Patent Publication Number: US-2017354940-A1

Title: Gear drive container

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/348,299 entitled “GEAR DRIVE CONTAINER,” filed on Jun. 10, 2016, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
    
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present invention relates to a blender system and, more particularly, to a container having a blade assembly that includes a gear drive. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Blender systems are often used to blend and process foodstuffs. Conventional blenders generally include a base with a motor, a mixing container with an operable mixing blade disposed therein. A blender lid is adapted to cover the mixing container. A user inserts contents within the mixing container to be mixed by the rotation of the blade. The container is positioned on the base as a user controls the operation of the motor within the base to rotate the mixing blade within the container to mix the contents therein. 
     Blender systems may include a cooling fan attached to and controlled by the motor. The motor may also operatively drive the mixing blade. The speed of the fan may be dependent on the speed of the mixing blade. Some foodstuff may comprise relatively thick products. These include milkshakes, smoothies, nut butters, and the like. In other examples, users may overload containers with ingredients. A user may desire to lower the speed of the blender while mixing one of these products. Reducing the speed of the blades also reduces the speed of the fan, while the motor works to spin the blades in the thick product. 
     Therefore, there is a need for improved blender systems. For instance, blender systems that allow a fan to operate at different speeds than the blade assembly. 
     SUMMARY 
     The following presents a summary of this disclosure to provide a basic understanding of some aspects. This summary is intended to neither identify key or critical elements nor define any limitations of embodiments or claims. Furthermore, this summary may provide a simplified overview of some aspects that may be described in detail in other portions of this disclosure. 
     A blender system may include a blender container, a blade assembly, and a blender base. Foodstuff may be inserted into the blender container. The blender base, via a motor, may drive the blade assembly to blend foodstuff within the blender container. The blade assembly may comprise a gear drive that includes one or more gears that alter the rotational speed of blades relative to the rotational speed of the motor. The altered speed may allow for an increased number of speed options, altered airflow within the blender container, reduced noise, increased user satisfaction, and the like. 
     A blender container includes side walls, a bottom wall, and a blade assembly. The blade assembly includes a gear drive. The gear drive receives input and alters a rotational speed of an output shaft. The blender container may rotate blades at a different speed than a speed at which a motor rotates a fan. 
     The following description and the drawings disclose various illustrative aspects. Some improvements and novel aspects may be expressly identified, while others may be apparent from the description and drawings. 
    
    
     
       DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The present teachings may be better understood by reference to the following detailed description taken in connection with the following illustrations, wherein. 
         FIG. 1  is a partial, cross-sectional view of a a blade assembly comprising a gear drive in accordance with the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 2  is a partial, cross-sectional view of a blade assembly comprising the gear drive of  FIG. 1  and a container in accordance with the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 3  is a top, perspective view of a blade assembly including a gear drive in accordance with various disclosed aspects; 
         FIG. 4  is a bottom view of a blade assembly including a gear drive in accordance with various disclosed aspects; 
         FIG. 5  is an exploded view of a blade assembly including a gear drive in accordance with various disclosed aspects; 
         FIG. 6  is a partial, cross-sectional view of a blender system including a blade assembly comprising a gear drive and a blender base that operatively drives blades of the blade assembly in accordance with the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 7  is a perspective view of a container for a blender system in accordance with the present disclosure; and 
         FIG. 8  is a partial cross-sectional view of a single serving blender container in accordance with the present disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments of the present teachings, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. It is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and structural and functional changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present teachings. Moreover, features of the embodiments may be combined, switched, or altered without departing from the scope of the present teachings, e.g., features of each disclosed embodiment may be combined, switched, or replaced with features of the other disclosed embodiments. As such, the following description is presented by way of illustration and does not limit the various alternatives and modifications that may be made to the illustrated embodiments and still be within the spirit and scope of the present teachings. 
