Blender Elevator Assembly for Frozen Beverage Blending
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Solution Overview
Problem
There is a demand for a compact, rugged, and affordable blender for home or commercial use that can efficiently blend frozen beverages, addressing the challenges of space constraints and cost in kitchen settings, while ensuring safety and ease of use.
Innovation Solution
A compact blender design featuring a removable or permanently affixed cupholder with anti-rotational surfaces, an elevator assembly for controlled blending, and safety features like sensors and a clamping jaw mechanism to prevent spillage and ensure proper positioning, along with a spindle assembly for easy cleaning.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a commercial size blender is used to blend frozen beverages, then blending performance is improved, but device size and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The blender is divided into functionally independent modules: a removable cupholder assembly that can be separated from the base unit. This segmentation allows the blending mechanism to be compact while maintaining commercial-grade performance, as only the essential blending components are integrated into the base rather than requiring a large integrated chamber.
Solution Approach 2:
The cupholder is designed to be inserted horizontally into the base unit rather than vertically, utilizing horizontal space instead of vertical space. This dimensional change allows the blender to achieve compact height suitable for home kitchens while maintaining the blending capacity and performance of commercial units.
2Reliability
If a commercial size blender is used to blend frozen beverages, then blending performance is improved, but device cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the blender into a removable cupholder and a base unit, each component can be manufactured independently using optimized processes and materials. This reduces overall manufacturing complexity and cost compared to producing a single integrated commercial-grade unit, while still delivering professional blending performance.
Solution Approach 2:
The cupholder assembly is designed as a separate, potentially disposable or easily replaceable component. This allows the expensive blending mechanism in the base to be reused indefinitely, while the cupholder can be replaced if damaged or worn, reducing long-term ownership costs for consumers.
3Volume of moving object
If a compact blender is designed for home use, then device size is reduced, but blending capability for frozen beverages deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The blender employs dynamic elements including a rotating spindle with cutting blades that can engage and disengage from the cupholder, and an elevator mechanism that raises and lowers the cupholder during operation. These dynamic components allow a compact design to deliver the mechanical action and power necessary for effective frozen beverage blending.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention replaces traditional large-scale mechanical blending systems with a more compact mechanism featuring a high-speed rotating spindle and cutting blades. This mechanical substitution maintains blending effectiveness while significantly reducing the overall device footprint for home use.
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 blender effectively blends frozen beverages to desired consistency, is safe to use, and easy to clean, while being compact enough for tight kitchen spaces and affordable for most users.
Implementation Method 1
The elevator assembly includes a motor, two lead screws, and two drive nuts
Implementation Method 2
The lead screws are rotated by the motor through the drive nuts to raise and lower the clamping jaw
Implementation Method 3
The pulleys are connected to each other and to a pulley on the spindle by a belt
Implementation Method 4
The rotating cutter blades of a spindle assembly make contact with the frozen beverage and cut through layers of the frozen beverage
Data Source
AI summary
A blender for home or commercial use that is rugged enough to blend frozen beverages, simple to use and safe. The blender includes an upper housing with a front housing door that covers the moving blending machinery. The blender also includes a cupholder receiving area which allows the user to safely insert a frozen food or beverage cup inside a cupholder for blending. After the start button is pressed, the cup and cupholder will be lifted together for blending in a balanced, linear motion by an elevator assembly. Dual lead screws or a dual belt drive are preferably used in the elevator assembly to achieve this balanced, linear motion. As the cupholder is lifted upward, a cover will be pressed over the top opening of the inserted cup to prevent spillage during blending. The elevator assembly continues to lift the cupholder upward until the rotating cutter blades of a spindle assembly cut through successive layers of the frozen food or beverage. To facilitate cleaning, the spindle assembly is preferably removable from the blender through use of a quick release coupling mechanism.