JP2003061837A - Condiment mill - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a condiment mill with simple mechanism capable of effectively grinding and discharging the condiments. SOLUTION: A condiment mill 1A is composed of a tube-shaped external tine 3, with a denture mold formed inside, fixed unrotatably onto the inner lower part of the container body 2 of which upper side is closed and the bottom side is open, a revolving shaft 4 installed rotatably at the center of the container body 2 and is provided with a handle 5A, a roughly conical-shaped inner blade 6, with the denture mold formed on the periphery surface, inserted unrotatably into the revolving shaft 4 in a way that it is engaged to the external tine 3, and an adjustable nut 7 screwed into the thread part 41 at the bottom of the revolving shaft 4 and rotatably integrated to the inner blade 6. The condiment mill 1A has a simple structure that enables the condiment to be injected inside the container body 2 by loosening the adjustable nut 7 and drawing out the inner blade 6, integrated into the adjustable nut 7, from the revolving shaft 4, without the need for providing a separate slot for injecting the condiment.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to releasing the flavor of spices by crushing spices such as pepper, pepper and sesame to a desired particle size as needed during cooking or when eating at a table. It relates to a spice grinder that is sprinkled on ingredients and dishes in a fresh state.

[0002]

As a conventional spice grinder, for example,
There is one disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 1-138337. This spice grinder has an upper cylinder having tubular outer teeth fixed to its lower end and a lower cylinder having internally-conical inner teeth attached to each other, with the inner teeth facing each other in the outer teeth. It is rotatably connected. In this spice grinder, the upper cylinder and the lower cylinder are rotated with respect to each other so that the upper cylinder and the lower cylinder are twisted by grasping them with both hands, thereby relatively rotating the outer teeth and the inner teeth,
The spice is crushed between the outer teeth and the inner teeth and discharged from the lower end opening of the lower cylinder, so that the spice can be easily and surely ground to a desired particle size. However, in the case of this spice grinder, the upper cylinder having external teeth and the lower cylinder having internal teeth are rotatably connected, so that the structure is slightly complicated.

As a spice grinder having a simpler structure, there is a spice grinder having external teeth fixed to a container body and internal teeth attached to a rotary shaft rotatably attached to the container body. In this spice grinder, for example, as shown in FIG. 9, inside a container body 101 whose upper end surface is closed and whose lower end side is opened, an external tooth 102 having a substantially cylindrical shape and a tooth profile 121 formed on its inner surface is made non-rotatable. The rotation shaft 103 is fixedly attached to the central portion of the container body 101 by penetrating the upper end surface 111 of the container body 101, and the cantilever handle 104 having one end fixed to the upper end of the rotation shaft 103 is attached. , The inner teeth 105 having a substantially conical shape and a tooth profile 151 formed on the outer surface,
The rotary shaft 103 is non-rotatably inserted from the lower end of the rotary shaft 103, and the adjusting nut 107 is screwed into the screw portion 131 provided on the lower end of the rotary shaft 103. This spice grinder 1
00 holds the container body 101 with one hand and rotates the handle 104 with the other hand, so that the outer teeth 102 fixed to the container body 101 and the inner teeth 105 through which the rotation shaft 103 is non-rotatably inserted are relatively moved. The rotation of the sponge causes the spices to be crushed between the outer teeth 102 and the inner teeth 105, and the container body 101
It is discharged from the lower end opening 112. Also,
The adjusting nut 107 is rotated to move the inner teeth 105 to the rotary shaft 10.
By adjusting the width of the gap 108 between the outer teeth 102 and the inner teeth 103 by advancing and retreating with respect to 3, the spice can be ground to a desired particle size.

The above spice grinder 100 has external teeth 102.
A rotation shaft 103 rotatably attached to a container body 101 fixed in a non-rotatable manner is inserted into an inner tooth 105 in a non-rotatable manner, and an outer tooth and an inner tooth are fixed in a non-rotatable manner. Compared to a spice grinder in which an upper cylinder and a lower cylinder are rotatably connected, the entire structure is simple. However, by loosening the adjusting nut 107, the gap 1 between the outer teeth 102 and the inner teeth 105
08, the inner teeth 105 and the rotary shaft 103
When removing from the outer teeth 10
In some cases, the spice S is caught in the gap 108 between the inner tooth 105 and the inner tooth 105, and even if the adjusting nut 107 is loosened, the inner tooth 105 does not move backward, and it may be difficult to disengage from the rotary shaft 103. Therefore, the inner teeth 105 are extracted from the rotary shaft 103 and the lower end opening 11
It is inconvenient to put the spices into the container body 101 from 2. Therefore, the container body 101 is provided with an opening 109 for putting a spice into the container body 101 and a lid 191 for opening and closing the opening 109.
Need to be installed separately. For this reason, spice grinder 10
The structure of 0 is complicated and the manufacturing cost tends to increase.

