Patent Publication Number: US-2006011760-A1

Title: Mixer blade

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      The present invention relates generally to a mixer, and more particularly to the blade structure of the mixer that is disposed on the rotation axis of the mixer. The blade structure can grind larger size vegetables so as to enhance the applicability of mixers.  
      Modern people are more and more conscious about dietary health. Since vegetables and fruits are rich in various kinds of vitamins, they are beneficial to the immune system of a human body. On the other hand, each vegetable or fruit comprises different nutritious facts. One can employ a mixer to grind different kinds of vegetables and fruits and to get a cup of highly nutritious and delicious juice. However, the primary factor affecting the juicing rate of a mixer is the design of blade structure. Therefore, the present invention provides a new mixer blade design that can optimize the juicing rate.  
      A conventional mixer blade is disclosed in Taiwanese new utility patent no. 493417. The mixer blade includes a plurality of curved cutting blades arranged in a cross shape, wherein one cutting blade crosses the center of the juicing plate, so as to grind the center portion of the inserted vegetables or fruits as the juicing plate rotates.  
      However, there are still some drawbacks presented in the conventional mixer blade discussed above. Since the curved cutting blade and the vegetables or fruits form a linear contact, there is thus a larger grinding resistance, which requires a motor of larger power or a transmission shaft of larger radius. This keeps the cost of the mixer in an inevitably high level. In addition, the curved cutting blade grinds the fruit into slices of fruit meat. Since no further grinding is provided, the juice stored in the fruit meat is not sufficiently separated therefrom, which largely reduces the juicing rate. Further, since the curved cutting blade and the juicing plate are integrated into one entity, the entire mixer blade should be replaced when the cutting blade wears away after some particular amount of time. This increases the maintenance cost of the mixer.  
      Consequently, the inventor of the present invention devoted himself to developing a new mixer that can resolve the above drawbacks, as will be described in detail hereinafter.  
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      The present invention is to provide a mixer blade that can grind vegetables or fruits of larger size so as to enhance the juicing rate and the convenience of usage of a mixer.  
      In order to achieve the above and other objectives, the mixer blade of the present invention includes a main body and a cutting blade. The main body is in a circular shape. A coupling portion is formed at the central portion of the main body, while many zigzag first cutting portions are formed around the coupling portion. On the other hand, the cutting blade includes a connecting portion and a second cutting portion. The connecting portion is affixed to the main body via the coupling portion. The second cutting portion includes a first blade portion and a second blade portion. The blade portions are disposed in opposite directions. Therefore, the objectives set forth above is achieved. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       FIG. 1  is an explosive view of a mixer blade in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.  
       FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the mixer blade in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.  
       FIG. 3  is a sectional view of the mixer blade of the present invention in combination with a mixer.  
       FIG. 4  is an explosive of the mixer blade in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
      In order to better understanding the features and technical contents of the present invention, the present invention is hereinafter described in detail by incorporating with the accompanied drawings. However, the accompanied drawings are only for the convenience of illustration and description, no limitation is intended thereto.  
      Referring to  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2 , an explosive review and a perspective view of a mixer blade of the present invention is respectively illustrated. The mixer blade  1  includes a main body  10  and a cutting blade  20 .  
      The main body  10  is in a circular shape, made of stainless steel or ceramic materials. A coupling portion  11  is formed on the central portion of the main body  10 . The coupling portion  11  can be in a circular shape, a right polygon shape or other geometrical shapes. In this particular embodiment, the coupling portion  11  is in a circular shape. Around the coupling portion  11 , a plurality of first cutting portions  12  is radially arranged. Each of the first cutting portions  12  can be a zigzag or a conical shape. In this particular embodiment it is a zigzag shape.  
      The cutting blade  20  is also made of stainless steel or ceramic materials. The cutting blade  20  includes a connection portion  21  and a second cutting portion  22 . The connection portion  21  connects to the central portion of the main body  10  via the coupling portion  11 . The coupling between the coupling portion  11  and the connection portion  21  can be either an insertion coupling or a spiral coupling (as shown in  FIG. 4 ). In this particular embodiment, the coupling is the insertion coupling. A rectangular groove  111  is formed at the central portion of the coupling portion  11 . The groove  111  is adapted to fit the shape of the connection portion  21 , so as to affix the cutting blade  20  on the main body  10 . On the other hand, the second cutting portion  22  is disposed on the connection portion  21 . The second cutting portion  22  includes a first blade portion  221  and a second blade portion  222 . The blade portions  221 ,  222  are disposed in opposite directions. A plurality of blade edge  223  is formed on the first blade edge  221  and the second blade edge  222 . The blade edge  223  is in semi-conical shape. Furthermore, the blade edge  223  of the first blade portion  221  and the blade edge  223  of the second blade portion  222  are mutually interlaced, that is, the position of a blade peak becomes a blade valley after rotating the second cutting portion by 180 degrees.  
      Referring to  FIG. 3 , a sectional view of the mixer blade of the present invention in combination with a mixer is illustrated. As shown, the mixer blade  1  can be affixed on the mixer. The mixer includes a lower mount  3 , an upper mount  4 , a filter  5  and a cover  6 . A transmission shaft  30  is disposed at the center of the lower mount  3 . The transmission shaft  30  is provided to connect the mixer blade  1  of the present invention. The upper mount  4  is harnessed on the lower mount  3 . The filter  5  and the mixer blade  1  are disposed in the upper mount  4 . There is also a juice output  40  formed at one side of the upper mount. The cover  6  is disposed on the upper mount  4 . At the center of the cover  6 , a cylindrical material input  60  is formed, so as to throw various vegetables or fruits therethrough. In addition, the center of the material input  60  and the center of the mixer blade  1  are vertically aligned.  
      By employing the mixer described above, one can throw in vegetables or fruits of a larger size into the material input  60  of the cover  6 . Then, using a pushing rod (not shown) to push those vegetables or fruits into the mixer, the mixer blade  1  can thus grind the vegetables or fruits into juice and meat. The juice will flow out through the juice output  40  of the upper mount  4 , while the meat will remain on the filter  5 .  
      Accordingly, the mixer blade of the present invention includes at least the following advantages. Since the cutting blade  20  and the main body  10  are coupled to each other, the cutting blade  20  alone can be replaced when worn away, without replacing the entire mixer blade. This can largely reduce the maintenance cost of the mixer. In addition, since the cutting blade  20  is disposed facing the center of the material input  60 , that is the material input  60  is moved to the center of the mixer, whereby the radius of the material input  60  can effectively be enlarged without increasing the size of the mixer. Furthermore, since the first blade portion and the second blade portion are interlaced, larger vegetables or fruits can thus be ground finer, thereby enhancing the juicing rate and the convenience of usage.  
      Since, any person having ordinary skill in the art may readily find various equivalent alterations or modifications in light of the features as disclosed above, it is appreciated that the scope of the present invention is defined in the following claims. Therefore, all such equivalent alterations or modifications without departing from the subject matter as set forth in the following claims is considered within the spirit and scope of the present invention.