COUNTERTOP APPLIANCE COOKING CONTROL UNIT WITH EJECTION FEATURE
First Claim
1. A cooking control unit for a countertop appliance, comprising:
- a cooking selector including a rotary control knob movable between an ejection position and a series of cooking positions; and
an ejection mechanism including a rotary drive element, a translating slider member, and a translating ejector, wherein the rotary drive element is operably coupled to the rotary control knob, the slider includes a contact element and a drive surface, and the ejector includes a contact surface and a displacement element, wherein when the control knob is rotated to the ejection position the rotary drive element drives the slider contact surface to drive the slider in a slider translating motion to a slider ejection position, which drives the slider drive surface against the ejector contact surface to drive the ejector in an ejector translating motion to an ejector ejection position in which the ejector displacement element bears against the countertop appliance to displace the control unit from the appliance.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A cooking control unit for a kitchen-countertop appliance is configured to selectively engage the body of the appliance in operation and to selectively disengage from the appliance body for cleaning. The control unit includes an ejection mechanism that is operable to force the control unit away from the appliance body to cause the disengagement. The ejection mechanism can be related to a cooking selector configured to select a cooking parameter of the food to be prepared. For example, the ejection mechanism can include displacement members such as pins or cams and the cooking selector can include an ejection position. As the cooking selector is adjusted to the ejection position, the control unit is forced away from the body of the countertop appliance by the displacement members.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A cooking control unit for a countertop appliance, comprising:
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a cooking selector including a rotary control knob movable between an ejection position and a series of cooking positions; and an ejection mechanism including a rotary drive element, a translating slider member, and a translating ejector, wherein the rotary drive element is operably coupled to the rotary control knob, the slider includes a contact element and a drive surface, and the ejector includes a contact surface and a displacement element, wherein when the control knob is rotated to the ejection position the rotary drive element drives the slider contact surface to drive the slider in a slider translating motion to a slider ejection position, which drives the slider drive surface against the ejector contact surface to drive the ejector in an ejector translating motion to an ejector ejection position in which the ejector displacement element bears against the countertop appliance to displace the control unit from the appliance. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A cooking control unit for a countertop appliance, comprising:
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a cooking selector including a control knob movable between an ejection position and at least one cooking position; and an ejection mechanism including a drive element and an ejector, wherein the drive element is operably coupled to the control knob and the ejector includes a displacement element, wherein when the control knob is moved to the ejection position the drive element directly or indirectly drives the ejector to an ejector ejection position in which the ejector displacement element bears against the countertop appliance to displace the control unit from the appliance, and wherein when the control knob is moved to the at least one cooking position the drive element does not directly or indirectly drive the ejector to the ejector ejection position. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification