GB2517783A - Toaster - Google Patents

Abstract

A toaster having a toasting cycle and a carriage for raising and lowering a bread support, which carriage is adapted to be guided on at least one vertical rod mounted on a housing of the toaster. The carriage comprises an actuator 61 adapted to actuate a switch on the toaster to start the toasting cycle by being moved downwardly. The toaster housing is provided with an external protrusion or guard 67, 68 adapted to prevent accidental movement of the handle by an external agent. The guard may either be full height, or may have a length of between 10-50% of the length of the slot along which the actuator travels. The guard may be made of stainless steel, which can be spot welded to the housing. The guard may be folded, and may have a similar design to the actuator.

Description

Toaster The invention relates to a toaster and in particular to a carriage mechanism relating to the movement and control of the bread support of the toaster.

A traditional toaster comprises a housing! in which one or more bread supports are provided, which bread supports are adapted to support bread during a toasting operation, wherein heating elements are provided adjacent to the bread support to provide the heat for toasting the bread. The earliest commercial toasters used a simply lever mechanism to raise and lower the bread so that it was possible to see whether the bread had been sufficiently toasted.

Later toasters introduced some simple control features such as a timed pop up mechanism, in which after a pre-determined period of time the bread supported is lifted from the toasting position to a raised position using a spring mechanism. More recent innovation include additional settings such as a bagel setting, in which only one side of the bread is toasted or a defrost setting for making toast using frozen bread.

In most modem toasters, the heating elements and control circuitry are actuated by an actuator that is connected to the bread support, so that when the bread support is lowered, the actuator actuates a switch to turn on the heating elements and start the timer. When a predetermined time has elapsed, the timer switches off the heating elements and permits the bread support to pop-up.

This arrangement is resilient and simple and has established itself among manufacturers. However, in certain circumstances, the actuator can become trapped in the on position resulting in the toaster staying on. This could potentially cause the toast to be burned and damage caused to the toaster.

The invention therefore seeks to provide an improved toaster.

According to the invention there is provided a toaster having a toasting cycle and a carriage for raising and lowering a bread support, which carriage is adapted to be guided on at least one vertical rod mounted on a housing of the toaster, the carriage complising a first member having an actuator adapted to actuate a switch on the toaster to start the toasting cycle, which actuator is adapted to be moved downwardly to start the toasting cycle, wherein the toaster housing is provided with an external protrusion adapted to prevent accidental movement of the actuator by an external agent.

The obvious solution to prevent the toaster actuator from being stuck in the on position is to include a relay to cut the power to the toaster elements after a certain period of time after the toasting cycle has ended or alternatively, to measure the temperature in the toaster cavity and cut the power to the elements in the event that a threshold temperature is exceeded. These approaches are, however, relatively expensive and could only be adopted economically for premium toasters. However, lower cost toasters are most likely to be used in small kitchens which are typically overcrowded due to inadequate storage space. In such a kitchen, the most likely cause for the toaster being stuck in the on position is due to an object falling on the actuator. The solution according to the invention provides for a protrusion on the housing which effectively prevents an external agent from accidentally depressing the actuator which therefore stops the actuator from energising the solenoid.

In a preferred embodiment, the protrusion comprises a full height guard positioned adjacent to a slot in the housing through which the actuator passes to engage with the ejector mechanism of the housing. Altematively, the guard comprises a protrusion having a length of between 10-50% of the length of the slot. Preferably, the protrusion extends from the housing by a distance substantially equal to or grater than the distance by which the actuator protrudes.

Prefeiably, the protrusion comprises a stainless steel member, which can be spot welded to the toaster housing. Preferably, the stainless steel member is folded.

Alternatively, the protrusion has a similar design to the actuator.

An exemplary embodiment of the invention will now be described in greater detail in which: Fig.1 shows a schematic view of a toaster mechanism Fig. 2 shows a schematic of the toaster housing.

