Stretchable Fruit Wedge Funnel for Clean, Directed Squeezing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing fruit wedge squeezers fail to keep hands clean, prevent juice from squirting beyond the intended target, allow sanitary sharing, support re-use, and are often bulky, complex, and expensive to manufacture.
Innovation Solution
A disposable, non-porous funnel made from stretchable materials like elastomers, with a simple design that encloses the fruit wedge, directing juice into a container and allowing for machine or hand squeezing, while supporting advertising and being inexpensive to produce.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a hand operated juicer is used to squeeze a fruit wedge, then the juice can be extracted, but the user's hands become contaminated with juice
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a disposable plastic bag containing the fruit wedge that is squeezed by hand. The bag acts as a disposable containment structure that keeps hands clean while allowing juice extraction. After use, the entire bag is discarded, eliminating the need for complex cleaning mechanisms or multiple-use components.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses a flexible plastic bag as the containment structure for the fruit wedge. This thin film enclosure allows the user to squeeze the fruit while keeping hands clean, as the bag intermediates between the hand and the fruit surface. The flexibility of the bag enables effective squeezing while maintaining the barrier function.
2Ease of operation
If a traditional juicer is used, then juice extraction is possible, but the juice may squirt beyond the intended target
Solution Approach 1:
The plastic bag serves as an intermediary structure between the fruit wedge and the external environment. It contains the fruit wedge and directs the juice flow through a controlled opening toward the intended target (such as a beverage container). This intermediary structure prevents uncontrolled spraying while allowing targeted juice delivery.
Solution Approach 2:
The flexible plastic bag can be shaped and positioned to direct juice flow in a specific direction. The thin film material allows the bag to conform to the user's hand and the target container, enabling precise control over where the juice is directed without requiring rigid structural components.
3Productivity
If a fruit wedge is stored for re-use, then resource utilization improves, but sanitation becomes problematic
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a disposable plastic bag that completely encloses the fruit wedge. This disposable containment allows the fruit wedge to be stored in a sanitized state within the sealed bag, and the entire assembly can be discarded after use, eliminating cross-contamination risks between multiple uses.
Solution Approach 2:
The plastic bag acts as a protective barrier that maintains sanitation during storage and transport of the fruit wedge. The flexible sealable bag keeps the fruit wedge isolated from environmental contaminants, allowing it to be stored and then used without direct hand contact, improving sanitation while enabling re-use.
4Ease of operation
If a complex juicer with multiple moving parts is used, then squeezing functionality is achieved, but manufacturing cost and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces complex, expensive, multi-component juicers with a simple disposable plastic bag. This eliminates the need for manufacturing multiple moving parts, hinges, and mechanical components. The entire squeezing function is achieved through a single, inexpensive, disposable item that requires no assembly or manufacturing complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the essential squeezing function from complex mechanical juicers and implements it through a simple flexible bag. By removing all unnecessary mechanical components and retaining only the core containment and compression function, the solution achieves the same result with minimal manufacturing complexity and cost.
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 effectively keeps hands clean, directs juice accurately, enables sanitary sharing and re-use, and is cost-effective with a simple, reliable design that reduces manufacturing complexity.
Implementation Method 1
A disposable, non-porous funnel made from stretchable materials like elastomers
Data Source
AI summary
A method for squeezing at least one fruit wedge, including providing at least one fruit wedge, providing a disposable funnel having substantially circular cross-section formed from a substantially stretchable material, the disposable funnel having an inlet and an outlet, inserting the fruit wedge through the inlet of the disposable funnel until the fruit wedge is substantially enclosed by the disposable funnel, providing a bottle having a neck, inserting the outlet of the disposable funnel into or stretching the disposable funnel over the neck of the bottle, squeezing the disposable funnel until juice separated from the fruit wedge is squirted through the outlet into the bottle and, squeezing the disposable funnel with sufficient force so that the fruit wedge is expelled from the funnel to substantially reside in the bottle.