阅读说明：本技术 具有快速释放的可移除研磨室的咖啡研磨器及分量器装置 (Coffee grinder with quick-release removable grinding chamber and dispenser device ) 是由 卢卡·利桑德龙 于 2020-11-23 设计创作，主要内容包括：公开了一种咖啡研磨器及分量器装置(1),具有用于拔出的可移除研磨室(10),可快速释放；所提出的解决方案使得研磨调节独立于研磨室的访问,使操作人员更加容易进行维护。设置有接口法兰(113),其插设于调节用环形螺母(115)以及所述研磨室的固定结构(112)之间的确定位置,所述接口法兰使环形螺母(115)和可拔出组(101)与所述固定结构之间间接联接,所述环形螺母旋拧入所述法兰,所述法兰又滑动地插入。锁定涉及快速及张紧类型的钩紧以及释放系统,依靠安装在所述接口法兰外部的带凸轮齿(123)的杠杆(102),所述杠杆以钩紧方式接合带有弹性弹簧的对应拉杆组(106)的头部,从而使它们处于牵引,拉杆组接合至研磨室的所述固定结构。(A coffee grinder and dispenser device (1) is disclosed, having a removable grinding chamber (10) for extraction, quick-release; the proposed solution makes the grinding adjustment independent of the access of the grinding chamber, making maintenance easier for the operator. An interface flange (113) is provided, interposed in a determined position between the adjustment ring nut (115) and the fixed structure (112) of the grinding chamber, said interface flange providing an indirect coupling between the ring nut (115) screwed into said flange and the extractable group (101) and said fixed structure, said flange being in turn slidingly inserted. The locking involves a hooking and releasing system of the quick and tensioning type, by means of a lever (102) with cam teeth (123) mounted externally to the interface flange, which engages in hooking manner the heads of corresponding tie-rod sets (106) with elastic springs, so as to put them in traction, which are engaged to the fixed structure of the grinding chamber.)

1. A coffee grinder and portioner device (1) with a removable grinding chamber, suitable for grinding and portioning coffee beans, of the gravity-centre type, with an electric motor in a lower body or base (12), a vertical rotation shaft (127) and an upper cone (11) arranged above for holding the coffee beans, wherein the grinding chamber is interposed between the upper cone and the lower body; the grinding chamber is equipped with a removable set of parts comprising a load-bearing element (114) with an upper mouth suitable for the insertion of the bean-holding cone, wherein inside the load-bearing element (114) is mounted a grinder-holding element (116) with a fixed grinder (117), outside the load-bearing element (114) is mounted an adjustment ring nut (115) for adjusting the grinding, said adjustment ring nut (115) acting as a spacer support, the rotation of which adjusts the height between the fixed grinder (116) and the rotary grinder (124) and 125); the rotary grinder (124) is integrated with the rotating shaft (127) within a fixed portion of the grinding chamber, said fixed portion being integrated in the upper part of the lower body or base (12); said adjusting ring nut (115) being externally equipped with a threaded connection region for coupling by screwing, said grinding chamber comprising a coffee-grinding plate (134) corresponding to an opening (119) for exit of the ground coffee, said coffee-grinding plate (134) being suitable to suppress electrostatic phenomena and to limit the occurrence of coffee powder agglomerates; the grinder and the dispenser device (1) are characterized in that,

in the grinding chamber (10), the removable group of components is an extractable group (101, 113) for axially guided sliding (121, 127, 129), wherein the extractable group (101) is inserted into a fixed part of the grinding chamber called fixed structure (112) and is locked in the fixed part by means of quick hooking and releasing means (102, 106) comprising a lever type (102) and a pull rod (106) with a spring (109); and

wherein the extractable group (101) comprises an interface flange (113) between the adjusting ring nut (115) and the fixed structure (112) so that the coupling between the adjusting ring nut (115) and the fixed structure (112) is indirect, the interface flange (113) being internally equipped with a threaded zone (126), the threaded zone (126) of the interface flange (113) being screwed into the threaded zone of the adjusting ring nut (115) to isolate the fixed grinder (116) from the threaded zone 117; said interface flange (113) being externally smooth in correspondence with the coupling surface, so as to slide in said fixed structure (112) on a longitudinal axis (121) parallel to said rotation axis (127), and having centering means (129) suitable for driving the insertion and extraction movements (121) of said extractable group (101, 113) and (117); wherein said quick hooking and releasing means (102, 106) lock said interface flange (113) in a determined position with a predetermined locking force, acting on a support plane (128, 129) corresponding to the end of the stroke of said sliding of said interface flange (113) in said fixed structure (112), said support plane (128) being coplanar with respect to said grinder (116, 124, 125).

