Patent Publication Number: US-2005122836-A1

Title: Stand mixer with control panel

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      Household appliances such as stand mixers generally include control panels located upon the side of the mixer. These control panels typically are not illuminated. With these stand mixers, there is the inconvenience of accessing the control panel from the side, and a lack of a quickly recognizable indication of the speed of the mixer.  
      Therefore, a primary objective of the present invention is the provision of a stand mixer having an improved speed selection mechanism.  
      Another objective of the present invention is a stand mixer having a control panel with an illuminated speed indicator.  
      In addition, the stand mixers of the prior art have not utilized the top portion of the upper surface of the mixer house. This location provides the advantages of being readily accessible by either hand of the user and good visibility. Accordingly, another objective of the present invention is a stand mixer having a control panel on the top of the stand mixer.  
      Still another objective of the present invention is a stand mixer having an improved speed indicator.  
      A further objective of the present invention is a provision of an improved power switch which allows for a stand mixer being moved from a standby mode or sleep mode, on, and off.  
      A still further objective of the invention is the provision of an improved stand mixer having a rotatable dial which is easy to adjust for a plurality of mixer speeds.  
      A still further objective of the present invention is the provision of an improved stand mixer design which is economically manufactured and durable in use.  
      These and other objectives will become apparent from the following description of the invention.  
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      The foregoing objectives may be achieved by the stand mixer of the present invention which has a mixer housing with an upper surface and a lower surface. The stand mixer also has a motor within the mixer housing with a downwardly extending drive shaft. The stand mixer also has a speed selection dial and a speed indicator located on the upper surface of the mixer housing. The motor is started by the user actuating the power switch and the speed of the motor is adjustable by the user rotating the speed dial. An LED is automatically illuminated corresponding to the selected motor speed. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       FIG. 1  is a front perspective view of a stand mixer of the present invention with a bowl and mixing implement positioned for use with the mixer.  
       FIG. 2  is a rear perspective view of the stand mixer without the bowl and mixing implement.  
       FIG. 3  is a cross sectional view of the upper housing of the stand mixer illustrating the location of the control device.  
       FIG. 4  is an exploded view of the control panel in alignment with the control device.  
       FIG. 5  is a partially assembled view of components making up the control device, power button, and radial dial.  
       FIG. 6  is a partially assembled front view of components making up the control device.  
       FIG. 7  is a partially assembled rear view of components making up the control device.  
       FIG. 8  is an electrical block diagram of the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIENT  
      The stand mixer of the present invention is generally designated in the drawings by the reference numeral  10 . As seen in  FIG. 1 , the stand mixer  10  includes a mixer base  12 , a lower housing  14 , and an upper housing  16 . The lower housing  14  has a back panel  18 . The upper housing  16  is pivotally attached to the lower housing  14  and may pivot about a horizontal axis by a user actuating a pivot release button  20 .  
      The upper housing  16  has a top portion  32  and the bottom portion  34 . A control panel  40  includes speed indicator lenses  42 , a power button  44 , and a radial dial  46  on the top portion  32  of the housing  16 . The speed lenses  42  are oval and circle shaped and are labeled on/off and  1 - 10 . The speed lenses  42  are positioned adjacent the radial dial  46  along a radius from its axis of rotation. The oval lens  42  is labeled on/off and circle lenses are labeled  1 - 10  with  1  being the slowest speed and  10  being the highest speed. Also upon the control panel  40  is a power light or readiness indicator  48 . The readiness indicator  48  is off when the mixer  10  is completely off, is blinking when the stand mixer  10  is in a standby mode, and is illuminated when the mixer  10  is on.  
      As seen in  FIG. 2 , the mixer base  12  defines a bowl hollow  22 . Bowl locking members  24  exist within the bowl hollow  22 . A bowl  26  can be inserted into the bowl hollow  22  and twisted to engage the bowl locking members  24  such that the bowl  26  does not rotate within the bowl hollow  22 .  
      As seen in  FIG. 3 , a motor  52  is operatively mounted inside the upper housing  16 . The motor  52  is operably connected to a first output shaft  28  and a second output shaft  36 . The first output shaft  28  extends from the bottom portion  34  of the upper housing  16  and a mixing implement  30  may be attached to the output shaft  28 . A second output shaft  36  extends from the bottom portion  34  of the upper housing  16  and may be used for attaching a variety of different accessories (not shown) such as vegetable slicers, pasta extruders, and food grinders.  
      As further illustrated by  FIG. 3 , the location of a control device  58  is directly under the control panel  40 . The control device  58  is provided with input from a user by the on/off button  44  and the rotary dial  46  which turns upon a hollow  98  of the upper housing  16 .  
      The on/off or power button  44  is a non-latching voluntary tactile switch. The power button  44  controls the power state of the mixer motor  52 . In the preferred embodiment, the power button  44  is located in the center of the rotary or radial dial  46 . The power button  44  is used to alternatively start and stop the motor  52 . To start the motor  52 , the user momentarily pushes the power button  44 . The motor will start with the depression of the power button  44 . Releasing the power button  44  has no effect. To stop the mixer motor, the user momentarily pushes the power button  44 , thereby placing the stand mixer  10  in the standby mode. The motor  52  will stop with the depression of the power button  44 . Releasing the power button has no effect. Repeatedly pushing the power button  44  alternates the stand mixer  10  between the standby mode and the on mode.  
      The radial dial  46  is used to adjust the speed of the motor  52 . The rotary dial  46  when rotated counter-clockwise increases the speed and when moved in a clockwise direction decreases the speed.  
