WO2015000241A1

WO2015000241A1 - Food homogenizer

Info

Publication number: WO2015000241A1
Application number: PCT/CN2013/085478
Authority: WO
Inventors: Caikun LU
Original assignee: Guangzhou Fulida Electrical Appliance Co., Ltd.
Priority date: 2013-07-05
Filing date: 2013-10-18
Publication date: 2015-01-08
Also published as: CN103315642A; CN103315642B

Abstract

A food homogenizer is disclosed which includes a base (1), a shell (2) and an inner extrusion rod (3). The shell (2) has a hollow structure and forms an extrusion cavity (21); and the shell (2) is provided with a feed channel (22) which is connected with the extrusion cavity (21); and the shell (2) is mounted on the base (1), and the base (1) is provided with a drive mechanism (11). The end of the extrusion cavity (21) is connected with a discharge channel (23). A first extrusion push thread (31) is provided on the outer wall of the inner extrusion rod (3), and a second extrusion push thread (24) is provided on the inner wall of the shell (2). The outer wall of the inner extrusion rod (3) is provided with cutting blades (32). Food in the extrusion cavity (21) can be cut by the cutting blades (32) and extruded by the first and the second extrusion push thread (31,24), which becomes very delicate and frozen food can also be processed directly without unfreezing.

Description

FOOD HOMOGENIZER

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a food homogenizer, and specifically to a food homogenizer for making ice-cream or popsicles.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

At present, the existing machines for making ice cream and popsicles on the market are mainly provided with a refrigerant compressor or a refrigerating fluid for refrigeration as a refrigeration ladle body, and ice cream is made by stirring thawed food with a stirring shaft driven by a motor. This type of machine has a complex structure, high-cost and takes long time to produce food; food produced is block-like with poor crushing effect. Fibered food, such as pawpaw, cannot be completely processed into a mash by this type of machine; food having high hardness such as chocolate, or food with high viscosity such as cheese, is difficult to smash or to be processed into mash. In addition, the processing efficiency is also affected by the time needed by a food to be unfrozen. U.S. patent application No. US2012048977A1 has provided a food homogenizer. As shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, food is cut up by blades provided in the shredder which rotates within the food homogenizer and then is discharged via the discharge channel, but the chopped food is not fine enough, with most being granular, which can hardly meet the requirement of delicateness for making ice cream and popsicles. Furthermore, the food should be unfrozen before putting into the shredder, otherwise it may be difficult to cut up and may affect the service life of the machine. In addition, the blades is mounted in the shredder by a twist-lock arrangement, and the food is easy to remain in the gap of linear slots for mounting the blade in the shredder, which is difficult to clean but can encourage the growth of bacteria.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Based on this, the object of the invention is to overcome the disadvantages in the prior art, and to provide a food homogenizer for making ice-cream or popsicles, which is simple in structure, easy to operate, and can cut up frozen fruits, chocolates, cheeses and nuts easily, with the treated food very delicate.

In order to achieve the purpose of the present invention, the following technical solution is presented.

A food homogenizer includes a base, a shell and an inner extrusion rod; the shell has a hollow structure and forms an extrusion cavity therein, and the shell is provided with a feed channel which is connected with the extrusion cavity, and the shell is mounted on the base; the base is provided with a drive mechanism, the inner extrusion rod is mounted in the extrusion cavity of the shell, with one end of the inner extrusion rod being connected with the drive mechanism; the end of the extrusion cavity is connected with a discharge channel; a first extrusion push thread is provided on the outer wall of the inner extrusion rod, a second extrusion push thread is provided on the inner wall of the shell, and the outer wall of the inner extrusion rod is provided with a cutting blade. Food can be fed into the extrusion cavity via the feed channel; by means of the rotation of the inner extrusion rod, food can be cut by the cutting blade and extruded by the first extrusion push thread and the second extrusion push thread; food processed into a mash can be discharged via the discharge channel. The treated food is very delicate, even fibered food or food with high viscosity or high hardness can be completely smashed, and frozen food can be processed directly without unfreezing, resulting in a high efficiency and a good effect.

Preferably, the cutting blades are arranged lengthwise along the outer wall of the inner extrusion rod, which are sawtooth-like as a whole. The outer wall of the inner extrusion rod is provided with at least one list of cutting blades, disposed sawtooth that can cut up the food more completely, further ensuring the treated food to be more delicate.