2. The coffee grinder and dispenser device (1) according to the preceding claim, characterized in that in said grinding chamber (10) said quick hooking and releasing means (102, 106) are arranged in pairs, wherein each pair comprises a rotary (122) lever (102) and a corresponding set of tie rods (106); the lever (102) has a fulcrum (103) integral with the flange (113) and a hooking tooth (123) projecting towards the fixed structure (112) to hook and release the set of levers (106) integral with the fixed structure (112); said tie rod group (106) being inserted and constrained in its integrated seat (112, 130), having a central pin (111) acting as a core of a preload spring (109), and having a projecting head (104) for hooking said hooking tooth (123) and translating (121, 131) on a longitudinal axis; and wherein in the grinding chamber (10) there are at least two pairs of opposite hooking and releasing means (102, 106) so that their locking forces (123, 106, 109) act uniformly on the support plane (128, 112, 113) so that the grinders (116, 117, 124, 125, 129) remain coplanar and aligned also in the case of extraction and repositioning of the extractable group (101).

3. The coffee grinder and dispenser device (1) according to the preceding claim, characterized in that said hooking tooth (123) of said lever (102) has a cam profile which, in said hooking phase, draws said spring (109) of said set of levers (106) with a progressively increasing force until reaching a safety seat when locked, thus having an anti-accidental release function.

4. The coffee grinder and dispenser device (1) according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the locking force acting uniformly on said support plane (128) by means of said preloaded spring (106, 109) is equal to 40kg with a tolerance of +/-10%, considering that all levers (102) and all tie-rod sets (106) act simultaneously as a whole.

5. The coffee grinder and dispenser device (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the coffee breaker plate (134) is inserted into an externally facing seat in the interface flange (113) so as to be able to be removed together with the entire extractable group (101, 113) in synchronism with the extraction of the interface flange (113).

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a coffee grinder and dispenser device with a quick-release removable grinding chamber. In particular, the proposed solution makes the granularity adjustment independent of the access to the grinding chamber, which is easily done by slidingly pulling out and manipulating the hooking and releasing means.

The innovation has particular, but not exclusive, application in the industrial field of professional equipment for bars for preparing espresso coffee; in particular, a grinder and a dispenser device are proposed with an easily extractable grinding chamber provided with a lever type quick hooking and releasing system. It should also be noted that the proposed device is particularly suitable for said grinding of coffee beans, however, it is also suitable for the grinding of any dry grain in the grain or seed sector.

Background

In general, machines of the professional type for preparing espresso coffee are well known, generally known as coffee machines, which basically have a body comprising a boiler which generates hot water and steam and sends it to one or more dispensing groups, intended to pass through a corresponding number of filter-holding cups containing ground coffee. Therefore, the filter must be pre-filled with ground coffee by means of a special machine for grinding and portioning the ground coffee, also known as grinder and portioning device. In particular, each time the filter-holder cup must be filled with an exact quantity of ground coffee according to the number of doses to be dispensed, the desired quality, a preset granulometry or according to the relative distance between the two grinders arranged coplanar to each other inside the grinding chamber to grind sufficiently the unbroken grains of coffee.

Among the most efficient and widespread constructive arrangements in the professional field, there are in particular the barycentric-type arrangements (barycentric-type arrangement) with a vertical rotation axis on which the grinding chamber is located in an intermediate position between an upper cone containing the unbroken coffee grains and a lower body, which acts as a base and internally comprises an electric motor, and, immediately upstream of the grinder, a dispenser of the ground powder. The solution proposed by the present invention relates to this preferred arrangement of the device, in which case the advantage is to maximize the hooking and release and consequent removal of the grinding chamber, as described below. By way of non-limiting example, a grinder and dispenser device manufactured by Fiorenzato, Inc., Italy, located in the Town 3003, VE, www.fiorenzato.it, of san Mary Adidisa, Inc., is seen to have a gravity-center type configuration with a vertical axis of rotation. Commercially known as the F83Evo model. However, it can be seen that the proposed innovative solution can also be advantageously integrated into other types and configurations of devices.

It has therefore been noted that, for a number of reasons in the daily routine described below, in daily professional practice, the operator using such a grinder and dispenser device sometimes has to dismantle the upper part of the device in order to access the interior of the grinding chamber. However, it has been noted that this operation is not easy and involves many drawbacks, which are well known to the operators of the industry.

