Food extruder

Abstract

A food extruder has a body, a holder, an extruding rod, a pressing plate and a driving device. The holder is attached to the body and has a rear plate, a supporting frame and a front plate. The rear plate is attached to the body. The supporting frame has a U-shaped cross section and is connected to the rear plate. The front plate is connected to the supporting frame and has an extruding hole defined through the front plate. The extruding rod is slidable and extends through the body and into the holder and has a first end extending into the holder. The pressing plate is attached to the first end of the extending rod and is held inside the holder. The driving device is mounted on the body to drive the extruding rod relative to the body.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The present invention relates to an extruder, and more particularly to a food extruder to conveniently extrude semi-solid food.

[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art

[0004] With reference to FIG. 5, a conventional food extruder (70) in accordance with the prior art comprises a base and an extruding device mounted on the base. With the conventional extruding device, semi-solid food, such as ice cream or butter, is extruded from a cylindrical container. However, the conventional food extruder (70) is large and heavy and is usually securely mounted in a stationary location. Moving the conventional food extruder for use in another location is difficult. Therefore, the conventional food extruder (70) is inconvenient to use.

[0005] To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention provides a food extruder to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0006] The main objective of the invention is to provide a food extruder that is convenient to use. The food extruder has a body, a holder, an extruding rod, a pressing plate and a driving device. The body is hollow and has a handle extending from the body. The holder is attached to the body and has a rear plate, a supporting frame and a front plate. The rear plate is attached to the body. The supporting frame has a U-shaped cross section and is connected to the rear plate. The front plate is connected to the supporting frame and has an extruding hole defined through it. The extruding rod is slidable and extends through the body and into the holder. The extruding rod has a first end extending into the holder and a second end. The pressing plate is attached to the first end of the extruding rod and is held inside the holder. The driving device is mounted in the body and drives the extruding rod relative to the body.

[0007] Other objectives, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0008] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a food extruder in accordance with the present invention;

[0009] FIG. 2 is a side view in partial section of the food extruder in FIG. 1;

[0010] FIG. 3 is an operational side view in partial section of the food extruder in FIG. 2;

[0011] FIG. 4 is another operational side view in partial section of the food extruder in FIG. 2;

[0012] FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a conventional food extruder in accordance with the prior art.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0013] With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, a food extruder (10) in accordance with the present invention comprises a body (30), a holder (50), an extruding rod (20), a pressing plate (21) and a driving device (40).

[0014] The body (30) is hollow and has a handle (31), a chamber (not numbered), two side plates (32,32a), a connector (36) and an eye (35). The handle (31) is formed on and extends from the body (30) to allow a user hold the food extruder (10). The chamber is defined inside the body (30) to hold the driving device (40). The two side plates (32,32a) are attached to the sides of the body (30) with screws (34) to close the chamber. The connector (36) is formed on one end of the body (30). The eye (35) is defined through the body (30) to allow the food extruder (10) be hung on a hook or attached to a strap.

[0015] The holder (50) is attached to the body (30) at the connector (36) and comprises a rear plate (52), a supporting frame (54) and a front plate (51). The rear plate (52) is attached to the connector (36). The supporting frame (54) has a U-shaped cross section and is integrally attached to the rear plate (52) at one end. The front plate (51) is integrally attached to the other end of the supporting frame (54), is aligned with the rear plate (52) and has an extruding hole (53) defined through it.

[0016] The extruding rod (20) is slidable and extends through the body (30) and into the holder (50). The extruding rod (20) has a first end extending into the holder (50) and a second end extending out of the opposite end of the body (30).

[0017] The pressing plate (21) is attached to the first end of the extruding rod (20) and is held inside the holder (50). A knob (23) is attached to the second end of the extruding rod (20), such that a user can move the extruding rod (20) outwards from the body (30) by pulling on the knob (23).

[0018] The driving device (40) is mounted inside the body (30) to drive the extruding rod (20) relative to the body (30). The driving device (40) comprises a driving plate (44), a trigger (41), a resilient member (45), a brake (47) and a biasing member (46). The driving plate (44) is mounted inside the body (30) around the extruding rod (20) at an inclined angle. The driving plate (44) has a through hole with a diameter slightly larger than that of the extruding rod (20) and through which the extruding rod (20) extends. The trigger (41) is pivotally attached to the body (30) with a pivot (42) and has an inner end and an outer end. The inner end is held inside the body (30), and a pin (43) is attached to the inner end and abuts the driving plate (44). The outer end extends out of the body (30). The resilient member (45) is mounted inside the body (30) around the extruding rod (20), may be a spring, and abuts the driving plate (44). The brake (47) is mounted inside the body (30) around the extruding rod (20) at an inclined angle and engages the extruding rod (20) to keep the extruding rod (20) from moving outwards from the body (30). The brake (47) has an extension (48) extending out of the body (30). The brake (47) has a through hole with a diameter slightly larger than that of the extruding rod (20) and through which the extruding rod (20) extends. The biasing member (46) is mounted inside the body (30) around the extruding rod (20) and abuts the brake (47).

