Patent ID: 8444074

Claim:
A pepper mill comprising: a container body surrounding an axis; a driving member coupled rotatably to said container body, and cooperating with said container body to define a receiving space for receiving peppercorns; a grinding unit including a coupling shaft that extends rotatably in said receiving space along the axis, that is movable in said receiving space along the axis, and that has a threaded segment extending outwardly of said driving member, a first grinding seat that is mounted to said container body and that has a first grinding surface surrounding said coupling shaft, and a second grinding seat that is coupled co-rotatably to said coupling shaft and that has a second grinding surface cooperating with said first grinding surface to define a grinding space therebetween, said first and second grinding surfaces being configured such that the size of said grinding space is adjusted when said coupling shaft and said second grinding seat move along the axis relative to said first grinding seat; a planetary gear mechanism disposed in said receiving space, and including a driving gear unit coupled co-rotatably to said driving member, and a driven gear unit coupled co-rotatably to said coupling shaft of said grinding unit and driven rotatably by said driving gear unit to drive rotation of said coupling shaft; and an adjusting unit including an adjusting component that is connected threadedly to said threaded segment of said coupling shaft, and that is operable to drive said coupling shaft and said second grinding seat to move along the axis relative to said first grinding seat so as to adjust the size of said grinding space; and wherein said planetary gear mechanism includes: a ring gear serving as said driving gear unit, a sun gear unit coupled non-rotatably to said container body and including a sun gear surrounded by said ring gear, and a planet gear unit serving as said driven gear unit and including a carrier, a plurality of planet gears, and a plurality of pin axles that connect rotatably and respectively said planet gears to said carrier, said planet gears being disposed between and meshing with said ring gear and said sun gear, said coupling shaft extending rotatably through said sun gear unit and being coupled slidably and co-rotatably to said carrier, said driving member and said ring gear being rotatable relative to said container body so as to drive said planet gears to rotate respectively on said pin axles, and drive said carrier and said coupling shaft to rotate about the axis.