With reference also to the figures (fig. 1 b-1 f) related to the prior art, when the operator is to visit the grinding chamber, and therefore the rotary grinder holding element to which the rotary grinder is fixed, he/she must completely loosen the adjusting ring nut and then extract the fixed grinder holding element to which the fixed grinder is fixed by unscrewing, wherein said fixed grinder is coupled to said rotary grinder to grind the coffee beans to a certain degree of fineness or coarseness or dynamics, according to the adjustment of said adjusting ring nut when all the parts of the device are assembled and operational.

In more detail, the grinding is performed by adjusting the clockwise or counterclockwise rotation of the ring nut, which brings the grinder pairs closer or spaced from each other, the granularity being greater as the grinder pairs are farther away, and vice versa. As the distance between the two grinders gets closer, the grain size becomes finer and finer. Along with this constructive arrangement, it has been observed that access to the grinder and therefore to the grinding chamber occurs to detach the coupling between the fixed grinder retaining element and the adjusting ring nut; in short, in the case of coupling of the said fixed grinder retaining element, to which the fixed grinder is fixed, the adjusting ring nut must in any case be completely loosened, each time losing the said adjustment.

In everyday professional practice it has been noted that for a number of reasons an operator has to disassemble the grinding chamber to access it. Among other things, the first reason relates to the necessity of regular cleaning to avoid contamination of the coffee due to the long-term deposition of coffee powder in the grinding chamber. A second reason is due to the fact that the worn-out grinder is replaced regularly. A third reason, on the contrary, relates to the removal of the superfluous objects, which sometimes occur inside the coffee beans, causing the blocking of the motor, the rotary drive shaft being directly connected to the rotary grinder holder, to which the fixed grinder is fixed.

In order to determine the prior art with respect to the proposed solution, it has been routinely verified in the technical and patent literature that the public archives are checked, thus determining some prior art documents, among which:

d1 is a grinder and dispenser device of Fiorenzato, Inc. -www.fiorenzato.it, Italy, entitled F83 Evo;

D2，IT1082436(Mazzer)；

D3，EP3473148(Mazzer)；

d4, CN208524578(Yang et al);

d5, WO2019128077(Chen et al);

D6，EP1762162(Fouquet)。

d1 relates to a professional-type electronic grinder and dispenser device having a center-of-gravity arrangement in which the grinding chamber is located on the vertical axis of rotation of the motor, between the underlying device body and the overlying cone containing the unfractured coffee beans; in said grinding chamber, an upper grinder holding element with a fixed grinder is mounted on a grinding adjustment ring nut provided with a threaded zone for manual rotation in order to separate the two grinders or, when fully rotated, for opening and/or removal of the internal parts. The ring nuts may be locked by a combination means between each other; a safety microswitch is also integrated for blocking the motor in the absence of the container cone.

D2 proposes a continuous micro-level grinding adjustment system which eliminates gaps and disturbances, is suitable for coffee grinding apparatuses in which the grinding chamber is interposed on a vertical axis between a motor and a coffee bean holding cone and comprises two superposed circular grinders.

In D3, a modern coffee grinder and dispenser device is described, wherein the body of the device comprises a grinding chamber above the motor, comprising a first and a second grinder, spaced in such a way as to grind the coffee beans into powder, the particle size of which can also be adjusted by means of an external ring nut rotated manually, provided with a reference angle mark, which is integrally connected to a fixed upper grinder and screwed onto a fixed part of the grinding chamber in such a way that it changes the mutual distance between the two grinders when rotated. In particular, said external ring nut is associated with a graduated ring and a blocking removable cap.

D4 proposes a system for blocking the rotation of the grinding chamber by means of an integrated spring pin acting on the support plane.

In D5, a system is described for adjusting and fixing a grinding device comprising a plurality of concentric elements assembled to each other, which can be spaced apart to adjust the distance or granularity between the grinders, and having an annular flange that supports them and is screwed to a body arranged below, which body comprises the motor of the grinding device.

D6 proposes a device for dispensing coffee powder that can be combined with means for grinding the unbroken grain, which can be mounted in a removable manner on the upper part of the device. In particular, a system for the quick locking of removable devices for grinding is described, comprising an elongated and flexible element, vertically integrated at the sides, provided at the upper end with an interference projection, which maintains the entire height from the outside, said removable element forming a grinding chamber in order to lock them in the correct working position or to unlock them after releasing said projection.

