阅读说明：本技术 食品研磨附件及相应的驱动装置和台式搅拌机 (Food grinding accessory, corresponding driving device and table type stirrer ) 是由 保罗·帕尔默 罗伯特·菲尔兹 于 2014-10-22 设计创作，主要内容包括：一种食品研磨附件及相应的驱动装置和台式搅拌机,该附件供连接至主装置提供的旋转驱动出口。该附件包括：主体部分,用于连接至主装置,其具有大体上为管状的中空部分；可旋转的涡旋型挤出工具,其能够在主体部分的管状部分内形成的空腔内旋转并配备有当主体部分连接至主装置时与旋转驱动出口结合的构件；使食品能够被引入空腔并与挤出工具接合以研磨并朝向附件的出口端口输送的构件；其中,主体部分包括第一部件和第二部件,第一部件与第二部件可分离并用于紧固在一起以操作该附件,且部件适于可彼此分离以提供接近空腔进行清洁的通道,其中第一部件与第二部件由塑料制成,优选地采用模压塑料制成。(A food grinding attachment for connection to a rotary drive outlet provided in a main unit, and a corresponding drive unit and stand mixer. The accessory includes: a body portion for connection to a main device, having a substantially tubular hollow portion; a rotatable scroll-type extrusion tool rotatable within a cavity formed within the tubular portion of the body portion and equipped with a member that engages with the rotary drive outlet when the body portion is connected to the main device; means enabling the food product to be introduced into the cavity and engaged with the extrusion tool to be ground and conveyed towards the outlet port of the accessory; wherein the body portion comprises a first part and a second part, the first part and the second part being separable and adapted to be secured together for operation of the accessory, and the parts being adapted to be separable from each other to provide access to the cavity for cleaning, wherein the first part and the second part are made of plastic, preferably moulded plastic.)

1. A food grinding attachment (300) for connection to a rotary drive outlet (102,152) provided by a host device (100, 150), the attachment comprising: a body portion having a generally tubular hollow portion, the body portion (304) for connection to the main device; a rotatable scroll-type extrusion tool (310) rotatable within a cavity (312) formed within the tubular portion of the body portion and equipped with a member (308) that engages with the rotary drive outlet when the body portion is connected to the main device; means (330) for enabling food to be introduced into said cavity within said tubular body portion and to engage with said extrusion tool for grinding and delivery towards the outlet port of said accessory; wherein the body portion comprises a first part (330) and a second part (340), the first part being separable from the second part and for securing together to operate the accessory, and wherein the parts are adapted to be separable from each other to provide access to the cavity for cleaning, wherein the first and second parts are made of plastic, preferably moulded plastic.

2. The accessory of claim 1, wherein the first and second members are configured to be slidable relative to each other in a direction substantially parallel to an axis about which the extrusion tool rotates; said slidable movement of said parts is performed in one direction to fasten them together and in the opposite direction to separate them.

3. An accessory as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the abutting edges of the first and second parts are formed using a connecting member by means of which the two parts are securely locked together.

4. An attachment according to claim 3, wherein the connecting member comprises a co-operating tongue and groove formation (T, G).

5. An attachment according to any preceding claim, wherein the first and second parts are securely locked together for a food grinding operation by means comprising one or more over centre jaws.

6. An accessory according to any preceding claim, wherein the first and second parts are temporarily secured together by a mechanical locking system.

7. An accessory according to any preceding claim, wherein the first and second components further have respective portions of external thread for engagement with internal threads of a nut for fastening the components together.

8. An accessory according to any preceding claim, wherein the joint between the first and second parts is provided with a sealing member adapted to resist liquid being squeezed through it.

9. An accessory according to any preceding claim, wherein the joint between the first and second parts is equipped with a labyrinth-configured sealing member.

10. An attachment according to any preceding claim, wherein the outlet port is formed by an open-cell die (302).

11. The attachment of claim 10 wherein said die is threaded (320) to mate with threads on an outlet end of said body to maintain operation within said body.

12. An accessory according to any preceding claim, wherein the inner surface of the cavity has helical ribs to help direct food towards the outlet.

13. The attachment of any of the preceding claims, wherein the rotatable scroll-type extrusion tool further comprises a cutting blade (324).

14. A dedicated, self-contained grinding machine drive, characterized in that it carries an attachment according to any one of the preceding claims.

