DESC:TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure in general relates to a cooking apparatus and in particular relates to a fuel flow regulating circuit.

BACKGROUND

Fuel fired cooking apparatus, such as barbecues, stoves, cookers, cooker tops and the like, typically include a plurality of burners, a tubular manifold through which the gas fuel is supplied to the burners and a primary gas valve for regulating a supply of gas to the burners.

In such conventional fuel fired cooking apparatus, flame and/or heat generated from each of the burners is controlled manually by a user through a simmer knob, which is a kind of a flow control valve placed between the primary gas valve and each of the burners. The user may actuate the simmer knob manually to get the desired level of flame from a particular burner.

Further, when such apparatus are used to heat up a utensil for cooking a food item placed therein, the user needs to be present at or around the cooking area to supervise the cooking. Further, the user may need to slow down the flames after a pre-determined time period, based on his or her knowledge of the cooking process, or turn off the flame completely using the simmer knob once a time period required for cooking the food item has elapsed. For example, in case of a pressure cooker used in domestic kitchens, the user may need to simmer the flames when a pressure cooker indicates that enough pressure is created therein, for example, by making a whistling sound coming out of a nozzle passage provided on a lid of the pressure cooker. The nozzle passage, in typical pressure cookers, is obstructed by a moveable weighted body enveloping the nozzle passage and is of such a weight so as to release the pressure inside the pressure cooker once it reaches a certain level. In addition, a safety valve is provided on the lid of the pressure cooker in case the pressure inside the pressure cooker, due to some reasons, may cross safety limits prescribed for cooking.

There are various gas flow regulating circuitries available in the market, which are provided over and above the existing gas flow regulating valves for providing additional check on the flow of gas to the burners. These gas flow regulating circuitries involve sophisticated electronic components and/or sensors to measure and regulate the gas flow. In these gas flow regulating circuitries, electromechanical actuators are employed to control the flame by suitably actuating the simmer knobs. However, a drawback of these existing gas flow regulating circuitries is that these do not take into consideration the cooking requirement and/or parameters such as time, cooking heat, and cooking pressure. Further, these existing circuitries are expensive devices and are not affordable to all.

Accordingly, there is a need for a fuel fired cooking apparatus with a fuel flow regulation circuitry that facilitates automatic flame simmering based on pre-determined parameters. Further, there is a need for a fuel fired cooking apparatus with a fuel flow regulation circuitry that requires comparatively minimal or no user attention during cooking. Furthermore, there is a need for a fuel fired cooking apparatus with a fuel flow regulation circuitry that is reliable.

OBJECTS

Some of the objects of the system of the present disclosure, which satisfies at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, are as follows:

It is an object of the fuel fired cooling apparatus with a fuel flow regulation circuitry of the present disclosure to ameliorate one or more problems of the state of the art or to at least provide a useful alternative.

It is an object of the fuel fired cooling apparatus with a fuel flow regulation circuitry of the present disclosure to facilitate automatic flame simmering based on cooking requirement and/or pre-determined parameters.

It is an object of the fuel fired cooling apparatus with a fuel flow regulation circuitry of the present disclosure to facilitate automatic flame control.

It is also an object of the fuel fired cooling apparatus with a fuel flow regulation circuitry of the present disclosure to manage a cooking unit having the same to facilitate minimal or no user attention during cooking.

Another object of the fuel fired cooling apparatus with a fuel flow regulation circuitry of the present disclosure is to provide a cooking unit that is safe to use and relatively cheap in terms of installation.

One more object of the fuel fired cooling apparatus with a fuel flow regulation circuitry of the present disclosure is to provide a solution for safe and effective cooking that can be accommodated in existing gas-fuelled appliances and/or cooking utensils with minimum modifications and/or cost involved.

SUMMARY

A fuel fired cooking apparatus is disclosed in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. The fuel fired cooking apparatus includes a cooking stove, at least one cooking utensil, a fuel gas source, a primary fuel regulator and a secondary fuel regulator. The cooking stove has at least one burner. The cooking utensil is supported by the burner and cooks food disposed there-within. The fuel gas source stores fuel gas there-within and in an operative configuration supplies the fuel gas to the at least one burner. The primary fuel regulator connected in series with the fuel gas source and regulates uni-directional flow of the fuel gas from the fuel gas source to the burner. The secondary fuel regulator is connected in series with the primary fuel regulator. The secondary fuel regulator detects at least one parameter and there-upon controls the flow of the fuel gas flowing to the burner.

