Abstract:
A linear movement food processor may have a battery or power supply operation for portability and includes a set of reversible legs to enable it to be positioned over a plate or container. A series of blades are provided with an external mounting and storage area for quick selection. The drive mechanism utilizes a circular path pin engaging a drive slot on a cutter plate, with the drive mechanism being directly liftable so that the remaining structure of the food processor may be immersibly washed. One embodiment has a cutting stroke of 2.5 inches with a forward cutting stroke of about 0.25 seconds and a return stroke of about 0.25 seconds.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    The present invention relates to improvements in appliances used to prepare food, and more particularly to a mandolin-type device in which a blade moves linearly across an exposed food volume to produce food slices, and more particularly to a one touch, battery powered, stowable device which can work over any user&#39;s container in a manner providing a range of uses from straight food processor to a designer dish builder. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    A wide variety of food processors are known, the most famous being high powered slicers with motors having a power output in excess of one half horsepower and which has a specialized chopping space which follows the stroke of the blade. This type of device practically limits itself to bulk chopping operations. Unless the user has a large amount of food to be processed, it is not worth it to bring out the bulk food processor, set it up, process the food and then continually empty the container. 
         [0003]    Washing of the blade, and container is a problem. The blade may have a number of small openings and require brush scrubbing in order to get it clean. Since the container which surrounds the blade participates in the cutting and grinding, the food particles may be ground into the surface and crevices. In many high powered food processors, the bins and interlocks have intricate geometrically arranged structures and small spaces which are almost impossible to reach without specialized tools. 
         [0004]    The above problems are multiplied where it is sought to process a number of foods during one food processing session. The need to set up, process, break down, wash and then set up, can be onerous. For a thorough washing with regard to a full, powerful, food processor, the blade is not the only component to be washed. The container and its crevices must be washed. 
         [0005]    A further multiplied problem is storage. As before, only large amounts of food will practically cause the user to use the bulk, powerful food processor. If large numbers of dishes are to be prepared, a number of storage bins must be provided to receive the processed food, to keep them separate before being used to complete the dish. Further, the processing of food in large processors produce an uneven and often compressed process food product. 
         [0006]    Further, food processors having rotary blades will not work as well with some foods which need a straight blade pull over the volume of exposed food. Fibers from rotary grating can sometimes lodge on the rotary blade structures. Further, the use of a linear blade and linear motion can create a greater variety of “process food effects” to enable the user to create a greater variety of attractive prepared food presentations. 
         [0007]    What is therefore needed is a food processor which includes advantages over the common, high powered bulk processor. The needed processor should be light, portable, eliminate a bin, container or tray which needs to be washed and re-washed, and enable blade substitution without a complex and time consuming build up and break down of the device. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0008]    A mandolin-type food processor has a number of features which give significant advantages over conventional food processors including battery or power supply operation to lighten and make the processor more portable, a set of reversible legs which enable the food processor to be positioned high over a plate or container so that sliced or grated food can drop onto a surface in a fluffy, non-compressed, and non molested fashion. This enables the user to use the food processor as a dispenser or a dish builder. As an example, where the food processor is loaded with Parmesan cheese, a user can simply position their plate underneath the food processor and simply push a button to dispense the finely grated, food product. In the alternative, the food processor can be used to build attractive dishes by loading it with the food item to be processed, selecting a blade and then position it over a series of plates to deposit the processed food. In commercial settings, a small number of people can each use the food processor to form an assembly line to create a completed gourmet dish in short order by carrying the food processor from plate to plate to add to the dish. This is especially useful when battery power is relied upon when used by caterers who cannot count on the presence of external electrical power in catering locations. 
