Patent ID: 8608098

Claim:
A condiment grinder comprising: a body for containing condiment seeds; a grinding mechanism located at an open end of the body, through which condiment seeds ground by the grinding mechanism may be dispensed, the grinding mechanism comprising an operating shaft, a female grinder, and a male grinder which is supported co-axially in the female grinder for rotation relative to the female grinder for grinding condiment seeds, the female and male grinders being spaced apart by an annular gap in which condiment seeds are ground; a base attached to the open end of the body, wherein the open end is a lower end of the body, for standing the body on a surface, the base is in engagement with one of the female and male grinders and is turnable to adjust axial position of one of the male and female grinders relative to the other of the male and female grinders, size of the annular gap, and size of ground condiment seeds, the male and female grinders are both resiliently biased toward the base, the base is in engagement with one of the male and female grinders from below, against the resilient bias acting upon the one of the male and female grinders that is engaged by the base, and the base has a peripheral portion that is exposed to and accessible for gripping so that the base can be turned; and a drive mechanism for turning the operating shaft to operate the grinding mechanism, the drive mechanism comprising an operator supported for reciprocating motion relative to the body, and a motion translator for translating the reciprocating motion into uni-directional rotary motion driving the operating shaft.