Typically, the primary fuel regulator is a check valve.

In one embodiment, the secondary fuel regulator is a flow control valve.

In one embodiment, the parameter is at least one of temperature, pressure and time.

Typically, the cooking utensil is a pressure cooker having a pot and a removable lid with a nozzle and a weight disposed thereon.

In one embodiment, the secondary fuel regulator is communicably coupled to the nozzle to detect the parameter.

In another embodiment, the secondary fuel regulator is communicably coupled to the weight to detect the parameter.

In yet another embodiment, the secondary fuel regulator is communicably coupled to a connector to detect the parameter, wherein the connector connects the at least one cooking utensil and the at least one burner.

Additionally, the fuel fired cooking apparatus further includes an indicating unit for providing indication to a user while the secondary fuel regulator control the flow of the fuel gas to the at least one burner.

In one embodiment, the secondary fuel regulator is communicably coupled to a simmer knob of the cooking stove.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The present disclosure will now be explained in relation to non-limiting accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 illustrates a schematic representation of a cooking unit having a gas flow control circuitry, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure; and

FIGURE 2 illustrates a schematic representation of a cooking unit having a gas flow control circuitry, in accordance with another embodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

An exemplary cooking unit with a fuel flow regulating circuitry will now be described in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure and with reference to the accompanying drawing, which do not limit the scope and ambit of the disclosure. The description provided is purely by way of example and illustration.

The embodiments herein and the various features and advantageous details thereof are explained with reference to one or more non-limiting embodiment in the following description. Description of well-known components and processing techniques are omitted so as to not unnecessarily obscure the embodiments herein. The examples used herein are intended merely to facilitate an understanding of ways in which the embodiments herein may be practiced and to further enable those of skill in the art to practice the embodiments herein. Accordingly, the examples should not be construed as limiting the scope of the embodiments herein.

The description hereinafter, of the specific embodiments will so fully reveal the general nature of the embodiments herein that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily modify and/or adapt for various applications such specific embodiments without departing from the generic concept, and, therefore, such adaptations and modifications should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalents of the disclosed embodiments. It is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation. Therefore, while the embodiments herein have been described in terms of preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the embodiments herein can be practiced with modification within the spirit and scope of the embodiments as described herein.

In Fig. 1, a schematic representation of a cooking apparatus 100 with a fuel/gas flow regulating circuitry for controlling fuel/gas flow to a cooking stove/gas burner is shown in accordance with an embodiment.

The cooking apparatus 100 further includes a fuel flow regulating circuit that includes a primary flow regulator 106 and a secondary flow regulator 108. As shown in Figure1 and Figure 2, the cooking apparatus 100 includes a cooking stove 102 with a burner 102a, which is flow connected to a fuel gas source 104, such as a fuel gas cylinder, via the primary flow regulator 106 to control a flow of fuel gas towards the gas burner 102 and the secondary flow regulator 108 to adjust a flame from the gas burner 102. In an embodiment, the primary flow regulator 106 is a check valve used to direct a flow of the gas in one direction, that is, from the fuel gas source 104 towards the gas burner 102a, and to stop the flow, when desired. The primary flow regulator 106 could be any valve used for the above-stated purpose known in the art, and is not limited to the type proposed.

In an embodiment, the secondary flow regulator 108 is an adjustable flow control valve to control the flame of the gas burner 102. The secondary flow regulator 108 may be a diaphragm valve with two or more ports, a diaphragm, and a seat upon which the diaphragm closes the valve. However, it will be appreciated by those in the art that the secondary flow regulator 108 may include any other valve used for the same or similar purposes. Further the cooking unit includes a cooking utensil 110, which during operation is also flow-connected to one of the ports of the secondary flow regulator 108.