         [0009]    A series of blades are provided with an external mounting and storage area for quick selection and loss prevention. Most food processors do not support their blades when not in use and they can become lost or destroyed, resulting in additional time spent in searching or in extra expense. A plunger guard has the shape of a deep box and has a blocking action to provide a pushing action while blocking access to the feed chute. The feed pusher/plunger also has slots which can accommodate the presence of a hopper divider which is utilized when smaller or narrower food objects will be processed in order to keep them aligned within an effectively smaller formed hopper. 
         [0010]    The mechanism of the food processor involves the use of a motor which turns a mechanically advantaged main gear having a guide pin which engages a cutter plate which reciprocates within a main housing channel. The main housing channel is an annular channel open at both ends, into which the cutter plate can translate in an almost frictionless manner due to rolling support wheels. An appropriate blade is loaded into the cutter plate by simply placing it into a mating slot in the cutter plate. The cutter plate is simply urged back into the channel housing. Simply pressing the button causes the drive gear&#39;s drive peg to reengage the cutter plate and causes it to translated back and forth just underneath a hopper. The upper side of the channel has a hopper opening while the bottom of the channel housing includes a discharge opening. Each time the cutter plate moves forward against the food in the hopper, an amount of processed food drops through the discharge opening an onto the surface below. The surface moved into position below can be a plate, an expanse of paper, a cutting board or counter top. 
         [0011]    The food processor may ideally have four battery cells, such as AA size cells. Cutting occurs quickly to take advantage of the momentum of movement of the cutter plate as well as the turning momentum of the main gear wheel. One embodiment of the food processor which has been found to work well involves a cutting stroke of 2.5 inches with a forward cutting stroke of about 0.25 seconds and a return stroke of about 0.25 seconds. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0012]    The invention, its configuration, construction, and operation will be best further described in the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which: 
           [0013]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of one embodiment of the food processor shown in leg storage position with the blade storage area un occupied for visual reference; 
           [0014]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the food processor shown  FIG. 1  with the legs shown in operable position and with the full set of blades seen supported in the blade storage position; 
           [0015]      FIG. 3  is an exploded view of the food processor of  FIGS. 1 and 2  with the legs removed and with the cutter plate displaced away from the main housing channel; 
           [0016]      FIG. 4  is a view looking more downwardly into the main housing channel and into the drive opening and the through opening through the hopper; and 
           [0017]      FIG. 5  is a view illustrating the components within the motor housing. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       [0018]    Referring to  FIG. 1 , a food processor  21  is seen in a upright, but storage position. A main housing channel  23  has a pair of ends which are slip-fit engaged by a pair of identical legs  25  and  27 . Each of the legs  25  and  27  includes a housing channel engaging flange  29  and a curved planar support skirt  31 . The housing channel engaging flange  29  slides onto and envelops and closes the end of the main housing channel  23 . The curved planar support skirt  31  provides a stable standing support for stably maintaining the housing channel  23  above the surface upon which the user wishes processed food to drop under the influence of gravity. The assembled and free-standing orientation is shown in  FIG. 2 . To change the position of the legs  25  and  27 , they need only to be pulled away from the open end of the housing channel  23 , and rotated one hundred eighty degrees and then re-attached over the open end of the housing channel  23 . Either of the legs  25  and  27  can fit at either end of the housing channel  23  and in either the up position (as seen in  FIG. 1 ) or the down position (as seen in  FIG. 2 ). 
         [0019]    Just to the left of the leg  27  a series of small upstanding vertical pegs  35  are seen extending upward from an upper surface  37  of the housing channel  23  which are used to supportably store blade assemblies. To the left of the vertical pegs  35 , a hopper  41  is seen, into which an annular conforming plunger  43  is seen. The annular conforming plunger has a shape to nearly completely displace the internal volume of the hopper  41 , as well as slots which enable it to accommodate hopper dividers so that it can also simultaneously displace the volume of a smaller volume between one or more hopper dividers (not seen in  FIG. 1 ). 
