Patent Application
20060049166
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to removable decorative panels for home appliances, such as toasters.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is known to place decorations on the casings of home appliances, such as shown in U.S. Des. 206,307 for a TOASTER, issued Nov. 22, 1966, to Ernest, R. O. As different people prefer different decorations, an appliance that may be attractive to some may not be attractive to others. As far back as the 1960's inventors sought to solve this problem by providing replaceable casing elements for appliances.
Moore, W. E., U.S. Des. 188,925, issued Sep. 27, 1960, for a DECORATIVE END PANEL FOR AN ELECTRIC TOASTER and Knapp, A. S., U.S. Des. 191,084, issued Aug. 8, 1961, for a DECORATIVE END PANEL FOR A TOASTER OR THE LIKE, each disclose endwalls for a toaster casing having an ornamental shape and design.
Okuda et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,587,907, issued Jun. 28, 1971, for a BREAD TOASTER, discloses a toaster having replaceable metal sidewalls that slide downward into grooves. Sidewalls with different designs and floral patterns may then be provided by the manufacturer to appeal to a wide range of consumers.
The replaceable elements of the prior art are part of the structure of the casing itself. The result is that these parts are bulky and expensive because they must serve not merely a decorative function, but also the structural function of the appliance casing. Further, such elements may only be interchangeable by the manufacturer rather than the consumer. Removal of such structural elements may expose the interior electronics of the appliance. Therefore, once the consumer has chosen a design off the shelf, the consumer may be unable to change the decorative casing segments as desired.
What is needed are inexpensive removable decorative elements that the consumer can interchange quickly and easily without exposing the inner workings of the appliance.
The present invention is directed to a home appliance having a casing having one or more sidewalls, wherein at least one of the sidewalls defines a topographical mounting element, and wherein the topographical mounting element is adapted to removably receive a decorative element.
In another aspect of the invention, the appliance is a toaster.
In another aspect of the invention, the topographical element is a decorative element.
In another aspect of the invention, the topographical element is a groove formed in an outer surface of an appliance.
In another aspect of the invention, the topographical element has a plurality of receiving apertures, wherein the receiving apertures are sized and positioned to removably receive mounting pins extending from the decorative element.
In another aspect of the invention, the decorative element is a filler decorative element sized and shaped to fill the topographical element.
In another aspect of the invention, the decorative element is a panel decorative element that covers all or a portion of the sidewall of a home appliance.
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There are a number of ways to removably fit a decorative element 5a, 5b to the topographical element 4. One is to size and shape the topographical element 4 for a snap fit of a correspondingly shaped portion of a decorative element 5. Another is to provide a plurality of mounting pins 6 on the decorative element 5 that fits into receiving apertures 7 (
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While a toaster has been shown as an example, the teachings of this invention are applicable to any home appliance. Further, although a single sidewall is shown, it is anticipated that the opposite side of the appliance not shown in the drawings will preferably have a topographical groove as well, though it is not required that they be identical. Note also that the term “sidewall” as used in this specification is meant to encompass any so-called “end-walls” or top wall or roof as well.
As can be seen, the decorative elements of the invention are inexpensive to produce and easy to replace and may be sold separately in a variety of colors at minimal prices or included with the home appliance. Replacement is easily achieved by the consumer without exposing the interior working components of the appliance.
While various values, scalar and otherwise, may be disclosed herein, it is to be understood that these are not exact values, but rather to be interpreted as “about” such values, unless explicitly stated otherwise. Further, the use of a modifier such as “about” or “approximately” in this specification with respect to any value is not to imply that the absence of such a modifier with respect to another value indicated the latter to be exact.
Changes and modifications can be made by those skilled in the art to the embodiments as disclosed herein and such examples, illustrations, and theories are for explanatory purposes and are not intended to limit the scope of the claims. Further, the abstract of this disclosure is provided for the sole purpose of complying with the rules requiring an abstract so as to allow a searcher or other reader to quickly ascertain the subject matter of the disclosures contained herein and is submitted with the express understanding that it will not be used to interpret or to limit the scope or the meaning of the claims.
