Glass-ceramic plate comprising a liquid-retaining bead
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing glass-ceramic cooking surfaces struggle to effectively retain liquids that overflow from cooking utensils due to their flatness, leading to safety and environmental concerns, with previous solutions like etched channels causing weakness and hydrophobic coatings failing to retain desired volumes due to flow-induced pressure variations.
Innovation Solution
A glass-ceramic plate with a liquid-retaining bead featuring an alternation of hydrophobic and hydrophilic zones, where the hydrophilic zones are at least 500 μm to 2.5 cm wide, and hydrophobic sub-beads with specific contact angle hysteresis values, enhancing liquid retention capacity and stability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a hydrophobic coating is used to create retaining reservoirs, then liquid retention is improved, but the retention volume is less than desired due to flow-induced pressure variations destabilizing the liquid film
Solution Approach 1:
The retaining bead is segmented into multiple hydrophobic sub-beads (at least two) separated by hydrophilic zones. This segmentation creates multiple capillary channels that work together to retain liquid, with each sub-bead contributing to the overall retention capacity while the hydrophilic zones provide stable liquid pathways
Solution Approach 2:
The bead structure incorporates regions with different wettability properties: hydrophobic sub-beads for capillary retention and hydrophilic zones for stable liquid conduction. This local differentiation of properties optimizes both retention volume and stability under flow conditions
2Reliability
If etched channels are created on the glass-ceramic surface to retain liquids, then liquid retention is improved, but the plate becomes locally weaker and prone to fractures
Solution Approach 1:
A retaining bead made of material compatible with glass-ceramic (glass or glass-ceramic itself) is placed on the surface as an intermediary liquid-retaining element. This avoids direct etching of the plate structure, preserving the plate's mechanical strength while achieving liquid retention through the bead's capillary action
Solution Approach 2:
The retaining function is segmented from the structural function: the glass-ceramic plate provides structural support while the separate retaining bead provides liquid retention. This separation allows each component to optimize its primary function without compromising the other
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 significantly improves liquid retention volume and time by slowing down or suspending liquid flow, outperforming previous designs by 7-40% in retention capacity and time, especially under dynamic conditions.
Implementation Method 1
a liquid-retaining bead fastened to and in contact with said first main face, said retaining bead surrounding at least one region of said first main face so as to form a liquid-retaining reservoir
Implementation Method 2
comprises at least two hydrophobic sub-beads inscribed within one another and separated by hydrophilic zones
Data Source
AI summary
A glass-ceramic plate for a cooking device includes a first main face to be in contact with liquids, a second main face and an edge, a liquid-retaining bead fastened to and in contact with the first main face, wherein the retaining bead surrounds a region of the first main face so as to form a liquid-retaining reservoir, and includes at least two hydrophobic sub-beads inscribed within one another and separated by hydrophilic zones, a width of the hydrophilic zone between two consecutive sub-beads is throughout at least greater than 500 μm and less than a threshold value, the threshold value being defined so that, when a liquid is present in the hydrophilic zone, a variation in the retention time or volume of the liquid before overflowing, relative to a same liquid present in a hydrophilic zone, the width of which is greater than the value, is less than 5%.