Sandwich making appliance and method of making a sandwich with the same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10010216-B2
Application number	US-201514682458-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 9, 2015
Priority date	Jan 14, 2013
Publication date	Jul 3, 2018
Grant date	Jul 3, 2018

Abstract

A small cooking appliance with a bottom housing, a top housing, and a ring assembly. An uppermost cooking cavity is defined in the top housing and may be used to cook or heat a top food layer. The uppermost cooking cavity includes a floor that forms an uppermost cooking surface. The uppermost cooking cavity may have an open top. The appliance may include a hinged or pivoting lid to selectively close off the open top of the uppermost cooking cavity. The uppermost cooking surface may be heated by one or more heating elements in the top housing. The appliance cooks a food item in an assembled manner save a top food layer of the food item needs to be manually removed from the uppermost cooking cavity and placed onto the other layers.

First claim

That which is claimed:

1. An appliance for cooking a food item, the appliance comprising:
a bottom housing having a top surface, the top surface forming a bottom cooking surface of the appliance;
a top housing having a bottom surface, the bottom surface forming a top cooking surface of the appliance, the top housing being movably attached to the bottom housing, the top housing moveable between a closed position and an open position; and
a ring assembly positioned between the top and bottom cooking surfaces when the top housing is in its closed position, the ring assembly comprising a top ring, a bottom ring, and a center cooking plate, the center cooking plate movable between (i) a closed position in which a space defined by the ring assembly is divided into top and bottom cooking cavities and (ii) an open position;
wherein an uppermost cooking cavity is defined in the top housing, the uppermost cooking cavity comprising a floor that forms an uppermost cooking surface;
the top cooking cavity is formed by the top cooking surface, the top ring, and the center cooking plate when the top housing and the center cooking plate are in their respective closed positions, and wherein the bottom cooking cavity is formed by the bottom cooking surface, the bottom ring, and the center cooking plate when the top housing and the center cooking plate are in their respective closed positions;
the top ring is selectively movably attached to the bottom housing to enable the top ring to move between a closed position and an open position, the bottom ring is selectively movably attached to the bottom housing to enable the bottom ring to move between a closed position and an open position, the top ring is adapted to move independently of the top housing and independently of the bottom ring, the bottom ring is adapted to move independently of the top housing and independently of the top ring; and
the center cooking plate is moveable between its open position and its closed position while the top and bottom rings are in their respective closed positions.

2. The appliance of claim 1 , wherein the uppermost cooking surface comprises a plurality of raised ridges.

3. The appliance of claim 1 , wherein the uppermost cooking cavity further comprises a side wall.

4. The appliance of claim 1 , further comprising:
one or more heating elements in at least one of the top housing and the bottom housing to heat at least one of the top cooking surface, the bottom cooking surface, and the uppermost cooking surface.

5. The appliance of claim 1 , wherein the center cooking plate is pivotably attached to at least one of the top ring and the bottom ring.

6. The appliance of claim 1 , wherein, when the center cooking plate is in its open position, at least a portion of the center cooking plate remains between the top and bottom rings while the top and bottom rings are in their respective closed positions.

7. The appliance of claim 6 , wherein the ring assembly further comprises an open position stop guide to limit a movement of the center cooking plate so that when the center cooking plate is in its open position, at least a portion of the center cooking plate remains between the top and bottom rings.

8. The appliance of claim 1 , wherein the ring assembly further comprises at least one spacer element to maintain a desired spacing between the top and bottom rings while the top and bottom rings are in their respective closed positions.

9. The appliance of claim 1 , wherein the ring assembly further comprises a closed position stop guide, the center cooking plate engaging the closed position stop guide when the center cooking pate is in the closed position such that the center cooking plate fully overlaps a bottom open end of the top ring and a top open end of the bottom ring.

10. The appliance of claim 1 , wherein the ring assembly is removably attached to the bottom housing at a hinge point;
wherein the ring assembly comprises a hinge pin about which the top and bottom rings hinge, the hinge pin having opposing ends, the opposing ends of the hinge pin having different diameters;
wherein the hinge point comprises opposing channels for receiving opposing ends of the hinge pin, the opposing channels having different sizes corresponding to the different diameters of the opposing ends of the hinge pin.

11. The appliance of claim 10 , wherein the opposing channels are angled relative to a plane of the top cooking surface when the top housing is in its closed position such that the ring assembly cannot be removed from the hinge point when the top housing is in the closed position.

12. The appliance of claim 1 , wherein, when the top housing is in a closed position, contact is maintained between (i) the bottom cooking surface and the bottom ring, (ii) the bottom ring and the center cooking plate, (iii) the center cooking plate and the top ring, and (iv) the top ring and the top cooking surface.

Assignees

• Hamilton Beach Brands Inc

Inventors

• Garman Michael
• Jackson David L
• Longmire Abraham S
• Stamper George
• Pierce Micheal M
• Mccullough Derek A
• Steiner Mark C
• Radford Andrea L

Classifications

• A47J37/0611 Primary

  the food being cooked between two heating plates, e.g. waffle-irons · CPC title

• A23L5/10

  General methods of cooking foods, e.g. by roasting or frying · CPC title