US3185304A - Shaft lock for a food processing device - Google Patents

Description

y 1955 A. B. BRADLEY $5,304

SHAFT LOCK FOR A FOOD PROCESSING DEVICE I Filed June 14, 1962 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 ay 25, 1965 A. B. BRADLEY SHAFT LOOK FOR A FOOD PROCESSING DEVICE Filed June 14, 1962 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR:

y 5, 1965 A. B. BRADLEY 3,185,304

SHAFT LOOK FOR A FOOD PROCESSING DEVICE Filed June 14, 1962 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 United States Patent 3,185,304 SHAFT LOQK FOR A F110!) PROCESSING DEVECE Addison Ballard 'Bradley, Racine, Wis, assignor to John Oster Manufacturing 130., Miiwaukee, Wis a corporation of Wisconsin Filed June 14, 1962, Ser. No. 202,440 8 Claims. (Cl. 210232) This invention relates to an improved shaft lock, and more particularly, to an improved shaft lock for electrically operated food processing attachments such as juicer attachments and the like.

In some prior art food processing devices such as juicer mechanisms, it has been conventional to threadably mount a perforated juice extracting basket or the like on the end of a drive shaft for rotating the basket. In order to disconnect the basket from the shaft, it is necessary to hold the shaft stationary. The same is true, of course, for mounting the basket to the shaft. One conventional mode of locking the shaft against rotation has been to provide aligned apertures in the shaft and its hub for receiving a tool to fix the shaft and hub with respectto each other. Another expedient has comprised a spring biased pin or plunger which is adapted to enter the aligned apertures.

These prior art expedients of locking the shaft against rotation have several disadvantages. Aside from the necessity of forming aligned apertures in a shaft and hub, it has also sometimes been necessary to form an aligned aperture in the housing of the mechanism in order to reach the shaft and hub. Utilizing a tool for insertion into the aligned apertures imposes the requirement of an accessory. The utilization of a spring biased pin or plunger also often requires that this extra structure be mounted externally on the housing, and, therefore, comprises a projecting part on the otherwise clean or uncluttered outer surface of the housing.

In the invention, the improved shaft lock overcomes the above-discussed and other disadvantages of the prior art. This is to say, aligned apertures or a special tool such as a screwdriver for insertion into the aligned apertures is unnecessary. Also, the improved shaft lock is mounted on the food processing mechanism so as not to comprise an externally projecting part but to make better utilization of the available space within the mechanism.

In the preferred'form of the invention, the shaft lock is mounted within a space provided between the hub of the drive shaft and a radially spaced mounting ring, collar or flange for the attachment. The shaft lock comprises a lever which can be pivoted towards and away from the shaft and also moved in a direction which is parallel to the axis of the shaft. The shaft is locked against rotation by the simple step of moving the lever beyond the end of the hub and then swinging it into engagement with the adjacent end of the shaft.

The features of the invention which are believed to be novel are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its organization and operation, together with further objects and advantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings, FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an electrically operated juicer'attachment utilizing one form of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view, in enlarged scale, taken along the line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view, in enlarged scale, taken along the section line 3--3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the section line 4-4 of FIG. 3;

3,185,394 Patented May 25, 1965 FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along the section line 5-5 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a sectional View, in enlarged scale, taken along the section line 66 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a partly broken away enlarged bottom view of the juicer attachment; and

FIG. 8 is a sectional view, in enlarged scale, taken along the section line 8-8 of FIG. 7, assuming that the lever is in its shaft locking position.

Referring first to FIG. 1, illustrated therein is an electrically powered juicer mechanism comprising an upper juicer attachment indicated generally by reference numeral 1, and a lower electrical power pack indicated generally by reference numeral 2. The power pack 2 comprises no part of this invention and, therefore, will be only generally described. Power pack 2 is currently available on the commercial market for driving juicer, ice crusher and blender attachments manufactured by the assignee of the instant invention.