     As used herein, the words “example” and “exemplary” mean an instance, or illustration. The words “example” or “exemplary” do not indicate a key or preferred aspect or embodiment. The word “or” is intended to be inclusive rather an exclusive, unless context suggests otherwise. As an example, the phrase “A employs B or C,” includes any inclusive permutation (e.g., A employs B; A employs C; or A employs both B and C). As another matter, the articles “a” and “an” are generally intended to mean “one or more” unless context suggest otherwise. 
     “Logic” refers to any information and/or data that may be applied to direct the operation of a processor. Logic may be formed from instruction signals stored in a memory (e.g., a non-transitory memory). Software is one example of logic. In another aspect, logic may include hardware, alone or in combination with software. For instance, logic may include digital and/or analog hardware circuits, such as hardware circuits comprising logical gates (e.g., AND, OR, XOR, NAND, NOR, and other logical operations). Furthermore, logic may be programmed and/or include aspects of various devices and is not limited to a single device. 
     It is noted that references to a blender, blender system, and the like, are understood to include food processor systems, and other mixing systems. Such systems generally include a blender base that may include a motor, a blade assembly, and a controller. Further, such systems may include a container, a display, a memory and/or a processor. A blade assembly, a blending container, and a blender base may removably or irremovably attach. The blending container may be powered in any appropriate manner, such as disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/213,557, entitled Powered Blending Container, which is hereby incorporated by reference. 
     Furthermore, while blending of “ingredients,” “contents” or “foodstuffs” is described by various embodiments, it is noted that non-food stuff may be mixed or blended, such as paints, epoxies, construction material (e.g., mortar, cement, etc.), and the like. Moreover, blending of ingredients may result in a blended product. Such blended products may include drinks, frozen drinks, smoothies, shakes, soups, purees, sorbets, butters (nut), dips or the like. Accordingly, such terms may be used interchangeably unless context suggests otherwise or warrants a particular distinction among such terms. Further, such terms are not intended to limit possible blended products and should be viewed as examples of possible blended products. 
     In embodiments, the blender systems may include any household blender and/or any type of commercial blender system, including those with covers that may encapsulate or partially encapsulate the blender. Commercial blender systems may include an overall blender system, such as a modular blender system that may include the blender along with other components, such as a cleaner, foodstuff storage device (including a refrigerator), an ice maker and/or dispenser, a foodstuff dispenser (a liquid or powder flavoring dispenser) or any other combination of such. 
     As used herein, the phrases “blending process,” “blending program,” and the like are used interchangeably unless context suggest otherwise or warrants a particular distinction among such terms. A blending process may comprise a series or sequence of blender settings and operations to be carried out by the blending device. In an aspect, a blending process may comprise at least one motor speed and at least a one-time interval for the given motor speed. For example, a blending process may comprise a series of blender motor speeds to operate the blender blade at the given speed, a series of time intervals corresponding to the given motor speeds, and other blender parameters and timing settings. The blending process may further include a ramp up speed that defines the amount of time the motor takes to reach its predetermined motor speed or a ramp down speed to reduce the motor speed. The blending process may be stored on a memory and recalled by or communicated to the blending device. 
     Described blender systems may include interlocking mechanisms that may selectively prevent or allow operation of a motor or blades based on whether portions of the blender systems are appropriately connected. It is noted that the interlocking mechanisms may include manual components (e.g., push rods, etc.), magnetic components (e.g., reed switch), wireless or wired components (e.g., NFC tags, etc.), or the like. Move over, various components of the blender system may include an NFC tag or component. It is noted that embodiments may utilize other radio frequency identification (RFID) devices, transponders, or tags. Accordingly, embodiments reference NFC for brevity, but such embodiments may utilize other RFID devices, methods, or systems. An NFC tag may include a memory that operatively stores identification information that defines a make, model, or type of a component (e.g., a particular type of container). NFC tags may store other information and may be coupled with sensors. 
