 110-B of the support element 110 to get released from the cavity.
[0049] The invention has been explained in relation to the specific embodiment. It can be inferred that the foregoing description is only illustrative of the present invention and it can be not intended that the invention be limited or restrictive thereto. Many other specific embodiments of the present invention will be apparent to one skilled in the art from the foregoing disclosure.
[0050] All substitutions, alterations and modifications of the present invention which comes within the scope of the following claims are to which the present invention can readily be susceptible without departing from the spirit of the invention. The scope of the invention should therefore be determined not with reference to the above description but should be determined with reference to appended claims along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.

ADVANTAGES OF THE INVENTION
[0051] The present disclosure provides a cooking grate for cooktops.
[0052] The present disclosure provides a cooking grate which can provide support to large as well as small cooking vessel over the burner.
[0053] The present disclosure provides a cooking grate which can provide a tilted support to the cooking vessel.
[0054] The present disclosure provides a cooking grate which can be fixed over existing burners effortlessly.
[0055] The present disclosure provides a cooking grate that allows adjustability of the grates based on the requirement of users.