Pancake Cooking Device

Abstract

A pancake cooking device with two opposable, generally circular, internally heated cooking plates having substantially smooth cooking surfaces that are cooperatively configured to be selectively placed in facing and spaced-apart relation to contact and cook flowable pancake batter disposed between the plates to form a generally circular pancake that, when removed from the device and oriented in a preferred serving position, has a substantially uniform thickness between substantially planar, top and bottom pancake surfaces, and a continuous, circumferentially extending, outwardly inclined and upwardly facing lip of substantially uniform height disposed around the perimeter of the top surface of the pancake. The pancake cooking device is desirably configured to cook each pancake in an inverted position with the circumferentially extending, outwardly inclined lip projecting downwardly and away from the top and bottom pancake surfaces when the cooked pancake is oriented in a preferred serving position.

Claims

1-10. (canceled)

11. A pancake cooking device comprising two opposable, generally circular, heated cooking plates having substantially smooth cooking surfaces that are cooperatively configured to be selectively placed in facing and spaced-apart relation to form a cooking cavity bounded by top and bottom cooking surfaces having a circular center portion and a contiguous annular portion facing downwardly and outwardly from the circular center portion, the subject pancake cooking device being further configured to receive and cook flowable pancake batter within the cooking cavity to form an inverted pancake that, when removed from the cooking cavity and oriented in an upright serving position, has substantially flat top and bottom pancake surfaces surrounded by an upwardly and outwardly inclined wall of substantially uniform height.

12. The pancake cooking device of claim 11 wherein a first heated cooking plate is disposed in a lid of the device.

13. The pancake cooking device of claim 12 wherein a second heated cooking plate is disposed in a base of the device.

14. The pancake cooking device of claim 13 wherein the lid and base are joined by a hinge configured to selectively reposition the heated cooking plates to achieve a desired facing and spaced-apart relation between the cooking surfaces.

15. The pancake cooking device of claim 11 wherein the hinge is selectively adjustable to control the spaced-apart relation between the cooking surfaces.

16. The pancake cooking device of claim 11 wherein the cooking cavity is configured to cook pancakes having a configuration that allows each pancake to nest together with another pancake when stacked.

17. The pancake cooking device of claim 11 wherein the top pancake surface and the inclined wall meet at an included angle that ranges from about 120 degrees to about 140 degrees.

18. The pancake cooking device of claim 13 wherein the included angle is about 135 degrees.

19. The pancake cooking device of claim 11 wherein the substantially uniform height of the wall is less than an inch.

20. The pancake cooking device of claim 19 wherein the substantially uniform height of the wall is less than about inch from the top pancake surface.

21. The pancake cooking device of claim 20 wherein the substantially uniform height of the wall is between about inch and inch above the top pancake surface.

22. The pancake cooking device of claim 11 wherein the diameter of the top pancake surface ranges from about 3 to about 10 inches.

23. The pancake cooking device of claim 22 wherein the diameter of the top pancake surface ranges from about 4 to about 8 inches.

24. The pancake cooking device of claim 11 wherein the distance between the top pancake surface and the bottom pancake surface ranges from about 3/16 inch to about inch.

25. The pancake cooking device of claim 11 wherein the heated cooking plates are heated electrically.

26. A pancake cooking device comprising two opposable, substantially smooth cooking surfaces with each cooking surface being part of a cooking plate and having a generally circular center portion and a contiguous, downwardly projecting wall portion, the two cooking surfaces being spaced apart and cooperatively configured to receive, contact and cook a flowable pancake batter introduced between them to form a pancake disposed in an inverted position that, when repositioned to a serving position following removal from the pancake cooking device, is characterized by a substantially flat center portion surrounded by an upwardly projecting, outwardly inclined, circumferentially extending lip or wall of substantially uniform height.

27. The pancake cooking device of claim 26 wherein the opposable cooking surfaces are cooperatively configured to form a nestable pancake having an included angle between the center portion and the wall portion that ranges between about 120 degrees and about 140 degrees.

28. The pancake cooking device of claim 26 wherein the substantially uniform height of the lip or wall above the center portion of the pancake is at least as great as the thickness of the center portion of the pancake.

29. The pancake cooking device of claim 28 wherein the substantially uniform height of the lip or wall is less than about inch above the center portion of the pancake.

30. A pancake comprising a substantially flat, circular center portion and a continuous wall portion of substantially uniform height above the center portion, the wall portion being contiguous with and extending circumferentially around the center portion to project upwardly and outwardly from the center portion and having an included angle between the wall portion and the center portion that ranges between about 120 degrees and about 140 degrees.

