Food Package Compaction Unit With Heated Piston
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Solution Overview
Problem
Used food packages from domestic appliances are voluminous and contain residues that decompose or ferment, leading to malodors, necessitating a solution for volume reduction and residue separation.
Innovation Solution
A unit comprising a container with a top chamber for used food packages and a bottom chamber for food residues, separated by a perforated element, and a piston with a heatable plate for compacting and adhering packages, facilitating gravitational separation and compactization.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If used food packages are collected in a designated vessel, then they can be stored for periodic emptying, but their volume remains large and residues decompose causing malodors
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements nesting by allowing used food packages to be inserted one inside another within the top chamber. The packages are designed with collapsible walls that enable them to be compressed into a compact nested arrangement, significantly reducing the volume occupied in the storage vessel while maintaining storage capability
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies parameter changes by using a piston to compress the nested packages, changing their physical state from expanded to compressed. This mechanical compression reduces the volume of the packages while maintaining their structural integrity for storage
2Loss of time
If used food packages are stored for periodic emptying, then disposal frequency is reduced, but residues decompose and ferment over time producing malodors
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the storage system into two distinct chambers: a top chamber for storing used packages and a bottom chamber for collecting residues. This segmentation allows residues to be separated and removed independently from the packages, preventing decomposition and malodors while maintaining reduced disposal frequency
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts residues from the used packages by allowing them to fall through a perforated plate into the bottom chamber. This extraction separates the harmful residues from the storable packages, eliminating the source of decomposition and malodors while preserving the time-efficient storage benefit
3Volume of moving object
If packages are compacted to reduce volume, then storage space is optimized, but additional mechanisms like pistons increase device complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The piston serves multiple functions: it compacts the nested packages to reduce volume, pushes packages through the perforated plate to facilitate residue separation, and can be integrated with the existing storage vessel structure. This multi-functionality reduces device complexity by combining compaction and separation operations into a single mechanism
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 unit effectively reduces the volume of used food packages by compacting them and separates food residues, making disposal easier and allowing for initial recycling steps to be performed at the point of use.
Implementation Method 1
The heatable plate is configured to heat at least a portion of a topmost food package in the stack when in the extended state, thereby adhering said topmost food package to a next-in-line food package in said stack
Implementation Method 2
The piston is configured to apply pressure onto said stack when in the extended position, such pressure assisting in nesting the used packages one into the other and compacting the stack of packages
Implementation Method 3
Due to the perforations in the perforated element, food residues can pass through the perforated element and collect in the bottom chamber. Thus, gravitational separation is obtained between the food residues and the used food packages
Data Source
AI summary
The present disclosure concerns units for treating used food packages, more specifically for separation and compactization of used capsules containing edible ingredients residues, such that the units are configured to receive and compact a stack of used food packages, as well as separate food substance residues from the packages during such compaction.