FR2481780A1 - PROTECTION DEVICE FOR A KITCHEN ROBOT - Google Patents

Abstract

A PROTECTIVE DEVICE INTENDED TO PREVENT ACCIDENTAL TRIGGERING OF THE OPERATION OF A KITCHEN PROCESSOR INCLUDES IN PARTICULAR A PROTECTIVE CAP 42 WHICH COVERS THE UPPER END OF AN OPERATION CONTROL ROD HOUSED INSIDE A BOSS 22. CE THE CAP IS EQUIPPED WITH SLOTS HAVING A KEYWOOD CONFIGURATION IN WHICH OPERATING MEANS CAN PENET 38, 49, 50 JOINT WITH A COVER 20, WHEN THIS COVER IS IN THE CORRECT POSITION IN WHICH THE APPLIANCE CAN OPERATE.

Description

"Protection key device for a food processor This is

  The invention relates to kitchen robots and relates more particularly to a protective locking device for such machines in which an operating part must be inserted into a slot having the configuration of a keyway to allow the operation of the food processor. kitchen, to protect the user and the machine against accidental start-up, when the elements of the food processor

are not properly in place.

Food processors of the type to which the invention is applicable include a working cup and tool mounting means protruding upward into the cup, on which various rotary food processing tools can be selectively mounted to be driven in order to perform various food processing operations according to the desire of the user. A removable cover is attached to the top of the bucket during use. The cover includes a feed tube, or food receiving hopper, having a lower opening which opens at the top of the cup, passing through the cover. The food items to be processed are placed in this feed tube and then manually pushed down so that they pass through the feed tube to enter the bucket, using a removable food pusher which is designed to slide downward like a

piston in the feed tube.

US Patent 3,892,365 describes and represents a food processor of this type. This patent also describes a safety characteristic which consists in the existence of a movable vertical rod housed in a semi-cylindrical boss which extends vertically over the height of the bucket and which contains the operating control rod. The latter is aligned with an on-off switch for controlling the motor.

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and it is designed to operate this switch.

The operating control rod is biased upwards by a spring so that this rod cannot press the motor switch if the removable cover is not positioned correctly on the working bucket. Urnecane is mounted on the peripheral edge of the cover and is designed to press on the upper end of the operating control rod to activate the engine switch. It is intended that this engine switch cannot be operated if the cover is not

  correctly positioned on the bucket.

  More recently, a food processor has been proposed on the market in which such a cam is mounted on

  an external handle that fits around the feed tube

  tion on the cover. Thus, the operating control rod can only be actuated if the cover is positioned correctly on the bucket and if the outer sleeve is also adjusted correctly

on the feed tube.

An object of the invention is therefore to provide a new and improved food processor such that the user can only operate it if the operating means located on the cover, or an outer sleeve carrying the operating means, are

arranged correctly in place.

  The invention also aims to offer a new and improved food processor comprising safety means for operating control which are covered and which can only be accessed through an opening having the configuration of a groove of key, these means therefore having to be actuated manually by the user in an appropriate manner and ensuring safety, to allow the operation of the food processor and thus prevent an operation carried out inadvertently resulting in injury to the user or a deterioration of

kitchen robot.

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  According to one embodiment of the invention, a food processor of the type comprising tool drive means which are driven by a motor drive device located in a base, comprises control means

  intended to deactivate the driving device

  motor, unless the control means are actuated.

  A bucket is mounted on the base so as to contain a

rotary tool, and a movable operating control rod

  ment is associated with the bucket so as to actuate the control means when this rod is pressed. The rotary tool

  can be driven by the tool drive means.

