CN100563532C - Salad Spinner - Google Patents

Abstract

A kind of salad spin-drier comprises: bowl has flat inner bottom part; Rotary dehydration basket supports onboard; Lid is rotatably installed a rotation drive plate at the downside of lid round vertical axis, and the rotation drive plate cooperates with dehydration basket by protrusion; Drive unit, the rotation drive plate can utilize drive unit to be driven in rotation; Lid comprises the trip edge that engages with bowl; Wherein plate is connected on the flat inner bottom part anti-skiddingly, the integrally formed support protrusion of plate portion, and in the insertion bowl, the bottom of dehydration basket is formed with brace groove, brace groove is installed in the support protrusion portion, brace groove extends in the dehydration basket highlightedly, the diameter of flat inner bottom part mates mutually with the diameter that is installed in the plate on the inner bottom part, bowl is made by glass or pottery, and the present invention can make to use simultaneously for the bowl that the is filled with water part of pure function up to now and act on the bowl that distributes salad.

Description

Salad Spinner

technical field

The invention relates to a salad spinner, which comprises: a bowl-shaped container and a sieve-shaped spin-type spin-dryer basket installed in the bowl-shaped container, and the basket is placed on a support protrusion through a support groove; it also includes a cover, on the lower side of the cover, a rotary drive plate rotatable along a vertical axis is mounted, the rotary drive plate engages with the spin-drying basket through protrusions; and a driving device for driving the rotary drive plate to rotate, wherein the The lid includes an engagement rim that engages the bowl.

Background technique

A salad spinner of the type described above is known, for example, from EP-0919177, while older models with different spinner basket mountings are known, for example, from FR-A-1012262 or from CH-A-353509.

Salad spinners are commercially available and corresponding solutions can be derived, for example, from WO-03/043477 of the applicant.

A salad spinner of the described construction type has a relatively large volume and therefore occupies a relatively large space in the refrigerator. After the salad has been largely freed of the water adhering to the previous rinsing process in the spin dryer, the salad is removed from the spin dryer basket and placed into a salad bowl for further preparation. The corresponding salad bowl is relatively large and takes up further space in the kitchen.

So it seems obvious that salad spinner bowls can also be used to prepare and serve salads. However, this is difficult to achieve in a meaningful way with the average salad spinners on the market today. For one thing, these bowls are made of clear plastic to make it possible to recognize when the shaking process is complete. However, these clear plastic bowls are far from the aesthetic aspect that is often focused on salad bowls. Added to this is the fact that bowl-shaped containers of widely common design today have a centrally protruding support projection integrally formed with the bottom of the bowl-shaped container. Not only is this bulge aesthetically unpleasant, but the bulge acts as an extreme hindrance when mixing salad and dressing in the bowl. In particular, the tips of salad dishes can also scratch against the support bead, where in the worst case the support bead can even be destroyed.

If we make a bowl-like container as a utensil for mixing salads, the latter problem mentioned will not occur. This is the case of EP-A-0439413, which mentions that the bowl can be made of any material, such as glass and ceramics. However, as shown by FR-A-2688131 of the same applicant, the fact in this case is that the problem of relatively minor importance compared with the fast rotating salad spinner is the need to change the dimensional error; One solution is shown in FR-A-2688131: dimensional errors can be compensated by a support shaft adjustable in the longitudinal direction.

Contents of the invention

The object of the present invention is therefore to create a salad spinner with such a design that its bowl can be used at the same time as a serving bowl for serving salads and obviating the above-mentioned drawbacks .

