Toaster with double-sided contact plates

Abstract

To provide a toaster capable of maintaining the moistness and softness of bread even after toasting.SOLUTION: A toaster includes a plurality of insertion slots formed in an upper part of a main body. An internal space in communication with the insertion slots includes: a heating space which receives slices of bread for heating; and two contact plates 210, 220 positioned vertically on both sides of each inserted slice of bread in the heating space. The contact plates 210, 220 are horizontally movable. When a slice of bread is inserted, one or more of two contact plates 210, 220 move horizontally so that they come into close contact with both surfaces of the bread. The bread is then heated while being held in the state of close contact. The contact plates 210, 220 are made of either heating plates or glass plates.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] To provide an electric toaster for toasting bread, the toaster being provided with a contact plate that is a plate that can heat the bread while being in close contact with both sides of the bread inserted therein, and capable of toasting bread with a good texture. [Background technology]

[0002] Toasters are generally used to toast bread. A conventional electric toaster has an insertion opening at the top, a heating space formed by a plurality of vertical and horizontal wires in an internal space connected to the insertion opening, and electric heating elements are arranged on both sides of the heating space. It is also common for the toaster to have an ejection device that raises the heating space in accordance with a timer, and a timer button on the outside of the body.

[0003] The user inserts the bread into the bread slot on the top of the unit, sets the time by operating the timer button, and the bread is toasted. When toasting is finished, the removal device activates and the bread pops up outside the insertion slot, making it easier to remove.

[0004] One example of such a conventional toaster is Korean Registered Utility Model No. 20-0468711. Looking briefly at the conventional technology with reference to Fig. 1, the toaster includes a housing 10 that provides a bread seating space 11 in which bread (B) can be sandwiched and seated, a heat transfer unit 40 that is installed inside the housing 10 to heat the bread (B) and is made up of a heat transfer wire support plate 41 fixed inside the housing 10 and a heat transfer wire 42 fixed to the heat transfer wire support plate 41, and a control unit attached to the front of the housing 10, and the bread placed inside is heated through the above.

[0005] As shown in the figure, in a conventional toaster, a heat transfer wire 42 for heating bread is arranged at a fixed distance from the bread, so that the heat generated from the heat transfer wire is transferred to the bread through the air, causing the bread to get toasted. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0006] [Patent Document 1] Korean Registered Utility Model No. 20-0468711 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0007] However, when bread is toasted in this way, both sides of the bread are exposed to the air, so as heat is transferred to the bread, it hardens and the moisture in the bread evaporates. As a result, when the bread comes out of the toaster, the moisture has evaporated and it is hard, so when you eat the bread, it is no longer moist, has a bad texture, and loses half of its flavor.

[0008] To provide an electric toaster for toasting bread, capable of maintaining the moistness and softness of the bread even after toasting. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] The present invention provides a toaster equipped with a double-sided contact plate, comprising: a heating space in which a plurality of insertion openings are formed at the top of a main body, an internal space communicating with the plurality of insertion openings in which bread is stored and heated; and two contact plates positioned vertically on both sides of the bread inserted in the heating space, the contact plates being arranged to be horizontally movable laterally, so that when bread is inserted, one or more of the two contact plates move horizontally, heating the bread while maintaining a state of being in close contact with both sides of the bread, the contact plates being made of a heating plate or a glass plate.

[0010] The heating space further includes a spring provided on one side of at least one of the two contact plates for applying an elastic force, and a stop member located on the other side of the contact plate opposite the side on which the spring is located for restricting horizontal movement of the contact plate. When bread is placed inside the heating space, the restriction of the stop member is released and the contact plate moves horizontally due to the elastic force of the spring, so that the contact plate comes into close contact with the bread.

[0011] The present invention also provides a toaster equipped with double-sided contact plates, comprising: a heating space in which a plurality of insertion openings are formed at the top of a main body, an internal space communicating with the plurality of insertion openings is used to store and heat bread; and two contact plates located on both sides of the bread inserted in the heating space, at least one of the contact plates being rotatable based on a lower section, so that when bread is inserted, one or more of the two contact plates rotates based on the lower section and heats the bread while maintaining a state of being in close contact with both sides of the bread, and the contact plates are made of a heating plate or a glass plate.

