Patent ID: 7317174

Claim:
An electrical food heating appliance having an enclosure, a food heating chamber, at least one electrical heating element within the enclosure, an at least partially rotatable manual control member carried at a first side of the appliance on the appliance's exterior, a first linkage connected with the manual control member and located at the first side of the appliance and converting rotational movement of the manual control member to vertical linear movement of a first support connected thereto, a motion transfer bar mounted for rotation, connected with the at least partially rotatable manual control member, extending from the first side of the appliance to an opposite, second side of the appliance, and connected at the opposite, second side of the appliance with a second linkage for converting at least partial rotation of the motion transfer bar imparted to the motion transfer bar by the manual control member to vertical linear movement of a second support connected to the second linkage, the electrical heating element extending across the food heating chamber from proximate the first side to proximate the second side and connected to the first and second supports for substantially vertical, substantially linear movement within the enclosure, a substantially horizontally disposed heat reflective separator plate extending across the food heating chamber from proximate an interior enclosure wall at the first side to proximate an interior enclosure wall at the second side, and from proximate an interior back wall of the chamber to proximate a front interior closure surface of the chamber, the separator plate located on the opposite side of the heating element from a food heating location within the chamber, and connected to the first and second supports for substantially vertical, substantially linear movement; whereby manually turning the at least partially rotatable manual control member in one direction moves the first and second supports substantially vertically and substantially linearly in one direction toward the food heating location to move the heating element and separator plate nearer a food item located therein and to contract the food heating location, and manually turning the at least partially rotatable manual control member in a second, opposite direction moves the first and second supports substantially vertically and substantially linearly in a second, opposite direction away from the food heating location to move the heating element and separator plate away from the food heating location and to expand the food heating location.