Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
i
CA 02461514 2004-03-19
1
AN IMPROVEMENT ON AN ELECTRIC PEPPER MILL
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the invention
The present invention relates to an electric pepper mill, more
particularly one, which is equipped with such a conducting element that
the electric circuit thereof will be opened when the pepper mill is placed
in an upside down position; thus, the pepper mill will not be powered to
1o work in an upside down position:
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Electric pepper mills are very popular because they can save the
users a lot of labor. Referring to Figs. 12, and 13, a conventional pepper
mill includes a main body 40, a pepper holding member 50, a power unit
60, and a grinding unit 70.
The main body 40 includes an upper cover 401, a cylindrical
element 402, a transparent element 403, and a manual turning plate 405;
the upper cover 401 is joined to as upper end of the cylindrical element
402 with three hooks 4011 thereof engaging corresponding trenches
4021 of the cylindrical element 402; the transparent element 403 is fitted
around the cylindrical element 402; the cylindrical element 402 has a slot
4022, a protrusion 4023 sticking up form the lower end of the slot 4022;
a switch 404 is up and down movably fitted to the slot 4022 with a
mortise 4041 thereof being fitted over the protrusion 4023; the switch
CA 02461514 2004-03-19
2
404 is normally biased to an off position, and can be pushed down to an
on position; the cylindrical element 402 is detachably joined to the
manual turning plate 405 with engaging protrusions 4024 of the lower
end thereof being fitted into engaging trenches of the turning plate 405,
which are formed adjacent to pushed block 4051 of the turning plate 405;
the cylindrical element 402 can be detached from the manual turning
plate 405 when the pushed block 4051 are pushed.
A fixing chamber 406 is provided in the cylindrical element 402
while the power unit 60 has a motor holder 602 fixedly disposed in the
fixing chamber 40b, and a motor 601 held in the motor holder 602.
The grinding unit 70 includes a transmission shaft 701, which is
connected to a central gear 702 of a gear combination joined to the shaft
of the motor 601 at an upper end; the transmission shaft 701 is further
screwed into an adjustment knob 703 arranged above the upper cover
401 so that fineness of ground pepper can be adjusted by means of the
knob 703.
The manual turning plate 405 is joined to the upper end of the
pepper holding member 50; the manual turning plate 405 is formed with
stopping parts 4052, which are engaged with sloping stop protrusions
501 of the pepper holding member 50 to prevent the holding member 50
from turning together with the transmission shaft 701.
The pepper mill is not very convenient to use because the user has
to keep on pressing the switch 404 in order for the pepper mill to work.
CA 02461514 2004-03-19
3
If the pepper mill is equipped with such a switch instead of the one 404
that the pepper mill can continue working after the switch has been
moved to the on position, the switch has to be moved back to the off
position when the user wants to stop using the mill. Therefore, the
pepper mill is still not very convenient to use with such switch.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is a main object of the present invention to provide an electric
pepper mill, which will not be powered to work in an upside down
position.
The electric pepper mill of the present invention is equipped with a
conducting element, which can move such a position as to close a circuit
consisting of a motor and batteries of the pepper mill for the motor to be
powered with the batteries when the pepper mill is turned to an upright
position, and which can move to a non-action position when the pepper
mill is turned upside down so that the circuit is opened. In other words,
the motor of the pepper mill will not be powered with the batteries when
the pepper mill is turned upside down.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWIrTGS
The present invention will be better understood by reference to the
CA 02461514 2004-03-19
4
accompanying drawings, wherein
Fig. 1 is an exploded perspective view of the electric pepper mill
according to the present invention,
Fig. 1 is a cross-sectional view of the electric pepper mill according
to the present invention,
Fig. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view of the electric pepper mill of
the present invention,
Fig. 4 is a bottom view of the conducting element and other parts of
io the power unit according to the present invention,
Fig. 5 is a view showing the relationship between the conducting
element and other parts of the power unit of the present invention,
Fig. 6 is another partial cross-sectional view of the electric pepper
mill of the present invention,
Fig. 7 is a partial cross-sectional view of the electric pepper mill of
the present invention with the upper cover being turned to another
position,
Fig. 8 is a view showing the way of using the electric pepper mill of
the present invention,
2o Fig. 9 is a partial cross-sectional view of the electric pepper mill of
the present invention in the upside down position,
Fig. 10 is a partial cross-sectional view of the electric pepper mill of
the present invention in the upright position,
CA 02461514 2004-03-19
Fig. 11 is a partial cross-sectional view of the electric pepper mill of
the second embodiment in the upside down position,
Fig. 12 is an exploded perspective view of the conventional pepper
mill as described in the Background; and,
5 Fig. 13 is a cross-sectional view of the conventional pepper mill.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODll4iENTS
Referring to Figs. 1, 2, and 3, an electric pepper mill of the present
1o invention includes a main body 1, a motor 2, a battery holder 3, a
conducting element 4, a pepper holding element 5, a transmission shaft 6,
and a grinding unit 7.
The main body 1 has, as shown in Fig. 3, a through hole 11 at the
center, three connecting holes 12 spaced out on the edge, several
L-shaped fixing trenches 13 on an inner side of an upper end, ribs 14, 15
formed on each L-shaped fixing trench 13, and engaging trenches 17
between the L-shaped fixing trenches 13, and is joined to an upper cover
16 at the upper end thereof; the upper cover 16 has spaced hooks 161
sticking down from the edge thereof; to join the upper cover 16 to the
2o main body 1, the hooks 161 are first fitted to bigger portions of
respective fixing trenches 13, and then the upper cover 16 is turned for
the hooks 161 to be fitted between the ribs 14 and 15 formed on
respective fixing trenches 13. The upper cover 16 further has two curved
CA 02461514 2004-03-19
6
conducting portions 162 opposite each other on the lower side.
