Multifunctional cooking device
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing kitchen utensils are inefficient and painful to use for chopping and stirring ground meat in a pan, often requiring constant up-and-down motion, leading to user fatigue and potential injury, and lack multifunctionality such as scooping capabilities.
Innovation Solution
A multifunctional cooking device with a shaft, handle, and bowl featuring a convex or radiused blade surface and bores that facilitate a rolling motion for chopping and a concave surface for scooping, allowing for efficient chopping and stirring without the need for constant vertical motion.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a traditional wooden spoon or spatula is used for chopping ground meat, then the device structure is simple, but it requires constant up-and-down chopping motion which causes user fatigue and wrist pain
Solution Approach 1:
The bowl is segmented with multiple bores (openings) that allow meat to be chopped and pulled apart simultaneously as it passes through. This segmentation enables the chopping function to be integrated into the stirring motion, eliminating the need for separate constant chopping actions and reducing user fatigue.
Solution Approach 2:
The bowl features a convex and radiused blade surface that contacts the cooking surface, allowing for a rolling motion instead of vertical chopping. This curved surface design enables the user to chop ground meat by rolling the spoon forward and backward or side-to-side, significantly improving ease of operation and reducing wrist strain.
2Productivity
If a mashing and chopping device with blades opposite a plate with openings is used, then chopping function is improved, but food contacts both ends making it messy and lacking scooping capability
Solution Approach 1:
The bowl has different functional zones: the convex back portion with radiused blade surface provides chopping capability, while the concave portion provides scooping capability. This local differentiation of qualities allows the single device to perform multiple functions efficiently without food contacting both ends messily.
Solution Approach 2:
The spoon is designed with universal functionality to perform multiple tasks: the convex surface with bores enables chopping and pulling apart of ground meat, while the concave surface enables scooping of cooked meat. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for separate utensils and addresses the versatility requirement.
3Device complexity
If a spatula with planar handle to chopping surface is used, then the structure is simple, but it is difficult for users to apply pressure during cooking
Solution Approach 1:
The shaft is designed with asymmetric geometry where the handle portion has different dimensions and orientation than the bowl portion. The shaft has a first dimension along its length and a second dimension that varies along its length, creating an ergonomic shape that allows users to easily grip and apply pressure during the rolling chopping motion, while maintaining relatively simple construction.
Data Source
AI summary
A multifunctional cooking device is configured for chopping and stirring ground meat, about a radiused and/or convex surface, inside of a cooking pan. The multifunctional cooking device has a shaft with a handle located opposite a neck portion. A bowl is connected to the neck portion of the shaft. The bowl has a concave portion located opposite a back convex portion. The bowl has a plurality of bores traversing the bowl. Each bore has at least one side wall surface extending from the back portion of the bowl. At least one side wall surface having a tapered edge forming a blade. Each bore of the bowl is configured to receive chopped food when a user exerts a force on the multifunctional cooking device when the food is being chopped in a cooking pan, whereby, the food traverses the bore of the bowl to facilitate the chopping process.