Aided safety cooking appliance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing cooking appliances do not adequately address safety concerns for users with visual or auditory impairments, as they lack features to assist blind or colorblind individuals and those with eyesight difficulties in operating the controls safely and efficiently.
Innovation Solution
A cooking appliance with a housing design featuring a swingable oven door, a heating drawer, and a range top with pop-up pot guards, along with control units that include braille buttons, adjustable illumination, tilt servo motors for angle adjustment, a safety timer, and a voice control system, ensuring accessibility and safety for users with disabilities.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If traditional controls are used in cooking appliances, then the device complexity is low, but the ease of operation for visually impaired users deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces intermediate devices including braille labels on control buttons, audio output devices, and voice recognition systems that mediate between the user and the cooking appliance controls. These intermediaries translate visual interfaces into tactile and auditory formats, enabling visually impaired users to operate the appliance without modifying the core control system architecture.
Solution Approach 2:
The control interface is segmented into multiple sensory channels: tactile braille labels on physical buttons, auditory feedback through speakers, and voice command recognition. This segmentation allows users with visual impairments to interact with the appliance through their preferred sensory modality while maintaining the original button-based control structure.
2Reliability
If multiple safety features are added to assist users with disabilities, then the reliability improves, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The control system is designed with universal multi-functionality, where the same control buttons and interface serve both visually impaired and non-visually impaired users. The braille labels, audio feedback, and voice recognition features are integrated into the existing control architecture rather than being separate systems, allowing one device to serve multiple user needs.
Solution Approach 2:
The appliance includes automatic safety features such as timer functions that automatically shut off heating elements, and audio alerts that notify users of cooking status without requiring constant user attention. These self-service features enhance safety for users with disabilities while reducing the operational burden on the user.
3Ease of operation
If braille buttons and voice control systems are integrated, then the ease of operation for blind users improves, but the manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The appliance incorporates dynamic features including adjustable audio volume levels, variable voice recognition sensitivity, and flexible braille label placement. These dynamic adjustments allow the system to adapt to different user preferences and environmental conditions without requiring precise manufacturing tolerances for each individual component.
Data Source
AI summary
An aided safety cooking appliance includes a housing having a front side with an oven aperture extending through to proximal a rear side and a rear side extending above the top side to form an upper panel. An oven door is coupled to the housing to open and alternatively cover the oven aperture. A range top comprises a plurality of burners coupled within the top side of the housing. A plurality of heating elements is coupled within each of the plurality of burners and the oven aperture. A pair of control units comprises an upper control unit and a lower control unit. Each of the pair of control units comprises a plurality of buttons. A CPU is coupled to the housing and is in operational communication with the plurality of buttons of each of the pair of control units and with the plurality of heating elements.