Kneading Machine Safety Shield With Removable Elastomeric Cover
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing kneading and mixing machines lack a user-friendly safety shield that allows for easy cleaning and safe operation with a variety of substances, including hot ones, and does not effectively prevent accidental motor activation when the safety shield is removed.
Innovation Solution
A molded, transparent plastic safety shield with a removable elastomeric covering element and a magnetically activatable safety switch that prevents motor operation when the shield is not in the shielding position, ensuring safety and ease of cleaning.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a rigid plastic safety shield with a fixed opening is used, then structural strength and safety are improved, but cleaning difficulty and bacterial growth risk worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies the dynamics principle by making the shield material flexible rather than rigid. The elastomeric material allows the shield to be dynamically adjusted and flexed during cleaning, enabling thorough washing of surfaces that would be inaccessible in a rigid structure. This dynamic flexibility resolves the contradiction by maintaining safety through material properties while enabling complete cleaning access.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the physical parameter of the shield material from rigid plastic to flexible elastomer. This parameter change allows the shield to conform to various surfaces and be manipulated during cleaning, addressing the cleaning difficulty while maintaining the protective safety function through the elastomeric material's inherent properties.
2Ease of operation
If a flexible elastomeric shield is used, then ease of cleaning is improved, but structural strength and stability worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the material parameter from rigid to flexible elastomer, which enables easy cleaning through flexibility while the elastomeric material's inherent tensile strength and elasticity maintain sufficient structural integrity for the protective shield application.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses elastomeric material that combines the properties of flexibility for cleaning with sufficient structural strength for protection. This composite material approach resolves the contradiction by integrating both cleaning ease and structural strength into a single material system.
3Ease of manufacture
If the shield structure is made simple and molded, then manufacturing ease is improved, but adaptability to different mixing tools worsens
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by using flexible elastomeric material that can adapt its shape to different mixing tools and bowl configurations. This flexibility allows a single molded shield design to accommodate various tool types while maintaining protection, resolving the contradiction between manufacturing simplicity and adaptability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses a flexible elastomeric shield that can conform to different geometries of mixing tools and bowls. This flexible shell approach enables a single manufactured component to adapt to multiple applications, maintaining both manufacturing simplicity and versatility.
Data Source
Figure 1a
Figure 1b
Figure 2a
AI summary
The present invention relates to a safety shield (4a) adapted to at least partly shield an operator of a mix-ing/kneading machine (1) from a mixing/kneading tool when said safety shield (4a) is in a shielding position with said tool working in a bowl (10), said safety shield (4a) being a molded, preferably transparent, plastic material structure including an opening (O) for introducing a substance into said bowl (10) during said mixing/kneading, characterised in a removable element (21) mounted to said opening (O) for covering a portion of said plastic material structure, said re-movable element (21) being of a flexible elastomeric material..