Charles J Cretors Deceased340 Belle Foret Dr, Green Oaks, IL 60044

6374727, Apr 23, 2002

Apr 19, 2001

09/838073

Charles D. Cretors - Lake Forest IL

C. Cretors - Chicago IL

A23L 118

993239, 993235, 99348, 366185

An integrated popcorn kettle is disclosed which is used in conjunction with a popcorn machine. The popcorn kettle has a cooking chamber which has a hinged lid. A motor chamber is located under the cooking chamber. An electrical motor is located in the motor chamber and rotates an agitator in the cooking chamber. The bottom of the cooking chamber has a heating element which is used to cook the popcorn. The motor is actuated to rotate the agitator in order to insure heat distribution for the popcorn. The entire popcorn kettle including the motor chamber and the cooking chamber may be pivoted as a unit in order to dump out the finished popcorn. In this configuration, no extra mechanical parts are needed to suspend the agitator into the kettle.

6386098, May 14, 2002

Apr 6, 2001

09/827638

Gilbert J. Evers - Lansing IL
Nenad Vidojevic - Chesterton IN
Charles D. Cretors - Lake Forest IL

C. Cretors Co. - Chicago IL

A23L 100

99483, 99331, 99357, 99468, 99448, 219214, 219385, 219400, 221 92, 221150 A

Food preparation apparatus including a housing having a top wall and a front wall. Each wall having an aperture defined therein. A passageway for warming and storing pre-packaged food products extends from an entrance at the top wall aperture to an exit at the front wall aperture. A plurality of chutes are formed within the passageway for channeling the food products from the entrance to the exit. A plurality of electrical elements for warming the food products to preselected temperature surround each chute. The warming elements maintain the food products at a preselected temperature until they are removed from the housing.

6872923, Mar 29, 2005

Jun 3, 2003

10/453428

Charles D. Cretors - Lake Forest IL, US
Gilbert J. Evers - Lansing IL, US
Nenad Vidojevic - Chesterton IN, US

C. Cretors & Company - Chicago IL

H05B001/02

219494, 219506, 219519, 219508, 993237, 99330, 426438, 426523

A popcorn machine for automatic activation of the popping cycle is disclosed. The popcorn machine has a kettle with a heating element controlled by a thermostat. Popping corn is placed in the kettle by a user. A control panel has a one pop button which when pressed initiates the full popping cycle. The one pop button activates a relay that closes a connection through the thermostat to the heating element. The thermostat regulates the temperature in the kettle and shuts off power to the heating element by opening itself and unlatching the relay after a predetermined temperature is reached to allow the completion of the popping cycle. If the kettle initially is over the predetermined temperature, the thermostat will be open and the relay will be unlatched, preventing power from flowing to the heating element. A timer relay may be connected to the first relay to allow the activation of the heating element during a set period of time allowing the kettle to cool. The kettle may also be connected to an oil pump.

7641460, Jan 5, 2010

May 30, 2006

11/443335

Charles D. Cretors - Lake Forest IL, US
Nenad Vidojevic - Chesterton IN, US
Danielle Lasater - Elmhurst IL, US
Leslie K. DiMare - Hawthorn Woods IL, US
Andrew James Hoover - Aurora IL, US
Stephanie M. Ziegle - Park Forest IL, US

C. Cretors & Company - Chicago IL

A23G 3/00

425 9, 425 8, 264 8

A device and method for continuous production of cotton candy and automated handling of the cotton candy in a way that collects and condenses the cotton candy into a continuous strand.

7658143, Feb 9, 2010

Nov 24, 2004

10/997181

Charles D. Cretors - Lake Forest IL, US

C. Cretors & Company - Chicago IL

A47J 37/00

99331, 99339, 99393, 99423, 99441

A hot dog grill for cooking hot dogs or similar food products is disclosed. The grill has an inclined heating surface defined on a sloping top plate. A grill assembly having a top cross member is placed over and in proximity to the heating surface. The grill assembly is moveable between two positions relative to the inclined heating surface. The grill assembly has a pair of sides which support rails. The rails are interlocked with sockets on the sides of the sloping top plate to guide the movement of the grill assembly. Lateral rods are installed between the sides of the grill assembly. Hot dogs and similar foods are cooked on the heating surface and rest on the lateral rods. A motor has a rotating shaft extending from the inclined heating surface. The rotating shaft is mechanically coupled to the top cross member of the grill assembly via a pivot block and pin. The motor propels the grill between the two positions relative to the inclined heating surface causing the lateral rods to push the hot dogs and rotate them.

8201492, Jun 19, 2012

Mar 6, 2009

12/399747

Charles D. Cretors - Lake Forest IL, US

C. Cretors & Company - Chicago IL

A23L 1/18

993239

Popcorn popping machines and associated methods of manufacture and use are disclosed herein. A popcorn popping machine configured in accordance with one embodiment of the disclosure includes a housing having an interior portion and a first side portion opposite a second side portion. The popcorn popping machine also includes a corn mover, a heat source, and an air mover positioned in the interior portion. The air mover is positioned on a support shaft extending from the first side portion to the second side portion of the housing. In operation, the air mover is configured to direct heated air from the heat source to corn kernels moved through the interior portion by the corn mover.

8436281, May 7, 2013

Dec 30, 2009

12/650181

Charles D. Cretors - Lake Forest IL, US

C. Cretors & Company - Chicago IL

H05B 1/02

219494

Food heating devices and methods of removing one or more rollers from food heating devices are disclosed herein. An embodiment of a food heating device configured in accordance with the present disclosure includes a base structure, a food rotating system, a food heating system, and a plurality of rollers. One end of a roller can be left unsupported, either by separating a sidewall of the base structure or by separating an insert from the sidewall. In turn, an opposite end of the roller can be disconnected from the food rotating system, and the roller can be displaced axially with respect to the food heating system, which remains fixed relative to base structure. Accordingly, the roller(s) can be removed, cleaned separately, and subsequently reinstalled or replaced with respect to the base structure.

8464634, Jun 18, 2013

Aug 13, 2008

12/191159

Charles D. Cretors - Lake Forest IL, US
Nenad Vidojevic - Chesterton IN, US

C. Cretors & Company - Chicago IL

A23L 1/18

993238, 993235

Popcorn machines having topping dispensing systems are disclosed herein. A popcorn machine configured in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure includes a popping kettle or other popping apparatus positioned in a cabinet. The popping apparatus is configured to heat un-popped corn kernels and pop the corn kernels. After popping, the corn is held in the cabinet. The popcorn machine of this embodiment further includes a topping outlet positioned in the cabinet and a topping pump. The topping outlet is operably connectable to a topping container, and the topping pump is configured to move topping from the topping container through the topping outlet and onto a serving portion of popcorn in response to operator activation of the pump.