COOKING ATTACHMENT

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

[0001] This patent document claims the benefit of U.S. Patent Application No. 17/966,466, filed October 14, 2022 and titled “SMOKELESS MULTI-FUEL PORTABLE STOVES WITH REVERSIBLE COOKING ATTACHMENT,” which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] The present disclosure generally relates to portable stoves, and more particularly relates to the smokeless multi-fuel portable stoves with reversible cooking attachment.

BACKGROUND

[0003] The ability to prepare food and boil water in a manner that is safe and easy is an essential human need. This need calls for stoves that permit more flexible means of cooking and preparing food, in a variety of environments, using a variety of fuel sources.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0004] Figures 1 -2 are perspective views of a smokeless multi-fuel portable stove in accordance with embodiments of the present technology.

[0005] Figure 3 is a cut-away view of a smokeless multi-fuel portable stove in accordance with embodiments of the present technology.

[0006] Figure 4 is an exploded view of a smokeless multi-fuel portable stove in accordance with embodiments of the present technology.

[0007] Figures 5-6 are detailed views of a reversible cooking attachment for a smokeless multi-fuel portable in accordance with embodiments of the present technology. [0008] Figure 7 is a detail perspective view of a mounting ring in accordance with embodiments of the present technology.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0009] A problem with many stoves that can accommodate a variety of cooking vessels and can be used both indoors and outdoors is that they may be limited to specific fuels, which can be expensive or difficult to transport. On the other hand, if they are able to accommodate makeshift fuel sources (e.g., twigs, leaves, sticks, wood pellets, etc.), they can either not produce enough heat to function properly, or they can produce a great deal of smoke that is deleterious both to the health of the user and the nutritional value of the food being cooked.

[0010] To address these drawbacks and others, various embodiments of the present disclosure provide smokeless multi-fuel portable stoves with a reversible cooking structure.

[0011] Figure 1 illustrates an example of a smokeless multi-fuel portable stove 100 with a reversible cooking attachment 104 in accordance with embodiments of the present technology. The stove 100 includes a body 101 with a top and a bottom, and foldable legs

102 that are attached to the bottom. The stove body 101 can have a rectangular crosssection, to make the stove 100 more convenient for storage. The body 101 further includes exterior walls with ventilation holes 115 that can permit air intake for a fan that is illustrated in a figure below. Each foldable leg 102 has an extended position, as illustrated in Figure 1 . With the foldable legs 102 in the extended position, the bottom of the body 101 has a clearance 103 spacing it apart from the surface on which the stove stands. This clearance

103 can be between five and twenty percent of a height of the stove body, and may allow oxygen into the fan while also preventing foreign material (e.g., dirt, ash, grit, etc.) from getting into the fan. The reversible cooking attachment 104 can affix to an opening at the top of the stove body 101. The reversible cooking attachment 104 has a collar 105 and foldable arms 106 connected to the collar 105. The reversible cooking attachment can be attached to the opening at the top of the stove body 101 in a first position such that it has an outward orientation, as illustrated in Figure 1 , in which the collar 105 projects up from the stove top and the foldable arms extend away from the opening in order to support a cooking vessel wider than the collar (e.g., a pot, basin, wok, bowl, kettle, pan, etc.). Additionally, the collar can have ventilation holes to assist with air flow.

[0012] Figure 2 illustrates an example of a smokeless multi-fuel portable stove 200 with a reversible cooking attachment in accordance with embodiments of the present technology. In this example, the stove legs 202 are in a folded position, creating a shorter profile (e.g., by reducing the clearance between the bottom of the body 201 and the surface on which the stove stands) and enabling more convenient storage of the portable stove 200. Additionally, the reversible cooking attachment 204 can be affixed to the opening at the top of the stove body 201 in a second position so that it has an inward orientation, as illustrated in Figure 2. In this inward orientation, the collar projects into the stove body and the foldable arms are folded within a circumference of the stove top opening such that the arms occupy a space within the collar. This orientation can further reduce the profile of the stove 200 and assist with storage, or enable the arms to support a cooking vessel that is narrower than the collar (e.g., cups, mugs, bottles, cylinders, etc.). Held in this orientation, the time to boil water can be greatly reduced. Details of the reversible cooking attachment are illustrated and described with reference to subsequent figures.

