BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The invention relates to a grinder, more particularly to a pepper mi 11.

2. Description of the Related Art

A conventional pepper mill generally has a receiving unit for receiving peppercorns therein, and a grinding unit disposed in a bottom part of the receiving unit for grinding the peppercorns into ground pepper. The grinding unit generally includes a stationary annular outer grinding seat, and an inner grinding seat disposed within the outer grinding seat, cooperating with the outer grinding seat to define a grinding opening therebetween, and rotatable relative to the outer grinding seat for grinding the peppercorns into ground pepper discharged through the grinding opening.

However, after use, when the conventional pepper mill is put on a cabinet or a dining table, a portion of residual ground pepper will fall out ofthe conventional pepper mill and scatter on the cabinet or the dining table, thereby making the cabinet or the dining table untidy.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, the object of the present invention is to provide a pepper mill capable of preventing residual ground pepper from falling out therefrom.

Accordingly, a pepper mill of the present invention compr i se s a receiving unit, a grinding unit and a closure unit.

The receiving unit includes a container body that surrounds a vertical axis, that defines a receiving space for receiving peppercorns , and that has a discharge end for discharging ground pepper. The grinding unit is disposed in the receiving space, and includes a coupling shaft that extends rotatably along the vertical axis, an inner grinding seat that is coupled co-rotatably to the coupling shaft, and a stationary outer grinding seat that surrounds the inner grinding seat and that cooperates with the inner grinding seat to define a grinding space therebetween. The closure unit includes a rotatable member that is disposed between the grinding unit and the discharge end of the container body and that is coupled co-rotatably to the coupling shaft, and a closure member that engages rotatably and that is movable vertically relative to the rotatable member. The coupling shaft is rotatably operable to rotate the inner grinding seat and the rotatable member relative to the outer grinding seat, thereby driving the closure member to move downwardly relative to the rotatable member along the axis from a closed position, where discharge of the ground pepper through the discharge end of the container body is blocked, to an opened pos it ion , where discharge of the ground pepper through the discharge end of the container body is permitted .

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:

Fig. 1 is a sectional view of a preferred embodiment of a pepper mill according to the invention;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary exploded perspective view of a grinding unit and a closure unit of the preferred embodiment;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of the preferred embodiment , illustrating a closure member at a closed position; and

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3, but illustrating the closure member at an opened position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

As shown in Figures 1 to 3, the preferred embodiment of a pepper mill according to the present invention comprises a receiving unit 1, a grinding unit 2 and a closure unit 3.

The receiving unit 1 includes a container body 11 that surrounds a vertical axis (L), that defines a receiving space 10 for receiving peppercorns (not shown), and that has a discharge end 100 for discharging ground pepper. The receiving unit 1 further includes a cover member 12 coupled rotatably to a top end of the container body 11 for closing a top end of the receiving space 10.

The grinding unit 2 is disposed in a lower portion of the receiving space 10, and includes a coupling shaft 21, an inner grinding seat 23 and a stationary outer grinding seat 22. The coupling shaft 21 extends rotatably along the vertical axis (L) and is configured to have a rectangular cross-section. The inner grinding seat 23 is coupled co-rotatably to the coupling shaft 21. The outer grinding seat 22 is mounted to the container body 11, surrounds the inner grinding seat 22, and cooperates with the inner grinding seat 23 to define a grinding space 20 therebetween. The coupling shaft 21 has an upper portion coupled co-rotatably to the cover member 12, and a lower portion coupled co-rotatably to and extending through the inner grinding seat 23.

The closure unit 3 includes a rotatable member 31, a closure member 32, a stationary member 33 and a resilient member 34.

The rotatable member 31 is disposed between the grinding unit 2 and the discharge end 100 of the container body 11, and is coupled co-rotatably to a bottom end of the coupling shaft 21. The rotatable member 31 includes a round base wall 311 that is formed with a rectangular shaft hole 313 into which the bottom end of the coupling shaft 21 fittingly extends (i.e. , the bottom end of the coupling shaft 21 engages fittingly the shaft hole 313), and a surrounding wall 312 that extends downwardly from a periphery of the base wall 311. The surrounding wall 312 has an outer surrounding surface formed with three equi-angularly spaced-apart spiral grooves 316, and three spaced-apart restoring grooves 315 that extend parallel to the vertical axis (L) and that are arranged alternately with the spiral grooves 316. Each of the spiral grooves 316 has an upper groove end 317 and a lower groove end 318 formed below the upper groove end 317. Each of the restoring grooves 315 has a top groove end that is in spatial communication with the upper groove end 317 of a respective one of the spiral grooves 316, and a bottom groove end that is in spatial communication with the lower groove end 318 of an adjacent one of the spiral groove grooves 316 (i.e., the top and bottom groove ends of each restoring groove 315 are not aligned with each other in the axial direction) .

