Abstract:
A toaster oven includes a modular storage compartment. The sidewalls of the storage compartment are vertically aligned with the sidewalls of the toaster oven. The respective sidewalls of the toaster oven and the storage compartment are connected to each other for securing the modular storage compartment to the toaster oven. The front wall of the storage compartment is movable relative to the sidewalls to provide access to the interior of the compartment.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    This invention relates to improvements in toaster ovens, and in particular to a modular storage compartment for attachment to a toaster oven.  
           [0002]    Toaster ovens are popular small kitchen appliances. A toaster oven may be mounted beneath a kitchen cabinet, or alternatively, a toaster oven may be supported on top of a kitchen&#39;s countertop. A toaster oven usually has many accessories such as a broil rack, pizza crisper, baking pan, and the like. The accessories are usually stored in the oven&#39;s cavity or in a kitchen drawer. Storing the accessories in the oven&#39;s cavity requires the user to remove the accessories prior to the oven&#39;s use. Once the accessories are removed and the toaster oven placed in use, the accessories must remain on the countertop, causing clutter and preventing substantive use of the countertop. Although it is more desirable to store the accessories in a drawer, these accessories are rather large, and it is most unusual for the accessories to be stored in a drawer where space is usually at a premium.  
           [0003]    Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to enable a user of a toaster oven to store toaster oven accessories without inconvenience. It is a further object of the invention to include a storage compartment on a toaster oven, which is primarily dedicated to storing toaster oven accessories.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0004]    The foregoing objects and other objects of the invention are attained in a modular storage compartment for selective attachment to a toaster oven including a pair of spaced opposed sidewalls. The storage compartment includes a bottom wall, a top wall, a rear wall, and a pair of spaced opposed sidewalls and a front wall forming therebetween the storage compartment. The pair of spaced opposed sidewalls of the storage compartment are vertically alignable with the spaced opposed sidewalls of the toaster oven. The sidewalls of the storage compartment are joined to the sidewalls of the toaster oven via connectors. The front wall of the storage compartment is movable relative to the side, back, top and bottom walls to provide access to the interior of the compartment.  
           [0005]    The objects of the invention are further attained in a combined toaster oven and modular storage compartment wherein the toaster oven includes a front wall, a back wall, opposed spaced side walls, a top wall and a bottom wall forming an enclosed cooking cavity. A modular storage compartment includes a top wall, a bottom wall, a pair of horizontally spaced sidewalls and a rear wall forming the storage compartment. The top wall of the storage compartment is spaced vertically below the bottom wall of the toaster oven. The sidewalls of the storage compartment are vertically aligned with the sidewalls of the toaster oven and the respective vertically aligned side walls are connected to mount the storage compartment to the toaster oven. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING  
       [0006]    [0006]FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a toaster oven including the modular storage compartment of the present invention;  
         [0007]    [0007]FIG. 2 is a front elevation view of the toaster oven of FIG. 1;  
         [0008]    [0008]FIG. 3 is a side elevation view of the toaster oven of FIG. 1 with the modular storage compartment of the invention in an open position;  
         [0009]    [0009]FIG. 4 is a view similar to that shown in FIG. 3 with the modular storage compartment in a closed position;  
         [0010]    [0010]FIG. 5 is a top plan view of a toaster oven including a second embodiment of a modular storage compartment;  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 6 is a front elevation view of the second embodiment of the invention;  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 7 is a side elevation view of the toaster oven illustrated in FIG. 5 with the modular storage compartment in an open position;  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 8 is a partial sectional view of the toaster oven and storage compartment, illustrating details of the storage compartment;  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 9 is a view similar to that shown in FIG. 8 with the storage compartment in an open position; and  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 10 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view illustrating further details of the structure of the storage compartment. 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0016]    Referring now to the various figures of the drawing, preferred embodiments of the invention shall now be described in detail. In referring to the various figures, like numerals shall refer to like parts.  