A removable lid for the bucket has a food receiving hopper, or feeding tube, which passes through the lid to come into contact with the rotary tool located in the bucket and a food pusher can be introduced into this tube. '' feed to push down, towards the rotary tool,

  food items contained in the feeding tube

  tion. Maneuvering means are positioned on the cover and a semi-cylindrical boss formed on the bucket defines a guide in which the movable operating control rod is housed in alignment with the control means. The boss has a split cap having the configuration of a keyway, which covers

  the upper end of the operating control rod

  ment, which prevents access to the rod, to prevent the control means being actuated accidentally, when the elements of the food processor are not positioned correctly. The operating means have a surface in which a keyway is formed which fits into the slot of particular shape of the cap and can pass through this slot, so as to push the rod

  mobile for actuating the control means.

  The operating means can advantageously be mounted in one piece on the cover, or they can be part of an outer sleeve which adjusts on the supply tube so that the latter is

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fitted into the sleeve.

  Among the advantages of the covered safety locking device of the invention are:

those resulting from the fact that the slot formed in the capu-

chon which leads to the operating control rod allows access to the upper end of this rod only through an opening in the form of a keyway, which protects the rod against an operation

  accidental through the top of the boss. With this struc-

ture, it is difficult to actuate the rod in another way without using the operating means having a

  additional keyway that fits perfectly-

  lying in the split cap. As a result, it is extremely difficult to accidentally or inadvertently actuate the operating control rod so as to operate the tool drive means, unless the keyway operating means are inserted in the cap. split located on the boss of the bucket in which

  the rod This operating control is locked.

  The invention will be better understood on reading the

  description which follows of certain embodiments,

  given by way of nonlimiting examples. Following the

description refers to the accompanying drawings in which the

  corresponding elements of the various figures are designated by the same reference numbers and in which: Figure 1 is a front view and from above, in

  perspective, of a food processor corresponding to the invention

tion, in which the operating means are an integral part

  grantee of the cover; FIG. 2 is a front view, on a larger scale,

  of the covered safety locking mechanism, corresponding to

according to the invention, in which the operating means are mounted on an outer sleeve positioned on the

  cover of the food processor, around the food tube

  tion of it; Figure 3 is a section along line 3-3 of Figure 2; and

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  Figure 4 is a section along line 4-4

in Figure 2.

  We will now consider FIG. 1 which represents a cooking robot generally designated by the reference 10, which comprises a base casing 12 on which a working cup 18 is mounted. The top of the cup 18 is closed by a cover 20 which is designed to be fixed in its normal operating position on the cup 18, each time the food processor 10 is in operation. A food receiving hopper, or feed tube, 30 rises from the cover and opens down through the cover. The feed tube 30 is designed to receive a food pusher 32 which can be manually inserted in the manner of a piston and which is used to push down the food articles in order to bring them into contact with a rotary tool (not shown) which is mounted on tool mounting means (not shown) so as to rotate in the 18th bucket As described and shown in more detail in the aforementioned patent, the housing 12 contains a relatively powerful electric motor for driving tool mounting means which rise from the housing 12 to enter the working bucket 18. There are various different types of food processing tools which can be selectively mounted on the tool mounting means so as to rotate them in the bucket 18. Since the tool and the tool drive mechanism are not part of the invention and are conventional, they are neither described or represented ntés in detail here (the aforementioned patent shows an example of these elements). The aforementioned patent also shows a method (the fixing of the cover to the bucket which uses tongues mounted at the periphery of the cover and directed downwards, the rotation of the cover causing these tongues to pass under a number of projections directed racially and formed on the lip of the bucket 18. Similarly, other suitable means can be used

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to fix the cover in place on the bucket, like those used today on various robots

  commercially available cookware.

  As shown in Figures 1 and 2, a boss 22, semi-cylindrical and vertical, is formed on the outside of the wall of the bucket 18. This boss 22 defines a guide in which is mounted an operating control rod 24, movable in vertical direction. At rest, this rod 24 is biased upwards by a spring 26. As shown in FIG. 2, when the bucket 18 is correctly positioned on the housing 12, the operating control rod 24 is aligned with a control button 16 of means for controlling the drive of the tool, 14, consisting for example of a motor switch, A membrane 28, flexible and waterproof, is located in the base housing 12 above the control means 14 so as to avoid the entry of liquids or food particles

inside this case.

