Adjustable Food Slicing Disc for Multi-Mode Cutting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing food processing devices lack ease of use and expanded functionality, particularly in terms of adjustable blades for slicing, grating, and chopping food items, as they often only offer fixed blade configurations.
Innovation Solution
A rotatable slicing disc assembly for food processors with adjustable horizontal and vertical blades, allowing for varying slice thickness and deployment/retraction of vertical blades to enable horizontal, vertical slicing, and shredding operations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a fixed blade configuration is used in food processing devices, then the device structure is simple, but the functionality is limited and cannot perform multiple cutting operations
Solution Approach 1:
The slicing disc employs adjustable horizontal and vertical blades that can be moved between different positions. The horizontal blade can be adjusted to change slice thickness, while the vertical blade can be deployed or retracted to switch between slicing and shredding modes. This dynamic adjustability allows a single device to perform multiple cutting operations (horizontal slicing, vertical slicing, shredding) without requiring multiple separate devices, thereby improving versatility while maintaining reasonable structural complexity through modular blade assemblies.
2Adaptability or versatility
If adjustable blades are added to provide multiple cutting modes, then the versatility is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The slicing disc is divided into functional segments: a horizontal slicing blade assembly and a vertical blade assembly. The vertical blade assembly can be independently deployed or retracted, allowing users to select between horizontal slicing mode (vertical blade retracted) and vertical slicing/shredding mode (vertical blade deployed). This segmentation enables multiple cutting modes while keeping each blade mechanism relatively simple and independent, reducing the overall complexity compared to having all blades permanently fixed in place.
Solution Approach 2:
The slicing disc is designed as a multi-functional device where the same disc body supports both horizontal and vertical blade assemblies. The horizontal blade provides slicing functionality, while the deployable vertical blade adds vertical slicing and shredding capabilities. This universal design allows a single slicing disc to replace multiple specialized discs, improving versatility without proportionally increasing complexity since the blade assemblies share common mounting structures and drive mechanisms.
Data Source
AI summary
A slicing disc assembly for use with an electrically powered food processor appliance includes a disc body having a top surface, a bottom surface, a central hub, a circumferential edge, a first opening in the disc body between the central hub and the circumferential edge, and a second opening in the disc body between the central hub and the circumferential edge, a horizontal slicing blade associated with the first opening, and a vertical blade assembly associated with the second opening, the vertical blade assembly being moveable between a slicing position and a retracted position.