Kitchen appliance and accessory element for sealing a protective hood of a kitchen appliance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional hand blenders face issues with food splashing and suction during processing, especially when used in shallow vessels or on flat surfaces, due to the geometry of the protective hood and the need for additional vessels, leading to inefficiencies and increased cleaning efforts.
Innovation Solution
A kitchen appliance with a removable and attachable accessory element that seals the protective hood, featuring inwardly projecting protrusions to close the cavity in the circumferential direction, preventing food from splashing and reducing suction by creating a sealed environment for processing small quantities directly on a surface without additional vessels.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-generated harmful factors
If the protective hood is open at the lateral surfaces to allow material exchange and prevent suction, then suction to the base of the processing vessel is reduced, but food splashing cannot be prevented completely
Solution Approach 1:
The protective hood is divided into multiple functional zones: the upper portion remains open for material exchange and reduced suction, while the lower portion incorporates a sealing element that can be engaged to prevent splashing. This segmentation allows the hood to address both harmful effects in different operational modes.
Solution Approach 2:
The protective hood includes a movable sealing element (such as a flexible lip or removable cover) that can dynamically adjust between an open state for material exchange and a closed state for splash prevention. This dynamic configuration allows the system to adapt to different processing needs.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If the protective hood is fully closed to prevent food splashing, then food processing safety is improved, but suction to the base of the processing vessel increases
Solution Approach 1:
The protective hood is divided into multiple functional zones: the upper portion remains open for material exchange and reduced suction, while the lower portion incorporates a sealing element that can be engaged to prevent splashing. This segmentation allows the hood to address both harmful effects in different operational modes.
Solution Approach 2:
Different portions of the protective hood have different sealing characteristics: the upper portion is open or has cut-outs for material exchange, while the lower portion has enhanced sealing capability. This local differentiation of properties allows the hood to simultaneously reduce suction and prevent splashing in appropriate operational contexts.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If additional vessels are used to prevent food splashing, then food processing safety is improved, but cleaning efforts and storage space requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The protective hood is designed to perform multiple functions: it provides protection against splashing, allows material exchange, reduces suction, and can be configured for different processing depths. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for separate additional vessels, reducing cleaning efforts and storage space requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The sealing function that was previously provided by separate vessels or attachments is integrated directly into the protective hood structure. The hood combines protection, material exchange, and sealing functions in a single component, simplifying the overall system and reducing the number of parts that require cleaning and storage.
Data Source
AI summary
A kitchen appliance for food processing, which has a drive shaft, a working part, preferably having a blade, which is provided on the drive shaft, a protective hood having multiple cut-outs in the circumferential direction, which protective hood surrounds the working part and has an opening in the axial direction of the drive shaft, and a preferably cylindrical accessory element. The accessory element has an outer body having a first axial end face and a second, opposite axial end face, and the protective hood, by cooperation with the accessory element, defines a cavity for processing foods which is closed in the circumferential direction of the protective hood. The outer body further has multiple, protrusions projecting inwards in the radial direction, which protrusions can be operatively connected to the cut-outs in the protective hood.