Abstrict A chopper, or crusher (1) for breaking up ice, comprising a housing
(2 3) able to be pushed over the goods to be broken up and with
a knife (5) with a blade having a toothed cutter (52) is provided.
An upper housing part (2) is detachably connectable to a beaker-like
housing lower part (3) closed at the bottom. In a preferred embodiment,
the height H.sub.K of the blade (51), the height of the beaker H.sub.B
and the maximum vertical path of the knife (5) limited by an actuation
mechanism (4) are selected and matched to one another such that
the cutter (52) in its lowermost position does not come into contact
with the beaker base (31).
Claims 11. A hand-operated crusher for cutting up ice, comprising: (a)
a housing able to be placed over the ice to be cut up and comprising
an upper part and a lower part; (b) a vertical rod guided in the
housing upper part, the rod being downwardly displaceable against
the force of a spring by means of an actuating mechanism having
a push button; and (c) a knife attached to the lower end of the
vertical rod, the knife being provided with a toothed cutter at
a lower edge.
12. The crusher of claim 11 wherein the housing lower part is
a beaker-like housing having a closed lower, base, end and is detachably
connected to the housing upper part at an upper end.
13. The crusher of claim 11 wherein the knife has a maximal vertical
path that is limited by the actuating device and wherein the height
of the knife, the height of the housing lower part and the maximal
vertical path of the knife are selected such that the cutter, at
is lowermost position, does not contact the base of housing upper
part, whereby an air gap exists between a lower edge of the cutter
and the base of housing upper part.
14. The crusher of claim 11 wherein the toothed cutter comprises
teeth having a cutting angle of between 30 and 100.degree..
15. The crusher of claim 14 wherein the teeth are ground on one
side and have a cutting angle of 45.degree..
16. The crusher of claim 14 wherein the teeth are ground on both
sides and have a cutting angle of 90.degree..
17. The crusher of claim 11 wherein the toothed cutter comprises
teeth that are alternately bent laterally out of a vertical plane
of the knife.
18. The crusher of claim 11 wherein the toothed cutter comprises
teeth that are bent out of the vertical plane of the knife twisted
about their vertical axis, whereby tips of the teeth essentially
still lie in the vertical plane, thereby increasing a breaking-apart
effect on chopping.
19. The crusher of claim 11 wherein the housing upper part may
be removed and replaced by a shaker attachment detachably connected
to the housing lower part in an essentially fluid-tight manner.
20. The crusher of claim 19 wherein the housing lower part widens
towards an upper region at an angle .alpha. and the shaker attachment
comprises a sidewall which tapers towards a lower region at an angle
.beta. and merges into a cone at a top region, and wherein the diameter
of the upper region of the housing lower part and the diameter of
the lower region of the sidewall are matched to one another such
that the shaker attachment may be inserted into the housing lower
part approximately up to the transition of the sidewall into the
cone thereby sealing the crusher to fluids.
21. The crusher of claim 20 wherein the angles .alpha. and .beta.
are between 1.degree. and 15.degree..
22. The crusher of claim 21 wherein the angles .alpha. and .beta.
are 4.degree..
23. The crusher of claim 11 further comprising an underlay adapted
to the housing lower part.
24. The crusher of claim 23 wherein the underlay is manufactured
of a soft, anti-slip elastomer.
25. The crusher of claim 24 wherein the underlay is manufactured
of silicone.
26. The crusher of claim 23 wherein the underlay comprises a peripherally
thickened circumferential edge bead.
Description FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to an ice crusher for chopping,
crushing or breaking up ice and other frozen liquid foodstuffs.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] Onion and vegetable choppers are known from EP-B-0'345'223
and WO01/58652 of the applicant. They comprise a housing able to
be pushed over the product to be broken up and a knife which is
guided in the housing and which may be displaced against the force
of a spring by means of an actuating mechanism comprising a push
button and a plunger. The knife comprises a cylindrical axle or
rod on whose lower end a plate-like knife holder is seated. On the
lower side of the knife holder there are fastened one or more downwardly
projecting blades which in a plan view are mostly wave-shaped or
star-shaped. The knife may be displaced downwards against the force
of the spring until the blade has completely penetrated the material
to be chopped and abuts the base plate of the chopper. For the perfect
functioning of all known choppers it is important that the lower
cutters or cutting edges of the blades lie exactly in a horizontal
plane.
