Electric pressure cooker
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional electric pressure cookers lack the ability to cook food with the cover open, and their micro-switch assemblies are prone to malfunction due to water ingress, affecting their practicability and stability.
Innovation Solution
An electric pressure cooker design that allows cooking with the cover open, featuring a rotatable cooker cover and a micro-switch assembly with a non-straight push rod and water-blocking flange to prevent water ingress, enabling operation without the cover and ensuring proper micro-switch functionality.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If a straight push rod is used in the micro-switch assembly, then the structure is simple, but water on the cap can flow into the micro-switch assembly along the push rod, affecting proper operation
Solution Approach 1:
The push rod is designed with a curved configuration instead of a straight line, creating a non-linear path that prevents water flowing down the cap from reaching the micro-switch assembly. The curved shape redirects water flow away from the sensitive electrical components while maintaining the push rod's mechanical function.
2Reliability
If the cooker cover must be closed to operate, then the micro-switch assembly is protected from water, but the appliance cannot cook food with the cover open, reducing versatility
Solution Approach 1:
The micro-switch assembly is extracted from the cap structure and relocated to the cooker body. This separation allows the cap to be removed or opened without affecting the micro-switch assembly's protective environment, enabling the cooker to operate with the cover open while maintaining micro-switch protection.
Solution Approach 2:
A curved protective shield or baffle is introduced as an intermediary element between the cap and the micro-switch assembly. This intermediary structure redirects water flow and provides additional protection to the micro-switch assembly while allowing the cap to be in various positions, including open states.
3Device complexity
If the micro-switch assembly is disposed in the cap, then the structure is compact, but water on the cap can easily enter the micro-switch assembly
Solution Approach 1:
The micro-switch assembly is extracted from the cap and repositioned on the cooker body. This relocation removes the micro-switch assembly from the water-prone environment of the cap while maintaining a compact overall structure through optimized spatial arrangement of the remaining components.
Data Source
AI summary
An electric pressure cooker is provided, including a cooker body (1); a cooker cover (2) having a closing state and an opening state, wherein the cooker cover (2) is rotatable with respect to the cooker body (1) between a sealing position and an unsealing position in the closing state; a micro-switch assembly (3) disposed on the cooker body (1) and adapted to switch between an OFF state in which the micro-switch assembly (3) electrically disconnects the electric pressure cooker from an external power source and an ON state in which the micro-switch assembly (3) electrically connects the electric pressure cooker with the external power source, wherein the micro-switch assembly (3) is in the ON state when the cooker cover (2) is in the opening state or at the sealing position.