     Some traditional blender systems include a container that connects to a blender base. The blender base may include a motor that drives blades disposed in the container. The motor also drives fan blades that force air into the blender base to cool the motor. When a user wants to adjust the speed of the blades, the user may lower or raise the motor speed. This also lowers or raises the speed of the fan blades. In an example, users may overload a container, load a container with a particularly thick product, or utilize the container for a blending process that does not require high speeds. This may develop a relatively high torque, with respect to other processes or ingredients, on the motor when operating. This increased torque may cause excess heat in or about the motor. If the user lowers the motor speed, the fan speed also lowers while the motor drives the blade through the thick ingredients. This may cause some traditional blender systems to overheat, or not function at a desired efficiency or level of performance. 
     Moreover, traditional blender systems may include stored blender programs. These blender programs may be configured for specific types of foodstuff and particular blending containers. As such, users may not be able to use the blender programs for different types of containers and maintain efficiency of blender operations. 
     Embodiments described herein provide a blender system that may address these and other issues. For instance, a blender system may comprise a blender base, a container, and a blade assembly. The blade assembly may be attached (e.g., removably or irremovably) to the container, such that blades of the blade assembly are operatively disposed within the container. The blade assembly may include a drive spline that may be driven by a motor of the blender base. In another aspect, the blade assembly may include one or more gears (e.g., a gear drive) that alter the input speed received from the motor for the output speed for the blades. In an aspect, the gear drive may receive a first rotational speed input from the drive spline, and may reduce the speed such that the blades operate at a lower speed than the drive spline. In an aspect, the speed of the motor may remain relatively greater than the speed of the blades. This may allow a fan that may be connected to the motor to operate at a different (e.g., higher) speed than the blades. The higher speed may allow for an increased speed of the fan relative to the speed of the blades, which may reduce the operating temperature of the blender. Reducing the operating temperature may reduce the likelihood of a thermal shut-off, which may be implemented to turn off the motor and prevent damage from overheating. 
     In an aspect, the driven-to-drive ratio of the gear drive may be about an x:1 ratio, where x is a number. For instance, exemplary embodiments may comprise a 2.25:1, 2.5:1, 2.8:1, 3:1 or other gear reduction from input to output ratio as described herein. According to various other examples, x may be generally greater than 1 and less than about 5, at or between 2 and 3.5, or the like. In at least one embodiment, the maximum input speed may be about 22,500 RPM and the maximum input torque may be about 240 newton meters (e.g., oz. * in)—although the present teachings are not limited to this configuration. As described herein, the gear drive may include a planetary gear drive or train, such as an epicyclical gear train. A k-level epicyclical gear train, where k is a number, may include one or more outer gears, or planet gears, revolving about a central, or sun gear, and an outer ring gear or annulus, which meshes with the planet gears. As an example, embodiments may include a dual ratio gear set comprising a two-level epicyclical gear train. 
     The gear drive may reduce the output speed or speed of blades, while allowing the motor to maintain a higher speed. This may allow for increased airflow within the blender container, increased efficiency of blending, or the like. 
     In another aspect, the gear drive may effectively increase the number of available speeds of a blade assembly. It is noted that aspect, the blade assembly may be utilized with existing or legacy blender bases or containers. Moreover, the blade assembly may allow for blending of very thick items more efficiently, such as blending of nut butters, smoothies with hard ice, viscous smoothies, or the like. Embodiments may also allow for different blending operations or programs. For example, embodiments may allow a blender to chop or dice foodstuff. All of this may be accomplished while allowing more airflow to reduce the likelihood of the blender overheating. 
