The present invention is directed to small kitchen appliances, and more particularly to combined blender/juicers.
A blender is a household appliance capable of mixing liquids and chopping dry foods. Blenders are also useful for liquefying fruits and vegetables and for blending solids with liquids. A typical blender includes a blender jar assembly comprising a collar and a container that sits on top of a blender base or housing that encloses a motor. The collar includes a blending tool (often a series of blades) rotatably mounted thereto. The blending tool is rotatably engageable with a drive shaft of the motor in an operating configuration. Foodstuff is placed into the container and the blender jar assembly is engaged with the blender base. The foodstuff is blended within the volume defined by the blender jar, and the blender jar assembly is removed from the blender base to dispense or pour the blended foodstuff.
A juicer is a small appliance that extracts juice from fruits and vegetables. Centrifugal juicers use a rapidly spinning cutter/strainer within a housing of the juicer. As the cutter/strainer spins, teeth on the floor of the housing shred the food into a pulp, and centrifugal force pulls the juice out of the pulp and through a perforated wall, where it is funneled out of the juicer via a spigot. Once most of the juice has been extracted, the remaining pulp is ejected into a separate collection chamber.
Appliances that combine blending and juicing functions are known, particularly in smaller (or “personal”) sizes. In one design, in the blender mode, a blender jar fits on the base (often with a coupling collar). A blending tool is mounted on the motor. The blender jar and collar capture the blended foodstuff. In the juicer mode, the user places a “juicer unit” on the base. The juicer unit has a lid with a food chute into which the foodstuff to be juiced is deposited, a pulping/juicing chamber in which juicing occurs, a cutter/strainer mounted on the motor, a pulp outlet for pulp collection, and a juice outlet. Typically, the user can position the aforementioned blender jar below the juice outlet to catch the juice (and in some cases the blender jar may serve as a drinking glass for the juice). Thus, the same base/motor can be employed for both functions.
It may be desirable to employ different and improved designs for a combined blender/juicer.
As a first aspect, embodiments of the invention are directed to a blender/juicer appliance. The appliance comprises: a base including a rotary drive unit; a blender assembly including a blender jar and a blending tool unit, the blending tool unit configured for coupling with the rotary drive unit; a juicer assembly including a juicing bowl and a juicing tool unit, the juicing tool unit configured for coupling with the rotary drive unit; and a latch assembly attached to the base and movable between blending and juicing positions. In the blending position, the latch assembly engages the blender assembly to secure the blender assembly to the base, and in the juicing position, the latch assembly engages the juicer assembly to secure the juicer assembly to the base.
As a second aspect, embodiments of the invention are directed to a blender/juicer appliance comprising: a base including a rotary drive unit; a blender assembly including a blender jar and a blending tool unit, the blending tool unit configured for coupling with the rotary drive unit; a juicer assembly including a juicing bowl and a juicing tool unit, the juicing tool unit configured for coupling with the rotary drive unit; and a latch assembly attached to the base and movable between blending and juicing positions, wherein in the blending position, the latch assembly engages the blender assembly to secure the blender assembly to the base, and in the juicing position, the latch assembly engages the juicer assembly to secure the juicer assembly to the base. The latch assembly is configured so that, in the blending position, the latch assembly prevents proper engagement of the juicer assembly with the base.
As a third aspect, embodiments of the invention are directed to a blender/juicer appliance comprising: a base including a rotary drive unit; a blender assembly including a blender jar and a blending tool unit, the blending tool unit configured for coupling with the rotary drive unit; a juicer assembly including a juicing bowl and a juicing tool unit, the juicing tool unit configured for coupling with the rotary drive unit; and a latch assembly attached to the base and movable between blending and juicing positions, wherein in the blending position, the latch assembly engages the blender assembly to secure the blender assembly to the base, and in the juicing position, the latch assembly engages the juicer assembly to secure the juicer assembly to the base. The latch assembly comprises: an arm member configured so that, in the blending position, the arm member engages a feature on the base, and in the juicing position, the arm member engages a feature on the juicer assembly, wherein in the juicing position the arm member is generally inverted from its orientation in the blending position; and a knuckle member that is pivotally attached to the arm member at a first pivot axis and to the base at the second pivot axis. In the blending position, the first pivot axis is above the second pivot axis, and in the juicing position, the second pivot axis is above the first pivot axis.