[0013] Figure 3 is a cut-away view of a smokeless multi-fuel portable stove 300 with a reversible cooking attachment in accordance with embodiments of the present technology. Within the stove body 301 is an electronics housing 307 located at the bottom of the stove body. Above the electronics 307 is an electric fan 308 with an electrical connection to a circuit of the electronics 307 that controls the fan’s speed. This circuit can include a rheostat with a user interface positioned on the exterior wall of the stove body. A shield 309 is located above the fan 308, above which is located a removable ash pan 310. Above the ash pan is a burn chamber 31 1 with a fire grate 312 that allows ashes to fall into the ash pan 310, allowing the fire to continue burning with improved efficiency as fuel is consumed. The ash pan 310 can also act as a firebox, in which a fire starter (e.g., liquids, gels, volcanic rock, paraffin wax, granular fire starters, cubes, grasses, cotton balls, tinder etc.) can be ignited in order to burn fuel resting on the grate 312 above. The firebox can have its own oxygen holes (e.g., in one or more of the sidewalls thereof, as illustrated in Figure 3), which can allow a fire to begin in the burn chamber 31 1 with less tinder in the firebox. These holes can improve the supply of oxygen to the flame to assist in fire-starting and thorough fuel consumption.

[0014] The electronics housing 307 can include an external power connector (e.g., a DC barrel port, a USB-C port, a Type-A port, a Type-B port, a Mini port, a Micro port, a USB 3.x port, a High-current or sleep-and-charge port, or a High-retention connector, etc.), a battery box (e.g., for holding one or more user-replaceable and/or rechargeable batteries), and an exterior hatch configured to provide access to the battery box through the bottom of the stove. Additionally, the external power connector can be configured as either an input port that is configured to draw power for the stove’s electric fan and/or to recharge batteries in the battery box from a power source which is connected to the input port, or as an output port configured to provide power to an electrical component that is connected to the output port. In some embodiments, a single port can provide both input and output features (e.g., with appropriate circuitry for detecting voltage and/or current of a connected device), while in other embodiments dedicated and separate input and output ports may be supplied.

[0015] The shield 309 can have a conical shape configured to create a vortex air flow - with air from the fan - within the stove body. This air flow allows the stove to cook food or boil water while burning a fuel with a relatively low specific energy (e.g., wood pellets, twig, branches, leaves, any biomass material, etc.), providing a hot even fire inexpensively. Of course, the stove 300 can also use canned heat as a fuel so the stove 300 can be operated indoors or under a shelter.

[0016] Between the shield and the ash pan is a space to optionally provide insulation to protect the electronic components at the bottom of the chamber from the heat of the burn chamber above. In addition to this insulative property, the space can provide positive pressure for air to be forced upwards around the burn chamber and thereby create a draft that can increase the cooking temperature of the stove.

[0017] Figure 4 is an exploded view of a smokeless multi-fuel portable stove 400 with a reversible cooking attachment in accordance with embodiments of the present technology. From this view, the burn chamber’s interior wall 413 is visible, which would contain the fuel to be burned. This interior wall has ventilation holes permitting air exchange with an interior of the stove body. The stove body can further include a middle wall 414 between the exterior walls 415 of the body and the interior wall 413 of the burn chamber. The middle wall can also have ventilation holes. These holes can be strategically placed throughout the inside of the stove 400 so that a chimney effect occurs and higher temperatures are reached, such as would be seen in a forge. Additionally, the electric fan 408, shield 409, ash pan 410, and burn chamber can all be contained within this middle wall 414. This “triple wall construction” can keep the outside and bottom of the stove body from being dangerously hot to the touch. Also visible is the mounting ring 416, which is the part of the cooking attachment that allows it to removably affix to the opening at the top of the portable stove 400. The collar 405 can connect to the mounting ring 416 and to the foldable arms 406. Furthermore, this stove 400 can include an on/off indicator light, which can be used to display to a user if the electric fan is powered on, if the electric fan is being charged from an external source, if the portable stove is supplying power to an outside electrical component, etc. The ash pan 410 can have a handle that is accessible from the exterior wall 415 of the stove 400, which would enable a user to withdraw the ash pan 410 from the stove 400 and properly discard of the ashes which have collected there.

