CN111035281A

CN111035281A - Multi-blade immersion stirrer

Info

Publication number: CN111035281A
Application number: CN201811621259.2A
Authority: CN
Inventors: U·穆拉德; L·巴多特
Original assignee: Team International Group of America Inc
Current assignee: Greenfield World Trade Ltd
Priority date: 2018-10-13
Filing date: 2018-12-28
Publication date: 2020-04-21

Abstract

The present invention relates to a multi-blade immersion agitator. In a combination of a device for mixing food and a container, the device includes a handle portion and a blade portion extending from the handle portion. The handle portion includes a motor, and the blade portion has a rotatable shaft that is engaged by the motor adjacent the proximal end and is selectively rotated thereby. The blade portion also has a plurality of blades adjacent the distal end, each blade being a different distal distance from the handle portion than the other blade or blades. The container is adapted to receive food and receive the blade through a top opening therein, and has a transparent scale portion for viewing the food and measuring the depth of the blade relative to the container.

Description

Multi-blade immersion stirrer

Technical Field

The present invention relates to an apparatus for preparing food and beverages. More particularly, the present invention relates to an immersion blender appliance for agitating and mixing food and beverages.

Background

The prior art includes many appliances commonly referred to as "stick blenders" or "immersion blenders". As these terms are used herein, such devices comprise an elongate handle from which a rotary blade projects longitudinally, and are represented by those shown in US10022018, US9642494, US8454223, US8038338, US8033712, US7371003, US7172334, US7066639, US6974244, US6955117, US6719450, US6523990, US6398403, US6293691, US6193404, US6186656, US5863118, US5836684, US5810472 and US5366286, the teachings of which are incorporated herein by reference. It is well known that various configurations of the blades of such appliances have various effects on the handling and conversion of food (food and/or beverage) engaged by the appliance, and the arrangement of the blades of such appliances relative to the food has various effects on the handling and conversion of the food.

Many blade designs are known for meeting these various objectives, and the present disclosure is not intended to describe each and every one of them, but rather to refer to each class. For example, "mixing blades," are typically arranged with blades to impact the food at different levels and/or at different angles, break the solids of the food into fine particles and mix them into a homogeneous mixture. "foaming blades", generally in the shape of an overall disc, have circular flow-through projections extending above and below, which draw air into the liquid to convert it into foam. "stirring blades" have a turbulent profile that agitate the food without breaking the solids into fine particles. "beater blades" are most effective in converting food into a mash. The "breaker blades" are generally blunt and are designed to impact harder food and ice and break it apart. The "whipping blade" is used for the purpose of, for example, changing liquid cream into whipped cream/whipped cream. "cutting blades" are intended to cut food such as nuts into smaller particles but not fine particles. And a "whipper" having a plurality of threads, intended to more gently mix a liquid such as cream into another liquid without causing clumping.

Previous attempts to address various of these treatments and transformations have included providing the appliance with various interchangeable blades or having the appliance automatically change the position of the blades by pulling the blades inwardly and pushing the blades outwardly relative to the handle. The prior art, such as US9642494, US8454223, US8038338, US6293691, US5863118 and US5810472, shows a stick mixer in which the position of the blades is variable relative to the handle. It should be readily appreciated therefrom that such products are more expensive and complex to manufacture and use than basic stick mixers. It should also be readily understood that such products can only operate under one variable condition at any given time.

Another disadvantage of bar blenders is that they do not ideally mix and froth certain beverages, such as latte and cappuccino. The mixing and frothing of these beverages has been carried out sequentially, according to the requirements of the prior art, resulting in the inability to create the desired well-defined transition level between the lower mixed beverage and the upper froth. This is because the frothing action after the beverage has been mixed tends to push some of the froth into the mixed beverage and the alternative mixing action after the beverage has been frothed tends to pull some of the froth down into the mixed beverage.

