Solid material comminution or disintegration – Apparatus – With automatic control
Reexamination Certificate
2002-05-02
2003-12-30
Rosenbaum, Mark (Department: 3725)
Solid material comminution or disintegration
Apparatus
With automatic control
C241S037500
Reexamination Certificate
active
06669124
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to food processors or other appliances for processing food and, in particular, to a device intended to be used with the said processors to allow them to process large-sized food while at the same time avoiding any possible contact between the hand and the rotating tool.
Such processors comprise a base containing an electric motor, the shaft of which projects from the upper part of the base to receive a rotating tool inside a bowl mounted removably on the base, the said bowl being closed by a lid from which there projects a chute through which the food to be processed is introduced, the base including a switch against which the lower end of a safety rod extending along one generatrix of the bowl bears, the upper part of the rod coming into contact with a cam borne by the lid. A processor such as this is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,892,365 (Verdun).
The lid is fixed to the bowl removably and the food to be processed is introduced into the chute and then pushed through it by a pusher designed to slide in the chute.
To avoid any contact between one of the user's hands and the rotating tool driven by the electric motor, the hopper is generally tall and of small cross section, preventing the user from inserting a hand. A safety lock is provided to inhibit operation of the processor until the lid is locked in place on the bowl in the operating position.
This locking effect is obtained by a cam formed at the lower part of the lid and which closes a switch fixed in the base of a processor only when the lid is appropriately locked onto the bowl. Various embodiments allow the command needed to be applied to the switch directly or via mechanical or magnetic linkages.
Unfortunately, the geometry of the chute, while it prevents hands from being introduced, also limits the size, shape and amount of food that can be processed. It has already been proposed that use be made of wider chutes for processing food of a larger size, but safety considerations also need to apply in this case.
A chute protector is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,226,373, this protector comprising a sleeve designed to slide around the chute, the said sleeve including a safety control member for the motor which cannot be started except if the sleeve is appropriately positioned on the chute. A pusher is mounted captively at the upper part of the sleeve so that this pusher can be moved back and forth inside the chute but cannot be withdrawn from the sleeve. In that patent, the pusher of the food introduced into the chute closes access to the widened chute when the sleeve is appropriately positioned on the chute, to allow the processor to work.
Another protective solution is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,523,720. A cylindrical hopper of a diameter roughly equal to the diameter of the working bowl closed by a lid is fixed onto the working bowl. The cylindrical hopper is closed by a hopper lid which needs to be appropriately positioned thereon before the motor of the processor can be switched on.
In both instances, the protective device has to be completely removed when the food to be processed is loaded into the widened chute. This results in a discontinuous mode of operation which is disagreeable.
To alleviate this drawback, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,614,306 and 4,614,690 also propose protecting the chute with something articulated to the lid of the bowl between a closed position over the opening of the chute and a position away from the opening. To validate the switching-on of the motor using the aforementioned switch, that patent envisages, above a control rod arranged along a generatrix of the bowl, a second control rod which is pushed by hand when the chute protector is in the closed position.
Although the arrangements described in these patents lead to a simplification in terms of operation by comparison with American U.S. Pat. No. 4,226,373, it nonetheless remains the case that filling the chute once again entails an additional operation of pivoting the chute protector out of the way.
To remedy this drawback, it has already been proposed that the member controlling the switching-on of the motor be included not in a chute protector but in the pusher itself. Such a proposal appears in the embodiments of
FIGS. 5
to
7
of U.S. Pat. No. 4,741,482. In that patent, the control member is a magnet fixed into the pusher and which, when the pusher is introduced into the chute, faces a magnetic rod and transmits the field of the magnet of the pusher to a magnetic switch situated in the base. The magnetic rod may be made in two parts, one borne by the working bowl and the second by the lid. Aligning the two rods corresponds, on the one hand, to the locking of the bowl on the base and, on the other hand, to the locking of the lid on the bowl. Thus, it is possible for the chute to be refilled only by extracting the pusher, which simplifies operation.
However, such transmission of magnetic energy entails a pusher magnet with a strong field and, what is more, magnetic disturbances may arise near the pusher and the transmission rods.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to overcome these drawbacks and to propose a mechanical solution for an operating safety device for a wide-cross-section chute which may be of short height.
According to the invention, the mechanical safety device for a food processor, comprising a base containing an electric motor, to which there is removably attached a bowl closed by a lid, the bowl being equipped with a bowl safety rod, loaded by a spring, acting on a switch mounted in the base, the lid having at least one chute for introducing the food, is characterized in that the lid is equipped with a lid rod aligned with the bowl rod, the pusher having a longitudinal projection bearing against a member for converting the vertical movement of the pusher into a vertical movement of the lid rod, causing the lower end of the lid rod to bear against the upper part of the safety rod of the bowl and causing the lower part of the rod to bear against the switch. A converting member able to move in horizontal or oblique translation is to be understood as meaning any known means allowing a vertical translational movement to be converted into another vertical translational movement such as a slider, a rocker, a ball, etc.
According to another feature of the invention, the independent moving member moves against the upper wall of a housing containing the lid rod and is held in a position the opposite of its starting position once the pusher has been introduced into the chute.
According to another feature of the invention, the projection of the pusher has, at its lower end, an inclined surface bearing against an inclined face of a parallel-sided slider, the second face of which presses against the upper end of the second safety rod in the lid.
The lid rod or second rod is returned constantly upwards by a return spring. Thus, as soon as the pusher is removed from the chute, the spring, via the lid rod, returns the slider to its starting position, contact with the bowl rod being interrupted and the latter rising towards the top of the bowl, under the action of its spring, breaking contact with the switch which opens again.
To take up the lateral clearance of the lid rod, the latter may be made in two parts hinged together, the upper part being able to pivot on the upper end of the lower part.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3892365 (1975-07-01), Verdun
patent: 4216917 (1980-08-01), Clare et al.
patent: 4226373 (1980-10-01), Williams
patent: 4506836 (1985-03-01), Williams
patent: 4512522 (1985-04-01), Williams
patent: 4523720 (1985-06-01), Behringer et al.
patent: 4614306 (1986-09-01), Doggett
patent: 4674690 (1987-06-01), Ponikwia et al.
patent: 4741482 (1988-05-01), Coggiola et al.
patent: 4819882 (1989-04-01), Stottmann et al.
patent: 6375102 (2002-04-01), Bouleau et al.
De Jenlis Pascal
Lazzer Jean-Pierre
Duane Morris LLP
Hameur S.A.
Rosenbaum Mark
LandOfFree
Safety device for a food processor with a large chute does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Safety device for a food processor with a large chute, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Safety device for a food processor with a large chute will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3182766