Referring also to FIG. 5, power pack 2 comprises an electric motor indicated generally by reference numeral 3, and a drive shaft 4 which is adapted to bekeyed to the juicer attachment shaft 5 in a manner which will be described in greater detail hereinafter. Power pack 2 is provided with an on and off and speed control switch knob 6.

Mounted inside a generally cylindrical shaped casing 7 of the juicer attachment is a juice extracting perforated basket 8. The upper end of shaft 5 is threaded, as indicated by reference numeral 9, and the bottom of basket 8 is provided with an internally threaded connector portion 10. Accordingly, basket 8 is threadably connected to the upper end of shaft 5. Shaft 5 rotates basket 8 and extracts juices and ejects pulp from fruits and vegetables by centrifugal action as is well understood by those skilled in the art. The juices pour out of a juice spout 11, and the pulp is ejected out of a pulp ejecting spout 12. Although the shaft 5 is illustrated as driving basket 8, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that broadly the invention is alsouseful in connection with other food processing members such as shredder and slicer discs driven by shaft 5 and threadably connected to shaft 5 in the manner of basket 8 or otherwise such that the shaft 5 needs to be fixed against rotation in order to connect and disconnect the food processing members.

The cylindrical member 7 is provided with a bottom 13, which collects the juices passed through the perforated basket 8. In the vicinity of the spout 11, the bottom 13 is provided with an aperture 14 so that the collected juices can pass from housing 7 into the spout 11. The spout 11 is formed integrally with the housing 7. Housing 7 preferably is formed from a plastic material by molding.

The pulp ejecting spout 12 is formed integrally with a cover 15 for the casing 7. The cover 15 also preferably is formed from a plastic material by molding. Cover 15 is provided with a generally semi-cylindrical shaped feed chute 16. That is to say, fruits or vegetables which are to be juiced are fed into the device through chute 16. The fruits or juices are forced downwardly in chute 16 against the bottom of basket 8 by a semi-cylindrically formed plunger or the like 17 which is adapted to enter the chute 16.

The bottom 18 of basket 8 is provided with teeth 19 which comminute and macerate the fruits and vegetables. Centrifugal force causes the juice to pass through the apertures indicated generally by reference numeral 20 formed in basket 8. Simultaneously centrifugal action causes the pulp to gradually work its way up along the side walls of basket 8 and then ejects it out through the spout12 of cover 15.

The bottom 13 of casing 7 has a centrally disposed aperture 21 formed therein so the upper end of the vertically disposed shaft can be connected to the basket 8. The shaft 5 is disposed in a hub. 22.. A hearing sleeve 23 is provided in hub 22 for the shaft 5. The bearing 23 is fixed in hub 22 as by a force fit therein. The shaft 5 is fixed in bearing 23 against movement in an axial direction. This is accomplished by providing a collar 24 or the like on the upper end of shaft 5. The lower end of shaft 5 isprovided with a circumferentially extending groove 25 which is adapted to receive a not shown spring washer or the like for cooperation with the adjacent end of the bearing 23. In this manner the shaft 5 is located in the bearing 23 against axial movement, however, it will be appreciated by those in the art that other arrangements .can be utilized to accomplish the same end.

The juicer attachment 1 is mounted on the top of the power pack 2 by virtue of a mounting ring or the like 26 disposed on the top of the housing for power pack 2 and juicer attachment and adapted to be received within the mounting ring 26.

The inner surface of the ring 26 is provided With a slight taper, and ring 28 has external tapered surfaces 29 formed thereon for cooperation with the tapered surface of ring 26. The ring 28 is disposed in concentric and radially outward spaced relationship with respect to the hub 22. The upper end of hub 22 and ring 28 are interconnected by an integral web 30. 7

The space 31, see FIG. 5, is utilized as a chamber for mounting the shaft locking mechanism illustrated in detail in FIGS. 7 and 8 to be described more particularly hereinafter.

