Patent Publication Number: US-2005139086-A1

Title: Toaster grill

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
      The invention pertains to kitchen appliances and more particularly to a toaster grill.  
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      A sandwich press is an electrical kitchen appliance which comprises upper and lower heated cooking surfaces between which a sandwich can be placed so that the sandwich can be toasted. In some embodiments, the lower surface is fixed and the top surface is free to fall under the force of gravity. In other embodiments, the upper surface is free to fall but may be height adjusted to maintain a minimum gap between the top and bottom surfaces. In a sandwich press, the bottom surface is always horizontal.  
      A bench top grill is depicted, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,606,905. Grills of this type reach higher cooking temperatures than sandwich makers. Accordingly, meat can be cooked. However cooking meat hat these temperatures produces liquids such as oils, fats and juices (together referred to in this document as “drippings”) which either run off or accumulate on the lower cooking surface. This particular device depicts an inclined lower cooking surface with grilling ribs which extend upwardly from the plate. The front portions of those ribs are curved upwardly to prevent food from sliding off the lower cooking surface. The upper grilling surface and lower grilling surface are hinged to one another only from the back of the appliance. Devices of this type do not have any way of adjusting the angle of the bottom grilling surface.  
      Another style of grill is depicted in the U.S. Pat. No. 6,363,835. Similarly, the cooking angle of the bottom grilling surface is not adjustable and in this type of device there is no convenient way of collecting the drippings that will run off from the food which is being grilled.  
     OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      It is an object of the present invention to provide a combination toaster grill where the angle of the lower cooking surface, with respect to the horizontal, is adjustable.  
      It is another object of the invention to provide a toaster grill having a top cooking surface which pivots from a central rather than a rear mounted hinge and which includes features for allowing the collection drippings from both the top and bottom cooking surfaces.  
      Accordingly, there is provided a toaster grill having a lower assembly which comprises a lower cooking surface and adjustable feet.  
      In some embodiments the feet are provided as a front (or rear) pair that each fold from a concealed to a deployed position.  
      In some embodiments, the device also includes a ‘U’ shaped frame which is pivoted to the rear of the lower assembly. The frame further comprises a pair of opposed and centrally located pivots which support the upper cooking assembly. The upper and lower cooking assemblies are interconnected by an electrical cord which supplies power to the upper cooking assembly.  
      In some embodiments the rear portions of the top and bottom cooking assemblies are interconnected by a link which establishes a maximum separation of the rear portions and also positions the rear of the top assembly so that it discharges drippings onto the bottom assembly. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES  
       FIG. 1  is a top plan view of a toaster grill according to the teachings of the present invention;  
       FIG. 2  is a side elevation of the device depicted in  FIG. 1 ;  
       FIG. 3  is a perspective view of the device depicted in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , with the top cooking assembly fully open;  
       FIG. 4  is a cross section of the device depicted in  FIG. 2  illustrating the adjustable front foot;  
       FIG. 5  is another cross section of the device depicted in  FIG. 4  showing the foot in the retracted position;  
       FIG. 6  is a perspective detail of the folding foot;  
       FIG. 7  ( a )( b ) are details of the foot showing how rubber inserts are used to achieve height differences;  
       FIG. 8  ( a )( b ) are perspective details showing the folding foot;  
       FIG. 9  is a perspective view of a foot, partially cross sectioned to show the details of the insert-molding;  
       FIG. 10  is a rear perspective view of the device depicted in  FIG. 1 ; and  
       FIG. 11  is a perspective view of a pivoting foot and cavity prior to assembly; and  
       FIG. 12  is a side elevation showing the link. 
    