Preferably, the outer wall of the inner extrusion rod is provided with more than two lists of cutting blades, with same distances between the neighboring lists of cutting blades. A plurality of lists of cutting blades may be evenly spaced on the outer wall of the inner extrusion rod, which can help the food fed into the extrusion cavity to be cut at multi-directions, further ensuring the treated food to be more delicate.

Preferably, the cutting blades are arranged staggerly with one another on the outer wall of the inner extrusion rod. The outer wall of the inner extrusion rod is distributed with cutting blades alternatively in horizontal, longitudinal or oblique orientations, such that the food fed into the extrusion cavity can be cut at multi-directions, further ensuring the treated food to be more delicate.

Preferably, the cutting blade is disposed obliquely along the outer wall of the inner extrusion rod, and the outer wall of the inner extrusion rod is provided with a plurality of lists of oblique cutting blades, such that the food fed into the extrusion cavity can be cut at multi-directions, further ensuring the treated food to be more delicate.

Preferably, the height of the cutting blades is lower than that of the first extrusion push thread. Such configuration can prevent the cutting blade from cutting the second extrusion push thread on the shell.

Preferably, the cutting blades are embedded onto the inner extrusion rod by injection molding . The cutting blades are firmly embedded onto the outer wall of the inner extrusion rod to realize seamless connection therebetween, and this brings a better smash effect, and a more convenient and healthier cleaning for the inner extrusion rod.

Preferably, each cutting blade on the outer wall of the inner extrusion rod has a same width, and the width of the widest part of the feed channel is 5-9 times of the width of the cutting blades. If the multiple is smaller, the width of the cutting blades will be too large, and the pieces of cut foods will be also too large; if the multiple is larger, the width of the cutting blade will be too small, such that the cutting blade is easy to be broken due to insufficient hardness, so as to waste the cutting blade material.

Preferably, the shell includes a discharge cover and a shell body; the discharge cover is provided with a slot, and the shell body is provided with a latch corresponding to the slot on the discharge cover; the latch cooperates with the slot to engage the shell body with the discharge cover; the discharge channel is arranged at the bottom of the discharge cover and the other end of the inner extrusion rod can be rotatablely mounted on the discharge cover. The discharge cover is engaged with the shell body that it is easy to mount and dismount. The other end of the inner extrusion rod can be rotatablely mounted on the discharge cover such that the discharge cover can provide support for steady rotation of the inner extrusion rod.

Preferably, the end face of the inner extrusion rod close to the discharge cover is provided with collection grain s alternatively concave and convex, and the discharge cover is provided with a guide groove connected with the discharge channel. The end face of the inner extrusion rod is provided with collection grain s, so when the inner extrusion rod rotates, the food fed into the discharge cover can be collected into the discharge channel and discharge d. The guide groove in the discharge channel can guide the food to be discharge d from the discharge channel.

Preferably, the inner extrusion rod has a tapered shape such that the gap between the inner extrusion rod and the shell gradually grows smaller from the back to the front; the back-end of the inner extrusion rod close to the feed channel has a smaller diameter, so as to leave a larger gap between the back-end of the inner extrusion rod and the shell, in order to facilitate the food accessing to the extrusion cavity from the feed channel, while the fore-end of the inner extrusion rod close to the discharge channel has a larger diameter, so as to leave a smaller gap between the back-end of the inner extrusion rod and the shell, in order to make the food in the extrusion cavity be cut and extruded more completely, further ensuring the treated food to be more delicate.

Advantages or principles of the above technical solution are illustrated below.

The food homogenizer is simple in structure, easy to operate, and is provided with cutting blades in the inner extrusion rod; when the inner extrusion rod rotates, the frozen fruit, chocolate, cheese or solid food will be cut into small pieces, meanwhile a first extrusion push thread provided on the inner extrusion rod cooperates with a second extrusion push thread provided on the shell to further smash the frozen fruit, cheese or solid food. The treated food is pushed into the discharge channel by the first extrusion push thread on the inner extrusion rod and outflows, to produce ice cream and popsicles. The processed food is very delicate, and even fibered food or food with high viscosity or high hardness also can be completely processed into a mash, for they have been cut into small pieces in advance; frozen food can be processed directly without unfreezing, which simplifies the process, enhances the efficiency and brings a good effect.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Figure 1 shows a structural schematic view of a food homogenizer of the prior art.
Figure 2 shows a structural schematic view of a shredder of the prior art.
Figure 3 shows an overall structural schematic view of a food homogenizer according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 4 shows an exploded view of a food homogenizer according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 5 shows a section view of a food homogenizer according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 6 shows a structural schematic view of an inner extrusion rod mounted in an extrusion cavity according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 7 shows a structural schematic view of an inner extrusion rod according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 8 shows an inside structural schematic view of a discharge cover according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 9 shows a structural schematic view of the installation of cutting blades according to another embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 10 shows a structural schematic view of the installation of cutting blades according to yet another embodiment of the present invention.
Description of the reference numbers:
1 base, 2 shell, 3 inner extrusion rod, 4 feed rod, 11 drive mechanism, 21 extrusion cavity, 22 feed channel, 23 discharge channel, 24 second extrusion push thread, 25 guide groove, 31 first extrusion push thread, 32 cutting blade, 33 collection grain, 34 location hole, 20 discharge cover, 30 shell body, 200 slot and 300 latch.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The invention may be detailed described by reference to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Embodiment One

