Forged Blending Blade Geometry for Sharpness and Shape Stability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing blending devices face challenges in maintaining the sharpness and efficiency of blending blades, especially when processing hard ingredients like ice and frozen fruit, which affects the uniformity and quality of blended beverages.
Innovation Solution
The development of a blending blade with a body portion and wing portions featuring a beveled leading edge, increased hardness through forging or coining processes, and a variable hardness gradient, which maintains shape and sharpness under high centrifugal forces, allowing for efficient breakdown of ingredients with reduced wear.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Use of energy by moving object
If the blending blade is made with a thin leading edge to reduce power consumption, then power efficiency improves, but the blade loses sharpness and shape under high centrifugal forces during blending of hard ingredients
Solution Approach 1:
The blade employs different thicknesses at different locations: a thinner leading edge (0.005-0.020 inches) for cutting efficiency and power savings, and a thicker body (0.125-0.250 inches) for structural stability. This local variation in quality allows the blade to maintain sharpness where needed while resisting deformation under centrifugal forces elsewhere.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies heat treatment to change the material parameters of the blade, specifically increasing hardness to 50-65 HRC. This parameter change allows the thin leading edge to maintain its sharpness and resist wear despite the reduced thickness, resolving the contradiction between thin edge for efficiency and shape stability.
2Stability of the object's composition
If the blending blade is made with increased thickness to maintain shape under centrifugal forces, then blade shape stability improves, but power consumption increases due to reduced cutting efficiency
Solution Approach 1:
The blade employs different thicknesses at different locations: a thinner leading edge (0.005-0.020 inches) for cutting efficiency and power savings, and a thicker body (0.125-0.250 inches) for structural stability. This local variation in quality allows the blade to maintain sharpness where needed while resisting deformation under centrifugal forces elsewhere.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies heat treatment to change the material parameters of the blade, specifically increasing hardness to 50-65 HRC. This parameter change allows the thin leading edge to maintain its sharpness and resist wear despite the reduced thickness, resolving the contradiction between thin edge for efficiency and shape stability.
3Use of energy by moving object
If the blending blade uses a sharp leading edge to minimize power consumption, then power efficiency improves, but the blade experiences increased wear when blending hard ingredients like ice and frozen fruit
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies heat treatment to change the material parameters of the blade, specifically increasing hardness to 50-65 HRC. This parameter change allows the thin leading edge to maintain its sharpness and resist wear despite the reduced thickness, resolving the contradiction between thin edge for efficiency and shape stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The blade is constructed from high-carbon stainless steel that combines the properties of carbon steel (sharpness, hardness) with stainless steel (corrosion resistance). This composite material approach allows the blade to maintain sharpness while resisting wear from hard ingredients.
4Productivity
If the blending blade is designed with a bent shape to improve mixing, then blending quality improves, but the blade changes shape over extended use due to centrifugal forces
Solution Approach 1:
The blade employs different thicknesses at different locations: a thinner leading edge (0.005-0.020 inches) for cutting efficiency and power savings, and a thicker body (0.125-0.250 inches) for structural stability. This local variation in quality allows the blade to maintain sharpness where needed while resisting deformation under centrifugal forces elsewhere.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies heat treatment to change the material parameters of the blade, specifically increasing hardness to 50-65 HRC. This parameter change allows the thin leading edge to maintain its sharpness and resist wear despite the reduced thickness, resolving the contradiction between thin edge for efficiency and shape stability.
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 solution results in improved blending efficiency, reduced power consumption, and consistent product quality by maintaining the blade's shape and sharpness, enabling faster and more thorough blending of ingredients, even under demanding conditions.
Implementation Method 1
maintaining a bent shape of the blending blade under high centrifugal forces
Data Source
AI summary
A blade configured for use in a blending apparatus includes a body portion and a pair of wing portions extending from the body portion. At least a leading edge of the blade is forged to increase a hardness property. The leading edge may have a minimum thickness that provides a relatively blunt leading edge. The wing portions of the blade may be formed after forging the blade.