The present invention provides a salad spinner comprising: a bowl-shaped container having a flat inner bottom; a spin-dryer basket supported on a plate, the spinner basket mounted in the bowl-shaped container by its bottom, The plate is detachably installed on the flat inner bottom; a cover, on the lower side of the cover, a rotating drive plate is rotatably mounted around a vertical axis, and the rotating drive plate is matched with the spin-type dehydration basket through protrusions; A device, the rotation drive plate can be driven to rotate by means of the drive device; wherein the lid includes an engaging edge engaged with the bowl; it is characterized in that the plate is non-slip connected to the flat inner bottom, the plate is integrally formed The support protrusion is inserted into the bowl-shaped container, the bottom of the spin-type dehydration basket is integrally formed with a support groove, the support groove is installed on the support protrusion, and the support groove protrudes to the rotating In the type dehydration basket, wherein the diameter of the flat inner bottom and the diameter of the plate mounted on the flat inner bottom match each other, the bowl-shaped container is made of glass or ceramics.

The basic idea of the invention is to realize a salad spinner with a glass or ceramic bowl, so that the hitherto purely functional bowl part can simultaneously be used as a container for dispensing the salad. Bowl-shaped container. A standard salad bowl includes, in addition to the bowl, a lid with a drive mechanism for rotational movement by pulling on the handle, the drive mechanism including a rotary drive plate with a pull cord reel and a pull cord. This rotary drive plate with protrusions engages suitable ribs on the spin spin basket. The spin spin basket includes support grooves supported on the support protrusions. The support boss is provided apart from the bowl, centrally located on the plate. The bowl-shaped container has a flat inner bottom on which the plate is supported and by means of joint edges defining the flat inner bottom a central mounting of the plate is achieved. For easy removal of the plate, there may be suitable openings so that the plate can be grasped more easily. On the underside of the plate there is an elastic rubber support which acts as a scratch and slip preventer.

In order to achieve this, two steps had to be carried out, specifically, on the one hand changing the choice of material and on the other hand designing the bowl so that it had the functions required for two tasks: That is, on the one hand, it can be used as a receiving basket with a corresponding installation (support) function during the shaking process, and on the other hand, it has the function of a salad bowl container, wherein the supporting protrusions that hinder and are easily destroyed are designed as separate separate parts. In this regard, the idea of making a glass salad spinner bowl is especially pertinent. However, this solution, which is almost obvious to a novice, is not a solution routinely adopted by those skilled in the art. Therefore, we must understand that the dimensional accuracy of glass bowls and bowls made of ceramics allows large tolerances during production. In particular, larger glass bowls having a diameter of 20 to 30 cm may be so out of round that the diameter of the bowl deviates by up to 5% from the ideal standard diameter. However, such deviations cause problems with the performance of the salad spinner, which can tolerate such dimensional deviations only within very narrow tolerances. This means that, contrary to today's customary manufacturing methods, the glass bowls used here are measured for their dimensional accuracy and accordingly those bowls which are outside the permissible tolerance range are remelted. As a rule of thumb, scrap rates are well above 10% of total production. However, this value is not a problem at all in the glass manufacturing industry, since the glass can be turned back into a molten substance.

Likewise, the connection of the bearing journal to the glass bottom of the bowl is very cumbersome. A large difference in wall thickness will result in a corresponding stress due to this difference, which will greatly affect the quality of the bowl container.

Accordingly, the present invention includes the use of support bosses in the bowl as insertable plates. This plate and the inner bottom of the bowl must fit each other in size and shape.

Description of drawings

Fig. 1 is a sectional view of a salad spinner according to the present invention.

Wherein, the reference signs are explained as follows:

1-Salad rotary dehydrator;

2- bowl container;

3 - cover;

4-Rotary dehydration basket

5 - Rotary drive plate;

6- drawstring reel;

7- drawstring;

9- pull the handle;

10 - joint edge;

10 - protrusions on the rotation drive plate;

11 - Bottom of spin spin basket;

12 - support groove;

13 - Spin-type dehydrator basket wall;

14 - thickened edges with vertical locking grooves;

15-plate;

16 - support raised portion;

17 - edge;

18 - opening;

19 - peripheral groove;

20 - elastic rubber support;

21 - flat inner bottom;

22 - concave outer bottom;

23 - bowl-shaped container wall;

24 - the edge of the bowl-shaped container;

25 - Join the edges.

