AU2014313888B2

AU2014313888B2 - Small food processor

Info

Publication number: AU2014313888B2
Application number: AU2014313888A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Yan Kwong Wong
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2013-08-28
Filing date: 2014-08-18
Publication date: 2016-06-30
Anticipated expiration: 2034-08-18
Also published as: HK1182581A2; CN105358024B; CN105358024A; AU2014313888A1; WO2015028914A3; WO2015028914A2

Abstract

A small food processor comprising a container (100), a food processing assembly (500), a container cover assembly (200), a driving assembly (300), and a transmission assembly (400). The driving assembly (300) comprises a pull rod (310); the pull rod (310) extends and passes the geometric center of the container cover assembly (200), and the pull rod (310) is provided with a gear rack (335). The transmission assembly (400) comprises a driving shaft (410) and a driven shaft (430) provided coaxially with the driving shaft (410); the driving shaft (410) is provided with a transmission gear (411) that meshes with the gear rack (335) of the pull rod (310); the driven shaft (430) is directly connected with the food processing assembly (500). The container cover assembly (200) comprises an upper cover (210) and a lower cover (220) that fit one another; provided between the upper cover (210) and the lower cover (220) is a sliding groove (231) that fit with the pull rod (310). The pull rod (310) forms a cavity structure having a recess; the gear rack (335) is formed on the inner surface of the side wall of the cavity structure. The transmission assembly (400) also comprises a position-fixing button (420), the upper portion of the position-fixing button (420) being inside of the cavity structure of the pull rod (310). The small food processor simplifies the structure of the transmission assembly (400) by making the driving shaft (410) and driven shaft (430) coaxial and directly connecting the driving assembly (300) with the driving shaft (410) so that the driven shaft (430) is directly connected to the food processing assembly (500).

Description

SMALL FOOD PROCESSOR

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a kitchen appliance, more specifically, the present invention relates to a small food processor.

Background of the Invention

Comparing various types of kitchen appliances in the markets, a food processor is the most versatile, which is often used for chopping fruits, vegetables, and other food items into smaller pieces for eating or as ingredients for other uses. There are currently many food processors in the market today, most of them utilizing a hand knob that rotates the shaft with blades attached. The spinning blades then chop up the food. However, the structure of these food processors tends to be more complex. Take a small food processor provided by the International patent application with application number PCT/IB2012/051002 for example, which is applied by the applicant on 2 March 2012. The driving member of the small food processor connects with the food processing member through a transmission member. However, a complicated structure due to multiple gear racks cooperation brings high manufacturing costs, which makes it less competitive in market.

Summary of the Invention

The problem to be solved in the present invention is to solve the problem of complicated construction of the food processor in the existing technology and to provide a small food processor with a simple structure and user’s friendly operation.

The present invention relates to a small food processor, which comprises a container adapted for receiving food, a food processing member adapted for being rotated relative to the container mounted inside said container, a container cover member adapted for covering an aperture of the container mounted to the container, a driving member mounted to the container cover member and a transmission member mounted to the container cover member, the food processing member is adapted for being driven by the transmission member and rotated relative to the container, the transmission member is adapted for being driven by the driving member, the driving member comprises a pull rod adapted for passing across the central portion of the container, the pull rod comprises a gear rack, the transmission member comprises a transmission shaft and a driving shaft coaxially mounted with the transmission shaft, the transmission shaft comprises a transmission gear adapted for receiving the gear rack, the driving shaft is mounted to the food processing member, the container cover member comprises an upper shell and a lower shell which are mounted with each other, a sliding track adapted for receiving the pull rod is arranged between the upper shell and the lower shell, the pull rod comprises a pull rod cavity, the gear rack is mounted on an inner surface of the pull rod cavity, the transmission member further comprises a positioning button, an end portion of the positioning button is received inside the pull rod cavity.

Typically, a handle is mounted to an end of the pull rod, the container cover member further comprises a concave region for receiving the handle.

Typically, the transmission gear is arranged at a top portion of the transmission shaft, the positioning button comprises an opening for allowing the transmission gear to contact with the gear rack arranged on the top portion of the positioning button.