         [0017]    As illustrated in the various figures, a toaster oven  10  includes a top wall  12  and sidewalls  20 ,  22 . Toaster oven  10  also includes a bottom section formed by removable crumb tray  14 . Crumb tray  14  includes a handle  16  extending from its front face to enable the user to slide the crumb tray outwardly from the position shown in FIG. 2. Toaster oven  10  also includes a front panel formed by a transparent or translucent door  32 . A handle  30  is mounted on the door to enable the user to open the door to gain access into the toasting compartment of toaster oven  10 . Control knobs  24 ,  26  and  28  are mounted on the front face of toaster oven  10 . The knobs are used to control the various operations which may be performed by toaster oven  10 .  
         [0018]    As indicated previously, a toaster oven usually has many accessories such as a broiler rack, pizza crisper, baking pan and the like. Heretofore, the accessories have been stored in the oven&#39;s cavity or in a kitchen drawer. Both of these storage means have one or more deficiencies.  
         [0019]    To overcome the deficiencies of prior art toaster ovens, a unique storage compartment  40  has been provided. Storage compartment  40  is preferably mounted beneath the lower surface of crumb tray  14 . Storage compartment  40  includes a front wall  44 , side walls  34 ,  36 , rear wall  39 , a bottom wall  48 , and a top wall  50 . A handle  46  is mounted on front wall  44 .  
         [0020]    In a first embodiment as exemplified by the structure illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4, front wall  44  is connected to a tray  52  that is moveably positioned in a horizontal plane above bottom wall  48  of storage compartment  40 . Tray  52  includes a stop  54  formed by a vertically extending flange at its rear or distal end. Each side wall  34 ,  36  of storage compartment  40  includes a stop member  56  disposed at the forward end of the compartment and extending radially inward into the compartment. When moved to its open position as shown in FIG. 3, the forward movement of tray  52  is limited by stop  54  engaging stop member  56  mounted internally of the storage compartment. The abutment of vertical surfaces of stops  54 ,  56 , limits the user from unintentionally removing tray  52  from the internal portion or storage space of storage compartment  40 . When the tray is in the position shown in FIG. 3, various accessories can be placed on tray  52 , and when the tray is filled, the tray will be moved rearwardly as shown in FIG. 4, to place the tray within the storage space of storage compartment  40 . While the tray may be removed entirely from the storage compartment, it can only be so removed when the user deliberately angles the tray so that flange  54  is moved below stops  56 . The use of stops  56  and vertical flange  54  prevents the unintentional removal of the tray from the storage compartment.  
         [0021]    Connectors  62  such as screws or the like are used to join the storage compartment to the bottom surface of the toaster oven. Two pairs of connectors  62  are used on either side of the assembly so that the storage compartment is affixed to toaster oven  10 .  
         [0022]    To secure the sidewalls of the storage compartment to the bottom and top walls, respectively,  48 ,  50  of the compartment, each of the sidewalls includes a pair of upper laterally spaced clip members  66  and a pair of lower laterally spaced clip members  70 . As shown in FIG. 10, each of the clip members includes a pair of vertically spaced fingers,  64 ,  66  which form therebetween a slot. The slots formed in a first pair of the upper clips  68  receive a first edge of the top wall  50  and a second pair of the upper clips  68  receive a second edge of the top wall. Likewise, the slots formed in a first pair of the lower clips receive a first edge of bottom wall  48  and the slots formed in a second pair of the lower clips receive a second edge of the bottom wall.  
         [0023]    An alternate embodiment of the invention is shown in FIGS. 5 through 7. In the alternate embodiment, storage compartment  72  includes top and bottom walls, respectively,  74 ,  76  and sidewalls  78  and  80 . Storage compartment  72  also includes a front wall  80 , which as illustrated, is pivotably connected to the top of sidewalls  78 ,  82  (compare FIGS. 6 and 7) so that the user may gain ready access to the interior of the storage compartment. The use of a pivotable door  80  eliminates the need to form a separable, moveable tray.  
         [0024]    The present invention enables a user of a toaster oven to store accessories without inconvenience by providing a storage area, which is substantially integral with the toaster oven.  
         [0025]    While preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described and illustrated, the present invention should not be limited thereto, but may be otherwise embodied within the scope of the following claims.