Food blending appliance with wiper assembly

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9656227-B2
Application number	US-201313779378-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 27, 2013
Priority date	Feb 27, 2013
Publication date	May 23, 2017
Grant date	May 23, 2017

Abstract

A food blending appliance includes a housing with a motor therein. A food blending chamber having an inner wall surface is located proximate the housing. A wiper assembly is operably coupled to the motor and has a wiper blade that includes a tapered forward portion and a tapered rearward portion. The wiper blade includes an arced exterior surface that includes a radius of curvature that is substantially the same as a radius of curvature of the inner wall surface. The operable coupling between the motor and the wiper assembly can be accomplished by a magnetic drive member in the housing and a magnetic blade member in the wiper assembly. The operable coupling between the motor and the wiper assembly results in rotation of the wiper blade when the motor is activated, which removes food from the inner wall surface of the food blending chamber during rotation.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A food preparation appliance comprising:
a housing;
a food blending chamber proximate the housing, the food blending chamber including an inner wall surface;
a wiper assembly having a wiper blade that includes a tapered forward portion and a tapered rearward portion, wherein the wiper blade includes an arced exterior surface that includes a radius of curvature that is substantially the same as a radius of curvature of the inner wall surface;
a magnetic blade member operably coupled with the wiper blade and in magnetic communication with a magnetic drive member; and
a motor disposed in the housing, the motor being operably coupled to the magnetic drive member such that activation of the motor causes the magnetic drive member and the magnetic blade member to rotate, resulting in rotation of the wiper blade, which removes food from the inner wall surface of the food blending chamber during rotation.

2. The food preparation appliance of claim 1 , wherein the wiper blade is molded around the magnetic blade member.

3. The food preparation appliance of claim 1 , wherein the magnetic drive member is disposed at a bottom portion of the housing.

4. The food preparation appliance of claim 1 , wherein the wiper blade is formed from a compliant polymeric material.

5. The food preparation appliance of claim 1 , comprising:
a blending device operably coupled with the motor, wherein activation of the motor causes rotation of the blending device and the wiper blade in the same rotational direction.

6. A food preparation appliance comprising:
a housing;
a food blending chamber proximate the housing, the food blending chamber including an inner wall surface;
a wiper assembly operably coupled to the motor and having a wiper blade that includes a tapered forward portion and a tapered rearward portion, wherein the wiper blade includes a smooth interior surface and an arced exterior surface that is substantially the same as an arc of the inner wall surface; and
a motor disposed in the housing, the motor being operably coupled to the wiper assembly through a magnetic drive member in the housing that is operably coupled to the motor and is in magnetic communication with a magnetic blade member in the wiper assembly such that activation of the motor causes the wiper blade of the wiper assembly to rotate within the food blending chamber.

7. The food preparation appliance of claim 6 , wherein the motor is operably coupled to the magnetic drive member by a gear assembly.

8. The food preparation appliance of claim 7 , wherein the gear assembly includes a gear operably coupled to the magnetic drive member, a drive gear operably coupled to the motor, and a planetary gear that operably couples the gear to the drive gear.

9. The food preparation appliance of claim 6 , wherein the wiper assembly includes a frame configured to support a top and a bottom of the wiper blade.

10. The food preparation appliance of claim 9 , wherein the frame is configured for removal from the food blending chamber, and wherein the wiper blade is configured for removal from the frame.

11. The food preparation appliance of claim 6 , wherein the wiper blade includes an arcuate forward portion configured to direct food from contact with a side of the inner wall surface toward an interior portion of the food blending chamber.

12. A food preparation appliance comprising:
a housing including a motor disposed therein;
a food blending chamber proximate the housing, the food blending chamber including an inner wall surface;
a wiper assembly including at least one wiper blade in abutting contact with the inner wall surface of the food blending chamber, wherein activation of the motor causes rotation of the at least one wiper blade about a circumference of the inner wall surface, thereby removing food from contact with the inner wall surface;
a magnetic drive member operably coupled with the motor; and
a magnetic blade member operably coupled with the at least one wiper blade and in magnetic communication with the magnetic drive member.

13. The food preparation appliance of claim 12 , comprising:
a blending device operably coupled with the motor, wherein activation of the motor causes rotation of the blending device.

14. The food preparation appliance of claim 12 , wherein the at least one wiper blade includes a tapered forward portion and a tapered rearward portion.

15. The food preparation appliance of claim 12 , comprising:
a gear assembly that operably couples the motor to the magnetic drive member.

16. The food preparation appliance of claim 12 , wherein the wiper blade includes a smooth interior surface and an arced exterior surface that includes a radius of curvature that is substantially the same as a radius of curvature of the inner wall surface.

17. The food preparation appliance of claim 12 ,
wherein the magnetic drive member is operably coupled to the motor such that activation of the motor causes the magnetic drive member and the magnetic blade member to rotate, resulting in rotation of the wiper blade, which removes food from the inner wall surface of the food blending chamber during rotation.

18. The food preparation appliance of claim 12 , wherein the at least one wiper blade includes four wiper blades disposed equidistantly around the inner wall of the food blending chamber.

19. The food preparation appliance of claim 12 , wherein the wiper assembly includes a frame configured to support a top and a bottom of the wiper blade.

Assignees

• Whirlpool Co

Inventors

• Paget Paul S

Classifications

• A47J43/046 Primary

  with tools driven from the bottom side · CPC title

• A47J43/0465

  with magnetic drive · CPC title

• B01F15/00058 Primary

  Operations & Transport · mapped topic

• A47J43/0716

  for machines with tools driven from the lower side (A47J43/0727 - A47J43/08 take precedence) · CPC title

• B01F35/123 Primary

  using scrapers for cleaning mixers · CPC title