Typically, at least one positioning convex structure is mounted on the outer surface of the bottom portion of the positioning button, a positioning convex structure receiver is arranged on a position of the lower shell corresponding to the positioning convex structure.

Typically, a shaft hole is arranged on the center portion of the lower shell, a positioning cavity adapted for receiving the driven shaft is arranged around the shaft hole, a connecting shaft is formed from an extension from a bottom end portion of the driven shaft, the connecting shaft is adapted to mount the food processing member by passing through the shaft hole.

Typically, the positioning convex structure receiver adapted for receiving a bottom end portion of the positioning button, a bottom end portion of the transmission shaft and the top end portion of the driven shaft is arranged on the positioning cavity..

Typically, a clutch member is arranged between the transmission shaft and the driven shaft.

Typically, the driven shaft comprises a clump weight adapted to be rotated coaxially with the driven shaft.

Typically, the clutch member comprises a toggle wheel and a pawl element both arranged between the transmission shaft and the driven shaft.

Typically, the pull rod comprises a handle mounted to an end portion of the pull rod and an elastic member adapted for returning to an original position after pulled and pressed mounted to another end portion of the pull rod.

Typically, the upper shell and the lower shell are mounted with each other, the transmission member is adapted to be received inside a cavity which is formed between the upper and lower shells.

Typically, the handle is a T-shaped handle which is formed from the combination of an upper handle shell and a lower handle shell.

Typically, a drainage hole is arranged on the upper shell.

Typically, the food processing member further comprises a strainer basket member.

Typically, the food processing member further comprises a blade member.

Compared with prior arts, the small food processor provided in this invention simplifies the structure of transmission parts through the coaxial arrangement between transmission shaft and driven shaft and a direct connection between the driving member and the transmission shaft. The present invention allows a single driving force to drive the driving member to the food processing member directly in order to perform food processing.

Description of the Drawings

This and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent upon reading of the following detailed descriptions and drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 shows an exploded view of the first embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 2 shows a structural view of the container cover member of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 shows a structural view of the driving member of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 shows a structural view of the pull rod of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 shows a structural view of the transmission member of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 6 shows a perspective view of an embodiment of the present invention under operation.

Figures

Container 100

Container cover member 200

Upper shell 210

Concave region 211

Lower shell 220

Positioning convex structure receiver 221

Shaft hole 223

Positioning cavity 224

Sliding track 231

Driving member 300

Pull rod 310

Handle 311

Upper handle shell 312

Lower handle shell 313

Convex member 314

Aperture 315

Gear rack 335

Transmission member 400

Transmission shaft 410

Transmission gear 411

Positioning button 420

Positioning convex structure 421

Opening 422

Driven shaft 430

Connecting shaft 431

Clump weight 432

Clutch member 440

Toggle wheel 441

Pawl element 442

Food processing member 500

Strainer basket member 510

Blade member 520

Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments

As shown in Fig. 1, referring to the first embodiment of the small food processor of the present invention, the small food processor comprises a container 100, a container cover member 200, a driving member 300 being mounted to the container cover member 200, a transmission member 400 and a food processing member 500 being mounted inside the container 100. The container 100 has an aperture which can be covered by the container cover member 200. In this embodiment, the driving member 300 can drive the food processing member 500 to rotate relative to the container 100 through the transmission member 400. The rotating movement of the food processing member 500 relative to the container 100 can allow the small food processor to perform various food processing actions including cleaning, chopping and mixing.

As shown in Fig. 2, in this embodiment, the container cover member 200 comprises an upper shell 210 and a lower shell 220. The upper shell 210 and the lower shell 220 are securely mounted with each other by locking members, such as screws or equivalent. Further, a cavity can be formed between the upper shell 210 and the lower shell 220, the transmission device 400 can therefore be arranged inside the cavity. Preferably, the structure of the lower shell 220 corresponds to the aperture of the container 100 so that lower shell 220 can cover the aperture of the container 100. A sliding track 231 can be arranged between the upper shell 210 and the lower shell 220. Preferably, the sliding track 231 can also be arranged in order to pass through the geometric center or central portion of the container cover member 200. In this embodiment, as the structure of the container cover member 200 corresponds to the container 100, the sliding track 231 can then be considered to pass through the geometric center or central portion of the container 100 by viewing the vertical projection of the sliding track 231 onto the container 100.