The support and mounting structure comprising integral parts 22, 28 and 30 for supporting the juicer attachment is connected to the juicer attachment by virtue of an integral external flange 32 formed thereon and a plurality of integral bosses 33 formed on the underside of the bottom 13. The flange 32 is connected to the bosses 33 by studs or the like 34. When the ring 28 is positioned within the ring 26, the juicer attachment is retained on the power pack by the clamping structure illustrated in FIG. 6. The clamping structure comprises a plurality of hooks or the like 35 connected to pivotally mounted levers 36. The hooks 35 hook on to the ring 26 and are locked in position by upward pivotal movement of the levers 36 to the position illustrated in FIG. 6. The levers 36 are pivotally mounted at their lower ends on brackets 37 which are connected to the flange 32. The upper ends of hooks 35 have a pivotal connection with the upper ends of levers 36, and when the levers 36 are moved to to their up position the hooks 35 are tensioned slightly to firmly clamp the mounting ring 28 within mounting ring 26.

The central aperture 21 .in bottom 13 is surrounded by a raised portion 39 so as'to keep juices settling on the bottom 13 from working their way into the central bearing and shaft structure of the juicer attachment. A seal 40 is additionally provided between the bottom 13 and the hub 22. This is for the purpose of preventing ingress of material into the space between web 30 and bottom 13. A seal 41 between the flange 32 and housing 7 is additionally provided for a similar purpose.

The cover 15 is sealed with respect to the casing 7 by virtue of cooperative ledges or shoulders 42 and 43. The ledges 42 and 43 are firmly engaged with each other by virtue of cooperative wedge portions 44 and 45 formed on cover 12 and casing 7, respectively, as will be obvious to those skilled in the art. a Referring now also to FIGS. 7 and 8, the hub 22 and ring 28 are also integrally connected with respect. to each other by three ribs or the like 46 which are spaced with respect to each other by about degrees. Disposed between two of the ribs 46 is an integral boss 47 which depends from the web 30. The shaft lock is mounted on boss 47. The shaft. lock comprises a stud or pin 48 mounted in boss 7. Stud or pin 48 is for the purpose of pivotally and slidably mounting a shaft locking lever 49. The lever 49 can be swung towards and away from the hub 22 in a plane which is perpendicular with respect to shaft 5. Also, lever 49 can be slid or shifted bodily in a direction which is parallel to the axis of shaft 5. The outer end of lever 49 is mounted on a sleeve 50 which is positioned on the stud or pin 48. The upper end of sleeve 50 has an inturned flange 51 formed thereon, and trapped between the flange 51 and the head 52 formed on stud or pin 48 is a bias spring 53. Spring 53 continuously biases lever 49 bodily in an upward direction.

The lower endof shaft 5 which is positioned below the groove 25 has a diameter which is slightly larger than the main portion of shaft 5. This lower portion of shaft 5 is supported by a bearing sleeve 54 which is press fitted into the lower end of hub 22. Formed in the lower end of shaft 5 is an axially extending blind bore 55. The shaft 4 of motor 3 and the blind bore 55 are noncircular and provided with interlockable edges or portions so that when shaft 4 is positioned in blind bore 55 the shafts 4 and 5 are engaged in drive relationship. For example, the shaft 4 has a square axialcross section, and the bore 55 has the cross sectional shape of an eight pointed star.

When it is desired to mount the basket 8 or some other food processing member on the shaft 5, the levers 36 are first pivoted in a downward direction to release the hooks 35. Then the attachment can be lifted off the power pack to afford access to the shaft locking mechanism located on the bottom of the attachment. The lever 49 is moved outwardly bodily against its spring bias to a a position beyond the lower end of the hub 22. Thereafter, the lever is swung to align its inner end with the adjacent exposed end of shaft 5. The inner end of lever 49 is provided with an integral square-shaped olfset portion 56 which will enter the blind bore 55 to lock shaft 5 against rotation. The spring 53, of course, continuously biases the lever 49 in an up direction so as to retain the portion 56 in the blind bore 55. With the shaft 5 locked against rotation,the basket 8 or other food processing member can be mounted or demounted with respect to the upper end of shaft 5. Of course, it will be understood that cover 15 must be removed from casing 7 to expose the basket 8. Cover 15 is removed from casing 7 merely by turning it a short distance to disengage the wedges 44 and 45.