There is a need for a stick mixer that can perform multiple functions simultaneously, which may be an object of the present invention. There is a need for a bar blender having the ability to perform these multiple functions simultaneously without increasing the expense or complexity of the blender relative to a basic bar blender, which may be an object of the present invention. It may be an object of the present invention to have a bar blender capable of performing these multiple functions simultaneously without complicating the user's operation of the blender as compared to a basic bar blender. There is a need for a blender having the ability to mix and froth a beverage to create a well-defined transitional level of mixed beverage/froth, which may be an object of the present invention. Other needs and objects of the present invention will become apparent from a reading of the following disclosure of exemplary embodiments.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention may be practiced or practiced using a bar blender having a plurality of longitudinally spaced blades, each blade simultaneously performing a different function at a different level in the food or beverage being blended.

The invention may be practiced or practiced using a device for mixing food and having a handle portion from which a blade portion extends. The handle portion may include a motor. The blade portion may include a rotatable shaft that is engaged by the motor adjacent the proximal end and is selectively rotated thereby. The blade portion may also have a plurality of blades adjacent the distal end, each blade being spaced a different distal distance from the handle portion than the other blade or blades. The handle portion may be elongate in shape and the blade portion may extend longitudinally from the handle portion. The plurality of blades may be two blades. The two blades may be a mixing blade and a foaming blade. The mixing blade may be further from the handle portion than the foaming blade. The blades may be separated by 5 to 15 MM.

Alternatively, the invention may be practiced or practiced by using the above-described apparatus in combination with a container. The container may be adapted to contain food and receive the paddle through a top opening therein. The container may include a transparent scale portion for viewing the food and measuring the depth of the blade relative to the container. The transparent scale portion may include horizontally spaced markings. The container may be adapted such that the indicia are disposed at a height corresponding to a plurality of fluid ounces of food within the container and are spaced apart by a distance corresponding to the spacing between the paddles.

Alternatively, the invention may be practiced or practiced using a device for mixing food as described above, however, the device has a plurality of blade portions interchangeably attachable thereto and extendable therefrom. Each blade portion may include a rotatable shaft that, when secured to the handle portion, is engaged by a motor adjacent the proximal end and is thereby selectively rotated. Each blade portion may have a plurality of blades adjacent the distal end, each blade being a different distal distance from the handle portion than the other blade or blades. The plurality of blades may be two blades. The two blades may be a combination of blades from the group consisting of: mixing blades, stirring blades, beating blades, crushing blades, foaming blades, whipping (whipping) blades, cutting blades and whipping (whipping) blades.

Other features and aspects of the present invention are disclosed in more detail in the detailed description and the accompanying drawings provided herein, and illustrate exemplary embodiments of the invention.

Drawings

An exemplary embodiment of a submerged mixer according to the invention or for carrying out the invention, and a vessel according to the invention or for carrying out the invention for use therewith, is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a partially cut-away perspective view of a blender;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the blender of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the blade portion of the blender of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a cut-away close-up view of the blade head of the blender of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a close-up perspective view of the blades of the blender of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a cut-away close-up view of the blades of the blender of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a close-up view of the blades of the blender of FIG. 1; and

fig. 8 is an exploded view of the container of fig. 1.

Detailed Description

Referring to fig. 1-8, an apparatus 100 and a container 102 are shown. The device has a handle portion 104 from which a blade portion 106 extends. The handle portion contains a motor 108. The blade portion includes a rotatable shaft 110, the rotatable shaft 110 being engaged by the motor adjacent a proximal end 112 and selectively rotated thereby. The blade portion also includes a pair of

blades

114 and 116 adjacent the distal end 118, each blade being a different distal distance from the handle portion than the other blade or blades.

The container is adapted to receive food 200 and receive the blade through the top opening 120 therein. The cap 122 may be used to close the container when the container is not connected to the device. The container has a transparent scale portion 124 for viewing the food and measuring the depth of the blade relative to the container.

As shown, the device is a "stick mixer" having an elongated handle shape with a blade portion extending longitudinally from the elongated handle, but the invention is not limited to this type of mixer. Although the number of blades shown is two, any reasonable number is possible.

