Improved toaster

Abstract: A toaster is disclosed capable of retaining a fire within the body of the toaster should such a fire commence for any reason, the toaster (10) comprising an outer housing (11), an inner enclosure (64) defining a toasting compartment (13), an open access slot (12) (65) enabling access to the toasting compartment (13), movable flameproof member means (17), (70) either closing the access slot (12) (65), or opening same, movable carriage means (14), (23) in the toasting compartment to carry a product to be toasted, and latch means (25), (26), (51), (52) to hold the movable flameproof member means (17), (20) closed until manually released thereby ensuring a person is at the toaster should a fire have commenced in the toasting chamber.

Description: The present invention relates to improvements in toasters, particularly toasters with one or more upwardly open slots to receive a product such as a slice of bread, a crumpet or a muffin to be toasted. The invention is particularly aimed at toasters of the aforementioned kind having a single slot. Although not very common, fires can occur when toasters are used. The causes of such fires include (1) a build-up of crumb material in the toaster base; and (2) a food product being toasted for a period of time that exceeds the normal level for that product, due to operator misuse or a malfunction in the toaster itself. It is an object of the present invention to provide a toaster which will prevent the effects of an escape of fire from a toaster, in the unfortunate event of the occurrence of a fire. Toasters are generally required to be produced from materials that will not burn. Thus, even the plastics materials commonly used for many toaster bodies are made from resins which will not ignite. Thus, the effects of a toaster fire result from the flame escaping through the access opening to the toasting chamber. An example of a known toasting device according to the preamble of independent claims 1, 11 and 13, is shown by US-A-4404899. The present invention provides a toasting device including at least one toasting compartment with an access opening for the or each toasting compartment, wherein the device includes flameproof member mean capable of movement from a first position permitting access through the or each access opening to a second position closing the or each access opening, the flameproof member means, when in the second position, closing the or each access opening in a manner preventing escape of a flame from the or each access opening , first control means being provided automatically to move the flameproof member means to the second position prior to completion of a toasting cycle, characterised in that second control means prevent the flameproof member means moving from the second position to the first position at the completion of the toasting cycle without manual intervention said second control means moving said flameproof member means from said second position to said first position solely in response to manual intervention. The flame proof member means may comprise one or more cover members. The toaster preferably includes means to define a toasting cycle and to discontinue power to the toasting element means of the toaster upon completion of the toasting cycle, and a manually releasable latch mechanism preventing automatic movement of the flame proof member means to the first position upon completion of the toasting cycle. In this arrangement, the toasting device ensures that the flame containment mechanism is necessarily used each time the device is used and, more particularly, that an operator is at the device when the toasted product is removed. That is to say, the flame containment mechanism is always maintained in active operation until the toasted product is removed from the toasting compartment. The toasting device preferably includes a product supporting carriage within the or each toasting chamber movable to a lowered position for a toasting cycle, actuation means being provided to enable movement of the or each carriage to the lowered position for toasting and the first control means being operably located so as to move the flame proof member means in response to movement of the product supporting carriage to the lowered position. The flame proof member means preferably comprises a single cover member adapted to, in use, overly the or all of the access openings. Said second control means preferably comprises a manually releasable latch means to maintain the flame proof cover means in the second position upon completion of a toasting cycle until manually released. In accordance with a still further aspect, it is an object of the present invention to provide a closure for an open slot toaster, the closure at all times being retained within the confines of the toaster body. According to this aspect, the present invention provides a toasting device including at least one toasting compartment with an access opening permitting a product to be toasted to be introduced into the or each toasting compartment, in which the device includes flameproof member means capable of movement from a first position permitting access through the or each access opening to a second position closing the or each access opening, the flameproof member means when in the second position, closing the or each access opening in a manner preventing escape of a flame from the or each toasting compartment, and when the flameproof member means is in the second position, the flameproof member means is located within the confines of an outer housing of the toasting device characterised in that control means prevent said