CN113367592A

CN113367592A - Food preparation appliance

Info

Publication number: CN113367592A
Application number: CN202110243795.9A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 达米安·莫努里; 阿尔诺·维特尔
Original assignee: SEB SA
Current assignee: SEB SA
Priority date: 2020-03-10
Filing date: 2021-03-05
Publication date: 2021-09-10
Also published as: FR3108022B1; FR3108022A1

Abstract

The invention provides a device (40) for driving a processing tool (20) of a food preparation appliance comprising a housing (60), a motor accommodated in the housing (60) and a drive shaft (61) at the output of the motor, the drive device (40) comprising: -a driven portion (42) arranged to drive the working tool (20) in rotation about a rotation axis (45), -a driving portion (41) arranged to be driven by a driving shaft (61), -a driving device (40) designed to prevent a rotational degree of freedom between the driven portion (42) and the driving portion (41) along the rotation axis (45), -according to the invention, the driving device (40) is designed to leave at least one degree of freedom between the driven portion (42) and the driving portion (41) in a direction contained in a plane perpendicular to the rotation axis (45).

Description

Food preparation appliance

Technical Field

The present invention relates generally to a food preparation appliance, and in particular to a food preparation appliance comprising a housing and a removable processing container in which a rotary processing tool is provided for processing (cutting, mixing.) food contained in the processing container.

Background

Such appliances (also known in english as "mixers" or "blenders") are known in the art and have the disadvantage that they require a precise configuration to ensure correct alignment between the drive integral with the housing and the coupling integral with the removable processing container and connected to the processing tool. Document EP2130470(B1) discloses such a device.

Document JP6153249(B2) discloses an appliance which allows a certain degree of misalignment between the coupling of the removable container and the housing drive, but at the expense of a complicated and therefore costly structure.

Disclosure of Invention

Various aspects of the present invention seek to remedy the drawbacks of the above-mentioned prior art documents, in particular by first proposing a device for driving a processing tool arranged to process food in a removable processing container of a food preparation appliance comprising a drive which remains structurally simple, allows high rotational speeds and is capable of functioning correctly even with a certain degree of misalignment between the rotational axis of the processing tool and the drive.

To this end, a first aspect of the invention relates to a device for driving a processing tool arranged to process food in a removable processing receptacle of a food preparation appliance,

the food preparation appliance comprises a housing, a motor accommodated in the housing and a drive shaft at the output of the motor,

the driving device includes:

a driven portion arranged to drive the working tool in rotation about a rotation axis,

a drive portion arranged to be driven by a drive shaft,

the drive means are designed to prevent a rotational degree of freedom between the driven part and the drive part along the axis of rotation,

since the drive means are designed to leave at least one degree of freedom between the driven part and the driving part in a direction contained in a plane perpendicular to the axis of rotation.

The drive device according to the above-described embodiment leaves at least one degree of freedom in a plane perpendicular to the axis of rotation, so that misalignment can be compensated. Therefore, the manufacturing tolerances of the appliance parts (housing, rotation shaft bearing, removable container, coupling interface between removable container and housing, machining tool bearing) do not need to be particularly small, which limits the manufacturing costs (less complex tool) and quality costs (simpler control, faster, less waste).

In an advantageous embodiment, the drive means are designed to leave five degrees of freedom between the driven part and the drive part. In other words, only rotation about the axis of rotation is prevented, so that relative movements according to two rotations and three translations are possible.

In an advantageous embodiment, the drive means comprise a hinge arranged between the driven part and the drive part. Such a hinge makes it possible to design and allow relative movement between the driven part and the driving part according to the respective freedom of freedom.

In other words, embodiments of the present invention relate to a device for driving a processing tool arranged to process food in a removable processing receptacle of a food preparation appliance,

the driving device includes:

a drive portion arranged to be driven by a drive shaft,

since the drive means comprise an articulation designed to operate as follows:

leaving at least one degree of freedom between the driven part and the driving part in a direction contained in a plane perpendicular to the axis of rotation, an

-preventing rotational freedom between the driven part and the driving part along the rotational axis.

In an advantageous embodiment, the hinge is designed such that the driving part is movable in three perpendicular directions relative to the driven part, and has a clearance of at least ± 0.2mm, for example in one embodiment at least ± 0.3mm, in each of the three directions relative to a nominal position between the driven part and the driving part. In other words, the articulation is designed such that there are three degrees of freedom of translation between the driven portion and the driving portion.

In particular, the articulation is designed such that the driving part can be moved at least ± 0.8mm, for example at least ± 1mm in one embodiment, and at least ± 2mm in another embodiment, relative to the driven part in an axial direction parallel to the axis of rotation. In other words, the articulation is designed such that a large translation along the axis of rotation is possible.

