Patent Publication Number: US-2015078120-A1

Title: Driving Mechanism and a Bread Making Machine Having the Same

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application claims priority of Chinese Application No. 201310429042.2, filed on Sep. 18, 2013. 
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention relates to a driving mechanism, more particularly to a driving mechanism for a bread making machine. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     A conventional driving mechanism generally includes a driving shaft that can be driven by a power source to rotate for driving rotation of a driven shaft. The driving shaft and the driven shaft may be connected respectively to different objects that are separably connected to each other, that is, the driving shaft and the driven shaft are not connected together when the driving and driven shafts are separated from each other. A bread making machine equipped with the abovementioned conventional driving mechanism includes a housing that receives the power source, and a loaf pan that is disposed separably in the housing. The driving shaft of the conventional driving mechanism is mounted to the housing and is driven rotatably by the power source. The driven shaft of the conventional driving mechanism is mounted to the loaf pan and is connected to a rotary paddle. The driving shaft and the driven shaft are co-axially coupled to each other when the loaf pan is properly retained in the housing, so that the driven shaft can be driven to rotate by the driving shaft. 
     However, to retain the loaf pan in the housing, care should be taken to ensure precise coupling between the driven shaft and the driving shaft. In addition, the housing has an opening at a top end thereof for facilitating placement of the loaf pan into the housing and removal of the loaf pan from the housing. Therefore, a sufficient space over the bread making machine has to be preserved when the bread making machine is in use, thereby limiting location choices for setting up the bread making machine. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a driving mechanism that can eliminate the aforesaid drawback associated with the prior art. 
     Accordingly, a driving mechanism of the present invention is adapted to be mounted in an electrical appliance. The electrical appliance includes a housing unit that includes a power supply unit, and a container unit that is connected to the housing unit, that includes a rotary paddle, and that is movable in a moving axis relative to the housing unit between a retained position to be retained in the housing unit, and a pulled-out position to be out of the housing unit. The driving mechanism includes a driven shaft, a driving shaft and a control unit. The driven shaft is adapted to be mounted to the container unit and has at least one abutment wall. The rotary paddle is coupled co-rotatably to the driven shaft. The driving shaft is adapted to be mounted to the housing unit, has at least one pushing wall, and is adapted to be driven by the power supply unit to rotate about an axis, which extends in a direction transverse to the moving axis, to an engageable state, where the container unit is permitted to be moved from the pulled-out position to the retained position, and where the driving shaft is further rotatable about the axis to drive rotation of the driven shaft about the axis via abutment between the at least one pushing wall and the at least one abutment wall. The control unit is adapted for controlling operation of the power supply unit to move the driving shaft to the engageable state. 
     Another object of the present invention is to provide a bread making machine having such driving mechanism. 
     Accordingly, a bread making machine includes a housing unit, a container unit and a driving mechanism. The housing unit includes a housing that defines a receiving space therein, and a power supply unit that is disposed in the housing. The container unit includes a container and a rotary paddle that is disposed in the container. The container unit is movable in a moving direction relative to the housing unit between a retained position to be retained in the receiving space of the housing unit, and a pull-out position to be out of the housing unit. The driving mechanism includes a driven shaft that is mounted to the container unit and that has at least one abutment wall. The rotary paddle is coupled co-rotatably to the driven shaft. The driving shaft is mounted to the housing, has at least one pushing wall, and is able to be driven by the power supply unit to rotate about an axis, which extends in a direction transverse to the moving axis, to an engageable state, where the container unit is permitted to be moved from the pulled-out position to the retained position, and where the driving shaft is further rotatable about the axis to drive rotation of the driven shaft about the axis via abutment between the at least one pushing wall and the at least one abutment wall. The control unit is disposed for controlling operation of the power supply unit to move the driving shaft to the engageable state. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed description of the embodiment with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which: 
         FIG. 1  is a side view of an embodiment of a bread making machine according to the invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a fragmentary partly exploded perspective view of the embodiment; 
         FIG. 3  is a fragmentary sectional view of the embodiment, illustrating a container unit at a pulled-out position; 
         FIG. 4  is fragmentary exploded sectional view of a housing unit and a driving mechanism of the embodiment; 
         FIG. 5  is an exploded perspective view of the driving mechanism of the embodiment; 
         FIG. 6  is a sectional view of a control unit of the driving mechanism and the driving shaft of the embodiment; 
         FIG. 7  is another fragmentary sectional view of the embodiment, illustrating the container unit being moved between the pull-out position and a retained position; 
         FIG. 8  is still another fragmentary sectional view of the embodiment, illustrating the container unit at the retained position; 
         FIG. 9  is a fragmentary schematic side view illustrating the variation of relative positions of the driven shaft and a guide element during movement of the container unit from the retained position to the pulled-out position; and 
         FIG. 10  is a view similar to  FIG. 7 , but illustrating how the driven shaft is guided by the guide element to rotate during the movement o the container unit from the retained position to the pulled-out position. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENT 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1 to 3 , the embodiment of a bread making machine according to the present invention includes a housing unit  1 , a container unit  2  and a driving mechanism  3 . 
