Compact Cooking Pan with Stand Flange for Portable Heater Safety

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Solution Overview

Problem

There is a need for compact, lightweight, and durable cooking implements that can safely utilize portable heaters and other alternative heat sources, as existing solutions pose hazards and lack effectiveness in these applications.

Innovation Solution

A compact cooking implement with a rectangular pan, top flange, handle, and stand flange is designed, featuring a heat-resistant handle, a hinge for rotatable stand flange, and made from stainless steel using a stamping method, which deflects excess heat and provides safe handling and storage.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Adaptability or versatility

If traditional cooking methods are used with portable heaters, then cooking functionality is achieved, but fire hazards and safety risks increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecooking functionalityVSAvoidfire hazards

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The patent introduces a specialized pan with a stand flange as an intermediary device between the portable heater and the cooking task. The stand flange elevates the pan body above the heater surface, creating a safety buffer that prevents direct contact fires while maintaining cooking functionality. This mediator structure allows safe adaptation of portable heaters for cooking purposes.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent converts the potential harm of overheating and fire risk into a beneficial safety feature by designing the stand flange to position the pan at an optimal distance from the heater. The structure that could lead to instability is instead used to create proper clearance, transforming the hazard into a safety mechanism that prevents fire while maintaining cooking efficiency.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #22Blessing in disguise (Convert harm into benefit)

2Volume of moving object

If compact storage is achieved by folding the stand flange, then portability is improved, but device complexity increases due to the hinge mechanism

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvestorage volumeVSAvoidhinge mechanism

Core Design Contradiction:

Volume of moving objectVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The stand flange is designed as a dynamic component that can rotate between a stored position (folded against the pan body) and a functional position (extended outward). The hinge mechanism enables this dynamic transformation, allowing the pan to transition from a compact storage state to a functional cooking state, thereby achieving portability without permanently increasing device complexity.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #15Dynamics

3Object-affected harmful factors

If the handle is made heat resistant through coating, then safety is improved, but manufacturing complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveheat resistanceVSAvoidmanufacturing process

Core Design Contradiction:

Object-affected harmful factorsVSEase of manufacture

Solution Approach 1:

The handle's thermal properties are modified by applying a heat-resistant coating, which changes the surface parameters of the handle to resist high temperatures. This parameter change approach maintains the simplicity of the basic handle structure while adding the necessary heat resistance property through a relatively simple coating process, thus improving safety with minimal impact on manufacturing ease.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #35Parameter changes

Data Source

PatentUS20170354286A1Cooking implement

Publication Date: 2017.12.14 PATTERSON ROBERT M

AI summary

A compact cooking implement includes a pan, a top flange, a handle, and a stand flange. The pan has a rectangular bottom and four perpendicular walls. One of the four walls extends from each of four edges of the bottom. The top flange is disposed on a top edge of the walls of the pan. The top flange extends perpendicularly outward from a top edge of each of the four walls. The handle extends outwardly from the top flange. The stand flange extends from the top flange outwardly at an angle from a plane including the top flange.