ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 5 -- United States Patent no. 12,274,396, issued on April 15.

"Portable combination grill and smoker device" was invented by Christopher Bess (Austin, Texas).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A portable combination grill and smoker device for portably cooking using a combination of smoking and grilling includes a grill compartment in environmental communication with a wood chip box and a smoker cabinet and having attachable gas burners and an attachable electric heating element. The grill compartment is coupled to a base with a plurality of wheels for movably positioning the device on a support surface and a hitch mount for removably coupling to a standard hitch receiver for...