Defect of

It is reasonable to agree that, in general, the known solutions of coffee grinder and dispenser device, with the grinding chamber axially interposed between the upper cone and the lower body-motor, are very effective during grinding, i.e. when all the components are assembled and adjusted. However, they are not conducive to maintenance, particularly slow and not easily accessible to the interior of the grinding chamber.

Furthermore, in professional practice, it has been noted that the above operations, in particular the regular cleaning and the regular replacement of the grinder, are often overlooked or postponed by the operator, well known to the operators of the sector, in order to avoid these and other work difficulties. Therefore, grinding services are sometimes not optimal from a qualitative point of view. In order to highlight the advantages of the proposed solution, the main problems or drawbacks that limit or make difficult the execution of the aforesaid disassembly operations will be described in detail hereinafter.

In more detail, a first serious drawback is that the known solutions provide for micrometric adjustment of the grinding by means of a rotating ring nut, in D1-D3, the fact that the granulometric adjustment is lost each time the grinding chamber is disassembled. It is indeed known that, in order to access the grinding chamber, the adjusting ring nut must be completely loosened by unscrewing the coupling threads between the ring nut and the structure of the grinding chamber, until the upper grinder holding element, comprising the fixed grinder, is extracted. By way of example only, the prior art figures (fig. 1 b-1 f) can be seen, which also refer to scheme D1 described above.

Following the first, the second involves precise particle size adjustment. In fact, this operation is not immediate, but involves a plurality of attempts to obtain again the desired adjustment, thus wasting ground coffee powder and also wasting operator time.

A third drawback relates to said assembly and disassembly operations, i.e. the coupling between said ring nut and the fixed grinder holding element, since it is known that ground coffee inevitably tends to deposit on the coupling threads between said ring nut and the structure of the grinding chamber. The drawings of the prior art (fig. 1d, fig. 1f) can be regarded as examples. In fact, said deposited powders come into contact with the anti-adhesive food grease present in the whole threaded zone, forming a mixture of greasy materials that are difficult to remove, and gradually deteriorating the surface of the thread itself, impairing the function. It has indeed been noted that the adjusting ring nut will not be screwed correctly if the cleaning of said threaded zone is neglected.

A fourth drawback relates again to the difficulty of lubrication of said coupling thread between the ring nut and the structure of the grinding chamber; it has indeed been noted that in the long run, if said lubrication is not carried out correctly and maintained, the smoothness of the two directly coupled parts is rapidly impaired, causing the ring nut for grinding adjustment to be blocked. The prior art figures (fig. 1d, fig. 1f) can be taken as examples.

A fifth drawback relates to the operation of replacing the grinder, for example, for which it is necessary to use metal tools, such as screwdrivers, pliers or similar hand tools, which may accidentally damage the top of said coupling thread between said ring nut and the structure of the grinding chamber, said top protruding from, i.e. being exposed to the outside, said structure of the grinding chamber. Therefore, in this case, the adjusting ring nut cannot be tightened correctly, which causes a serious discomfort and additional cost. The prior art figure (fig. 1f) may be by way of example.

It has also been noted that the known locking solutions are not easy and do not allow any quick manual disassembly by the operator, by inserting screws into the edge of the support flange to engage with the body placed below (for example in D5), also requiring special tools such as screwdrivers; the disadvantages already mentioned are due to delays in maintenance. Moreover, the known solutions are suitable for rapidly locking and unlocking the grinding chamber by means of an elongated flexible element having an interference at the end, locking the whole group in the working position from the outside, according to D6, but are not suitable for professional-type coffee grinders and dispenser devices, since they are not easily actuated, they do not ensure absolute repeatability and precision, nor do they allow a predefined locking force, nor do they ensure that the absolute action of the grinders is coplanar.

In view of all of the above, there is a need for companies in this field to identify innovative solutions that can overcome at least the problems mentioned previously.

Disclosure of Invention

These and other objects are achieved by the present invention, which solves the described problem, according to the characteristics of the appended claims, by a coffee grinder and dispenser device (1) with a quick-release removable grinding chamber (10) for extraction; the proposed solution makes the adjustment of the grinding independent of the access to the grinding chamber and simplifies the maintenance of the operator. An interface flange (113) is provided, interposed between the adjusting ring nut (115) and the fixed structure (112) of the grinding chamber in a determined position (univocal position), which indirectly couples the adjusting ring nut with the fixed structure and the extractable group (101) with the fixed structure, into which the ring nut is screwed, while the flange is slidably inserted. The locking provides a hooking and releasing system of the quick and tensioning type, by means of a lever (102) with cam teeth (123) mounted outside the interface flange, said lever (102) engaging in hooking manner the heads of the corresponding tie rod groups (106) with elastic springs, thus putting them in traction, the tie rod groups (106) being engaged to the fixed structure of the grinding chamber.