     The housing unit  1  includes a housing  11  including a side surrounding wall  111  and a bottom wall  122  that cooperates with the side surrounding wall  111  to define a receiving space  12  therebetween. The side surrounding wall  111  is formed with a side opening  121  at a front end thereof and communicating with the receiving space  12 . The bottom wall  12  is horizontal and formed with a mounting hole  123 . The housing unit  1  further includes a guide element  13  disposed in the housing  11  and mounted on the bottom wall  122  between the side opening  121  and the mounting hole  123 , and a power supply unit  14  disposed in the housing  11 . The power supply unit  14  is a mechanism including gears, a driving belt and a motor. Since the feature of this invention does not reside in the specific configuration of the power supply unit  14 , which is known in the art, further details of the same are omitted herein for the sake of brevity. 
     Further referring to  FIG. 4 , in this embodiment, the guide element  13  has inclined and upright first and second guide surfaces  131 ,  132 . The first and second guide surfaces  131 ,  132  are connected to each other at a tip  133  of the guide element  13  that is adjacent to the side opening  121 . 
     The container unit  2  includes a support seat  21 , a container  22  and a rotary paddle  23 . The support seat  21  includes a base board  211  that is parallel to the bottom wall  122  of the housing  11 , that is formed with an extension hole  213 , and that is connected to the housing  11 , and an upright side board  212  that is connected to an end of the base board  211 . Specifically, two slide rails (not shown) are provided between the base board  211  and the side surrounding wall  111  of the housing  11  so that the support seat  21  is slidable relative to the housing  11  along a moving axis  20  (see  FIG. 1 ). The container  22  is configured as a loaf pan, and is mounted swayably on the base board  211  of the support seat  21 . The rotary paddle  23  is disposed in the container  22 . The container unit  2  is slidable in the moving axis  20  relative to the housing  11  between a retained position (see  FIGS. 1 and 3 ) to be retained in the receiving space  12  of the housing unit  1 , and a pulled-out position (see  FIG. 2 ) to be out of the housing unit  1 . The side board  212  of the support seat  21  covers the side opening  121  when the container unit  2  is at the retained position. 
     As shown in  FIGS. 3 to 6 , the driving mechanism  3  includes a first guide seat  31 , a driving shaft  32 , a control unit  30 , a second guide seat  33  and a driven shaft  34 . 
     The first guide seat  31  engages fixedly the mounting hole  123  of the bottom wall  122  of the housing  11 , and includes two parallel first side plates  311  extending in the moving axis  20 , a first end plate  312  interconnecting the first side plates  311 , and a bottom plate  313  interconnecting the first side plates  311  and the first end plate  312  and cooperating with the first side plates  311  and the first end plate  312  to define a retaining space  314  thereamong. The retaining space  314  has an enlarged end  315  opposite to the first end plate  312  along the moving axis  20 . Each of the first side plates  311  is formed with a side groove  317  in spatial communication with the retaining space  314 . The first endplate  312  is formed with an end groove  316  in spatial communication with the retaining space  314 . 
