Kitchen appliance having a moveable food receptacle
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing kitchen appliances require user interaction for multiple cooking and preparation steps, and there is a challenge in maintaining food quality, especially when thawing and cooking frozen ingredients without user attention, while minimizing energy consumption.
Innovation Solution
A kitchen appliance with a moveable receptacle that allows separation of cooking and preparation processes, featuring a heating system, a receptacle transfer assembly, and a food preparation assembly, including cooling and mechanical processing systems, enabling automatic or manual movement between cooking and preparation positions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If the kitchen appliance is used to heat/cook food ingredients, then the cooking function is achieved, but the food ingredients may spoil if kept in the appliance for extended periods
Solution Approach 1:
The kitchen appliance is segmented into distinct functional zones: a cooking chamber for heating/cooking operations and a preparation chamber for food preparation and storage. The receptacle can be positioned in different locations to access these zones, allowing separation of cooking and storage functions to prevent food spoilage.
Solution Approach 2:
The receptacle is designed to be moveable between different positions within the appliance, including a first position for cooking and a second position for preparation/storage. This dynamic repositioning capability allows the system to adapt to different operational modes and prevent food quality degradation by separating heated and stored ingredients.
2Ease of operation
If the receptacle is fixed in the cooking chamber, then the cooking process is simple, but the food preparation processes cannot be implemented in the same appliance
Solution Approach 1:
The receptacle is designed to be moveable between a first position within the cooking chamber and a second position within the preparation chamber. This dynamic positioning capability enables the same receptacle to be used for both cooking and food preparation processes, increasing appliance versatility without complicating the cooking operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The kitchen appliance is designed with multi-functionality, incorporating both a cooking chamber and a preparation chamber that can both interact with the same receptacle. This allows a single appliance to perform multiple functions including cooking, heating, and food preparation processes such as blending or chopping.
3Device complexity
If the food preparation assembly is integrated with the cooking chamber, then the device structure is compact, but the food preparation processes are adversely influenced by heating
Solution Approach 1:
The appliance is segmented into separate functional chambers: a cooking chamber for heating operations and a preparation chamber for food preparation. This spatial segmentation physically isolates the preparation processes from heat interference while maintaining a compact integrated structure through shared components like the receptacle and control system.
Solution Approach 2:
The moveable receptacle acts as an intermediary between the cooking chamber and preparation chamber. It allows food to be transferred between the hot cooking environment and the cooler preparation environment, enabling the system to perform both functions while protecting the preparation processes from harmful heat exposure.
4Productivity
If multiple cooking operations are performed in parallel, then the productivity increases, but the user interaction requirement increases
Solution Approach 1:
The kitchen appliance incorporates automatic control systems that manage multiple cooking operations and receptacle positioning without requiring continuous user intervention. The system can automatically transfer receptacles between cooking and preparation chambers, control heating cycles, and coordinate multiple operations, enabling parallel productivity while minimizing user interaction.
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
Facilitates convenient, energy-efficient cooking and preparation processes, ensuring food quality by separating cooking and preparation stages, and reducing user interaction, with the ability to keep ingredients cool or process them mechanically before cooking.
Implementation Method 1
a heating system arranged to heat said cooking chamber
Implementation Method 2
a cooling system arranged to cool the food ingredients
Data Source
Figure 1A
Figure 1B
Figure 1C
AI summary
Provided is a kitchen appliance (100) comprising a heating system (102) and a receptacle (104) for receiving food ingredients. The receptacle is moveable between at least a first position (118) in which the receptacle is arranged to enable the heating system to heat the food ingredients, and a second position (120) in which the receptacle is arranged to enable at least one food preparation process, e.g. at least one pre-cooking food preparation process, to be implemented.