         [0020]    Below the hopper  41 , and on the other side of the main housing channel  23  is a food outlet  45  which extends only slightly below the main housing channel  23 . This slight downward protrusion serves to give a ready visual indication of the area of food discharge, as well as to provide some additional protection should a blade be located in the cutter plate (not shown in  FIG. 1 ) and where the food processor  21  is placed in a storage position seen in  FIG. 1  and where it is placed on a table or other surface in the configuration shown. 
         [0021]    To the left of the hopper  41  is a motor housing  47  which supports an activation button  49  at a top portion. The operation of the food processor  21  is had with the simply pressing of the activation button  49 . The motor housing  47  sits within a flange  51  to provide exact mounting location while permitting lifting removal. The mechanical link between the motor housing  47  and structures within the main housing channel  23  is a self-locating drive pin (not shown in  FIG. 1 ) and thus the motor housing  47  can be easily removed so that the remaining portion of the food processor can be cleaned, even in a harsh cleaning environment. 
         [0022]    Referring to  FIG. 2 , a perspective view similar to that seen in  FIG. 1 , but taken from a slightly upper perspective looking downward illustrates the food processor  21  with the legs  25  and  27  having been removed and re-installed one hundred eighty degrees shifted to extend downwardly to support the main housing channel  23  in an elevated position. 
         [0023]    As can be seen the pair of legs  25  and  27  lift the annular housing  23  to a position above the surface which supports the food processor  21  to form a clearance way  53  underneath the annular housing  23  in which structures such as plates, flat paper, dishes, bowls, chopping boards and a variety of other structures (not shown) may be freely laterally moved into and out of such clearance way  53  to receive processed food. In this configuration, the user of the food processor  21  can elect to leave it standing and to insert a series of plates underneath it, within the clearance way  53  one at a time for receiving processed food. This enables an assembly line process where different dishes are moved one at a time underneath one food processor  21 . 
         [0024]    In the alternative, the user can create a complete table setup and simply place the food processor  21  directly over a plate to dispense processed foods. This enables the food processor  21  to be used in either a single dispensing process, or it enables a number of the food processors  21  to be sequentially brought to plates on a table setup to build dishes in place, such as the building of a salad. 
         [0025]    The vertical pegs  35  previously seen are seen as engaging a series of blade insert assemblies  55  which use the pegs  35  for a friction fit at the non-flanged edges. The blade insert assemblies are shown in schematic form in  FIG. 2  and in detail would have some structure, either a blade, grater or scraper. Further to the left, and within the hopper  41 , one hopper divider  57  is seen and which is actually extending through the annular conforming plunger  43  (via slots to be shown). Hopper divider  57  has a circular aperture  59  to assist in grasping it. 
         [0026]    Referring to  FIG. 3 , an exploded view of the food processor  21  with the motor housing  57  removed and with the identical legs  25  and  27  removed. It can be seen that the main housing channel  23  has an oval end profile. It is understood that the main housing channel  23  can assume different forms, but that the laterally enveloping channel structure has a number of advantages, including structural integrity and the ability to have stable end attachments, such as legs  25  and  27 . The main housing channel  23  also forms a natural and stable track for translation of a food processing member. 
         [0027]    As can be seen in  FIG. 3 , the annular conforming plunger  43  has an external surface extent which is generally consistent with the volume of the hopper  41 . Annular conforming plunger  43  is seen as having a pair of slots  63  which extend from the lower corner of the annular conforming plunger  43  and to an upward extent sufficient to accommodate a support connection of the hopper dividers  57  with respect to the hopper  41 . 
         [0028]    As can be seen, a pair of ribs  65  extend upward on each side of the hopper  41 . These ribs form internal channels by which the hopper dividers  57  can engage for lateral support. The slots  63  on the annular conforming plunger  43  allow it to fully sweep the volume within the hopper  41  whether the hopper dividers  57  are present or not. Again, the hopper dividers  57  are for use where the food material to be fed has a smaller effective area than the hopper  41  but where it is desired to provide a smaller effective area in order to keep the food to be processed somewhat vertically oriented or laterally stabilized. The hopper  41  can be used with one or two hopper dividers  57 . Further, since the slots  63  work in such close conjunction with the points where the hopper dividers  58  are attached, the hopper dividers  58  can have a wide variety of shapes within the hopper  41 , and thus a wide variety of cross sectional area profiles. In some cases the food processor  21  can be supplied with a variety of hopper dividers  58 . 