As shown in Fig. 3, the driving member 300 comprises a pull rod 310 mounted inside the sliding track 231. Preferably, the pull rod 310 corresponds to the sliding track 231 such that the pull rod 310 can slide along on the sliding track 231 horizontally. In this embodiment, the pull rod 310 can be moved to pass through the central portion or center of the container cover member 200. A concave region 330 of the pull rod 310 is arranged on the lower surface of the pull rod 310 so that a pull rod cavity having side walls is formed. A gear rack 335 can be arranged on an inner surface of the pull rod cavity along the length of the pull rod 310. Referring to Fig. 3 and Fig. 4, some parts of the upper surface of the pull rod 310 are not shown in Fig. 3 in order to better show the structure of the concave region 330 and the gear rack 335.

Alternatively, a handle can be mounted to an end of the pull rod 310 and an elastic member adapted for returning to the original position after pressed or pulled can be mounted to another end of the pull rod 310 (not shown in figures). In this embodiment, the elastic member is a spring. An end of the spring is mounted to the pull rod 310 while another end is mounted to the container cover member 200. By using the handle to pull the pull rod 310 out of the sliding track 231, the spring will return the pull rod 310 back into the sliding track 231 automatically after it is pulled by handle, which makes the food processor easy to operate. Preferably, referring to Fig. 2 and Fig. 6, the handle can be received inside a concave region of the container cover member 200. In this embodiment, the upper shell 210 and the lower shell 220 are mounted with each other, the transmission member 400 is adapted to be received inside a cavity formed between the upper and lower shells.

As shown in Fig. 3, the handle 311 can be a T-shaped handle which is formed by the combination of an upper handle shell 312 and a lower handle shell 313. In this embodiment, the T-shaped handle can be mounted to an end portion of the pull rod 310 by coordination between a plurality of convex members 314 mounted to both upper handle shell 312 and lower handle shell 313 and a plurality of the pull rod apertures 315 arranged on the end portion of the pull rod 310. To implement this embodiment, when a user holds the T-shaped handle 311 by hand, the user can easily move the pull rod 310 back and forth. Preferably, a concave region 211 of the container cover member 200 is arranged on an end portion (the pull rod end portion which is adjacent to the T-shaped handle 311) adjacent to the sliding track 231 of the upper shell 210 of the container cover member 200, which corresponds to the T-shaped handle 311 . When the pull rod 310 slides along the sliding track 231, the T-shaped handle 311 can be received by the concave region 211 so that the container cover member 200 and the driving member 300 can therefore become a separable unitary structure. The handle of the end portion of the pull rod 310 can be constructed as other shapes as desired by the user, such as longitudinal structure or D-shaped. Additionally, in case of the types of handles to be used in this invention, it can refer to the applicant’s prior patent application with application number PCT/IB2012/051002.

As shown in Fig. 5, a transmission member 400 comprises a transmission shaft 410, a positioning button 420, a driven shaft 430 and a clutch member 440.

Preferably, a transmission gear 411 is arranged on the top portion of the transmission shaft 410, which corresponds to the gear rack 335 on the pull rod 310. When the pull rod 310 moves, it can drive the transmission shaft 410 move accordingly.

Alternatively, an end portion or the top portion of the positioning button 420 can be received inside the cavity of the pull rod 310 while its opposite end portion or the bottom portion can be mounted above the transmission shaft 410. An opening 422 is arranged on the top portion of the positioning button 420 to allow the transmission gear 411 to pass through. Such opening 422 also allow the transmission gear 411 to contact with the gear rack 335. As such, the transmission gear 411 corresponds to the gear rack 335 for reciprocal movement. A plurality of positioning convex structures 421 are arranged on the outer surface of the bottom portion of the positioning button 420. Referring to Fig. 2, a plurality of positioning convex structure receivers 221 of the lower shell 220 of the container cover member 200 can be adapted for receiving the positioning convex structures 421. As such, the positioning button 420 can therefore be arranged at a position between the pull rod 310 and the lower shell 220. Preferably, by constructing the configuration of the top portion of positioning button 420 corresponded to the cavity of the pull rod 310, the positioning button 420 can have other technical features including the positioning of the transmission shaft 410.

