Solid material comminution or disintegration – Apparatus – Combined or convertible
Patent
1987-07-24
1989-07-04
Rosenbaum, Mark
Solid material comminution or disintegration
Apparatus
Combined or convertible
2411691, A47J 4204
Patent
active
048443522
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
This invention relates to condiment grinders of the kind having a container to hold the condiment to be ground, which may be peppercorns or crystalline salt, with a pair of co-operating coaxial grinding tools at the base of the container with one tool relatively rotatable with respect to the other. In use, the central tool is coupled to a shaft which is arranged to be manually rotated with the condiment to be ground being fed from the container to between the tools which relatively rotate to cause a crushing and grinding action.
With such condiment grinders two discrete units will be required to form the normal complement for a table, and although it has been proposed to combine, for example, a pepper grinder and a salt grinder on a common stand or otherwise integrated, nevertheless each has hitherto been mechanically a separate unit and one or other has to be selectively operated depending on whether salt or pepper is required to be dispensed.
According to this invention there is provided a condiment grinding set comprising two adjacently positioned containers each for holding a different condiment and each associated with a set of grinding tools, each grinding tool set being operatively connected through a drive means with a manually operable member incorporating a selector device whereby the manually operable member may be caused to operate one or other of the sets of grinding tools.
In this invention a condiment grinder is thus provided which may contain two condiments with a manually operable means which can be activated to selectively dispense one or other of the condiments. The possibility of selecting both condiments simultaneously is not excluded.
Preferably, a single rotatable knob, handle or the like manually operable member is provided coupled with the grinding tools via a drive, such as a gear drive, incorporating a selector device which couples the drive to one or other of the grinding tool sets. The selector device may comprise a separate hand operable member to cause operation of one or other of the sets of grinding tools or, advantageously, the drive means is arranged so that rotation of the hand operable member in one direction causes drive to be applied to operate one set of grinding tools and rotation in the opposite direction causes the drive to be applied to operate the other set of grinding tools. With such a preferred arrangement a user may selectively dispense one or other of the condiments by rotating the knob or the like in one or other directions.
Preferably, the containers are defined by a casing which incorporates a partition member to separate same into two compartments one for each condiment, with a set of grindng tools and a drive shaft therefor located in each compartment, the drive shafts extending upwardly to a housing provided on the top of the container. The adjacently positioned containers will advantageously be in side by side relationship and constructed as an integral, preferably cylindrical, unit. The housing may incorporate a gear train arranged so that on rotation of a top part of the housing in one direction gear drive is applied to one shaft, whereas rotation in the opposite direction disengages the drive from said one shaft and applies drive to the other shaft. In an embodiment of the invention this selective drive to one or other of the shafts associated with a grinding tool set may be effected through a gear running on a helical shaft whereby the gear moves in one direction along the shaft when the manual member is rotated one way, thus engaging a gear attached to one of the grinding tool shafts, or moves along the helical shaft in the opposite direction when the member is rotated the other way so as to engage the drive on the other shaft.
In an alternative construction a slipping clutch or dog clutch drive is provided which causes rotation of a respective shaft attached to a grinding tool when rotated in one direction only. By such means each shaft may have an associated slipping clutch or one-way drive so that the tools are only rotated when the top part
REFERENCES:
patent: 1251160 (1917-12-01), Woody
patent: 1465505 (1923-08-01), Zoergiebel
patent: 2060807 (1936-11-01), Johnston
patent: 3827641 (1974-08-01), Andersson
patent: 4709865 (1987-12-01), Bounds
patent: 4771955 (1988-09-01), Paulson
Cole & Manson, Limited
Rosenbaum Mark
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