      An exploded view of the control panel  40  in alignment with the control device  58  is seen in  FIG. 4 . The control panel  40  includes speed indicator lenses  42 , a power button  44 , and a radial dial  46  on the top portion  32  of the housing  16 .  
      The control device  58  has a base  60 , a casing  86  attached to the base  60 , and a moveable cover  84  moving with an opening defined by the base  60  and the casing  86 . The control device  58  also has an arm  78  extending from an opening in the cover  84 . An illuminator casing  80  is attached to the arm  78 , and within the illuminator casing  80  is an illuminator  82 . The illuminator  82  is preferably a light emitting diode or LED. A grommet  88  is placed upon the casing  86  for sealing the inner workings of the control device  58 . The control device  58  is connected to the upper housing  16  by a nut  100  which is separated from other components by spacers  104 .  
      A shroud  90  is used to guide light from the illuminator  82  through the lens  42 . The lenses are joined together by a web  92 . The web  92  is sufficiently thin to prevent bleed over from one light lens  42  to the next light lens  42  while the illuminator  82  is in axial alignment with a lens  42 . The shroud  90  is also designed to minimize bleed over from one lens to the next. The shroud  90  separates the illuminator  82  from the lens by a distance. The shroud  90  is formed from an opaque plastic material with through-holes  91  to accept the lenses  42 . When the illuminator  82  is aligned with a through-hole  91 , the light from the illuminator  82  is channeled to the lens  42 . The lens  42  is fit into the lens opening  94  in the housing  16  after being placed within the shroud  90 . The shroud and lens assembly is attached to the upper housing  16  by screws (not shown) placed through shroud connector assembly  95  and into the upper housing  16 .  
      As further seen in  FIG. 4 , the upper housing  16  has a chamber  96  and a hollow or recess  98  defined in the top portion  32  of upper housing  16 . The control device  58  is placed within the chamber  96  and attached to the upper housing by nut  100 . The radial dial  46  is positioned within the top upper housing hollow  98  and positioned to engage the control device  58 . The radial dial  46  moves about the hollow  98  upon a plastic washer as seen in  FIG. 3 ; alternatively, the radial dial  46  may move about the hollow  98  upon metal glides  102 . The power button  44  is placed over the chamber  96  and positioned to engage the control device  58 .  
       FIG. 5  displays a partially assembled view of components making up the control device  58 , radial dial  46 , and power button  44 . The control device casing  86  may be separated from the base  60 . Upon the base  60  is located an actuator or power switch  62  responsive to the power button  44 . The base  60  also functions as a control board. The base therefore has circuitry relaying signals from the power switch  62  to the motor  52 , readiness indicator  48 , and illuminator  82 .  
      The radial dial  46  has a soft touch insert  106  that allows for slight compression of the radial dial  46  by user and for comfortable movement of the dial  46  by the user. The rotary dial  46  attaches to the control device  58  by having a female structure  108  that engages the control device  58 . A spring  110  is placed within the rotary dial  46  and held in place by a cap  112  that attaches to the rotary dial  46 . The power button  44  is attached to the top of the cap  112 . The spring  110  biases the power button  44  to a raised position.  
       FIGS. 6 and 7  illustrate partially assembled views of components making up the control device  58 .  FIG. 6  is a front perspective view of the mechanical structure which communicates user movement onto the power button  44  into on/off control of the mixer  10 .  FIG. 7  is a rear perspective view focusing upon the mechanical structure which communicates user movement about the radial dial  46  to the motor  52  speed control.  
      As seen in  FIG. 6 , the control device  58  has a shaft  66  abutting the control base  60 . Upon the shaft is a first member  68 . The first member  68  has a top end  69  which is adjacent the power button  44  and a second end which has a first member extension  70  attached to it. The first member extension  70  is in axial alignment with the actuator  62  such that compression of the first end  69  of the first member  68  by the power button  44  moves the first member extension  70  to compress the power switch  62 .  
      As seen in  FIGS. 6 and 7 , the second member  72  surrounds both the shaft  66  and the first member  68 . The second member  72  is attached to the radial dial  46  by male structure  71  that engages the female structure  108 . The second member  72  has a second member geared extension  74  that contacts a leaf spring  76 . In this configuration, engagement of the geared extension  74  creates detents associated with each available motor speed as indicated by lenses  42 . A wiper (not shown) engages printed circuit board traces  61  on base  60  to create a signal adjusting the motor  52  speed.  
      A simple block diagram is provided in  FIG. 8 . The control panel or user interface  40  has a power button  44 . The illuminator  82  is powered when the power button  44  is engaged. The user interface  40  sends a signal to the speed control unit  120  which controls the readiness indicator  48  and the motor  52 . Additionally, a speed sensor  122  provides feedback to the speed control unit  120  of the speed of the motor  52 .  
      In use, rotation of the rotary dial  46  from the off position to any one of the available motor speeds causes contact  64  to move from an open to a closed state. This action places the stand mixer  10  in the standby mode. The user then evaluates the motor speed by a observing the speed indicator lenses  42  located on the top portion  32  of upper housing  16 . The user may adjust the speed control unit by use of the rotary dial  46  to select any one of a plurality of speeds. The user may also evaluate the readiness of the stand mixer using the readiness indicator  48 . The readiness indicator  48  indicates whether the stand mixer is in an off mode, a standby mode, or an on mode. The user changes the mode of the stand mixer by repeatedly pushing the power button  44  to move the stand mixer from on mode to a standby mode, and back to an on mode.  
      The invention has been shown and described above with the preferred embodiments, and it is understood that many modifications, substitutions, and additions may be made which are within the intended spirit and scope of the invention. From the foregoing, it can be seen that the present invention accomplishes at least all of its stated objectives.