Kitchen equipment

Details Kitchen equipment Kitchen equipment

1999-06-17

2000-03-14

Simone, Timothy

Foods and beverages: apparatus

Means to treat food

By isolating a fluid constituent

99348, 99495, 241 92, 24119912, 2412821, A23N 102, B02C 2500, B02C 1818, A47J 4306

Patent

active

060357711

DESCRIPTION:

BRIEF SUMMARY
The invention relates to a manual or hand operated food processor which is a domestic tool used to slice, cut, chop or otherwise treat a variety of foodstuffs. A known food processor comprises a container having a releasable lid, a handle on top of the lid and connected by a gear to a tool within the container. Rotation of the handle is arranged to cause rotary movement of the tool.
It is one object of this invention to provide a manually operated food processor which has a particularly efficient mechanical operation and which is versatile.
According to the invention in one aspect there is provided a hand operated food processor comprising a container for the food to be processed; a plurality of rotary tools each for processing food; each tool being individually releasably engaged with engaging means connected to a gear assembly, the engaging means comprising one end of a first shaft carrying a gear which engages a gear wheel connected to a drive shaft for a rotary handle, by which the processor is hand operated; a third shaft carrying two spaced apart gears of different diameters adjacent the other two, the four gears forming the gear assembly, arranged so that in one condition the first gear engages the drive shaft gear and the gears of the third shaft are idle and the tool connected to the engaging means is rotatable at a relatively slow speed and in a second condition the first shaft gear engages the wider diameter gear on the third shaft and the narrower diameter gear engages the drive shaft gear, whereby the tool connected to the engaging means is rotatable at a relatively faster rate.
Preferably the food processor includes a range of tools, e.g. to cut, slice, mix, beat, whisk, and the like. Preferably each tool is individually releasably engaged with engaging means connected to the gear assembly, the tool being arranged to locate the gear assembly in the operating condition appropriate to that tool in use.
Most preferably the processor includes a lid detachably engagable with the bowl, a generally central hole in the lid, the first shaft extending through the hole into the bowl, the shaft being urged downwardly into the bowl by the spring means, the drive shaft being offset from the central shaft, the gears being inter-engagable to co-operate so that hand rotation of the handle rotates the central shaft, the third rotary shaft being mounted on the lid with the two gears being vertically spaced apart, the upper gear being of a greater diameter than the lower.
Preferably the food processor includes a set of tools releasably engagable with the lower end of the shaft and which collectively may be stored in the bowl.
Other features of the invention are set out in the dependent Claims.
In order that the invention may be well understood it will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings in which:
FIG. 1 is a side elevation of one manual food processor of the invention;
FIG. 2 is a partly cut away perspective view of the food processor of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a vertical section of the food processor of FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is an elevation showing the gear train in the low speed condition;
FIG. 5 is an elevation showing the gear train in the high speed condition;
FIG. 6 is an underneath plan view of the gear train;
FIG. 7 is an elevation of the third shaft carrying two gear wheels;
FIG. 8 is a side elevation of the drive shaft for the handle carrying one gear wheel;
FIGS. 9A, 9B and 9C are respectively elevation, top plan and bottom plan views of a stem for use with high speed tools;
FIG. 10 is a vertical section through the bowl of the processor of FIG. 1 showing the stem and blade carrier;
FIG. 11A is a plan view of the blade carrier shown in FIG. 10 and FIG. 11B the underneath plan thereof;
FIGS. 12A to 12C shows in plan view a selection of blades to be fitted to the carrier namely 12A a slicer, 12B another slier, 12C a grater;
FIGS. 13A and 13B are a plan and elevational views of a chopper for use with the stem of FIG. 9;
FIGS. 14A and 14B are plan and elevat

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