Rotary Mixing Tool with Moveable Arms and Blade
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing mixing tools for plaster leave unmixed ingredients on the surface and sides of the mixing container, requiring high-speed drills and taking a long time to mix, making them unsuitable for the domestic market and difficult to clean.
Innovation Solution
A rotary mixing tool with a metal hexagonal shaft, featuring moveable arms, a corkscrew neck, a collar, and a blade, designed for use with low-speed drills, ensuring thorough mixing and easy cleaning by utilizing a blade to create a downwards force and a corkscrew mechanism to prevent material from moving upwards.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a high-speed drill is used with the mixing tool, then mixing speed is improved, but device complexity and cost increase, precluding use by the domestic market
Solution Approach 1:
The mixing element incorporates moveable arms that dynamically adjust their configuration during operation. The arms can be in a first partially-open resting position and move to a second fully-open operative position, allowing the tool to function effectively at lower speeds while maintaining mixing efficiency, thus resolving the contradiction between mixing speed and device complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the operational parameters by enabling effective mixing at lower drill speeds. The moveable arms and blade configuration allow the tool to achieve thorough mixing without requiring high-speed rotation, making it compatible with standard domestic drills and reducing device complexity requirements
2Device complexity
If a paddle-type mixer is used, then device simplicity is maintained, but mixing time increases and mixing thoroughness decreases, leaving unmixed plaster on sides
Solution Approach 1:
The mixing element is segmented into multiple functional components: at least two moveable arms, a corkscrew neck, a collar, and a blade. This segmentation allows each component to perform a specific mixing function, achieving thorough and rapid mixing while maintaining reasonable device simplicity
Solution Approach 2:
The moveable arms transition from a resting position to a fully-open operative position during mixing, creating dynamic action that thoroughly mixes plaster quickly. This dynamic configuration enables the tool to outperform static paddle mixers in both speed and thoroughness
3Device complexity
If a paddle-type mixer is used, then device simplicity is maintained, but cleaning difficulty increases when not cleaned immediately
Solution Approach 1:
The mixing element is designed to be easily extracted or removed from the shaft. The connection at the proximal end of the rotary shaft allows for removable attachment, enabling the mixing element to be taken out for cleaning or replacement, thus improving ease of cleaning while maintaining device simplicity
Solution Approach 2:
The moveable arms and blade configuration are designed to minimize material adhesion and facilitate easy cleaning. The dynamic structure allows components to be accessed and cleaned efficiently, resolving the contradiction between simplicity and cleaning ease
Data Source
AI summary
There is provided apparatus (301) for mixing contents of a receptacle, the apparatus comprising a rotary shaft (302) equipped at a proximal end with a connection for removable attachment to a means of providing rotation. The rotary shaft has a mixing element (303) fixedly connected at a distal end of the shaft opposite to said proximal end. The mixing element comprises at least two arms (304) at the distal most end of the shaft, a corkscrew neck (306) on the shaft and a collar (305) on the shaft positioned in between the at least two arms and the corkscrew neck. The at least two arms are configured in a first partially-open resting position and are moveable to a second fully-open operative position. The mixing element further comprises a blade (307) positioned across the shaft more proximally than the corkscrew neck.