Abstract:
A food mixing apparatus comprising a container defining a cavity and adapted to contain food to be treated, a first blade member rotatable to mix and/or cut food in said container, and a second blade member rotatable to remove food adhered on a sidewall of the container in the cavity in the container.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     The present invention relates to an apparatus for processing food such as chopping, blending and/or mixing food, and in particular an electric food processing apparatus such as a food processor, a food chopper or a food blender.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     There are a variety of conventional food-processing apparatus in the market. One type of food processing apparatus is commonly called “food processor” in which food to be treated may be chopped and mixed in a container provided with the processor. While this type of food processor is effective to a certain extent to chop food, one common problem is that it often does not blend and mix the food efficiently and evenly enough. For instance, when a conventional food processor is used for chopping carrot, the processed carrot will often be uneven and contain larger carrot fragments mixed with smaller carrot fragments. The problem is particularly more noticeable and prominent when different foodstuffs are being treated at the same time, apparently due to different characteristics of the foodstuffs to be treated.  
         [0003]     The present invention seeks to address at least this problem, or to provide an alternative to the public.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0004]     According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided with a food processing apparatus comprising a container defining a cavity and adapted to contain food to be treated, a first blade member rotatable to mix and/or cut food in the container, and a second blade member rotatable to remove food adhered on a sidewall in the container. The provision of the rotatable second blade member may direct foodstuff adhered on the sidewall to the first blade member in order that the foodstuff may be mixed and/or cut more efficiently and evenly.  
         [0005]     Preferably, the container may have a transverse cross section in circular shape. One advantage of providing the container with such a shape is that the second blade member can remove the foodstuff adhered on the sidewall adhered on the sidewall in a relatively simple and rotating manner.  
         [0006]     Suitably, the first blade member and the second blade member may be fixedly connected together. With this arrangement, the blade members are provided in one component. Alternatively, the blade members may be releasably connected together. With this alternative arrangement, the blade members may be separated when not in use for, for example, easier cleaning.  
         [0007]     Advantageously, the second blade member may be relatively thin and/or elongate in shape. A blade member having such characteristics necessarily has a relatively smaller surface area which discourages foodstuff to adhere thereon. Further, a thinner blade may operate more effectively when removing foodstuff adhered on the sidewall than for example a thicker blade. The second blade member may also be relatively narrow such that interference of the mixing or cutting of the food in the container may be minimized.  
         [0008]     Preferably, the second blade member may be arranged vertically adjacent the sidewall and adapted to direct foodstuff adhered thereon to the first blade member, such that the food may be blended more efficiently and mixed more evenly. In one embodiment, the second blade member may abut the sidewall while rotating in the container.  
         [0009]     Suitably, there may be provided with two (or at least two) of the second blade members arranged on opposite sides in the container. The provision of two of the second blade members may be more efficient in assisting the first blade member in mixing or chopping the food than providing just one second blade member. Further, with the two second members, the rotation thereof in the container may be more balanced.  
         [0010]     Advantageously, the second blade member may be manually operable. With this arrangement, the second blade member is being operated only when a user would like to remove foodstuff adhered on the sidewall in the container. For example, the second blade member may be operable by a rotatable handle or knob. Alternatively, the second blade member may be electrically operated. With this alternative arrangement, the operation of the second blade manner may be put to work on press of a button.  
         [0011]     Preferably, the apparatus may be provided with a base member arranged at the bottom in the container and connected to the lower end of the second blade member. In particular, the base member may be sufficiently thick and/or, for safety reason, adapted to prevent access to the cutting edge of the first blade member from below or from opposite sides thereof.  
         [0012]     Suitably, both the first blade member and the second blade member may be rotatable simultaneously. With this arrangement, in use food to be treated may always be directing to the first blade member. Alternatively, both the first blade member and the second blade member may be rotatable independently. In one embodiment, the first blade member may rotate in a clockwise direction and the second blade member may rotate in a counter-clockwise direction.  
