AU2012201528B2

AU2012201528B2 - Improved Motorised Toaster

Info

Publication number: AU2012201528B2
Application number: AU2012201528A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Scott Brady
Original assignee: Breville Pty Ltd; Breville R&D Pty Ltd
Current assignee: Breville Pty Ltd
Priority date: 2007-06-14
Filing date: 2012-03-15
Publication date: 2015-01-22
Anticipated expiration: 2028-06-10
Also published as: AU2012201528A1

Abstract

A motorised toaster with heating elements has a user input that 5 communicates with an electronic device that controls an electric motor. A reciprocating toast carriage is under the influence of the motor. A user activated control is adapted to cause an inspection subroutine, the subroutine being the motorised elevation of the carriage and without further user input and a returning of the carriage to the lower position during a toast cycle.

Description

IMPROVED MOTORISED TOASTER FIELD OF THE INVENTION The invention pertains to toasters and more particularly to a motorised toasters. 5 The invention has been developed primarily for use as a motorised toaster and will be described hereinafter with reference to this application. However, it will be appreciated that the invention is not limited to this particular field of use. BAcKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 10 Any discussion of the prior art throughout the specification should in no way be considered as an admission that such prior art is widely known or forms part of the common general knowledge in the field. Although a toaster can actually toast pastries, muffins, and a variety of foods, "toast" will be used throughout this document to exemplify all suitable foods 15 for toasting. Toasters generally include a control such as a knob or slider whereby a user can select a toasting cycle time. The longer the toasting cycle time, the darker the toast. For a variety of reasons, the toast produced as a result of a particular setting does not always correspond to the user's expectations. In a conventional toaster, a user must terminate a toasting cycle 20 and eject the toast in order to inspect it. If not toasted adequately, the user must then initiate a new toasting cycle. Because the toast will have been at least partially cooked before the second toasting cycle is initiated, a completion of the second toasting cycle will usually result in toast that is darker than the user's expectation and darker than the initial toast cycle 25 setting would have dictated. Manually operated toasters are known to have mid-cycle inspection features. The inspection features allow a user to manually lift the toast out of the toasting slot on the carriage so that the extent of browning can be observed. However, when toast is lifted out of the slot in this way and the cycle is thus 1 interrupted, the toasting cycle time is not adjusted accordingly. In effect, the toasting cycle time is shortened when compared to a toasting cycle in which no inspection occurs. Improvements to the above apparatus and methodologies are provided with a 5 motorised toaster having an automated inspection feature. OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to overcome or ameliorate at least one of the disadvantages of the prior art, or to provide a useful alternative. It is an object of the invention in a preferred form to provide a toaster with an 10 optional toast cycle time compensation feature. It is an object of the invention in a preferred form to provide a motorised toaster with an automated visual inspection feature. It is another object of the invention in a preferred form to provide a toaster with both inspection feature and an optional toast cycle time compensation 15 feature. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to an aspect of the invention there is provided a toaster device with heating elements, the toaster device including; a main housing and a reciprocating toast carriage; the toast carriage having a lower position that 20 corresponds with the heating elements being energised and an elevated position; a user activated electronic control having a toasting cycle duration input means for enabling user selection of a duration of a regular toasting cycle; and the user activated electronic control further having a toasting cycle extension input means for initiating an additional toasting cycle of a 25 predefined extension period. 2 According to an aspect of the invention there is provided a toaster having a motor that acts to raise and lower a toast carriage. Electronic controls are provided to allow the user to cause the motor to elevate the toast carriage, mid-cycle. Without further user input, the toast carriage is returned to a 5 toasting position. In preferred embodiments a user can cancel the toasting cycle during the inspection subroutine. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES In order that the invention be better understood, reference is now made to the 10 following drawing figures in which: Figure 1 is a cross section of a motorised toasters incorporating an inspection feature; and Figure 2 is a cross section of the toaster depicted in Figure 1, with the toast carriage in the toasting position. 15 BEST MODE AND OTHER EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION As shown in Figure 1, a motorised toaster 10 comprises a main housing 11 that is supported on rubber feet 12. In this example, an upper surface 13 presents electronic, button activated, user inputs or controls 14. These user inputs are supplied or communicated to a main printed circuit board (PCB) or other 20 means for controlling the motor 15 that exercises electronic control over an electric motor 16. The PCB or other means 15 may also control other aspects of the operation of the toaster. An end panel 17 of the housing 11 has a slot in it through which protrudes a slider 18 with which the user can adjust the duration of the toasting cycle. 25 Information relating to the slider position is transmitted to or gathered by the PCB 15. Under the control of the PCB, the motor 16 and its gearbox 19 cause a rotating motor arm 20 to influence the motion of a reciprocating toast carriage 21. The 3 motor arm 20 is coupled to the carriage 21 is a way that the toast carriage can be lowered at the inception of a toasting cycle and raised at the end of a toasting cycle without the need for user intervention. The apparatus depicted in Figure 1 is also adapted to provide a user with an 5 automated visual inspection feature. As suggested by Figure 2, the toast carriage 21 has a lower position that corresponds with the toaster's heating elements being energised or "on". The carriage 21 is lowered into this position by the action of the motor 16 under the control of the PCB. It may remain in this lower position for the full duration of the toasting cycle. At the end of the 10 cycle, the PCB causes the motor to elevate the carriage back to the upper position depicted in Figure 1. However, at any time during the toasting cycle, a user may initiate an inspection subroutine. The user pushes or otherwise activates an electronic control 14 to initiate the subroutine. Activating the control 14 causes the PCB 15 to raise the carriage 21 to the upper position depicted in Figure 1 for a relatively short period of time. While the carriage is in this upper position, the heating elements preferably remain on. In this upper position, the user can visually inspect the toast. Typically, the inspection subroutine lasts about seven seconds. That is to say that the carriage is elevated from its lower most 20 position and returns to this lower most position in about seven seconds and without user intervention. In preferred embodiments, the duration of the inspection subroutine is added to the duration of the toasting cycle. In the previous example, this will result in a toasting cycle being extended by the seven seconds that were consumed by the inspection subroutine. 25 If during the inspection subroutine, a user observes that the toast is done to satisfaction, they can simultaneously terminate both the subroutine and the toasting cycle by depressing a cancel button or control 14. This will have the effect of turning off the heating elements and elevating the toast carriage 21 to (or leaving it in) the upper position depicted in Figure 1. 30 In some embodiments, the user controls 14 comprise a toasting cycle extension button. In preferred embodiments, extension of the toasting cycle 4 may only be requested by a user after a regular toasting cycle ends. The depression of this button starts the toasting cycle extension and causes a series of events. Firstly it causes the PCB 15 to move the carriage 21 to the lower position. The PCB 15 then switches on the heating element for approximately 5 forty seconds of toasting. Lastly the PCB 15 raises the carriage back to the upper position, thus ending the toasting cycle extension. In particularly preferred embodiments, the toaster 10 has user controls for both the inspection subroutine and the toasting cycle extension. In these embodiments, the inspection subroutine may be activated during the toasting 10 cycle extension. The activation of the inspection subroutine interrupts the toasting cycle extension in the manner previously described. This interruption lengthens the overall duration of the toasting cycle extension by the amount of time the inspection subroutine requires. However the toasting cycle extension cannot be activated during the inspection subroutine. 15 It will be appreciated that the illustrated toaster device provides: a toaster with an optional toast cycle time compensation feature; a motorised toaster with an automated visual inspection feature; and a toaster with both inspection feature and an optional toast cycle time compensation feature. While the present invention has been disclosed with reference to particular 20 details of construction, these should be understood as having been provided by way of example and not as limitations to the scope or spirit of the invention as it may be expressed in claims. 5