The cover 20 (see Figure 1) or an outer sleeve 35 which is positioned on the cover and adjusts on the supply tube 30 by fitting the latter (see Figure 2) carries along one of its ribs an annular rim 34 which is at a level lower than that

  from the bottom end of the cover or the outer sleeve.

  This rim 34 has additional support thanks to

  stiffening ribs 36, extending upwards.

This annular rim 34 carries a cam 38, extending downward, which is designed so as to come into contact with the operating control rod 24, movable vertically, and to depress this rod, when the cover 20 is correctly positioned on the bucket and is rotated to activate the motor of the food processor

to rotate the tool in the bucket.

It will be noted that this particular structure with the operating means being in the form of an annular rim and with a cam extending from

  of the cover, is shown in the aforementioned patent.

  When such a cam is mounted on an outer sleeve

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which fits around the supply tube, such a form of structure is described and shown in the

US patent application 17 822.

  The invention differs from the structures mentioned above by employing a protective cap which encloses the upper end 25 of the operating control rod 24, movable in the vertical direction, in order to protect it against accidental or unauthorized operation. In the aforementioned patent as in the aforementioned patent application, the top of the boss 22 is open, which means that the upper end 25 of the operating control rod 24 is exposed, so that this

  rod can be activated accidentally or inadvertently.

  To protect the upper end 25 of the operating control rod 24 and to make it difficult to accidentally or inadvertently actuate this operating control rod,

  a protective cap 42 split by a groove of -

  key, is mounted at the top of the boss 22 surrounding this upper end 25. As FIGS. 3 and 4 show better, the split protective cap 42 has a narrow upper slot 44 which passes through it and it has a pair of side wall slots , 46, opposite and aligned, which completely cross this

cap. The upper slot 44 is preferably light.

ment curved and its curvature corresponds to that of the periphery of the cover 20. In other words, the upper slot 44 preferably has. a curvature, the center of which is on the central axis of the working bucket and its cover. This upper slot 44 is notably narrower than the side wall slots 46. Thus, the narrow upper slot 44 associated with the side wall slots 46, which are larger, advantageously defines an access opening of special configuration of the type of a groove. key, so as to prevent accidental or inadvertent access to the upper end 25 of the control rod

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  operation 24. You can * access this end only by means of a square-shaped part having a

  configuration of keyway of complementary shape.

  Therefore, the motor drive which is located in the base housing 12 of the food processor cannot be easily operated except with a cam having a suitable configuration in the form of a keyway. As most clearly shown in the section of FIG. 4, the cam 38 projecting downward, which extends downward from the annular rim 34, has in its lateral surface a groove or a keyway 40 , which defines a thin part 47 of the cam which fits precisely in the narrow upper slot 44 of the protective cap 42. In addition, the enlarged lower part 49 of the cam 38 fits precisely in the slots of enlarged side walls 46 which are located in the side walls of the protective cap 42. The lower edge of the cam 38 is inclined as shown in FIG. 2 so as to form a surface of hull 50 which defines an effective means for driving the rod or pusher 24 when the thin part 47 and the enlarged lower part 49 of the cam 38 are inserted (as shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4) in the upper slot 44 and the side wall slots 46, having

  the configuration of a keyway.

  The thin part 47 preferably has a curvature which corresponds to the curvature of the upper slot 44

(as shown in the horizontal section in Figure 3).

  In other words, the center of curvature of the thin part 47 is located on the central axis of the cup and the cover. Therefore, when the cover is placed on the cup 18 and rotated to bring it to its normal operating position on the cup, the cam having a keyway configuration, 38,, 47, 49 , 50, easily penetrates into the access slots 44, 46, having a keyway configuration

  corresponding, in the protective cap 42.

  It is expected that there is sufficient play in the slots 44, 46 as well as in the configuration of the keyway care 38, 40, 47e 49, 50, to ensure easy entry under the effect of rotation from the cover to its operating position, in order to push in the operating control rod 24 to actuate

the food processor.