The two blades shown in the exemplary embodiment are a mixing blade 116 and a foaming blade 114 separated by a distance D of 10 MM. The inventors have found that this arrangement unexpectedly fits well. For example, certain beverages, such as latte, have been found to be ideally mixed below and ideally foamed above the mid-level between two blades, and no foamed portion is mixed into the underlying beverage-creating a heretofore unattainable good transition line between the foam and the mixed beverage. This is best understood because two blades operating in parallel and at the same RPM only create minimal turbulence between them, so the foam layer and the beverage directly below rotate at the same speed and in the same direction without being mixed together.

Although the blades are preferably spaced apart by 10MM as shown, it has been found that distances in the range of 5 to 15MM are only slightly less functional in this respect.

The transparent scale portion includes horizontally spaced markings 126. The markings are provided at a height corresponding to a multiple or divisor (a fraction of a fluid ounce) of a fluid ounce of the food in the container and are spaced apart by a distance corresponding to a multiple or divisor of the spacing between the blades. More specifically, in this illustrative example, the markings are spaced 5MM apart, such that the blade may be aligned with any two markings that are 10MM apart in 5MM increments. The diameter of the container is about 3.4 inches, so the 10MM distance between the leaves and between the two indicia corresponds to 2 fluid ounces of beverage. The user immerses the blades so that the foaming blades 114 are about 5MM below the top of the beverage, and the resulting beverage will have 10MM of foam-5 MM depth of immersion plus half the depth of the blade spacing.

While the invention has been shown and described with reference to certain exemplary embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, and the invention is therefore to be limited only by the appended claims and all equivalents thereof permitted thereby.

Claims

1. A device for mixing food comprising a handle portion and a blade portion extending from the handle portion,

the handle portion includes a motor;

the blade portion includes a rotatable shaft engaged by the motor adjacent a proximal end and selectively rotated thereby;

the blade portion further includes a plurality of blades adjacent the distal end, each blade being spaced a different distal distance from the handle portion than the other blade or blades.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein the handle portion is elongate in shape and the blade portion extends longitudinally from the handle portion.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the plurality of blades is two blades.

4. The device of claim 3, wherein the two blades are a mixing blade and a foaming blade.

5. The device of claim 4, wherein the mixing blade is further from the handle portion than the foaming blade.

6. The device of claim 5, wherein the blades are separated by 5 to 15 MM.

7. A combination of an apparatus and a container for mixing food,

the device comprises a handle portion and a blade portion extending from the handle portion;

the handle portion includes a motor;

the blade portion further comprising a plurality of blades adjacent the distal end, each blade being spaced a different distal distance from the handle portion than the other blade or blades;

the container adapted to contain food and receive the paddle through a top opening therein;

the container includes a transparent scale portion for viewing the food and measuring the depth of the blade relative to the container.

8. The combination of claim 7, wherein the handle portion is elongate in shape and the blade portion extends longitudinally from the handle portion.

9. The combination of claim 8, wherein the plurality of vanes is two vanes.

10. The combination of claim 9, wherein the two blades are a mixing blade and a foaming blade.

11. The combination of claim 10, wherein the mixing blade is further from the handle portion than the foaming blade.

12. The combination of claim 11, wherein the blades are spaced apart by a distance of 5 to 15 MM.

13. The combination of claim 12, wherein the transparent scale portion comprises horizontally spaced markings.

14. The combination of claim 13, wherein the container is adapted such that the indicia are disposed at a height corresponding to a plurality of fluid ounces of food within the container and are spaced apart by a distance corresponding to a spacing between the paddles.

15. A device for mixing food comprising a handle portion and a plurality of blade portions interchangeably attachable to and extendable from the handle portion,

the handle portion includes a motor;

each blade portion comprises a rotatable shaft that, when attached to the handle portion, is engaged by the motor adjacent the proximal end and selectively rotated thereby;

each blade portion further includes a plurality of blades adjacent the distal end, each blade being spaced a different distal distance from the handle portion than the other blade or blades.

16. The device of claim 15, wherein the handle portion is elongate in shape and the blade portion extends longitudinally from the handle portion when attached thereto.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the plurality of blades is two blades.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the two blades are a combination from the group consisting of: mixing blades, stirring blades, beating blades, crushing blades, foaming blades, beating blades, cutting blades and beaters.