WO2006010700A1

WO2006010700A1 - Battery charging device for electric food-processing appliances

Info

Publication number: WO2006010700A1
Application number: PCT/EP2005/053264
Authority: WO
Inventors: Carlo Rosa
Original assignee: Ariete S.P.A.
Priority date: 2004-07-30
Filing date: 2005-07-07
Publication date: 2006-02-02
Also published as: ITGE20040016U1

Abstract

Battery charging device for electric food-processing appliances, comprising a main body (1) containing an electric motor powered by means of at least one battery (11) extractable from said body (1) of the appliance and provided with a pair of electrical contacts (13) or by means of at least one battery situated inside the appliance and connected to a pair of electrical contacts (4) projecting from the appliance: this device comprises a base (6) having receiving recesses (8, 10) able to accommodate this extractable battery (11) or the electric appliance with internal battery, this base (6) having, formed therein, a seat (7) where charging contacts (5) are positioned, said contacts being able to cooperate with said electrical contacts (13) of the extractable battery (11) or said electrical contacts (4) connected to said battery inside the appliance.

Description

TITLE: BATTERY CHARGING DEVICE FOR ELECTRIC FOOD-PROCESSING APPLIANCES

DESCRIPTION The present invention relates to a battery charging device for electric food- processing appliances, for example electric graters for grating cheese, chocolate, dried fruit, dry bread or the like.

As is known, these electric appliances, and in particular electric graters, have a main body housing internally a rotating drum for reducing the food into particles, operated by means of an electric motor powered by suitable rechargeable batteries. These batteries may be situated inside the appliance and housed in a concealed manner, for example, inside the handle or may be able to be extracted from the appliance, in the case where, for example, they are housed in a seat formed in the handle and project slightly therefrom. In both cases, these internal or extractable batteries have two electrical contacts which, during recharging, are arranged in contact with charging contacts positioned on associated charging devices. One of the problems which arises when charging these batteries of said electric appliances is that the user must have a charging device for each of the abovementioned battery types, namely a charging device for the extractable battery and a different charging device for the electric appliance having a concealed internal battery.

The object of the present invention is therefore to provide a battery charging device which is able advantageously to accommodate with the aid of only two charging contacts both the abovementioned types of batteries, i.e. extractable and internally concealed type, for powering the electric appliance in which they are used, for example an electric grater.

This object is achieved by the present invention in the form of a battery charging device for electric food-processing appliances, comprising a main body containing an electric motor powered by means of at least one battery extractable from said body of the appliance and provided with a pair of electrical contacts or by means of at least one battery situated inside the appliance and connected to a pair of electrical contacts projecting from the appliance, characterized in that this device comprises a base having receiving recesses able to accommodate said extractable battery or the electric appliance with internal battery, said base having, formed therein, a seat where charging contacts are positioned, said contacts being able to cooperate with said electrical contacts of the extractable battery or said electrical contacts connected to said battery inside the appliance.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be understood more clearly from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof, considered by way of a non-limiting example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

- Fig. 1 shows a perspective view of a battery charging device according to the present invention able to accommodate an electric grater having a handle in which power supply batteries are housed; and

- Fig. 2 shows a perspective view of the battery charging device according to Fig. 1 able to accommodate an extractable battery of an electric food-processing appliance, such as for example an electric grater.

With reference to the accompanying drawings and with particular reference to Fig. 1 thereof, 1 denotes the main body of an electric grater for grating cheese, chocolate, dried fruit, dry bread or the like. This main body 1 contains in a manner entirely known a rotating drum (not visible in the figure) operated by means of an electric motor. The rear part of said main motor 1 has connected thereto, by means of suitable rotating pins, a handle 3 comprising a grip 103 and a part 203 able to press the food towards the drum of the main body 1. This handle 3 may rotate with respect to said main body and houses internally one or more batteries (not visible in the figure) able to store power and supply it to the electric motor operating said rotating drum of the main body 1. These batteries are connected to two electrical contacts 4 cooperating with further charging contacts 5 arranged at the same height on a base 6 provided with a rear heel 106 and a front wall 206 projecting slightly upwards. These charging contacts 5 face each other and are housed internally close to the top of two upwardly projecting walls 107 of a seat 7 which is substantially in the form of a U and formed from the top of the rear heel 106 of the base 6. A first receiving recess 8 with a substantially cylindrical shape is formed in said heel 106, below said seat 7 and centrally with respect to the associated walls 107. In front of said U-shaped seat 7, this base 6 has a second receiving recess 10 with a substantially elliptical shape, defined between the rear heel 106 and the front slightly upwardly projecting wall 206 of said base 6. The charging contacts 5 are connected to a power supply cable 9.

