Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
The ~resL~n~ inv~nti~n r~lates tQ ~1 port;ible food `~
[~ ~ O C C !~ I W ~ L ~ O L L l ~ J U I I I: f -l l processiny of
foodstuff's ancl ~lso ~or ~h~ slicing ancl shredcling of
foodstuffs
~he ohject o~ u ir~v~ntiol) is to l~lovicle a snlall
1. por~ble n~a~hir~ S c~p~ble c~ iC.uilllJ
both as a food proce~or and as a sliceL- al~d shredder by
the provision o~ a basic unit that can be set up in two
dif~erent confi~urations one of wlich adapts it to foad
processing and tllu (~LIII:I t.O ';liCin(~ ;Ind sllredcling
~ e ur~ l,t illVI~ .isL~ ,ort~ foo~
processor characteriscd in that it colapriscs a basic unit `-~'
consisting of a bas. constructed and arranged to stand ~n
a work surface, an electric motor'contained within the
base arranged to driv. eith-~r a ~licin~J or shreddinq unit
or a food processing unit and an upwardly projecting
handle portion by which the apparatus may be lifted
attached to the base, there being associated with the base '
and removable thereErom an upper portion includinq a feed
tube through whicll ~oodsLu~fs can he fed vertieally, the
base and the upper portion being construcced so that the
upper portion can be assembled to the base in two
different configurations in one of which the basic unit
receives a food processing unit consisting of a container
having a foo~ r~oc~ incJ 1,1 ~ coca~al~l~ tll~rein to be
driven by said electric motor and in the other of which ~;
the basic unit receives a slicinq or shredding unit
including a substantially horizontally arran~Jed disc
arran~Jed to ~u ~riv~ lrou~Jh ~lid clcctric motor, the
disc being associated wi~h means defining a space
connected to an outlet member constructed and arranged to
deliver material sliced or shredded by the disc in a
downward direction to a receptacle, the slicinq or ~
shredding unit and ~he food processor unit bein~ of ~''
different heights rt is preferred that means are ~ ''
. . ~'. '".:
provi~l~d for :orltlo~ J L h ~ . l l ol ~ l c e t r i c ,
Lu(lill,J ~ 9~ y nl,e~l.l.: s~"i ~ l all~l d s~C ~
contacts, means on sai~l uppe~ portion coacting with said
switch whereby in both said confiqurations the contacts
cannot be closed manually unless the upper portion is
properly engagLd with th-~ hLIS~ arld with oitl~r the slicing
or shr~ding urlit ot ~ Lo~ proc~ cJ Ul~it. -~
rn order that the nature of the invention may be
better understood a preferred form thereof is hereinafter ~ ~
described by way of exalnple with reference to the ~ ~`
accompanying drawillqr in Wlli
~ig. 1 is a sectional view of a food processor :~ ~
according to thc invention in the first configuration with ~`:~'
a food processing unit in place;
Fig. 2 is a silnilar view o the ba~ic unit in th~ ~ ~
other configuration with a slicing ancl shrrdding melllber in ~;
position; and
Figures 3, ~ and 5 are sectional views illustrating
the operation of the switch controlling the electric motor. , ',.,.'~
In the Eofm of the invention illustrated in the ~'
drawings the ba.;ic unit con.sists of a bas~ 10 Inoulded in
plastic material having ~eet 11 by means of which it is
suppoeted on a level working surface. Within the base 10
is an electric motor 13 which drives shaft l~ through a
gear hox 15 an-l al.so ~Irivo.~ a t.-n lG.
ro thc basL ~ tL~ is pc~rlllanencly att;loiled an
upstanding handlé poction 17 by means of which the whole
apparatus can be lifted.
To the top o the base lO there is r~movably attached
an uppcr portiull 1~ wlli(:ll is oollt)~ctL~I to the ~ase by
means of a bayonet joint such that the upper portion is
fixed to the base by a slight relative rotation and
disenqaged by rotation in the opposite direction.
The upper portion consists of a cover 19 on~which is ~:
mounted a feed tube 21 through which food to be sliced,
,~,': '.. .
~.. .:: .. ~.... . .