  As indicated above, the cam with keyway configuration 38, 40, 47, 49, 50 can be mounted on the cover 20 as shown in FIG. 1, or it can be mounted on an outer sleeve 35 (FIG. 2) which can be slid over the feed tube 30 placed on the cover, in order to place the camrne in the working position relative to the cover and to the protective cap 42, for actuating the food processor. cooked. The safety and protection characteristics of the operating control rod offered by the invention are the same in the two embodiments. In fact, the protection of the operating control rod is the same, whether the cam with keyway configuration is mounted directly on the cover or whether it is mounted directly on an external sleeve which can in turn be made slide and descend telescopically around the supply tube placed on the cover. Consequently, the expression "operating means associated with the cover" must be interpreted in a sufficiently broad sense to include a food processor in which the operating means are mounted directly on the cover itself, as well as a food processor in which the operating means are mounted on an accessory (such as an outer sleeve 35 which adjusts and descends on the supply tube 30) which in turn adjusts on the cover. In one case as in the other, the cover must be placed on the bucket, in its normal operating position, so that q (read the operating means actuate the control means in order to operate the device

motor drive.

  It will be noted (read the means of (the control 14 L (FIG. 2) can be used to control the powering up of the electric motor in the food processor, in order to operate the motor drive device to drive a tool in the bucket 18. According to a variant, these control means 14 can be used to control the operation of a clutch in the motor-drive device, to operate this motor drive device in order to drive a tool in the bucket 18. In other words, the engine itself can be started by another switch, after which a clutch must be actuated by the control means 14 before the tool located in the bucket 18 is driven by therefore the terms "control means" and "motor drive device" should be interpreted broadly enough to encompass either of these control configurations intended

  to operate and stop the driving device

motor.

  It will be noted that in the embodiments of the invention which have just been described, the protective cap 42 has the function of protecting the upper end or

25 of the operating control rod 24.

  In some kitchen robots used today, the control means 14 are located in a high position in a vertically upright part of the housing

  12 of the device, next to the cup 18 and the cover 20.

  Such control means in the seat position are located near the periphery of the cover, so that the operating control button 16 can be actuated directly by the cam. In other words, in such a food processor in which the control means 14

  are in the high position, the operating control rod

ment 24 is deleted and the cam 38 acts directly on the operating control button 16 of the control means. In such a food processor comprising control means in the high position, the cap

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  protector 42 is placed on the vertically upright part of the base casing and it has an access opening having a keyway configuration, similar to the opening with keyway configuration 44, 46 which is shown in FIGS. 2 , 3 and 4, so that it can only be accessed by means of a cam of complementary configuration, such as the cam with configuration of keyway 38, 40, 47, 49, 50. In such a robot kitchen, with control means in the high position, the keyway configuration cam can be mounted directly on the periphery of the cover, or it can be mounted on an outer sleeve 35 (Figure 2) which smooths and descends on the

feed tube 30.

  Note also that instead of positioning the control means 14 themselves in the high position in such a vertically upright part of the base of the base, the operating control button 16 can be extended so as to form a rod. operation control or an articulated upwardly extending operation control system therein

  a vertically upright part of the boot of the device.

  The upper or outer end of this operating control rod is then in a high position, while the control means 14 themselves are located at a lower location in the case 12 of the base. Thus, the protective cap 42 is designed so as to protect the upper or outer end of this rod or of this articulated system for controlling

operation.

  In summary, in all of the various embodiments of the invention that have been described, the protective cap 42 with its access opening in a keyway configuration encloses and protects the upper or outer end of the operating control element on which the cam of complementary shape must act, thanks to which the operating control element is protected against an operation carried out

  accidentally or inadvertently.

As shown in Figure 3, the cover 20

  may include a skirt that fits tightly to the interior

  of the upper part of the cup 18 or that covers the top of the cup so as to fit closely to

outside of bucket 18.

  It goes without saying that many modifications can be made to the device described and represented,

  without departing from the scope of the invention.

