Modular Cone Cooking Machine for Fast Mold Maintenance and Retreading
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current machines for cooking flexible cones from food dough face challenges in efficiently dismantling and maintaining male and female molds, which are secured to structural and heating means, requiring significant intervention time and complicating the retreading of non-stick coatings.
Innovation Solution
The modular machine design allows for independent heating elements and easy detachment of male and female molds through a movable support system with releasable connections, a curved mold surface, and a groove for effortless paste removal without tools, facilitating quick maintenance and reducing intervention times.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If molds are secured to structural and heating means, then cooking stability and heat transfer efficiency are improved, but maintenance intervention time increases and mold dismantling becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The machine is divided into modular components: the frame structure, the heating elements, and the molds are separated into independent assemblies. The molds can be detached from the heating means and structural supports, allowing maintenance without dismantling the entire system. This segmentation enables quick removal and retreading of molds while preserving the stability of the cooking system during operation.
2Use of energy by moving object
If molds are secured to heating means, then heat transfer efficiency is improved, but ease of repair deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The heating means are designed as separate modular units that can be independently removed from the mold assembly. This allows the molds to be detached for retreading without compromising the heating system's integrity or efficiency. The segmented design enables maintenance personnel to access and service molds quickly while preserving optimal heat transfer during cooking operations.
3Ease of operation
If molds have non-stick coating, then paste removal ease is improved, but coating durability deteriorates due to tool intervention
Solution Approach 1:
The molds incorporate curved surfaces with specific radius values that facilitate natural paste release without requiring scraping tools. The curved geometry, combined with the non-stick coating, allows paste to be removed by simple mechanical action or even by the cooking process itself, eliminating the need for abrasive tools that would damage the coating and extend its service life.
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 significantly reduces maintenance intervention times by enabling easy dismantling and retreading of molds, maintaining efficiency and extending the life of non-stick coatings, while ensuring precise control over cooking parameters.
Implementation Method 1
at least one of these walls is in contact with a heating element... each have a bore in which extends a heating rod
Data Source
Figure 1a
Figure 1b
Figure 2a~2b
AI summary
The invention concerns a modular machine (1) for cooking flexible and sealed cones from a food paste, comprising a base stand (11), in which there are arranged conical female moulds (20) with axes parallel to a vertical axis (Z'Z), and a support (5) for conical male moulds (30) with axes parallel to the vertical axis (Z'Z). The support (5) is able to move along the vertical axis (Z'Z) between a cooking position, in which the male moulds (20) are inserted into the female moulds (30) with a predetermined gap, and a cone collection position in which the male moulds (30) are separated from the female moulds (20). In this machine, the female moulds (20) are incorporated into a metal frame (2) positioned against longitudinal receiving walls, at least one of these walls being in contact with a heating element. The male moulds (30) are coupled to the movable support (5) by releasable connecting means and each have a bore into which a heating rod extends.