31. The pancake of claim 30 wherein the center portion has a thickness ranging between about 3/16 and about inch.

32. The pancake of claim 30 wherein the wall portion has a substantially uniform height that is less than about 1 inch above the center portion.

33. The pancake of claim 32 wherein the wall portion has a substantially uniform height that is less than about inch above the center portion.

34. The pancake of claim 30 when stacked in nestable relation to at least one other pancake of claim 30.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0020] The apparatus of the invention is further described and explained in relation to the following drawings wherein:

[0021] FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a satisfactory embodiment of a pancake cooking device of the invention;

[0022] FIG. 2 is a simplified cross-sectional elevation view of the device of FIG. 1;

[0023] FIG. 3 is a simplified cross-sectional elevation view of another embodiment of the invention;

[0024] FIG. 4 is a top plan view of a pancake as made in an embodiment of the pancake cooking device of the invention as in FIG. 1;

[0025] FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional elevation view taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 4; and

[0026] FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional elevation view of three pancakes as in FIG. 5 when stacked in a nesting relationship.

[0027] Because the accompanying drawings are presented for illustrative purposes and supplement the written disclosure, it should be understood by the reader that the objects shown in the drawings are not drawn to scale and should not be relied upon as being representative of all particular embodiments of the invention or of relative sizes, proportions or dimensions of various portions or elements of the invention as described in the specification and/or recited in the claims.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0028] Referring to the embodiment of the invention as depicted in FIG. 1, pancake cooking device 10 comprises lid 12 and base 14 joined by hinge 26. As shown, lid 12 is in a raised or open position relative to base 14. In the embodiment shown, pancake cooking device 10 is configured as a counter-top appliance of the sort that would be used by an individual consumer or family to make pancakes for home use. It will be appreciated upon reading this disclosure, however, that other similarly configured variations of the subject device that are capable of cooking a plurality of pancakes substantially simultaneously can also be made within the scope of the invention. In the embodiment of FIG. 10, one of a plurality of pedestals 28 is depicted to provide vertical spacing between the bottom of base 14 and an underlying surface such as a countertop. Electrical heating elements are desirably provided inside each of lid 12 and base 14, and are preferably disposed in close contact with or internal to upper and lower cooking plates 16, 20 that are attached by fasteners 18 to lid 12 and base 14, respectively. Conventional external electrical connectors supplying electricity to pancake cooking device 10 are not shown but FIG. 2 shows portions of the electrical heating elements 32, 34 disposed in lid 12 and base 14, respectively.

[0029] Upper and lower cooking plates 16, 20 further comprise top and bottom cooking surfaces 22, 24, respectively, that are each substantially flat and are cooperatively configured so that they combine to form a continuous, circumferentially extending annulus that projects downwardly from and is outwardly inclined relative to the substantially flat portions of cooking surfaces 22, 24 whenever lid 12 is closed by rotating it downwardly to a position substantially as shown in FIG. 2. In FIG. 2, space 36 disposed between closed lid 12 and base 14 is the space to be occupied by the pancake batter during use of pancake cooking device 10. Space 36 is a continuous cavity that is bounded by the substantially flat sections of the opposed and spaced-apart upper and lower cooking surfaces 22, 24 of upper and lower cooking plates 16, 20 of lid 12 and base 14, respectively, and also the downwardly and outwardly projecting annulus 25 that forms and defines the shape of pancake wall 76 as shown and described below in relation to FIGS. 4 and 5.

[0030] Still referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, during use of pancake cooking device 10, a flowable pancake batter is desirably poured or otherwise dispensed onto the center portion of cooking surface 24 of lower cooking plate 20 until the batter substantially fills the downwardly projecting annulus 25 and covers lower cooking surface 24 of heated cooking plate 20. Lid 12 is then rotated downwardly and closed over base 14 so that the pancake batter is confined inside space 36 as described above. Following an interval sufficient to cook the pancake by the direct application of opposed upper and lower cooking surfaces 22, 24 to the batter, lid 12 is again opened by rotating it upwardly away from base 14, and a pancake configured similarly to pancake 70 in FIG. 5 is removed from pancake cooking device 10. Once removed from pancake cooking device 10, pancake 70 is desirably oriented to the serving position shown in FIG. 5

[0031] Referring to FIG. 3, which is simplified and partially broken away for simplification and illustrative clarity, pancake cooking device 40 comprises upper cooking plate 58 that is closed over lower cooking plate 60 prior to introducing a flowable batter 56 into the device. Upper cooking plate 58 and lower cooking plate 60 comprise internal cavities 46, 48 further comprising electrical resistance heating elements 50, 52, respectively. In this embodiment of the invention, the flowable pancake batter 56 is introduced into cooking chamber 54 through funnel 62 disposed at the center of the substantially circular pancake cooking device 40. In this embodiment, air trapped inside cooking chamber 54 as batter 56 is introduced and any excess gas generated during the pancake cooking process are desirably vented through vent holes 63. Once the pancake is cooked, it is removed from pancake cooking device 40 by opening the clamshell construction by separating upper cooking plate 58 and lower cooking plate 60 along the parting line between them as shown in FIG. 3.

