Liquidizer safety clutch

Claim 2

A liquidizing container having an opening at its base for receiving a rotatable liquefying cutter unit therethrough comprising, an open bottom jar member having a rim, a ring member receiving the bottom end of the jar in axial supported relationship around said rim, a closure member assembly having a radial peripheral flange thereon defining a marginal shoulder facing the lower end of the jar, a sealing gasket disposed between said shoulder and rim, said ring member axially receiving the closure member and having a lower wall portion engaging said closure member to compress said sealing gasket between said flange and said rim, resilient means between said closure member and ring member urging said closure member upwardly when said ring member and jar member are separated for cleaning purposes, and cutter means journalled in said closure means and including on its lower end a driven member supported for relative axial movement when assembling and separating said closure and ring members.

Claim 3

The combination called for in claim 1 in which the ring member has a recess in the bottom thereof, and said driven member reciprocates in the recess on the bottom of the base member above the plane of its lower extremity and being held in working position by the jar assembled in place.

Claim 4

The combination called for in claim 2 in which said recess comprises a cavity having a wall spaced a predetermined distance above the upper face of said driven member with said jar assembled on the base member, and said closure member has a cavity with a wall defining a space between the vertical walls receiving said resilient means in guided relation.

Claim 5

The liquidizing container called for in claim 1 in which said ring member has a cavity accommodating said driven member at its spring retracted position of said axial movement, and locking means disposed between said driven member and said cavity wall interengaged by relative movement induced by said resilient means.

Claim 6

The liquidizing container called for in claim 1 in which said ring member and closure member have surfaces in face-to-face contact for locating said driven member in its operative position, and said sealing gasket being resilient and being free to turn with the gasket and jar rim when tightening.

Claim 7

The liquidizing container called for in claim 5 in which the surfaces in said face-to-face contact include rotatively interengaging axial elements at least one of which has an incline upstream of its tightening motion.

Claim 8

The liquidizing container called for in claim 5 including rotatively interengaging axial elements of a minimized axial dimension on said surfaces to locally pass each other under resilience remaining in said sealing gasket under hand tightened assembly, of said ring member and closure member.

Claim 9

In a liquidizer a container comprising a threadably engaged jar and a removable bottom assembly, said bottom assembly comprising, bottom closure means for said jar, resilient sealing means disposed between said bottom closure means and the lower end of said jar, ring means threadably engaging the lower end of said jar in a tightening direction and including an element engaging said closure means to compress said sealing means in sealing relationship, said element and the bottom closure having interface rotatably actuated cam elements placing pressure upon said sealing means as the ring means is tightened, one of said cams having the incline on it of said threadable relationship.

Claim 10

In a liquidizer a container comprising a threadably engaged jar and a removable bottom assembly, said bottom assembly comprising, bottom closure means for said jar, resilient sealing means disposed between said bottom closure means and the lower end of said jar, ring means threadably engaging the lower end of said jar in a tightening direction and including an element engaging said closure means to compress said sealing means in sealing relationship, said element and the bottom closure having interface rotatably actuated cam elements placing pressure upon said sealing means as the ring means is tightened, one of said cams having the incline on it of said threadable relationship.

Claim 11

A liquidizer comprising, a power unit having a housing member, a container having a bottom assembly whose lower end is removably supported on the housing member, and a rotatable drive clutch member rotatably supported on the housing member and extending above said lower end when the bottom assembly is supported thereon, said bottom assembly including a. a ring member having a cavity therein accommodating said drive clutch member and an opening centrally of said cavity, and b. a closure member comprising a cutter carrying shaft journalled therein extending through said opening and a driven clutch member on the lower end of the shaft axially reciprocable in said cavity to engage and disengage said drive clutch member, resilient means between said ring and closure members urging disengagement of said clutch members, and cutter protective means interengaging said ring and closure members to counteract said resilient means and move said closure member axially with respect to said ring member and said housing member to engage said clutch members.

Claim 12

A liquidizer comprising, a power unit having a housing member, a container having a bottom assembly whose lower end is removably supported on the housing member, and a rotatable drive clutch member rotatably supported on the housing member and extending above said lower end when the bottom assembly is supported thereon, said bottom assembly including a. a ring member having a cavity therein accommodating said drive clutch member and an opening centrally of said cavity, and b. a closure member comprising a cutter carrying shaft journalled therein extending through said opening and a driven clutch member on the lower end of the shaft axially reciprocable in said cavity to engage and disengage said drive clutch member, resilient means between said ring and closure members urging disengagement of said clutch members, and cutter protective means interengaging said ring and closure members to counteract said resilient means and move said closure member axially with respect to said ring member and said housing member to engage said clutch members.