    
     BEST MODE AND OTHER EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION  
      As shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , a toaster grill  10  comprises and upper cooking assembly  11  and a lower cooking assembly  12 . Each assembly comprises a housing, a cooking surface and a heating element. A ‘U’ shaped frame  13  includes a front handle portion  14  and is pivoted to the lower cooking assembly  12  at rear mounted position  15 . Accordingly, pivots  16  pass through the rear of the frame  15  to elbows  17  which are formed with the lower cooking assembly and which elevate the fixed pivot point  16  of the hinges above the cooking surface of the lower assembly. The device features a temperature controller and heating elements in each assembly  11 ,  12  which provide for average cooking temperatures of about 180 C to 230 C.  
      As illustrated in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the ‘U’ shaped frame  13  also includes a slider  18  which is adapted to rest on any one of a seriess of steps  19  which are formed into the side of the lower cooking assembly  12 . Depending upon which step  19  the slider  18  rests on, a different minimum gap between the upper and lower assemblies is established.  
      As depicted in  FIG. 2 , the upper cooking assembly  11  pivots about a pair of hinge points  20  located centrally on the sides of the frame  13  and generally between the handle  14  and the rear pivot  16 .  
       FIG. 2  also shows an electrical cord  21  extending between the upper and lower cooking assemblies  11 ,  12 . Cord  21  may be wrapped in a stainless steel protective coil if required. The cord  21  restrains the movement of the rear end  22  of the upper assembly when there are no other forces acting on the upper assembly. It will be understood that the presence of an irregularly shaped food item between the cooking plates will allow the upper assembly  11  to pivot and accommodate the shape of the food being cooked. The range of motion of the rear  22  of the upper cooking assembly  11  is also maintained by a link  23  which in effect limits the maximum separation between the rear  22  of the upper assembly  11  and the rear of the lower assembly  12 . The link extends between the rear of the upper and lower assemblies.  
      As shown in  FIG. 3 , the top assembly may be pivoted open to an open position which is greater than 90 degrees from the lower assembly. This position is used to load and unload the appliance with food and also permits the cooking of food with the plate in this open orientation. When in this position, the link  23  prevents the rear of the upper plate  11  from pivoting excessively and maintains the location of the rear edge  25  of the upper cooking surface in a position which is always over some portion of the lower cooking surface  26  (see  FIG. 12 ). In this way, drippings from the upper cooking surface always fall onto the lower cooking surface  26 .  
      As shown in  FIG. 4 , the angle of the lower assembly  12  and therefore the lower cooking or grilling surface  47  is adjustable. The lower cooking assembly  12  includes a fixed rear foot  40  having rubber gripping surfaces on its bottom  41  and rear  42 . The lower assembly  12  also has a pivoting front foot  45  which is capable of two distinct and stable positions. The provision of an adjustable foot  45  of this type allows the angle of the actual cooking surface  47  to be adjusted, for example, making the cooking surface flat or inclined as required. It will be observed that the device exemplified by  FIG. 4  includes a lower cooking surface  47  which includes a bottom surface or cooking surface base  48  (between the ribs, if any) as well as optional cooking ribs  49 . In this example, the folding foot  45  is shown in a deployed position which has the effect of elevating the front of the device. When the foot  45  is pivoted fully forward, it rests with its rubber pad  52  in contact with the ground. So that the front surface  53  of the foot  45  does not interfere with the permanent front foot  54 , it includes a relief portion  55 . In this orientation, the food contacting surface  46  comprising the tops of the ribs  49  is horizontal. This prevents foods such as sausages from rolling off of the lower assembly. Note that with the tops of the ribs  46  being horizontal, the base  48  of the cooking surface is inclined about 2 degrees from the horizontal. This promotes the discharge of run off and drippings into a collection trough  50 . Note that the tops of the ribs  46  are flat and do not need to be curved or raised further to prevent food from falling off of the appliance.  
      As shown in  FIGS. 4 and 5 , when the pivoting foot  45  is retracted, it lies entirely below the bottom surface  51  of the lower cooking assembly. In this orientation the front of the lower cooking assembly  12  rests on the pad of the permanent front foot  54 .  
       FIGS. 4 and 8  also illustrate that the drip collection tray  50  has one or more flat fingers  140  which are insertable into slots formed in the front face of the lower assembly. The fingers  140  may have raised bumps or domes  141  which engage with cooperating recesses  142  formed adjacent to the undersurface of the lower assembly (see  FIG. 8 ). This prevents the tray  140  from inadvertent movement. Note, from  FIG. 4 , that the tray is fully supported by the lower assembly and raised above the ground when the forward adjustable feet  45  are extended.  FIG. 5  shows that when the feet  45  are folded away, the tray  50  can rest on the bench surface.  
      As shown in  FIGS. 6-8  and  11 , the foot  45  includes features which make it both easy to assemble, robust in its use and flexible in its application. As shown in those figures, the foot  45  is in the form of a pivoting leg having a front recess or opening  56 , a doubly slotted rear portion  57  and the mid-body relief portion  55 . The slotted rear portion  57  forms two external ears  62  and an internal ear  62   a.  The external ears  62  each have an outwardly facing horizontal pivot  58 . The pivot  58  includes a retaining finger  59 . As shown in  FIGS. 6 and 11 , the cavity  60  which retains the pivoting foot  45  includes a pair of opposed slots  61  in its side walls  62 . The slots have internal ramps  61   a  forming a detent mechanism for retaining the pivots  58 . These slots  61  accommodate the pivots  58  when they are inserted, but to ride over the ramps  61   a,  the pivots  58  must move closer to one another. This movement of the external ears  62  and pivots  58  is possible because the slots  63  allow the ears  62  to flex toward each other. Thus, when the foot  45  is inserted into the well  60  past the ramps, the side plates  62  flex, then snap back into position, fixing them in the slots  61  in a journal  61   b  located past the ramps  61   a . When the foot is in it&#39;s extended position (see  FIGS. 4 and 8  ( a )) the slots  63  interdigitate with ribs  65  in the cavity  60  and thus it is not possible for the ears  62  to move toward one another as would be required for removal of the foot. In this way, the foot is locked in place when it is in the extended position. When the foot is in a fully retracted position as shown in  FIGS. 5 and 8  ( b ), the retaining finger  59  is retained by a web  61   c  in the area adjacent to the slot  61 . Note that the cavity is long enough (see  FIGS. 8   a  and  8   b ) to accommodate a finger for the purpose of removing the foot from the retracted position.  
      As shown in  FIG. 9 , the foot&#39;s opening or recess  56  may be filled or insert molded with rubber pads  52  of various pad height dimensions. The cavity  56  features an internal shoulder  91  which assists the foot in retaining the pad  52  under compression loads. A portion of the foot body  92  also intrudes at least partially into the opening  56 . This intrusion also helps in retaining the rubber pad  52 . It will be appreciated that this arrangement allows rubber pads of different dimensions to be molded into a single foot thus minimising manufacturing costs and providing flexibly required to manufacture different models while using the same foot.  
      As shown in  FIGS. 4 and 10 , the toaster grill  10  of the present invention has a lower cooking assembly which includes permanently mounted rear stabilising feet  100 . These stabilising feet  100  have rubberised surfaces  41 ,  41  which allow the device to be positioned in any one of a number of different cooking positions as well as in a vertical orientation for storage. When in the vertical orientation, the axial pads  42  make contact with the ground at the same point that the rubberized bottoms  101  of the frame  13 . This allows the device to be stored in a convenient upright orientation.