Patent Application
20240334955
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
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The disclosure relates to popcorn maker and more particularly pertains to a new popcorn maker for heating a removable container having a cover.
The prior art relates to popcorn makers and includes a variety of popcorn makers heating corn kernels to produce popcorn. Known prior art does not allow a popcorn maker being able to heat a container having a cover to secure corn kernels within the container and the container is removable from the popcorn maker.
An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a housing including a bottom wall and a perimeter wall coupled to and extending upwardly from the bottom wall. The housing is flared adjacent to a top of the housing to define a receptacle. A bowl is removably positioned within the receptacle of the housing and comprises a thermally conductive material being heatable. The bowl is configured for containing corn kernels, wherein the corn kernels are heatable to produce popcorn when the bowl is heated. A cover is couplable to the bowl and is configured for retaining the corn kernels within the bowl when the cover is coupled to the bowl. A heater is coupled to the housing and is actuated to produce and emit heat from the housing onto the bowl positioned within the receptacle. A switch is coupled to the housing and is electrically coupled to the heater. The switch is engageable to actuate the heater. A circuit board is electrically coupled to the actuator and to the heater. A power cord is electrically coupled to circuit board, wherein the power cord is configured to receive electricity from an electrical outlet.
Another embodiment of the disclosure comprises a method including the steps of providing a bowl and a housing. Corn kernels are placed within the bowl prior to coupling a cover to the bowl. The bowl is positioned within a receptacle of the housing and a heater of the housing is actuated thereafter. The cover is removed from the bowl when popcorn is produced from the corn kernels. The bowl is removed from the receptacle and the heater of the housing is turned off thereafter.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.
The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:
With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to
As best illustrated in
A bowl 32 is removably positioned within the receptacle 20 of the housing 12. The bowl 32 normally comprises a thermally conductive material being heatable. The bowl 32 is configured for containing corn kernels 34, wherein the corn kernels 34 are heatable to produce popcorn 36 when the bowl 32 is heated. A cover 38 is coupled to the bowl 32 and is configured for retaining the corn kernels 34 within the bowl 32 when the cover 38 is coupled to the bowl 32. The cover 38 may be expandable, wherein the cover expands outwardly to increase a containing space 40 of the bowl 12 as the bowl 12 is heated. A boundary edge 42 of the cover 38 is coupled to a top edge 44 of the bowl 32 to form a seal between the cover 38 and the bowl 32. The cover 38 may be manufactured to keep the containing space 40 of the bowl 32 airtight when the cover 38 is sealed to the bowl 32.
A heater 46 is coupled to the housing 12 and is actuated to produce and emit heat from the housing 12 onto the bowl 32 positioned within the receptacle 20. The heater 46 normally comprises a plurality of electric coils positioned proximate to the receptacle 20 of the housing 12. A fan 48 may be positioned beneath the heater 46 within the interior space 28 of the housing 12 and be actuated to draw air in through the perforated bottom half 26 of the perimeter wall 16 towards the perforated center wall 24 of the receptacle 20, wherein the fan 48 blows heated air upwardly from the heater 46 through the perforated center wall 24 at the top of the housing 12 when the heater 46 is actuated.
A switch 50 is coupled to the housing 12 and is electrically coupled to the heater 46. The switch 50 is engageable to actuate the heater 46. The switch 50 may comprise a push button switch positioned on an exterior surface of the perimeter wall 16, wherein a user may press the push button switch to actuate the heater 46. A circuit board 52 is electrically coupled to the switch and to the heater 46. The circuit board 52 is normally positioned within the housing 12.
A timer 54 is electrically couplable to the circuit board 52 to be in electric communication with the switch 50. The timer 54 is actuated to count a set time 56 when the heater 46 is turned on by the switch 50, wherein the heater 46 is turned off after the timer 54 counts the set time 56. A transceiver 58 is electrically couplable to the circuit board 52 to be in electric communication with the heater 46. The transceiver 58 is configured for being in wireless communication with a personal electronic device 60 such as a mobile phone, wherein the transceiver 58 sends a signal configured to be received by the personal electronic device 60. A power cord 62 is electrically coupled to circuit board 52, wherein the power cord 62 is configured to receive electricity from an electrical outlet. The power cord 62 normally extends outwardly from an exterior surface of the perimeter wall 16.
In use, the bowl 32 holding the corn kernels 34 with the cover 38 coupled thereto is positioned within the receptacle 20 of the housing 12. The heater 46 of the housing 12 is actuated to heat the bowl 32, wherein the corn kernels 34 are heated within the bowl 32 to produce popcorn 36. The cover 38 is removed from the bowl 32 when popcorn 36 is produced from the corn kernels 34. The bowl 32 is removed from the receptacle 20 and the heater 46 of the housing 12 is turned off thereafter. The transceiver 58 may be actuated to wirelessly communicate with the personal electronic device 60 to notify a person when the heater 46 is turned off.
With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.