     Further still, the disclosed embodiments may allow use of a compression device during the blending operation. By way of a non-limiting example a blending volume reducing device, such as that disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/826,975, entitled Blending Volume Reducing Device, which is hereby incorporated by reference, may be utilized with a container having the present gear drive. In such embodiments, the blending volume reducing device may reduce the working volume of the container—it may compress the foodstuffs to be blended. To effectively blend the foodstuffs with the blending volume reducing device may require additional power from the motor. The present gear drive may allow the blades to rotate at a slower speed than the motor. This may allow the motor to maintain an operative temperature, maintain a more efficient blade speed, reduce pressure within the container, or otherwise as described herein. For instance, embodiments may reduce current draw, situations in comparison with systems that do not use aspects disclosed herein, from the motor in tough blending. In an example, a working volume in a container may be reduced by inserting a compressor or volume reducing device such as those described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/826,975, entitled Blending Volume Reducing Device, the entirety of which is incorporated by reference herein, in the container. The reduced working volume may cause a motor to pull increased current so that a desired speed is maintained. This increased current may trip circuit breakers, which may be comprised within the motor. Disclosed embodiments may utilize a gear drive to adjust the speed of a blade assembly while reducing the current pull of a motor. 
     While embodiments may refer to a container comprising or attaching to a particular blade assembly, it is noted that containers may be interchangeable with different blade assemblies. For instance, a container may be operatively attached to a first blade assembly with a gear drive, and the blade assembly may be interchangeable with a second blade assembly without a gear drive and/or with a different gear drive. In some embodiments, containers and blade assembly combinations may not be interchangeable. For instance, some attachments or containers require different gear ratios, and the performance of the attachment will depend on a particular gear ratio. Thus, specific attachments may be sub-optimized if the gear ratio is common or not designed for the specific attachment. Accordingly, attachments may include gear drives having particular ratios selected for a particular attachment that may be particularly suited for a specific application. It is noted that mechanical features may prevent a particular attachment from attaching to a particular gear ratio. In another aspect, blender interlocks (e.g., include NFC interlocks, reed switches, and the like) may identify whether the attachments are sub-optimized and may alert a user or prevent operation of the blender system. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 1 , there is a cross-sectional view of a blender system  100  that may include a container  110  and a blade assembly  130 .  FIG. 2  is a cross-sectional view of the blade assembly  130 . In an aspect, the blender system  100  may increase efficiency, reduce overheating, or otherwise provide improvements over other blender systems. It is noted that various improvements are disclosed herein. 
     The container  110  may be of any operable shape, size, or configuration. For instance, container  110  may comprise a pitch, cup, bowl, or other shape. While container  110  is depicted as comprising sidewalls  112 , a closed end  114 , and an apron  116 , it is noted that various other arrangements may be utilized. For instance, single serving-style containers (e.g., those with blade assemblies that attach to an open end spaced away from a closed end) may utilize various disclosed aspects. As such, it is noted that the container  110  is provided as an exemplary embodiment. In at least one embodiment, blade assembly  130  may be disposed at or attached to the closed end  114  of the container  110 . For instance, blade assembly  130  may be positioned such that foodstuff may be forced towards blades  132  of the blade assembly  130 . 
     Turning to  FIGS. 3-5 , with reference to  FIGS. 1-2 , there are various views of the blade assembly  130  of blender system  100 . In an aspect, the blade assembly  130  may include a gear drive  140  having an input  142  and an output  144 . The input  142  may receive or comprise drive shaft (e.g., a splined shaft)  134 , and the output  144  may receive or comprise a blade shaft  136  that operatively drive the blades  132 . The gear drive  140  may be disposed between a first or bottom bearing housing  146  and a second or top bearing housing  148 . Each of the bottom bearing housing  146  and the top bearing housing  148  may comprise one or more ball bearings  147 . The ball bearings  147  may reduce or prevent wobble of the blade assembly  130 . 
     It is noted that various described components may be of a single, unitary construction or may comprise a plurality of components assembled together. For instance, splined shaft  134  may comprise multiple components assembled together, as shown in  FIG. 5 . It is further noted that components shown as separate constructions, may comprise a single component that may be assembled, formed of a single piece, or the like. 
     The blade assembly  130  may include a center gear housing  150 , which may be unitarily formed or formed by one or more pieces. Center gear housing  150  may extend through a container opening. A shield member  154  may be disposed above the center gear housing  150 . In an aspect the center gear housing  150  and the shield member  154  may be attached together by mechanical, chemical or other means. In another aspect, center gear housing  150  and shield member  154  may be unitarily formed. 
