GB2029199A

GB2029199A - Juicer attachment for food processor

Info

Publication number: GB2029199A
Application number: GB7928569A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Breville Holdings Pty Ltd
Current assignee: Breville Holdings Pty Ltd
Priority date: 1978-08-17
Filing date: 1979-08-16
Publication date: 1980-03-19
Also published as: AU527981B2; CA1113351A; AU4992079A; NZ191255A; DE2933468A1

Abstract

A food processor has an attachment for extracting juice from fruit. The attachment 13 has an abrasive base 17, 19 a tubular member 15 which fits over the driving shaft 10 and a filter 23 around its periphery supported by pillars 20. The attachment is rotatable within the container 12 of the processor which has a lid 24 having in it a vertical tube 26 open at both ends. The tube 26 receives the fruit and guides it under pressure onto the abrasive base 17. A stem 18 is provided on the abrasive base 17, which stem engages a bearing 28 provided at the bottom of tube 26. An annular skirt 29 is formed integrally with the lid. The gap between the bottom of the skirt 29 and the abrasive base 17 is less than the gap below the lower end of the tube 26 so as to trap portions of vegetable material which pass from beneath tube 26. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Juicer attachment for food processor The present invention relates to an improvement in food processors and to an attachment for a food processor making it suitable for the extraction of juice from fruit and vegetables such as apples and carrots.

A variety of food processors are available that are very effective for various types of slicing, chopping and mixing of foodstuffs and the object of the present invention is to provide a device that may be incorporated in such a food processor or sold as an attachment for such a food processor whereby the juice may be extracted from a wide variety of vegetables and fruit and separated from the pulp.

The invention consists in a food processor consisting of a base containing an electric driving motor and electric switch means for controlling the operation of said driving motor, an aperture in the upper surface of said base through which a driving shaft in said motor projects, a substantially cylindrical removeable food processing container open at its upper end, complementary means on said base and said container whereby said container is removably attached to the upper surface of said base with the driving motor shaft projecting through the hole in the base of the container, a sleeve in said container surrounding said hole projecting upwardly into the containerto form an annular liquid retaining trough around said hole, characterized in that there is provided a cylindrical juice separating member, said member having on its underside a hollow stem fitting over and making driving connection with the driving motor shaft within said sleeve, said member being rotatable within the container about the axis of said shaft, filtration means arranged around the periphery of said member to permit juice to pass from said member into said container, abrasive means on the interior face of the bottom of said member, a removeable lid fitting over said container, said lid having in it a tube open at both ends adapted to receive portions of vegetables or fruit, the lower end of said tube extending into the said member so that the lower end thereof is spaced a short distance above the abrasive means therein whereby a portion of fruit or vegetable introduced into said tube is brought into contact with said abrasive means.

The invention further consists in an attachment for a food processor consisting of a base containing an electric driving motor and electric switch means for controlling the operation of said driving motor, an aperture in the upper surface of the said base through which the driving shaft of said motor projects, a substantially cylindrical removeable food processing container open at its upper end, complementary means on said base and said container whereby said container is removably attached to the upper surface of said base with the driving motor shaft projecting through a hole in the base of the container, a sleeve in said container surrounding said hole projecting upwardly into the container to form an annular liquid retaining trough around said hole, the attachment comprising a cylindrical juice separating member, said member having on its under side a hollow stem adapted to fit over and make driving connection with the driving motor shaft within said sleeve, said member, when so mounted, being rotatable within the container about the axis of said shaft, filtration means arranged around the periphery of said member to permit juice to pass from said member to said container, abrasive means on the interior face of the bottom of said member, a removeable lid fitting over said container, the said lid having a tube open at both ends adapted to receive portions of vegetables or fruit, the said tube extending into said member so that the lower end thereof is spaced a short distance above the abrasive means therein to permit portions of fruit or vegetables introduced into said tube to be brought into contact with said abrasive means.

In orderthatthe nature of the invention may be better understood a preferred form thereof is hereinafter described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a median cross-sectional view in a vertical plane of a food processor incorporating the invention, Figure 2 is a sectional view on line A-A of Figure 1, Figure 3 is a view in elevation of the juice separating member, Figure 4 is a part sectional view on B-B of Figure 3, Figure 5 is a plan view of a removeable abrasive plate for use in said juice extracting member, Figure 6 is a view in elevation of the plate of Figure 5, Figure 7 is a view of a perforated lining member providing a part of the filtration means of said juice separating member, and Figure 8 is a view of a second filtration means for said juice separating member.