In an advantageous embodiment, the articulation is designed such that the driving part can be moved relative to the driven part, at least relative to a nominal position between the driven part and the driving part, within an angular value range of at least ± 5 °, for example ± 7 ° in one embodiment, and ± 14 ° in another embodiment, the movement being a rotation twice, the axis of each rotation being perpendicular to the axis of rotation. In other words, the hinge is designed such that two rotational degrees of freedom remain between the driven part and the driving part. In one embodiment, the invention relates to a device for driving a processing tool arranged to process food in a removable processing receptacle of a food preparation appliance,

the driving device includes:

a drive portion arranged to be driven by a drive shaft,

since the drive means comprise an articulation designed to operate as follows:

-generating at least one gap between the driven part and the driving part in a direction contained in a plane perpendicular to the axis of rotation, an

-preventing rotation between the driven part and the driving part along the rotation axis.

In an advantageous embodiment, the hinge comprises a hexagonal nut integral with the driven portion, said hexagonal nut being housed with clearance in a hexagonal recess integral with the driving portion. Such a nut forms a particularly simple and economical implementation. The components and assembly process are easily mastered.

In an advantageous embodiment, the articulation comprises a drive recess with at least one rotation stop along the axis of rotation and a drive nut having a shape complementary to the drive recess and arranged therein.

In an advantageous embodiment, the nut has the general shape of a sphere, or a height of less than 50% of its diameter. Such an embodiment allows a relative rotational movement of large magnitude between the driven part and the driving part, even in a direction perpendicular to the rotational axis of the working tool.

In an advantageous embodiment, the driving part is held on the driven part by a screw, for example a shouldered screw. Such a (shoulder-mounted) screw forms a particularly simple and economical implementation. The components and assembly process are easily mastered.

In an advantageous embodiment, the drive is designed in one piece with the process vessel.

In an advantageous embodiment, the drive means comprise a hub on which the driven part is mounted in a pivotally connected manner.

In an advantageous embodiment, the hub is arranged to be removably mounted on the processing container. Such an embodiment allows for disassembly of the tool for installation of other models and/or for cleaning.

In an advantageous embodiment, the drive section has a concave shape arranged to cooperate with the drive shaft.

In an advantageous embodiment, the drive means comprise a working tool which is permanently fastened to the driven part.

In an advantageous embodiment, the drive means are designed to be integrated with the housing of the food preparation appliance.

In an advantageous embodiment, the working tool is a cutting and/or stirring tool. By cutting tool is meant a tool that can slice, chop or shred food to be prepared. The stirring tool means a tool that can stir, mix, knead, stir the food to be prepared.

A second aspect of the invention relates to a processing receptacle for a food preparation appliance, comprising a drive arrangement for driving a processing tool arranged to process food in the processing receptacle, wherein the drive arrangement conforms to at least one of the aforementioned features.

A third aspect of the invention relates to a food preparation appliance comprising a housing, a motor accommodated in the housing, a drive shaft at the output of the motor, a processing vessel removably mounted on the housing, the processing vessel comprising means for driving a processing tool arranged to process food in the processing vessel, wherein the drive means conform to at least one of the aforementioned features.

Drawings

Other characteristics and attributes of the invention will emerge more clearly from a reading of the following detailed description of an embodiment of the invention, given by way of non-limiting example and illustrated by the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a food preparation appliance comprising a processing vessel connected to a housing of the food preparation appliance, according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of an apparatus for driving a processing tool arranged to process food in a processing vessel of the food preparation appliance of FIG. 1, according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 3 shows a cross-sectional view of the drive arrangement of fig. 2 during mounting in an upper part of a housing of a food preparation appliance according to an embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged partial sectional view of the driving device of fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a partial cross-sectional view of the lock nut.

Detailed Description

Fig. 1 shows a food preparation appliance comprising a housing 60 and a removable processing vessel 10 according to an embodiment, where the processing vessel 10 is connected to the housing 60. The processing container 10 is closed with a lid 15, which ensures safe handling by the user. In practice, food preparation appliances typically include a processing tool 20 (visible in fig. 2 and 3) located in the processing vessel 10 for chopping, cutting, blending and mixing the food to be prepared. To this end, the working tool 20 may be driven to rotate at high speeds (e.g., several thousand revolutions per minute, and up to several tens of thousands of revolutions per minute, such as about 30000 revolutions per minute, or even 35000 revolutions per minute).

To drive the processing tool 20 in rotation, the food preparation appliance comprises an electric motor in a housing 60, possibly with a gear train (not visible in the figure), and a drive shaft 61 at the output, visible in fig. 3. According to the embodiment shown in the figures, the drive shaft 61 of the output is directly driven by an electric motor. The processing vessel 10 comprises means 40 for driving a processing tool 20 arranged to process food in the processing vessel 10.