     The top portion  154  may comprise a ledge that contacts the container bottom  114 . Center gear housing  150  may generally support gear drive  140 , bottom bearing housing  146  and top bearing housing  148 . In another aspect, center gear housing  150  may be received by and/or mounted to the container  110  via a retainer nut  156 . In an example, center gear housing  150  may attach to retainer nut  156  via a threaded connection, couplers (e.g., screws, bolts, latches, etc.), adhesives, magnetic connections, or the like. A retainer plate  153  may operatively hold the center gear housing  150  and/or retainer nut  156  together. 
     It is noted that the center gear housing  150  may not be directly screwed, bolted, or fastened to the container. For instance, the center gear housing may be held in place via a friction fit, a separate component, or the like. The lack of fasteners may reduce vibrations with respect to blending apparatuses that include such fasteners. In another aspect, the center gear housing may comprise an elastomeric material that may be compressed against the container. The compression may reduce noise and vibration. In another aspect, the blender system  100  may include one or more gaskets disposed between various components. For instance, a gasket  103  may be disposed between the top portion  154  and one or more of the closed end  114  or bottom portion  152 . In another aspect, one or more gaskets  103  may be disposed between the top bearing housing  148  and the center gear hosing  150 . The gaskets  103 / 107 , for instance, may generally absorb vibrations, create a seal, or may dampen perceivable noise. 
     According to various embodiments, the center gear housing  150  may comprise one or more materials and may include food-grade materials. Center gear housing  150  may be compression fit on the closed end  114  with the retainer nut  156 . The retainer nut  156  may include one or more gaskets  105 . Center gear housing  150  and retainer nut  156  may be attached together and may comprise the gasket  103  and gasket  105 . In an aspect, the compression may allow for reduction in weight compared to other systems. In various embodiments, the size of the center gear housing  150  (e.g., diameter of the top portion or shield member  154  may distribute pressure across a larger surface area compared to other systems. It is noted that the size of the retainer nut  156  may distribute pressure along a larger surface area. 
     The compression by the retainer nut  156  and the center gear housing  150  may stabilize or reduce wobble of the blade assembly  130 . A reduction in wobble (e.g., any movement other than rotational movement) may reduce noise in comparison with blade assemblies that do not comprise center gear housing  150 . 
     In various aspects, retainer nut  156  may be coupled to center gear housing  150  via fasteners, threaded members, friction fit, or the like. For instance, retainer nut  156  may include threads (not shown) disposed on an internal surface  174  of the retainer nut  156 . The center gear housing  150  may include threads  176  that may operatively mate with threads of the retainer nut  156 . The center gear housing  150  may, in another aspect, include a second set of threads (not shown) that may mate with threads  186  of bearings housing  148  (which may include a housing and ball bearings). Retainer plate  153  may operatively engage with at least one of center gear housing  150  or retainer nut  156  via one or more fasteners or the like. In an aspect, a gasket  109  may be disposed between the retainer plate  153  and one or more of the gear drive  140  or the center gear housing  150 . For instance, retainer plate  153  may receive one or more fasteners  178  (e.g., screws, bolts, clips, etc.). The fastener  178  may fasten the retainer plate  153  to the retainer nut  156  and/or center gear housing  150 . In at least one embodiment, the fastener  178  fastens the retainer plate  153  directly to the retainer nut  156  and not to the center gear housing  150 . According various aspects, the arrangements of retainer nut  156 , center gear housing  150  and the retainer plate  153  may reduce vibrations when the blade assembly  130  is in operation. Reduced vibrations may produce less noise. 
     It is noted that the blade assembly  130  may comprise different components (e.g., more, less, or disparate) components. In examples, the couplings, bearings, colors, center gear housings, or the like may be altered according to container type, blender base, or the like. As such, various modifications are within the scope and spirit of this disclosure. 