[0005]

In view of the above points, the present invention provides a spice grinder having a simpler structure and capable of efficiently crushing and discharging spices.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, a spice grinder according to the present invention has a container body whose upper end surface is closed and whose lower end side is open, and which is not rotatable in the lower part of the container body. A cylindrical outer tooth fixed to the inner surface of which a tooth profile is formed, a rotary shaft rotatably attached to the center of the container body through the upper end surface of the container body, and from the upper end surface of the container body With a handle attached to the protruding rotation axis,
A substantially conical inner blade having a tooth profile formed on an outer peripheral surface thereof which is non-rotatably inserted into the rotary shaft in a state of facing the outer teeth.
An adjusting nut screwed into a screw portion provided at the lower end of the rotating shaft is provided, and the adjusting nut is rotatably integrated with the inner blade.

In the spice grinder according to the present invention as described above, the adjusting nut screwed into the threaded portion at the lower end of the rotating shaft is rotated to rotate the adjusting nut together with the internal teeth integrated with the rotating shaft itself. From the bottom opening of the container body, through the outer teeth inside the container body, add the spice into the container body, then insert the rotary shaft into the inner teeth again so that they cannot rotate, and rotate the inner teeth. The adjustment nut, which is integrated as much as possible, is screwed onto the threaded portion at the lower end of the rotary shaft and attached. When holding the container body of this spice grinder with one hand and rotating the handle with the other hand, the outer teeth fixed to the container body in a non-rotatable manner and the inner teeth inserted through the rotation shaft in a non-rotatable manner The spices are crushed between the outer teeth and the inner teeth by being rotated to and discharged from the lower end opening of the container body. Further, when the adjusting nut is turned, the internal teeth integrated with the adjusting nut are forcibly advanced and retracted, the width of the gap between the external tooth and the internal tooth is adjusted, and the particle size of the spices to be ground is adjusted. Can be adjusted. Furthermore, since the adjusting nut and the inner teeth are integrated, the inner teeth can be reliably pulled out from the rotary shaft by loosening the adjusting nut, and the spices are introduced into the container body from the lower end opening of the container body. Since it can be charged and the inner teeth can be easily used as an opening / closing lid of the container body, it is not necessary to separately provide a spice inlet or the like in the container body, and the structure is simple.

The rotating shaft may be directly inserted into the inner teeth so as not to rotate, but the rotating shaft may be inserted into the inner teeth via the rotation preventing member and the adjusting nut may be attached to the rotation preventing member. You may make it united so that rotation is possible. The inner teeth and the outer teeth are generally made of ceramics or metal, and the inner teeth made of ceramics or metal are integrally fixed to the rotation shaft so that the adjustment nut cannot rotate. In the case of forming a structure having such a structure, it may be time-consuming to process and the cost may be increased. Therefore, as described above, a detent member made of, for example, a synthetic resin is interposed between the inner teeth and the rotating shaft, and the detent member has a detent structure for the rotating shaft and an integrated structure for the adjusting nut. The formation of the teeth has the advantage of facilitating the production of internal teeth.

Further, if a ratchet mechanism is provided between the inner teeth and the anti-rotation member and the rotary shaft is inserted into the inner teeth so that the rotary shaft cannot rotate in only one direction, the rotary shaft can be moved relative to the container body. It is possible to efficiently grind the spices by rotating the outer teeth and the inner teeth intermittently and relatively in one direction only by alternately rotating them in the forward and reverse directions without rotating them in one direction.

[0010]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Next, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to Examples, but the present invention is not limited to these Examples.

1 to 4 show a first embodiment of a spice grinder according to the present invention. FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view, and FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of a main part showing a state in which internal teeth are removed. FIG. 3, FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of an essential part viewed from above, and FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of an essential part also viewed from below.