15. A stand mixer with an attachment according to any one of claims 1 to 13.

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a food grinding attachment for a kitchen machine, which may be a dedicated, stand-alone grinding machine drive, or may be a multi-purpose kitchen machine (e.g. a stand-alone blender) configured as a primary device for the attachment.

Background

Such accessories are well known and are generally made to be driven by an electric motor incorporated into the main device for grinding, for example, meat and related products. These attachments comprise a powerfully fabricated body member which houses a working grinder member, typically comprising a scroll-type elongated screw configured as an extruder, which rotates within a specially shaped cavity within the body member, pulverizes the meat and transports the pulverized meat to and through an apertured end plate attached to the body member. Meat is introduced into the cavity in the body member via the feed tube and is typically pressed into engagement with the screw by a pusher tool which is pushed into the feed tube by a user. Typically, a hopper device is provided for insertion into the open end of the feed tube to facilitate the addition of meat to the grinder.

Accessories of the kind just described work satisfactorily in most respects, and in particular are well suited to handle the large forces and pressures generated within the body during the meat grinding process operations. However, difficulties arise in cleaning the accessory, and in particular, the cavity within the main body, and the present invention aims to facilitate this cleaning without unduly compromising the ability of the accessory to withstand the forces generated in the above-described operation.

Disclosure of Invention

According to the present invention there is provided a food grinding attachment for connection to a rotary drive outlet provided by a main device; the accessory includes: a main body part having a substantially tubular hollow portion for connection to a main device; a rotatable scroll-type extrusion tool rotatable within a cavity formed within the tubular portion of the main body member and equipped with a member that engages with the rotary drive outlet when the main body member is connected to the main device; means for enabling food to be introduced into the cavity within the tubular body portion and engaged with the extrusion tool for grinding and delivery towards the outlet port of the accessory; wherein the body member comprises a first part and a second part, the first part being separable from the second part and configured to be secured together to operate the accessory, and wherein the parts are adapted to be separable from each other to provide access to the cavity for cleaning.

In some preferred embodiments of the invention, the first and second members are configured to be slidable relative to each other in a direction substantially parallel to the axis about which the extrusion tool rotates; said slidable movement of said parts is performed in one direction to fasten them together and in the opposite direction to separate them.

In other preferred embodiments of the invention, the first and second parts are hingedly mounted to each other. In these cases, the hinge arrangement may be configured to apply pressure to the joint between the components.

Preferably, the abutting edges of the first and second parts are formed using a connecting member by means of which the two parts are securely locked together. In some such embodiments, the connecting member includes a mating tongue and groove configuration.

In some preferred embodiments, the first and second components also have respective portions of external threads for engagement with internal threads of a nut that secures the components together.

In some preferred embodiments of the invention, the joint between the first and second components is provided with a sealing member adapted to resist liquid being squeezed through it. Alternatively or additionally, the joint may be a labyrinth configuration.

The invention also covers a dedicated, independent grinding machine drive with an attachment according to any embodiment of the invention. The invention also encompasses a stand mixer with an accessory according to any embodiment of the invention.

The invention extends to an accessory substantially as described herein with reference to and/or as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. The invention also extends to a stand mixer substantially as described with reference to figure 1 and/or as shown in figure 1.

The invention extends to a method and/or apparatus substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The present invention also provides a computer program and a computer program product for carrying out any of the methods described herein and/or for carrying out any of the apparatus features described herein, as well as a computer readable medium having stored thereon a program for carrying out any of the methods described herein and/or for carrying out any of the apparatus features described herein.

Any device feature described herein may also be provided as a method feature, and vice versa. As used herein, device plus function features may alternatively be represented using their respective structures (e.g., a suitably programmed processor and associated memory).

Any feature in one aspect of the invention may be applied to other aspects of the invention in any suitable combination. In particular, method aspects may be applied to apparatus aspects and vice versa. In addition, any feature, some features, and/or all features of one aspect may be applied to any feature, some features, and/or all features of any other aspect, in any suitable combination.

It is also to be understood that the specific combination of features described and defined in any aspect of the invention may be implemented and/or provided and/or used independently.

Drawings

For the present invention to be clearly understood and readily put into practical effect, one embodiment thereof will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows in perspective exploded view a conventional meat grinder attachment and a possible main device therefor, which respectively comprises a stand mixer and a dedicated (independent) meat grinder drive;

FIG. 2 shows, in a view similar to FIG. 1, an accessory according to one example of the invention; and

figure 3 shows the accessory of figure 2 assembled for use.

