Device for holding foodstuffs
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional food mold devices that convert into a cooking or baking mold lack the ability to be stored and packed away in a space-saving manner while maintaining the performance characteristics of metal cake molds.
Innovation Solution
A device with a metal bottom wall and side walls partially or completely covered with a plastics compound on their outer edges, forming a skeletal structure, allowing the side walls to lock into an upright position and then fold flat for storage, with the inner surfaces remaining free of plastics for optimal heat conduction and durability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If the walls are completely covered with plastics compound to enable space-saving storage and folding, then the device can be stored in a compact manner, but the heat conduction performance and baking behavior deviate from conventional metal molds
Solution Approach 1:
The plastics compound coverage is segmented into specific zones: it covers the outer surfaces and folding edges for structural integrity and compact storage, but deliberately excludes the inner faces that contact food and the corner regions where walls meet. This segmentation allows the device to achieve both compact storage and metal-like heat conduction where needed.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the walls have different material properties: the outer surfaces have plastics compound for flexibility and storage, while the inner faces remain metal for optimal heat conduction. This local differentiation of material quality resolves the contradiction between storage compactness and thermal performance.
2Ease of operation
If the plastics compound covers the inner faces of the walls to provide flexibility and ease of cleaning, then the device becomes easier to clean, but metal-to-metal contact in corner regions is prevented and clearances are created
Solution Approach 1:
The plastics compound is extracted from the corner regions and inner face contact areas, leaving only the necessary coverage on outer surfaces. This extraction maintains structural stability through metal-to-metal contact while preserving ease of cleaning on the covered outer surfaces.
3Stability of the object's composition
If the side walls are made completely rigid to maintain structural integrity during use, then the mold maintains its shape during cooking or baking, but the device cannot be folded flat for space-saving storage
Solution Approach 1:
The side walls are designed with dynamic characteristics through partial plastics compound coverage on outer surfaces, enabling them to flex and fold during storage while maintaining structural integrity during use. The plastics compound acts as a hinge material that allows controlled deformation.
Solution Approach 2:
The device transitions between two dimensional states: a three-dimensional upright configuration during use where structural integrity is paramount, and a two-dimensional folded configuration for storage where compactness is achieved through the flexible plastics compound coverage.
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 device achieves space-saving storage and maintains the heat conduction and baking performance of all-metal cake molds, ensuring longevity and ease of use with a continuous metal inner face during cooking or baking.
Implementation Method 1
the device in its use position forms an inner face provided continuously by metal portions... display a heat conduction behavior and also a baking behavior or cooking behavior which corresponds identically to the cooking or baking behavior of conventional, all-metal cake molds
Data Source
AI summary
The invention relates, inter alia, to a device (10) for holding foodstuffs in the manner of a cooking or baking mold (11), comprising a bottom wall (12) and a plurality of side walls (13a, 13b, 13c, 13d), wherein the side walls (13a, 13b, 13c, 13d) are displaceable from a rest position (14), in which they lie flat, relative to the bottom wall (12) into an upright working position (15), and wherein a mat-like portion (16a, 16b, 16c, 16d) is arranged between each two side walls (13a, 13b) and forms an overlap (20) when the side walls (13a, 13b, 13c, 13d) are in the working position (15). The special feature of the invention consists, inter alia, in the fact that the bottom wall (12) and the side walls (13a, 13b, 13c, 13d) are made of metal, wherein the bottom wall (12) along its edge portions (21a, 21b, 21c, 21d) and the side walls (13a, 13b, 13c, 13d) along their edge portions (22a, 22b, 22c, 22d) bordering the bottom wall (12) are covered with a plastics compound (23), which is arranged on the outer side (39, 40a, 40b, 40c, 40d) of the walls and which connects the edge portions (22a, 22b, 22c, 22d) of the side walls (13a, 13b, 13c, 13d) to the edge portions (21a, 21b, 21c, 21d) of the bottom wall (12), wherein the inner sides (25, 26a, 26b, 26c, 26d) of the walls (12, 13a, 13b, 13c, 13d) are kept free of plastics compound (23).