Edible Egg Molds with Variable Thickness for Reduced Chocolate Use
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing methods for producing chocolate eggs require a significant amount of chocolate to achieve mechanical resistance, leading to high costs and calorie content, while also using inefficient processes.
Innovation Solution
A kit and procedure using molds with specific thickness variations to create chocolate and wafer biscuit half-shells, where the wafer biscuit provides structural support to the chocolate, allowing for reduced chocolate quantity and calorie content while maintaining mechanical resistance through optimized thickness distribution.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If a certain minimum thickness of chocolate is provided to confer necessary mechanical resistance, then the mechanical strength is improved, but the cost and calorie content increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies composite materials by combining chocolate with wafer biscuit and cream layers to create a multi-layered egg structure. The wafer biscuit provides structural support and mechanical strength, allowing the chocolate layer to be thinner while maintaining overall structural integrity. This composite approach resolves the contradiction by distributing structural functions across different materials rather than relying solely on thick chocolate.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements local quality by varying the thickness of the chocolate layer across different regions of the egg. The chocolate is applied more thickly at the perimeter edges where structural strength is most needed for joining half-shells, while the central areas can have thinner chocolate coverage. This non-uniform thickness distribution optimizes the balance between mechanical resistance and chocolate quantity.
2Strength
If a certain minimum thickness of chocolate is provided to confer necessary mechanical resistance, then the mechanical strength is improved, but the cost increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
By using composite materials (wafer biscuit, cream, and chocolate layers), the patent reduces the quantity of expensive chocolate needed while maintaining structural strength. The wafer biscuit serves as a cost-effective structural support layer, lowering the overall manufacturing cost while preserving mechanical resistance.
Solution Approach 2:
The localized thickening of chocolate at perimeter edges ensures that the expensive material is concentrated only where structurally necessary, rather than uniformly across the entire surface. This reduces total chocolate consumption and manufacturing cost while maintaining the required mechanical strength for shell integrity and joining.
3Quantity of substance
If the chocolate layer is made thinner to reduce calorie content, then the calorie content decreases, but the mechanical resistance becomes insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The multi-layered composite structure (wafer biscuit, cream, and thin chocolate layers) provides mechanical resistance through the combined properties of all layers. The wafer biscuit and cream layers contribute structural support, enabling the chocolate layers to be thinner with reduced calorie content while the overall composite structure maintains adequate mechanical strength.
Solution Approach 2:
By concentrating thicker chocolate application at the perimeter edges where mechanical stress is highest, the patent allows the central areas to have thinner, lower-calorie chocolate coverage. This local quality variation reduces overall calorie content while preserving mechanical resistance at critical structural locations.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2~3
AI summary
The a kit for producing an edible egg, comprises a first mould (28) for producing at least one wafer biscuit half-shell (6, 7) and a second mould (29) for producing at least one chocolate and/or cream half-shell (4, 5), the first mould (28) comprising a male half-mould (30) and a female half-mould (3 1), which delimit a moulding cavity (32) uniformly exhibiting a decrease in thickness along a perimeter edge (35) thereof, and the second mould (29) comprising a male half-mould (38) and a female half-mould (39), which delimit a moulding cavity (40) uniformly exhibiting an increase in thickness along a perimeter edge (41) thereof.