flameproof member means from moving from said second position to said first position at the completion of the toasting cycle in the absence of manual intervention, said control means moving said flameproof member means from said second position to said first position solely in response to manual intervention. The present invention further provides a toasting device comprising a toasting compartment with an access opening permitting a product to be toasted to be introduced into the toasting compartment, the device including flameproof member means capable of movement from a first position permitting access through the access opening to a second position closing the access opening, the flameproof member means comprising at least two cover flap members which in the second position overly the access opening in a manner preventing escape of flame from the toasting compartment characterised in that control means prevent said flameproof member means from moving from said second position to said first position at the completion of the toasting cycle in the absence of manual intervention, said control means moving said flameproof member means from said second position to said first position solely in response to manual intervention. Each cover flap member suitably comprises depending skirt members arranged in use in the second position to depend downwardly and outwardly of a wall or walls of the toasting compartment. The toasting device suitably comprises an inner enclosure defining the toasting compartment and the outer housing surrounds the inner enclosure with at least one access opening passing through both the outer housing and inner enclosure, the flameproof member means being located at least partially between the inner enclosure and the outer casing when in the second position. The flameproof member means is preferably formed by two cover members each of which is moved in opposite directions relative to one another when moving to the second position so as to be located substantially between the said inner enclosure and the outer housing. Operating means is suitably provided connected to the cover members to move the cover members between the first and second positions. The operating means preferably moves the cover members in response to movement of a product support carriage in the toasting compartment, the operating means acting to move the cover members to the second (or closed) position when the product support carriage has moved through at least 70% and preferably between 85 and 95% of its permitted travel from its upper limit. The operating means advantageously moves the cover members to the first, or open, position within 0 to 15% of the permitted travel of the product support carriage from the bottom toasting position of the support carriage. The cover members preferably commence moving to their first, or open position immediately the product support carriage starts to move upwardly. Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a double slice single slot toaster according to the present invention; Figure 2 is a schematic illustration of one form of control mechanism which can be used with the toaster shown in Figure 1; Figure 3 is a perspective view of the top section of a toaster similar to Figure 1 showing a second preferred embodiment; Figure 4 is a transverse section through the access slot region of a toaster as shown in Figure 3; Figure 5 is a partial perspective view of one end of the toasting compartment of the toaster of Figure 3 with the outer casing and other parts removed for the sake of clarity; Figure 6 is an end elevation view of an upper part of the mechanism shown in Figure 5; Figure 7 is a side elevation view of a lower part of the mechanism shown in Figure 5; and Figure 8 is a view similar to Figure 7 showing the mechanism in a different position of use. Referring to the drawings, a toaster (10) is shown with an outer casing body (11) defining an upper access opening (12) to a vertically arranged toasting compartment (13). The compartment (13) includes resistance heating elements (31) arranged on either side of the toasting compartment (13) in any conventional or known array. The casing body (11) illustrated is a non burnable plastics material; it is, however, clearly also possible to use any other non burnable material such as sheet metal. The casing body (11), however, provides a substantially enclosed inner space accessed only through the upper access opening or slot (12). Arranged within the toasting compartment (13) is a product supporting carriage (14) movable between an upper product receiving position and a lowered position as shown in Figure 2, for a toasting cycle. At one end of the compartment (13), the carriage (14) is moved, corresponding to movement of the lug (19). Alternatively a motorised movement mechanism could be provided to move the carriage (14) between the upper and lower positions. A conventional or known brownness selection knob (16) is provided together with any suitable and known toasting control system. The system should preferably include features adapted to minimise the likelihood of fires commencing, but these features are not relevant to the present invention and are not further discussed hereinafter. As shown in Figures 1 and 2, a flame proof member in the form of a cover flap (17) is provided hinged at (18) along one side of the access slot (12) so that it can be pivoted from an access providing position as shown in Figure 1 to a second position overlying the slot (12) as shown in Figure 2. The flap member (17) may be formed from any other material that prevents a flame passing outwardly from the toasting