[0012] The heating space further includes a rotation axis provided at the lower part of one of the two contact plates to provide a reference for the rotational movement, a spring provided on one side of the contact plate having the rotation axis to apply an elastic force, and a rotation stop member to limit the rotational movement of the rotation axis. When bread is placed inside the heating space, the restriction of the rotation stop member is released, and the contact plate rotates about the rotation axis due to the elastic force of the spring to come into close contact with the bread. Effect of the Invention

[0013] The toaster according to the present invention toasts bread placed inside with the heating plate or glass plate in close contact with the bread, so that the moisture inside the bread can be maintained as it is, and thus it has an advantageous effect of toasting bread while maintaining its moistness and softness. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0014] [Figure 1] 1 shows the internal structure of a toaster according to the prior art. [Diagram 2] 2 is an example of the internal structure of a toaster according to the present invention. [Diagram 3] This is intended to aid in understanding the various principles by which the heating plate comes into close contact with bread in the toaster of the present invention, and shows one exemplary principle by which the heating plate comes into close contact with both sides of the bread. [Figure 4] This is intended to aid in understanding the various principles by which the heating plate comes into close contact with bread in the toaster of the present invention, and shows one exemplary principle by which the heating plate comes into close contact with both sides of the bread. [Diagram 5] This is another embodiment of a toaster according to the present invention, in which a transparent tempered glass plate, rather than a heating plate, is in direct contact with the bread, and shows how the bread is toasted with the glass plate in close contact with both sides of the bread. [Figure 6] This is another embodiment of a toaster according to the present invention, in which a transparent tempered glass plate, rather than a heating plate, is in direct contact with the bread, and shows how the bread is toasted with the glass plate in close contact with both sides of the bread. [Figure 7] This is another embodiment of a toaster according to the present invention, in which a transparent tempered glass plate, rather than a heating plate, is in direct contact with the bread, and shows how the bread is toasted with the glass plate in close contact with both sides of the bread. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0015] The object, particular advantages and novel features of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description and preferred embodiments in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. In addition, the terms used are defined in consideration of the functions in the present invention, and may vary according to the intention or practice of the user. Therefore, the definitions of these terms should be based on the entire contents of this specification.

[0016] Fig. 2 is an example of the internal structure of a toaster according to the present invention, and Fig. 3 and Fig. 4 are intended to help understand various principles of how a heating plate comes into close contact with bread in a toaster according to the present invention, and show one exemplary principle of how a heating plate comes into close contact with both sides of bread. The greatest feature of the present invention is that the heating plate comes into close contact with both sides of bread during the process of heating the bread inside the toaster, and various methods and structures are possible for moving the heating plate for this purpose. However, Fig. 3 and Fig. 4 only show one exemplary structure to explain the method of moving the heating plate for close contact.

[0017] The core of this invention is that it is equipped with a flat plate (hereinafter, for ease of explanation, referred to as the "contact plate") that can heat and toast a slice of bread placed inside the toaster while maintaining contact with both sides of the bread, thereby toasting bread with a good texture.

[0018] The contact plate has a heating means (heat wire, etc.) inside itself, and can directly toast bread with the contact plate, in which case the contact plate itself becomes the heating plate. Another example of the contact plate may be a transparent glass plate (strengthened glass plate) that does not have a heating function and only has the function of contacting both sides of the bread, but in this case, the glass plate is sandwiched between both sides of the bread and a separate heating means (electric heating wire, etc.) is placed inside the toaster. The following two embodiments will be described below.

[0019] [Heating plate tightly attached] 2 to 4 exemplarily show a case where the contact plate is a heating plate having a direct heating function. In Fig. 2 to Fig. 4, the contact plate is the heating plate, so in this embodiment, the contact plate is called the "heating plate".

[0020] In the electric toaster according to the present invention, a plurality of insertion openings 110 are formed on the top of the main body 100, a plurality of heating spaces are formed in the internal spaces connected to the plurality of insertion openings 110, in which bread B is placed and heated, and a timer 150 is provided on the outside of the main body 100. A vertical guide groove is formed on one side of the main body, and levers are provided which are inserted into the guide grooves and connected to each heating space 130, so that the inserted bread (or bread) can be lowered. Also, the bread is raised and taken out when the time set by the timer is reached in the heating space 130. However, since such a structure and method are well-known technical ideas provided in ordinary toasters and are not the main feature of the present invention, detailed description thereof will be omitted.

[0021] The present invention is characterized in that the heating plates heat both sides of the bread placed inside the toaster by making intimate contact with each other. The toaster of the present invention heats the bread placed in the heating space, which is an internal space connected to the insertion opening at the top of the main body 100, and includes two heating plates positioned vertically on both sides of the bread placed in the heating space.

[0022] The heating plate 200 of the present invention is a plate-like plate arranged vertically inside the heating space, and is provided so as to be horizontally movable in the lateral direction. When bread is placed in the heating space, one of the two heating plates 200 moves horizontally to heat the bread while maintaining a state of being in close contact with both sides of the bread. The two heating plates 200 can also move horizontally in a direction approaching each other to bring both sides of the bread into close contact with each other.