Claim 13

The liquidizer defined in claim 9 in which said cutter protective means is a liquidizing container having an opening at its bottom, a sealing means between said container and closure member, and elements surrounding said opening interlocking with said ring member for placing said sealing means under compression.

Claim 14

The liquidizer defined in claim 9 in which said ring member has a wall defining external locating guides spaced with equal angularity therearound and a spider defining openings angularly spaced at angles equal to those of said guides, angularly locating means carried by said housing member having elements mating with said guides in a miscellany of various relative orientations, and safety switch means having a button so constructed and arranged with respect to said mating elements to extend through at least one of said openings and be engaged by said closure member in its lowermost position when said locating means and guides are in mating relation.

Claim 15

A liquidizer comprising a power unit controlled by a manual switch having a housing with a motor supported beneath an upper wall thereof, collar means on said wall defining a recess having a plurality of angularly spaced lugs around it, a motor shaft journalled in said housing and carrying a drive clutch element above the top wall within the configuration defined by said lugs, a bottom assembly including, a. a ring member having a cavity means therein accommodating said drive clutch member and flutes on its outer wall surface engaging said lugs in centering relation and securing means on its inner wall surface, b. a closure member received within said inner wall surface journalling a cutter shaft carrying cutters on its upper end and a driven clutch member on its lower end disposed reciprocably in said cavity coaxially with said drive clutch member to engage and disengage said drive clutch member with relative movement of the closure member, c. resilient means between said ring member and closure member urging disengagement of said clutch members, and cutter enclosing means releasably interengaging said closure member and securing means to overcome said resilient means and move said closure member axially with respect to said ring member and said housing member to engage said clutch members.

Claim 16

A liquidizer comprising a power unit controlled by a manual switch having a housing with a motor supported beneath an upper wall thereof, collar means on said wall defining a recess having a plurality of angularly spaced lugs around it, a motor shaft journalled in said housing and carrying a drive clutch element above the top wall within the configuration defined by said lugs, a bottom assembly including, a. a ring member having a cavity means therein accommodating said drive clutch member and flutes on its outer wall surface engaging said lugs in centering relation and securing means on its inner wall surface, b. a closure member received within said inner wall surface journalling a cutter shaft carrying cutters on its upper end and a driven clutch member on its lower end disposed reciprocably in said cavity coaxially with said drive clutch member to engage and disengage said drive clutch member with relative movement of the closure member, c. resilient means between said ring member and closure member urging disengagement of said clutch members, and cutter enclosing means releasably interengaging said closure member and securing means to overcome said resilient means and move said closure member axially with respect to said ring member and said housing member to engage said clutch members.

Claim 17

The liquidizer called for in claim 12 in which said ring member has openings in its bottom wall around said cavity providing physical access therethrough to said closure member from below.

Claim 18

The liquidizer called for in claim 12 in which said closure means has a recess receiving said cavity means, said cavity means and recess defining a depth above said upper wall that is at least equal to the overall axial displacement of said clutch members when disengaged with the ring member in place in said collar means.

Claim 19

The liquidizer called for in claim 12 in which said driven clutch member has radially spaced elements exposed on its upper sides and the top wall of said cavity has stop elements engaged by said spaced elements to lock said driven clutch against rotation during clutch disengagement.

Claim 20

The liquidizer called for in claim 13 including a safety switch carried by said upper wall and having a button located to engage said closure member through one of said openings during the time the clutch members are in engagement.

Claim 21

In a liquidizer container comprising threadably engaged jar and removable bottom assembly, said container having vertical ribs on its inner surface having a radial height at their lower ends greater than at their top ends and terminating a spaced distance above their lower end, bottom closure means for said container journalling cutter means in said jar immediately below said lower ends, resilient means engaging the lower end of said jar, and cam means between said resilient means and said bottom closure means to vary the compression on the resilient means progressively in steps during relative rotation between said bottom closure means and said jar.

Claim 22

In a liquidizer container comprising threadably engaged jar and removable bottom assembly, said container having vertical ribs on its inner surface having a radial height at their lower ends greater than at their top ends and terminating a spaced distance above their lower end, bottom closure means for said container journalling cutter means in said jar immediately below said lower ends, resilient means engaging the lower end of said jar, and cam means between said resilient means and said bottom closure means to vary the compression on the resilient means progressively in steps during relative rotation between said bottom closure means and said jar.