Cookware Handle Attachment with Thin-End Stud and Positioning Base
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing handle attachment devices for cooking utensils are not durable, require excessive material, and incur additional costs due to complex constructions and multiple parts, leading to issues with material degradation and stress during use.
Innovation Solution
A handle attachment device with a pin and base system that minimizes material usage and parts, featuring protrusions on the handle for precise positioning and a screw passage, allowing for secure and direct attachment without rotation, and incorporating a rib for positioning and a return of material for easy cleaning.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If a massive construction of the handle end is used, then sufficient mechanical characteristics and stress resistance are obtained, but the device complexity and material quantity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The handle end is segmented into a modular assembly comprising a base, positioning elements (protrusions), and a retaining element. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function with optimized material usage, avoiding the need for a monolithic massive construction while maintaining sufficient mechanical strength.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention introduces a third dimension by adding a base that extends perpendicular to the handle axis. This base provides additional structural support and stress distribution in a direction orthogonal to the handle, enabling reduced material usage along the handle axis while maintaining overall structural integrity through multi-directional load path.
2Reliability
If additional parts are added to improve fixing, then secure attachment is achieved, but manufacturing cost and device complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The base integrates multiple functions into a single component: it provides structural support, houses the positioning protrusions, and incorporates the retaining element. This merging of functions reduces the total number of parts while maintaining secure attachment, as the base acts as both a mounting structure and a positioning mechanism simultaneously.
Solution Approach 2:
The base is designed as a multi-functional element that performs structural support, positioning, and retention functions. This universality allows a single component to replace what would traditionally require multiple separate parts, reducing manufacturing complexity and assembly steps while ensuring reliable fixation.
3Strength
If thermosetting plastic with significant wall thickness is used, then sufficient mechanical characteristics are obtained, but material quantity and manufacturing cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The invention employs a composite structure combining the handle (thermosetting plastic) with a metal base and retaining element. This composite approach allows the plastic to be used only where necessary for its specific functions, while the metal components provide additional structural strength, enabling reduced plastic wall thickness without compromising overall mechanical characteristics.
Solution Approach 2:
By extending the structural support into a third dimension through the metal base, the invention reduces the required wall thickness of the plastic handle end. The base provides additional structural rigidity and stress distribution in a direction perpendicular to the handle axis, allowing the plastic to be thinner while maintaining sufficient mechanical strength through the combined composite structure.
4Device complexity
If the handle material is in direct contact with the cap, then simple attachment is achieved, but material degradation occurs due to heating and cooling cycles
Solution Approach 1:
The metal base acts as an intermediary element between the handle material and the cap. This intermediary layer thermally isolates the handle material from direct contact with the cap, reducing the impact of heating and cooling cycles on the plastic. The base absorbs and dissipates thermal stresses, protecting the handle material from degradation while maintaining the simplicity of the attachment mechanism.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
AI summary
The device has a stud (5) comprising a front end (14) fixed to a cap (6) of a culinary article (2), and a rear end (15) provided with an opening. A handle (3) has an end (30) with protrusions (31, 32) forming a housing (33) that receives the stud. A base (8) surrounds the stud and the protrusions, and longitudinally connects the handle with the cap. The protrusions are in contact with two sides of the stud in a transversal lateral axis (42). The base includes a positioning unit for positioning the base against the stud and the handle in a transversal vertical axis (41).