Detailed ways

Preferred embodiments of the subject matter of the present invention will be described below by means of the drawings.

A preferred embodiment of the subject matter of the invention is shown in the drawing. Reference numeral 1 designates an integral salad spinner. The salad spinner comprises a bowl 2 here according to the invention made of glass or ceramic, and a lid 3 mounted on the bowl 2 . When in the following we are basically speaking of glass bowls, the technical solution using ceramics should also be understood as being also included in the context. A detachable spin-type dehydration basket 4 can be placed in the bowl-shaped container 2 . The spinner basket 4 , like the lid 3 , is usually made of plastic. However, the cover can also be made of metal (in particular stainless steel or chrome-plated steel). In a preferred embodiment, a flywheel arrangement with automatic pull cord retraction and bidirectional action is used, as is known from the applicant's WO 03/043477. The rotary drive plate 5 is integrated in the cover 3 and is rotatably mounted on a bearing journal inside the cover 3 . The rotary drive plate 5 is fixedly connected to the pull cord reel 6 wound with the pull cord 7 , or the rotary drive plate 5 is retracted by a suitable pulling force applied to the pull handle 8 by the user. The further design of the drive mechanism is omitted here, and reference can be made to the embodiment in the aforementioned WO03/043477. However, the design of the drive mechanism is not critical for the invention. Therefore, the driving device realized by the stay cord can also be replaced and realized by the crank like the earlier salad spinner.

On the lower side, the rotary drive plate 5 has a protrusion 10 towards the spin-dryer basket 4 , which can engage with the spin-dryer basket 4 .

The mentioned spin-dryer basket 4 is made of plastic and is designed according to a sieve 11, the spin-dryer basket 4 has a spin-dryer basket bottom 11 in which support grooves 12 are integrally formed , the support groove 12 protrudingly extends into the spin-type dehydration basket 4 . This spin-type dehydrator basket wall 13 is connected with this spin-type dehydrator basket bottom 11 and extends upwardly, and its end is thickened edge 14; In this edge 14 inner side forms a plurality of locking grooves ( locking groove), the above-mentioned protrusions 10 on the rotating drive plate 5 can be inserted between the locking grooves to engage.

The spinner basket 4 is mounted in as point contact as possible on a bearing cam 16 integrally formed in the plate 15 . However, this plate 15 , which can in principle be made of any material, is preferably made of plastic or metal. In order to reduce friction, it is particularly advantageous if the spinner basket is mounted on a metal support lug made of plastic. Therefore, this plate 15 is preferably made of stainless steel or chrome-plated steel. The plate 15 is preferably provided with a peripheral edge 17 shaped downwards towards the bottom of the bowl-shaped container when in the position of use. Furthermore, it is also advantageous if the plate 15 is provided with at least two openings 18 through which the plate 15 can be easily grasped.

As a result of the plate 15 , the glass bowl 2 no longer has to have support projections. However, in order that the plate 15 does not scrape with the glass bowl 2, it is advantageous that the plate 15 is provided with a peripheral channel 19 in which an elastic rubber support 20 can be fixed in a firm manner . As a result, this elastic rubber support 20 not only forms a scratch protection, but also an anti-slip device and thus ensures that the plate 15 practically does not slip during shaking. In order to prevent sliding, the glass bowl-shaped container 2 is also designed accordingly. The glass bowl 2 in particular comprises a flat inner bottom 21 and the diameter of the flat inner bottom 21 corresponds at least approximately exactly to the diameter of the plate 15 to allow it to fit inside. Furthermore, the transition of the flat inner bottom 21 to the inner wall 23 is designed with as small a radius as possible, so that a peripheral abutment edge 25 is essentially produced in this region. In the embodiment shown here, the flat inner bottom 21 of the bowl-shaped container 2 is designed planar over its entire surface, while the outer surface of the bottom is formed as a concave outer bottom 22 .

