Atmospheric vegetable dish
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Solution Overview
Problem
Vegetables typically wilt and spoil quickly at room temperature due to inadequate moisture retention and rapid growth of bacteria and fungi, making it difficult to encourage their consumption, as they do not remain fresh and appealing when stored outside a refrigerator.
Innovation Solution
A dish set comprising a planar base with rivulets, a dome-like chamber open at both ends, and a lid that allows limited gas exchange, maintaining humidity and preventing ethylene buildup to keep vegetables fresh for several days at room temperature.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If vegetables are left out on the table at room temperature, then they are accessible and appealing for consumption, but they rapidly wilt and become unappetizing
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a flexible, breathable film or mesh material to cover the vegetables. This flexible covering creates a microenvironment that retains moisture and prevents wilting while allowing gas exchange to prevent bacterial and fungal growth. The flexibility allows the covering to conform to the vegetable surface while maintaining breathability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes porous or breathable materials such as mesh fabrics, perforated films, or naturally breathable plant-based coverings. These porous materials allow ethylene gas to escape while permitting controlled air circulation and moisture retention. The porosity enables selective permeability that maintains freshness without creating a sealed, moisture-trapping environment.
2Reliability
If vegetables are enclosed in a plastic bag, then wilting is delayed through moisture retention, but bacteria and fungi rapidly grow in the excessively moist atmosphere
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces impermeable plastic bags with porous or breathable materials that allow controlled gas exchange. These materials include mesh fabrics, perforated films, or naturally breathable coverings that permit ethylene gas to escape and allow air circulation to prevent excessive moisture accumulation. The porosity enables selective permeability that maintains humidity without creating conditions for microbial growth.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a modified atmospheric environment within the covering that reduces oxygen concentration and increases carbon dioxide levels, or introduces antimicrobial substances. This altered atmosphere inhibits bacterial and fungal growth while maintaining conditions suitable for vegetable freshness. The inert or modified atmosphere prevents rapid microbial proliferation in the moist environment.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If vegetables are placed in a sealed rigid container, then bacterial and fungal growth is prevented, but the vegetables continue to respire and undergo accelerated senescence becoming yellow and necrotic
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs porous or breathable materials instead of sealed rigid containers. These materials include mesh fabrics, perforated films, or naturally breathable coverings that allow gas exchange while maintaining a protective environment. The porosity enables ethylene gas to escape and air circulation to occur, preventing accelerated senescence while still protecting against bacterial and fungal contamination.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts or removes ethylene gas from the storage environment by using materials that allow its escape or by actively removing it through absorption or ventilation. This extraction of the ripening hormone prevents accelerated senescence and yellowing while maintaining a protective environment that prevents microbial growth. The selective removal of harmful gases while retaining beneficial moisture is key.
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
The dish set effectively retains moisture and prevents premature aging of vegetables by allowing water vapor retention while allowing ethylene gas to escape, keeping vegetables fresh and appealing for extended periods at room temperature, promoting their consumption.
Implementation Method 1
Water vapor from the natural transpiration of the plants remains within the chamber and helps the plant tissue remain turgid
Implementation Method 2
ethylene gas, a ripening hormone which is also emitted by the plants, escapes through the juncture between the lid and the chamber
Data Source
AI summary
An improved dish for displaying and storing vegetables at room temperature. A transparent dome component rests on a planar base. An opening in the apex of the dome components allows vegetable to be readily placed and removed from the dish. The opening is closed by a loose-fitting lid so that sufficient humidity is maintained to keep the stored vegetables from becoming flaccid. Yet sufficient air exchange is allowed by the edges of the lid to retard senescent and spoiling of the vegetables.