compartment (13). One possible form of linkage connection means is shown in Figure 2 although it should be appreciated that other arrangements could also be employed. The mechanism is shown outwardly of the body (11) in schematic fashion although normally the mechanism would be located within the body (11) adjacent one end of the toasting compartment (13). As shown in Figure 2, a lost motion link (60) is provided so that it slides up and down on a stationary substantially vertical guide member (20). An upper end of the link (60) is pivoted at 21 to a transversely extending part (22) of the cover (17). A carriage supporting member (23) is moved up and down on the guide member (20) by actuation of the external lug (19). The member (23) is generally urged upwardly by a spring element so that the carriage (14) is normally located in its upper position. A lower end (25) of the member (23) mechanically latches with a catch member (26) when the member is moved to lower the carriage (14) to the lowered toasting position. In so doing a wake up or power actuating switch (27) is activated to enable power supply to the toasting elements for commencement of a toasting cycle. Alternatively a separate manually operable toasting cycle start up switch could be employed for reasons discussed hereinafter. As illustrated in Figure 2, the member (23) includes a portion (61) which is adapted to engage opposed abutment parts (62) and (63). Thus with the cover flap (17) in an open position as shown in Figure 1, the lug (19) and therefore the member (23) must be moved downwardly a certain distance before the portion (61) engages the abutment part (63) thereafter automatically to move the cover flap (17) from the position shown in Figure 1 to the closed position shown in Figure 2. Similarly there is a certain distance of travel of the lug (19) upwardly from the position shown in Figure 2 before the portion (61) engages the part (63) to commence opening of the cover flap (17). This arrangement allows the cover flap (17) to be manually moved to the closed position as shown in Figure 2, without movement of the lug (19), for storage purposes. In alternative arrangement, if the wake up switch (27) is omitted and a separate start up switch is used, then the lug (19) can be moved to its lowered position so that the end (25) engages with catch member (26) to lower the cover flap (17) for storage without the need of any lost motion mechanism as illustrated in Figure 2. It is, however, desirable with this latter configuration that some separate means be provided to ensure that the separate start up switch does not commence a toasting cycle with the cover flap (17) in an open position. In accordance with a preferred aspect of the present invention, the latch mechanism (32) identified illustratively in Figure 2 by members (25), (26) form an automatic mechanical latch which must be manually delatched to allow the cover flap (17) to be only operable by a person upon completion of a toasting cycle. Thus, in the unlikely event of a fire having ignited in the chamber, the cover flap (17) will not have automatically opened by the toaster mechanism, when unattended by the operator, to allow flames to escape from the compartment (13). Figures 3 to 8 illustrate a second preferred embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the toaster (10) also has an outer casing (11), preferably formed from a non-burnable plastics material, metal or the like, having an upper access slot (12) adapted to receive a product to be toasted and ultimately to eject a toasted product therethrough after completion of a toasting cycle. As can be seen in Figures 4 and 5, an inner enclosure (64) conveniently produced from sheet metal, is provided, within the outer casing (11). The inner enclosure (64) also has a generally rectangular upper access opening (65) substantially aligned with the access slot (12) in the outer casing. The inner enclosure (64) defines a toasting compartment (13) with heating elements of any known configuration (not shown) located adjacent the inner face of each longitudinal side wall (15), (16) directing radiant and convection heat inwardly of the toasting compartment (13) when energised. Similar to Figure 1, a lug (19) capable of being operatively gripped is provided which is connected directly to a product support carriage (14) located at least partially within the toasting compartment (13). The product support carriage (14) is mounted on a vertical slide post (not shown) so that it is capable of movement upwardly and downwardly thereon. A spring (66) is provided normally to urge the carriage (14) upwardly but against which an operator can move the carriage (14) down to a lowered toasting position by gripping the member (19) and moving same downwardly in the slot (67) in the outer casing (11). The product supporting carriage (14) has a part (323) located outwardly of the toasting chamber (13) and a part (324) located within the toasting chamber on which a slice of bread or the like is supported during a toasting cycle. The part (324) extends through a vertical slot (68) in an end wall (69) of the inner enclosure (64). As shown in Figures 3 to 6, a closure means (70) is provided arranged to overly the access openings (12), (65) to the toasting compartment (13). In the preferred embodiment illustrated, the closure means is conveniently located generally between the outer casing (11) and the inner enclosure (64) and comprises a pair of cover members (28), (29). Each cover member (28), (29) comprises an upper plate (30) covering approximately half of the access opening (65) when closed, a longitudinally extending side