[0032] FIGS. 4-6 are provided to illustrate the shape and structure of pancakes 70 made using pancake cooking device 10 of the invention and, through reference to the shape and structure of pancakes 70, to indirectly further describe and explain the configuration of space 36 as depicted in FIG. 2 in which pancakes 70 are formed. Pancake 70 further comprises a substantially flat circular disk having an upwardly facing top pancake surface 72 that is surrounded by a continuous, upwardly extending and outwardly inclined annular wall 76, the top of which is bounded by circumferentially extending, uniformly high top edge surface 74. Because wall 76 is desirably outwardly inclined relative to top pancake surface 72, the circle defined by top edge 74 necessarily has a larger diameter than the diameter of a second circle defined by the array of points where the perimeter of surface 72 transitions to wall 66 and begins turning upwardly toward top edge surface 74.

[0033] Top pancake surface 10 is desirably between about 3 inches and 10 inches in diameter, and most preferably between about 4 inches and 8 inches in diameter, with a thickness preferably ranging from about 3/16 to about inches. Upturned wall 76 desirably extends upwardly less than an inch, and preferably less than about inch (such as from about to about inch) from top pancake surface 72 of pancake 70. In one preferred embodiment of the invention, wall 76 is desirably outwardly inclined from top pancake surface 72 at an included angle 80 ranging from about 120 to about 140, and most preferably about 135. When wall 76 is inclined outwardly at an external angle of up to about 45 past vertical, pancakes 70 are satisfactorily configured to facilitate nesting of a plurality of pancakes 70 when stacked as depicted by stack 82 in FIG. 6. At external angles greater than 45 past vertical, or if the height of wall 16 exceeds about in. above surface 12 of the inner disk, retaining wall 16 is more likely to collapse, especially if it is retaining syrup inside wall 76. An included angle 80 (FIG. 5) of about 135 degrees between top pancake surface 72 of the center portion and the top edge of the retaining wall is particularly preferred. Referring to FIG. 6, a stack 82 comprising a plurality of pancakes 70 is disclosed in which a pool of syrup can be retained inside wall 78 (FIG. 5), allowing the syrup to soak in and not run off the sides of pancake 70 and into an underlying plate.

[0034] Referring to FIG. 4, pancake 70 is shown in a top plan view that more clearly identifies the flat circular portion of top pancake surface 72, outwardly inclined wall 78 and top edge surface 76. Referring to FIG. 5, a cross-sectional elevation view taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 3, depicts pancake 70 in which substantially flat top pancake surface 72 is continuously surrounded by upwardly and outwardly inclined wall 78 having top edge surface 76. Arrow 80 indicates the included angle between top pancake surface 72 and the inside surface of wall 78.

[0035] Referring to FIG. 5, one embodiment of a device 40 for making the subject pancakes is depicted in which pancake 56 is disposed between heated upper and lower cooking surfaces 42, 44 that are substantially smooth and are uniformly heated by a plurality of electrical resistance heating elements 50, 52, respectively. Heating elements 50, 52 are disposed between upper and lower cooking surfaces 42, 44 and top and bottom housing members 58, 60, respectively. Any suitable method of attachment can be provided for cooperatively aligning and maintaining upper and lower cooking surfaces 42, 44 in the relative positions shown during cooking, and port 62 is desirably provided for introducing pancake batter into cooking space 54 to initiate cooking. A conventional timer or temperature indicator (not shown) can be provided to notify the user that the pancake is ready for removal from device 40. In order to remove the cooked pancake from device 40 at the appropriate time, device 40 will desirably be configured to permit upper and lower cooking surfaces 42, 44 and their associated housing members 58, 60 to be separated for such removal or for cleaning following use.

[0036] Other alterations and modifications of the invention will likewise become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon reading this specification in view of the accompanying drawings, and it is intended that the scope of the invention disclosed herein be limited only by the broadest interpretation of the appended claims to which the inventor and/or Applicant are legally entitled.