Elastic Liner Cuff With Riveted Band for Tear-Containment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing slow cooker liners face issues with loose material interfering with cooking, aesthetic appearance, and safety due to rubber band failures, which are not suitable for food service or high temperatures, and previous elastic designs are prone to complete failure upon tearing.
Innovation Solution
A liner with an elastic securing band attached using spaced-apart rivets, where the elastic band is encapsulated within a cuff and secured to the liner using ultrasonic welding, preventing complete failure and ensuring the liner remains in place during high-temperature cooking.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a rubber band is used to hold the liner in place, then the liner can be secured to the slow cooker, but the rubber band may fail completely upon tearing and is not suitable for food service or high temperature applications
Solution Approach 1:
The elastic band is divided into multiple separate loops instead of being a single continuous band. Each loop is independently attached to the liner at two opposite locations. This segmentation ensures that if one loop fails, the other loops remain intact and continue to secure the liner, preventing complete failure while maintaining food safety and temperature suitability.
2Reliability
If an elastic band is adhered to the liner along its entire length, then the liner is securely held in place, but a tear in any portion causes complete failure of the entire elastic band
Solution Approach 1:
The elastic band is divided into multiple separate loops instead of being a single continuous band. Each loop is independently attached to the liner at two opposite locations. This segmentation ensures that if one loop fails, the other loops remain intact and continue to secure the liner, preventing complete failure while maintaining food safety and temperature suitability.
Solution Approach 2:
Spacers are used as intermediary elements positioned between the elastic band and the liner. These spacers prevent the elastic band from being in continuous contact with the liner, effectively creating separation zones that stop tear propagation. When a tear occurs, the spacers act as barriers that contain the damage to a localized area, preventing it from spreading along the entire length of the elastic band.
3Ease of operation
If excess liner material is allowed to fold over the rim of the slow cooker, then the liner can be easily installed, but the loose material interferes with cooking, creates aesthetic issues, and may cause the liner to fall into the slow cooker
Solution Approach 1:
The top opening of the liner is modified by adding an elastic band that changes the dimensional parameters of the opening. The elastic band creates a reduced, controlled aperture that prevents excess material from folding over the rim while maintaining ease of installation. The elastic properties allow the opening to stretch during installation but maintain its reduced size during cooking, eliminating interference and aesthetic issues.
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
The solution provides a secure, aesthetically pleasing, and safe liner that prevents the elastic band from failing completely, maintaining its functionality even if a portion tears, and is suitable for high-temperature food service applications.
Implementation Method 1
secured to the liner using ultrasonic welding
Data Source
AI summary
An improved liner having an elastic securing mechanism that may be placed in a vessel to form and maintain a barrier between the vessel and objects contained therein. The liner includes an elastic securing band secured around the perimeter of the open top end of the liner using a plurality of spaced-apart tack welds or rivets. In one embodiment, the liner material is folded over the elastic and ultrasonic sealing is used to burn through the elastic and seal the folded liner material to itself thereby securing the elastic to the liner. In use, the liner is placed within a receptacle of the vessel and the open top end is folded outward and downward over a rim of the vessel such that the elastic engages an outside of the vessel to form a secure and snug fit of the liner to the vessel. Advantageously, a failure to a portion of the elastic is limited to that portion of the elastic only and propagation of the failure is limited by the rivets.