Food mixing arrangement

A tool that is attachable to an electrically driven stand mixer and configured, when suspended into a bowl and driven in planetary motion by the stand mixer, to perform a mixing operation that involves folding ingredients together without substantial expulsion of air from the mix. The device aims to automate the folding action by providing a food mixing arrangement in which a tool having a wing-like volute blade is suspended by its shaft from a drive outlet of the stand mixer and executes a planetary motion within a mixing bowl. The blade is twisted along its length and has curved surfaces formed to gently lift and turn ingredients to be mixed in the bowl so as to simulate a gentle folding action similar to that achieved manually by an experienced cook.

This application claims priority to International Application No. PCT/GB2013/053233 filed Dec. 9, 2013 and to Great Britain Application No. 1222536.3 filed Dec. 14, 2012; the entire contents of each are incorporated herein by reference.

This invention relates to food mixing arrangements, and it relates more especially to the configuration of a tool that is attachable to an electrically driven stand mixer and usable for mixing ingredients in a bowl. The tool is particularly configured, when hosted by a stand mixer and driven in planetary motion thereby, to perform a mixing operation that involves folding ingredients together without substantial expulsion of air from the mix.

Such processing is quite difficult to carry out manually, since the ingredients must be moved in a way that takes practice to perfect. Typically, a large spoon is used to gently lift and fold together ingredients to be cooked. However, over-folding or under-folding can result in unsatisfactory results, either with the final cooked product not rising fully and/or with the ingredients not being mixed together properly.

The present invention aims to simplify the folding process by providing a tool which, when used as an attachment to a stand mixer, automates and optimises the folding action so that users can reliably produce acceptable results, even if they are not experienced in the requisite manual folding techniques.

According to the invention there is provided a food mixing arrangement comprising a tool incorporating a wing-like member with a volute blade adapted for suspension by a shaft from a drive outlet of a stand mixer capable of causing the wing-like member to execute a planetary motion within a mixing bowl, whereby said shaft rotates in one direction around its own axis whilst being bodily moved in the opposite rotational direction about another axis parallel to, but offset from, that of the shaft; and wherein curved surfaces of the wing-like member are formed to gently lift and turn ingredients to be mixed in said bowl.

By this means, the gentle folding action achieved by an experienced cook using spoons is simulated.

The term “volute blade” is intended to encompass wing-like, elongate blades which extend outwardly from a suspension location and which are twisted along their length.

Preferably, leading edges of such blades are thinned relative to the remainder of the blade. It is still further preferred, moreover, that the blade thickens progressively from said leading edge towards a thicker central column providing strength for the tool.

Preferably the twist of the volute blade comprises a part spiral form.

In some embodiments, the part spiral comprises 0.5 turn or less about the shaft axis. In one preferred embodiment, the spiral comprises 0.45 turns.

In some other preferred embodiments of the invention, the volute blade is formed into one or more spiral turns.

Preferably, the wing-like member further comprises an upper shoulder portion extending outwardly from the vicinity of said shaft axis and shaped to return to the mixture ingredients tending to move upwardly within the bowl.

It is preferred that the wing-like member is formed with a compound curvature and tilt to simulate manual folding of ingredients using a spoon.

Any embodiment of the invention can usefully be configured such that a leading edge of the tool supports a flexible elastomeric material, thereby ensuring that the tool consistently contacts the inside of the bowl.

To utilise the invention, a user simply attaches the wing-like member by its shaft to a food mixer, sets the operating speed of the food mixer to the desired speed and runs the machine for a predetermined length of time.

Referring now toFIGS. 1 and 2, in which corresponding features carry the same reference numbers, a typical stand mixer10is generally “C” shaped, and comprises a pedestal20, which supports a bowl platform30, an upright housing portion40and a head portion48which extends from the top of the upright portion to run overhead of the bowl platform30. An electric motor (not shown) is mounted, either in the upright portion40of the mixer10or in the head portion48, depending (inter alia) upon the type of motor used, the desired operating characteristics of the mixer10and ergonomics/design criteria. In any event, gearing (not shown) is provided to convey the motive power supplied by the motor to a plurality of drive outlets to which various tools can be attached to perform a wide variety of tasks in the kitchen.

In this particular example, there is provided a high-speed blender drive outlet behind covers41, a slow-speed mincer drive outlet behind cover42and a planetary drive, intended for food mixing, overhead of the bowl location, at43, although it will readily be appreciated that more, fewer and/or different drive outlets can be provided in accordance with desired functionality of the stand mixer.

A shanked mixing tool, attached as is conventional, to a socket44of the outlet43, will depend in use into a mixing bowl placed on the bowl platform30, and is configured to rotate about both the axis of the socket44and the central axis45of the outlet43, thus performing a planetary mixing action. In this example, and preferably, the two rotations performed by the tool in executing its planetary motion are in opposed angular directions. Thus the tool may rotate clockwise about axis44whilst processing counter-clockwise about the axis45.

