Patent ID: 7069839

Claim:
A food appliance comprising a base housing a motor and a drive shaft; a bowl adapted to mount on said base, said bowl having an opening therethrough allowing said drive shaft to be received in said bowl; a food processing implement adapted to be attached to and driven by said drive shaft while positioned in said bowl; a lid selectively attachable to and detachable from said bowl; a feed tube extending from said lid and adapted to receive food product therethrough for guiding said food product into said bowl; a plunger adapted to be selectively positioned into said feed tube and advanced therein, or to be selectively removed from said feed tube; a pivoting transmission member pivotally attached to said feed tube; and a switching assembly adapted to enable activation of said motor when said lid is in a predetermined position on said bowl and when said plunger is received at least partially into said feed tube such that said plunger causes said pivoting transmission member to pivot from a first position to a second position, and wherein said switching assembly further comprises an arm adjacent to where said lid is selectively attachable to said bowl, adapted to disable activation of said motor either when said plunger is removed at least partially from said feed tube or when said lid is moved away from said predetermined position regardless of the position of said plunger.