초록 ▼

A blender including (i) a base with an interior space; (ii) a hollow central column extending upwardly from the base; (iii) a top housing mounted to the top of the column, a motor, drive transmission means and a drive shaft; (iv) an auger attached to a distal end of the drive shaft (v) a mixing bowl

A blender including (i) a base with an interior space; (ii) a hollow central column extending upwardly from the base; (iii) a top housing mounted to the top of the column, a motor, drive transmission means and a drive shaft; (iv) an auger attached to a distal end of the drive shaft (v) a mixing bowl in coaxial alignment with the auger, (vi) a mixing bowl holder for releasably holding the mixing bowl in coaxial alignment; (vii) a ball screw drive mechanism housed within the column and for moving the mixing bowl in linear movement toward and away from the auger; and (viii) a splash guard positioned above the auger.

대표청구항 ▼

1. A blender for continuous mixing ingredients, with condiments, flavours or liquids, to form a homogenous and well mixed product, the blender includes: (i) a base having an interior space therein and the base includes start and stop switches for starting and stopping the operation of the blender;(i

1. A blender for continuous mixing ingredients, with condiments, flavours or liquids, to form a homogenous and well mixed product, the blender includes: (i) a base having an interior space therein and the base includes start and stop switches for starting and stopping the operation of the blender;(ii) a hollow central column extending upwardly from the base, the hollow central column having an interior space therein;(iii) a top housing mounted to the top of the column, the top housing having a motor, drive transmission means and a drive shaft, the drive shaft extends downwardly and outwardly from said top housing;(iv) an auger attached to a distal end of the drive shaft, the auger has a tapered screw that tapers to a tip;(v) a mixing bowl having an open top, the mixing bowl is in substantially coaxial alignment with the auger, the bottom of the mixing bowl having a valved outlet so as to prevent liquids exiting the mixing bowl during blending;(vi) a mixing bowl holder for releasably holding the mixing bowl in substantial coaxial alignment;(vii) a ball screw drive mechanism housed within the interior of column and connectable to the mixing bowl holder for moving the mixing bowl in linear movement toward and away from the auger, the ball screw drive mechanism includes: a) a vertically orientated ball screw situated within the interior space of the column extending upwardly from the base to the top housing;b) a ball screw nut threadingly connected to the ball screw; andc) a screw block attached to the ball screw nut such that the screw block is adapted to move up and down upon rotation of the ball screw;(viii) a floating and removeable safety splash guard positioned above the auger wherein the safety splash guard is adapted to fit within the opening of the mixing bowl such that the safety splash guard is able to contact with an upper internal wall below and adjacent the top of the mixing bowl so as to prevent splashing and spillage out of the opening of the mixing bowl when the blender is in use;(ix) a vertically aligned slot in the column, where the slot extends along a portion of the length of the column, wherein the screw block has a portion that extends through the slot whereby the distal end of said portion is connected to a collar positioned on and surrounding the circumference of the column, the collar is attachable to the mixing bowl holder; and(x) a vertical oriented activation holder positioned within the interior of the column and extends along and parallel to the longitudinal axis of the column and is spaced a distance from the screw ball, the activation holder has a plurality of activation means along its length, such that as the screw block moves along the length of the ball screw it passes and activates activation means among the plurality of activation means in order to determine the relative position of the mixing bowl relative to the auger; wherein the auger commences rotation automatically, when the mixing bowl comes into contact with the floating safety splash guard and continues to rotate as the mixing bowl is driven upward passing activation means among the plurality of activation means and stops only when the mixing bowl is in the uppermost position and the start switch released such that safe and variable control of the movement of the mixing bowl toward the auger is obtainable. 2. The blender as claimed in claim 1, wherein the ball screw is drivingly connected to a reversible motor housed in the interior of the base such that ball screw can be rotated in one direction to move the screw block up the length of the ball screw and can be rotated in the opposite direction to move the screw block down the length of the ball screw. 3. The blender as claimed in claim 2, wherein the reversible motor is a variable speed DC motor so that the speed of rotation of the screw ball can be varied and controlled. 