Typically, the cooking utensil 110 is a pressure cooker 110 having a pot 112 and a removable lid 114 to cover the pot 112 in a sealing manner during cooking. In addition, the cooker 110 includes a pressure building/releasing mechanism. The cooker 110 as described herein can be equated with a typical pressure cooker used in households and kitchens. The cooker 110 may include other types of cooking utensils also that have a means to create and release pressure during cooking.
For example, in an embodiment, the lid 114 has a nozzle passage 116 and a weight 118 having a cavity (not shown) enveloping the nozzle passage 116. The weight 118 is placed on the nozzle passage 116 in such a manner that the weight may move back and forth along a length of the nozzle passage 116 to a certain extent only, so as to create, in one extreme position, a free passage of air, and block the free passage in another extreme position.

During cooking, water is released from food items placed inside the cooker 110 because of heat. Also, additional water may be provided for the purpose of cooking the food items. Due to continuous heating, this water content turns into steam and builds pressure inside the cooker 110. When the pressure reaches a threshold, the same is released by displacing the weight 118 to the position of the free passage. For safety purposes, the lid 114 of the cooker 110 may include an additional safety valve 120.

In the present embodiment, the cooking unit 100 is shown to have a single gas burner 102; however, it will be appreciated in general that the cooking unit 100 may have more than one gas burner, and accordingly there may exist more than one gas flow regulating circuitries for regulating the gas flow to each of the gas burners. For the purpose of description only, and not as a limitation, the flow regulation circuitry may be understood as a combination of one or more flow connections connecting the gas burner 102 and the fuel gas source 104 and the cooker 110 and the secondary flow regulator 108.

In the embodiment shown in Fig. 1, the nozzle passage 116 is flow connected to the secondary flow regulator 108 via a flow connector 122. In an embodiment, the flow connector 122 is a tubular pipe. In operation, when the primary flow regulator 106 is open, the fuel gas, for example, domestic gas or LPG, flows towards the gas burner 102. In this state, the secondary flow regulator 108 may also be in a fully open state, in which state secondary flow regulator 108 lets the fuel gas to pass through freely to the burner 102. The gas burner 102 can now be put on fire and the cooker 110 with the lid 114 in place starts heating. The heating of the cooker 110 starts building pressure inside the pot 112, which is obstructed by the weight 118 covering the nozzle passage 116. Once the pressure inside the pot 112 reaches a threshold, for example, at a pressure level just below the level at which the pressure inside the pot 112 tends to displace the weight 118 and create the free passage, the secondary flow regulator 108 connected to the nozzle passage 116 gets actuated by the flow of pressure towards the secondary flow regulator 108 through the flow connector 122. In an embodiment, the secondary flow regulator 108 is actuated to a partial open state to minimize the flow of the fuel gas to the gas burner 102.

Apart from being actuated from the completely open state to the partial open state, the secondary flow regulator 108 may also be turned to a closed state for completely stopping the gas flow in case the pressure inside the cooking pot exceeds the threshold. For example, in an embodiment, the threshold level is around 15 lbs/in2 with a standard deviation of about 0.5lb/in2. Above this level of pressure, the secondary flow regulator 108 will get closed and the gas flow will stop completely. Additionally, an indicating unit that provides indication typically in form of a buzzer or alarm may be provided to alert a person attending the cooking in person. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various types of buzzer or alarm systems may provided, which may include electronic alarm systems, and various communication links may be established, if required, to alert a person placed remotely.

In another embodiment, the secondary flow regulator 108 is a three-port valve. The gas flows through a tube (not shown here) housed inside a valve body of the secondary flow regulator 108. At least one port of the secondary flow regulator 108 is connected to the nozzle passage 116. When the pressure inside the cooker 110 reaches a threshold, the tube inside the secondary flow regulator 108 gets pinched due to the flow of pressure via the flow connector 122. Thus the flow of gas gets restricted and the burner 102 may operate on low flame.
Further, in an embodiment, the secondary flow regulator 108 may be implemented in conventional gas burners with or without conventional simmer knob. The secondary flow regulator 108 may completely replace the simmer knob provided in conventional gas burners to provide an integrated gas flow regulating unit. In another embodiment, the secondary flow regulator 108 may be coupled with conventional simmer knob via a spring-loaded clip mechanism for holding the simmer knob in a completely open state, a partial open state, or a close state.

Fig. 2 shows a schematic representation of the cooking unit 100 with the gas flow regulating circuitry for controlling gas flow to a gas burner, in accordance with another embodiment. The present embodiment is similar to the embodiment shown in Fig. 1, except the difference that the flow connector 122 connects the cooker 110 with the secondary flow regulator 108 through the weight 118.