         [0013]     The above-described apparatus may be a food processor, a food chopper or a food blender. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS  
       [0014]     Some embodiments of the present invention will now be described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:— 
         [0015]      FIG. 1  shows a perspective view of a first embodiment of a container of a food processor in accordance with the present invention,  
         [0016]      FIG. 2  shows a cross section view of the container of  FIG. 1  taken along line A-A′ in  FIG. 1 ,  
         [0017]      FIG. 3  shows another cross section view of the container of  FIG. 1  taken at line B-B′ in  FIG. 1 ,  
         [0018]      FIG. 4  shows a perspective view of the container of  FIG. 1  but in a different configuration,  
         [0019]      FIG. 5  shows a side view of the container of  FIG. 4 ,  
         [0020]      FIG. 6  shows a cross section view of the container of  FIG. 4  taken at line C-C′,  
         [0021]      FIG. 7  shows a top view of the container of  FIG. 4 ,  
         [0022]      FIG. 8  shows an exploded view of the container of  FIG. 1 ,  
         [0023]      FIG. 9  shows a perspective view of a second embodiment of a container of a food processor in accordance with the present invention,  
         [0024]      FIG. 10  shows another perspective view of the container of  FIG. 9 ,  
         [0025]      FIG. 11  shows a side view of the container of  FIG. 9 ,  
         [0026]      FIGS. 12   a  to  12   d  show top views of the container of  FIG. 9  and cross sectional lines D-D′, E-E′, F-F′, G-G′ and H-H′,  
         [0027]     FIGS.  13  to  17  show different cross section views of the container of  FIG. 9  taken at lines D-D′, E-E′, F-F′, G-G′ and H-H′, respectively, and  
         [0028]      FIG. 18  shows an exploded view of the container of  FIG. 9 . 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0029]     Referring firstly to FIGS.  1  to  8  there is shown a first embodiment of a container  2  of a food processor in accordance with the present invention. The food processor is provided with a main body  4  and a lid  6  releasably fitted thereon.  
         [0030]     As shown in FIGS.  1  to  3  and  8 , the body  4  and the lid  6  together define a cavity  8  for containing food to be processed. The body  4  of the container  2  has an upper opening  10  through which food may be deposited in the cavity  8 . The body  4  has a transparent housing such that a user can observe the status of the food being processed. The container  2  is also provided with a pair of handles  12 ,  14  adjacent to the opening  10  and on opposite sides of the body  4 .  
         [0031]     As shown in  FIGS. 2, 3  and  8 , the body  4  is provided with a tubular member  16  in the center and upwardly extending from the bottom to approximately mid-way in the container  2 . The container  2  is also provided with a first blade means  18  having an enlarged circular head portion  20  arranged near the opening  10 . A cylindrical elongate member  22  is downwardly extending from the center region of the head portion  20 , and an elongate skirt  24  depends from an outer region of the head portion  20  and surrounds the elongate member  22 . The skirt  24  is substantially longer than the elongate member  22  and is comparable in height with the body  4  of the container  2 . A circumferential gap  26  is defined between the skirt  24  and the elongate member  22 , and a cavity in the form of a recess  28  is provided at the lower end of the first blade means  18 . The lower end of the skirt  24  is provided with a pair of steel blade members  30 ,  32  with sharp cutting edges laterally extending from opposite sides thereof. The skirt  24  and the elongate member  22  are sized and shaped such that the upwardly extending tubular member  16  is releasably received in the gap  26  therebetween via a lower opening  34  of the skirt. The main body  4  of the food processor (not shown) is provided with a coupler upwardly extending from a conventional stand thereof and the lower end of the tubular member  16  is provided with an opening  36  sized and shaped to receive the coupler when the container  2  sits on the stand at the coupler. As the container  2  sits on the stand of the food processor with the first blade means  18  assembled in the container  2 , the coupler via the tubular member  16  engages the elongate member  22  of the first blade means  18  which is drivenable to rotate in use.  
         [0032]     As shown in  FIGS. 1, 2 ,  3  and  8 , the lid  6  of the container  2  is provided with a rotatable handle  38  having a spindle portion  40  extending vertically therethrough, a horizontally disposed arm portion  42  and a rotatable knob portion  44 . The lower end of the spindle portion  40  is provided with a cam means  46  engageable with and for rotating a second blade means  48 . The second blade means  48  has a cap member  50  on which a number of gear members  52  are provided. The cam means  46  is engageable with and is provided to drive the gear members  52 . Two ribs  54 ,  56  are laterally extending from opposite sides of the cap member  50 , and two thin and elongate blade members  58 ,  60  depend from opposite sides of the ribs  54 ,  56 . A circular base member  62  having an outer ring  64  and an inner ring  66  is arranged at the bottom of the container  2 . The outer and inner rings  64 ,  66  are connected together with a number of radially extending ribs  68 ,  70 ,  72 ,  74 . The outer ring  64  of the base member  62  is connected to the lower end of the elongate members  58 ,  60 . The elongate members  58 ,  60  have a thinner side  76  and a thicker side  78 . When the removable second blade means  48  is assembled and installed in the container  2 , the elongate members  58 ,  60  are arranged adjacent to the sidewall of the container  2 , with the thinner side  76  arranged very close to or abut the sidewall.  