         [0029]    To the left o the hopper  41 , the flange  51  can be seen as extending circumferentially around an opening  69 , through which the bottom inside of the main housing channel  23  can be seen, and which a portion of the open end of the main housing channel  23  can partially be seen. Regardless of the shape and extent of the flange  51 , the opening  69  provides an area of sufficient circular extent to enable rotational force to be transmitted. 
         [0030]    To the left of the main housing channel  23  a cutter plate  71  is seen. Cutter plate  71  is in essence a trolley which is designed to reciprocally operate within the housing channel  23  in a manner as frictionless as possible. As can be seen, the cutter plate  71  has a main body which has a shape to accommodate stably a series of blade insert assembly  55 . The cutter plate  71  has a series of six side axles, each of which support a rotational wheel  73 . The curvature of the internal area of the housing channel  23  can be shaped to minimize the friction of the cutter plate  71  as it moves axially through the housing channel  23 . The lateral width of the main housing channel  23  and its internal shape is matched to the width of the combination of the cutter plate  71 , side axles and wheels, to maintain a low friction reciprocating action which is laterally stable without binding. 
         [0031]    The end of the cutter plate  71  has a laterally extending drive slot  75  which is sized to accept a drive pin (not shown in  FIG. 3 ) and sized to allow such drive pin to reciprocate within the drive slot  75  in as frictionless a manner as possible. As will be seen, a spring plunger (not seen in  FIG. 3 ) can “find” and engage the drive slot  75  to engage the drive slot  75 . As will be shown, the rotation of the spring plunger within the opening  69  will automatically engage the drive slot  75  and start the reciprocating action of the cutter plate  71  within the housing channel  23 . Also seen is a blade  77  supported by the blade insert assembly  55 . Blade  77  is one of several components which may be supported by the blade insert assembly  55 , including graters and other blades having different heights and angles. Also partially seen on the other side of the annular conforming plunger  43  is a protruding rib  67  which interacts with a safety interlock switch on the motor housing  47  to inhibit actuation of the food processor  27  unless the annular conforming plunger  43  is at least partially in place. The rib  67  fits into a slot  68  on the hopper  41  between the ribs  65  adjacent the side of the hopper nearest the motor housing  47 . This system will prevent a user from actuating the food processor  21  without the inside of the hopper  41  being isolated by use of the annular conforming plunger  43 . In addition, the protruding rib  67  has a cut out portion so that when the annular conforming plunger  43  is fully inserted into the hopper  41 , the power is cut by the cut out portion allowing the safety interlock switch to cut power to the motor. This will conserve the operation of the food processor  21  to instances when the hopper  41  has food to be processed. 
         [0032]    Referring to  FIG. 4 , a perspective view of the housing channel  23  and hopper  41  is seen from a more upward and downwardly looking view. The circular extent of the opening  69  is seen. A ledge  79  may be provided for additional stability, as well as any other interfitting configuration. Note that a significant support surface is provided within the flange  51 , especially adjacent the hopper  41 . 
         [0033]    Within the hopper  41 , the hopper divider  57  can be seen as having a curved surface. The hopper divider  57  terminates at a pair of oppositely located tabs  81  which interfit with the slots formed on the other side of the ribs  65 . The uppermost extent of the tabs  81  are limited and extend no further upwardly than the uppermost extent of the slots  63  of the annular conforming plunger  43 . As can be seen from the view in  FIG. 4 , because the hopper divider  57  has its attachment depend from so limited an area, it can assume any shape. By assuming any shape, it can provide a smaller effective area, either between the hopper dividers  57  or between on hopper divider and the opposite wall of the hopper  41 . Further, the space between the hopper dividers  57  and the wall of the hopper  41  can also be used. Other, specialized hopper dividers can be employed, such as those having annular tubes or other specialized structures to vertically support food stuffs. Examples might include asparagus, carrots and the like. 
