| 摘要 |
<p>1176.003 S P E C I F I C A T I O N FEED TUBE PROTECTOR FOR A FOOD PROCESSOR INVENTOR: JAMES E. WILLIAMS A feed tube protector is provided for a food processor of the type having a housing enclosing a motor, a working bowl which is detachably mountable on the housing with a motor-driven shaft in the bowl for receiving various rotatable food processing tools which are removably installed on the shaft, and with a removable cover positioned on the bowl during operation of the machine. Food processors of this type normally include a feed tube which is carried by the cover, and a manually operated food pusher or plunger which is used to feed food items down through the feed tube to the rotating food processing tool. The feed tube protector has an outer sleeve carrying a manually operable actuator for enabling motor operation only when the outer sleeve is properly positioned in place over the feed tube, and this outer sleeve is associated with a movable food pusher mounted for movement within the interior of the outer sleeve. When the cover is properly positioned on the bowl and the outer sleeve is mounted over the feed tube with the food pusher being positioned and manually movable within the passageway in the feed tube, the actuator means carried by the sleeve is operatively associated in enabling relationship with control means in the housing to permit operation of the motor drive for the food processor. Thus, inadvertent insertion of a hand or a foreign object through the feed tube into the bowl is prevented when the rotatable tool is being driven by the motor drive. By virtue of this arrangement, the feed tube can safely be shortened, if desired, and made to have a larger cross-sectional area than in ULapproved food processors which are commercially available today in the United States for home use so that larger food items can be inserted whole through the feed tube into the food processor as well as allowing the placing of elongated food items horizontally in the feed tube so that they can be sliced longitudinally. Moreover, utilizing the feed tube protector in accordance with the present invention permits the entire size of the working bowl, cover and feed tube to be proportionally enlarged for providing a larger overall machine without compromising the safety features now provided by the relatively tall and narrow feed tube in prior art machines.</p> |
