Patent Publication Number: US-2006000369-A1

Title: Mixer filter

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      The present invention relates generally to a filter of a mixer, and more particularly to a filter that is disposed on a transmission shaft of the mixer. By applying the centrifugal force to the juice of fruit meat, the juice and the fruit meat residuals are completely separated, thereby enhancing the juicing rate.  
      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 filter structure. Therefore, the present invention provides a new mixer filter design that can optimize the juicing rate.  
      A conventional mixer filter is disclosed in Taiwanese new utility patent no. 493417. The mixer filter is a conical circular plate with a larger upper radius and a smaller lower radius. The circular plate includes an inclination surface with a predetermined slope. When inserting the vegetables and fruits into the mixer, the cutting blades of the mixer grind the vegetables and the fruits. By employing the centrifugal force on the circular plate, the juice and the fruit meat are separated. The juice then flows into the juice collection container via the holes of the filter. On the other hand, the fruit meat is thrown to the waste container along the inclination surface, thereby separating the juice and the fruit meat.  
      However, since the filter of the conventional mixer is linearly inclined, the fruit meat is thrown away along the inclination surface as soon as it is grounded. Consequently, the juice is not completely separated from the fruit meat, leaving the juicing rate to be only from 40% to 55%. This indeed is a tremendous amount of wastage.  
      Therefore, the inventor of the present invention devoted himself to developing a new mixer filter 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 filter that employs a blocking member disposed on a top ring of the filter body. The fruit meat that contains more juice encounter larger centrifugal force, which will hit the blocking member and fall back to the filter body so as to continue the filtration process for the second time. On the other hand, the fruit meat that contains less juice will be thrown away directly to a waste container, thereby enormously enhancing the juicing rate.  
      The mixer filter of the present invention includes a filter body and a blocking member. The filter body includes a base, a filter web and a top ring. The base includes a circular plate upwardly connecting the filter web along the peripheral of the circular plate. The filter web forms a hollow conical shape that has a larger upper radius and a smaller lower surface. The top surface of the filter web connects the top ring. The blocking member is formed on the top ring of the filter body, so as to separate the juice and the fruit meat. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       FIG. 1  schematically illustrates a mixer filter in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.  
       FIG. 2  is a sectional view of the filter of the present invention.  
       FIG. 3  is a sectional view of the filter of the present invention in combination with a mixer.  
       FIG. 4  schematically illustrates a mixer filter 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 , a perspective view and a sectional view of a mixer filter of the present invention are respectively illustrated. The mixer filter  1  includes a filter body  10  and a blocking member  20 .  
      The filter body  10  includes a base  11 , a filter web  12  and a top ring  13 . The base  11  is preferably made of plastic material, which includes a circular plate  111  and a platform  112  protrusively formed on the plate  111 . The platform  112  has a hole  113  at the central portion thereof corresponding to a path  114 . In addition, the base  11  includes an upper circular plate portion  115  and a lower circular plate portion  116  extending respectively from the peripheral of the circular plate  111 . The top peripheral of the upper circular plate portion  115  connects the filter web  12 . The filter web  12  is preferably made of stainless steel material, which is formed by soldering a plurality of fan-shaped plate  121 . The filter web  12  is thus formed into a hollow conical shape with a larger upper radius and a smaller lower radius. A plurality of web holes  122  is formed on the fan-shaped plate  121 . The web holes  122  can be circular, oval or in any possible geometrical shape. The filter web  12  connects the top ring  13  through the upper surface thereof. The inner surface of the top ring  13  inclines in accordance with the inclination of the filter web  12  and extends the inclination of the filter web  12 .  
      The blocking member  20  can also be made of plastic material, which is circular in shape. The blocking member  20  can be integrated with the top ring  13  of the filter body  10 , or fastened or screwed on the top ring  13  of the filter body  10 . In this particular embodiment, the blocking member  20  is integrated with the top ring  13 , which extends directly upward from the top ring  13 . The angle formed between the blocking member  20  and the filter web  12  is much larger than 90 degrees. Moreover, the blocking member  20  can also be discontinuously formed on the top ring  13  of the filter body  10 , as shown in  FIG. 4 . When grinding the vegetables or fruits with less juice, the blocking member  20  of the mixer filter  1  can achieve better exhaustion result.  
      Referring to  FIG. 3 , a sectional view of the mixer filter  1  in combination with a mixer is illustrated. As shown, the mixer filter  1  is firmly disposed on the mixer. The mixer includes a lower mount  3 , an upper mount  4 , a juicing plate  5  and a cover  6 . A transmission shaft  31  is disposed at the center of the lower mount  3 . The transmission shaft  31  connects the mixer filter  1  and the juicing plate  5 . The top surface of the transmission shaft  31  contacts the platform  112  of the base  11 , and is firmly secured through the hole  113  of the platform  112  by means of fastening elements, such as screws. The mixer filter  1  is thus sandwiched between the juicing plate  5  and the lower mount  3 . The upper mount  4  is movably disposed on the lower mount  3 , which has a juice output  441 . The cover  6  is disposed on the upper mount  4 , which has a cylindrical material input  61  formed thereon. The material input  61  is positioned at the center of the juicing plate  5  so as to throw various vegetables or fruits therein through the material input  61 .  
      By employing the combination as set forth above, the various vegetables or fruits are ground into juice and fruit meat by using the cutting blades of the juicing plate  5 . The grounded juice flows to the juice output  41  of the upper mount  4  directly through the web holes  122  of the filter web  12 . The fruit meat however is moved upward along the fan-shape plate  121  of the filter web  12  in response to the centrifugal force. The fruit meat that contains more juice moves upward closely contacting the plate  121  of the filter web  12 . The fruit meat will hit the internal surface of the blocking member  20 . Thereafter, the fruit meat that contains more juice will fall back to the filter body  10  so as to continue the filtration process for the second time. Furthermore, the fruit meat that contains less juice will become lighter in weight, which can easily be thrown away from the mixer filter  1  to the waste container in response to the centrifugal force on the fruit meat. Therefore, the juicing rate is largely enhanced.  
      In summary, the mixer filter of the present invention indeed contain patentable subject matter that is consistent with the utility, novelty and non-obviousness requirements as set forth in the patent law. Therefore, a grant of letters patent for the present invention is respectively requested.  
      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.