20 l~
grated or proc~ss~ lay l~e p~cssl~l by t~ yl indrical
l, ~ es .~ ~? r ~ :~ ~h ~ t f ~ :, c l ~ l y ~" i ~ h 5 ~ -P e ~ l L U ~
motor is controllecl l~y an elLctric switch operatinq
button 23 that may be op~raced by a user when holding the
The upper portion 1~ and the base 10 are arranged in '~
such a way that they ll~ay b~ ass~ le~ as shown in Fig. 1
or as shown in Fig. 2. In the arrallgelllent shown in Fig. 1
there is a greater space between the lower end of the feed
tube 21 and the basc to receive a food processor unit 24
consisting of a cylindric~l contain~r 25 having within it
a rotatable blade 26 driven by Illc-ans of the motor
shaft 1~. The cover 19 ~its closely over the cylindrical
container 25 of the food processing unit 2~. The food
processor works in a cluit~ convcntional manner and does
not require dctailcd d~;criptioll.
n the configuration of thc apparatus shown in
~ig. 2, the food processor unit 2~ is replaced by a
slicing or shredding unit 27 which consists of a plastic
body containin(J a steel slicing or shrctl(-lin.~ disc ~ ancl
hclving a downwLIrdly ~acillg uutlet ~0. Ln this
configuration the upper portion 18 and the base 10 are in
similar relative positions but the upper portion is
lowered in relation to the base to accolnmodate the
shallower slicing or shrcdding unit 27 th~ disc 2~ being
arranged to be rotatc-d by the drive shaEt 1~ and to
deliver grated material to the space 29 whence it passes ,
out through the outlet 30. As is best seen in Fig. 2, the
upper portion 1~ is provided with a projecting lug 3 that
fits within an upper slot 3? in the first configuration of
~ig. 1 and into slot 33 in the second configuration of
Fig. 2. The cover 19 in this configur.ation fits closely
over the slicing or shredding unit 27.
The construction and opcration oE the swit:~h
controlling the electric motor 13 is il.lustrated in :-~
Z~6~
5 - ~:
~igures 2, 3, ~1 and 5 the last th[ee figu~.s being a
sectional view ~ t1~ rtior1 ir1 c11e clicection of ~ -
the arrow A of Fig. l. ~rhe switch itsel~ consists of
contacts 3~1 and 35. ~ en these contacts are closed the
motor is energised. ~rhe upper contact 3~ can be moved
down by depre~sing the switcl1 button ~3 w~1ich ~c~ts throuqh
tt~e rod ~G . ~ olJ i ~ U~ ly l~y th~ :pr ing 37 ~ -
so that when the operc1ting button 23 is rcleased the
contact 3~ moves upwardly.
The lower contact 35 is connected to the rod 38 which
is hiased downwardl~ hy C11~ spri1lg ~4. 'l~he rod 3~ has on
it two projectior1s ~l and ~2 which ;,rc ar[;1nye~ .
respectively o[~positc t11e slots 32 ."~d ~3. In Fiq. 3 the
contacts 39 and 35 are ~ully sepacated t11e rod 36 being
held upwardly by the ~ i1.-J ~ ] ~ h l~ b e e n h~lcl
~IOW fl w~lr~l 1 y l~y L 11~' !;IJl i11IJ ~(J. I`i~J Ul ~ u:,Lr;lt~; t h
situation in which the operating button 23 has been
pressed to lower the contact 39 but in which the upper
portion l~ has not been engaged with the base lO. AS iS
seen the contact 3~ cannot be depressed far cnough to make
contact with the contact ~5. I~ ho~Jever, as is
illustrated in Figure 5, the projecting lug 31 attached to
the upper portion l~ is projecting into either the slot 32
or the slot 33 this lug interacts with either the
projection 9l or the projection ~2 on the rod 3a to lift
the lower contact 35 so that a contact is made between the - :~
contacts 34 and 35~ In this position if the operating ~,~
button 23 is released the contact 39 rises and the motor
is switched oEf. Thus the operation of the 1ootor can be
pulsed by pressing a1lc1 releasing th.~ opc-r~lting button 23
The arrangelnent above guards against the possibility
o~ the motor being operated when the covec l9 is not in
position leaving either the rotatable blade 26 or the
slicinq or shredding disc 27 exposed. .,
In ocder to carry out food processing the food
''"'.'~
~6~
6 -
processing uni~ ~1 is inscrted in position on the base 10and the ~ota~ . U i ~ ~ n ~J ;~ ~J ~ ~I W i L ~ r i V e
shaft 1~. ~he upper portion is then set in place and
rotated slightly to bring t~le pcojecting lug 31 into the
slot 32. The ~ood processing unit is then held firmly in
position and food for processing may be inserted through
the fced tub~ 21.
To carry out slicing oc shredding, the food
processing unit may be readily rcmoved by reversing the
steps described abov~ arl~ replace(l by the slicing or
shreddin~ unit 2~ wllicl~ in~J sl)..lLowL~ n the food
processer unit 2~ 9~1iL~ L Ll1~ UI~P~L P~rtiOn la and
the cover 19 should be lowered in relation to the base,
permitting the projecting lug 31 to be inserte'd in the .
slot 33.
'I`he invention thus provides ~ very simple and
portable form of apparatus for carrying out either food
processing or shredding or slicing.
. .
':
''' ~.'''''''''`'
. ''- ~'