The lever 49 is normally held out of the way by a slot 57 formed in the lower edge of one of the adjacent ribs 46. That is to say, when the lever 49 is moved from the dotted line position to the full line position illustrated in FIG. 7, the spring 53 will bias the lever 49 for bodily movement in an up direction to cause the square portion 56 to be disposed in the slot 57. In this disposition of lever 49 it is held out of the way and prohibited from rattling, jiggling or the like.

7 It will now be obvious that the invention makes it unnecessary to utilize the heretofore aligned shaft and hub apertures of the prior art for locking the-shaft 5 fixed. It

'will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that if aligned apertures were utilized in the shaft and its hub, an aligned aperture would also probably have to be utilized in the mounting ring or flange 28. The invention also dispenses with the requirement for a tool such as a screwdriver for insertion into the aligned apertures, or a projecting spring biased pin or plunger on the juicer attachment for entering into the aligned apertures. In the invention, instead of a projecting shaft locking mechanism, the shaft locking mechanism is located in space 31. Additionally, the shaft lock is easy to operate merely by a simple movement of the shaft locking lever 49. The device is free of malfunctioning due to jamming or the like inasmuch as it comprises a minimum number of uncomplicated parts. Additionally, the device is easy to operate since it is readily accessible and viewable to the operator. There is no danger of connecting the shafts 4 and 5 together in drive relationship when the shaft 5 is locked against rotation. This is because when the shaft is locked against rotation the portion 56 of locking lever 49 is disposed in the bore 55 so as to block entry of shaft 4 into the bore 55.

While there has been shown and described a particular embodiment of the invention, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that changes and modifications may be made without departing from the invention, and that it is intended in the appended claims to cover all such changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In combination, a shaft, a hub for rotatably sup porting said shaft, and a lock for locking said shaft against rotation, said shaft lock comprising a lever which is pivotally mounted adjacent said hub for swinging movement toward and away from said hub in a plane perpendicular thereto, and means mounting said lever for movement bodily in a direction parallel to said hub and beyond one end thereof for engagement with an exposed portion of the shaft adjacent thereto.

2. In the combination of claim 1, a pin, said lever being pivotally and slidably mounted at one end thereof on said pin, said pin being parallel to said hub, and a spring on said pin for biasing said lever in a direction opposite to the first-mentioned direction of movement.

3. In the combination of claim 2, wherein the end of the shaft corresponding to said one hub end has a blind bore formed therein, and the other end of the lever having a portion receivable in said bore, said bore and portion having interlockable edges formed thereon.

4-. In a food processing device comprising a vertical shaft and a food processing member connected to the upper end of said shaft, a support for said device cornprising a hub for said shaft and an outer mounting ring connected to said hub in spaced concentric relationship therewith, a shaft lock for fixing said shaft against rotation to facilitate mounting and demounting of said food processing member on said shaft, said shaft lock comprising a pivot pin mounted on said support parallel to said hub and a lever, an outer end of said lever being pivotally and slidably mounted on said pin, a spring on said pin biasing said lever for sliding movement in a direction towards the upper end of said shaft, means on the inner end of said lever for interlocking with the lower end of said shaft when said lever is moved against its spring bias below the lower end of the hub and pivoted toward said shaft, and said shaft lock being positioned within the confines of said spaced ring and hub.

5. In a device as in claim 4, a blind bore formed in the lower end of the shaft, the inner end of the lever having an offset portion receivable in said bore, and said bore and portion having interlockable edges formed thereon.

6. In a device as in claim 5, wherein said hub and ring are interconnected by an integral radially extending rib, a notch in the lower edge of said rib, and said lever being receivable in said notch for retaining said lever in nonlocking position.

7. In a device as in claim 6, wherein said offset portion comprises an integral square shaped portion, and said blind bore having the cross-sectional shape of an eight pointed star.

