High performance adjustable juicer with whole foods feed chute

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9675101-B2
Application number	US-201414210770-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 14, 2014
Priority date	Mar 15, 2013
Publication date	Jun 13, 2017
Grant date	Jun 13, 2017

Abstract

A juicing system with a drive mechanism and a juicer assembly, where the juicer assembly includes a main housing defining a cavity. A lid encloses a top portion of the cavity and has an opening therethrough. An auger is disposed within the cavity and has a top portion and a bottom portion. The auger is operably connected at one of the top portion or the bottom portion to the drive mechanism to rotate the auger. A rotatable cutting blade is disposed at the top portion of the auger. The rotatable cutting blade cuts foods inserted into the cavity through the opening. A juicing basket is disposed within the cavity, radially outwardly from the auger. The juicing basket has at least one screen with apertures therethrough of varying sizes. Food is pressed by the auger against the juicing basket to squeeze juice and pulp through the apertures.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A juicing system, comprising:
a drive mechanism;
a juicer assembly operably coupled to the drive mechanism and having a main housing defining a cavity with a peripheral wall surrounding the cavity;
a lid which encloses a top portion of the cavity, wherein the lid has an opening therethrough which is operably connected with the cavity;
an auger disposed within the cavity and aligned along a juicing axis;
a juicing basket disposed within the cavity and positioned radially outwardly from the auger and inwardly from the peripheral wall, wherein the juicing basket has at least one screen with apertures therethrough, such that the juicing basket includes a first juicing zone with apertures of a first size and a second juicing zone with apertures of a second size; and
a plate disposed about a circumference of the juicing basket, wherein the plate is configured to block at least a portion of the first juicing zone or the second juicing zone, thereby controlling the size of the apertures in the juicing basket available for juicing.

2. The juicing system of claim 1 , wherein the plate is configured for manual rotation about the circumference of the juicing basket to block the desired juicing zones.

3. The juicing system of claim 1 , wherein the plate is configured for electronic rotation about the circumference of the juicing basket to block the desired juicing zones based on a user input regarding desired juice characteristics.

4. The juicing system of claim 1 , wherein the plate is positioned radially outwardly from the screen.

5. The juicing system of claim 1 , wherein the plate is positioned radially inwardly from the screen.

6. The juicing system of claim 1 , further comprising a wiper disposed radially outwardly from the juicing basket, between the juicing basket and the peripheral wall of the main housing, wherein the wiper is configured to remove material from the screen.

7. A juicing system, comprising:
a drive mechanism;
a juicer assembly operably coupled to the drive mechanism and having a main housing defining a cavity;
a lid which encloses a top portion of the cavity, wherein the lid has an opening therethrough which is operably connected with the cavity;
a feed chute which is fluidly connected with the opening in the lid, wherein the feed chute is configured to allow introduction of whole foods into the cavity;
a food pusher which fits within the feed chute, wherein the food pusher includes a second passageway therethrough for the introduction of food items, wherein the feed chute has a larger diameter than the second passageway;
an auger disposed within the cavity and having a top portion and a bottom portion, wherein the auger is operably connected at one of the top portion or the bottom portion to the drive mechanism to rotate the auger along a generally vertical juicing axis, wherein the drive mechanism is configured to transmit torque to the auger through a shaft which rotates along a horizontal axis;
a rotatable cutting blade disposed on a cutting disk at the top portion of the auger, wherein the rotatable cutting blade is configured to cut foods inserted into the cavity through the opening in the lid;
a juicing basket disposed within the cavity and positioned radially outwardly from the auger, wherein the juicing basket has at least one screen with apertures therethrough of varying sizes, and wherein the apertures are arranged into a first juicing zone and a second juicing zone, where the first juicing zone allows a first composition of juice and pulp to pass through and the second juicing zone allows a second composition of juice and pulp to pass through; and
a plate disposed about a circumference of the juicing basket, wherein the plate is configured to block at least a portion of the first juicing zone or the second juicing zone.

8. The juicing system of claim 7 , wherein the drive mechanism is a stand-mixer.

Assignees

• Whirlpool Co

Inventors

• Conti Michael P
• Kettle Everett Sidney
• Lownds Zachary A
• Norland Leif A
• Robertson Mitchell L

Classifications

• A47J43/06

  with a plurality of interchangeable working units {, e.g. with a single driving-unit} · CPC title

• A47J19/02

  Citrus fruit squeezers; Other fruit juice extracting devices · CPC title

• A23N1/02 Primary

  combined with disintegrating or cutting · CPC title