Purpose(s) to

Thus, with a huge creative contribution, the effect of which constitutes an immediate and not negligible technological advance, several important objectives are achieved.

The primary objective is to allow the operator to access the grinding chamber in a faster and easier way with respect to known conventional solutions. For this purpose, in the grinder and dispenser device, an innovative grinding chamber of the type with quick-release, slidable extraction is integrated, made in a way that advantageously solves all the problems described above.

A second purpose is to isolate the threaded coupling of the adjusting ring nut from the deposition of coffee powder and possible impacts that could impair the subsequent screwing.

A third object, related to the previous one, is to avoid the removal of grease from the threaded zone, continuously ensuring an optimal smoothness of the grain size adjusting ring nut; this advantage is particularly useful in the conditioning phase at the end of conditioning.

A fourth purpose is to eliminate the need to loosen the adjusting ring nut to perform said regular cleaning of the grinding chamber or said replacement of the worn grinder, or to eliminate the need to still remove the superfluous objects that may be present in the coffee granulate that sometimes blocks the rotation of the motor, thus preventing grinding.

A fifth object is to make the necessary operations significantly easier and faster with respect to maintenance and cleaning of the grinding chamber and its internal components, which makes them possible to be carried out by any operator, not just the person skilled in the art who is expert in terms of maintenance. Accordingly, by performing maintenance more frequently and correctly, the condition, duration and quality of service of the apparatus can be improved, and the overall cost can be significantly reduced.

Another object is to achieve a system for hooking, releasing and extracting the grinding chamber, suitable for intensive professional use, able to be used by any operator even without expert, comprising a limited number of mechanical components that can be actuated intuitively without the aid of tools, so as to achieve the above-mentioned objects in a technically advanced, repeatable and economical manner.

Another object is to achieve a safer grinding chamber from a hygienic point of view.

These and other advantages will emerge from the detailed description which follows, with the aid of the attached schematic drawings, the details of implementation of which should not be considered limiting, but merely illustrative.

Drawings

Fig. 1a is an orthogonal side view of an electronic grinder and portioning device suitable for grinding and portioning coffee beans, said device having a gravity-centered implementation configuration with an electric motor in a lower body or base, a vertical rotation axis (rotation axis) and an upper cone for bean holding arranged above, wherein a grinding chamber is interposed between the upper cone and the lower body, indicated with a dashed rectangle for ease of understanding. In particular, the present invention relates to an innovative grinder and dispenser device (fig. 2-8) provided with a quick-release extractable grinding chamber, which is advantageous compared to grinding chambers of conventional type made according to the prior art (fig. 1 b-1 f).

Fig. 1b, 1c, 1d relate to the prior art and respectively show: axonometric view, plan view and sectional view corresponding to the sectional plane X1-X1 of the assembled grinding chamber, in which there is a threaded coupling between the grinding adjustment ring nut and the fixing structure of the grinding chamber comprising the rotary grinder and the grinder retaining element.

Fig. 1e and 1f relate to the prior art and respectively show: axonometric view of a conventional grinding chamber as described in the previous figures (fig. 1 b-1 d), wherein the central group is removed here to completely unscrew; and a centerline section corresponding to the section plane X1-X1. The removable central group comprises a fixed grinder-holding element, a fixed grinder and a grinding-adjustment ring nut provided with a threaded zone exposed externally to engage directly by screwing on a corresponding threaded zone in the fixed structure.

Fig. 2a, 2b, 2c are simplified isometric views of a grinding chamber with quick release proposed by the present invention, shown in semi-transparent form for ease of understanding, first installed in the working position (fig. 2a), then released, with the lever open (fig. 2b), then extracted (fig. 2 c). The grinding chamber has a lateral locking lever hooked on a corresponding elastic pull rod, which can be extracted by axial sliding without screwing. The micrometric adjustment of the grinding is permanent, that is to say it remains unchanged after the operations of extraction and reinsertion, and therefore it is not necessary to rotate the grinding ring nut, and therefore the relative distance between the lower rotary grinder and the upper fixed grinder does not change.

