Multi-purpose cookware
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Solution Overview
Problem
Portable stoves often lack stability due to their compact and lightweight design, and existing cookware is limited in its ability to perform various cooking techniques such as frying, baking, and grilling when used with portable stoves.
Innovation Solution
A cooking pan with a metal bottom wall featuring a smooth inside surface and a flat outside surface with raised ribs, arranged in a pattern to cooperate with the supports of a portable stove for stability, and four metal sidewalls forming a rectangular container, capable of being used for multiple cooking techniques.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Weight of moving object
If portable stoves are designed to be compact and lightweight, then portability is improved, but stability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The cookware pan's bottom surface features raised ribs that create contact points with the stove supports, enabling the pan to stabilize the stove itself. The pan serves dual functions: cooking vessel and stabilization mechanism, eliminating the need for separate stove support structures.
Solution Approach 2:
The solution moves from attempting to stabilize the stove from below (through the stove's own structure) to stabilizing it from above (through the pan's bottom surface features). The raised ribs on the pan's bottom create dimensional contact points that engage with the stove supports.
2Productivity
If cookware is designed for quick heating and frying, then cooking speed is improved, but versatility for baking and grilling deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The pan is designed with multiple functions: the raised ribs on the bottom surface enable grilling by creating contact points for direct heat transfer, the main cooking surface allows frying and boiling, and the overall structure supports baking when used with a lid. This multi-functional design eliminates the need for separate cookware for different cooking techniques.
Data Source
AI summary
A cooking pan includes a metal bottom wall including a substantially smooth and flat inside surface and a substantially flat outside surface, the substantially flat outside surface including a plurality of raised ribs extending away from a lower surface of the bottom wall, the plurality of raised ribs being arranged in a pattern to cooperate with supports of a portable stove to hold the portable stove in place, with the substantially flat outside surface of the bottom wall facing upward and a combustion chamber of the portable stove above the bottom wall; and four metal sidewalls extending away from the bottom wall and arranged in a substantially rectangular configuration to form a container closed on a first side by the bottom wall and open on second side opposite the bottom wall.