Additionally, a connecting shaft 431 is mounted to the bottom portion of the driven shaft 430 and connects directly with the food processing member 500 inside the container 100. The driven shaft 430 and the transmission shaft 410 are arranged coaxially, thus a rotating transmission shaft 410 can rotate the driven shaft 430, which eventually rotates the food processing member 500 to process the food in the container 100 due to the direct connection of the shaft 430 and the food processing member 500. Alternatively, a connecting shaft can be formed from an extension from a bottom end portion of the driven shaft and the connecting shaft is adapted to mount the food processing member by passing through the shaft hole. In another embodiment, the driven shaft 430 and the transmission shaft 410 can be integrated manufactured.

Referring to Fig. 2, there is a shaft hole 223 at the center of the lower shell 220 of the container cover member 200. A positioning cavity 224 is arranged around the shaft hole 223 to receive the driven shaft 430. The connecting shaft 431 of the driven shaft 430 passes through the shaft hole 223 and extends below the cover to correspond with the food processing member 500.

The positioning convex structure receivers 221 of the lower shell 220 can also be arranged on the positioning cavity 224. As such, the positioning cavity 224 could receive an end portion of the positioning button 420, an end portion of the transmission shaft 410 and an end portion of the driven shaft 430.

To ensure the driven shaft 430 only rotates in one direction when the pull rod 310 is moved back and forth, it is preferable to configure a clutch member 440 in the transmission member 400. In this embodiment, the clutch member 440 is arranged between the transmission shaft 410 and the driven shaft 430.

Referring to Fig. 5, the clutch member 440 includes a toggle wheel 441 and a pawl element 442. In order to arrange the toggle wheel 441 and the pawl element 442 in a position which is between the transmission shaft 410 and the driven shaft 430, there is a cavity arranged between the transmission shaft 410 and the driven shaft 430. The detailed structure and mechanism of the clutch member 440 can refer to the applicant’s prior patent application with application number PCT/IB2012/051002.

In this embodiment, through the use of the clutch member 440, when the pull rod 310 is moved back and forth, the gear rack 335 moves in a single direction and drives the transmission shaft 410 to rotate, then the driven shaft 430 to rotate which is engaged with the clutch member 440, eventually the food processing member 500 to rotate. When the gear rack 335 moves in an opposite direction, the clutch member 440 is automatically disengaged, making the transmission shaft 410 reverse. However, the driven shaft 430 keeps rotating in a same direction under inertia, thereby maintaining the effective running of the small food processor. And the automatically disengagement would be convenient for the processor operation.

Alternatively, in order to increase the rotational inertia of the driven shaft 430 when the driven shaft 430 rotates, a clump weight 432 can be mounted to the driven shaft 430 so that both rotate coaxially. The clump weight 432 can be directly mounted on the driven shaft 430, or positioned on the connecting shaft 431.

The food processing member 500 may consists of different tool sets according to different purposes, such as a blade set, a mixer set. It’s at the user’s discretion to install different tool sets on the container 100 to process the food in various ways. Fig.l shows the food processing member 500 be functioned as a strainer basket member 510 or a blade member 520. And the user can choose one of them to connect with the connecting shaft 431 of the driven shaft 430 when in use.

The structure of the strainer basket member 510 and blade member 520 is advised to refer to a prior patent application with application number PCT/IB2012/051002.

Preferably, a drainage hole 212 is arranged on the upper shell 210 to drain the extra water inside the container. As such, hands would no longer in need to get in touch with the processed food to drain the extra water, which keeps the processed food clean.

