Food grinder with automatic off controller and method

摘要

A food grinder (10) makes a sound or vibrates with a frequency that changes between a first mode when the grinding mechanism (22, 24, 36) is performing a grinding operation while there is bulk food ingredient within the grinding chamber, and a second mode when the grinding mechanism (22, 24, 36) is performing a grinding operation while there is no bulk food ingredient within the grinding chamber, has a detector (44) for sensing the change in frequency and a controller (42) responsive to the detector (44) for controlling the application of electrical power to the grinding mechanism (22, 24 36). Power is first applied when a start grind switch is manually actuated and is later automatically removed in response to a timer (54) a preselected time period after the detector senses that the grinding chamber is empty of bulk food ingredient to be ground.

主权项

1. A food grinder, comprising:
a grinding mechanism having a grinding chamber with a plurality of electrically powered grinding members for grinding food ingredient received within the grinding chamber; an electrical grind motor located freely outside of the grinding chamber, said grind motor having no housing shared with only the grinding chamber to drive the grinding members within the grinding chamber, said electrical grind motor creating outside of the grinding chamber a detectable condition detectable outside of the grinding chamber with a characteristic that changes between
a first mode when the grinding mechanism is performing a grinding operation while there is bulk food ingredient within the grinding chamber that is being ground, anda second mode when the grinding mechanism is performing a grinding operation while there is no bulk food ingredient within the grinding chamber;a detector for sensing when the characteristic changes between the first mode and the second mode; means for selectively applying electrical power to the grinding mechanism; and means responsive to the detector sensing the characteristic changing for controlling the electrical power applying means including an electrical timer responsive to the detector sensing the characteristic changing from the first mode to the second mode to start a preselected time period during which power continues to be applied to the grinding mechanism; and means responsive to the timer for terminating electrical power to the grinding mechanism after the preselected time period has lapsed, said time period being sufficient to remove fines from the grinding chamber after the bulk food ingredient has been removed.