8. In a juicer comprising a Vertical shaft and a perforate juice extracting basket threadably connected to the upper end of said shaft, a support for said juicer comprising an inner hub for said shaft, an outer spaced mount ing collar, and an integral web interconnecting the upper ends of said hub and collar, and a shaft lock disposed in the space defined between said hub, collar and web, said shaft lock comprising a depending boss formed integrally with said web, a pivot pin mounted in said boss, said pin extending parallel to said hub, a lever, an outer end of said lever being pivotally and slidably mounted on said pin, a spring on said pin biasing said lever for sliding movement toward the upper end of said shaft, and means on the inner end of said lever and the lower end of said shaft which are interlockably engageable with each other when said lever is moved down against its spring bias beyond the lower end of the hub and pivoted toward the shaft.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,586,246 5/26 Kirchner et a1. -185 X 2,246,344 6/41 Calderwood 292-62 2,289,656 7/42 Knapp 146-76 2,305,193 12/42 Reynolds et al 210-380 X 2,311,379 2/43 Gillanders 146-76 2,343,327 3/44 Reynolds 210-380 X 2,351,330 6/44 Goetz 210-380 X 2,440,425 4/48 Williams 146-76 X 2,460,555 2/49 Von Voigtlander 81-1779 X 2,481,010 9/49 Gundelfinger 146-76 2,757,696 8/56 Billard 146-76 2,793,062 5/57 Fleming 292-62 X 2,902,185 9/59 Willwerth 220-55 X 2,934,116 4/60 Dannenmann 146-76 2,971,649 2/61 Henzirohs 210-380 X HARRY B. THORNTON, Primary Examine'r.

HERBERT L. MARTIN, ROBERT F. BURNETT,

Examiners.

Claims (2)

1. IN COMBINATION, A SHAFT, A HUB FOR ROTATABLY SUPPORTING SAID SHAFT, AND A LOCK FOR LOCKING SAID SHAFT AGAINST ROTATION, SAID SHAFT LOCK COMPRISING A LEVER WHICH IS PIVOTALLY MOUNTED ADJACENT SAID HUB FOR SWINGING MOVEMENT TOWARD AND AWAY FROM SAID HUB IN A PLANE PERPENDICULAR THERETO, AND MEANS MOUNTING SAID LEVER FOR MOVEMENT BODILY IN A DIRECTION PARALLEL TO SAID HUB AND BEYOND ONE END THEREOF FOR ENGAGEMENT WITH AN EXPOSED PORTION OF THE SHAFT ADJACENT THERETO.

8. IN A JUICER COMPRISING A VERTICAL SHAFT AND A PERFORATE JUICE EXTRACTING BASKET THREADABLY CONNECTED TO THE UPPER END OF SAID SHAFT, A SUPPORT FOR SAID JUICER COMPRISING AN INNER HUB FOR SAID SHAFT, AN OUTER SPACED MOUNTING COLLAR, AND AN INTEGRAL WEB INTERCONNECTING THE UPPER ENDS OF SAID HUB AND COLLAR, AND A SHAFT LOCK DISPOSED IN THE SPACE DEFINED BETWEEN SAID HUB, COLLAR AND WEB, SAID SHAFT LOCK COMPRISING A DEPENDING BOSS FORMED INTEGRALLY WITH SAID WEB, A PIVOT PIN MOUNTED IN SAID BOSS, SAID PIN EXTENDING PARALLEL TO SAID HUB, A LEVER, AN OUTER END OF SAID LEVER BEING PIVOTALLY AND SLIDABLY MOUNTED ON SAID PIN, A SPRING ON SAID PIN BIASING SAID LEVER FOR SLIDING MOVEMENT TOWARD THE UPPER END OF SAID SHAFT, AND MEANS ON THE INNER END OF SAID LEVER AND THE LOWER END OF SAID SHAFT WHICH ARE INTERLOCKABLY ENGAGEABLE WITH EACH OTHER WHEN SAID LEVER IS MOVED DOWN AGAINST ITS SPRING BIAS BEYOND THE LOWER END OF THE HUB AND PIVOTED TOWARD THE SHAFT.

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