Detailed Description

Referring now to fig. 1, there is shown at 100 a multipurpose kitchen machine comprising a stand mixer of the kind manufactured and sold by the applicant. Of course, many different types of multipurpose kitchen machines may be used as the host machine in the present invention, and the appliance 100 in fig. 1 is shown by way of example only.

The machine 100 provides a relatively low speed, high torque rotary drive outlet 102 in front of its head portion 104; the drive outlet 102 is typically concealed behind a removable trim panel (not shown) when not in use. In this example, other drive outlets having different characteristics (e.g., speed, torque, and/or clamp configuration) are provided on the upper surface of the head 104 behind the trim panels 106 and 108, as well as on the underside of the head 104 as indicated by arrow 110; this latter outlet is typically a planetary drive outlet for a beater or mixer tool that is suspended for use within the bowl 112. Other outlets may be provided instead of or in addition to the just described outlets.

Fig. 1 additionally shows an arrangement including a dedicated meat grinder drive 150 that houses a motor (not shown) and provides a relatively low speed, high torque rotary drive outlet 152. Of course, the device 150 may take any desired form and be equipped with any suitable controls and switch arrangements without departing from the scope of the present invention.

It will be appreciated that each of the drive outlets 102 and 152 provides a rotary drive means which performs about a horizontal drive axis, and this may be conveniently used with an accessory 200, such as a meat grinder, with which the meat can be ground and extruded so that it emerges forwardly from the accessory 200 through the apertured die 202 and falls into a bowl or other container placed beneath the forward outlet formed by the die 202. The various connections (e.g. 100 and 150) of the accessory (e.g. 200) to the main device may be the same, enabling the accessory to be used with either type of main device at will, or they may be different, in which case the accessory (e.g. 200) may of course be made to mate with only one or the other of the main devices.

The illustrated attachment 200 is constructed as a meat grinding attachment and includes a body 204 of generally tubular form, at one end (in this example, the rearward end) of which is provided a hollow housing 206 with a clamp 208, the clamp 208 being configured to complement the clamp provided at the outlet 102 and/or the outlet 152, enabling the housing 204 of the attachment 200 to be releasably secured to the main device 100 and/or 150 and enabling the scroll-type screw extrusion device 210 to be rotated by a rotary drive provided at the outlet 102 and/or the outlet 152.

The apparatus 210 is mounted for rotation within a processing cavity 212 in the housing 206 so as to extrude meat and related products, introduced into the processing cavity 212 inside the housing 206 through a feed tube 214, the feed tube 214 typically associated with a removable hopper 216, forwardly through the die 202. It will be appreciated that the feed tube 214 is integrally formed with the housing 206 and thus forms a part of the body 204 of the attachment 200.

Typically, a plurality of dies, such as 202, are provided, each formed with a respective array of apertures, and the dies 202 selected to suit a desired texture or another characteristic of the meat being ground are mounted to the housing 206.

The extrusion apparatus 210 and selected die 202 are held by means, including a nut 218, for operation within the housing 206, the nut 218 being internally threaded at 220 and thus capable of being threaded onto external threads 222 formed at the forward end of the housing 206. Nut 218 may be knurled or otherwise treated to facilitate its rotation to properly secure the components in place within housing 206. Bearing in mind the stresses and strains imparted to the various components during extrusion of the relatively viscous material, however, it is sometimes preferred that nut 218 be formed with external drive indentations or protrusions designed to be engaged by a special or universal wrench (neither shown) to facilitate loosening of nut 218 from housing 206.

As described earlier, a pushing device (not shown) of any convenient design may be provided to enable a user to push meat products through the feed tube 214 to facilitate their engagement and interaction with the extrusion device 210.

The surface of the cavity 212 surrounding the extrusion device 210 in use is known to be contoured to promote the desired interaction between the device 210 and the ground meat product and to help cause the ground meat product to flow toward the mold 202 and thus out of the attachment 200 and into a bowl or other container (not shown) positioned to collect it.

The cutting blade 224 may be provided in some configurations in intimate association with the die 202 and configured to rotate with the extrusion device 210 while the die 202 remains stationary.

It will be appreciated that while the internal components of the attachment 200 (e.g., the extruded scroll 210, the die 202, and the blades 224 (if used) are easily removed after the nut 218 has been removed, the cavity 212 within the body 204 is difficult to clean, and this is not ideal, bearing in mind that the primary design use of the attachment 200 is to grind raw meat.