[0003] Although such choppers are not designed for this, ice cubes
are often cut up with known choppers in order to obtain finer pieces
of ice for cocktails, drinks or for preparing foodstuffs. The chopping
of ice may very easily blunt or bend the known blades. Bent blades
jam very quickly with the scrapers, thereby significantly compromising
the functioning ability of the chopper.
[0004] It is therefore the object of the invention to provide an
apparatus which alleviates these disadvantages.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0005] An ice crusher according to the present invention comprises
a housing able to be pushed over the goods to be cut up and with
an axle, or rod, which is guided in a housing upper part and which
may be displaced downwards against the force of a spring by way
of an actuating mechanism with a push button, wherein the axle at
is lower end carries a knife provided with a toothed cutter.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0006] Hereinafter, embodiments of the invention are described
by way of the accompanying drawings, in which:
[0007] FIG. 1 is a partial longitudinal section through an ice
crusher according to one embodiment of the invention;
[0008] FIG. 2a is a longitudinal section through a beaker according
to a preferred embodiment form of the invention;
[0009] FIG. 2b is a view from above into a beaker according to
FIG. 2a;
[0010] FIG. 3a is a longitudinal section through a shaker attachment
with a lid;
[0011] FIG. 3b is a view of the opened shaker attachment (without
lid) according to FIG. 3a, from above;
[0012] FIG. 4a is a partial view of a knife according to a preferred
embodiment of the invention;
[0013] FIG. 4b is a partial view of a blade according to a further
preferred embodiment of the invention;
[0014] FIG. 4c is a longitudinal section through a cutter of a
knife according to FIG. 4a; and
[0015] FIG. 4d is a longitudinal section through the cutter according
to FIG. 4b.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0016] The ice chopper, or crusher, shown in FIG. 1 comprises a
housing 1 which consists of a multi-part upper part 2 and a preferably
single-part lower part or beaker 3. The beaker 3 is connected to
the upper part 2 by way of a bayonet closure 33 or similar device.
Similar to the known onion and vegetable choppers, an actuation
mechanism 4 is concentrically mounted and guided in the housing
upper part 2. This mechanism comprises a push button 17 with a cap
18. In the housing upper part there is attached a knife 5 which
may be displaced against the force of a spring by way of the actuation
mechanism 4. The actuation mechanism 4 comprises a positive displacement
mechanism which is known in the art and thus is not shown in detail
in FIG. 1. The positive displacement mechanism ensures that with
each to and fro movement the knife 5 rotates about its longitudinal
axis by a certain angle. This rotation movement ensures that the
knife does not chop on the same spot. In contrast to known vegetable
choppers, the present ice chopper does not require a scraper which
may be pushed over the knife.
[0017] The knife 5 comprises a cylindrical vertical axle or rod
11 on whose lower end there is seated a horizontally arranged carrier
plate 6. On the lower side of the carrier plate 6 there are fastened
one or more downwardly projecting blades 51 which in a plan view
are mostly wave-shaped or star-shaped. The present invention may
employ any previously known blade shapes. For reasons of cost, the
vertical rod 11 and the carrier plate 6 are preferably manufactured
as one piece by way of injection moulding, wherein one injects around
the blade 51 in an upper region, whereby the blade 51 becomes nondetachably
fastened to the carrier plate. In order to withstand the loading
during chopping, the knife 5 is preferably manufactured of sturdy
blade sheet metal of 0.3 to 0.5 more preferably 0.4 mm thickness
D.
[0018] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, shown
in FIG. 1 the height H.sub.K of the blade 51 the height of the
beaker H.sub.B and the maximal vertical path of the knife 5 limited
by the actuation mechanism are selected and matched to one another
such that the cutter 52 in its lowermost position does not come
into contact with a beaker base 31. Thus in the lowermost knife
position (in FIG. 1 shown dashed) there remains an air gap H.sub.S
between the downwardly directed tips of teeth 53 of the cutter 52
and the base of the beaker 31.