[0018] Figure 5 is a detailed view of a reversible cooking attachment 504 in an inward orientation, in accordance with an embodiment of the present technology. From this view of its inward orientation, it is apparent the reversible cooking attachment 504 has foldable arms 506 which have angled tips 517. In the inward orientation, the angled tips 517 are coplanar with each other and therefore configured to act as coplanar supports of a cooking vessel that is narrower than the collar 505 of the reversible cooking attachment 504 while in the inward orientation. Additionally, while in its inward orientation, the reversible cooking attachment 504 has a clearance from the bottom of the burn chamber to a bottom of the narrow cooking vessel when supported by the foldable arms 506, the clearance measuring between one and one and a half inches. This clearance can maximize heat when using canned heat for indoor use.

[0019] The angled tips 517 of the foldable arms 506 can each have an angle between forty and eighty degrees, as measured from a back side that is opposite to the supporting side with dogs. This angle can be designed to allow the tip 517 to form a surface which is coplanar with the bottom of the narrower cooking vessel and assist in supporting the narrower vessel when the arm is folded into its inward position.

[0020] Figure 6 is a detailed view of a reversible cooking attachment 604 in an outward orientation, in accordance with an embodiment of the present technology. From this view of its outward orientation, it is apparent the foldable arms 606 of the reversible cooking attachment 604 each has a supporting side with dogs 618. These supporting sides with dogs 618 are configured to be in contact with a bottom of a wider cooking vessel (e.g., a pot, bowl, wok, etc.) such that the dogs are configured to assist in holding the wider vessel above the stove and preventing lateral shift thereof.

[0021] Figure 7 is a detail perspective view of a mounting ring 716 in accordance with embodiments of the present technology. From this view, it is apparent the mounting ring 716 has one or more notches 719 and a rounded lip 720. Each notch 719 allows the ring 716 to secure to a vertical retaining element (e.g., a screw, a post, a rivet, etc.) at the opening of the stove body. The rounded lip 720 is configured to create a downdraft and redirect smoke back into the stove body. This rounded lip can force exhaust gases downward for a secondary burn, which creates higher heat with less fuel, while increasing air pressure within the stove to also eliminate smoke. To create this effect, the rounded lip 720 can have an angle between twenty- and forty-degrees, with respect to the top.

[0022] As used herein, including in the claims, “or” as used in a list of items (for example, a list of items prefaced by a phrase such as “at least one of” or “one or more of”) indicates an inclusive list such that, for example, a list of at least one of A, B, or C means A or B or C or AB or AC or BC or ABC (/.e., A and B and C). Also, as used herein, the phrase “based on” shall not be construed as a reference to a closed set of conditions. For example, an exemplary step that is described as “based on condition A” may be based on both a condition A and a condition B without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. In other words, as used herein, the phrase “based on” shall be construed in the same manner as the phrase “based at least in part on.”

[0023] As used herein, the terms “vertical,” “lateral,” “upper,” “lower,” “above,” and “below” can refer to relative directions or positions of features in the semiconductor devices in view of the orientation shown in the Figures. For example, “upper” or “uppermost” can refer to a feature positioned closer to the top of a page than another feature. These terms, however, should be construed broadly to include semiconductor devices having other orientations, such as inverted or inclined orientations where top/bottom, over/under, above/below, up/down, and left/right can be interchanged depending on the orientation.

[0024] It should be noted that the methods described above describe possible implementations, and that the operations and the steps may be rearranged or otherwise modified and that other implementations are possible. Furthermore, embodiments from two or more of the methods may be combined.

[0025] From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that specific embodiments of the invention have been described herein for purposes of illustration, but that various modifications may be made without deviating from the scope of the invention. Rather, in the foregoing description, numerous specific details are discussed to provide a thorough and enabling description for embodiments of the present technology. One skilled in the relevant art, however, will recognize that the disclosure can be practiced without one or more of the specific details. In other instances, well-known structures or operations often associated with memory systems and devices are not shown, or are not described in detail, to avoid obscuring other aspects of the technology. In general, it should be understood that various other devices, systems, and methods in addition to those specific embodiments disclosed herein may be within the scope of the present technology.