The invention relates to an electric egg cooker having a heating device and an egg holder.
To cook eggs, conventionally, the eggs are cooked in a hot water bath or in a steam atmosphere for the required thermal energy to be transferred to the eggs. Furthermore, German Published, Non-Prosecuted Patent Application DE 1 429 788, German Utility Model DE 733 26 78 U1, German Utility Model DE 1 869 521 U1, German Utility Model DE 1 891 125 U1 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,227,065 to Litman, disclose egg cookers in which the heat is transferred to the eggs in the form of radiant heat or convective heat. There is a fundamental risk when cooking eggs that egg contents will escape through openings in the shell and soil the egg cooker. Openings may form, for example, as a result of cracks in the shell; under certain circumstances, it is also possible that egg contents may escape through the small hole that is usually made on the side of the air cushion before cooking. In such case, in all the prior art egg cookers, the drawback arises, in particular, that parts of the egg cooker that have been soiled by egg contents cannot be cleaned or can only be cleaned with difficulty. The reason for this is, generally, that electrical components, which are difficult to clean and/or difficult or impossible to remove for cleaning purposes, are affected by the soiling.
It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide an electric egg cooker that overcomes the hereinafore-mentioned disadvantages of the heretofore-known devices of this general type and that simplifies care and, in particular, cleaning.
With the foregoing and other objects in view, there is provided, in accordance with the invention, an electric egg cooker, including electrical components including a heating device, an egg holder holding eggs in a cooking position, all of the electrical components being disposed above the egg holder at a position dependent upon the egg holder.
According to the invention, the simplification is achieved by an electric egg cooker in which all the electrical components of the egg cooker are disposed above the egg position for eggs that are to be cooked, which position is determined by the egg holder.
Should egg contents escape in an egg cooker according to the invention, it would be substantially mechanical components of the egg cooker that would be soiled. However, the mechanical components can be of considerably simpler construction than the electrical components. Thus, they are easy to clean and can also easily be removed to simplify cleaning.
Such an advantage even results in an egg cooker according to the invention in which the eggs are prepared without a shell and in which the egg contents are cooked in a corresponding holder. In such a case too, there is a risk of egg contents being shaken out of the holder and soiling other parts of the egg cooker.
For example, the heating device may be of the type that emits radiant heat or convective heat. In these egg cookers that operate without water or steam, there is a high risk of the eggshell cracking and egg contents escaping as a result of high or uneven transfer of energy to the eggs.
In accordance with another feature of the invention, it is advantageous for the mechanical components that are disposed below or next to the egg position and are preferentially affected by soiling to be at least partially removable, which considerably simplifies cleaning. In addition, the removable mechanical components may be configured as dishwasher-safe, for example, by selecting suitable materials or surface coatings. Such selection makes cleaning particularly simple because the soiled parts simply have to be removed and placed into the dishwasher, which is an increasingly common household appliance.
In an egg cooker having a housing lower part and a housing upper part, in accordance with a further feature of the invention, the all the electrical components may be connected to the housing upper part. When the housing upper part is folded open or removed, only mechanical components remain with the housing lower part, and these mechanical components may be of particularly simple construction such that they are easy to clean, in particular, in a dishwasher. If the egg cooker has a device for turning the eggs during cooking, according to the invention, an electric drive for the egg-turning device is disposed above the egg position.
In particular, in an egg cooker with an electrically driven egg-turning device, the drive may be disposed in a housing upper part and may be connected to the egg-turning device in the housing lower part such that the connection is automatically released when the housing upper part is removed or folded open. The release can be achieved, for example, by a plug-fit coupling for rotationally fixed connection, by which the drive and egg-turning device can be connected, and that allows simple release in the longitudinal direction.
In accordance with an added feature of the invention, the electric drive is disposed in the housing upper part, the turning device has a spindle removably connecting the electric drive to the turning device in a rotationally fixed manner through an automatically released connection, and the connection automatically releases when the housing upper part is one of removed and pivoted from the housing lower part.
With the objects of the invention in view, there is also provided a electric egg cooker, including a housing lower part, a housing upper part at least one of removably connected to the housing lower part and pivotally connected to the housing lower part, a removable, dishwasher-safe, egg holder holding eggs in a cooking position, the egg holder disposed in the housing lower part, a removable, dishwasher-safe, turning device for turning the eggs, the turning device disposed adjacent the cooking position, electrical components including a heating device and an electric drive disposed above the cooking position and connected to the turning device for turning the turning device, and all of the electrical components disposed in the housing upper part and above the egg holder at a distance dependent upon the egg holder.
In accordance with an additional feature of the invention, a turning device is disposed below the cooking position in the housing lower part.
In accordance with a concomitant feature of the invention, the turning device has a spindle removably connecting the electric drive to the turning device in a rotationally fixed manner through an automatically released connection and the connection automatically releases when the housing upper part is one of removed and pivoted from the housing lower part.
Other features that are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in the appended claims.
Although the invention is illustrated and described herein as embodied in an electric egg cooker, it is, nevertheless, not intended to be limited to the details shown because various modifications and structural changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention and within the scope and range of equivalents of the claims.
The construction and method of operation of the invention, however, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings.
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USPTO Backgrounds