Fig. 2 shows a device 40 for driving the processing tool 20, which is mounted on the bottom 11 of the processing container 10. The drive device 40 is used to transmit drive motion between a drive shaft 61 (which typically extends or protrudes from the housing 60) and the machine tool 20 itself.

As shown in fig. 2, the processing tool 20 includes a plurality of blades for cutting and blending food. However, the embodiment shown in FIG. 2 is not limiting. Other types of processing tools 20 may be used in other embodiments of the present invention.

Fig. 3 shows a sectional view of the drive device 40, which comprises:

a lower drive portion 41 for cooperating with a drive shaft 61, the drive shaft 61 itself being driven by an electric motor;

an upper driven portion 42, which here directly carries the working tool 20 (in another embodiment the working tool may for example be crimped or attached in another way).

The drive means 40 is pivotally mounted on a hub formed by the bottom 11 of the process vessel 10 by means of a bearing 51, the bearing 51 being made of a material with a low coefficient of friction (for example bronze, preferably the coefficient of friction of the material of the bearing 51 is between 0.02 and 0.2). In the embodiment shown in fig. 3, the processing vessel 10 has a reservoir 12 and a collar 13 assembled with the reservoir 12 to hold the base 11. The bottom 11, the reservoir 12 and the collar 13 are preferably designed to be removable for cleaning. The bottom 11 is thus removable with respect to the reservoir 12. Collar 13 provides an interface for mating process vessel 10 with housing 60. Furthermore, the food preparation appliance may be transported with several bases 11, each carrying a drive device 40 with a specific processing tool 20 (for cutting, stirring, chopping, kneading). As a variant, the processing container 10 does not necessarily have a bottom 11 that is removable with respect to the reservoir 12.

The driving portion 41 may be made of plastic, such as polyamide, preferably filled fiber (e.g., 30% fiberglass), or polycarbonate, and the driven portion 42 may be made of stainless steel.

As described above, the processing tool 20 is located in the processing vessel 10 and must be driven by the driving shaft 61 integrated with the housing 60. Since the process vessel 10 is removable with respect to the housing 60, manufacturing and adjustment tolerances can introduce alignment deviations between the rotational axis 45 of the process tool 20 and the rotational axis 62 of the drive shaft 61.

In view of the high rotational speeds, parts are typically manufactured by machining to achieve good alignment without offset, which increases the cost and complexity of manufacture. However, one aspect of the invention proposes that the driving device 40 is designed to leave at least one degree of freedom between the driven portion 42 and the driving portion 41 in a direction contained in a plane perpendicular to the axis of rotation 45, and preferably five degrees of freedom between the driven portion 42 and the driving portion 41.

As a result, slight misalignments or offsets may be tolerated between the rotational axis 45 of the machining tool 20 and the rotational axis 62 of the drive shaft 61, particularly during rotational movement of the machining tool 20 and the drive shaft 61, which makes it possible to provide a structure with, for example, a less expensive casting. In particular, the driving portion 41 may be made of POM, glass fiber filled PA or polypropylene.

In particular, as shown in FIG. 3, an embodiment of the present invention provides a hinge between the driving portion 41 and the driven portion 42, the hinge including a hex nut 43, the hex nut 43 being received with clearance in a hex recess 47 of the driving portion 41. Thus, the hinge includes a hexagonal nut 43 and a hexagonal recess 47, the hexagonal nut 43 being integral with the driven portion 42.

In the embodiment shown in fig. 4, the articulation between the driving part 41 and the driven part 42 has two hexagonal nuts 43, 43' (in a nut/counter nut assembly) which are accommodated with play in a recess 47 of the driving part 41. If desired, the recess 47 may be at least partially closed by a gasket 48 mounted on the driven portion 42. Alternatively, the hexagonal nut 43 may be a locking nut having an annular locking portion 43 ", as shown in fig. 5. Alternatively, the recess 47 does not necessarily have a hexagonal shape, but may for example have a shape adapted to drive the hexagonal shape of the hexagonal nut 43, 43' in rotation. The articulation therefore comprises a drive recess with at least one rotation stop along the rotation axis 45 and a drive nut with a shape complementary to the drive recess, arranged in the drive recess. The drive nut is integral with the driven portion 42. The drive recess is integral with the drive portion 41.

At the hinge joint between the driving portion 41 and the driven portion 42, at least one of the following gaps may be provided:

in an axial direction parallel to the rotation axis 45: a gap of at least 0.8mm, such as at least 1mm in one embodiment, and at least 2mm in another embodiment;

in one of two directions perpendicular to the axis of rotation 45: a gap of at least 0.2mm, such as at least 0.3mm in one embodiment;

one rotation of two rotations with axes perpendicular to the rotation axis 45: a gap of at least + -5 deg., such as + -7 deg. in one embodiment, and + -14 deg. in another embodiment.

Of course, the above several gaps can be added or combined.