     As shown in  FIG. 6 , container  110  may be operatively attached or coupled to a blender base  160 . The blender base  160  may include a motor  162 , fan  164 , and/or other operative elements disposed within a housing  170 . The motor  162  may drive a fan  164  and a splined coupler  166  (which may drive the splined shaft  134  of the blade assembly  130 ). The fan  164  operatively forces air (not shown) through at least a portion of the housing  170  and/or motor  162 . The embodiment shown in  FIG. 5  is merely exemplary. The present teachings may include a blender base having a fan positioned above the motor driving air in a direction opposite to that shown in  FIG. 5 . Moreover, the fan and motor may not be operatively coupled together. The fan may be driven by a different power source than the motor. Further still, the motor may be of any appropriate configuration, such as a brushed motor or brushless motor. 
     In an aspect, the gear drive  140  may alter (e.g., reduce, increase) an output speed or torque of the output  144  relative to the input  142 . The motor  162  operatively drives the splined coupler  166  to cause the blades  132  to rotate. More particularly, the motor  162  causes rotation of the splined coupler  166 . The splined coupler  166  may cause rotation of the splined shaft  134 . The input  142  may receive the splined shaft  134 . The input  142  causes rotation of one or more gears within the gear drive  140 . For instance, the gear drive  140  may comprise one or more planetary gears (not shown) that revolve around a central or sun gear (not shown). The planetary gears may drive a ring gear (not shown) or other gear(s), which may drive output  144 . In an example, gear drive  140  may include one or more sun gears, planet gears, housings, ball bearings and the like. For instance, gear drive  140  may include two sun gears, two two-stage planets and a supportive housing containing eight ball bearings. In another example, a gear drive  140  may comprise one sun gear, and four planetary gears. 
     The gear drive  140  may reduce the rotation speed between the output  144  and the input  142  at a ratio of x:1 (e.g., 2, 2.5, 3, 4, etc.). It is noted that various ratios may be selected based on a desired operation. This ratio will result in an altered (e.g., reduce, increase) speed of blades  132  relative to a speed of the fan  164  if the fan  164  is also driven by the motor  162 . 
     In an example, a user may place contents within container  110 . The contents may be more than recommended, combined to have a relatively thick consistency (e.g., nut butters, frozen drinks, etc.), or the like. In certain instances, the user may want to reduce the blade speed. If a user utilized a blender system including the fan  164  that is driven by the motor  162  via a drive shaft  163 , then the fan  164  speed would also be reduced. Blender system  100  allows the user to blend at a lower speed, while the fan  164  maintains a higher speed. 
     In another example, the gear drive  140  may be integrally assembled with the container  110  and/or blade assembly  130 . This may allow a proper gear ratio for the specific container and/or blade assembly. For example, certain containers or other attachments may be designed for specific speeds. Using a different gear drive (e.g., different gear ratio) for the container or attachment may result in a more efficient blending process, as opposed to using the same ratio for every container/attachment. 
     It is further noted that the container  110  and/or blade assembly  130  may comprise an identification token that identifies the container  110  and/or blade assembly  130 . Identifying the container  110  and/or blade assembly  130  may allow the blender base  160 , another device, or a user to determine at what speeds to operate the blade assembly  130 , whether components of the blender system  100  are desirably connected, or whether desired gear drives are combined with an appropriate container  110  or other component. 
     In an example, a user may utilize blender system  100  but may not know or may not realize that the gear drive  140  operatively reduces the output speed of the blades  132 . Thus, the user may attempt to lower the speed of the blades  132 . The identification token may provide information that may indicate the operable speeds for the blade assembly  130 . 
