Magnetic drive blender
First Claim
1. A food processing apparatus comprising:
- a receptacle for receiving food for processing, said receptacle having a rotatable element mounted on a shaft, a drive plate formed of magnetizable material secured to said shaft to rotate therewith, a motor positioned proximate said drive plate, said motor having a stator and a rotor, said rotor including a rotor magnet, said stator producing an electromagnetic field that interacts with said rotor magnet to rotate said rotor magnet, and a drive magnet coupled to said rotor magnet to rotate therewith, said drive magnet inducing a magnetic field in a direction toward said drive plate to transmit torque from said motor to said drive plate to effect processing of food with said rotatable element.
9 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A magnetic induction drive for a rotatable driven member in a sealed housing, in particular, a shaft-mounted blade in a blender cup, uses a comparatively thin circular plate of a magnetizable material with circumferentially arrayed poles secured within the housing to the shaft. A brushless d.c. motor in a base separate from the housing has a rotor formed as an array of pie-shaped permanent magnet regions that interact with an electronically controlled, rotating electromagnetic field produced by a ring of stator coils. A second such permanent magnet is coupled to rotate coaxially and in unison with the rotor, with poles of opposite polarity aligned and adjacent one another. A steel disc is sandwiched between and bonded to the rotor and the second permanent magnet. The magnetic field (lines of flux) of the second magnet extends axially away from the rotor to induce magnetic poles of opposite polarity in the drive plate. This second magnet-to-plate magnetic coupling operates across a closely-spaced gap that includes the bottom wall of the blender cup base, the upper wall of the housing, and air gaps between these walls, and the plate and the second magnet.
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Citations
16 Claims
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1. A food processing apparatus comprising:
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a receptacle for receiving food for processing, said receptacle having a rotatable element mounted on a shaft, a drive plate formed of magnetizable material secured to said shaft to rotate therewith, a motor positioned proximate said drive plate, said motor having a stator and a rotor, said rotor including a rotor magnet, said stator producing an electromagnetic field that interacts with said rotor magnet to rotate said rotor magnet, and a drive magnet coupled to said rotor magnet to rotate therewith, said drive magnet inducing a magnetic field in a direction toward said drive plate to transmit torque from said motor to said drive plate to effect processing of food with said rotatable element. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A blender comprising:
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a blender cup having a blade rotatably mounted on a shaft, a drive plate formed of magnetizable material secured to said shaft to rotate therewith, a motor positioned proximate said drive plate, said motor having a stator and a rotor, said rotor including a rotor magnet having one or more poles, said stator producing an electromagnetic field that interacts with said one or more poles to rotate said rotor magnet, and a drive magnet coupled to said rotor magnet to rotate therewith, said drive magnet including one or more poles arranged to induce a magnetic field in a direction toward said drive plate to transmit torque from said motor to said drive plate.
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Specification