Toaster
OwnerStacie Bumgarner, Barbara Bumgarnerinventors
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A toaster includes a housing having a front wall, a rear wall, a bottom wall, a top wall and two opposing sidewalls. On the top wall are a plurality of bread-dispensing openings, each in communication with a designated cooking chamber. Vertically positioned within each cooking chamber is a heating element and a deployable grill. A lift mechanism includes a plurality of rotatable catch members that release the grill whenever the housing is upright so that the device functions as a conventional toaster. However, when the housing is rotated to lie on its rear wall, the catch members automatically grip the grill so that the lift mechanism ejects it through the bread-dispensing opening.
Claims8
A toaster comprising:
- a housing having a front wall, a rear wall, a bottom wall, a top wall and two opposing sidewalls;
- at least one bread-dispensing opening on the top wall, said bread-dispensing opening in communication with a cooking chamber;
- a heating means on each of two opposing sides of said cooking chamber for simultaneously heating two opposing sides of a food item;
- a spring-biased grill received within said cooking chamber;
- a lift mechanism within said cooking chamber for raising and lowering a food item within said cooking chamber;
- means for releasably connecting said lift mechanism to said grill when said housing is placed on the rear wall to convert said toaster to a sandwich grill, wherein said means for releasably connecting said lift mechanism to said grill when said housing is placed on the rear wall to convert said toaster to a sandwich grill comprises:
- a plurality of catch members rotatably mounted on a spring-biased shaft received within the cooking chamber, each of said catch members including a gap formed thereon whereby when said housing is vertically oriented for toaster operation, each of said catch members rotates to a first, horizontal position to release said grill and to provide a horizontal surface on which a lower edge of a bread slice rests, and when said housing is lying on the rear wall, each of said catch members automatically rotates to an inverted position wherein said grill is received within said gap.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.