| US 7,481,153 B2 | ||
| Toaster having visual shade indicator | ||
| John D. Barnes, Richmond, Va. (US); and Martin Patrick Brady, Richmond, Va. (US) | ||
| Assigned to Hamilton Beach Brands, Inc., Glen Allen, Va. (US) | ||
| Filed on Oct. 13, 2006, as Appl. No. 11/549,318. | ||
| Prior Publication US 2008/0087174 A1, Apr. 17, 2008 | ||
| Int. Cl. A47J 37/08 (2006.01) | ||
| U.S. Cl. 99—326 [99/331; 99/342; 99/389; 219/521] | 10 Claims |
| 1. A toaster for heating a foodstuff to a selected shade, the toaster having a housing including at least one wall, at least
one heating chamber within the housing for receiving the foodstuff to be heated and at least one heating element for heating
the foodstuff in the heating chamber, the toaster comprising:
a window in the wall;
a control knob for controlling a time period that the foodstuff is heated, the control knob being rotatable between a first
end position at which the foodstuff is heated for a short time period to provide a light foodstuff shade, a second end position
at which the foodstuff is heated for a long time period to provide a dark foodstuff shade and a plurality of intermediary
positions between the first and second end positions at which the foodstuff is heated for a selected time period between the
short and long time periods to provide a foodstuff shade between light and dark; and
a visual shade scale including shades ranging from a light shade at a first end of the scale to a dark shade at a second end
of the scale with increasingly darker shades when moving from the first end to the second end of the scale, the scale being
movable with respect to the window by rotation of the control knob so that the shade of the scale which is aligned for display
through the window corresponds to the expected foodstuff shade after heating the foodstuff for the selected time period.
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