Oven for cooking cone-shaped foods
View Patent ↗A horizontal carousel conveyor carries cone-shaped foods and other specialty-shaped foods through an oven, rotating the food on a heating station as it passes by heating elements and through the oven.
1. An oven comprising:
a. a housing having an inlet and an outlet;
b. a heating element within the housing that directs thermal energy substantially horizontally; and
c. a carousel conveyor lying in a substantially horizontal plane and carrying foodstuffs around a continuous, horizontally-oriented loop, the foodstuffs passing into the housing through the inlet, past the heating element and back outside the housing through the outlet; and
d. a substantially cone-shaped heating station that is removably attached to the carousel conveyor and extending upwardly from said horizontal plane, said substantially cone-shaped heating station for carrying foodstuffs through the housing and past the heating element.
2. The oven of claim 1 wherein said heating station has a center axis and rotates about a vertical axis as it moves along the loop.
3. The oven of claim 1 wherein said heating station has a center axis and rotates about a vertical axis only while it moves through the housing.
4. The oven of claim 1 wherein said heating element is inclined at an angle substantially equal to an inclination angle of the cone-shaped heating station.
5. The oven of claim 1 wherein said heating element is located along the pathway of the conveyor between the inlet and outlet.
6. The oven of claim 1 further comprising a speed motor coupled to the carousel conveyor and driving said carousel conveyor.
7. The oven of claim 1 wherein said carousel conveyor is comprised of metal links.
8. An oven comprising:
a. a thermally insulated housing having first and second openings;
b. a first heating element within the housing and positioned between the first and second openings, said heating element directing thermal energy substantially horizontally; and
c. a carousel conveyor forming a closed horizontal loop, said carousel being sized, shaped and arranged to carry foodstuffs around a continuous, horizontally-oriented loop that runs into the housing through the first opening, past the heating element and back out from the housing through the second opening, said carousel having a substantially cone-shaped heating station, removably attached to the carousel conveyor, said substantially cone-shaped heating station carrying foodstuffs through the housing as the carousel conveyor moves.
9. The oven of claim 8 wherein said heating station extends vertically from the conveyor and rotates about a vertical axis.
10. The oven of claim 8 wherein said heating station extends vertically from the conveyor and rotates about a vertical axis only when it moves through the housing.
11. The oven of claim 8 further comprising a variable speed motor coupled to the carousel conveyor and driving said carousel conveyor.
12. The oven of claim 8 wherein said first heating element is mounted inside the housing and inside the conveyor loop.
13. The oven of claim 8 wherein the first heating element is inside the conveyor loop and a second heating element is located inside the housing and outside the conveyor loop.
14. An oven comprising:
a. a substantially rectangular and thermally-insulated housing having first and second openings in a first side of the housing;
b. a carousel conveyor forming a closed horizontal loop, said carousel being sized, shaped and arranged to carry foodstuffs on a substantially cone-shaped heating station that extends vertically from a horizontal plane and which is attached to the carousel conveyor, around a continuous path that extends from outside the housing, into the housing through the first opening and back out from the housing through the second opening; and
c. a heating element located within the housing and along the positioned the horizontal loop, said heating element directing thermal energy substantially horizontally.