Many different types of toasters have been manufactured and used all over the world for decades, ranging from small single or double slice home toasters to large commercial toasters. Toasters may be used to toast sliced bread, rolls, bagels, biscuits, and other similar food products.
One type of toaster is a conveyor toaster that continuously moves food prod products through the appliance. Generally, these conveyor toasters include a housing having a toasting cavity, a conveyor for moving the bread/toast through the toasting cavity, and one or more heating elements.
Various efforts have been made to develop conveyor toasters, and the following references show a few examples. These references are incorporated by reference herein, in their entireties:
U.S. Pat. No. 1,696,613: Toaster
A toaster includes a horizontal conveyor, the bread to be toasted being-placed on the conveyor at the front of the toaster and carried toward the rear in close proximity to suitable heating means, whereby the bread is toasted. At the rear of the toaster the bread is fed by the conveyor to means for returning it to the front of the toaster, this means being shown as an inclined slide. The toaster further includes means for regulating a draft of cooling air around the heating means whereby the generation of heat may be-regulated for different toasting operations and for light or heavy loads, and also a special crumb tray arrangement below the heating means.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,708,522: Toaster
A toaster is provided in which the articles to be toasted, such as slices of bread, are fed through the apparatus by suitable conveying means, and wherein the heating of the heating elements is started by insertion of the material to be toasted. The toaster includes conveying means for the material to be toasted and means for driving or stopping said conveyer in accordance with the presence or absence of the toaster of material to be toasted, and further includes a casing having insertion openings at different positions along the conveyer so that the length of path traveled by the bread in passing the heating means may be varied to vary.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,517,605: Bun Toaster
A compact and easily cleaned bun toaster such as for the heels and crowns of hamburger buns and the like. A conveyor confronts a toasting platen for driving buns along the surface of the conveyor to toast them. The conveyor is removable as a unit from the frame mounting the platen, thereby to expose both the conveyor and the platen for easy cleaning. The platen is movable toward and away from the conveyor to adjust the space therebetween. The platen is stepped to facilitate simultaneous toasting of bun heels and crowns of different thicknesses. The conveyor is in driven engagement only when moved into suspended engagement with the frame.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,693,536: Apparatus and Method of Toasting Bread Like Articles
An electric toasting apparatus comprised of a conveyor adapted to support articles to be toasted and having the transverse width and a preselected rate of movement in a longitudinal direction. The apparatus includes at least two radiant heater means disposed adjacent the conveyor, each arranged to provide generally uniform heating conditions across substantially the entire transverse width of the conveyor and along at least a substantial portion of the longitudinal length of the conveyor. One heater runs constantly and has a heat output to bring the articles close to the toasting point. The other is modulated to control its heat output and thus the total output of both heater means to give the desired degree of toasting. The method comprises the steps of: (a) conveying the articles past and adjacent to the first and second heater means at a uniform rate; (b) fully energizing the first heater means in an amount sufficient to bring the articles at least close to the toasting point; and (c) simultaneously energizing the second heater means to produce less than its maximum heat output, but sufficiently to fully toast the articles.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,835,760: Apparatus for Toasting Bread-Like Articles
Apparatus for toasting bread-like articles is disclosed comprising a housing providing a toasting chamber in which electrical heating elements are disposed together with an endless conveyor operable to receive and carry articles to be toasted past the heating elements. The housing has an entrance opening for introducing articles onto the conveyor and when the articles have been toasted they are discharged from the conveyor for removal from the apparatus. The housing is provided with a discharge opening in the top wall thereof and adjacent the rear wall of the housing, and a flue arrangement is provided within the housing to induce hot air in the housing to flow through the discharge opening. Flow of hot air through the flue induces ambient air to flow into the toasting chamber through the product entrance, beneath the conveyor and heating elements and thence upwardly toward the top of the chamber. A temperature sensing element is disposed in the housing in the path of ambient air flow and is responsive to the temperature sensed to cause energization and de-energization of the heating elements.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,286,509: Toasting Apparatus
