Fry Basket Divider Design to Prevent Food Wedging and Fusing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing deep frying baskets face challenges with chicken nuggets becoming wedged and trapped, leading to fusing issues and difficulty in removing cooked food items, which results in damage to the baskets and kitchen structures.
Innovation Solution
A deep frying basket design featuring a plurality of dividers that extend upwards from the bottom, creating equal cross-sectional area lanes to prevent wedging, and a divider assembly with angled dividers and intermediate wires to facilitate easy food removal.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If dividers are added to prevent food item contact, then fusing is reduced, but food items become wedged and trapped within the divider spaces
Solution Approach 1:
The dividers are configured with curved surfaces instead of flat surfaces, creating a rounded contour that prevents food items from becoming wedged and trapped while still maintaining separation between items during frying
2Reliability
If vertical parallel wire mesh dividers are used, then food item separation is improved, but food items become difficult to remove requiring additional physical forces
Solution Approach 1:
The dividers incorporate curved surfaces that guide food items smoothly during removal, preventing them from becoming stuck between the divider structure and basket walls, thereby easing the removal process without compromising separation effectiveness
3Productivity
If specialty baskets with dividers are used, then cooking of small food items is optimized, but baskets and kitchen structures are damaged due to repeated impact from food removal
Solution Approach 1:
The curved surface configuration of the dividers facilitates smooth food item removal by preventing wedging, which eliminates the need for forceful knocking or jarring actions that cause damage to the basket and surrounding kitchen structures
Data Source
AI summary
A basket for deep frying food items includes a bottom. Opposed side walls and opposed end walls extend from the bottom. om the bottom and extend between the opposed side walls, the opposed side walls and the opposed end walls forming a top opening into an open interior defined by the opposed side walls, the opposed end walls, and the bottom. A plurality of dividers extend upwards from the bottom between the opposed end walls. The plurality of dividers define a plurality of lanes. Each lane includes an equal cross-sectional area in a lateral dimension.