Acentric Frustoconical Gold Pan Design
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing gold pan designs face a conflict between maximizing floor area for coarse-panning and sidewall length for fine-panning, leading to compromises that either prioritize one over the other, affecting separation efficiency and portability.
Innovation Solution
An acentric frustoconical gold pan design with a shallow and steep conical surface portion, along with concentric stepped indentations, allows for increased floor-to-rim ratio and sidewall-to-rim ratio, enabling efficient coarse and fine separation while maintaining compact proportions, and incorporating a riffled surface for enhanced coarse separation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a gold pan has a large floor area with steep sidewalls to improve coarse separation, then the distance for gold to travel to the floor is reduced, but the sidewall length available for fine-panning is decreased
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies asymmetry by creating an acentric frustoconical shape where the rim is offset from the floor center. This generates varying slope angles around the pan circumference, with steeper slopes in some regions and shallower slopes in others, allowing both coarse and fine separation functions to coexist in different zones of the same pan surface.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements local quality by providing different slope characteristics in different regions of the pan. The acentric configuration creates zones with steeper angles for efficient gold settling and zones with shallower angles for extended fine-panning, allowing each region to optimize for its specific function rather than using a uniform slope throughout.
2Productivity
If a gold pan has a long sloping conical surface to improve fine-panning, then the distance for gold to work its way up the sidewall is increased, but the floor area for gold collection is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The acentric frustoconical configuration creates asymmetric slope distribution where certain circumferential regions have extended shallow slopes for fine-panning while other regions maintain steeper slopes that preserve floor area, resolving the trade-off between sidewall length and floor area.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent resolves the two-dimensional trade-off by introducing a third dimension through the offset configuration. The acentric arrangement allows the pan to utilize the vertical and radial dimensions differently around the circumference, creating zones with different effective lengths and areas simultaneously.
3Area of stationary object
If a gold pan uses a concentric conical shape to maximize floor area, then coarse separation is improved, but the sidewall length for fine separation is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent deliberately introduces asymmetry by offsetting the rim from the floor center, transforming the conventional symmetric conical shape into an acentric frustoconical shape. This asymmetry allows the pan to provide both large floor area and extended sidewall length in different circumferential zones, eliminating the need to choose between the two attributes.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This design facilitates faster and more efficient separation of gold from gangue, reducing processing time and improving prospecting efficiency while maintaining the desired size and portability of gold pans.
Implementation Method 1
Prospecting for gold is based upon a combination of good fortune and specific principles of materials and material handling. This includes the use of gravity for separation of materials with different specific gravities.
Implementation Method 2
Gold would settle to the bottom, and the lighter materials would be washed out of the pan together with water.
Implementation Method 3
The use of gold pans enables prospectors to create an abrasive environment for breaking up loosely bound solids as well as create a swirling action to enhance and speed up separation.
Data Source
AI summary
A gold pan having an acentric frustoconical configuration to enhance the material separation process.