Referring to Fig. 6, when the user uses the small food processor described in this invention, he pulls the pull rod 310 back and forth, which will drive the transmission gear 411 rotate through the gear rack 335 and subsequently drive the transmission shaft 410 rotate. As the driven shaft 430 and the transmission shaft 410 are arranged coaxially and the connecting shaft 431 of the driven shaft 430 connects directly with the food processing member 500, the rotation of the transmission shaft 410 drives the food processing member 500 rotate to process food. For example, when the food processing member 500 functions as the strainer basket member, the rotation of the strainer basket would increase the contact between food and water, thus the food can be cleaned. As such, the small food processor provided in this invention is simpler in structure with a user-friendly operation and a low manufacturing cost.

The present invention has been described in detail, with reference to the preferred embodiment, in order to enable the reader to practice the invention without undue experimentation. However, a person having ordinary skill in the art will readily recognizes that many of the previous disclosures may be varied or modified somewhat without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the intellectual property rights to this invention are defined only by the following claims.

Claims

CLAIMS I claim:

1. A small food processor, which comprises a container adapted for receiving food, a food processing member adapted for being rotated relative to the container mounted inside said container, a container cover member adapted for covering an aperture of the container mounted to the container, a driving member mounted to the container cover member and a transmission member mounted to the container cover member, the food processing member is adapted for being driven by the transmission member and rotated relative to the container, the transmission member is adapted for being driven by the driving member, the driving member comprises a pull rod adapted for being moved to pass through the central portion of the container cover member, the pull rod comprises a gear rack, the transmission member comprises a transmission shaft and a driving shaft coaxially mounted with the transmission shaft, the transmission shaft comprises a transmission gear adapted for receiving the gear rack, the driving shaft is mounted to the food processing member, the container cover member comprises an upper shell and a lower shell which are mounted with each other, a sliding track adapted for receiving the pull rod is arranged between the upper shell and the lower shell, the pull rod comprises a pull rod cavity, the gear rack is mounted on an inner surface of the pull rod cavity, the transmission member further comprises a positioning button, an end portion of the positioning button is received inside the pull rod cavity.
2. The small food processor according to Claim 1, wherein a handle is mounted to an end of the pull rod, the container cover member further comprises a concave region for receiving the handle.
3. The small food processor according to Claim 1, wherein the transmission gear is arranged at a top portion of the transmission shaft, the positioning button comprises an opening for allowing the transmission gear to contact with the gear rack arranged on the top portion of the positioning button.
4. The small food processor according to Claim 3, wherein at least one positioning convex structure is mounted on the outer surface of the bottom portion of the positioning button, a positioning convex structure receiver is arranged on a position of the lower shell corresponding to the positioning convex structure.
5. The small food processor according to Claim 4, wherein a shaft hole is arranged on the center portion of the lower shell, a positioning cavity adapted for receiving the driven shaft is arranged around the shaft hole, a connecting shaft is formed from an extension from a bottom end portion of the driven shaft, the connecting shaft is adapted to mount the food processing member by passing through the shaft hole.
6. The small food processor according to Claim 5, wherein the positioning convex structure receiver adapted for receiving a bottom end portion of the positioning button, a bottom end portion of the transmission shaft and the top end portion of the driven shaft is arranged on the positioning cavity..
7. The small food processor according to Claim 1, wherein a clutch member is arranged between the transmission shaft and the driven shaft.
8. The small food processor according to Claim 1, wherein the driven shaft comprises a clump weight adapted to be rotated coaxially with the driven shaft.
9. The small food processor according to Claim 7, wherein the clutch member comprises a toggle wheel and a pawl element both arranged between the transmission shaft and the driven shaft.
10. The small food processor according to Claim 8, wherein the pull rod comprises a handle mounted to an end portion of the pull rod and an elastic member adapted for returning to an original position after pulled and pressed mounted to another end portion of the pull rod.
11. The small food processor according to Claim 9, wherein the upper shell and the lower shell are mounted with each other, the transmission member is adapted to be received inside a cavity which is formed between the upper and lower shells.
12. The small food processor according to Claim 2, wherein the handle is a T-shaped handle which is formed from the combination of an upper handle shell and a lower handle shell.
13. The small food processor according to Claim 1, wherein a drainage hole is arranged on the upper shell.
14. The small food processor according to Claim 1, wherein the food processing member further comprises a strainer basket member.
15. The small food processor according to Claim 14, wherein the food processing member further comprises a blade member.