         [0033]     In use, when the various parts as shown in  FIG. 8  are assembled together and become the container  2  as shown in  FIGS. 1, 2  and  3 , the container  2  is ready to receive food for processing. It is envisaged that during operation the first blade means  18  is driven by the coupler and is caused to rotate in high speed. However, as food contained in the container  2  is being chopped into smaller pieces by the rotating blade members  30 ,  32 , some foodstuff may be viscous or sticky and may be swung to adhere on the sidewall in the container. This is undesirable because this foodstuff may not yet be chopped by the blade members  30 ,  32 , and in any case it may not have been evenly mixed with the rest of the food in the container  2 . In such circumstances, a user observing this can then rotate the rotatable handle  38 . This will cause the second blade means  48  to rotate and scrap off the foodstuff from the sidewall and direct it to the center in the container  2  for processing by the rotating blade members  30 ,  32 .  
         [0034]     After using the food processor, the first blade means  18  and the second blade means  48  are removable from the container  2  for cleaning. In this embodiment, both the first blade means  18  and the second blade means  48  are separate components and detachable from the container  2 . It is to be noted that the rotatable knob  44  of the handle  38  is movable between an upstanding configuration (see FIGS.  1  to  3 ) in which a user can rotate the second blade means  48  by holding onto the knob and move it in a circular path such that the thinner side of the elongate members  58 ,  60  can scrap off the foodstuff as it rotates and a stowed configuration (see FIGS.  4  to  7 ) in which the knob is turned downward. The provision of such a handle  38  can reduce the height of the container  2  for ease of storage.  
         [0035]     FIGS.  9  to  19  illustrate a second embodiment of a container  102  of a food processor in accordance with the present invention. Similar to the container  2  in the first embodiment, it likewise comprises a main body  104  with an upper opening  110  closable by a lid  106 , a pair of handles  112 ,  114  adjacent to the opening  110  and arranged at opposite sides thereof, a first blade means  118  for chopping food therein and a second blade means  148  for scraping off foodstuff adhered on sidewall in the container  102 . One main difference from the container  2  of the first embodiment is that in the container  102  the second blade means  148  is operable by a different mechanism.  FIG. 13  illustrates a cross section view of the container  102  taken at an off-center position and at line D-D′ in  FIG. 12   a . As shown in  FIG. 13 , the mechanism includes a relatively large turnable knob  144  to fit the grip of the palm of a user. This knob  144  basically replaces the rotatable knob portion  44  and the arm portion  42 .  FIGS. 14 and 16  illustrate cross section views of the container  102  but taken at the center thereof (see  FIGS. 12   a  and  12   c ) (at lines E-E′ and G-G′). In  FIG. 16 , it is shown that a pair of legs  178  with a hook  180  at the lower end thereof is downwardly extended from the underside of the knob  144 . This pair of legs  178  serves to retain the knob  144  in position. A spindle  140  similar to the spindle  40  is vertically arranged and runs through the center of the lid  106 . The upper end of the spindle  140  has a cross section which is non-circular in cross section, and it engages with a corresponding recess on the underside of the knob  144  such that as the knob  144  is turned the spindle  140  is also caused to turned accordingly. The lower end of the spindle  140  is provided with a cam means  146  engageable with and for rotating the second blade means  148 . A compression spring  182  is arranged between the knob  144  and the lid  106  and biases the knob  144  to an upper, or locked, position. When the knob  144  is disposed in the upper position (as in  FIGS. 11 and 16 ), the knob  140  and also the second blade means  148  are locked in position and not movable. When the knob  144  is disposed to a lower position and is turned to rotate, the spindle  140  and thus the second blade means  148  are also caused to rotate, thus scrapping off any foodstuff adhered on the sidewall in the container  102  in a similar fashion as with the first embodiment. With the provision of the spring  182 , the knob  144  is biased to the upper locked position when not in use.  
         [0036]     It should be understood that the above only illustrates examples whereby the present invention may be carried out, and that various modifications and/or verifications may be made thereto without departing from the sprit of the invention. For instance, the circular base  64 ,  164  member may be provided with an upstanding circumferential flange in order to further discourage accidental access to the blade members  30 ,  32 ,  130 ,  132 . The second blade means  48 ,  148  may be modified to operate automatically to rotate periodically or simultaneously with the first blade means  18 ,  118 . The container  2 ,  102  may adopt an inverted-conical shape.