Thus, the drive device 40 can accommodate small misalignments while delivering the drive torque necessary to properly process the food.

In order to prevent the driven portion 42 and the driving portion 41 from coming loose from each other, a screw 44 and a washer 46 are provided at the end of the shaft forming the driven portion 42, as better seen in fig. 4. For example, all metal parts can be made of stainless steel.

It will be appreciated that various modifications and/or improvements obvious to a person skilled in the art may be made to the various embodiments of the invention described in the present description without exceeding the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. In particular, reference is made to a hinge comprising at least one hexagonal nut, but any other form of nut for the hinge may be provided, such as a nut with a single anti-rotation indicator, a toothed nut, a pinion, or even a universal joint and/or oldham joint type interface.

Claims

1. A device (40) for driving a processing tool (20) arranged to process food in a removable processing container (10) of a food preparation appliance,

the food preparation appliance comprising a housing (60), a motor accommodated in the housing (60) and a drive shaft (61) at the output of the motor,

the drive device (40) comprises:

-a driven portion (42) arranged to drive the working tool (20) in rotation about a rotation axis (45),

a drive portion (41) arranged to be driven by the drive shaft (61),

-the driving means (40) are designed to prevent a rotational degree of freedom between the driven portion (42) and the driving portion (41) along the rotation axis (45),

characterized in that the drive means (40) are designed to leave at least one degree of freedom between the driven portion (42) and the drive portion (41) in a direction contained in a plane perpendicular to the axis of rotation (45).

2. The drive device (40) according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the drive device (40) is designed to leave five degrees of freedom between the driven portion (42) and the drive portion (41).

3. The drive arrangement (40) according to one of claims 1 or 2, characterized in that it comprises a hinge arranged between the driven part (42) and the drive part (41).

4. The drive arrangement (40) according to claim 3, characterized in that the hinge is designed such that the drive part (41) is movable in three perpendicular directions relative to the driven part (42) and has a clearance of at least ± 0.2mm, preferably at least ± 0.3mm, in each of the three directions relative to a nominal position between the driven part (42) and the drive part (41).

5. The drive arrangement (40) according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that the articulation is designed such that the drive part (41) is movable at least ± 0.8mm, preferably at least ± 1mm, more preferably at least ± 2mm, relative to the driven part (42) in an axial direction parallel to the rotational axis (45).

6. The drive arrangement (40) according to one of claims 3 to 5, characterized in that the articulation is designed such that the drive part (41) is movable relative to the driven part (42), at least relative to a nominal position between the driven part (42) and the drive part (41), within an angular value of at least ± 5 °, preferably ± 7 °, more preferably ± 14 °, this movement being a rotation twice, the axis of each rotation being perpendicular to the axis of rotation (45).

7. Drive arrangement (40) according to one of claims 3 to 6, characterized in that the hinge comprises a hexagonal nut (43) integral with the driven part (42), the hexagonal nut (43) being accommodated with clearance in a hexagonal recess (47) integral with the drive part (41).

8. The drive device (40) according to one of claims 3 to 7, characterized in that the articulation comprises a drive recess with at least one rotation stop along the axis of rotation (45) and a drive nut with a shape complementary to the drive recess and arranged in the drive recess, the nut having the general shape of a sphere or a height of less than 50% of its diameter.

9. The drive arrangement (40) according to one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the drive part (41) is held on the driven part (42) by a screw (44), for example a shouldered screw.

10. The drive device (40) according to one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that it is designed to be integrated with the processing vessel (10).

11. The drive arrangement (40) of claim 10, including a hub on which the driven portion (42) is pivotally mounted.

12. The drive arrangement (40) according to claim 11, wherein the hub is arranged to be removably mounted on the processing vessel (10).

13. The drive arrangement (40) according to one of claims 10 to 12, characterized in that the drive portion (41) has a concave shape arranged to cooperate with the drive shaft (61).

14. Drive arrangement (40) according to one of the claims 10 to 13, characterized in that the drive arrangement comprises a working tool (20) which is permanently fastened to the driven part (42).

15. The drive device (40) according to claim 14, wherein the working tool (20) is a cutting and/or stirring tool.

16. Drive arrangement (40) according to one of the claims 1 or 9, characterized in that the drive arrangement is designed to be integrated with a housing (60) of the food preparation appliance.

17. A processing container (10) for a food preparation appliance, comprising means (40) for driving a processing tool (20) arranged to process food in said processing container (10), characterized in that said driving means (40) are in accordance with one of claims 1 to 15.

18. Food preparation appliance comprising a housing (60), a motor accommodated in said housing (60), a drive shaft (61) at the output of said motor, a processing vessel (10) removably mounted on said housing (60), said processing vessel (10) comprising means (40) for driving a processing tool (20) arranged to process food in said processing vessel (10), characterized in that said driving means (40) is in accordance with one of claims 1 to 16.