Food storage container with removable portion
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Solution Overview
Problem
Commercial kitchen equipment lacks efficient and space-saving solutions for storing and maintaining prepared food, particularly in tight kitchen spaces where easy access and cleaning of food storage containers are necessary without compromising compactness.
Innovation Solution
A food storage container with a housing featuring a removable side wall that extends from a peg system, allowing for easy access and cleaning while maintaining compactness, and optionally including a heating element and ventilation system to maintain food temperature and moisture.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a fixed enclosed housing is used for food storage, then food protection and compactness are improved, but access to food and cleaning of the container become difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The housing is divided into multiple walls (first side wall, second side wall, third side wall, fourth side wall) that can be independently removed. Specifically, the third side wall is made removable via a peg system, allowing the housing to be segmented for easier access and cleaning while maintaining structural integrity when assembled.
2Ease of operation
If a removable side wall is added for easy access and cleaning, then ease of operation is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The third side wall is extracted from the permanent housing structure and made removable through a simple peg system. This allows the wall to be taken out when cleaning or access is needed, and reattached when not needed, simplifying the overall design compared to more complex removable mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The removable third side wall serves multiple functions: it provides easy access to the food storage volume for cleaning, allows removal of trays and drip pans, and can be reattached to maintain the enclosed protective housing when not needed.
3Volume of moving object
If the housing is made compact for tight kitchen spaces, then space efficiency is improved, but access and cleaning become more difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The compact housing is segmented with a removable third side wall that provides access points for inserting and removing trays and drip pans. This segmentation allows easy maintenance of compact dimensions while enabling convenient access to internal components.
Data Source
AI summary
A food storage container is provided. The container includes a housing with a bottom, a first side wall, and a second side wall fixed to the first side wall that defines a food storage volume therewithin. The first side wall extends from a first end portion that includes a first peg that extends therefrom in a direction parallel with a plane through the first side wall. A third side wall is removably mounted to the first peg, wherein when mounted to the first peg, the third side wall establishes a barrier of the food storage volume different than barriers of the food storage volume provided by the bottom, the first side wall, and the second side wall. When the third side wall is removed from the first peg, the food storage volume may be accessed through a void left by the removal of the third side wall.