Cooking Vessel Handle Sealing With Inserted Elastomer Cap
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing handle sealing methods for cooking vessels, such as crimping and welding, are expensive, complex, and often result in incomplete seals, allowing water to penetrate and cause rusting.
Innovation Solution
A plastic sealing element, preferably made of heat-resistant elastomer, is inserted into the handle cavity to create a tight seal, with a collar design preventing over-insertion and using self-clamping to ensure a reliable water barrier.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If crimping or welding is used to seal the handle cavity, then the seal is intended to prevent water ingress, but the sealing process becomes expensive and complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses a disposable plastic cap that is inserted into the handle cavity to seal it. This inexpensive plastic cap replaces expensive and complex crimping or welding processes, achieving reliable water ingress prevention through a simple, low-cost component that can be easily manufactured and installed.
Solution Approach 2:
The plastic cap acts as an intermediary element between the handle cavity and the external environment. This mediator component provides the sealing function without requiring direct contact or complex interaction between the handle parts themselves, simplifying the overall sealing mechanism.
2Reliability
If crimping or welding is used to seal the handle cavity, then water ingress is intended to be prevented, but the sealing process becomes expensive
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs an inexpensive plastic cap that can be easily manufactured through simple molding processes. This disposable-like component replaces costly crimping or welding operations, significantly reducing manufacturing costs while maintaining effective water ingress prevention through its inherent sealing design.
3Reliability
If the sealing element is inserted into the handle cavity, then complete sealing is intended to be achieved, but incomplete sealing may occur allowing water penetration
Solution Approach 1:
The plastic cap is designed to be self-sealing through its geometric configuration. When inserted into the handle cavity, the cap's shape and the friction between its outer surface and the cavity walls automatically create a tight seal without requiring additional sealing mechanisms or complex installation procedures, ensuring complete water ingress prevention.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the sealing function from complex mechanical processes (crimping, welding) and consolidates it into a single integrated plastic cap component. This extracted sealing element performs the complete sealing function independently, eliminating the need for multiple steps or additional sealing materials that could fail.
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
This solution provides a cost-effective, simple, and reliable sealing method that prevents water ingress and rusting, ensuring the handle remains safe and durable under high temperatures and aggressive conditions.
Implementation Method 1
The sealing element usually being inserted from the flange region into the cavity of the handle body. The clear width of the cavity of the handle body is preferably matched to an outer dimension of the sealing element, the outer dimensions of the sealing element preferably being slightly greater than the clear width of the handle body, so that the sealing element can be inserted or pressed into the cavity of the handle body under stress and comes to lie there in a compressed manner
Implementation Method 2
hollow metal handles are usually used, in which the air present in the hollow body of the metal handle acts as an insulator
Data Source
AI summary
A handle (1) for a cooking vessel has a handle body (3) with a hollow space (2) and at least one flange area (4, 4′) for connecting the handle (1) to the cooking vessel. At least one sealing element (5, 5′) made of plastic is provided and can be inserted into the hollow space (2) of the handle body (3) from the flange area (4, 4′). The sealing element (5, 5′) seals the hollow space (2) to the outside.