Variable timing system for toasters and similar appliances

Abstract

This drop-down toaster has a bread support and a door at the bottom of each toasting compartment. The door has a series of vent holes for air convection which produces improved uniformity in the toast. The door and bread support are held closed by rollers on solenoid-controlled sliding bars. The rollers allow the door to swing open before the bread support is released, and they return the door and bread support to their normal condition automatically by a cam action. The bread support is cammed upwardly before release to dislodge bread from the toasting compartment guide wires. An electronic timing circuit is located in a base underneath and spaced vertically from the toasting section so that it is not affected by heat from the toasting section. The timing circuit is compensated in accordance with previous use rather than by sensing the temperature of the toasting compartment. That is, for any two successive toasting cycles, the second toasting cycle is made longer if the interval between the two cycles is longer and shorter if the interval between the two toasting cycles is shorter. Similarly, the second toasting cycle is dependent on the length of the preceding toasting cycle so that if the preceding toasting cycle is short, the second toasting cycle is long, and vice versa. The relay for switching current in the toaster heating elements is remote from the timer circuit board so that it can be replaced in the event of a short circuit without disturbing the circuit board.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.