Fig. 3a, 3b, 3c and 4a, 4b, 4c are orthogonal views of the grinding chamber proposed by the invention, in the closed position, with the lever hooked (fig. 3 a-3 c) and in the open position, with the lever released (fig. 4 a-4 c); these figures are shown from above (fig. 3a, 4a), in a vertical section corresponding to the section plane X2-X2 (fig. 3b), and in a vertical section corresponding to the section plane X3-X3 (fig. 4b), with an enlarged detail of the lever-and-pull-rod set (fig. 3c, 4c), as indicated by the dashed rectangle in the corresponding part.

Figure 5 is a vertical section corresponding to said section plane X3-X3, as shown in the previous figures (figures 4 a-4 b), in which the grinding chamber is extracted to slide longitudinally on a vertical axis with respect to the device, i.e. to move parallel to the rotation axis of the motor.

Fig. 6a and 6b show the grinding chamber in vertical section and in enlarged view corresponding to the section plane X4-X4 (fig. 4a), the grinding chamber being mounted and locked in the working position, and a safety system with a switch, it being possible to see that the coffee shredder plate has been integrated outside the interface flange.

Fig. 7 shows a horizontal section with reference to the previous view, corresponding to the section plane X5-X5.

Fig. 8 shows a grinding chamber according to the invention, in vertical section corresponding to said section plane X5-X5 (fig. 4a), wherein said grinding chamber is in an open position, said group provided with a fixed grinder being extracted by means of an interface flange from which the coffee grinding plate is then extracted.

Detailed Description

Referring also to the drawings (fig. 1a, 2-8), the proposed invention relates to an electronic grinder and doser device (1) suitable for grinding and dosing coffee beans, which is particularly provided with an advantageous quick-release grinding chamber (10) extractable for axially guided sliding. After opening the grinding chamber (10), the micro-adjustment of the grinding (also called grain size adjustment or fine adjustment) is also kept constant, i.e. the preset setting is maintained constant.

The invention is based on the integration of an innovative interface element, shaped like an annular flange, called interface flange (113), interposed between said granulometric adjustment ring nut (115) and the fixed structure (112) of the grinding chamber, so as to separate the coupling function from the adjustment function, isolating the threaded zone. The interface flange (113) is also provided with quick hooking means of the type with a lever (102), which greatly simplify the opening and repositioning operations of the grinding chamber or rather of its removable parts.

In the proposed solution (10), said adjusting ring nut (115) is conventionally actuated by manual screwing by means of a screw thread, with the aim of spacing the upper fixed grinder (117) and the lower rotary grinder (125) from each other, but advantageously engaging on said interface flange (113), instead of directly on the fixed structure (112) of the grinding chamber, as occurs in the prior art. In short, the interface flange (113) acts as a support element, wherein the ring nut (115) is coupled beforehand, integrated into a plurality of removable components (114) and (117) of the grinding chamber, behaving similarly to the extractable group (101) for sliding. Thus, the coupling surface of the interface flange (113) is smooth on the outside, configured to slidingly engage (121) along a longitudinal axis in the fixed structure (112), avoiding the conventional disadvantageous screwing; preferably, centring means are provided, such as cylindrical pegs (129) suitable for ensuring that the positioning is definitive, precise and repeatable (fig. 2c, fig. 7). The locking-unlocking (120b) of the flange takes place at the end of the stroke, the insertion of said group (101, 113) and the release of the quick hooking and releasing means being of the type with levers (102, 113) and with corresponding connecting elements of the type with elastic tie-rods (106), the elastic tie-rods (106) being constrained to the fixed structure (112).

In a preferred embodiment configuration (fig. 2 a-2 c), the access to the grinding chamber (10) occurs in a very fast manner: by releasing the two opposite levers (102) with respect to the rotation axis (127) of the motor, to the interface flange (113) and to the side of the hooking and fixing structure (106, 112) from the outside. The lever (102) and the flange (113) allow a quick and complete extraction of the extractable group (101). Thus, said extractable group (101) is a removable portion of the upper part of the grinding chamber (112), comprising externally said ring nut (115) and internally a fixed grinder holding element (116) and a fixed grinder (117); the extractable group (101) is screwed to the interface flange (113) by means of a threaded zone (126) which maintains the original function of spacer support of said ring nut (115). In turn, the interface flange (113) comprises a hooking and releasing lever (102), the hooking and releasing lever (102) being constrained to rotate about a fulcrum (103) with a transverse pin.

Preferably, two opposite levers (102) are provided, comprising a profiled toothing in the form of a small fork with cams, also called cam hooking toothing (123), so as to ensure the safe locking of the entire extractable group (101) once slidingly inserted and hooked onto the fixed structure (112) of the grinding chamber. This hooking occurs by means of a hooking and releasing lever device of the type with elastic springs, which comprises a plurality of parts, commonly called lever groups (106); which is vertically integrated in correspondence of each lever (102, 123), with a lower end fixed to the fixed structure (112) and an opposite end projecting upwards in a head suitable for hooking said lever (102, 123) (figures 2 a-2 c, 3c, 4 c).

