Manual Food Dicer with Triangular Grid and V-Shape Blade
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for dicing food, particularly soft fruits and vegetables, are inefficient, labor-intensive, and often result in uneven cuts, with many tools being unsuitable for cutting both directions or causing damage to the food items.
Innovation Solution
A manual dicing tool with a foodstuff holder and a cutting base featuring triangular cutting blades that allow for both vertical and horizontal cutting, using a mechanism with a V-shaped horizontal blade that adjusts between upper and lower positions to facilitate the dicing of food into cubes without electrical power.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If manual dicing is performed using a knife, then the device is simple and safe, but the process is time-consuming and labor-intensive
Solution Approach 1:
The cutting base is divided into multiple independent cutting blades arranged in a grid pattern, allowing simultaneous multi-directional cutting. This segmentation enables the device to perform dicing operations much faster than manual knife work while maintaining safety through the enclosed design.
Solution Approach 2:
The foodstuff holder is nested within the cutting base structure, with the holder containing the food item and the cutting blades positioned within the holder's boundary. This nested arrangement allows the cutting action to occur contained within the holder, improving safety while enabling rapid cutting through the grid of blades.
2Manufacturing precision
If an array of wires is used for slicing, then the slices are of uniform thickness, but the device cannot cut firmer vegetables or soft-fruit without damage
Solution Approach 1:
The cutting blades are designed with specific geometric properties (triangular shape with acute angles) that provide localized cutting action suitable for different food types. The blade geometry creates sharp cutting edges that can handle both soft and firm materials without the damage caused by wire slicing methods.
Solution Approach 2:
The cutting system combines multiple blade types (vertical triangular blades and horizontal V-shaped blade) in a composite cutting structure. This composite arrangement provides versatile cutting capability across different food types while maintaining precision through the coordinated action of blades with different geometries.
3Productivity
If a grid of criss-crossing knife blades is used for chipping, then the cutting action is efficient, but the device cannot safely dice by making one cut at a time
Solution Approach 1:
The cutting base is divided into multiple independent cutting blades arranged in a grid pattern, allowing simultaneous multi-directional cutting. This segmentation enables the device to perform dicing operations much faster than manual knife work while maintaining safety through the enclosed design.
Solution Approach 2:
The foodstuff holder is nested within the cutting base structure, with the holder containing the food item and the cutting blades positioned within the holder's boundary. This nested arrangement allows the cutting action to occur contained within the holder, improving safety while enabling rapid cutting through the grid of blades.
4Extent of automation
If electric vegetable slicers are used, then the dicing process is automated, but the machines are high-cost and difficult to clean
Solution Approach 1:
The cutting blades are extracted from complex electric slicer mechanisms and simplified into a manual, easily detachable grid arrangement within the foodstuff holder. This extraction eliminates the need for motors and control systems while maintaining cutting efficiency, and the simple structure is easy to clean.
Solution Approach 2:
The cutting blades are designed as simple, inexpensive components that can be easily replaced if damaged. The overall device structure is kept simple and affordable, avoiding the high cost and complexity of electric slicers while providing sufficient functionality for home use.
Data Source
Figure 1~2c
Figure 3a~3d
Figure 3e
AI summary
A dicing tool comprising a foodstuff holder for holding a block of foodstuff and a cutting base The cutting base includes a rectangular framework for sliding the foodstuff holder therealong and a first part having a triangular shaped front edge and a first upper surface on which a plurality of equally spaced triangular cutting blades are fixed to protrude perpendicularly therefrom The cutting base also includes a handle coupled rigidly to the first part and a second part having a second upper surface and a right front edge and a left front edge arranged in a deep V shape with continuous blades attached to the fight and left front edges The second upper surface is always parallel to the first surface and can be slidingly reciprocated between an upper position where the horizontal blade is substantially on a level with the apices of the triangular cutting blades and a lower position where the horizontal blade is substantially on a level with the first surface and the base of the triangular cutting blades.