[0023] In addition, the principle of horizontally moving the heating plate 200 can be various methods and is not limited to any one of them. However, as an example, the methods shown in Figs. 3 and 4 can be considered.

[0024] As shown in Fig. 3, the heating plate 200 is composed of two heating plates 210 and 220 facing each other. In the case where one of the two heating plates 210 moves horizontally, a spring (s) that applies elastic force is located on one side of the moving heating plate 210. A stop member 310 that limits the horizontal movement of the heating plate is located on the other side opposite to the side of the heating plate where the spring is located. In other words, the movement of the heating plate 210 that receives a force in the horizontal direction from the spring is limited by the stop member 310.

[0025] In this state, when a loaf of bread is placed inside the heating space, the restriction of the stop member 310 is released manually by the user (or automatically upon sensing the placement of the loaf of bread). Releasing the stop member causes the heating plate 210, which receives a spring force, to move, and the heating plates 210, 220 come into close contact with both sides of the bread. At this time, the spring force can be determined to an appropriate strength by taking into consideration the degree of elastic force applied to the heating plate and the degree to which both sides of the bread are brought into close contact. The appropriate spring elastic force allows the heating plate to come into close contact with the bread.

[0026] The heating plate 200 can be any material such as copper or metal, as long as it is a square heat transfer plate having a certain area. It can also be a metal-coated plate made of other materials in a flat plate shape.

[0027] In addition, the present invention is a method for bringing a heating plate into close contact with both sides of a loaf of bread, and this may be achieved by rotating (rotating) the heating plate. Referring to FIG. 4, at least one of the two heating plates, heating plate 210, is configured to be rotatable based on its lower part. When bread is inserted, heating plate 210 rotates based on its lower part to come into close contact with both sides of the bread, and heats the bread while maintaining this contact state. At this time, in order to allow the heating plate to come into close contact with both sides of the bread in a rotated state, it is preferable that the distance (d) between the lower part of the rotating heating plate and the other heating plate is equal to or slightly smaller than the width of the bread.

[0028] A rotating shaft 320, which acts as a reference for the rotating operation, is located at an appropriate position below the heating plate 210, and the rotating shaft is provided at an appropriate position on the main body inner frame. A spring (s) is provided on one side of the heating plate with the rotating shaft, so that an elastic force is applied to the heating plate. Also, a rotation stop member (not shown) for restricting the rotation of the rotating shaft is further included. The rotation stop member serves to stop the rotation so that the heating plate 210 does not rotate before the bread is inserted, and is a member for maintaining the state shown in FIG. 4.

[0029] In this state, when a loaf of bread is placed inside the heating space, the restriction of the rotation stop member is released, and the heating plate 210 rotates. Then, the heating plate 210 rotates about the rotation axis due to the elastic force of the spring (s) and comes into close contact with the loaf of bread.

[0030] The operation of the present invention thus configured will be described as follows.

[0031] A loaf of bread B is inserted through the insertion opening 110 of the main body 100, and the heating plate 200 moves horizontally or rotates in the manner described above to come into contact with both sides of the bread. Then, the timer is set to an appropriate time and the switch is pressed, electricity is supplied to the heating plate, and heat generation begins. The toaster according to the present invention toasts the bread with the heating plate in close contact with both sides in this manner, so that the moisture inside the bread is maintained, and the bread can be toasted while maintaining its moistness and softness.

[0032] [Glass plates are tightly attached] 5 to 7 exemplarily show a case where the contact plate is a glass plate made of transparent reinforced glass that does not have a direct heating function. The glass plate is in close contact with both sides of the bread to prevent moisture from evaporating, and a separate heating means can be provided to supply heat for heating, similar to existing toasters. In FIG. 5 to FIG. 7, the contact plate is a glass plate, so in this embodiment, the contact plate is called a "glass plate."

[0033] Looking closely at the toaster according to this embodiment, bread is placed in the heating space, which is the internal space connected to the insertion opening at the top of the main body 100, and heated there. The structure in which the bread placed in the heating space is heated is the same as that described above.

[0034] In the embodiment of the present invention, the toaster further includes a heating means 400 that provides a heat source for heating the bread, and two glass plates 500 that are positioned vertically on both sides of the bread. The heating means is a component that can generate heat when supplied with power, and various types of heating means used in conventional toasters can be used.