     In an embodiment, the identification token may comprise indicia that is printed, etched, or otherwise displayed on the container  110  and/or blade assembly  130 . In another example, the identification token may comprise a mechanical feature, information encoded on a memory (e.g., via an RFID tag, NFC tag, etc.), or other component that may communicate with blender base  160 . For instance, the blender base  160  may include a first NFC component (not shown) that may communicate with a second NFC component of the container  110  and/or blade assembly  130 . The second NFC component may provide information to the blender base  160  via the first NFC component. In an example, the information may be utilized to control (e.g., allow, prevent, etc.) or indicate (e.g., via a display, lights, sound, etc.) the blending speeds or programs that may be designed for the specific container  110  and/or blade assembly  130 . 
     In another aspect, an NFC component disposed in the blade assembly  130  and/or container  110  may communicate with an NFC component disposed within the blender base  160  to identify a state of the blender system  100 . For instance, the blender system  100  may be configured such that the NFC component disposed in the blade assembly  130  and/or container  110  only communicates with the NFC component disposed with in the blender base  160  when the blender system  100  is operatively interlocked. 
     According to various embodiments, the blender system  100  may include physical stops or mechanical components that may prevent certain undesired combination of blade assembly  130 , gear drive  140 , container  110 , or base  160 . For instance, a blade assembly  130  having gear drive  140  may be operatively configured such that it may not be coupled to certain makes and models of containers and/or bases. This may prevent a user from mixing the blade assembly  130  with undesired components. 
     In at least one embodiment, the blender system  100  may include a gear drive (not shown) disposed between the motor  162  and the fan  164 . The gear drive may operatively convert input from the drive shaft  163  of the motor to an output speed for the fan  164 . In an aspect, the driven-to-drive ratio of the gear drive may be about an 1:y ratio, where y is a number generally greater than 1. As an example, y may be 2, 2.5, 2.8, 3, or the like. In other examples, the ratio may be 1:3, 1:2.5, 1:2.8, or the like. This may allow the fan  164  to be driven at a speed that is greater than the speed of the drive shaft  163  and/or the speed of the blades  132 . It is noted that embodiments may include the drive shaft  140 , a drive shaft for the fan, or both. 
     Turning now to  FIG. 7 , there is a container  600  according to various disclosed embodiments. Container  600  may be any appropriate size and shape, such as generally cylindrical, square, a combination thereof, etc. For instance, container  600  may be 64 oz., 48 oz., 32 oz. or the like. The container  600  may have various components, such as notches and measurements to assist with the production of food products. 
     The blending container  600  may include sidewall  610  that may comprise a double-wall construction, a single-wall construction, or the like. In another aspect, the sidewall  610  may comprise one or more materials, such as any suitable glass, metal, or plastic materials (e.g., a polymer material, polycarbonate or BPA (bisphenol-a) free plastics), such as by way of a non-limiting example, Tritan. A handle  612  may protrude from the sidewall  610 . Handle  612  may comprise any appropriate shape and type. The handle  612  may be a low profile handle made of plastic, including, without limitation a portion of which may be formed of thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) and the remaining portion may be formed from a plastic such as a polymer material, polycarbonate or BPA (bisphenol-a) free plastic. At least one part of handle  612  may make up at the same surface level of lip  614 . In another embodiment, handle  612  is at a different level than the level of the lip  614 . Handle  612  may be formed with a generally geometric shape, have ergonomic benefits, contain a grip portion, or contain any combination thereof. 
     The container  600  may include an apron  618  at its base or closed end  620 . The apron  618  may be sized and shaped to operatively engage a base of a blending system. The apron  618  may further include one or more components, such as a sensor and a locking mechanism, to provide a safety lock. In an aspect, sidewalls  610  may extend between the apron  618  or closed end  620  to the lip  614 . The sidewall  610  may be generally normal to the horizon. For instance, the sidewall  610  may comprise approximately a zero degree slant (e.g., generally between −5 and +5 degree slant). While shown as generally cylindrical, it is noted that sidewall  610  may comprise various other shapes, such as generally n-sided polygonal prism (where n is a number), an irregular shape, or the like. 
