Deployable stirring member
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing systems for preparing cooled confectionery like ice cream and whipped yogurt face challenges such as complex user experience due to the need for different stirring members, product sticking issues, and the hassle of cleaning, especially when preparing whipped yogurt with traditional whisks.
Innovation Solution
A deployable stirring member that automatically adjusts its configuration based on the product type by rotating stirring bodies within a defined angular travel, guided by pins and slots, allowing it to adopt a spoon or whisk shape depending on the product's viscosity and air incorporation needs, and automatically switches to a spoon shape for easy consumption and reduced cleaning.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a whisk shape stirring member is used to prepare whipped yogurt, then air incorporation and texture creation are improved, but product sticking and cleaning difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The stirring member features rotatable wire elements that can dynamically change their angular position. During whipping, wires rotate to a deployed angle for effective air incorporation. During cleaning, wires rotate to a retracted angle that prevents product accumulation and facilitates easy cleaning, thus resolving the contradiction between aeration capability and cleaning ease.
Solution Approach 2:
The stirring member is divided into multiple independent wire elements that can rotate individually relative to the main shaft. This segmentation allows each wire to optimize its position for either whipping (deployed) or cleaning (retracted), enabling the system to adapt its geometry to different operational requirements and resolve the contradiction between functionality and maintainability.
2Adaptability or versatility
If different stirring members (spoon or whisk) are provided for different products, then product preparation quality is improved, but device complexity and user operation difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
A single stirring member is designed to perform multiple functions by rotating its wire elements between deployed and retracted positions. The same stirring member can effectively whip yogurt (whisk function) or stir ice cream (spoon function), eliminating the need for multiple specialized tools and reducing device complexity while maintaining product preparation quality.
Solution Approach 2:
The stirring member transitions from a static multi-tool approach to a dynamic single-tool design. The rotatable wires enable the same physical object to change its functional geometry on-demand, allowing one stirring member to replace multiple specialized tools and simplify the user experience without compromising preparation quality.
3Productivity
If a whisk shape stirring member is used for whipped yogurt, then air incorporation is improved, but product sticking increases
Solution Approach 1:
The wire elements rotate dynamically between deployed and retracted angular positions. During the whipping phase, wires are deployed at an angle that maximizes air incorporation efficiency. During the cleaning phase, wires retract to a position that minimizes product sticking and facilitates easy removal of residual product, thus resolving the contradiction between aeration efficiency and product sticking.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2a~2b
Figure 3a~3d
AI summary
The invention relates to a stirring member (9) for using in a system for preparing a food product, the product being prepared by the stirring member (9) moving inside a container (8), the srirring member (9) being configured in such a way that it can adopt different configurations depending on its direction of rotation inside the container (8). Preferably, the stirring member (9) can adopt a spoon configuration or a whisk configuration. The invention further relates to a method for using such a stirring member (9) in a system for preparing a food product, the method varying the direction of rotation of the stirring member (9) so that it adopts a different configuration depending on the type of product prepared in the container (8).