Dish carrying assembly
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing carrying devices for entree dishes require users to bend over to place or remove dishes, which is inefficient and can lead to strain, and often lack a compact design suitable for narrow aisles.
Innovation Solution
A cart with an upwardly extending canister and integrated lifting unit that biases upwardly to facilitate easy access to entree dishes without bending, combined with a door for easy loading and unloading and a handle for easy transport, allowing for efficient stacking and transport of multiple dishes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If users manually place or remove entree dishes from a carrying device, then the device can transport multiple dishes, but users must bend over which causes strain and inefficiency
Solution Approach 1:
The lifting unit automatically raises entree dishes to an accessible height using a biasing mechanism, eliminating the need for users to bend over and reducing physical strain while maintaining the ability to transport multiple dishes
2Ease of operation
If a lifting unit is added to facilitate easy access to dishes, then user strain is reduced, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The biasing mechanism provides automatic lifting functionality through a simple spring-loaded system that requires minimal components while achieving the goal of raising dishes to accessible height, thereby reducing user strain without significantly increasing device complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The lifting unit creates an equipotential working condition by automatically adjusting the height of entree dishes to a comfortable access level, eliminating the need for users to change their body position and reducing physical strain
3Quantity of substance
If the canister is designed to accommodate multiple stacked dishes, then transport capacity increases, but the canister height increases making it difficult to access dishes
Solution Approach 1:
The biasing mechanism automatically raises stacked entree dishes to an accessible height, enabling the canister to hold multiple dishes while maintaining easy access without requiring users to bend over
4Ease of operation
If a door is added for easy loading and unloading, then ease of operation improves, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The canister is segmented with a removable door component that provides easy access for loading and unloading dishes, allowing the main structure to remain simple while adding functionality through a separate, easily attached component
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
Enables a single individual to efficiently collect or distribute multiple entree dishes without assistance, reducing strain and allowing for safe operation by a single employee, while also accommodating narrow aisles with a compact design.
Implementation Method 1
A lifting unit is integrated into the canister and the entree dishes can be stacked upon the lifting unit. The lifting unit is biased to travel upwardly in the canister
Data Source
AI summary
A dish carrying assembly for collecting and transporting entree dishes includes a cart that has a plurality of rollers for rolling on a support surface. A canister is coupled to the cart has the canister extending upwardly from the cart and the canister has an entry to facilitate entrée dishes to be positioned within the canister. A lifting unit is integrated into the canister and the entree dishes can be stacked upon the lifting unit. The lifting unit is biased to travel upwardly in the canister thereby facilitating a user to remove a respective entree dish from the canister without having to bend over. A door is slidably disposed on the canister for opening and closing the canister.