Said fixed grinder holding element (116) is joined to a fixed grinder (117), said grinding adjustment ring nut (115), already coupled to said fixed grinder holding element (116), being screwed into said interface flange (113) through a coupling threaded zone (126) between the outer surface of the ring nut and the inner surface of the interface flange. This solution provides a complete isolation of the threaded coupling (126) from the coffee powder and from possible impacts during the maintenance and inspection phases of the grinding chamber. Furthermore, this solution keeps the particle size adjustment unchanged, since it is not necessary to loosen the adjustment ring nut (115) when accessing the grinding chamber (10).

Accordingly, once the extractable group (101, 113, 117) is slidingly extracted, it is also possible to easily remove the coffee breaker plate (134), which coffee breaker plate (134) is advantageously inserted in the interface flange (fig. 2c, 6a, 7, 8); the coffee-breaking plate (134), which is normally present in grinders and dispenser devices of the professional type, ensures a high quality of service, consists of a resonant steel membrane, which suppresses the electrostatic phenomena and the production of ground powder agglomerates from the grinding chamber. In the proposed solution (10), the removal of the coffee-grinding plate allows the operator to perform a precise cleaning of the outlet opening of the ground coffee, without damaging the comb portion forming it. In this connection, it can be observed that, in known conventional solutions, without said interface flange, the coffee shredder plate is fixed and cannot be removed manually in an easy manner, so that the operator is often unable to perform an accurate cleaning.

The set of levers (106) is configured like an elastic lever, mainly comprising a central pin (111) on which a fixed bushing (108) is inserted, and a spring (109), said spring (109) actuating an elastic tension preloaded by a spring holder (110). At the end of the central pin (111) of the spring a sliding pin (105) for the bushing is inserted, wherein the two bushings (104) are preferably made of sintered brass. The assembly of these components forms the tie rod set (106) which acts as a link to resist traction and also has resilience to facilitate quick hooking and release of each lever. The lower end of said tie rod group (106) is joined and locked in a fixed structure (112) of the grinding chamber, obtained in said integrated seat, by means of threaded zones present in the fixed bush (108) and in the integrated seat, the threaded zones present in the fixed bush (108) and in said integrated seat in a mutually corresponding manner, with the purpose of being fixed by screwing.

The quick hooking and releasing system provided by the present invention preferably provides two tie rod sets (106) and two corresponding levers (102), wherein each lever-tie rod pair (102, 106) is opposite to the other pair (102, 106) with respect to the central rotation axis, in diametrically opposite positions, for effective balancing forces (fig. 3a, fig. 4 a). Also included are two centring pegs (129) which ensure the correct positioning of the extractable group (101), so that, after inserting said extractable group (10, 101) by guided sliding into the respective seats obtained directly in the fixed structure (112), the operator can, by actuation by rotating said two opposite levers (102), hook each tie rod group (106a) by head (fig. 2a) or release each tie rod group (106b) (fig. 2 b).

Operationally, the kinematic movement performed by the two lever-pull rod pairs (102, 106) aims at locking the extractable group (101), gripping simply and safely on the protruding head of said pull rod group (106) by means of the cam hooking teeth (123), then rotating the two levers (102) downwards so as to put the system pin-springs (109, 111) in traction (fig. 4 b). On the contrary, the same kinematic motion allows to quickly release the extractable group (101), making it rotate the same lever (102) in the opposite direction (i.e. upwards), until said grasping of the release tooth (123) and freeing each pull rod group (106) (fig. 2b, 4c), thus allowing to easily extract said extractable group (101) by sliding (fig. 2c, 5).

As described in more detail with respect to the advantageous action of the pull-rod group (106) (fig. 4c), the cam profile of the hooking tooth (123) is intended to gradually draw the preloaded spring (109) so that, once the two opposite levers (102) are fully hooked and the operating travel (104, 107a-107b, 131) of the spring (109) is completed, the value of the locking force reaches a value equal to about 40kg, considering that all the lever-pull-rod pairs (102, 106) act on the extractable group (101) as a whole. It is noted that the locking force generated by the spring (109) acts uniformly and exclusively on the support and contact plane (128) of the interface flange (113) and on the corresponding support plane in the fixed structure (112) of the grinding chamber (10), so that the coplanarity or parallelism between these coupling elements is ensured, as a result of which the arrangement and coplanarity of the grinders (116) 117, 125) is maintained during grinding and also after a number of withdrawals and relocations (fig. 2c, fig. 5).