In essence, it is of course also possible to make the shape of the inner bottom protruding in the middle, wherein at least one annular surface (plane annular surface) should be reserved at least on the periphery of this protruding part, which can ensure that the plate 15 has a suitable support plane . In principle, an at least approximately direct fit design between the plate 15 and the inner bottom is conceivable. In reality, however, this is almost impossible to imagine. Therefore, the dimensional error between the glass bowl and the bowl of ordinary ceramics will be too large. This is an issue that must be taken into account during the manufacture of glass bowls. Therefore, the glass or ceramic bowl must be precisely controlled, wherein it is important that the round shape of the bowl is as precise as possible. Therefore, the diameter of the bowl-shaped container in the region of the upper edge should not deviate from the standard diameter determined by the lid by a maximum of 2%, preferably by only about 1%. Yet if the deviation is too large, it is an effective way to ensure that the joint edge (rest edge) of the lid 3 is placed on the edge 24 of the bowl-shaped container. If the engagement is not sufficient, the lid may fall into the bowl where various components will become stuck. The variation in the dimensional accuracy of the inner bottom of the bowl-shaped container is usually very small. The diameter of the flat surface 21 on one side and the diameter of the plate 15 on the other side should match each other so that the difference between the two diameters is less than half the diameter of the support lug 16 . If these differences are too large, the spinner basket 4 will deform during shaking as the weight distribution of the spinner basket 4 is not uniform, resulting in a tilted position and thus scratching.

Claims (8)

1. A salad spinner, comprising: A bowl-shaped container (2) with a flat inner bottom (21); Spinner basket (4), supported on a plate (15), the spinner basket (4) is mounted in the bowl (2) through its bottom (11), the plate is detachably mounted on the flat the inner bottom of the A cover (3), on the underside of the cover (3) is rotatably mounted a rotary drive plate (5) around a vertical axis, and the rotary drive plate (5) communicates with the rotary dehydration basket ( 4) cooperation; drive means, the rotary drive plate (5) can be driven to rotate by means of the drive means; Wherein the lid (3) comprises an engaging edge (9) engaged with the bowl-shaped container (2); It is characterized in that the plate (15) is non-slip connected to the flat inner bottom (21), the plate (15) integrally forms a supporting protrusion (16), and is inserted into the bowl-shaped container (2), the The bottom (11) of the rotary dehydration basket (4) is integrally formed with a support groove (12), the support groove (12) is installed on the support protrusion (16), and the support groove (12) protrudes Extending into the spinner basket (4), wherein the diameter of the flat inner bottom (21) and the diameter of the plate (15) mounted on the flat inner bottom (21) match each other, the bowl-shaped container (2) Made of glass or ceramics. 2. The salad spinner according to claim 1, characterized in that the inner bottom (21) is completely planar and forms a transition section towards the wall of the bowl-shaped container (2) for the The joint edge (25) of the inserted plate (15). 3. The salad spinner according to claim 1, characterized in that, the inner bottom (21) of the bowl-shaped container (2) is a curved surface and has an annular plane, and the annular plane reaches the bowl-shaped container The transition section of the wall forms the junction for the inserted plate (15). 4. A salad spinner as claimed in claim 2, characterized in that the difference between the diameter of the completely planar inner bottom (21) and the diameter of the plate (15) is smaller than that of the support lug Half the diameter of (16). 5. The salad spinner according to claim 1, characterized in that the plate (15) is made of plastic or metal. 6. The salad spinner according to claim 5, characterized in that the deviation between the outer diameter of the glass bowl (2) and the standard diameter determined by the cover (3) is at most 2%. 7. The salad spinner as claimed in claim 6, characterized in that, the plate (15) comprises at least one peripheral edge with a downward shape, and two or more than two holes to facilitate grabbing the plate (15). The penetration opening (18). 8. A salad spinner as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the plate (15) comprises a peripheral groove or groove (19) on the surface which contacts the bottom of the bowl in the position of use , so that the elastic rubber support (20) used as anti-scratch and anti-slip is fixed.