The present invention now is described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which embodiments of the invention are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art.
In the figures, certain layers, components or features may be exaggerated for clarity, and broken lines illustrate optional features or operations unless specified otherwise. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art.
It will be understood that, although the terms first, second, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections, these elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element, component, region, layer or section from another region, layer or section. Thus, a first element, component, region, layer or section discussed below could be termed a second element, component, region, layer or section without departing from the teachings of the present invention. The sequence of operations (or steps) is not limited to the order presented in the claims or figures unless specifically indicated otherwise.
Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the specification and relevant art and should not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein. Well-known functions or constructions may not be described in detail for brevity and/or clarity.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising”, when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.
As used herein, phrases such as “between X and Y” and “between about X and Y” should be interpreted to include X and Y. As used herein, phrases such as “between about X and Y” mean “between about X and about Y.” As used herein, phrases such as “from about X to Y” mean “from about X to about Y.”
Referring now to the drawings, a blender/juicer, designated broadly at 10, is shown in
Referring now to
Referring now to
The latching system 50 includes a wire frame arm 52 that is elongate and generally rectangular, with two long side runs 53 and two shorter end runs 54a, 54b that span the ends of the side runs 53. A brace 56 is positioned generally in the center of the arm 52. A rubber knuckle member 60 has a central boss 62 with a through hole 63 through which the upper end run 54a extends. The upper run 54a is free to rotate within the through hole 63, thereby creating a pivot axis P1. At one end, the knuckle member 60 includes a knob 64 with a through hole 65 that receives a pin 66. The pin 66 extends to holes 67 in flanges 68 that extend from a slide member 69 that is mounted on the housing 14 to slide vertically within the recess 40. Thus, the pin 66 defines a second pivot axis P2 for the knuckle member 60. At the end opposite the knob 64, the knuckle member 60 includes two fingers 68a, 68b that form a V-shape.
Referring to
In the blending position shown in
It can be seen in
In the illustrated embodiment, the collar 18 is attached to the blender jar 16 via a threaded interface (see
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As shown in
As described above and as can be seen in
It should also be noted that, in the juicing position, the slide member 69 is positioned upwardly from its location in the blending position (best seen in comparing
Referring now to
Those of skill in this art will appreciate that the juicer/blender 10 may take other forms. For example, the blending and/or juicing components may vary, such that the latching system 40 engages a different component. As one example, the blender/juicer may be configured so that it lacks a blender collar. In such a configuration, the latching system 40 may engage directly the blender jar 16. As another example, the juicing components may be configured such that the lid 120 is secured to the juicer bowl 118 via a press-fit or separate latch, such that the latching system 40 engages the juicer bowl 118 rather than the lid 120. Other configurations may also be imagined.
In addition, in some embodiments either or both of the switches that enable blending/juicing to occur may be omitted, such that the blender/juicer 10 may operate without the need for switch engagement.
Further, the latching system 40 itself may be configured differently. As one example, the arm 52 may be formed of a different material (e.g., a polymeric material). Alternatively, near the lower runs 54b one of the side runs 52 may be open, such that the lower run 54b forms an L-shaped or C-shaped hook for engagement with the frame 22 and the blender bowl 118. As another example, the slide member 69 may be omitted, such that the pivot axis P2 is stationary relative to the housing 14. As still a further example, the knuckle member 60 may have more fingers, only a single finger, and/or may include features on the fingers that improve engagement with the collar 18.
Moreover, the latching system 40 may take another form entirely. As one example, the latching system may comprise an arm that is mounted to the housing 14 to pivot about a horizontal axis that extends radially outwardly from the base 12. Such an arm would include a C-shaped hook on one end and a pair of fingers similar to fingers 68a, 68b on the opposite end. The arm could be rotated about the aforementioned pivot axis to position the C-shaped hook either in engagement with the juicing bowl (for juicing) or with the base, wherein the fingers would secure the collar 18 as described above. Other variations will also be contemplated by those of skill in this art.
The foregoing is illustrative of the present invention and is not to be construed as limiting thereof. Although exemplary embodiments of this invention have been described, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that many modifications are possible in the exemplary embodiments without materially departing from the novel teachings and advantages of this invention. Accordingly, all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of this invention as recited in the claims. The invention is defined by the following claims, with equivalents of the claims to be included therein.