Fig. 2 shows, in a view similar to that of fig. 1, an accessory 300 according to an example of the invention. In fig. 2, components similar to those shown in fig. 1 are increased by 100 from their corresponding components in fig. 1.

Importantly, it can be seen in FIG. 2 that the body 304 is bisected so that the cavity 312 is easily accessible for cleaning by a simple disassembly procedure.

As shown, the body 304 (including the housing 306 and the feed tube 314) is bisected into two portions 330 and 340, with one portion 330 holding the rearward end structure (including the clamp 308) with which the attachment 300 is connected to the stand mixer 100 and receives the rotational drive from the outlet 102 and/or the outlet 152. The two portions 330 and 340 have mating threaded regions 332 and 342, respectively, to receive the internal threads 320 of the retaining nut 318 to secure the forward ends of the portions 330 and 340 together.

The pressure involved in the grinding process adversely affects the use of a simple separable butt connection between the two body portions 330 and 340. Accordingly, in this embodiment of the invention, the abutting edges of the two body portions 330 and 340 are formed using mating tabs T and grooves G; this arrangement aligns the portion 340 with the portion 330 and then slides relative to the portion 330 in a direction parallel to the axis of rotation of the extrusion apparatus 310 to engage the tongue T into the groove G. FIG. 3 illustrates the accessory 300 assembled and ready for use when connected to the outlet 102 of the stand mixer 100 and/or the outlet 152 of the appliance 150.

Most desirably, the procedure of securing the two body portions 330 and 340 together should not involve the use of tools, as these are inconvenient for the user and may be easily disengaged and misplaced with the rest of the accessory 300.

It should be understood, however, that even bearing in mind the need to avoid the use of tools to secure the parts together, the process of temporarily securing the two body portions 330 and 340 together may alternatively be accomplished using any of a number of different mechanical components, such as an over-center clamp or similar locking system.

Alternatively or additionally, the two body portions 330 and 340 may be connected together along one of their outer side edges by a hinge or similar configuration; this configuration has the following advantages: from the user's perspective, the accessory (e.g., 300) so modified does not include more individual components than accessory 200. Furthermore, advantageously, the use of a hinged configuration means that the two body portions 330 and 340 remain together at all times during storage.

Since food products processed by the meat grinder 300 typically have a high fluid content, one may need to preserve the liquid contained therein, and thus the two body portions 330 and 340 are preferably equipped with a suitable sealing configuration. In one example, the desired seal is achieved by providing a flexible seal, such as a rubber material, along the primary joint of the two body portions 330 and 340. These seals may be provided on mating faces of the two body portions 330 and 340 or incorporated into the illustrated tongue T and groove G system and used to secure the two body portions 330 and 340 together.

Depending on the specific design of the tongue and groove system used, the sealing may alternatively be achieved by the design of a labyrinth seal joint, thereby avoiding the need for flexible sealing members. If a flexible (e.g. rubber) seal is required, they may be formed, for example, by over-moulding the tongue T, making them permanent attachments to the body portions 330 and 340, or they may be provided as separately made attachments which are slidably attached to and removed from the tongue T.

The body portion, such as 204 of current meat grinding accessories (e.g., 200), is typically fabricated using die cast aluminum or stainless steel, and the body 304 of the accessory 300 can be similarly fabricated. Alternatively, however, the body 304 of the accessory 300 may be fabricated from molded plastic, in which case the fluid sealing means may usefully be incorporated into the design of each of the body portions 330 and 340.

If a hinge arrangement is used to connect the two body portions 330 and 340, it may be advantageous to use a molded "living" hinge-type design configured to apply pressure to the joint between the two body portions 330 and 340 during or upon closure thereof.

The bisection between the two body portions 330 and 340 can be about an axis through the two cylindrical members 306 and 314 as shown in fig. 2, or can be about only an axis through the main processing chamber 306 and at an angle to the horizontal. The bisection may be straight as shown, or it may be stepped or curved as necessary.

It will be understood that the invention has been described above purely by way of example, and modifications of detail can be made within the scope of the invention.

Each feature disclosed in the description and (where appropriate) the claims and drawings may be provided separately or in any appropriate combination.

Reference signs appearing in the claims are by way of illustration only and shall not have a limiting effect on the scope of the claims.