Moveable Transparent Breath Guard for Fresh Food Display
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing product servers for storing and displaying hot and cold food products lack effective contamination protection and visual inspection from customers while maintaining product freshness.
Innovation Solution
A product server with a moveable, transparent breath guard that can be lowered to cover food pans and raised to allow access, equipped with power assist devices for easy operation and a seal to maintain freshness, enabling visual inspection and protection from contamination.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If a fixed hood is used to protect food from contamination, then protection from contamination is improved, but visual inspection from customer side deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The breath guard is designed as a moveable panel that can be raised or lowered. When lowered, it provides full contamination protection. When raised, it allows visual inspection and access. This dynamic positioning resolves the contradiction by allowing the system to adapt between protection and visibility modes.
Solution Approach 2:
The breath guard panel is made transparent in its upper portion while maintaining opacity in the lower portion. This local differentiation allows customers to visually inspect products when the panel is raised, while still maintaining contamination protection when lowered or in intermediate positions.
2Reliability
If a stainless steel cover is used to protect food pans, then product freshness is improved, but ease of operation deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
Power assist devices are integrated into the breath guard mechanism to automatically provide lifting force. When the employee pulls the breath guard up, the power assist devices engage to reduce the manual effort required, making the operation easier while maintaining the seal for freshness.
Solution Approach 2:
The power assist devices use pneumatic or hydraulic mechanisms to provide mechanical advantage. These devices store and release energy to assist in moving the breath guard panel, reducing the force needed by the operator while maintaining reliable sealing.
3Ease of operation
If a moveable breath guard is used to allow access, then ease of operation is improved, but protection from contamination deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The breath guard moves between lowered (protected) and raised (accessible) positions. When raised for access, the breath guard itself becomes a barrier between customers and the food pans, maintaining contamination protection even in the open position.
Solution Approach 2:
The breath guard acts as an intermediary barrier. When raised, it positions itself between the customer side and the food pans, allowing employees to access products while customers remain separated from the food preparation area, thus maintaining contamination protection during access operations.
4Loss of information
If the breath guard is made transparent for viewing, then visual inspection is improved, but protection from contamination deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The breath guard panel has different transparency characteristics in different regions. The upper portion is transparent to allow visual inspection, while the lower portion remains opaque to maintain contamination protection. This local quality differentiation resolves the contradiction between visibility and protection.
Data Source
AI summary
A product server for holding and displaying products. The product server has a front customer side, a rear employee side and a breath guard. The breath guard comprises a cover attached to the product server that is moveable between a lowered position covering the products held by the product server and a raised position in which the cover serves as a breath guard and allows access to the products. The cover is sufficiently transparent to allow viewing of the products from the customer side of the product server.