         [0034]    As can be seen, the hopper  41  bottom is essentially completely open as a through opening  83 . A portion of the flange of the food outlet  45  is seen at the far side of the through opening  83 . Further, the ribs  65  lower extent and the pair of oppositely located tabs  79  prevent the hopper dividers  57  from passing into or through the lateral annular opening of the main housing channel  23 . In this manner, the blade  77  will not contact the hopper dividers  57 . 
         [0035]    Referring to  FIG. 5 , a view of the components within the motor housing  47  is seen with the face of the motor housing  47  which faces the hopper  41  most prominently seen. Button  49  is part of an actuation switch which is connected through a safety interlock switch  87  which operates in conjunction with a slot  89 . As soon as the rib  67  enters the slot  89 , safety interlock switch  87  is closed to permit the switch associated with the button  49  to actuate the food processor  21 . 
         [0036]    A series of batteries  93  are connected through the switch  87  and the switch associated with the button  49 , to a motor  95 . The motor  95  transmits mechanical power through a series of gears, including gears  97  and  99  to a drive pinion  101 . The drive pinion  101  drives a main flat face gear  103  having teeth  105  about its outer periphery. The flat face insures that there are no obstructions or other structures which might inadvertently catch on the cutter plate  71 . 
         [0037]    From the otherwise flat face of the main flat face gear  103  a drive pin  107  extends downward from a spring housing  109 . When the cutter plate  71  is inserted into the main channel housing  23 , the drive slot  75  will be located at some position under the opening  69 . When the motor housing  47  is replaced into its position within the flange  51 , one of two states will occur. If the drive pin  107  happens to be in position to extend into the drive slot  75  no compression of the drive pin  107  into the spring housing  109  will occur. 
         [0038]    In the more likely case where the drive pin  107  is not aligned with the drive slot  75 , the drive pin  107  will be urged back into the spring housing  109  by contact with the upper surface of the cutter plate  71  adjacent the drive slot  75 . As soon as the hopper  41  is loaded, the annular conforming plunger  43  is in place and the button  49  is pressed, the gear  104  starts to move and the drive pin  107  depressed within the spring housing  109  will begin to move about the upper surface of the cutter plate  71  adjacent the drive slot  75  until it aligns with the drive slot  75 . At the moment of alignment, the drive pin  107  will be urged from the spring housing  109  and into the drive slot  75 . As soon as the drive slot  75  is engaged, the cutter plate  71  will begin to reciprocate. 
         [0039]    Because the reciprocation of the cutter plate  71  is in accord with the circular motion of the gear  103 , the movement of the cutter plate  71  will be in accord with a sine-cosine relationship. The speed of reciprocation of the cutter plate  71  will be highest at the midpoint of its travel period. Although a cutting stroke of 2.5 inches with a forward cutting stroke of about 0.25 seconds and a return stroke of about 0.25 seconds has been mentioned to work well, any cutting stroke and forward/return stroke can be utilized with this food processor  21 . 
         [0040]    While the present invention has been described in terms of a food processor, &amp; more particularly to a mandolin-type linear stroke interchangeable blade type food processor, a wide variety of alternate mechanisms can be used within the mechanisms disclosed can be applied to other devices. 
         [0041]    Although the invention has been derived with reference to particular illustrative embodiments thereof, many changes and modifications of the invention may become apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Therefore, included within the patent warranted hereon are all such changes and modifications as may reasonably and properly be included within the scope of this contribution to the art.