This spice grinder 1A has a cylindrical shape having a container body 2 having an upper end surface 21 closed and an opened lower end side, and a non-rotatably fixed lower part in the container body 2 having a tooth profile 31 formed on the inner surface. Outer teeth 3, a rotary shaft 4 penetrating the upper end surface 21 of the container body 2 and rotatably attached to the center of the container body 2, and a rotary shaft 4 protruding from the upper end surface 21 of the container body 2. A handle 5A attached to the tip of the inner tooth 6, and a substantially conical inner blade 6 having a tooth profile 61 formed on its outer peripheral surface and inserted into the rotation shaft 4 so as not to rotate while facing the outer tooth 3. The rotating shaft 4 is provided with an adjusting nut 7 screwed into a screw portion 41 provided at the lower end of the rotating shaft 4.
Is non-rotatably inserted through the inner teeth 6 via a rotation preventing member 8, and the rotation preventing member 8 is rotatably integrated with the adjusting nut 7.

The container body 2 is made of, for example, synthetic resin, metal, or ceramics, and has a closed upper end surface 21 formed with a shaft hole 22 through which the rotary shaft 4 is inserted. The opening 23 is formed. The outer teeth 3 fixed non-rotatably inside the container body 2 are made of, for example, ceramics or metal, and as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a tooth profile 31 formed on the inner surface of the outer teeth 3 is Coarse feed teeth 31a are formed on the inner surface of the upper portion, the lower end opening edge is formed so as to be enlarged in diameter toward the outside, and fine crushing teeth 31b are formed on the inclined surface. The rotary shaft 4 is inserted into a shaft hole 22 formed in the upper end surface 21 of the container body 2, and is rotatably fixed to the container body 2 by push nuts 42, 42 and the like. A cantilever handle 5A having one end fixed to the rotary shaft 4 and a grip 51 provided at the other end is attached to an upper end portion of the rotary shaft 4 projecting upward from the container main body 2 and is inserted into the container main body 2. The lower part of the rotating shaft 4 penetrates the outer teeth 3 and faces the lower end opening 23 of the container body 2, and a screw part 41 for screwing the adjusting nut 7 is formed at the lower end thereof. . The inner teeth 6 which pass through the rotation shaft 4 in a non-rotatable manner are made of, for example, ceramics or metal, and a tooth profile 61 of the outer peripheral surface thereof has a coarse spiral feed dog 61a formed on the upper outer peripheral surface thereof. In addition, fine crushing teeth 61b are formed on the outer peripheral surface of the lower portion, and a through hole 62 that vertically penetrates the inner tooth 6 is formed. The rotation preventing member 8 rotatably integrated with the inner teeth 6 is made of, for example, a synthetic resin, and the rotary shaft 4 is inserted into a shaft hole 81 that penetrates vertically and the lower side surface of the rotary shaft 4 is inserted. The protrusions 43, 43 protruding from the locking member 8 are engaged with the slit portions 83, 83 of the shaft portion 82 protruding above the detent member 8 so that the rotary shaft 4 can be inserted non-rotatably. The shaft portion 82 is inserted from below the through hole 62 of the inner tooth 6,
The flange portion 84 formed at the tip of the through hole 6 of the inner tooth 6
2, and a plurality of locking projections 85 formed upward around the shaft portion 82 and fitted in the locking recesses 63 provided on the lower surface of the inner teeth 6. Stop, internal teeth 6
It can be attached so that it cannot rotate. further,
On the outer peripheral surface of the lower portion of the detent member 8, there is provided a ridge 86 for rotatably connecting the adjusting net 7. The adjusting nut 7 rotatably integrated with the rotation stopping member 8 is made of, for example, a synthetic resin, and the screw portion 41 formed at the lower end of the rotary shaft 4 is screwed into a screw hole 71 that is vertically penetrated. In addition to the above, an annular portion 72 for rotatably connecting to the anti-rotation member 8 is formed on the upper portion. The inner teeth 6, the rotation stopping member 8 and the adjusting nut 7 are formed in the through holes 62 of the inner teeth 6.
The shaft portion 82 of the rotation stopping member 8 is inserted through the inner teeth 6 and the rotation stopping member 8 so as not to rotate.
The adjusting nut 7 is rotatably attached to the rotation preventing member 8 by loosely fitting the annular portion 72 of the adjustment nut 7 to the protrusion 86 of the inner tooth 6, the rotation preventing member 8 and the adjustment nut 7. And the rotary shaft 4 into the through hole 81 of the rotation preventing member 8.
Is inserted from the lower end thereof, the protrusions 43, 43 of the rotary shaft 4 are locked to the slit portions 83, 83 of the shaft portion 82 to insert the inner teeth 6 into the rotary shaft 4 in a non-rotatable manner, and the adjustment is performed. A screw portion 41 formed at the lower end of the rotating shaft 4 in the screw hole 71 of the nut 7.
Screwed into the container body 2 so that the crushing teeth 31b and 61b of the outer teeth 3 fixed non-rotatably to the container body 2 and the inner teeth 6 inserted non-rotatably through the rotary shaft 4 face each other. To be