As shown in Figure 3, Figure 4, Figure 5 and Figure 6, a food homogenizer includes a base includes a base 1, a shell 2 and a inner extrusion rod 3; the shell 2 has a hollow structure and forms a extrusion cavity 21, and the shell 2 is provided with a feed channel 22 which is connected with the extrusion cavity 21; the shell 2 is mounted on the base 1; the base 1 is provided with a drive mechanism 11, and the drive mechanism 11 is a motor and a gear box connected with the motor; the inner extrusion rod 3 is mounted in the extrusion cavity 21 of the shell, with one end of the inner extrusion rod 3 connected with the drive mechanism 11; the end of the extrusion cavity 21 is connected with a discharge channel 23; a convex first extrusion push thread 31 is provided on the outer wall of the inner extrusion rod 3, and a convex second extrusion push thread 24 is provided on the inner wall of the shell 2, and the outer wall of the inner extrusion rod is provided with cutting blades 32, the cutting blades 32 may be made of metal or other hard materials, and may also be blades with a certain hardness integrated formed on the outer wall of the inner extrusion rod 3, made of the same material with that of the inner extrusion rod. Food can be fed into the extrusion cavity 21 via the feed channel 22, by means of the rotation of the inner extrusion rod 3, food can be cut by the cutting blade 32 and extruded by the first extrusion push thread 31 and the second extrusion push thread 24; food is pushed forward by the cooperation between the directional first extrusion push thread 31 and the second extrusion push thread 24, and the food pressed into a mash can be discharged via the discharge channel 23. The treated food is very delicate, even fibered food or food with high viscosity or highhardness can be completely processed into a mash, and frozen food can be processed directly without unfreezing, bringing high efficiency and good effect.

As shown in Figure 4, the food homogenizer also includes a feed rod 4; the size of the feed rod 4 matches with the feed channel 22, and the feed rod 4 can be inserted into the feed channel 22 to press the food into the extrusion cavity 21 to further accelerate the process speed of the food.

As shown in Figure 7, in order to avoid the cutting blade 32 cutting the second extrusion push thread 24 on the shell, the height H of the cutting blade 32 is lower than that of the first extrusion push thread 31.

For a better extrusion effect, the first extrusion push thread 31 and the second extrusion push thread 24 are arranged staggerly with one another, such that the food in the extrusion cavity 21 may pass into the space between the first extrusion push thread 31 and the second extrusion push thread 24 more easily and more completely to be smashed by the first extrusion push thread 31 and the second extrusion push thread 24.

As shown in Figure 7, the cutting blades 32 of the embodiment are arranged lengthwise along the outer wall of the inner extrusion rod, which are sawtooth-like as a whole. The outer wall of the inner extrusion rod 3 is provided with at least one list of cutting blades 32, preferably, the outer wall of the inner extrusion rod 3 is provided with four lists of cutting blades 32, and the distances between the neighboring lists of cutting blades 32 are the same. By the sawteet arrangement of the cutting blade 32, and a plurality of lists of cutting blades 32 evenly spaced on the outer wall of the inner extrusion rod 3, food fed into the extrusion cavity 21 may be cut at multi-directions, further ensuring the treated food more to be delicate and tastes better.

