Rotating skewer racks
View Patent ↗Rotating skewer racks are disclosed. The racks include a front plate and a back plate, with such plates being connected through a pair of interconnected rods that are configured to collapse (to move the plates closer together) and to expand (to move the plates away from each other). The racks are configured to allow the front and back plates to exert a desired amount of compression force on food that is attached to the skewers. In addition, the racks include a rotating handle and a sliding skewer track, which are operably connected to each other through a gear connected to the handle. When the handle is rotated, the handle and its connected gear are configured to cause the sliding skewer track to move, which in turn rotates a set of skewers that rest on and make contact with the top side of the sliding skewer track.
1 . A rotating skewer rack, which comprises:
(a) a front plate and a back plate, wherein a top surface of each of the front plate and back plate includes a plurality of open-ended slots;
(b) a plurality of skewers, each having a linear rod, a grip, and a skewer gear positioned adjacent to the grip, wherein the linear rod of each skewer is configured to sit within a corresponding pair of the plurality of open-ended slots, located on the front plate and the back plate;
(c) a sliding skewer track connected to the front plate, wherein (i) a top surface of the sliding skewer track includes a first set of equally-spaced indentations, with each of the equally-spaced indentations configured to receive and mate with a set of teeth located around a perimeter of each of the skewer gears and (ii) a bottom surface of the sliding skewer track includes a second set of equally-spaced indentations; and
(d) a rotating handle having a handle portion and a handle gear that includes a second set of teeth located around a perimeter of the handle gear that are configured to be received by and mate with the equally-spaced indentations located on the bottom surface of the sliding skewer track, wherein manual rotation of the rotating handle from a right side of the front plate to a left side of the front plate causes: (i) the handle gear to engage with the second set of equally-spaced indentations on the bottom surface of the sliding skewer track, (ii) the sliding skewer track to slide towards the left side of the front plate, (iii) the skewer gears of the plurality of skewers to engage with the first set of equally-spaced indentations on the top surface of the sliding skewer track, and (iv) the plurality of skewers to rotate clockwise within each of the plurality of open-ended slots;
(e) a first support rod connected to a left side of the back plate through a first hinge joint and to the right side of the front plate through a second hinge joint;
(f) a second support rod connected to a right side of the back plate through a third hinge joint and to the left side of the front plate through a fourth hinge joint; and
(g) a central hinge joint that connects the first support rod and the second support rod near a center portion of each of the first support rod and the second support rod, wherein the back plate is configured to be manually moved towards the front plate and also away from the front plate through movement of the first support rod and the second support rod;
(h) a first slidable arm connected to the fourth hinge joint of the left side of the front plate;
(i) a second slidable arm connected to the first hinge joint of the left side of the back plate, wherein manually pulling the first slidable arm and/or second slidable arm away from the front plate and/or back plate, respectively, causes the back plate to move towards the front plate and manually pushing the first slidable arm and/or second slidable arm towards the front plate and/or back plate, respectively, causes the back plate to move away the front plate, wherein:
(1) the sliding skewer track further includes one or more channels that are parallel with and reside between the top surface of the sliding skewer track and the bottom surface of the sliding skewer track, wherein each channel within the one or more channels is configured to receive and slide along a protruding element located on a front surface of the front plate; and
(2) the first slidable arm and the second slidable arm each include a channel that is parallel with and resides between a top surface and a bottom surface of each slidable arm, wherein the channel of the first slidable arm is configured to receive and slide along a second protruding element located within the front plate and the channel of the second slidable arm is configured to receive and slide along a third protruding element located within the back plate, wherein the rotating skewer rack further includes:
(i) a first aperture located within the front plate that is contiguous with the channel of the first slidable arm;
(k) a first threaded screw and a first nut, wherein the first threaded screw is configured to be disposed through the first aperture and the channel of the first slidable arm and to receive the first nut, wherein the first nut may be tightened to immobilize the first slidable arm in a desired location on the front plate;
(l) a second aperture located within the back plate that is contiguous with the channel of the second slidable arm; and
(m) a second threaded screw and a second nut, wherein the second threaded screw is configured to be disposed through the second aperture and the channel of the second slidable arm and to receive the second nut, wherein the second nut may be tightened to immobilize the second slidable arm in a desired location on the back plate.
2 . The rotating skewer rack of claim 1 , wherein each protruding element is a rivet.