The method of using the spice grinder 1A as described above is as follows. First, the adjusting nut 7 screwed to the lower end of the rotating shaft 4 is turned in a direction of loosening, and as shown in FIG. 2, the adjusting nut 7 and the inner teeth 6 integrated therewith via a rotation preventing member 8 are rotated. Remove from shaft 4. In this state, from the lower end opening 23 of the container body 2 to the container body 2
The spices are put into the container body 2 through the inside of the external teeth 3 fixed inside. After that, the rotary shaft 4 is inserted through the inner teeth 6 again, and the adjusting nut 7 is screwed and attached to the screw portion 41 of the rotary shaft 4. When the container body 2 is held with one hand and the handle 5A is rotated with the other hand, the outer teeth 3 and the inner teeth 6 relatively rotate, and the spices are rubbed between the outer teeth 3 and the inner teeth 6. It is crushed and discharged from the lower end opening 23 of the container body 2.
At this time, spice particles are formed on the outer feed surface 31b of the outer teeth 3 and the outer feed surfaces of the inner teeth 6 which rotate in one direction with respect to the outer teeth 3. Crushed between the coarse spiral feed tooth 61a and the coarse feed tooth 61a is forcibly fed to the lower crushing portion and formed between the outer tooth 3 and the inner tooth 6 between the fine crushing teeth 31b and 61b. It is efficiently discharged in the state of being finely pulverized. By adjusting the width of the gap between the inner teeth 6 and the outer teeth 3 by moving the inner teeth 6 up and down along the rotation shaft 4 by the adjusting nut 7 screwed to the lower end of the rotating shaft 4, The particle size of the spices to be ground can be adjusted according to the type and taste of the spices. Further, since the inner teeth 6 are rotatably integrated with the adjusting nut 7 screwed into the screw portion 41 of the rotary shaft 4, the inner tooth 6 is rotated by turning the adjusting nut 7. Since it is forcibly moved back and forth, even if spices are caught in the gaps between the outer teeth 3 and the inner teeth 6, the inner teeth 6 can be easily pulled out from the rotary shaft 4 and the lower end of the container body 2 can be removed. Spices can be put in through the opening 23, and the inner teeth 6 can be easily used as an opening / closing lid for the container body 2. Therefore, it is not necessary to separately provide the container main body 2 with an opening for introducing spices and a lid for opening and closing the spice, and the structure of the container main body is simple, the manufacturing is easy, and the manufacturing cost can be suppressed.

Next, FIGS. 5 to 8 show a second embodiment of the spice grinder according to the present invention. The basic structure of this spice grinder 1B is the spice grinder 1A of the first embodiment.
The same members and parts are designated by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted. In this embodiment, a ratchet mechanism is provided between the anti-rotation member 8 and the inner teeth 6 to attach the inner teeth 6 to the anti-rotation member 8 only in one direction so that the inner teeth 6 cannot rotate. The attached handle 5B is not a cantilever handle, but a rod-shaped handle whose central portion is fixed to the rotating shaft 4 is adopted.

The ratchet mechanism provided between the anti-rotation member 8 and the inner teeth 6 has an annular leaf spring 9 in a recess 87 formed around the shaft portion 82 of the anti-rotation member 8 and having a substantially square shape in plan view. A through hole 92 is formed at the center of the through hole 92.
A ratchet pawl 9 having a substantially square shape in a plan view, in which a plurality of pawls 93 ... Are radially formed around the periphery, is fitted in a loosely fit state in which the ratchet pawl 9 can be moved up and down, and the shaft portion 82 of the rotation preventing member 8 is fitted with the internal teeth 6 Flange portion 8 formed at the tip of the shaft portion 82 by being inserted into the through hole 62 of
4 to the opening edge of the through hole 62 via the washer 10, and the plurality of claw portions 93 ... Of the ratchet claw 9 are formed into a plurality of groove portions 64 ... Radially formed on the lower surface of the inner tooth 6. By elastically engaging the inner teeth 6 with respect to the detent member 8,
Is attached so that it cannot rotate in only one direction. Further, the protrusion 86 of the rotation preventing member 8 and the annular portion 7 of the adjusting nut 7
The adjustment nut 7 is rotatably integrated with the inner tooth 6 by fitting the two in a loosely fitted state and rotatably connecting the detent member 8 and the adjustment nut 7 to each other. . Then, the internal teeth 6 and the rotation stopping member 8 integrated as described above
And the adjusting nut 7 is provided on the rotation preventing member 8 in a cross section of approximately 5
The lower part of the rotary shaft 4 formed into a substantially pentagonal cross section is inserted into the rectangular shaft hole 81 so as not to rotate, so that the screw hole 71 of the adjusting nut 7 is inserted.
A screw portion 41 at the lower end of the rotary shaft 4 is screwed into and the inner teeth 6 are attached to the rotary shaft 4 so as not to rotate in only one direction.