     The driving shaft  32  has a main shaft portion  321  extending through the bottom plate  313  of the first guide seat  31  along an axis  39  which extends in a direction transverse to the moving axis  20 , and being able to be driven by the power supply unit  14  to rotate about the axis  39 , and a driving shaft portion  322  disposed in the retaining space  314  of the first guide seat  31 . The driving shaft portion  322  includes an S-shaped main driving wall  323  connected co-rotatably to the main shaft portion  321 , and two spaced-apart pushing walls  324  extending upwardly from the main driving wall  323 . The axis  39  extends along an imaginary plane  38  which is parallel to the moving axis  20 . Each of the pushing walls  324  has a pushing surface  325 . The imaginary plane  38  passes through the guide element  13  of the housing unit  1 , and the tip  133  of the guide element  13  is disposed at one side of the imaginary plane  38 , i.e., the first and second guide surfaces  131 ,  132  have different slopes. The first side plates  311  of the first guide seat  31  are disposed at opposite sides of the imaginary plane  38 , and the first end plate  312  of the first guide seat  31  is perpendicular to the imaginary plane  38 . The guide element  13  of the housing unit  1  further has an inclined surface  134  that is proximate to the driving shaft  32 , that is registered with the imaginary plane  38 , and that has a front end and a rear end lower to the front end. 
     The control unit  30  is connected to the first guide seat  31  and is disposed under the bottom wall  122  of the housing  1  for controlling operation of the power supply unit  14 . In this embodiment, the control unit  30  includes a control seat  301  coupled to the main shaft portion  321  of the driving shaft  32  and formed with a through hole  306 , a pin  302  extending through the control seat  301  and the main shaft portion  321  so as to connect co-rotatably the control seat  301  to the main shaft portion  321  of the driving shaft  32 , a bottom plate  303  connected fixedly to the first guide seat  31 , one spaced-apart stationary light emitting component  304  mounted on the bottom plate  303 , and a stationary light receiving component  305  mounted on the bottom plate  303  and spaced apart from the light emitting component  304 . 
     The second guide seat  33  includes two second side plates  331  disposed to be adjacent respectively to the first side plates  311  of the first guide seat  31 . Each of the second side plates  331  is formed with a side protrusion  334  engaging removably the side groove  317  of the respective one of the first side plates  311  of the first guide seat  31  when the container unit  2  is at the retained position. The second guide seat  33  further includes a second end plate  332  perpendicular to the imaginary plane  38 , interconnecting the second side plates  331 , and formed with an end protrusion  335  that engages removably the end groove  316  of the first guide seat  31  when the container unit  2  is at the retained position. The second guide seat  33  further includes a top plate  333  that is connected to top ends of the second side plates  331  and the second end plate  332 , and that is connected fixedly to the container  22 . The second guide seat  33  is disposed under the container  22  with a top portion thereof engaging fixedly the extension hole  213  of the support seat  21  of the load pan unit  2 . 
     The driven shaft  34  has a main shaft part  341  mounted rotatably to the top plate  333  of the second guide seat  33  and extending into the container  22  in a direction of the axis  39 . The rotary paddle  23  is coupled co-rotatably to the main shaft part  341  of the driven shaft  34 . The driven shaft  34  further has a driven shaft part  342  disposed in the second guide seat  33  and connected fixedly to the main shaft part  341 . Specifically, the driven shaft part  342  has an S-shaped main driven wall  343  connected to the main shaft part  341 , and two spaced-apart abutment walls  344  extending downwardly from the main driven wall  343 . Each of the abutment walls  344  has an abutment surface  345 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 3 , the driving mechanism  3  further includes two bearings  35 . One of the bearings  35  is provided between the main shaft portion  321  of the driving shaft  32  and the bottom plate  313  of the first guide seat  31 , while the other one of the bearings  35  is provided between the main shaft part  341  of the driven shaft  34  and the top plate  333  of the second guide seat  33  so as to ensure smooth rotations of the driving shaft  32  and the driven shaft  34 . 
