Blender

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12193609-B2
Application number	US-202017609196-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 7, 2020
Priority date	May 8, 2019
Publication date	Jan 14, 2025
Grant date	Jan 14, 2025

Abstract

A blender comprises: a jar in which a blade is placed; a body in which the jar is seated and having an opened lower surface; a motor which is provided inside the body and rotates the blade; a fan which is provided at the lower end of a rotary shaft of the motor and rotates when the motor is driven to generate an air flow inside the body; a PCB placed between the body and the motor; a base plate which blocks the lower surface of the body and includes a suction port via which air is sucked into the body, and a drain port via which air is discharged outside of the body; and an air guide which connects the motor to the drain port to form a discharge path of air, the PCB being placed over the suction port and cooled by the sucked air.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A blender comprising:
a container in which at least one blade is positioned;
a body including
an outer case made of metal that forms an exterior and has an open bottom, and
an inner case having a bottom surface including an opening, said inner case made of plastic material and positioned within the outer case;

a motor provided inside the body and configured to rotate the blade;
a fan provided below the motor, the fan configured to be rotated by the motor to generate a flow of air within the body;
a base plate covering the opening of the bottom surface of the inner case, the base plate including a first plate hole through which air is suctioned into the body when the fan is rotated and a second plate hole through which air is discharged out of the body when the fan is rotated;
at least one printed circuit board (PCB) disposed between a peripheral surface of the inner case and the motor, and disposed above the first plate hole to be cooled by air suctioned into the body through the first plate hole; and
an air guide configured to fluidly connect the motor to the second plate hole so as to define an air discharge path,
wherein a plurality of bosses are formed in the inner case and extend toward the bottom surface of the inner case, and
a plurality of screws penetrating the base plate, each of said plurality of screws is fastened to one of the plurality of bosses to couple the base plate to the inner case.

2. The blender according to claim 1 ,
wherein the air guide is mounted on the base plate and is configured to support the motor from below.

3. The blender according to claim 2 ,
wherein an upper end of the motor is positioned below a top surface of the body.

4. The blender according to claim 1 ,
wherein the motor is positioned between the first plate hole and the second plate hole in a plan view.

5. The blender according to claim 4 ,
wherein the PCB is positioned between the motor and the first plate hole in the plan view.

6. The blender according to claim 5 ,
wherein the PCB includes an inverter PCB configured to control a rotation speed of the motor.

7. The blender according to claim 1 ,
wherein the air guide includes:
a guide hole configured to communicate with the motor; and
a circumferential surface positioned along a circumference of an opened bottom surface of the air guide, the circumferential surface extending to be in contact with the base plate so as to define an air flow space.

8. The blender according to claim 7 ,
wherein the fan is provided inside the air flow space defined by the circumferential surface of the air guide.

9. The blender according to claim 7 ,
wherein the second plate hole is provided in a region of the base plate within the circumferential surface of the air guide.

10. The blender according to claim 9 ,
wherein
the second plate hole is defined in a first end of the base plate, and
the first plate hole is defined outside the region of the base plate within the circumferential surface of the air guide, the first plate hole being defined in a second end of the base plate, which differs from the first end on which the second plate hole is provided.

11. The blender according to claim 7 ,
wherein a coupling protrusion coupled to the base plate is provided on a lower end of the circumferential surface of the air guide.

12. The blender according to claim 7 ,
wherein a seal configured to seal a gap between the motor and the air guide is provided on a circumference of the guide hole.

13. The blender according to claim 1 ,
wherein the motor includes:
a motor shaft;
a motor housing in which the motor is accommodated;
a first motor housing hole at one side of the motor housing; and
a second motor housing hole at a second side of the motor housing to communicate with the air guide,

wherein the fan is coupled to the motor shaft below the second motor housing hole such that the flow of air passes through the first hole and the second hole when the motor rotates the motor shaft.

14. The blender according to claim 13 ,
wherein the first motor housing hole is defined above the motor, and the second motor housing hole is defined below the motor.

15. The blender according to claim 13 ,
wherein
a housing mounting surface protruding outward is provided on the motor housing, and
the housing mounting surface is coupled to an inner surface of the body so that the first motor housing hole is spaced from the inner surface of the body.

16. The blender according to claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of PCBs
wherein the plurality of PCBs include an inverter PCB that is configured to control a rotation speed of the motor and is positioned at a side of the first plate hole.

17. The blender according to claim 16 ,
wherein the inverter PCB includes:
a first surface on which at least one circuit board element is mounted; and
a second surface on which a heat sink to dissipate heat of the inverter PCB is provided,

wherein the heat sink is positioned to overlap the first plate hole.

18. The blender according to claim 17 , wherein the heat sink includes fins extending in a vertical direction and spaced apart from each other, and the fins extend in a direction crossing the first plate hole.

19. The blender according to claim 1 , further comprising a bottom cover below the base plate,
wherein the bottom cover comprises:
a bottom plate positioned to be spaced apart from the ground, the bottom plate being configured to define a bottom surface of the body; and
a bottom edge extending along a circumference of the bottom plate so as to be coupled to a circumference of an opened bottom of the body,

wherein the bottom cover includes at least one first cover hole and at least one second cover hole that are positioned to communicate with the first plate hole and the second plate hole, respectively.

20. The blender according to claim 19 wherein the at least one first cover hole includes:
a first bottom hole in the bottom plate and vertically below the first plate hole; and
a first edge hole defined along the bottom edge to correspond to the first bottom hole,
wherein the at least one second cover hole includes:
a second bottom hole in the bottom plate vertically below the second plate hole; and
a second edge hole defined along the bottom edge to communicate with the second bottom hole.

21. The blender of claim 1 , wherein the body has an open bottom, and the base plate is provided at the open bottom of the body.

22. The blender of claim 1 , wherein the fan provided on a rotation shaft of the motor such that the fan is rotated when the motor is driven to rotate the blade.

Assignees

• Lg Electronics Inc

Inventors

• Kim Youngsoo
• Seok Junho
• Jeong Jeonghoon

Classifications

• A47J43/0761

  for machines with tools driven from the lower side · CPC title

• A47J43/0722

  Mixing, whipping or cutting tools · CPC title

• A47J43/085

  for machines with tools driven from the lower side (A47J43/087, A47J43/09 take precedence) · CPC title

• A47J43/046 Primary

  with tools driven from the bottom side · CPC title

• A47J43/0727 Primary

  Mixing bowls · CPC title