plate (331) adapted to extend downwardly from the access opening (65) outwardly of one of the inner enclosure side walls (315), (316) and a pair of end plates (332), (333) adapted to extend downardly and outwardly of the end walls of the inner enclosure (65). One of the cover members (28), (29) preferably has an inwardly or outwardly located laterally extending lip (34) adapted to overly the small longitudinally extending space between the cover members (28), (29) when closed as illustrated in Figure 4. Conveniently, if the cover members (28), (29) are to be identically shaped, (as may be desirable for manufacturing purposes), the lip (34) may extend over only half the length of the cover member (28) or (29) so that in an assembly, the overlying lip extends from each cover member over half the length of the cover member with an overlying obstruction thereby extending the full length of the access opening (65). By this means, the escape of flame is prevented from the toasting chamber (13) between the cover members (28), (29). An operating mechanism (36) for moving the cover members (28), (29) from the generally closed position as illustrated to an open position is best seen in Figures 5 to 8 of the drawings. Each end plate (332), (333) of the cover members has a downwardly depending hinge plate member (37) so as to locate a fixed hinge connection (38) to an end wall (69) of the inner enclosure (64) downwardly of the lower edge of the cover members (28), (29) and outwardly spaced from the central dividing line (42) between the cover members (28), (29). In addition a floating hinge connection (39) is provided acting between the two cover members (28), (29). The floating hinge connection is formed by tab members (40), (41) located at the lower edge of the members (28), (29) adjacent the dividing line (42) between the cover members (28), (29). Each tab member (40), (41) has a first portion (43) extending outwardly from and at the same level as the lower edge of the cover member and a second portion (44) extending downwardly and towards or across the dividing line (42). One or both of the portions (44) includes a slot (45) and a hinge pin (46) extends through portion (44) connecting same together with a downwardly directed link member (47). Movement of the link member (47) downwardly or upwardly causes the hinge pin (46) to move downwardly or upwardly. As a result the cover members pivot about hinge pins (38) and also tend to move outwardly when opening or inwardly when closing because of the floating hinge (39) caused by the slot or slots (45). Thus the cover members (28), (29) can be arranged to close completely the access opening (65) to the inner enclosure (64) or open this access opening (65) with the cover members (28), (29) moving to a position between the outer casing (11) and the inner enclosure (64). The operating link member (47) is divided along most of its length from its lower end to form a first part (48) and a second part (49). The first part (48) has a lateral tab (50) at its lowermost end which is engaged by the carriage part (323) on its downward travel near to the end of its downward travel and in so doing the final downward movement of the carriage part (323) drags with it the link member (47) and thereby the pivot pin (46) to close the cover members (28), (29). Figure 7 shows the carriage part (323) at its uppermost position whereas Figure 8 shows the carriage part (323) at its lowered toasting position. In the lowered toasting position, the carriage part (323) has been stopped by a physical limit ledge (51) and a manual latch member (52) has been engaged to prevent the carriage part (323) from moving upwardly from the position shown in Figure 5 whether or not a toasting cycle has been completed. Moreover in the lowered toasted position as shown in Figure 8, a dowel pin (53) carried by the carriage part (323) is engaged in a recess (54) formed in the lower end of the second part (49) of the link member (47) and is locked therein by fixed cam ledge (55). Thus when the carriage part (323) is moved upwardly at the end of a toasting cycle and after delatching the member (52), the dowel pin (53) drives the second link part (49), and thus the link member (47) and hinge pin (46) upwardly to open the cover members immediately upon the carriage (20) starting its upward eject motion. A slot (59) is formed in the part (48) of the link member (47) and the carriage part (324) extends through this slot (59) and slot (25) into the toasting chamber (13). Through spring (66), the carriage part (324) maintains the link (47) in its up position in the absence of external manipulation. As will be apparent from the foregoing, the latch member (52) and latch ledge (51) form an automatically engaged manual latch which must be manually delatched to allow the cover members (28), (29) to be opened and necessarily requires the attention of a person at the toaster when this event occurs. Thus, in an unlikely event of a fire having ignited in the chamber, the cover members (28), (29) will not have been automatically opened by the toaster mechanism, thereby allowing flames to escape from the toasting chamber (13). Conveniently, to assist operation of the toaster, visual and/or audible indicators (71), (72) may be provided to show that a toasting cycle has commenced and separately has been completed. Although the foregoing description has been given with reference to a toaster having a carriage (14) moved manually down and a spring (66) to eject the toasted product, it should of course be appreciated that any known mechanism for driving or moving the carriage (14) might also be employed.

