Cold Drink Discharge Mechanism for Splash-Free Ice Cream Dispensing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional cold drink dispensers experience ice cream or ice slush deformation and splashing due to mechanical impact forces at the outlet, leading to hygiene issues and quality degradation.
Innovation Solution
A discharging mechanism with a discharging tray, casing, and handle, featuring a sealing member and transmission component to control the opening and closing of discharging ports, ensuring ice cream or smoothies are retained within the casing and discharged smoothly through a hood without splashing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Power
If mechanical mixing shafts or screws exert continuous pressure and shear force on ice cream or ice slush to push it out, then sufficient power is generated to push the product out, but intense impact forces cause deformation and breakage of the softened ice cream or ice slush at the outlet
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the mixing shafts and screws from the system, replacing mechanical pushing with gravitational discharge. The freezing cylinder is designed with a tilted bottom and discharge opening that allows ice cream or ice slush to exit naturally under gravity, eliminating the source of impact forces that cause product deformation and breakage.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical pushing system (mixing shafts and screws) with a gravitational discharge system. The tilted bottom of the freezing cylinder and strategically positioned discharge opening create a gravity-driven flow path, substituting active mechanical force with passive gravitational force to reduce impact on the product.
2Device complexity
If ice cream or ice slush is discharged directly from the freezing cylinder outlet, then the discharge process is simple, but the softened product at the higher temperature outlet is prone to splashing and deformation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary discharge opening positioned at the lower end of the freezing cylinder where the temperature is lower and the product is firmer. This intermediary discharge point acts as a mediator, allowing the product to be discharged in a more stable state before it reaches the higher temperature outlet zone, thereby reducing splashing and deformation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes the dimensional aspect of temperature gradient along the cylinder length by positioning the discharge opening at the lower end rather than at the outlet. This spatial repositioning exploits the temperature dimension to find an optimal discharge location where product stability is maximized.
3Productivity
If traditional mechanical discharge methods are used, then the discharge function is achieved, but hygiene risks and quality degradation occur due to splashing ice cream or smoothies
Solution Approach 1:
The patent converts the harmful effect of continuous mechanical contact into a benefit by eliminating the mixing shafts and screws entirely. The gravity-driven discharge system not only prevents splashing and hygiene issues but also reduces mechanical wear and energy consumption, turning the elimination of mechanical components into a multi-fold advantage.
Data Source
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AI summary
This application discloses a novel discharging mechanism for a cold drink dispenser, which comprises a discharging tray, a casing, and a handle; the discharging tray is provided with a second discharging outlet, the bottom of the discharging tray is provided with a discharging hood, the discharging hood is provided with a first discharging outlet; the bottom of the handle is provided with a sealing member and a transmission component, the transmission component connects the handle and the sealing member. In this application, effectively avoiding the problem of ice cream or iced drinks splashing everywhere when they are pushed out from the freezing cylinder in traditional cold drink dispensers.