  Rl; V] N DICATI ONS 1, Protective device for a food processor of the type comprising drive means

  of tools that can be driven by a driving device

motor drive located in a base (12) with wedge means (14) intended to render the motor drive device inactive, as long as the control means are not actuated, a bucket (18) which can be mounted on the base so as to enclose inside this bucket a rotary tool, this tool being able to be driven by the tool drive means, a mobile operating control element (24) intended to actuate the control means when the outer end (25) is pushed in, ie this element (the operating control, a removable cover (20) for the bucket, a food receiving hopper (30) which passes through the cover so as to bring articles of food up to '' with the tool located in the bucket, through the cover, and a food pusher (32) which can be manually introduced into this hopper so as to push towards the rotating tool the food articles which are in the hopper, characterized in that it c includes: maneuvering means (38, 49, 50) associated with the cover and / or the hopper, and a protective cap (42) which covers the outer end (25) 2.5 c. of operating control element (24 ), in order to prevent access to the operating control element, to prevent the control means (14) being actuated accidentally or inadvertently; and in that the protective cap has an access opening (46, 44) having a predetermined configuration in the form of a keyway, the operating means having

  a configuration in the form of a complementary keyway

t: J. re (40, 47, 49) and adjusting in the opening (access by being able to push in the mobile operating control element in order to (activate the means as ordered, thanks to which the protective cap prevents access to the outer end (upper of the operating control element except with the operating means having

an additional keyway configuration.

  2. Protective device according to claim 1, for a food processor in which the element (mobile operating control (24) is a mobile rod which extends vertically and which is mounted on the cup (18), characterized in that the protective cap (42) is fixed to the cup and covers the upper end

(25) of the movable rod (24).

  3. Protective device according to claim 1, for a food processor in which the movable operating control element is a movable rod which extends vertically and which is mounted on the bucket, characterized in that: the protective cap (42) is fixed to the bucket and covers the upper end of the movable rod; this protective cap has the shape of an inverted bowl, with an upper wall and side walls; the access opening includes a narrow upper slot (44) in the upper wall of the protective cap and includes a pair of enlarged slots (46) located in the side walls affixed to the protective cap and mutually aligned; the maneuvering means consist of a particular configuration cam which has an enlarged part (49) comprising. a carne surface (50) which is intended to come into contact with the upper end of the movable rod and to depress this end; the enlarged part of the cam is designed to enter the enlarged slots (46) of the side walls; and the particular configuration cam has a thin part (47) which is fixed to the enlarged part, this thin part being designed so as to enter the upper slot

narrow (44).

  4. Protective device for a food processor according to claim 3, characterized in that the narrow upper slot (44) has an arc configuration whose center of curvature is on the central axis of the cup and the cover; and the thin part (47) of the cam also has an arc configuration having the same curvature as the upper slot, so

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to enter this upper slot.

5. Protection device for a food processor according to claim 1, characterized in that the access opening (44, 46) formed in the protective cap (42) is defined by a relatively wide slot (46) in its side walls and by a narrow slot (44) in its upper wall; and the operating means comprise an enlarged part (49) which is intended to enter the slots in the side walls and a narrow part (47) which is intended to enter the narrow upper slot, in order to move the control element operation when the cover and its associated access means are in

  correct operating position in relation to the base.

  6. Protection device for a food processor according to claim 5, characterized in that the enlarged part (49) of the operating means (38, 49,) comprises a sloping cam surface (50) which is intended to come in contact with the outer end (25) of the operation control element (24); and the narrow part (47) of the operating means is formed by a groove (40) which extends horizontally in these operating means, above their enlarged part. 7. Protection device for a food processor according to any one of claims or 6, characterized in that the operating means (38, 49, 50) consist of an integral part

of the cover (20) of the bucket.

  - 8. Protective device for a food processor according to any one of claims or 6, characterized in that the operating means (38, 49, 50) are projecting from an outer sleeve (35) which can be positioned on the cover, around the food receiving hopper (30).