Claims

1. A toaster device with heating elements, the toaster device including: a main housing and a reciprocating toast carriage; the toast carriage having a lower position that corresponds with the heating 5 elements being energised and an elevated position; a user activated electronic control having a toasting cycle duration input means for enabling user selection of a duration of a regular toasting cycle; and the user activated electronic control further having a toasting cycle extension input means for initiating an additional toasting cycle of a predefined extension 10 period, wherein initiating the additional toasting cycle for the predefined extension period does not change the user selection of the duration of the regular toasting cycle.

2. The device according to claim 1, wherein user selection of the toasting cycle extension input means initiates the additional toasting cycle that causes: 15 lowering of the carriage into the lower position; energising of the heating element for a predefined extension period; and raising of the carriage to the upper position.

3. The device according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the toasting cycle extension input means can only be operatively selected by a user after a 20 regular toasting cycle ends.

4. The device according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the predefined extension period is about forty seconds.

5. The device according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the predefined extension period is constant for all toasting settings. 25

6. The device according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the toasting cycle extension input means is a button. 6

7. The device according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the toasting cycle duration input means is a slider.

8. The device according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the toasting cycle duration input means is separate from the toasting cycle extension input 5 means.

9. The device according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the user activated electronic control further includes in inspection input means for initiating an inspection routine; the inspection routine can be initiated during a current toasting cycle, and interrupts the current toasting cycle.

10 10. The device according to claim 9, wherein interrupting the current toasting cycle lengthens the overall duration of the current toasting cycle by the amount of time the inspection routine requires.

11. The device according to claim 9 or claim 10, wherein the toasting cycle extension input means cannot be operatively activated during the inspection routine. 15

12. The device according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the main housing includes a user activated electronic control for communicating with a control means for controlling an electric motor; the reciprocating toast carriage being under the influence of the motor and being lowerable into its lower position by the action of the motor. 20

13. The device according to claim 12, wherein the user activated electronic control further includes an inspection input means for initiating an inspection routine; the inspection routine causing the motorised elevation of the carriage to the elevated position and, without further user input, a returning of the carriage to the lower position during a toast cycle. 25

14. The device according to claim 13, wherein the inspection routine can be initiated during a current toasting cycle, and interrupts the current toasting cycle. 7

15. The device according to claim 14, wherein a duration of the inspection routine is added by the control means to a duration of the current toasting cycle.

16. The device according to claim 15, wherein the duration of the inspection routine is about seven seconds. 5

17. The device according to any one of claims 13 to 16, wherein the toaster further comprises a user operated control that allows the user to simultaneously terminate the inspection routine and the toasting cycle.

18. The device according to any one of claims 13 to 17, wherein the heating elements remain energised throughout a duration of the inspection routine. 10

19. The device according to any one of claims 13 to 17, wherein the toasting cycle extension input means cannot be operatively activated during the inspection routine.

20. The device according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the user activated electronic control receives separate signals for the toasting cycle 15 duration input means and the toasting cycle extension input means.

21. A toaster device with heating elements, the toaster device having a toasting cycle extension input means adapted to provide additional toasting for a predefined extension period, substantially as herein described with reference to any one of the embodiments of the invention illustrated in the accompanying drawings 20 and/or examples. 8