An economical energy saving toasting apparatus includes a housing with an interior baffle defining a toasting chamber therein and an inlet for the introduction of the product to be toasted into the chamber. The housing also includes an outlet through which the toasted product is dispensed. A conveying assembly for conveying the product from the inlet through the toasting chamber to the outlet is also included within the housing. Mounted within the toasting chamber is a first set of resistive heating elements that are electrically connected in a circuit and continuously energized during the operation of the heating apparatus. A second set of heating elements is also included in the heating chamber and connected to a timer in order to be energized for only selected periods of time. A micro-switch is also included in the apparatus to actuate the timer and a micro-switch actuator is positioned in the inlet and adjacent to the conveying device so as to be engaged by the product prior to entry into the toasting chamber. The engagement of the product actuates the micro-switch to energize the timer and the second set of heating coils for a predetermined period of time.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,673,610: Apparatus for Conveyorized Toasting of Breads and Like Food Items
An apparatus for conveyorized toasting of sandwich buns and like bread and food items simultaneously on opposite sides comprises a central heated platen with two bun transport conveyors traveling in spaced relation along opposite sides of the platen and with a pair of auxiliary heating elements disposed outwardly of the respective food transport runs of the conveyors in facing relation to the opposite sides of the platen. Each conveyor is biased toward the platen by a pair of parallel pivot arms urged by springs into pivoted engagement against the transport run of the respective conveyor to define a predetermined desirable spacing to the facing side of the platen.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,746,116: Rapid Toasting Apparatus
An improved toasting apparatus is disclosed including a variable speed conveyor belt for conveying products through the toaster; a bottom heating element positioned below the conveyor belt, the bottom heating element including variable control for controlling the amount of heat provided by the bottom heating element; a drying zone including a first plurality of upper heating elements positioned above the conveyor; a toasting zone including a second plurality of upper heating elements; and wherein the bottom heating element and the first and second plurality of upper heating elements are controlled individually and independently.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,983,785: Contact Toaster with Infinite Adjustment
A contact toaster has a housing with a product inlet, product outlet and at least one toasting chamber defined in the housing. A heated platen is mounted in the housing and has a platen surface arranged for toasting the food products. A flexible endless belt, which when rotated, is arranged to pass the food products in a toasting path along the platen between the belt and the platen. An infinite controller acts to selectively displace the belt to adjust the distance between the belt and the platen to any value between minimum and maximum distance limits to accommodate food products of different widths. A guide is situated between the belt and the infinite controller so that the controller is in contact with at least one area of the guide. The infinite controller includes a variable distance element with a cam surface which is settable to any selected point of the cam surface between minimum and maximum cam radial limits to move the guide and belt to any belt to a selected platen distance that can have any value equal to or intermediate the maximum and minimum distance limits.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,019,030: Conveyor-Type Food Product Toaster
A toaster for bread-type food products includes a housing defining at least one toasting cavity. A toasting heater is operatively associated with the cavity. An endless chain-type conveyor is provided for conveying food products through the cavity. An endless belt is disposed about the conveyor to prevent the chain-type conveyor from imprinting the food products. The belt includes a seam, and a retention portion of the belt at the seam is engaged with the conveyor to prevent slippage between the belt and the conveyor.
US Publication Number 20100139497A1: Food Heating Device
A food heating device includes a first conveyor having a first thermally-conductive belt and a second conveyor having a second thermally-conductive belt. A first platen is disposed on a first side of the first thermally-conductive belt and a second platen disposed on a first side of the second thermally-conductive belt. The first conveyor and the second conveyor are arranged and spaced to transport a food product between a second side of the first thermally-conductive belt and a second side of the second thermally-conductive belt.
US Publication Number 201000275789A1: Toaster with Removable and Adjustable Conveyors
A dual-sided, conveyor toaster provides operator-adjustable conveyors that are also operator removable. The removable conveyor assemblies are chain driven and removably supported in the toaster by re-positionable mounting mechanisms embodied as either adjustable pins that engage fixed slots or adjustable slots that engage fixed pins. Fixed pins can be located on the conveyor and engage adjustable slots in the toaster; adjustable pins can be located on the toaster and engage fixed slots on the conveyor. The conveyor assemblies use non-marring plates to urge food products against the heated platen surfaces and to carry the food products across the platen.