Figure 1 shows a schematic plan view of a toaster 1 comprising a main housing 2 having first and second bread cavities 3,4. Heating elements 5,6 are arranged in each bread cavity 3,4 and in use are adapted to toast a piece of bread located on a respective bread support 7,8. Each bread support 7,8 comprises a plurality of alternating metal supports and extends through a respective slot 9,10. The bread supports are also supported at the end of the bread cavities 3,4.

The two bread supports 7,8 are attached to a carriage 11, which is adapted to slide on two vertical rods 12,13, the lower ends of which are mounted on the base of the housing 2 and the upper ends of which are attached to a flange 16 extending from the upper surface of the toaster. The rod 13 is located substantially equidistantly from the two bread cavities 3,4. A spring 15 is attached to both the flange 16 and the carriage 11, so that the carriage is urged into a raised position in which the bread or toast is raised above the upper surface of the housing.

The switch 17 for actuating the timer, pop-up and heating elements comprises two pairs of upstanding elements having opposing contacts at their distal ends. The downward projection 14 which is integral with the carriage 11, in use, will force the respective contacts together when it is inserted between the two pairs of upstanding contact arms. As the upstanding contact arms are resilient, the downward projection is urged away from the lowest position by the resilience of the contact arms. The carriage 11 is held in the lower position against the force generated by the spring by means of an electromagnet, which is actuated by the closing of the contacts. Once the predetermined toasting time has elapsed, the timer circuit breaks the contact so that the carriage is released from the lowest position. The carriage 11 comprises three parts: the first part comprises a moulding 20 including the switch actuator 14, the second part comprises a member 30 adapted to support the bread supports and the third part 40 comprises a further member adapted to enable the member 30 to be raised independently of the moulding 20.

Figure 2 shows schematically a toaster housing 60 having an actuator 61 comprising a U shaped bar, each arm of which extends through a respective slot 62, 63 to engage with the carriage mechanism described in Figure 1 so that the user can raise or lower the carriage to the on position. The housing is provided with further buttons to control the degree of toasting 64 and frozen 65 and bagel 66 settings.

Two different guard designs are shown in Figure 2 by way of illustration. In practice, each guide would be the same for design purposes. A first type of guard is shown adjacent to the first slot 62 on the outer side of the housing. The guard comprises a folded stainless steel member 67 which can be spot welded to the housing. The guard 67 extends from the surface of the housing to a distance substantially equal to or just greater than the distance by which the actuator 61 extends from the housing.

The guard has a length which is substantially equal to the length of the slot 62.

The second design of guard 68 is shown located on the outside of the slot 63. This guard also extends from the surface of the housing to a distance substantially equal to or just greater than the distance by which the actuator 61 extends from the housing but is much shorter in length being less than half of the length of the slot 63.

By providing a guard as described herein, the likelihood of any external agent unintentionally falling on the actuator and holding the actuator in the lowest on position is effectively eliminated.

Claims (8)

1. Claims 1. A toaster having a toasting cycle and a carriage for raising and lowering a bread support, which carriage is adapted to be guided on at least one vertical rod mounted on a housing of the toaster, the carriage comprising a first member having an actuator adapted to actuate a switch on the toaster to start the toasting cycle, which actuator is adapted to be moved downwardly to start the toasting cycle, wherein the toaster housing is provided with an external protrusion adapted to prevent accidental movement of the actuator by an external agent.
2. 2. A toaster according to Claim 1, wherein the protrusion comprises a full height guard positioned adjacent to a slot in the housing through which the actuator passes to engage with the ejector mechanism of the housing.
3. 3. A toaster according to Claim 1, wherein the guard comprises a protrusion having a length of between 10-50% of the length of the slot.
4. 4. A toaster according to any one of Claims 1 to 3, wherein the protrusion extends from the housing by a distance substantially equal to or grater than the distance by which the actuator protrudes.
5. 5. A toaster according to any one of Claims 1 to 4, wherein the protrusion comprises a stainless steel member, which can be spot welded to the toaster housing.
6. 6. A toaster according to Claim 5, wherein the stainless steel member is folded.
7. 7. A toaster according to any one of Claims 1 to 5, wherein the protrusion has a similar design to the actuator.
8. 8. A toaster substantially as described herein, with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.