In the embodiment, the cross section of the feed channel 22 is circular, with a diameter of 40mm, and the width D of the cutting blade 32 is 5.6mm. For an optimum extrusion effect, as shown in Figure 7, the diameter of the feed channel 22 is 5-9 times of the width of the cutting blade 32. The feed channel 22 generally has a regular cylinder structure whose cross section is generally circular. When the feed channel 22 has an irregular structure, the width of the widest part of the feed channel is 5-9 times of the width D of the cutting blade 32. If the multiple is too small, the width of the cutting blade 32 will be too large, and the pieces of cut foods will be also too large; if the multiple is too large, the width of the cutting blade 32 will be too small such that the cutting blade is easy to be broken due to insufficient hardness, wasting the cutting blade material.

As shown in Figure 7, the inner extrusion rod 3 has a tapered shape, such that the gap between the inner extrusion rod 3 and the shell 2 gradually grows smaller from back-end to fore-end; the back-end of the inner extrusion rod close to the feed channel 22 has a smaller diameter, so as to leave a larger gap between the back-end of the inner extrusion rod 3 and the shell 2 to facilitate the food accessing to the extrusion cavity 21 from the feed channel 22, and the fore-end of the inner extrusion rod close to the discharge channel 23 has a larger diameter, so as to leave a smaller gap between the back-end of the inner extrusion rod 3 and the shell 2 to make the food in the extrusion cavity 21 be cut and extruded more completely, further ensuring the treated food to be more delicate.

As shown in Figure 7, in order to ensure t he cutting blade 32 can be firmly mounted on the outer wall of the inner extrusion rod 3, and also to avoid a gap therebetween that may retain food residues which breeds bacteria and influences food health, the cutting blades 32 are embedded onto the inner extrusion rod 3 by injectionmolding . The cutting blades 32 are provided with location holse 34 for positioning the cutting blades 32 embedded on the inner extrusion rod 3 when injectionmolding, which helps the cutting blade 32 to be firmly mounted on the inner extrusion rod 3 in the preset direction.

As shown in Figure 4 and Figure 8, the shell 2 includes a discharge cover 20 and a shell body 30. The discharge cover 20 is provided with a slot 200, and the shell body 30 is provided with a latch 300 corresponding to the slot 200 on the discharge cover; the latch 300 cooperates with the slot 200 to engage the shell body 30 with the discharge cover 20 closely to facilitate easy mounting and dismounting according to the actual need. The shell body 30 can be connected with the discharge cover 20 by a thread; as shown in Figure 5, the discharge channel 23 is arranged at the bottom of the discharge cover 20 and the other end of the inner extrusion rod 3 can be rotatablely mounted on the discharge cover 20; the discharge cover 20 can provide support for steady rotation of the inner extrusion rod 3, to make the food in the extrusion cavity 21 bear stress evenly, further ensuring the treated food to be more delicate.

As shown in Figure 7, the end face of the inner extrusion rod 3 close to the discharge cover 20 is provided with collection grains 33 alternatively concave and convex. When the inner extrusion rod 3 rotates, the food fed into the discharge cover 20 can be collected into the discharge channel 23 and be discharged, as shown in Figure 8. The discharge cover is provided inside with a guide groove 25 connected with the discharge channel which can guide the food to be discharged from the discharge channel 23, to lead the food smashed into a mash to flow from the discharge channel 23 along the guide groove 25.

The food homogenizer of the embodiment is simple in structure, easy to operate, and is provided with cutting blades 32 in the inner extrusion rod 3; when the inner extrusion rod 3 rotates driven by the drive mechanism 11, frozen fruit, chocolate, cheese or solid food will be cut into small pieces. In addition, the cutting blades 32 and the inner extrusion rod 3 may integrated molded, such that the cutting blades 32 can be firmly mounted on the outer wall of the inner extrusion rod 3 to realize seamless connection therebetween and to ensure food hygiene. Meanwhile, a first extrusion push thread 31 provided on the inner extrusion rod 3 cooperates with a second extrusion push screw 24 provided on the shell 2 to further smash the frozen fruit, cheese or solid food. Food pressed into a mash is pushed into the discharge channel 23 by the cooperation between the directional first extrusion push thread 31 and the second extrusion push thread 24, to produce ice cream and popsicles. The processed food is very delicate, even fibered food or food with high viscosity or highhardness also can be completely processed into a mash, for they have been cut into small pieces by the cutting bladse 32 on the inner extrusion rod; frozen food can also be processed directly without unfreezing, which simplifies the process, enhances the efficiency and brings a good effect.

