Further to my American trip, on my first morning in my Boston hotel I found that the breakfast room had waffle irons, or a waffle maker, with a patent number on it.

This was the Baker for Waffles, Pancakes and Similar Food Items (pictured below) by the New Carbon Company of Indiana, which was operated by turning the actual cooker upside down which then began a timer.

There was quite a queue -- sorry, a lot of people got in line -- to use it. One fellow used it three times, I just hope he wasn't sick afterwards, he put so much maple syrup on his waffles.

The patent was filed in 1999. It explains that previous waffle makers "required at least some minimal skill of the user".

Turning the cooker made sure that the liquid was evenly distributed, but skill was previously needed to ensure the correct cooking time.

Magnets and a proximity switch were used together with a visible timer that set off a beeping when the cooking was finished. It was also easier to rotate the shells within which the batter sat.

Steve Van Dulken is a world-renowned expert on inventions and how they relate to businesses. You can read more of Steve’s writing on the British Library website.

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By Steve Van Dulken  on   Aug 22,2008

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Keywords

patents    inventions    America    British Library    small business   

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