Flatbread Folding Template with Crease Control and Pocket
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing solutions fail to effectively and efficiently help consumers properly fill and fold flatbreads, tortillas, and wraps without the contents falling out during consumption, as they require skill and often result in messy eating experiences.
Innovation Solution
A plate-like template tool with moving flaps that assists in filling and folding flatbreads, tortillas, and wraps by creating controlled creases and a pocket to securely hold fillings, mimicking the functionality of expensive automated machinery at a consumer-friendly price.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If manual folding of tortillas is performed without assistance, then the process is simple and requires no additional tools, but the contents fall out during consumption due to improper folding
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a folding aid as an intermediary tool between the user and the tortilla. This device provides pre-formed fold lines and structural guidance that mediate the folding process, ensuring proper geometry without requiring user skill. The folding aid temporarily supports the tortilla during folding and can include features like internal supports or specific geometric structures that maintain the folded shape and prevent content leakage.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-marking fold lines and pre-forming the structural geometry of the tortilla before the actual folding operation. The folding aid includes pre-defined crease lines and structural features that guide the user to fold at the correct locations and angles, ensuring proper formation before the tortilla is sealed and served.
2Manufacturing precision
If automated folding machinery is used, then folding precision and content retention are improved, but the device complexity and cost increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs disposable or single-use folding aids that provide automated-level precision without the complexity of permanent machinery. These can be inexpensive paper or plastic devices that are discarded after one use, or reusable simple structures that require minimal maintenance. The folding aid includes pre-formed geometric features that guarantee precise folding angles and positions, achieving manufacturing-level precision at consumer-friendly cost points.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses simplified models or replicas of industrial folding mechanisms in consumer form. Rather than building full automated machines, the invention creates scaled-down or simplified versions that capture the essential geometric principles of professional folding equipment. The folding aid replicates the fold line patterns and structural geometry of automated systems without requiring their mechanical complexity.
3Manufacturing precision
If tortillas are folded without guidance markers, then the process is faster, but the fold geometry is inconsistent and contents may fall out
Solution Approach 1:
The patent incorporates visual markers such as colored lines, contrasting patterns, or illuminated indicators on the folding aid and/or tortilla surface. These color-based markers clearly indicate where folds should be made and what geometry to achieve, making the fold lines immediately visible and unambiguous. The visual cues eliminate guesswork and ensure consistent geometry without requiring the user to measure or calculate fold positions.
4Reliability
If the tortilla is folded to create a burrito style wrap, then the ends are sealed to prevent content loss, but the folding skill required increases and proper sealing becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a folding aid as an intermediary tool that performs the complex burrito folding geometry for the user. The device includes pre-formed channels, grooves, or structural features that guide the tortilla into the correct burrito configuration with properly sealed ends. The folding aid temporarily holds the tortilla in the sealed position during the folding process, making it easy for users to achieve professional-grade burrito formation without requiring practice or skill development.
Data Source
AI summary
A Flatbread Dinner Ware apparatus to serve flatbreads tortillas including features to assists the consumer in properly filling folding and wrapping flatbreads by forming a recessed center cavity, creating and controlling fold lines and fold line creases that forms maintains and controls the shape of a flatbread tortilla as it is being assembled. The folding apparatus converts the shape of a flatbread tortilla by providing a plate like tool-template that controls each end section, and the top and bottom sections (folds) of a flatbread tortilla as it is being assembled (wrapped). The tortilla wrapper apparatus also provides a pocket to determine the proper amount of foodstuff to be placed into the apparatus.