4. The blender as claimed in claim 3, wherein, the reversible motor is coupled to a gear reduction box situated between the reversible motor and the ball screw. 5. The blender as claimed in claim 4, wherein, the base includes a PLC therein to control the operation of the reversible motor and the drive motor. 6. The blender as claimed in claim 1, wherein the base includes therein all the electronic components required for the operation and control of the blender. 7. The blender as claimed in claim 1, wherein the base has adjustable feet depending downwardly therefrom. 8. The blender as claimed in claim 1, wherein the base includes a horizontal upper base plate. 9. The blender as claimed in claim 1, wherein the base includes a drip tray situated directly below and in alignment with mixing bowl. 10. The blender as claimed in claim 1, wherein the collar is adapted to slide up and down the column as the screw block is caused to move up and down the ball screw. 11. The blender as claimed in claim 10, wherein the mixing bowl holder extends outwardly from the collar and situated to be positioned in coaxial alignment with auger such that the mixing bowl holder is adapted to move the mixing bowl toward the auger when the collar is caused to move in an upward direction by the ball screw mechanism and to move away from the auger when the collar is moved in a downward direction by the ball screw mechanism. 12. The blender as claimed in claim 1, wherein, the mixing bowl is releasably held to the mixing bowl holder by co-operating holding means on the mixing bowl and mixing bowl holder. 13. The blender as claimed in claim 12, wherein the holding means are a quick release camlock mechanism. 14. The blender as claimed in claim 1, wherein the mixing bowl is a tapered cone with the taper pointing toward the base and interior of said cone is dimensioned to fully accommodate the auger therein. 15. The blender as claimed in claim 14, wherein the tapered tip of the auger is adapted to be situated above and adjacent the tapered interior bottom of the cone when the auger is positioned fully in to the interior of the said cone so as to achieve maximum and efficient mixing of the ingredients within the mixing cone. 16. The blender as claimed in claim 1, wherein the safety splash guard is circular and has a diameter slightly less than the diameter of the open end of the mixing bowl. 17. The blender as claimed in claim 1, wherein the safety splash guard is retained in position above the auger by an outer collar retainer positioned between the auger and the bottom surface of the upper housing. 18. The blender as claimed in claim 5, wherein each activation means is connected to the PLC that upon a respective activation of a respective activation means controls the operation of variable speed DC motor and drive motor. 19. The blender as claimed in claim 18, wherein there are at least three activation means, namely: (i) a first activation means situated on the switch/sensor holder adjacent the bottom of the screw ball, where the first activation means when activated by the screw block deactivates drive power to the variable speed DC motor;(ii) a second activation means situated switch/sensor holder adjacent a mid region along the length of the ball screw wherein the auger is partially within the mixing bowl and the safety splash guard is in contact with the internal wall adjacent the opening of the mixing bowl, where the second activation means when activated by the screw block slows the speed of the variable DC motor and activates the drive motor to drive the auger; and(iii) a third activation means situated switch/sensor holder adjacent the top of the ball screw wherein the auger is fully within the mixing bowl, where the third activation means when activated by the screw block stops the variable DC motor whereby drive to the auger continues. 20. The blender as claimed in claim 19, wherein a fourth activation means is situated between the second and third activation means, whereby the fourth activation means when activated by the screw block further slows the speed of the variable DC motor and thus the movement of the mixing bowl platform. 21. The blender as claimed in claim 20, wherein the fourth activation means is positioned 30 mm below the third activation means. 22. The blender as claimed in claim 21, wherein, the activation means are switches. 23. The blender as claimed in claim 22, wherein the switches are reed switches. 24. The blender as claimed in claim 20, wherein the activation means are sensors. 25. The blender as claimed in claim 24, wherein the sensors are LED sensors. 26. The blender as claimed in claim 1, wherein the valved outlet is an extrusion outlet that allows the mixed mixture to be extruded from the mixing bowl. 27. The blender as claimed in claim 26, wherein the extrusion outlet has a valve such that when the mixing cone is used to make smoothies or milk shakes the valve can be closed.