The closure member 32 includes an annular first wall segment 321 and a second wall segment 322. The first wall segment 321 is disposed between the grinding unit 2 and the discharge end 100 of the container body 10. Thesecondwall segment 322 extends downwardly from the first wall segment 321, surrounds the rotatable member 31, and has an inner surrounding surface that confronts the outer surrounding surface of the surrounding wall 312 of the rotatable member 31. The second wall segment 322 has a step-shaped configuration with an outer diameter smaller than that of the first wall segment 321. The closure member 32 is formed with three protrusions 324 (only two are visible in Figure 2) engaging respectively and slidably the spiral grooves 316 of the rotatable member 31, such that the closure member 32 is rotatable relative to the rotatable member 31, and is movable vertically relative to the rotatable member

31 along the axis (L) between a closed position (see Figure

3) , where discharge of the ground pepper through the discharge end 100 of the container body 10 is blocked by the closure member 32, and an opened position (Figure 4) , where discharge of the ground pepper through the discharge end 100 is permitted by the closure member 32.

The stationary member 33 has a plate portion 331 mounted in the discharge end 100 of the container body 10 and formed with a plurality of equi-angularly spaced-apart through holes

333, and a projecting portion 332 projecting upwardly from the plate portion 331.

The resilient member 34 has opposite first and second end sections 341, 342 that are sleeved fittingly, respectively and resiliently on the second wall segment 322 of the closure member 32 and the projecting portion 332 of the stationary member 33 for biasing the closure member 32 toward the closed position .

Before use, the closure member 32 is at the closed position, while the protrusions 324 of the closure member 32 are disposed respectively at the upper groove ends 317 of the spiral grooves

316 of the rotatable member 31. In use, the cover member 12 is rotated together with the coupling shaft 21 to drive rotation of the inner grinding seat 23 relative to the outer grinding seat 22 for grinding peppercorns. During the rotation of the cover member 12, the closure member 32 is driven to move downwardly relative to the rotatable member 31 along the axis

(L) through the engagement between the protrusions 324 and the spiral grooves 316 from the closed position to the opened position, while the protrusions 324 travel from the corresponding upper groove ends 317 to the lower groove ends

318 of the spiral grooves 316. Consequent ly , the ground pepper can be discharged out of the discharge end 100 through the through holes 333 of the stationary member 33. At this time, the resilient member 34 is compressed.

When the cover member 12 is released, an upward restoring force of the resilient member 34 is applied to the closure member 32 to result in an upward movement of the closure member 32 along the axis (L) from the opened position to the closed position. Since the lower groove ends 318 of the spiral grooves 316 are in spatial communication with the bottom groove ends of the restoring grooves 315, the protrusions 324 are moved from the corresponding bottom groove ends of the restoring grooves 315 to the top groove ends of the restoring grooves 315, respectively, during the movement of the closure member 32 from the opened position to the closed position. Therefore, after use, the closure member 32 can effectively prevent residual ground pepper from falling out of the discharge end 100.

It should be noted that, positions of the protrusions 324 and the grooves for engaging the protrusions 324, including the spiral grooves 316 and the restoring grooves 315, may be interchanged in other embodiments of this invention, i.e., the spiral grooves 316 and the restoring grooves 315 may be formed in the inner surrounding surface of the second wall segment 322 of the closure member 32, while the protrusions 324 may be provided on the outer surrounding surface of the surrounding wall 312 of the rotatable member 31. Moreover, the number of the protrusions 324 as well as the corresponding pairs of the spiral grooves 316 and the restoring grooves 315 may vary in other embodiments of this invention.

While the present invention has been described in connection with what is considered the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is understood that this invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiment but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent arrangements.