Flexible Ring Cooking Assembly for Multi-Shape Food Production
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional cooking stations are limited to producing only one predetermined shape of cooked food items, requiring multiple stations for different shapes, which is costly and inflexible for food establishments with varied menu items.
Innovation Solution
A cooking station equipped with a flexible ring that conforms to different template racks or sheets, allowing a single station to produce variously shaped food items by seating within circumferentially extending grooves or flat regions, creating a fluid-tight seal and shaping the food products.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If fixed templates are integrally formed within the cooking surface, then the cooking station can maintain structural stability and ease of operation, but it can only produce one predetermined shape of food items, reducing versatility
Solution Approach 1:
The cooking station is divided into a fixed base structure and removable template assemblies. The templates are segmented into multiple interchangeable components that can be swapped out to produce different food shapes, resolving the contradiction between structural stability and versatility.
Solution Approach 2:
A single cooking station base is designed to accommodate multiple different template assemblies through universal mounting mechanisms. This allows one station to perform multiple functions (producing different food shapes) without requiring separate dedicated stations for each shape.
2Adaptability or versatility
If multiple cooking stations with different shaped templates are purchased, then food establishments can produce variously shaped food items for different menu items, but the cost of equipment investment increases substantially
Solution Approach 1:
The invention creates a universal cooking station platform that can accommodate multiple template types. Instead of requiring separate cooking stations for different food shapes, one universal station can produce all required shapes by swapping templates, directly reducing the quantity of equipment needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The template assemblies are designed to be removable and interchangeable. When a different food shape is needed, the previous template is discarded from active use and a new template is installed, allowing the same hardware investment to serve multiple purposes over time.
3Adaptability or versatility
If a flexible ring is used to conform to different template racks, then a single cooking station can produce variously shaped food items, but the device complexity increases due to the flexible component and sealing requirements
Solution Approach 1:
A flexible ring made of elastomeric material is used to conform to different template rack perimeters. This flexible shell adapts to various shapes while maintaining a sealing interface, enabling a single station to produce diverse food shapes without complex mechanical adjustments.
Solution Approach 2:
The flexible ring's physical parameters (shape, circumference) change dynamically to match different template racks. By allowing the ring to deform and conform to various perimeters, the system achieves versatility without requiring complex mechanical reconfiguration mechanisms.
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 the production of diverse shaped food items using a single cooking station, reducing the need for multiple stations and allowing for customizable food configurations without leakage or escape of food products during cooking.
Implementation Method 1
A flexible ring, having axially spaced upper and lower sets of circumferentially extending and circumferentially spaced teeth, or alternatively, flat planar regions defined within external wall portions of the flexible ring and circumferentially spaced by substantially 90° from each other, is provided for use in conjunction with any one of the plurality of food cooking template racks, plates, or sheets. As a result of the flexibility of the flexible ring, which is a function of the material from which the flexible ring is fabricated, the flexible ring will conform to the periphery of the interior wall portions of the particular template rack, plate, or sheet having the hollow or open regions defined therein.
Implementation Method 2
In addition, the solid portions of the template rack, plate, or sheet will effectively be seated within the circumferentially extending groove or track of the flexible ring that is defined between the upper and lower sets of circumferentially extending and circumferentially spaced teeth of the flexible ring, or within the aforenoted flat planar portions defined within the external peripheral surface of the flexible ring. It is to be noted that the weight of the template rack, plate, or sheet, effectively bearing upon the flexible ring as a result of its trapped confinement within the circumferential track or groove, or the planar regions, of the flexible ring, effectively forces the lower edge portion of the flexible ring into sealing contact with the underlying hot plate, platen, or griddle portion of the cooking station
Data Source
AI summary
A cooking assembly, and a cooking station employing the cooking assembly, is disclosed. The cooking assembly comprises a flexible ring which is conformable to any one of a plurality of different predeterminedly structured templates, any one of which can be interchangeably utilized upon a food station, in order to provide cooked foods with predeterminedly different shapes or configurations as may be desired.