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EP-4741712-A2 - GAS GRILL WITH BURNER-BYPASSABLE TEMPERATURE CONTROL

EP4741712A2EP 4741712 A2EP4741712 A2EP 4741712A2EP-4741712-A2

Abstract

A gas-fired cooking grill and a gas valve assembly for a gas-fired cooking grill are provided. The grill includes a cooking chamber, a plurality of gas burners for heating the cooking chamber, a plurality of first valves each to control flow of a combustible gas to a respective one of the gas burners, a gas intake to receive the combustible gas from a combustible gas source, and a second valve comprising a thermostatic valve portion, the second valve disposed intermediate the gas intake and plurality of first valves and in fluid communication therewith, the second valve configured to receive input from a user for selection between a first cooking mode and a second cooking mode, the second valve routing the combustible gas from the gas intake to the plurality of first valves in the first cooking mode and routing the combustible gas from the gas intake to the thermostatic valve portion in the second cooking mode, the thermostatic valve portion selectively routing the combustible gas to a subset of the gas burners based on a comparison of a desired temperature and an actual temperature of the cooking chamber.

Inventors

  • HOU, James
  • DESOUZA, MELANIE

Assignees

  • Winners Products Engineering Canada Ltd.

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20220202

Claims (8)

  1. A gas valve assembly (11) for a gas-fired cooking grill (10), the assembly comprising: a plurality of first valves (22A, 22B, 22C, 22D) each to control flow of a gas to a respective one of a plurality of gas burners (19A, 19B, 19C, 19D) for heating a cooking chamber (32) of the gas-fired cooking grill (10); a gas intake (706) to receive the gas from a combustible gas source; and a second valve (24) disposed intermediate the gas intake and first and second subsets of the first valves (22A, 22D; 22B, 22C) and in fluid communication therewith, wherein the second valve is configured to meter flow of the gas to the first valves (22A, 22B, 22C, 22D) based on a desired temperature setting; wherein the second valve (24) is further configured to selectively route the flow of the gas to the first subset of the first valves (22A, 22D) while bypassing the second subset of the first valves (22B, 22C).
  2. The gas valve assembly (11) of claim 1, wherein the second valve (24) is configured to selectively route the flow of the gas to the first subset of the first valves (22A, 22D) while bypassing the second subset of the first valves (22B, 22C) if the desired temperature setting is below a configured temperature.
  3. The gas valve assembly (11) of claim 1 or 2, wherein the plurality of burners (19A, 19B, 19C, 19D) comprises outer burners (19A, 19D) and inner burners (19B, 19C) disposed closer to the centre of the grill than the outer burners, and the bypassable subset of the first valves (22B, 22C) corresponds to one or more inner burners (19B, 19C).
  4. The gas valve assembly (11) of claim 3, wherein four gas burners (19A, 19B, 19C, 19D) are provided and the second subset (22B, 22C) of the first valves corresponds to the inner two of the four gas burners (19B, 19C).
  5. The gas valve assembly (11) of any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the second valve (24) is a thermostatic valve.
  6. The gas valve assembly (11) of claim 5, wherein the thermostatic valve (24) is a capillary valve.
  7. The gas valve assembly (11) of claim 5 or 6, wherein the thermostatic valve comprises a plurality of ports, one of the ports (708) being coupled to at least one of the first subset of the first valves (22A, 22D) and another of the ports (702) being coupled to at least one of the second subset of the first valves (22B, 22C).
  8. A gas-fired cooking grill (10), the grill comprising: a cooking chamber (32); a plurality of gas burners (19A, 19B, 19C, 19D) for heating the cooking chamber (32); and the gas valve assembly (11) of any one of claims 1 to 7.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The following relates generally to gas appliances, and more specifically, to burner-bypassable control of a temperature within a chamber of a gas appliance such as a gas-fired cooking grill. BACKGROUND Typical outdoor gas-fired cooking grills include one or more burners for heating a cooking chamber and one or more manually adjustable valves to control gas flow to the burners. However, factors such as weather conditions (e.g., wind speed/direction, ambient temperature, precipitation) can affect the operation of the gas grill and affect the temperature inside the cooking chamber of the gas grill for a given setting valve. This can make cooking using the gas grill difficult since actual cooking conditions may be uncertain and difficult to predict for various weather conditions. SUMMARY In one aspect, a gas-fired cooking grill is provided, the grill comprising: a cooking chamber; a plurality of gas burners for heating the cooking chamber; a plurality of first valves each to control flow of a combustible gas to a respective one of the gas burners; a gas intake to receive the combustible gas from a combustible gas source; and a second valve comprising a thermostatic valve portion, the second valve disposed intermediate the gas intake and plurality of first valves and in fluid communication therewith, the second valve configured to receive input from a user for selection between a first cooking mode and a second cooking mode, the second valve routing the combustible gas from the gas intake to the plurality of first valves in the first cooking mode and routing the combustible gas from the gas intake to the thermostatic valve portion in the second cooking mode, the thermostatic valve portion selectively routing the combustible gas to a subset of the gas burners based on a comparison of a desired temperature and an actual temperature of the cooking chamber. The second valve may be controlled by a control knob operable by the user. The control knob may cooperate with the second valve to set the desired temperature. The thermostatic valve portion may be a capillary valve. The capillary valve may comprise a temperature sensor bulb for sensing temperature disposed in the cooking chamber, the temperature sensor bulb containing a fluid that expands when heated, the fluid coupled to a diaphragm that causes the capillary valve to move from an open position toward a closed position when the actual temperature of the cooking chamber exceeds the desired temperature. The gas-fired cooking grill may comprise four burners and four first valves, wherein the second valve configured to selectively bypass two of the four burners. The four burners may be disposed in generally parallel arrangement and the inner two of the four burners are the burners which are selectively bypassed. The thermostatic valve may comprise a plurality of ports, one of the ports being coupled to at least one of the burners which is not selectively bypassed and another of the ports being coupled to at least one of another of the burners which is selectively bypassed. In another aspect, a gas valve assembly for a gas-fired cooking grill is provided, the assembly comprising: a plurality of first valves each to control flow of a combustible gas to a respective one of a plurality of gas burners for heating a cooking chamber of the gas-fired cooking grill; a gas intake to receive a combustible gas from a combustible gas source; and a second valve comprising a thermostatic valve portion, the second valve disposed intermediate the gas intake and plurality of first valves and in fluid communication therewith, the second valve configured to receive input from a user for selection between a first cooking mode and a second cooking mode, the second valve routing the combustible gas from the gas intake to the plurality of first valves in the first cooking mode and routing the combustible gas from the gas intake to the thermostatic valve portion in the second cooking mode, the thermostatic valve portion selectively routing the combustible gas to a subset of the gas burners based on a comparison of a desired temperature and an actual temperature of the cooking chamber. The second valve may be controlled by a control knob operable by the user. The control knob may cooperate with the second valve to set the desired temperature. The thermostatic valve portion may be a capillary valve. The capillary valve may comprise a temperature sensor bulb for sensing temperature disposed in the cooking chamber, the temperature sensor bulb containing a fluid that expands when heated, the fluid coupled to a diaphragm that causes the capillary valve to move from an open position toward a closed position when the actual temperature of the cooking chamber exceeds the desired temperature. The gas-fired cooking grill may comprise four burners and four first valves, wherein the second valve configured to selectively bypass two of the four burners. The four burners may be disposed in