Fig. 2 shows an extractable battery 11 for powering an electric food- processing appliance, for example an electric grater having a handle from which said battery 11 is extracted. This battery 11 comprises a bottom part 12 and two electrical contacts 13 positioned on a top part 14 which is known per se and suitably shaped. The battery charging device shown in the figure is entirely identical to that shown in Fig. 1.

Considering, therefore, Fig. 1 and Fig. 2 we can see how the present battery charging device is used. In the case of the electric grater according to Fig. 1 , the handle 3 is gripped and the main body 1 is arranged inside the second receiving recess 8 so that said handle 3 is positioned between the walls 107 of the U-shaped seat 7: in this way the two electrical contacts 4 present on the handle of the electric grater will make contact with the two charging contacts 5 positioned on said wall 107 and facing each other. The user will then simply leave the electric grater positioned, as mentioned, on top of the base 6 of the charging device for the time required to recharge the battery or batteries inside the handle 3.

In the case of Fig. 2, the bottom part 12 of the extractable battery 11 will be inserted vertically inside the first receiving recess 10 formed in the heel 106 of the base 6 and the two electrical contacts 13 will make contact with the charging contacts 5 of the present device. In this case also, the user will leave the extractable battery 11 inside the receiving recess 8 for the time required for sufficient recharging before introducing it again into the associated electric appliance.

Claims

1. Battery charging device for electric food-processing appliances, comprising a main body (1) containing an electric motor powered by means of at least one battery (11 ) extractable from said body (1 ) of the appliance and provided with a pair of electrical contacts (13) or by means of at least one battery situated inside the appliance and connected to a pair of electrical contacts (4) projecting from the appliance, characterized in that it comprises a base (6) having receiving recesses (8, 10) able to accommodate said extractable battery (11) or the electric appliance with internal battery, said base (6) having, formed therein, a seat (7) where charging contacts (5) are positioned, said contacts being able to cooperate with said electrical contacts (13) of the extractable battery (11 ) or said electrical contacts (4) connected to said battery inside the appliance.

2. Device according to Claim 1 , characterized in that said base (6) comprises a rear heel (106) having, formed on the top thereof, a seat (7) on which a pair of charging contacts (5) are positioned, said contacts being arranged at a certain distance from each other and facing each other, said charging contacts (5) being connected to an electric power supply cable (9).

3. Device according to Claim 2, characterized in that said seat (7) is substantially U-shaped and comprises two upwardly projecting walls (107), one of said charging contacts (5) being positioned on the internal part of each of said walls (107).

4. Device according to Claim 3, characterized in that a first receiving recess (8) positioned centrally with respect to the walls (107) of said seat (7) is formed in said rear heel (106), said receiving recess (8) being able to accommodate said extractable battery (11) provided with said electrical contacts (13) cooperating with said charging contacts (5).

5. Device according to Claim 2, characterized in that said base (6) comprises a front wall (206) and between said rear heel (106) and said front wall (206) there is formed a second receiving recess (10) able to accommodate the main body (1) of an electric appliance provided with said electrical contacts (4), said electrical contacts (4) being able to cooperate with said charging contacts (5).

6. Device according to Claim 2, characterized in that said electric appliance comprises at the rear of the main body (1 ) a handle (3) from which said electrical contacts (4) project on each side of said handle (3), said handle (3) being able to be positioned inside said seat (7) formed in the rear heel (106) of the base (6).