BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention is related to a combined egg beater and bottle cleaner which is easy to operate and simple in structure.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The egg beater is a hand-operated kitchen utensil for bringing about a change in the viscosity or other physical characteristic of the batter being worked on. The conventional egg beater includes a manually-cranked drive wheel having opposed gear faces engaged by pinions keyed to the shafts of a pair of beater elements, the wheel being supported within an open frame. The user must grasp the handle in one hand and uses his other hand to turn the crank when operating the conventional egg beater thereby causing much inconvenience in use. Furthermore, the conventional egg beater cannot be used for cleaning bottles.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a combined egg beater and bottle cleaner which can obviate and mitigate the above-mentioned drawbacks.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This invention is related to a combined egg beater and bottle cleaner.
According to the present invention, there is provided a combined egg beater and bottle cleaner which includes a first handle, a second handle pivotally connected with the first handle, a spiral spring forcing the second handle to move away from the first handle, a fixing bolt fitted in the bolt hole and having a center axle, a toothed rack, a pinion having an upper end formed with a cylindrical hole for receiving a center axle of the fixing bolt and a lower end provided with a plurality of serrations, an adaptor having a plurality of serrations engaged with the serrations of the pinion, the adaptor having a U-shaped lower end having two convex portions adapted to engage with two recesses of a center rod of an agitator or two recesses of a center rod of a brush; and a driven gear having a smaller gear and a larger gear respectively engaged with the toothed rack and the pinion.
The foregoing object and summary provide only a brief introduction to the present invention. To fully appreciate these and other objects of the present invention as well as the invention itself, all of which will become apparent to those skilled in the art, the following detailed description of the invention and the claims should be read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Throughout the specification and drawings identical reference numerals refer to identical or similar parts.
Many other advantages and features of the present invention will become manifest to those versed in the art upon making reference to the detailed description and the accompanying sheets of drawings in which a preferred structural embodiment incorporating the principles of the present invention is shown by way of illustrative example.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is an exploded view of a combined egg beater and bottle cleaner according to the present invention;
FIG. 2A is a perspective view of the present invention;
FIG. 2B is an enlarged view of a portion of FIG. 2A;
FIG. 3A illustrates the working principle of the present invention;
FIG. 3B illustrates the engagement between the U-shaped member and the center rod of the agitator;
FIG. 4A illustrates the engagement between the spring and the left hand;
FIG. 4B is another perspective view of the present invention;
FIG. 4C illustrates the working principle of the present invention; and
FIG. 4D is an enlarged view of a portion of FIG. 4B.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
The following descriptions are of exemplary embodiments only, and are not intended to limit the scope, applicability or configuration of the invention in any way. Rather, the following description provides a convenient illustration for implementing exemplary embodiments of the invention. Various changes to the described embodiments may be made in the function and arrangement of the elements described without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.
Referring to FIG. 1, the combined egg beater and bottle cleaner according to the present invention mainly comprises a left handle 1, a right handle 2, a spiral spring 11, a fixing bolt 3, a pinion 4, a driven gear 5, a toothed rack 6, a spring 7, a pin 9, an adaptor 10, an agitator 100, and a brush 200.
As shown in FIGS. 1, 2A and 4A, the left handle 1 has an upper end pivotally connected with an upper end of the right handle 2. The upper end of the left handle 1 has the same structure as the upper end of the right handle 2. The upper end of the left handle 1 and the right handle has a circular recess in which is fitted the spiral spring 11. The spiral spring 11 has two ends 18 fitted in a first slot 17 of the circular recess of the left handle 1 and a second slot 17 of the circular recess of the right handle 2, so that the left handle 2 will be forced by the spiral spring 11 to move outwardly.
Referring to FIGS. 1, 2A and 2B, the lower end of the left handle 1 has an enlarged portion formed with two aligned holes 91, a bolt hole 27 and a pinion hole 26 which is aligned with the bolt hole 27. The fixing bolt 3 is fitted in the bolt hole 27 and has a downwardly extending center axle 31. The toothed rack 6 has an enlarged end portion which is formed with an elongated slot 24. The enlarged end portion is engaged with a cover 13. The toothed rack 6 is slidably fitted in the enlarged portion of the left handle 1. A spring 7 is fitted over the center axle 31 of the fixing bolt 3. The pinion 4 is fitted in the opinion hole 25 and has a cylindrical hole at the upper end for receiving the center axle 31 of the fixing bolt 3 and a plurality of serrations 15 at the lower end. The adaptor 10 has an upper end engaged with a recess at the lower end of the pinion 4 and a plurality of serrations 16 at the intermediate portion engaged with the serrations 15 of the pinion 4. The adaptor 10 has a U-shaped lower end having two convex portions adapted to engage with the recesses 22 of the center rod 12 of the agitator 10 or the recesses 22 of the center rod 121 of the brush 200 (see FIGS. 1, 4B, 4C and 4D). The driven gear 5 is fitted in the enlarged portion of the left handle 1 and kept in place by a pin 9 inserted through the aligned holes 91 and the driven gear 5. The driven gear 5 includes a smaller gear at the upper portion and a larger gear at the lower portion respectively engaged with the toothed tack 6 and the pinion 4. The lower end of the right handle 2 has a cylindrical projection 23 slidably fitted in the elongated slot 24 of the toothed rack 6 (see FIGS. 1 and 4B).
Referring to FIGS. 2A, 2B, 3A and 3B, when the right handle 2 is pressed, the toothed rack 6 will go through the left handle 1 thereby rotating the smaller gear of the driven gear 5. Then, the larger gear of the driven gear 5 will drive the pinion 4 to rotate thus rotating the adaptor 10 and therefore turning the agitator 100 or the brush 200. When the right handle 2 is released, the spiral spring 11 will push the right handle 2 to move away from the left handle 1 so that the toothed rack 6 will return to its original position thereby rotating the smaller of the driven gear 5. Meanwhile, the larger gear of the driven gear will drive the opinion 4 to rotate thus rotating the adaptor 10 and therefore turning the agitator 100 or the brush 200 in a reversed direction. Hence, it is only necessary for a user to press the handle 2 continually, the agitator 100 or the brush 200 will be rotated to beat the egg or clean a bottle.
It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together may also find a useful application in other types of methods differing from the type described above.
While certain novel features of this invention have been shown and described and are pointed out in the annexed claim, it is not intended to be limited to the details above, since it will be understood that various omissions, modifications, substitutions and changes in the forms and details of the device illustrated and in its operation can be made by those skilled in the art without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention.
Patent Application
20060285427