[0019] As described below, the beaker fulfils a double function
and is also used as a shaker lower part. In a preferred embodiment,
it is therefore manufactured of stainless steel. The air gap H.sub.S
prevents a direct abutment of the cutter 52 with the stainless steel
base and thus prevents undesired blunting of the cutter and damage
and scratching of the base 31. The height of the air gap H.sub.S
is preferably between 1 and 7 mm, more preferably between 3 and
5 mm.
[0020] In a further embodiment which is not shown, the above-described
beaker may be replaced by a cylindrical housing part open to the
bottom. The height of the housing is again selected so that sensitive
working surfaces are not contacted by the blades and will not be
damaged on chopping.
[0021] With known choppers such an air gap is not desirable since
it would lead to an unacceptable compromising of its functioning,
however with the present ice chopper a complete penetration of the
ice cubes to be chopped is not necessary. The ice cubes are broken
apart by the sturdy blade 51 and do not need to be completely severed.
[0022] The breaking-apart effect of the blade is further encouraged
by preferred designs of the blade. With the blade shown in FIGS.
4a and 4c the teeth are ground on both sides, wherein the cutting
angle .gamma. is preferably between 30 and 100.degree.. With the
blade shown in FIGS. 4b and 4d the teeth are ground on only one
side and the cutting angle .gamma.' is about 45.degree..
[0023] The toothing of the blade may be selected according to the
blade material and the manufacturing costs. Two possible tooth shapes
are shown in FIGS. 4a and 4b. On chopping the hard and brittle ice
cubes, the significant advantage of the toothed blades is that the
teeth or the tips of the teeth simplify the penetration into the
ice to be chopped.
[0024] In a further embodiment which is not shown, the teeth are
bent alternately laterally out of the vertical plane of the blade
and thereby reinforce the breaking-up effect of the ice chopper
blade. The teeth may also be bent out of the vertical plane of the
blade sheet metal twisted about their vertical axis so that the
tips of the teeth still essentially lie in one plane and may penetrate
the ice with relatively little resistance, and the breaking-up effect
is enormously increased on further penetration due to the torsion
of the teeth.
[0025] FIG. 2b shows an underlay 7 adapted to the beaker, preferably
of a soft elastomer such as silicone. The underlay 7 may be permanently
or detachably connected to the beaker base 31 and/or to a circumferential
peripheral stand ring 32. On chopping, the underlay 7 prevents the
working surface from being scratched, damps the knocks and prevents
the chopper 1 from slipping on a working surface. When the ice has
been reduced to the desired size, the beaker 3 may be removed from
the upper part 2 by means of the bayonet closure 33 and may be removed
from the underlay by lifting, and the upper part 2 with the blade
may be placed on the free underlay 7. The depositing of the knife
5 on the underlay 7 simultaneously protects both the cutter 52 and
the working surface from damage. The underlay 7 preferably has a
peripherally thickened circumferential edge bead 71 which prevents
melted water which runs down or drips from the knife or other parts
of the upper part 2 from running onto a working surface lying below
this.
[0026] The sidewall 30 of the beaker 30 widens to the top at an
angle a so that with the upper part 2 removed one may fasten a fitting
shaker attachment, or top, 8 in a clamped manner. The attachment,
or top, 8 as shown in FIG. 3 has a sidewall 81 which tapers downwards
at an angle .beta. and which towards the top merges into the neck
83 via a cone 82. A sieve plate 84 with pour-out openings 85 is
attached in the neck 83 and a lid 9 may be placed on for closure.
The angles .alpha. and .beta. are between 1 and 15.degree., preferably
4.degree.. Angles .alpha. and .beta. and the diameters of the upper
beaker region and the lower attachment wall are matched to one another
such that the attachment may be placed into the beaker approximately
up to the transition of the wall 81 to the cone 82 thereby achieving
an adequate sealing of the beaker to fluids.
[0027] The inner wall of the beaker is preferably provided with
a grading in 10 decilitres and the shaker attachment lid 9 preferably
has a volume capacity of 40 millilitres which is an important measure
to barkeepers.
[0028] In order to meet the standards of hygiene required for use
in the kitchen and bar region, the chopper upper part, beaker, shaker
attachment and lid are manufactured of stainless steel, plastic
suitable for foodstuffs, or a combination thereof depending on design
and the price class. |