[0035] The glass plate 500 of the present invention is a plate-like plate arranged vertically in the heating space, and is provided so as to be horizontally movable laterally. When bread is put into the heating space, one of the two glass plates 500 moves horizontally to maintain a state of being in close contact with both sides of the bread, and in this state, the heat generated from the heating means 400 heats the bread. In the heating means, the glass plate for easily transferring heat to the bread can be made transparent and made of tempered glass. The two glass plates 500 can also be moved horizontally in a direction approaching each other to bring both sides of the bread into close contact with each other.

[0036] 6, a glass plate 500 is composed of two glass plates 510 and 520 facing each other. In the case where one of the two glass plates, 510, moves horizontally, a spring (s) that applies elastic force is located on one side of the moving glass plate 510. A stop member 610 that limits the horizontal movement of the glass plate is located on the other side opposite to the side on which the spring is located. That is, the glass plate 510 receives a horizontal force from the spring, and the movement of the glass plate 510 is limited by the stop member 610. Reference numeral 600 in the figure denotes a support member that supports the glass plate at the lower stage.

[0037] In this state, when a loaf of bread is placed inside the heating space, the restriction of the stop member 610 is released, and the glass plate 510 receiving the force of the spring moves and comes into close contact with both sides of the bread. At this time, the strength of the spring's elastic force can be determined appropriately, taking into consideration the degree of elastic force applied to the glass plate and the degree of close contact between both sides of the bread.

[0038] In addition, the present invention is a method for bringing glass plates into close contact with both sides of bread, and this can be achieved by rotating (rotating) the glass plates. Referring to FIG. 7, at least one of the two glass plates is configured to be rotatable based on the lower part. When bread is placed in the oven, the glass plate rotates based on the lower part and heats the bread while maintaining a state in which it is in close contact with both sides of the bread. In this case, in order to bring the glass plate into close contact with both sides of the bread in the rotated state, it is preferable that the distance (d) between the lower part of the rotating glass plate and the other glass plate is equal to or slightly smaller than the width of the bread.

[0039] A pivot 620 that provides a reference for the rotational movement is disposed at an appropriate position below the glass plate 510, and the pivot is provided at an appropriate location on the main body inner frame. A spring (s) is provided on one side of the glass plate where the pivot is provided, so that an elastic force is applied to the glass plate. A rotation stop member (not shown) that limits the rotational movement of the pivot is further included. The rotation stop member is a member that serves to stop the rotation of the glass plate so that it does not rotate before the bread is inserted. In the above description, the movement of the glass plate is the same as the movement of the heating plate.

[0040] Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto, and various modifications and improvements made by those skilled in the art using the basic concept of the present invention defined in the following claims also fall within the scope of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0041] 100: main body, 110: insertion port, 130: heating space, 200: heating plate, 310: stop member, s: spring.

Claims

1. The oven includes a heating space in which a plurality of insertion openings are formed in an upper portion of the main body, an internal space communicating with the plurality of insertion openings is used to store and heat bread, and two contact plates are positioned vertically on both sides of the bread inserted in the heating space. The contact plate is provided so as to be movable horizontally in a lateral direction, and when bread is inserted, at least one of the two contact plates moves horizontally to heat the bread while maintaining a state of being in close contact with both sides of the bread, and the contact plate is made of a heating plate or a glass plate.

2. A spring provided on one side of at least one of the two contact plates to apply an elastic force; a stop member located on the other side of the contact plate opposite to the side on which the spring is located, and restricting horizontal movement of the contact plate; 2. A toaster equipped with a double-sided contact plate as described in claim 1, characterized in that when bread is placed inside the heating space, the restriction of the stop member is released and the contact plate moves horizontally due to the elastic force of the spring to come into contact with the bread.

3. A plurality of insertion openings are formed in the upper part of the main body, and a heating space in which bread is stored and heated is formed in an internal space communicating with the plurality of insertion openings, and two contact plates are positioned on both sides of the bread inserted in the heating space, At least one of the contact plates is arranged to be rotatable based on the lower section, and when bread is inserted, at least one of the two contact plates rotates based on the lower section to heat the bread while maintaining a state of being in close contact with both sides of the bread, and the contact plate is made of a heating plate or a glass plate.

4. A pivot shaft is provided at a lower part of one of the two contact plates and provides a reference for a pivoting operation; A spring that is provided on one side of the contact plate having the pivot shaft and applies elastic force; A rotation stop member that limits the rotational movement of the rotation shaft, A toaster equipped with a double-sided contact plate as described in claim 3, characterized in that when a loaf of bread is placed inside the heating space, the restriction of the rotation stop member is released, and the contact plate rotates around the rotation axis due to the elastic force of the spring to come into contact with the loaf of bread.

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