By way of example, some particular embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
As shown particularly in
The body shell 2 also has a transparent window 7 located on its surface as well as a time input dial 8 and a time readout display 9. The window 7 was made of an acrylic plastics material.
The egg support platform 6 is made to be movable along its longitudinal axis by being constructed in a nut and bolt form with an internal bore on the platform acting as the nut part of the combination. The bolt part is provided by a screw which is located on the longitudinal axis of the support platform and which is caused to be rotated by a motor drive shaft of a miniature stepper motor 13. Actuation of this motor 13 will thus cause the egg support platform 6 to be lifted up until the platform reaches the upper surface level of the body shell 2. An opposite actuation of the motor allows the platform to be lowered to the position depicted in
Since the motor 13 shaft passes through a bottom wall of the water container, the shaft is provided with a waterproof seal at this point.
A circuit board is mounted on the base plate 3 and this is arranged to control operation of the electrical heating element 12 for a predetermined time interval which is able to be set by a user on the time input dial 8 and with an electronic timer having the time readout display 9. There is also an ON/OFF switch which is located in the centre of the dial 8 and a water temperature sensor together with a control circuit for actuation of the motor. Additionally, an audio sounder will be operated to indicate when the egg cooking process has been completed.
In use of the automatic boiler, the user will plug the flexible lead from the connector 4 into a mains electrical socket and pour water into a boiling compartment surrounding the heating element 12 of the device. The volume of water required is only a small multiple of the volume of an egg so that this is an energy efficient way of cooking an egg as compared with using a full saucepan of water. The user will place an egg in an upright position on the egg support platform 6 at the top of the body shell. The user will then set the time interval for the boiling process at the preferred time that the egg will be required to cook. The preset time interval will be shown on the readout display 9. The user will next actuate the ON/OFF switch to initiate the cooking process. The operation begins with the actuation of the heating element 12 which will raise the temperature of the water and at the predetermined water temperature of 100° C. the motor 13 will be operated to lower the egg into the water. The heating element 12 will then be operated at a reduced power level so that the water will be maintained at a simmering temperature of 94° C. for the cooking process. The electronic timer will also start and the readout display 9 will count down from the preset time value until a time of zero is indicated. The motor 13 will then be used to raise the egg out of the water and the power supply to the heating element 12 will be interrupted. An audio sounder will be operated to indicate to the user that the cooking operation has been completed. The user will then be able to take the egg from its position on top of the body shell 2 and it can be easily transferred to an egg cup for immediate consumption. The egg will have been cooked perfectly as determined by the time interval that had been entered on the display.
The result of this is that the user will be able to take the cooked egg directly from the top of the body shell without any need to lift it carefully from a pan of hot water. The egg will have been cooked for a precise time in accordance with the user's setting of the electronic timer. The cooking will have been done automatically so that the user will be able to occupy themselves with other tasks whilst the cooking operation was in progress. There will also be a positive indication of when the cooked egg is ready.
The automatic egg boiler of the invention has been found to be comparatively easy and inexpensive to construct since it incorporates several standard components which are readily available. The device provides a way of accurately timing the boiling of an egg and means which will work without the boiling operation needing to be closely supervised by the user. Many of the devices proposed in the past for this task do not provide means for raising the egg out of the water at the end of the cooking process. It is thus expected that the automatic egg boiler will be found to be convenient for use in the kitchen alongside other automatic appliances such as the toaster and microwave oven.
Since the egg boiler is intended to heat the egg for boiling at a controlled temperature of 94° C. this will enable the production of steam to be limited and thus it will reduce any tendency to cause scalding of a user's band if this should be placed near the unit.
The foregoing description of embodiments of the invention has been given by way of example only and a number of modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims. For instance, it is not essential that the body shell structure and the base plate should be made as separable components and the automatic egg boiler could alternatively be made in a one piece constriction. The unit may be provided with a switch to control operation of the audio sounder, and optionally a lid may be located at the top of the water container.