As shown inFIGS. 1 and 2, the stand mixer10is, in this example, provided with a pair of latches31,32within a recess33provided in the bowl platform30, which latches co-operate with components on the base of the bowl to form a bayonet latching system which ensures firm and ready location of the bowl on its platform. Other latching systems, such as screw-threading for example, can be used as an alternative to bayonet latching if preferred.

The upright part46of the housing40is configured with a break line47, to permit the top part48of the stand mixer to be hinged away from the platform30end of the pedestal part20, in order to facilitate the insertion and removal of the mixing tools and the bowl.

The stand mixer10also incorporates electrical and mechanical user controls51,52in conventional fashion.

Referring now additionally toFIGS. 3 through 7, a tool60for attachment to and suspension from the aforementioned drive socket44consists of a wing-like, helically shaped blade62attached to a metal shaft64that allows the tool to be securely but releasably inserted into the drive outlet socket44of the stand mixer10. The shaft64is attached, in this example, to the blade62by screwing it into a threaded insert (not shown) over which the upper part of the blade is moulded. This arrangement, of screwing the shaft64into the insert, allows adjustment of the height of the tool in the bowl; thus ensuring that the tool can be positioned at the correct height for effective operation. The chosen height is maintained in conventional manner by tightening a locking nut64a(FIG. 7) against the insert.

The leading edge66of the tool60is thinned, in order to facilitate cutting through the ingredients to be folded. From the leading edge66the blade thickens progressively towards a thicker central column68which provides the primary strength of the tool60.

The helical shape of the wing-like blade62of the tool60is configured to scoop ingredients from the bottom of the bowl and gently lift them up through the other ingredients to gently combine them together without removing air from the mixture. The leading edge66of the blade62is arranged to pass as close as possible to the edge of the bowl, in order to scoop mixture from the edge of the bowl into the centre for combination with ingredients that have been pulled up from the bottom of the bowl, and again this is done gently to avoid knocking air from the mix.

The top of the blade62is formed with a large shoulder70that is used to incorporate back into the mixture lighter ingredients that have risen to the top of the bowl during processing. The shoulder70is configured to cut though these ingredients and pull them into the middle of the bowl, facilitating incorporation into the mix. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the shoulder70could be formed into any of a variety of different shapes and that its form may even become concave in respect the rest of the blade.

To prevent food ingress into the hub of the mixer the tool60is fitted with a guard72that is fitted in between the threaded insert and the locking nut64a.

The helix of the wing-like blade62in this example makes 0.45 turns, although in other embodiments of the invention, the blade can make any number of turns creating more of a corkscrew effect to the tool. The edge66of the blade62is preferably orientated at 90° to the edge of the bowl. If preferred, however, the edge66of the blade could be orientated at any angle to the edge of the bowl, thereby creating different blade profiles.

The blade62of the tool60is intended to rotate clockwise around the axis of the metal shaft64whilst the tool60as a whole rotates counter clockwise around the bowl. It will however be appreciated that, in other embodiments of the invention, the blade and the tool can rotate in any direction, and moreover that a gearbox could be attached to the tool60to allow rotation and counter rotation at a variety of different speeds.

The tool60as described is made from a plastic material such as a polymer but could alternatively be made from a variety of materials with different flexural and hardness properties. Alternatively, or in addition, the tool could be made with the leading edge66of the tool60made from a flexible elastomer that is either over moulded onto or otherwise mounted to the tool60, to create a flexible blade edging that allows the edge66of the tool to consistently contact the inside of the bowl. The leading edge66of the tool60is typically 1 mm thick, although other thicknesses can be used if preferred in order to allow the use of different blade profiles and/or materials.

FIG. 8shows the tool60suspended into a bowl74which is intended to sit on the bowl platform30and to be releasably latched into the recess33by means of a bayonet fixture on the base of the bowl74which co-operates with the latches31and32described earlier in relation toFIGS. 1 and 2. As mentioned earlier, alternative ways of securing the bowl to the base30can be used if preferred.FIG. 8has arrows76and78to indicate respectively the direction (clockwise in this example) in which the tool60spins around the axis of its shank64, and the direction (anticlockwise in this example) in which the tool as a whole precesses around the drive axis45(seeFIG. 2) of the mixer10.

This combination of movements defines a planetary motion which causes the leading edge66of the tool60to repeatedly approach closely the inner wall of the bowl74and then turn away from it. The blade62is shaped so that, on each approach to the inner wall of the bowl74, it lifts ingredients gently, using the inner wall of the bowl74to assist in this action, and gently re-deposits them, by folding them back into the remaining ingredients, when the leading edge66is turned away from the inner wall of the bowl74.