Embodiment Two

The differences between this embodiment and Embodiment One are that the cutting blades 32 are disposed staggerly on the outer wall of the inner extrusion rod 3, such that the outer wall of the inner extrusion rod 3 is covered with alternatively arranged horizontal, longitudinal or oblique cutting blades 32; food fed into the extrusion cavity can be cut in multi-directions, further ensuring the treated food to be more delicate, as shown in Figure 9, which shows a structure of the outer wall of the inner extrusion rod 3 with staggerly arranged interlaced horizontal, longitudinal or oblique cutting blades 32. The cutting blades 32 can be arranged on the outer wall of the inner extrusion rod 3 in horizontal orientation, or in longitudinal orientation, or in oblique orientation.

Embodiment Three

As shown in Figure 10, the difference between this embodiment and Embodiment One is that the cutting blades 32 are disposed obliquely along the outer wall of the inner extrusion rod, and the outer wall of the inner extrusion rod is provided with a plurality of lists of oblique cutting blades 32, such that the food fed into the extrusion cavity can be cut in multi-directions, further ensuring the treated food to be more delicate.

While the invention has been described in terms of various specific embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the invention can be practiced with modification within the spirit and scope of the claims.

The scope of the invention should, therefore, be determined with not the reference to the above description, but instead should be determined with reference to the appended claims along with their full scope of equivalents.

Claims

A food homogenizer comprising a base, a shell and an inner extrusion rod, the shell has a hollow structure and forms an extrusion cavity; the shell is provided with a feed channel which is connected with the extrusion cavity; the shell is mounted on the base, and the base is provided with a drive mechanism; the inner extrusion rod is mounted in the extrusion cavity of the shell, with one end of extrusion rod connected with the drive mechanism; the end of the extrusion cavity is connected with a discharge channel, wherein a first extrusion push thread is provided on the outer wall of the inner extrusion rod, and a second extrusion push thread is provided on the inner wall of the shell; the outer wall of the inner extrusion rod is provided with cutting blades.
The food homogenizer of claim 1, wherein the cutting blades are arranged lengthwise along the outer wall of the inner extrusion rod in sawtooth form as a whole, and the outer wall of the inner extrusion rod is provided with at least one list of cutting blades.
The food homogenizer of claim 2, wherein the outer wall of the inner extrusion rod is provided with more than two lists of cutting blades, and the distances between the neighboring lists of cutting blades are the same.
The food homogenizer of claim 1, wherein the cutting blades are staggerly arranged on the outer wall of the inner extrusion rod.
The food homogenizer of claim 1, wherein the cutting blade is disposed obliquely along the outer wall of the inner extrusion rod, and the outer wall of the inner extrusion rod is provided with a plurality of lists of oblique cutting blades.
The food homogenizer of any of claims 1 to 5, wherein the height of the cutting blades are lower than that of the first extrusion push thread.
The food homogenizer of any of claims 1 to 5, wherein the cutting blades are embedded onto the inner extrusion rod by injectionmolding.
The food homogenizer of claim 6, wherein the cutting blades are embedded onto the inner extrusion rod by injectionmolding.
The food homogenizer of any of claims 1 to 5, wherein all the cutting blades on the outer wall of the inner extrusion rod have the same width, and the width of the widest part of the feed channel is 5-9 times of the width of the cutting blades.
The food homogenizer of claim 6, wherein all the cutting blades on the outer wall of the inner extrusion rod have the same width, and the width of the widest part of the feed channel is 5-9 times of the width of the cutting blades.
The food homogenizer of claim 7, wherein all the cutting blades on the outer wall of the inner extrusion rod have the same width, and the width of the widest part of the feed channel is 5-9 times of the width of the cutting blades.
The food homogenizer of claim 1, wherein the shell comprises a discharge cover and a shell body; the discharge cover is provided with a slot, and the shell body is provided with a latch corresponding to the slot on the discharge cover; the latch cooperates with the slot so as to engage the shell body with the discharge cover; the discharge channel is arranged at the bottom of the discharge cover, and the other end of the inner extrusion rod can be rotatablely mounted on the discharge cover.
The food homogenizer of claim 1, wherein the end face of the other end of the inner extrusion rod is provided with collection grains alternatively concave and convex.
The food homogenizer of claim 12, wherein the end face of the inner extrusion rod close to the discharge cover is provided with collection grains alternatively concave and convex, and the discharge cover is provided with a guide groove connected with the discharge channel.
The food homogenizer of claim 1, wherein the inner extrusion rod has a tapered shape, such that the gap between the inner extrusion rod and the shell gradually grows smaller from the back-end to the fore-end.