Adjustable blade assembly for a food processor
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current food processors lack a simple and robust mechanism for adjusting slicing blade settings to produce varying food slice thicknesses without changing blades, and they do not provide adequate tactile feedback to users.
Innovation Solution
An adjustable blade assembly with a threaded hub, slicing plate, cannulated support collar, and rotatable sleeve that allows for adjusting the distance between the slicing plate and blade, providing tactile feedback through engagement with detents, and includes a plunger to maintain the desired position.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a mechanism for adjusting slicing blade thickness is added, then adaptability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The adjustment sleeve is nested within the blade assembly structure, containing the plunger mechanism inside its hollow body. The plunger moves within the sleeve's interior space, and the spring is housed within the same nested structure. This nesting approach provides the adjustment function without adding external complexity to the overall blade assembly.
Solution Approach 2:
The slicing blade position is made dynamically adjustable through the threaded engagement between the adjustment sleeve and the hub. Rotating the sleeve moves the plunger along the thread, which dynamically changes the distance between the slicing plate and blade, allowing continuous thickness adjustment rather than fixed positions.
2Ease of operation
If tactile feedback mechanism is added, then ease of operation is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The spring-loaded plunger provides tactile feedback to the user during adjustment. As the user rotates the adjustment sleeve, the plunger engages with ridges or detents on the hub, creating audible clicks and tactile resistance that indicate discrete thickness settings. This feedback mechanism is integrated within the simple sleeve structure rather than requiring separate components.
Solution Approach 2:
The spring automatically loads the plunger against the hub ridges, providing continuous tactile feedback without requiring external power or complex mechanisms. The spring's inherent elasticity creates the resistance and click sensation, making the feedback system self-powered and eliminating the need for additional motors, sensors, or electronic components.
3Ease of operation
If adjustment mechanism is added, then ease of operation is improved, but reliability may worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The spring is pre-loaded to maintain constant pressure on the plunger against the hub ridges, ensuring the slicing blade remains firmly positioned at the selected thickness setting. This prior cushioning force prevents accidental movement or drift of the blade position during operation, maintaining reliability while allowing easy adjustment when intended.
Solution Approach 2:
The threaded engagement between the adjustment sleeve and hub is designed to maintain continuous engagement throughout the adjustment range, ensuring the blade position is established and secured before cutting operations begin. The threads provide inherent mechanical locking that prevents backlash or position loss, preparing the system for reliable operation.
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
Enables users to adjust food slice thickness easily and securely while offering tactile feedback, enhancing user experience and operational efficiency.
Implementation Method 1
a plunger housed inside the slicing adjustment sleeve may advantageously engage the plurality of detents on the support collar, thus providing tactile feedback to the user
Implementation Method 2
A slicing adjustment sleeve may rotatably couple to the hub and to the support collar to move the slicing plate up and down relative to the hub
Implementation Method 3
An inner surface of the channel has threads for rotatably coupling to the threaded second portion of the hub. Rotation of the sleeve about the hub changes a selected distance between the slicing plate and the slicing blade.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2A
Figure 2B
AI summary
An adjustable blade assembly includes a threaded hub coupleable to a drive shaft of a food processor and a slicing plate slidably mounted on the hub. A slicing blade couples to the hub above a first surface of the slicing plate for cutting food introduced into the food processor. A cannulated support collar couples to the hub and includes a plurality of detents. A slicing adjustment sleeve rotatably couples to the hub and to the support collar to move the slicing plate up and down relative to the hub, thus changing a selected distance between the slicing plate and the slicing blade. As the user rotates the slicing adjustment sleeve, a plunger housed inside the slicing adjustment sleeve engages the plurality of detents on the support collar, thus providing tactile feedback to the user and maintaining the slicing blade in the desired position relative to the slicing plate.