In the case of the spice grinder 1B of the above-described embodiment, the inner teeth 6 are made unrotatable in only one direction via the ratchet mechanism with respect to the rotation preventing member 8 in which the rotating shaft 4 is inserted unrotatably. Since the handle 5B is attached, by rotating the handle 5B in the forward and reverse directions without rotating the handle 5B in one direction, the inner teeth 6 are rotated with respect to the outer teeth 3 fixed to the container body 2 in a non-rotatable manner.
Rotates intermittently and relatively in one direction, and external teeth 3 and internal teeth 6
And the spices are mashed and discharged from the lower end opening 23 of the container body 2. Also in the case of the spice grinder 1B, the inner teeth 6 and the adjusting nut 7 are rotatably integrated via the rotation stopping member 8. Therefore, the adjustment nut 7
The inner teeth 6 can be forcibly moved forward and backward with respect to the rotating shaft 4 by rotating, and the width of the gap between the outer teeth 3 and the inner teeth 6 can be surely adjusted, and the outer teeth 3 and the inner teeth 6 can be reliably adjusted. Even if spices are sandwiched between the inner teeth 6 and the rotary shaft 4, the inner teeth 6 can be easily pulled out, and the inner teeth 6 can be easily used as an opening / closing lid for the container main body 2. Separately
There is no need to provide an opening for introducing spices and a lid for opening and closing the spice, and the structure is simple.

[0018]

As described above, in the spice grinder of the present invention, the rotary shaft is rotatably attached to the container body having the external teeth fixed to be non-rotatable, and the rotary shaft is inserted into the non-rotatable inner shaft. An adjustable nut that is screwed into the lower end of the rotary shaft is rotatably integrated with the teeth, so that by rotating the adjustment nut, the inner teeth are forcibly moved forward and backward with respect to the rotary shaft. The internal teeth can be easily extracted from the. Therefore, it is easy to put the spice into the container body from the lower end opening, and since the internal teeth can be easily used as an opening / closing lid of the container body, an opening for separately putting the spice into the container body or It is not necessary to provide a lid or the like for opening and closing it, and the structure is simple and the manufacturing cost can be suppressed. Further, the width of the gap between the outer teeth and the inner teeth can be surely adjusted by the adjusting nut.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view of a spice grinder of the first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the main part showing a state in which inner teeth are also removed.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the main part, also seen from above.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the main part, also seen from below.

FIG. 5 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the spice grinder of the second embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the main part showing a state in which inner teeth are also removed.

FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view of the main part, also seen from above.

FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view of the main part, also seen from below.

9A and 9B show a conventional spice grinder, in which FIG. 9A is a vertical sectional view, FIG. 9B is an exploded perspective view of a main portion, and FIG. 9C is an enlarged vertical sectional view of the main portion.

[Explanation of symbols]

1A, 1B: spice grinder, 2: container body, 3: external teeth,
4: rotating shaft, 5A, 5B: handle, 6: internal teeth, 7: adjusting nut, 8: non-rotating member, 9: ratchet pawl.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A container body having an upper end surface closed and a lower end side opened, cylindrical outer teeth fixed to a lower part in the container body so as not to be rotatable and having a tooth profile on an inner surface, and a container body of the container body. A rotary shaft that is rotatably attached to the center of the container body through the upper end surface, a handle attached to the rotary shaft that protrudes from the upper end surface of the container body, and a state where it faces the external teeth. In addition to a substantially conical inner blade having a toothed shape formed on the outer peripheral surface of the rotary shaft so as to be non-rotatably inserted, and an adjusting nut screwed to a screw portion provided at the lower end of the rotary shaft, A spice grinder in which the adjusting nut is rotatably integrated with the inner blade. 2. The spice grinder according to claim 1, wherein the rotation shaft is non-rotatably inserted into the inner teeth through the rotation preventing member, and the adjusting nut is rotatably integrated with the rotation preventing member. . 3. The spice grinder according to claim 2, wherein a ratchet mechanism is provided between the inner teeth and the rotation preventing member, and the rotation shaft is inserted into the inner teeth so as not to rotate in only one direction. .