Patent ID: 8162530

Claim:
A handheld electric mixer comprising: a housing, a pair of rotational output spindles located in the housing for holding mixer work pieces, a variable speed motor located in the housing and having a rotational output shaft, an electronic speed controller for controlling rotational speed of the motor, and a two-speed gearbox located in the housing, receiving torque from the output shaft of the motor, and transmitting the torque to the pair of rotational output spindles, wherein the two-speed gearbox has a first ratio for providing a first range of output speeds and a second ratio for providing a second range of output speeds, and the first ratio transmits at least twice as much torque to the pair of rotational output spindles as does the second ratio, the two-speed gearbox comprises a pair of shafts rotationally coupling the motor to the pair of rotational output spindles, a pair of first ratio shaft gears positioned on the pair of shafts, a pair of second ratio shaft gears positioned on the pair of shafts, wherein one of the first and second ratio shaft gears of each of the pairs of first and second ratio shaft gears is a freely rotatable gear, freely rotatable on a first of the shafts, and a selector mechanism located on the first shaft for selecting between the first ratio shaft gears and the second ratio shaft gears, the selector mechanism comprising a clutch disk positioned on the first shaft, between the freely rotatable gears, and moveable axially along the first shaft for alternatively engaging and rotatably locking the freely rotatable gear that is engaged with the clutch disk.