IP Verse

Griddle Cooking Station With Hood And Method Thereof

Patent No. US12150590 (titled "Griddle Cooking Station With Hood And Method Thereof") was filed by Bank Of America Na on Apr 9, 2021.

What is this patent about?

’590 is related to the field of outdoor cooking stations , specifically those employing a griddle-type cooking surface. The background acknowledges the popularity of barbequing and the increasing use of griddles for cooking foods unsuitable for open flame grilling. A problem exists with hoods on portable grills, as they can cause the grill to topple over in windy conditions.

The underlying idea behind ’590 is to provide a removable hood for a griddle cooking station that can be easily positioned out of the way when not needed, particularly in windy conditions. The hood is designed to pivot between open and closed positions and can be detached and hung on the back of the griddle or cooking station for storage or stability.

The claims of ’590 focus on a cooking station comprising a main body supporting heating elements and a griddle with a splash guard. The key element is a hood pivotably coupled to the splash guard via hinge pins and slots. The hood can be moved between closed and open positions, and crucially, it can be manually lifted upward to slide the pins from the slots , allowing the hood to be removed and hung on the rear splash guard using a hook structure.

In practice, the hood pivots on pins extending from the sides of the griddle's splash guard. These pins engage with slots in the hood's side walls. To remove the hood, it's tilted forward from the fully open position, allowing the pins to slide out of the slots. The hood then hangs on the rear splash guard using hooks on its front side, providing a low-profile configuration that reduces wind resistance.

This design differentiates itself from prior approaches by offering a hood that is both pivotable for cooking convenience and easily removable for stability or storage. The hook structure allows the hood to be conveniently stored on the cooking station itself, preventing it from being blown away or requiring separate storage space. The specific geometry of the slots and pins enables easy removal and reattachment of the hood.

How does this patent fit in bigger picture?

Technical landscape at the time

In the early 2020s when ’590 was filed, at a time when outdoor cooking appliances commonly relied on gas burners or electric heating elements to heat a griddle surface. Hoods for grills were known, but designing a hood for a griddle-type cooking station that could be easily removed and stored presented engineering challenges.

Novelty and Inventive Step

The examiner approved the application because the prior art did not disclose or suggest a detachable griddle hood cover that slides out from slots on the sidewalls of a splash guard when in a tilted position, set back from a fully open position. The hood is positioned with its front sidewall along the rear splash guard of the griddle. These features are present in the independent claims.

Claims

There are 20 claims in total. Claims 1, 5, and 8 are independent. Independent claims 1 and 8 are directed to a cooking station with a griddle and hood, while independent claim 5 is directed to a method for multi-positioning the hood of a cooking station. The dependent claims generally elaborate on the features and configurations of the cooking station and the steps of the method.

Key Claim Terms New

Definitions of key terms used in the patent claims.

Term (Source)Support for SpecificationInterpretation
Elongated slots
(Claim 5, Claim 8)		“In still another embodiment, the griddle includes a first slot and a second slot defined in the griddle, the first and second slots sized and configured to receive respective first and second hinge pins associated with the hood, the hood pivotable about an axis defined by the first and second hinge pins so as to be movable between the closed position and the fully open position.”Slots defined in the top edge and the inner and outer surfaces of the first and second side splash guards. The first and second hinge pins of the hood are positioned within these slots so that the hood is pivotably coupled to the griddle.
Hinge pins
(Claim 1, Claim 8)		“In a further embodiment, the first side splash guard includes a first pin extending therefrom and the second side splash guard includes a second pin extending therefrom, the first pin and the second pin sized and configured to facilitate pivoting the hood therearound. In another embodiment, the hood pivotably rotates about a pivot axis defined by first and second pins extending from opposite sides of the griddle.”Pins extending from the first and second side splash guards of the griddle that are aligned to define an axis about which the hood pivots.
Hook structure
(Claim 1)		“The hood is sized and configured to be pivotably coupled to the splash guard, the hood having a hook structure fixed thereto. The hood is configured to be pivotably moveable between a closed position and an open position relative to the griddle such that, upon the hood being in the open position, the hood is removable from the griddle and positionable to hang on the splash guard with the hook structure.”A structure fixed to the front side hood wall of the hood that allows the hood to hang on the rear splash guard when removed from the griddle.
Splash guard
(Claim 1, Claim 5, Claim 8)		“The griddle is configured to be supported by the upper portion of the main body, the griddle extending to define an upper side with a cooking surface and a splash guard, the splash guard extending upward from the cooking surface of the griddle. In another embodiment, the splash guard extends to define a first side splash guard and a second side splash guard with a rear side splash guard extending between ends of the first side splash guard and the second side splash guard.”A structure extending upward from the cooking surface of the griddle. It includes a first side splash guard, a second side splash guard, and a rear splash guard, where the ends of the rear splash guard connect with the rear ends of the first and second side splash guards.
Tilted position
(Claim 5, Claim 8)		“The method includes the steps of: providing a main body of the outdoor cooking station with a griddle positioned on an upper portion of the main body; pivoting the hood over pins extending outward relative to the griddle between a closed position and a fully open position so as to pivot the hood about an axis defined by the pins; positioning the hood from the fully open position to a forward tilted position; lifting the hood upward from the forward tilted position to remove the hood from the pins extending from the griddle; and positioning the hood along a rear side of the main body by suspending the hood on the griddle with a hook structure.”A position set-back from the fully open position, corresponding with the acute angle of each of the first and second elongated slots, that allows the hood to be removed from the griddle.

Litigation Cases New

US Latest litigation cases involving this patent.

Case NumberFiling DateTitle
2:25-cv-02523Sep 4, 2025Brokenbrough v. Davison Design & Devel Inc.

Patent Family

Patent Family

File Wrapper

The dossier documents provide a comprehensive record of the patent's prosecution history - including filings, correspondence, and decisions made by patent offices - and are crucial for understanding the patent's legal journey and any challenges it may have faced during examination.

  • Date

    Description

  • Get instant alerts for new documents

US12150590

BANK OF AMERICA NA
Application Number
US17227219
Filing Date
Apr 9, 2021
Status
Granted
Expiry Date
Mar 23, 2042
External Links
Slate, USPTO, Google Patents