The food processor consists of a base (not shown in the drawings) having within it an electric motor the driving shaft of which is indicated at 10 in Figure 1 and projects upwardly through a hole in the top of the base. A skirt 11 on the cylindrical food processing container 12 fits over the boss and complementary locking means are provided whereby, when in use, the container is fixed to the base against movement in an upward direction. An upwardly extending sleeve 12a surrounds a central hole in the container 12 through which the motor driving shaft 10 projects. This sleeve forms an annular liquid retaining trough with the inner surface of the container 12.

Within the container 12 is rotatably mounted a juice separating member indicated generally at 13.

This consists of a bottom 14 having projecting downwardly from it a tubular member 15 which fits over and makes driving connection with, the motor driving shaft 10. A skirt 16 also projects downwardly from the bottom 14 and, as seen in Figure 1, this surrounds the sleeve 1 2a and acts to prevent juice from entering the sleeve 12a. Centrally located on the bottom 14 is a circular metal plate 17 having moulded to it an upstanding stem 18 by means of which it may be lifted out of the member 13 or returned to it. This has on its upper surface a series of sharp projections designed to abrade the surface of a piece of fruit or vegetable offered up to it while it is in rotation. The material of the fruit or vegetable is very finely shredded by the portions 19 in a well known manner to release the juice contained within the fruit or vegetable.

Projecting upwardly from the periphery of the bottom 14 and evenly spaced around its circumference are a plurality of members 20 joined at their upper ends by the inwardly directed flange 21. These members 20 serve to support two filter members 22 and 23 illustrated respectively in Figures 7 and 8. The filter member 22 consists of a sheet of aluminium of the order of mm thick having in zit a large number of fine holes of for example 1/32nd inch diameter. This sheet is shaped to circular form and lies against the inner faces of the members 20. Against the inner face of the aluminium sheet 22 is a "MYLAR" (Registered Trade Mark) sheet 23 having in it a plurality of even finer perforations.This "MYLAR" sheet is intended for removal at intervals during the operation of the machine, the arrangement being such that centrifugal force causes fruit or vegetable pulp to collect on the sheet 23 and this can be very readily removed when an excessive amount has collected, by peeling out the sheet 23 and washing it under a tap. It can then be easily re-inserted in position. A small extension is provided at one end of the sheet 23 to facilitate removal and replacement.

A lid 24 fits on to the upper end of the container 12, the flange 25 fitting within the periphery of the upper part of the container 12. In the lid is a tube 26 open at both ends and extending downwardly to a point just above the surface of the plate 17. In use fruit or vegetable matter from which juice is to be extracted is inserted in the tube 20 and pressed against the plate 17 which is rotated by the motor. To apply pressure to the fruit or vegetable a pusher member (not shown) fitting closely within the tube 26, but slideable in it, may be provided. Abrasion of the fruit or vegetable releases juice contained in it and reduces the material to a fine pulp.The juice and the pulp are separated by the filters 22 and 23 during rotation of the member 13, the juice passing into the liquid retaining trough in the container 12, whereas the pulp stays within the member 13 and is removed from time to time in the manner described above.

Moulded integrally with the tube 26 is a bearing housing 27 which contains nylon bearing 28 which fits over the upstanding stem 18. This assists greatly in stabilising the whole rotating system during use.

An annular depending skirt 29 is moulded integrally with the lid 24 and projects down into the container 12 to a point just above the surface of the plate 17.

The gap between the bottom of the skirt 29 and the surface of the plate 17 is somewhat less than the gap between the lower end of the tube 26 and the surface of the plate 17. The effect of the annular skirt 29 is to contain relatively large portions of vegetable material which pass beneath the end of the tube 26 when a piece of vegetable material has been abraded to such an extent that its thickness is less than the gap between the tube 26 and the plate 17. It has been found that if such pieces of material are allowed to reach the periphery of the juice separating member 13 they tend to unbalance the rotating assembly leading to vibration. The skirt 29 acts to retain such pieces of material nearer the centre of the assembly thus diminishing the out of balance forces produced.

The apparatus is made for the most part by moulding from plastic material of suitable characteristics and is constructed so as to be capable of being readily dismantled for washing and storage.

The invention may be regarded as being a food processor of a known kind incorporating means making it suitable for the extraction of juice from fruit or vegetables or it may be regarded as an accessory that may be used in conjunction with an existing food processing machine to make it suitable for that purpose.

