US 4,321,857 · Granted 1982-03-30

The Infrared Gas Grill That Turned Backyard Cooking Into Science

This is a gas grill that uses ceramic tiles to spread heat evenly instead of direct flames, so your food cooks more consistently. The genius part is the removable cooking surfaces—swap out the grates for a rotisserie, deep fryer, or griddle, turning one grill into a whole outdoor kitchen.

Curated and verified by the IsItPatented Editorial team

The plain-English version

What it protects

The claim covers a gas grill cabinet with a specific burner design: tandem burners with plenum boxes topped by ceramic, rectangular, porous radiant elements that distribute heat. It protects the removable primary cooking gridirons with U-shaped parallel grids, the secondary bake rack suspended above, the hinged hood with front access door, and the drip pan arrangement for grease collection. Also protected: the ability to swap cooking surfaces (rotisserie, deep fryer, griddle) and the smoke box for wood-chip smoking.

Why it matters

This patent represents a shift in backyard grill design from simple direct-flame cooking to infrared radiant heat, which became a major selling point in the outdoor kitchen market. The modular, swappable cooking surface design anticipated the modern trend of multipurpose outdoor appliances. By protecting both the infrared burner technology and the quick-change grill surface system, it staked out a distinctive product category that competitors would have to engineer around, giving the assignee a competitive moat in an expanding leisure market.

Real-world use

When you fire up a modern infrared gas grill and notice the heat spreads evenly across the cooking surface without hot spots, or when you unclip one grate and snap in a rotisserie spit, you're using the geometry and mechanics this 1982 patent locked down.

Original USPTO abstract

A sheet metal cabinet supports a gas burner assembly below the forward portion of a shield, over which are a pair of removable primary cooking gridirons, having spaced, parallel, transversely extending U-shaped grids which cover the upper opening of the grill cabinet, the U-shaped grids having holes in their end portions so that the grease may drip onto a drip pan or grease tray which extends rearwardly of the burner assembly. A secondary gridiron or bake rack, is supported by a tubular upright rectangular hood assembly above the drip pan and over the rear portion of the primary gridirons. The hood has a front L-shaped access door hinged at the top of the hood by a transverse hinge. The burner assembly has tandem arranged burners with upwardly open, plenum boxes, the top portions of which are covered by a plurality of ceramic, juxtaposed, rectangular, foraminous, radiant burner elements. LP gas, from a tank carried within the cabinet, is fed through control valves which respectively control gas fed to the plenum chambers of the plenum boxes. Auxiliary equipment includes a rotisserie which is removably carried by the hood, a smoke box within which moist wood chips are placed, the box being placed on the burner assembly for heating. One of the primary gridiron is selectively replaced by a deep fat frier which is suspended by the cabinet over one of the burners. The gridirons are also replaceable by a frying griddle.

Patent details

Publication number: US 4,321,857
Filing date: 1980-04-08
Grant date: 1982-03-30
Assignee: Best Willie H
Inventor(s): BEST; WILLIE H.
CPC class: A47J37/06

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