There may be various other alternatives of the cooking unit 100 having the gas flow regulating circuit apart from the ones discussed hereinabove. For example, the gas flow from the fuel gas source 104 to the gas burner 102 may be regulated by a first circuitry having the primary flow regulator 106, while the pressure inside the cooker 110 may be coupled to the gas burner 102 via a second circuitry having the secondary flow regulator 108, thereby providing an isolation between the flow of the fuel gas to the gas burner and the flow of the pressure from the cooker 110 towards the secondary flow regulator 108. In this way, any interference between the two flows can be avoided. Further, in another example, the secondary flow regulator 108 may be replaced with a mechanism that is capable of altering an aperture size of the fuel gas releasing nozzle (not shown) or which may block or unblock certain pores of a particular gas hob.

With the cooking unit 100 having the gas flow regulating circuitry as disclosed herein, cooking can be done without the need to continuously attend the gas burner and/or its flame by a user. The user may set the timer as per the cooking need and upon the completion of the timer, the gas flow circuitry will stop the gas flow and start the buzzer or alarm. This not only saves time and effort of the user, who may involve into other work while the food item is cooking, but also prevents unnecessary wastage of the fuel gas.

TECHNICAL ADVANCEMENTS AND ECONOMICAL SIGNIFICANCE

The technical advancements offered by the gas flow regulating circuitry and the cooking unit having the same as described in the present disclosure, which add to the economic significance of the disclosure, include the realization of:
a) an economical and energy efficient cooking unit;
b) an easy to implement gas flow regulating circuitry in existing gas-fuelled appliances; and
c) a solution for safe and faster cooking as compared to existing cooking units.

Throughout this specification the word “comprise”, or variations such as “comprises” or “comprising”, will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated element, integer or step, or group of elements, integers or steps, but not the exclusion of any other element, integer or step, or group of elements, integers or steps.

The use of the expression “at least” or “at least one” suggests the use of one or more elements or ingredients or quantities, as the use may be in the embodiment to achieve one or more of the desired objects or results.

Any discussion of documents, acts, materials, devices, articles or the like that has been included in this specification is solely for the purpose of providing a context for the disclosure. It is not to be taken as an admission that any or all of these matters form part of the prior art base or were common general knowledge in the field relevant to the disclosure as it existed anywhere before the priority date of this application.

The numerical values mentioned for the various physical parameters, dimensions or quantities are only approximations and it is envisaged that the values higher/lower than the numerical values assigned to the parameters, dimensions or quantities fall within the scope of the disclosure, unless there is a statement in the specification specific to the contrary. ,CLAIMS:1. A fuel fired cooking apparatus comprising:
• a cooking stove having at least one burner;
• at least one cooking utensil supported by said at least one burner and adapted to cook food disposed there-within;
• a fuel gas source adapted to store fuel gas there-within and in an operative configuration adapted to supply said fuel gas to said at least one burner;
• a primary fuel regulator connected in series with said fuel gas source and adapted to regulate uni-directional flow of said fuel gas from said fuel gas source to said at least one burner; and
• at least one secondary fuel regulator connected in series with said primary fuel regulator, said secondary fuel regulator adapted to detect at least one parameter and there-upon adapted to control the flow of said fuel gas flowing to said at least one burner.

2. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said primary fuel regulator is a
check valve.

3. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein secondary fuel regulator is a flow control valve.

4. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said parameter is at least one of temperature, pressure and time.

5. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said cooking utensil is a pressure cooker having a pot and a removable lid with a nozzle and a weight disposed thereon.

6. The apparatus as claimed in claim 5, wherein said secondary fuel regulator is communicably coupled to said nozzle to detect said parameter.

7. The apparatus as claimed in claim 5, wherein said secondary fuel regulator is communicably coupled to said weight to detect said parameter.

8. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said secondary fuel regulator is communicably coupled to a connector to detect said parameter, wherein said connector adapted to connect said at least one cooking utensil and said at least one burner.

9. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, further comprising an indicating unit for
providing indication to a user while said secondary fuel regulator control the flow of said fuel gas to said at least one burner.

10. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said secondary fuel regulator is
communicably coupled to a simmer knob of said cooking stove.