Automatic cooking machine
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Solution Overview
Problem
Restaurants and beverage stores face challenges with labor-intensive cooking processes, leading to staff fatigue, accidents, and food waste due to the need for early preparation and frequent replacement of perishable ingredients, which conventional methods struggle to mitigate effectively.
Innovation Solution
An automatic cooking machine with a control interface, heater, hopper, strainer, and motorized mechanisms that allow precise control over ingredient quantity and cooking time, featuring a blocking element and blender for efficient cooking and blending, and a water management system to maintain optimal cooking conditions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If ingredients are cooked in advance to fulfill orders after business hours begin, then productivity is improved, but staff fatigue and accidents increase due to busy preparation periods
Solution Approach 1:
The automatic cooking machine performs preliminary cooking actions before business hours begin, preparing ingredients in advance without requiring staff to work during early preparation periods. The machine can be programmed to start cooking tasks automatically, eliminating the need for staff to be present during these early hours and reducing both fatigue and safety risks.
Solution Approach 2:
The cooking machine operates autonomously to cook ingredients, serving itself by automatically controlling heating, timing, and cooking processes. This self-service capability allows the system to prepare ingredients without human intervention during critical periods, improving productivity while keeping staff available for other tasks or rested.
2Productivity
If staff work earlier to prepare ingredients, then productivity is improved, but food waste increases due to cooking fails and accidents
Solution Approach 1:
The automatic cooking machine performs cooking tasks autonomously with precise control over temperature, timing, and ingredient quantities. This eliminates human error and accidents that lead to cooking fails, ensuring ingredients are prepared correctly the first time and reducing food waste from failed attempts.
Solution Approach 2:
The machine incorporates sensors and control systems that continuously monitor cooking conditions and adjust parameters in real-time. This feedback mechanism ensures optimal cooking results by detecting and correcting deviations from desired conditions, preventing cooking failures and the associated food waste.
3Productivity
If ingredients are cooked in large quantities in advance, then productivity is improved, but food waste increases because some ingredients cannot be kept for too long
Solution Approach 1:
The cooking machine divides large-scale ingredient preparation into multiple smaller batches, cooking ingredients in manageable portions rather than all at once. This segmentation allows for better inventory management and ensures that ingredients are cooked and used within their optimal freshness window, reducing waste from perishable items that cannot be stored for long periods.
Solution Approach 2:
The machine performs cooking operations in periodic cycles rather than continuous large-batch processing. By cooking ingredients in repeated, scheduled intervals, the system maintains a steady supply of fresh ingredients while avoiding overproduction and waste of perishable items that have limited storage life.
4Productivity
If staff are frequently busy during preparation periods, then productivity is improved, but reliability worsens due to excessive fatigue and accidents
Solution Approach 1:
The automatic cooking machine handles ingredient preparation autonomously, performing cutting, mixing, and cooking tasks without staff intervention. This transfers the preparation workload from staff to the machine, maintaining high productivity while eliminating the fatigue and safety risks associated with continuous manual labor during busy periods.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces manual mechanical preparation work with an automated mechanical system. The machine uses motors, actuators, and automated mechanisms to perform preparation tasks that would otherwise require staff, thereby maintaining productivity while improving safety by removing human operators from hazardous or repetitive manual tasks.
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 automatic cooking machine reduces labor burdens, minimizes food waste, and ensures consistent cooking quality by automating the cooking process, allowing for scheduled cooking and precise control over ingredient quantity and timing, thereby enhancing operational efficiency and reducing staff workload.
Implementation Method 1
a heater, arranged on the base
Implementation Method 2
when the blocking element approaches the moving arm, the first magnetic element and the second magnetic element are attracted to each other, causing the blocking element to detachably attach on the moving arm
Data Source
AI summary
An automatic cooking machine includes: an upper portion provided with a connection port thereon; a control interface arranged to operably generate control commands based on a user's manipulations to control operation of the automatic cooking machine; a base; a heater arranged on the base; a supporting portion coupled between the upper portion and the base, and arranged to support the upper portion; a hopper for receiving materials and having a hollow feeding tube, wherein the feeding tube is detachably inserted into the connection port; a cooking pot capable of being heated on the heater; and a strainer capable of being placed in the cooking pot and receiving materials. The strainer is provided with holders and the side walls and the bottom of the strainer are provided with multiple filter pores. When the strainer is placed in the cooking pot, the holders expose outside the cooking pot.