Multiple chamber condiment grinder
View Patent ↗A dual chamber condiment grinder has more than one chamber for holding a different condiment in each, and each chamber has a rasp that can be selectively moved up and down to grind the condiment in the associated chamber. An actuating handle rotates on the top of the chambers to position a cam over one or the other of the rasps to selectively grind the contents of one of the chambers. In the alternative, the cam can move in a slot in a movable handle to position the cam over the desired rasp.
1. A multiple chamber condiment grinder, comprising:
a housing;
a first chamber in the housing configured to hold a first condiment to be ground;
a second chamber in the housing separate from the first chamber and configured to hold a second condiment to be ground;
a fixed grinding member located in each of the first and second chambers;
a first movable grinding member positioned in the first chamber and a second movable grinding member positioned in the second chamber, each of the first and second movable grinding members being configured to reciprocatingly translate within the housing with respect to the corresponding fixed grinding member, and each of the first and second movable grinding members having a top region and a shearing edge operatively spaced from the respective fixed grinding member in each chamber defining a discharge gap therebetween and for grinding a condiment between the movable grinding member and the fixed grinding member and discharging the ground condiment through the discharge gap;
an actuator movably coupled to said housing, said actuator being selectively engageable with one of the first and second movable grinding members and operable to reciprocatingly translate the selected movable grinding member in the chamber and its shearing edges past the corresponding fixed grinding member to grind the condiment in the respective first and second chamber; and
said actuator being mounted on said housing to be selectively moved from a first position wherein the actuator operatively engages the first movable grinding member to a second position wherein the actuator operatively engages the second movable grinding member, whereby the movable grinding member of each chamber can be selectively actuated for grinding the condiment in that chamber.
2. The grinder of claim 1 wherein the actuator is rotatably mounted on the housing.
3. The grinder of claim 1 , further comprising an indicator that displays an identifier for the first condiment when the actuator is in the first position and an identifier for the second condiment when the actuator is in the second position.