     According to embodiments, an inner perimeter  622  of the sidewall  610  may be generally uniform along the length of the sidewall. For example, the inner perimeter  622  may comprise generally the same dimensions along a substantial portion of the sidewall. In at least one embodiment, the sidewall  610  may be configured to receive a tamper, compressor, lid, or other component within the inner perimeter  622  of the sidewall  610 . The component may comprise a shape that fits within the sidewalls  610  and may seal, friction fit, or otherwise fit within the side wall  610 . For instance, the component may comprise a volume reducing device or compressor. The compressor may be inserted within the container  600  and may be position able between the lip  614  and the closed end  620 . In an aspect a stop  624  may protrude from the sidewall  610  to generally prevent the compressor from contacting a blade assembly (e.g., blade assembly  130 ). 
     In an aspect, the compression of foodstuff within the container  600  may reduce a working volume within the container  600 . Operation of a blade assembly within the working volume may impart heat into foodstuff. As the working volume is reduced, the pressure within the blending container may increase. Accordingly, container  600  may include a blade assembly comprising a gear drive (e.g., blade assembly  130  and gear drive  140 ). The gear drive may reduce the speed of rotation, which may reduce the amount of heat imparted into foodstuff by rotation of the blade assembly. In an aspect, the reduced speed may reduce the heat and pressure within the container  600 . 
     With reference now to  FIG. 8 , there is a blending container  700  that may operatively attach to a blender base (e.g., blender base  160 ). The blending container  700  may comprise a single serving blending container  700  that may operatively include a cup  702  and a blade base  704 . In an aspect, the blade base  704  may include blade assembly  730 . The blade assembly  730  may primarily include a splined shaft  734 , a gear drive  740  and blades  732 . 
     In an example, a user may place foodstuff within the cup  702 . The user may then attach the blade base  704  to the cup. For instance, the cup  702  and blade base  704  may be attachable via splines (e.g., screw like splines), fasteners, magnets, or the like. The user may then invert the cup  702  and attached blade base  704  (e.g., to the position shown in  FIG. 8 ) and may place the cup  702  and blade base  704  on a blender base. The blender base may drive the blade assembly  730  via the splined shaft  734 . The gear drive  740  may alter (e.g., reduce, increase, etc.) the output parameters of the blade assembly  730  relative blade assemblies within the gear drive  740 . For example, the gear drive  740  may reduce the output speed to reduce the speed of the blades  732 . In an aspect, the gear drive  740  may allow the blender container  700  to be utilized with a blender base that may also operatively drive a larger format blender container. 
     As described here as well as elsewhere in this disclosure, the blender container  700  may include an identification token, such as and NFC component (not shown). The identification token may be disposed in the cup  702 , blade base  704 , partly in both, or the like. For instance, the NFC component may identify a type, make, model, operating parameters, or the like for the blender container  700 . A blender base, or other device, may include an NFC component that operatively communicates with the NFC component of the blender container  700 . In an example, the blender base (via an NFC component) may communicate with the NFC component of the blender container  700 . The blender base may operatively enable or disable blending programs based on received identification information. 
     While embodiments described reducing the speed of blades via a gear drive of a blade assembly, it is noted that other embodiments may operatively increase the speed of the blades relative to the fan. For instance a gear drive (not shown) may operatively drive the fan  164 . In an aspect, the gear drive may receive input from the motor  162 , and may drive the fan  164 . In this manner, the gear drive may increase the speed for fan  164 . This may accelerate a blending process while potentially reducing the tax on the motor. 
     What has been described above includes examples of the present specification. It is, of course, not possible to describe every conceivable combination of components or methodologies for purposes of describing the present specification, but one of ordinary skill in the art may recognize that many further combinations and permutations of the present specification are possible. Each of the components described above may be combined or added together in any permutation to define embodiments disclosed herein. Accordingly, the present specification is intended to embrace all such alterations, modifications and variations that fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. Furthermore, to the extent that the term “includes” is used in either the detailed description or the claims, such term is intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term “comprising” as “comprising” is interpreted when employed as a transitional word in a claim.