The motor 2 is disposed in the main body 1 with a shaft 21 thereof
being passed through the hole 11 of the main body 1; the shaft 21 is
further connected to a transmission sleeve 22, which is positioned under
the main body 1, and which has two projections 221 on a lower side.
The battery holder 3 has a central chamber 31 on a middle of a
lower end thereof, four battery holding portions 33, an engaging
protrusion 35 on each of the battery holding portions 33, and two
opposing terminals 32, 32' beside the central chamber 31; four batteries
i0 341 of a battery set 34 are held in respective holding portions 33; the
battery holder 3 is fixedly disposed above the motor 2 in the main body 1
with the engaging protrusion 35 thereof engaging respective ones of the
engaging trenches 17.
Referring to Fig. 4, which is a bottom view of the battery holder 3,
and Fig. 5, the conducting element 4 is held in the central chamber 31 of
the battery holder 3, and has two terminal legs 41, 41, which are
connected to the terminals 32, 32' respectively; the conducting element 4
further has a conductive object 42, which is movable between an action
position when the pepper mill is upright, as shown in Fig. 10, where it
contacts both the terminal legs 41, 41 to connect the same to each other
and a non-action position when the pepper mill is upside down, as shown
in Fig. 9, where it is away from the terminal legs 41, 41. In the first
embodiment of the present invention, the conductive object 42 is
CA 02461514 2004-03-19
7
mercury.
The pepper holding element 5 has three spaced L-shaped engaging
plates 51 on the edge of the upper end, and is secured to the lower end of
the main body 1 with the engaging plates 51 engaging respective
connecting holes 12 as shown in Fig. 6. A fixing ring 52 is positioned in
the holding element 5, and fixedly joined to the same with screws 53; a
disk 54 is fixedly positioned on top of the fixing ring 52, which has a
polygonal hole 541; the fixing ring 52 has elastic engaging hooks 521
spaced on the edge, and gaps (not numbered) above the hooks 521. A
i0 bottom disk 55 is fixedly joined to the lower end of the pepper holding
element 5.
The transmission shaft 6 has a cross-section in the shape of the
polygonal hole 541 of the disk 54, and is passed through the polygonal
hole 541 and the fixing ring 52. A co-moving bar 61 is joined to the
upper end of the transmission shaft 6, and engages the transmission
sleeve 22 with two ends thereof being positioned between the projections
221 of the bottom of the transmission sleeve 22; thus, rotation of the
shaft 21 of the motor 2 can be passed on to the transmission shaft 6.
The grinding unit 7 includes an inner grinding part 72, and an outer
2o grinding part 71 positioned around the inner part 72. The inner part 72
has teeth 721 on the outer side, and a polygonal hole 722; the
transmission shaft 6 is fitted into the polygonal hole 722 at a lower
portion, and is passed into a central round hole of a locating element 62
CA 02461514 2004-03-19
8
at a round lower end. The outer part 71 has teeth 711 on the inner side
thereof, and protrusions 712 spaced on the inner side. The outer part 71
is disposed in the fixing ring 52 with the protrusions 712 engaging the
elastic hooks 521 as well as the gaps of the fixing ring 52 so that the
outer part 71 can't move or rotate relative to the fixing ring 52. Thus, the
inner part 72 can rotate relative to the outer part ? 1 for grinding pepper
when the motor 2 is powered.
To separate the main body 1 from the holding element 5 for
allowing peppercorns to be added into the holding element 5, the main
body 1 is fiirst turned relative to the holding element 5 for a short angle to
disengage the engaging plates 51 from the fixing trenches 13. To use the
pepper mill to grind pepper, first, the upper cover 16 is first turned
relative to the main body 1 until the hooks 1 b 1 pass the ribs 15, as shown
in Fig. ?, so that the curved conducting portions 162 of the upper cover
16 come into contact with the batteries 341 for the batteries 341 to be
connected together. Then, the pepper mill is turned to an upright position
where the main body 1 is above the holding element 5; thus, the
conductive object 42 contacts both the terminal legs 41, 41 to connect
the legs 41, 41 to each other, and in turns, the circuit is closed, and the
motor 2 is powered by the batteries 341.
To stop the pepper mill, referring to Fig. 9, the pepper mill is turned
to the upside-down position so that the conductive object 42 is away
from the terminal legs 41, 41, and in turns, the circuit of the pepper mill
CA 02461514 2004-03-19
9
is opened, and the motor 2 is no longer powered.
Referring to Figs. 11, and 12, a conducting element 8 is used
instead of the one 4 according to the second embodiment of the
invention; the conducting element 8 includes two conducring chips 82,
and a conductive metallic bar 81; the conducting chips 82 are connected
to the terminals 32, 32' respectively; the conductive metallic bar 81 is
movable between an action position where it closes the circuit of the
pepper mill for allowing the motor 2 to be powered and a non-action
position, having tine same function as the mercury 42 used in the first
embodiment.
From the above description, it can be easily understood that the
pepper mill of the present invention is relatively convenient to use
because after the upper cover 16 has been turned for the curved
conducting portions 162 to come into contact with the batteries 341 to
connect the batteries 341 together, the user can make the pepper mill
work to grind pepper by means of turning it to the upright position, and
make it stop working by means of turning it upside down. When the
curved conducting portions 162 are made to no longer contact the
batteries 341 by means of turning the upper cover 16, the motor 2 won't
be powered with the batteries 341 no matter which positions ~e pepper
mill is moved to.
