There are a wide variety of known barbeque designs, some of which relate to charcoal-fired barbeques, and others of which relate to gas-fired barbeques.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,159,119 (Hottenroth et al) discloses a charcoal starter and cooker. As such, it provides a separate container for charcoal and a fan for providing a forced draft, to promote rapid ignition of the charcoal. It is suggested that the device could be used as a cooker, for example, for coffee pots and frying pans, by placing some of the charcoal in the base of the unit and covering it with a mesh. Nonetheless, in either mode, it does not provide a full conventional barbeque, and suffers from the disadvantage that the fan is located very close to the charcoal itself. It would be quite possible for the heat from the charcoal to damage the fan, particularly if the device was not emptied promptly, once the charcoal was fully lit.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,326,201 (Murray) discloses a barbeque apparatus incorporating a fan for providing a forced draft. A somewhat complex arrangement is provided, including a pair of valves, one of which is intended to control the overall air flow, and the other which determines whether the air flows through or over the bed of charcoal. The fan itself is mounted immediately beside the fire bed and again, could be prone to damage through overheating.
U.S Pat. No. 3,327,697 (Berlant) discloses a cooking device provided with a so-called air curtain. Here, a fan is mounted immediately below the barbeque and blows air through inner and outer casings of housings, to create a forced air curtain rising up around the edges of the barbeque. It also provides a forced draft effect for the charcoal itself. The fan again is mounted immediately against the barbeque, underneath it, in an exposed position.
The barbeque apparatus disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,266,478 (Booth), again, is relatively complex. A fax is provided for providing combustion air, and there are numerous individual baskets for the fuel.
A somewhat unusual electric cooker with a heated rock bed is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,286,620 (Brown). This is primarily intended to provide a cooker suitable for Polynesian cooking, and as such provides a substantial bed of rocks that could be heated, and then enclose the food for a slow cooking process. The whole apparatus is of some bulk and is carried on a small trailer suitable for towing by a vehicle.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,442,201 (Kates) and 3,442,202 (Ishida) disclose barbeque grills provided with rotisserie arrangements.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,324,788 (La France) and 3,693,534 (Martin) both disclose barbeques with devices for improving or altering the draft characteristics. The first patent is concerned with a charcoal-type barbeque, whereas the later one is concerned with a gas barbeque.