[0019] With reference to FIGS. 3 to 5, in operation the extension (48) on the brake (47) is pressed to disengage the brake (47) from the extruding rod (20). The user can then pull the extruding rod (20) out with the knob (23) to move the pressing plate (21) toward the rear plate (52) of the holder (50). A cylindrical container (60) containing semi-solid food is put inside the holder (50) between the rear plate (52) and the front plate (51) and is held by the supporting frame (54). The cylindrical container (60) has an outlet (63) defined in one end of the cylindrical container (60) and aligned with the extruding hole (53) in the front plate (51). An opening is defined in the other end of the cylindrical container (60) and faces the pressing plate (21) to allow the pressing plate (21) to enter the cylindrical container (60) through the opening.

[0020] When the trigger (41) is pulled, the pin (43) on the trigger (41) will push against the driving plate (44) to move it forward and toward the holder (50). With the inclined angle of the driving plate (44), the through hole in the driving plate (44) securely engages the extruding rod (20). Consequently, the extruding rod (20) is driven toward the holder (50) by the driving plate (44), such that the pressing plate (21) will press food in the cylindrical container (60) to extrude out of the cylindrical container (60) from the outlet (63) in the cylindrical container (60) and the extruding hole (53) in the front plate (51). When the user releases the force applied to the trigger (41), the driving plate (44) will be pushed to tilt slightly relative to the body (30) by the resilient member (45) and disengage from the extruding rod (44). The driving plate (44) is moved back to its original position by the resilient force provided by the resilient member (45) and engages the extruding rod (20) again. The trigger (41) is also pivoted to its original position by the movement of the driving plate (44). Accordingly, the user can pull the trigger (41) again to extrude more food out from the cylindrical container (60). After the food is completely extruded from the cylindrical container (60), the extruding rod (20) can pulled back to draw the pressing plate (21) out of the cylindrical container (60) when the extension (48) on the brake (47) is pushed.

[0021] In such an arrangement, the food extruder (10) in accordance with the present invention has a simplified structure, is manually operated and is convenient to use and carry to any desired location.

[0022] Even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only. Changes may be made in the details, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.

Claims

1. A food extruder comprising: a hollow body having a handle extending from the body; a holder attached to the body and having a rear plate attached to the body; a supporting frame with a U-shaped cross section connected to the rear plate; and a front plate connected to the supporting frame and having an extruding hole defined through it; an extruding rod slidably extending through the body and into the holder and having a first end extending into the holder and a second end extending out of the opposite end of the body; a pressing plate attached to the first end of the extruding rod and held inside the holder; and a driving device mounted inside the body to drive the extruding rod relative to the body.

2. The food extruder as claimed in claim 1, wherein the driving device comprises a driving plate mounted inside the body around the extruding rod at an inclined angle and engaging with the extruding rod; a trigger pivotally attached to the body and having an inner end held inside the body and provided with a pin abutting the driving plate and an outer end extending out of the body; a resilient member mounted inside the body around the extruding rod and abutting the driving plate; a brake mounted inside the body around the extruding rod at an inclined angle, engaging the extruding rod to keep the extruding rod from moving outwards from the body and having an extension extending out of the body; and a biasing member mounted inside the body around the extruding rod and abutting the brake.

3. The food extruder as claimed in claim 2, wherein the body further has an eye defined through the body.

4. The food extruder as claimed in claim 3, wherein the body has a chamber defined through the body to hold the driving device inside and two side plates attached to two sides of the body to close the chamber.

5. The food extruder as claimed in claim 4 further comprising a knob attached to the second end of the extruding rod.

6. The food extruder as claimed in claim 2, wherein the body has a chamber defined through the body to hold the driving device inside and two side plates attached to two sides of the body to close the chamber.

7. The food extruder as claimed in claim 6 further comprising a knob attached to the second end of the extruding rod.

8. The food extruder as claimed in claim 2 further comprising a knob attached to the second end of the extruding rod.

9. The food extruder as claimed in claim 1, wherein the body further has an eye defined through the body.

10. The food extruder as claimed in claim 9, wherein the body has a chamber defined through the body to hold the driving device inside and two side plates attached to two sides of the body to close the chamber.

11. The food extruder as claimed in claim 10 further comprising a knob attached to the second end of the extruding rod.

12. The food extruder as claimed in claim 9 further comprising a knob attached to the second end of the extruding rod.

13. The food extruder as claimed in claim 1, wherein the body has a chamber defined through the body to hold the driving device inside and two side plates attached to two sides of the body to close the chamber.

14. The food extruder as claimed in claim 13 further comprising a knob attached to the second end of the extruding rod.

15. The food extruder as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a knob attached to the second end of the extruding rod.