It has then been experimentally verified that by means of the above-mentioned quick hooking and releasing means (102, 106, 109) and the above-mentioned interface flange (113), a predetermined locking force is applied, corresponding to the end of the sliding travel of the interface flange (113), ensuring a positive actuation of the locking on the support and contact base (128), like a safe or anti-misorientation.

Furthermore, in a preferred embodiment configuration, during the hooking of the lever (102), the cam profile of said cam tooth (123) pulls the spring (109) of the tie-rod group (106) with progressively greater force until reaching the safety seat (123a), with an anti-accidental release function (fig. 3c, fig. 4 c).

The proposed system advantageously allows to integrate the most improved safety system provided for this type of grinder and dispenser device, for example an external microswitch (118, 118b) with a spring button (118a) which blocks the motor when the container of coffee beans is not correctly inserted in the central body (104) (fig. 6a, 6 b).

Reference mark

(1) A coffee grinder and portioning device adapted to grind and portioning coffee beans;

(10) the removable grinding chamber according to the invention, for extraction, can be released quickly. The micrometric regulation of the grinding remains unchanged after the opening of the grinding chamber, which is mounted on a slidably extracted interface flange equipped with a closing lever;

(11) a conical container for coffee beans;

(12) a body of the grinder and the component device, which is provided with a motor with a vertical rotating shaft;

(13) a control electronics;

(14) a dispensing nozzle;

(15) a support fork of the filter holding cup;

(101) a slidable withdrawal group of the grinding chamber;

(102) the closing lever is rotated, can be quickly and easily released and is provided with a cam hook tooth;

(103) pin-fulcrum for lever;

(104) a head of a tie bar set;

(104a) a bushing, suitable for engaging to the tooth of the lever, for example made of sintered brass;

(105) a slide pin of the bushing;

(106) a pull rod set;

(107a) the hooked pull rod group is in a closed position;

(107b) a released set of draw bars in an open position;

(108) a fixed bushing of the tie rod set;

(108a) bushing threads;

(109) a spring of the pull rod set;

(110) a spring retainer of the drawbar group;

(111) a pin of the pull rod set for the spring;

(112) a fixed structure of the grinding chamber;

(113) an interface flange, which can be drawn out in a sliding manner on the longitudinal axis, i.e. parallel to the rotation axis of the motor;

(114) a central body of the extractable group;

(115) a ring nut for grinding or particle size adjustment;

(116) a fixed grinder retaining element;

(117) fixing a grinder;

(118) a safety microswitch;

(118a) a button;

(118b) the microswitch is connected with a cable connector;

(119) a coffee powder outlet opening;

(120a) the flange is locked by the configuration of the extractable group;

(120b) the flange is released by the configuration of the extractable group;

(120c) the flange is pulled out due to the configuration of the pull-out group;

(121) an axial extraction movement along a longitudinal axis parallel to the motor axis;

(122) rotational movement of the lever about a fulcrum integral with the interface ring nut, the fulcrum being outwardly oriented relative to the nut;

(123) the hook tooth of the lever is of a cam type;

(123a) a cam profile with seats to facilitate hooking;

(124) rotating the grinder;

(125) rotating a grinder holding element;

(126) a coupling threaded region of the ring nut-interface flange;

(127) a rotation shaft of the motor, which is vertically arranged on a longitudinal axis of the device;

(128) a support plane of the interface flange on the fixed structure of the grinding chamber;

(129) a grinding chamber-group centering cylindrical pin which can be slidingly pulled out;

(130) an integration seat of the tie rod set;

(131) the operating stroke of the spring of the pull rod set;

(132) a set screw for rotating the grinder holding member;

(133) the grinder keeps a contrast spring;

(134) an extractable coffee shredder plate integrated into the interface flange.

With reference to the prior art (fig. 1 b-fig. 1 f):

(20) a conventional type of screw-grinding chamber;

(21) a fixed grinder retaining element;

(22) fixing a grinder;

(23) grinding the adjustment ring nut;

(24) threads for the coupling of the structure of the ring nut-grinding chamber;

(25) rotating a grinder holding element;

(26) rotating the grinder;

(27) a fixed structure of the grinding chamber;

(28) a safety lock;

(29) a coffee powder outlet opening;

(30) ring nut-fixation structure screwing.