Claims: A toasting device (10) including at least one toasting compartment (13) with an access opening (12) for the or each toasting compartment (13), wherein the device (10) includes flameproof member means (70) capable of movement from a first position permitting access through the or each access opening (12) to a second position closing the or each access opening (12), the flameproof member means (70), when in the second position, closing the or each access opening (12) in a manner preventing escape of a flame from the or each access opening (12), first control means being provided automatically to move the flameproof member means (70) to the second position prior to completion of a toasting cycle, characterised in that second control means prevent the flameproof member means (70) moving from the second position to the first position at the completion of the toasting cycle without manual intervention said second control means moving said flameproof member means from said second position to said first position solely in response to manual intervention. A toasting device according to claim 1 characterised in that the flameproof member means (70) is moved to the second position by the first control means prior to commencement of a toasting cycle. A toasting device according to claim 1 characterised in that the second control means includes a mechanical latch (32), (36) requiring manual delatching to enable said flameproof member means (17), (70) to be able to move to the first position. A toasting device according to any one of claims 1 to 3 characterised in that it further comprises an outer housing (11) located outwardly of the or each toasting compartment (13), said flameproof member means (17), (70), when in the second position, being located substantially within the outer housing (11). A toasting device according to any one of claims 1 to 5 characterised in that the flameproof member means (70) comprises two cover members (28), (29) for the or each toasting compartment (13). A toasting device according to claim 5 characterised in that each cover member (28), (29) includes depending skirt members (331) arranged in use, in the second position, to depend downwardly and outwardly of a wall or walls (315), (316) of the toasting compartment (13). A toasting device according to claim 5 or claim 6 characterised in that the or each toasting compartment (13) is located within an inner enclosure (64) and the outer housing (11) surrounds the inner enclosure (64) with at least one access opening (12) passing through both the outer housing (11) and the inner enclosure (64) the cover members (28), (29) being located at least partially between the inner enclosure (64) and the outer housing (11) when in the first position. A toasting device according to any of claims 5 to 7 characterised in that it further comprises operating means (36) for the cover members (28), (29) to control movement of the cover members (28), (29) between the first and second positions, the operating means (36) acting in response to movement of a product support carriage (23) within the or each toasting compartment (13) to control movement of the cover members (28), (29) between the first and second positions. A toasting device according to claim 8 characterised in that the operating means (36) acts to move the cover members (28), (29) to the second position when the product support carriage (23) has moved through at least 70% of the permitted carriage movement in a direction towards a toasting position. A toasting device according to claim 8 or claim 9 characterised in that the operating means (36) acts to move the cover members (28), (29) to the first position within 0 to 15% of the permitted carriage movement away from a toasting position. A toasting device (10) including at least one toasting compartment (13) with an access opening (12) permitting a product to be toasted to be introduced into the or each toasting compartment (13), the device further (10) including flameproof member means (70) capable of movement from a first position permitting access through the or each access opening (12) to a second position closing the or each access opening, (12) the flameproof member means (70) when in the second position, closing the or each access opening (12) in a manner preventing escape of a flame from the or each toasting compartment (13), and when the flameproof member means (70) is in the second position, the flameproof member means (70) is located within the confines of an outer housing (11) of the toasting device (10) characterised in that control means prevent said flameproof member means from moving from said second position to said first position at the completion of the toasting cycle in the absence of manual intervention, said control means moving said flameproof member means from said second position to said first position solely in response to manual intervention. A toasting device according to claim 11 characterised in that the flameproof member means (70) is formed by two cover members (28), (29). A toasting device (10) comprising a toasting compartment (13) with an access opening (12) permitting a product to be toasted to be introduced into the toasting compartment (13), the device (10) including flameproof member means (70) capable of movement from a first position permitting access through the access opening (12) to a second position closing the access opening (12) the flameproof member means (70) comprising at least two cover flap members (28), (29), which, in the second position, overly the access opening (12) in a manner preventing escape of flame from the toasting compartment (13) characterised in that control means prevent said flameproof member means from moving from said second position to said first position at the completion of the toasting cycle in the absence of manual intervention, said control means moving said flameproof member means from said second position to said first position solely in response to manual intervention. A toasting device (10) according to claim 13 characterised in that the cover members (28) (29), in the second position have adjacent edges extending longitudinally of an access opening (12), the cover members (28), (29) moving sideways and downwardly when being moved to the first position.

Inventors: CHEAH AIK PIN, MCNAIR JOHN DUNCAN, SCHULZ HOWARD CHARLES, CHEAH, AIK PIN, MCNAIR, JOHN DUNCAN, SCHULZ, HOWARD CHARLES
Applicants: BLACK & DECKER INC, BLACK & DECKER INC.
Application year: 1993
Main classification: A47J37
IPC codes: A47J37