     As shown in  FIGS. 2 ,  4 ,  6  and  7 , when the bread making machine of this invention is in use, the container unit  2  is first pushed in the moving axis  20  from the pulled-out position toward the retained position. Meanwhile, the driving shaft  32  is driven by the power supply unit  14  to rotate about the axis  39  to an engageable state (see  FIG. 4 ), where the pushing walls  324  of the driving shaft  32  are disposed at opposite sides of the imaginary plane  38  and where the pushing surface  325  of each of the pushing walls  324  is parallel to the imaginary plane  38 . When the driven shaft part  342  of the driven shaft  34  contacts the guide element  13  during the abovementioned movement of the container unit  2 , the abutment walls  344  of the driven shaft  34  abut slidably against at least one of the first and second guide surfaces  131 ,  132 . Since the tip  133  of the guide element  13  is nonregistered with the imaginary plane  38 , the abutment walls  344  would eventually be pushed under guidance of the at least one of the first and second guide surfaces  131 ,  132  to drive rotation of the driven shaft  34  to a non-interfering position (see  FIG. 7 ), where the abutment walls  344  are disposed at opposite sides of the imaginary plane  38  and where an angle between the abutment surface  345  of each of the abutment walls  344  and the imaginary plane  38  ranges between 45 degrees and 89 degrees. Therefore, the container unit  2  is permitted to move from the pulled-out position to the retained position, and interference between the abutment walls  344  of the driven shaft  34  and the pushing walls  324  of the driving shaft  32  during the movement of the container unit  2  can be avoided. At this time, the abutment walls  344  of the driven shaft  34  are disposed in the retaining space  314 , and the driven shaft  34  is coaxially aligned with the driving shaft  32 . 
     As further shown in  FIG. 8 , when the container unit  2  is at the retained position, the driving shaft  32  is further rotated about the axis  39  (see  FIG. 3 ) in a rotational direction  36  by the power supply unit  14  (see  FIG. 3 ) to abut the pushing surfaces  325  of the pushing walls  324  respectively against the abutment surfaces  345  of the abutment walls  344  of the driven shaft  34 . 
     When the driving shaft  32  is kept rotated in the rotational direction  36 , the driven shaft  34  is driven to rotate about the axis  39  together with the rotary paddle  23 . 
     Referring to  FIGS. 3 ,  9  and  10 , to withdraw the container unit  2  from the retained position to the pulled-out position, the power supply unit  14  is first turned off to be arrested from rotating the driving and driven shafts  32 ,  34  in the rotational direction  36 . The driving shaft  32  is then rotated back to the engageable position. Various ways may be adopted to restore the driving shaft  32  to the engageable position. For example, the power supply unit  14  may be reactivated to rotate the driving shaft  32  in another direction opposite to the rotational direction  36 . The control unit  30  functions to ensure that the driving shaft  32  is correctly returned to the engageable position. When the driving shaft  32  is at the engageable position, light emitted from the light emitting component  304  (see  FIG. 5 ) of the control unit  30  passes through the through hole  306  of the control seat  301  and is received by the light receiving component  305 . The control unit  30  can then be operated to stop rotation of the driving shaft  32 . 
     Once the driving shaft  32  is at the engageable position, the container unit  2  is allowed to be moved in the moving axis  20  toward the pulled-out position. As shown in  FIG. 9 , during the movement of the container unit  2  from the retained position to the pulled-out position, one of the abutment walls  344  of the driven shaft  34  abuts non-rotatably against the inclined surface  134  of the guide element  13 . The container  22  is urged to slightly sway to enable the one of the abutment walls  344  to slide along the inclined surface  134 . Therefore, the driven shaft  34 , the second guide seat  33  and the container  22  will not rotate during the withdrawal of the container unit  2  which would otherwise cause rotation of the rotary paddle  23  and ruin the well-baked loaf in the container  22 . 
     It should be noted that, the driving mechanism  3  of this invention may be applied to other household appliances, such as food processors or blenders. 
     In sum, the container unit  2  can be easily retained in or pulled out from the housing unit  1 . Moreover, since the container unit  2  can be pushed in or pulled out from the housing unit  1  in the moving axis  20  instead of through a top end of the housing unit  1 , location choices for the bread making machine are less limiting. 
     While the present invention has been described in connection with what is considered the most practical embodiment, it is understood that this invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiment but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent arrangements.