Stirring mechanism

DETAILED DESCRIPTION The present invention provides a particularly simple and compact mechanism for automatically stirring, turning, or otherwise intermixing, moving, or manipulating the contents of a cooking vessel in a manner more closely reproducing the effect of a variety of manual cooking actions.
A mechanism according to the present invention is able to stir, and to scoop up and gently fold or turn over the ingredients in the vessel with an end result difficult, if not impossible, to achieve with any of the above-noted known mechanisms.
In one of its embodiments the present invention may even be used for automatically flipping over such generally planar-shaped foods as steaks and hamburgers or for automatically turning bulkier items such as roasts or fowl.
Briefly, the invention includes a manipulating implement, which engages directly the ingredients in the cooking vessel and is structured to produce the desired manipulations.
The implement may take many forms depending on the nature of the ingredients, the vessel, and the desired result.
For example, the implement may form a blade, spatula, scoop, or scraper of various shapes, or may be in the form of a wire grid, cage, or net, serving as a carrier for hamburgers or the like, or may even be a specially adapted device for turning a roast, as described below.
The manipulating implement is resolved around a generally horizontal axis within the vessel so as to provide a "turning" action, which may be continuous, intermittent, or interrupted, depending on the desired manipulation of the cooking ingredients.
Simultaneously with, or in correlation with, this turning action, the implement and its horizontal axis of revolution are revolved about a vertical axis to provide a horizontal movement of the implement.
This horizontal movement "sweeps" the manipulating implement about the entire cooking vessel and may be phased with the turning action of the implement about the horizontal axis to achieve the various manipulations of the ingredients