Locking Cooking Vessel With Retractable Handles for Compact Air Fryers
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Hot air cooking appliances require additional serving dishes for food transfer, leading to increased dishwashing and storage challenges, and their height makes them difficult to store in standard kitchen cupboards.
Innovation Solution
A hot air cooking appliance design that allows the cooking container to serve as both a cooking vessel and a serving dish, with a locking mechanism and adjustable height for easier storage, eliminating the need for additional serving dishes and optimizing storage space.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the cooking appliance includes handles on the cooking container for easy handling, then the ease of operation is improved, but the device complexity and storage difficulty increase due to the bulky space required
Solution Approach 1:
The handles are designed to be movable relative to the cooking container, allowing them to extend outward when needed for handling and retract into the cooking container when not in use. This dynamic configuration enables the handles to provide functionality when required while minimizing the space occupied during storage, thereby resolving the contradiction between ease of operation and device complexity.
2Quantity of substance
If the cooking container is used as a serving dish to eliminate additional serving dishes, then the quantity of substance is reduced, but the reliability decreases due to potential contamination from cooking residues
Solution Approach 1:
The handles are extracted as separate movable components from the cooking container body, allowing them to be positioned outward during cooking and handling operations, then retracted during storage. This extraction principle enables the cooking container to serve multiple functions while maintaining hygiene by allowing proper separation of cooking and serving phases.
Solution Approach 2:
The movable handles allow the cooking container to dynamically adapt between cooking mode (handles extended for handling) and storage mode (handles retracted). This dynamic capability enables the same container to be used for both cooking and serving without compromising food safety, as the handles can be properly positioned during each phase.
3Length of stationary object
If the appliance height is reduced for easier storage in standard kitchen cupboards, then the volume of stationary object is reduced, but the ease of operation worsens due to limited access to components
Solution Approach 1:
The heating element is segmented from the base unit, allowing it to be independently removed and repositioned. This segmentation enables the heating element to be accessed and removed from the front of the appliance, providing adequate working clearance without requiring excessive overall height, thus resolving the contradiction between compact storage and operational accessibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The heating element is designed to be dynamically removable and repositionable, allowing users to access it easily when needed while maintaining a compact overall appliance height for storage. This dynamic design enables the appliance to be both space-efficient and operationally accessible.
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 design reduces dishwashing workload, preserves cooked food by keeping it warm in the cooking container, and allows for compact storage by lowering the appliance's height, making it suitable for standard kitchen cupboards.
Implementation Method 1
a heating element arranged in an upper part... Hot air then circulates within this cooking compartment via a heating unit located at the top of the cooker
Implementation Method 2
a locking device arranged between the cooking container and the base and movable between a locked position in which said cooking container is immobilized in the position inserted in the housing of the base
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
The invention relates to a hot air cooking appliance (1), comprising a locking device arranged between the cooking vessel and the base and movable between a locked position in which said cooking vessel is immobilized in the position inserted in the housing of the base and an unlocked position in which the cooking vessel is free to move relative to the housing of the base, characterized in that the base (3) comprises two side walls (5, 6) each provided with a free edge (5a, 6a) contiguous to the front opening (8) and a transverse cutout (15, 16) on said side wall (5, 6) and opening onto said free edge (5a, 6a), each of said cutouts (15, 16) being adapted to receive a gripping element (18) of the cooking vessel (10) by allowing them to protrude outside the side walls (5, 6).6) so as to maintain manual access to each gripping element (18) of said cooking container (10) via said side walls (5, 6) during the insertion or removal of the cooking container (10) from said housing (9).