Kimberly-clark Corporation

James E Fay, Iii

Frederick J Hrubecky

Carl J Gierke

Russell L Johnson

James Olszewski

James I Lang

Wilbert Heikkinen

Doris A Mills

Rory D Williams

Cookers, methods of cooking and igniting fuel, and packaged fuel. Novel features of the cookers include receptacles and covers having reflective inner surfaces in the shapes of paraboloids. Another novel feature is a novel cooking surface and support which may extend above the top of the receptacle and into the cover. A supporting and stabilizing pan is attached to the receptacle and biased from the receptacle by a biasing means. The biasing means, combustion grate, and cooking surface support are, in combination, resiliently deformable such that the biasing means and combustion grate can be assembled to the cooking surface for storage or transport. The cookers can be readily disassembled from the cooking mode and reassembled for storage with a reduction in volume of up to at least about 50%, all without use of tools. A cap on the cooker serves dual functions of protecting the top of the cover when installed on the cover and of holding and optionally measuring lighter fluid, as in a cup, in application of lighter fluid to solid fuel. A packaged fuel article includes a container having the holding, and optionally, the measuring attributes of the cap. Method of cooking includes using a single solid fuel article as the source of heat. Also included is method of igniting charcoal, wherein the lighter fluid is measured and applied in a container.

Cooker and methods of cooking

Charcoal fuel article

Novel, and improved fuel articles having a plurality of novel characteristics and having a typical mass density of 0.6 to 1.2 g/cc and a bulk density of 0.2 to 0.4 times the mass density. The greatest distance dg from a point in the fuel article to the nearest point on the nearest one of the upstanding walls is between 0.15 and 0.60 times the height of the fuel article. Charcoal fuel articles of the invention ignite faster than conventional pillow-shaped charcoal fuel articles and deliver substantially more usable cooking heat flux to the cooking surface of a standard charcoal cooker than do conventional pillow-shaped briquettes. The coal article may have a central body portion having a minor circumference, a plurality of fingers projecting from the central body portion, and a hole in the central body portion. The fingers may have finger ends wherein the ratio of the major circumference defined by the finger ends to the minor circumference is at least about 1.25:1. Preferred ratio of surface area to volume of the fuel articles of the invention is between 2.5:1 and 7.0:1. The fuel articles of the invention have a plurality of intersecting walls, which desirably intersect at sharp angles. The invention further includes novel methods of making the fuel articles disclosed herein, and novel methods of cooking using them.

Fuel articles having a covering layer thereover, wherein the covering layer serves as an ignition material for the underlying fuel element, and may be spaced from the underlying fuel element. Preferred fuel articles have charcoal compositions in the underlying fuel element and the covering layer is fibrous. The covering layer may be spaced from the fuel element by means of bridging concavities in the fuel element itself, by providing intermediate spacing elements within a concavity of the fuel element, or by providing a spacing material between the fuel element and the covering layer, not necessarily at a location of concavity in the fuel element. The covering layer may have a variety of compositions, and may be overlain by one or more additional layers. The invention further provides methods of manufacturing the fuel articles disclosed as well as methods of using them.

Composite fuel article

Manufactured fuel articles having, as a first component, an inner core of a primary fuel element, and as a second component, a combustible covering layer on the primary fuel element. In some embodiments, the covering layer is preferably at least about a nominal 1.5 millimeters thick, with a preferred thickness being at least about 3 millimeters. In other embodiments, the fuel article may be described as a primary fuel element with a combustible covering layer, wherein the primary fuel element comprises a substantial portion of at least one of the ends, and the covering layer and the primary fuel element are in interfacial contact about a majority of the area of their facing surfaces. In still other embodiments, the fuel articles of the invention are described as a primary fuel element and a combustible covering layer in interfacial contact with the fuel element, and wherein the composition of the covering layer differs substantially from the composition of the primary fuel element and comprises a thermoplastic material and pulp fiber. The invention further comprises methods of producing manufactured fuel articles, including, as one method, extrusion coating of the covering layer onto a previously formed primary fuel element, and, as another method, coextruding the primary fuel element and the covering layer together.

Growing community of inventors

Winnebago County, WI, United States of America

James E Fay, Iii