Meat Tenderizer with Convex Blades and Depth-Limiting Cross Bars
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing meat tenderizers with sharpened blades or spikes pose safety risks due to the potential for accidental cuts and are difficult to clean.
Innovation Solution
A meat tenderizer with convex, non-sharpened blades and cross bars that limit the depth of impression into meat, allowing for safe use and easy cleaning by hand washing or dishwasher, featuring a handle, spaced apart curved blades, and cross bars attached to the concave edges of the blades.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If sharpened blades or spikes are used in meat tenderizers, then meat tenderizing effectiveness is improved, but safety risks increase due to potential for accidental cuts
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the critical parameter of blade sharpness from sharp to convex (rounded). This parameter change maintains the ability to sever meat fibers through mechanical pressure and rocking motion while eliminating the cutting hazard associated with sharp edges. The convex shape allows the blade to penetrate and cut meat fibers effectively without posing a safety risk to users.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent converts the potentially harmful sharp edge into a beneficial convex shape. The rounded convex blade, while not sharp, still achieves the desired meat tenderizing effect through its ability to concentrate force and sever fibers during the rocking motion, thereby transforming a safety hazard into a safe yet effective tool.
2Productivity
If sharpened blades are used in meat tenderizers, then meat tenderizing effectiveness is improved, but cleaning difficulty increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the blade surface parameter from sharp to convex, which fundamentally alters cleaning characteristics. The convex surface lacks the sharp edges and complex geometries that trap food particles, making the blade surface smooth and non-porous. This parameter change enables easy cleaning by hand washing or dishwasher without compromising meat tenderizing effectiveness.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If cross bars are added to limit blade depth, then safety is improved by preventing excessive penetration, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the tenderizer tool into distinct functional components: convex blades for cutting, cross bars for depth limitation, and a handle for operation. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function independently. The cross bars act as mechanical stops that prevent the blades from penetrating too deeply into the meat, providing safety without requiring complex control systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The cross bars serve as intermediary elements between the user's applied force and the blade's penetration depth. They mediate the interaction by providing a physical barrier that limits how far the convex blades can penetrate into the meat, thereby enhancing safety while maintaining simple device architecture.
Data Source
AI summary
A meat tenderizer having a handle; a plurality of spaced apart curved blades; a plurality of cross bars; a right side plate; and a left side plate, the convex edges of the curved blades not being sharpened, the blades attached at each end thereof near one end of the side plates, the handle being attached at each end thereof near the other end of the side plates, the cross bars being attached to and across the concave edges of the blades. In addition, a method for tenderizing a cut of meat by rocking a plurality of curved blades into a cut of meat, the convex edges of the blades not being sharpened, the depth of impression of the blades into the meat being limited by a plurality of cross bars attached to and across the concave edge of the blades so that a portion of the fibers of the meat are severed by the impression of the blades into the meat thereby tenderizing the cut of meat.