It is usual in such food processors to provide a hole in the base through which access to the electric switch is available for a spring loaded plunger attached to the container, the lid of the container being provided with cam means acting to depress the plunger and thus actuate the switch when the lid is in the correct position on the container. The lid 24 described above may be provided with such cam means to effect operation of the motor switch.

The preferred embodiment of the invention described above is given by way of example only as constituting one form of construction within the scope of the invention as defined broadly above.

Claims

1. Afood processor consisting of a base containing an electric driving motor and electric switch means for controlling the operation of said driving motor, an aperture in the upper surface of said base through which a driving shaft in said motor projects, a substantially cylindrical removeable food processing container open at its upper end, complementary means on said base and said container whereby said container is removably attached to the upper surface of said base with the driving motor shaft projecting through the hole in the base of the container, a sleeve in said container surrounding said hole projecting upwardly into the container to form an annular liquid retaining trough around said hole, characterized in that there is provided a cylindrical juice separating member, said member having on its underside a hollow stem fitting over and making driving connection with the driving motor shaft within said sleeve, said member being rotatable within the container about the axis of said shaft, filt ration means arranged around the periphery of said memberto permit juice to pass from said member into said container, abrasive means on the interior face of the bottom of said member, a removeable lid fitting over said container, said lid having in it a tube open at both ends adapted to receive portions of vegetables or fruit, the lower end of said tube extending into the said member so that the lower end thereof is spaced a short distance above the abrasive means therein whereby a portion of fruit or vegetable introduced into said tube is brought into contact with said abrasive means.

2. A food processor as claimed in claim 1 wherein said cylindrical juice separating member is provided with a central annular depending skirt surrounding said sleeve to prevent juice entering the sleeve.

3. A food processor as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2 wherein said abrasive means is in the form of a flat circular plate and has a central upwardly projecting stem and said tube in the lid having at its lower end a bearing arranged to fit over said stem and acting to stabilise said juice separating member during rotation.

4. A food processor as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein said lid has formed on its underside an annular skirt the diameter of which is smaller than the internal diameter of said juice separating member and which projects downwardly into said container so that the lower surface thereof lies more closely adjacent the said abrasive means than the lower end of the tube whereby large pieces of fruit or vegetable matter passing beneath the tube are prevented from reaching the periphery of the juice separating member.

5. A food processor as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein said filtration means are separately removeable from said juice separating member for cleaning.

6. An attachment for a food processor consisting of a base containing an electric driving motor and electric switch means for controlling the operation of said driving motor, an aperture in the upper surface of the said base through which the driving shaft of said motor projects, a substantially cylindrical removeable food processing container open at its upper end, complementary means on said base and said container whereby said container is removably attached tc the upper surface of said base with the driving motor shaft projecting through a hole in the base of the container, a sleeve in said container surrounding said hole projecting upwardly into the con tainerto form an annular liquid retaining trough around said hole, the attachment comprising a cylindrical juice separating member, said member having on its under side a hollow stem adapted to fit over and make driving connection with the driving motor shaft within said sleeve, said member, when so mounted, being rotatable within the container about the axis of said shaft, filtration means arranged around the periphery of said member to permit juice to pass from said member to said container, abrasive means on the interior face of the bottom of said member, a removeable lid fitting over said container, the said lid having a tube open at both ends adapted to receive portions of vegetables or fruit, the said tube extending into said member so that the lower end thereof is spaced a short distance above the abrasive means therein to permit portions of fruit or vegetables introduced into said tube to be brought into contact with said abrasive means.

7. An attachment for a food processor as claimed in claim 6 wherein said cylindrical juice operating member is provided with a central annular depending skirt surrounding said sleeve to prevent juice entering the sleeve.

8. An attachment for a food processor as claimed in claim 6 or claim 7 wherein said abrasive means is in the form of a flat circular plate and has a central upwardly projecting stem and said tube in the lid.

having at its lower end a bearing arranged to fit over said stem and acting to stabilise said juice separating member during rotation.

9. An attachment as claimed in any one of claims 6,7 or8 wherein said lid has formed on its underside an annular skirt the diameter of which is smaller than the internal diameter of said juice separating member and which projects downwardly into said container so that the lower surface thereof lies more closely adjacent to said abrasive means than the lower end of the tube whereby large pieces of fruit or vegetable matter passing beneath the tube are prevented from reaching the periphery of the juice separating member.

10. An attachment as claimed in any one of claims 6 to 9 wherein said filtration means are separately removeable from said juice separating member for cleaning.

11. A food processor substantially as described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

12. An attachment for a food processorsubstantially as described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.