Mushroom Cultivation Cap Assembly for Contamination-Free Harvesting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Brown beech mushrooms are often sold with adhered culture medium at the hard tip, which is inedible and can contaminate cooked food, and when cut off, they separate easily, making them unsuitable for dishes requiring clusters and leading to edible waste.
Innovation Solution
A cap for cultivation bottles featuring a cylindrical member with a large-diameter and small-diameter part to constrain the mushroom growth, allowing the hard tip to be cut off without contamination, and a bowl-shaped member to facilitate easy harvesting and shape correction.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If the hard tip part is cut off during preparation, then contamination from culture medium is reduced, but the mushroom heads separate and cannot maintain cluster shape
Solution Approach 1:
The cap structure pre-constrains the mushroom growth by restricting the hard tip part to a specific height range (6-30 mm), so that when cutting is performed later, the mushroom heads remain in a stable cluster configuration without separating
Solution Approach 2:
By controlling the height parameter of the hard tip part through the cap design, the invention enables the tip to be cut at an optimal point where it maintains cluster integrity while removing contamination
2Ease of manufacture
If the hard tip part is cut off along a flat plane, then cutting is simple, but edible parts are wasted and mushrooms may separate
Solution Approach 1:
The cap design transforms the cutting approach by establishing a height parameter (6-30 mm) that allows cutting at an optimal point, preserving edible portions while maintaining cluster shape
3Object-affected harmful factors
If the hard tip part is made to grow elongated, then contamination is prevented, but the growing period is extended
Solution Approach 1:
The cap restricts the hard tip height to a specific range (6-30 mm), which prevents contamination by keeping the tip separate from the culture medium while avoiding excessive elongation that would extend the growing period
4Device complexity
If a simple cap structure is used, then device complexity is reduced, but the mushroom shape cannot be effectively constrained
Solution Approach 1:
The cap is divided into two cylindrical parts with different diameters (large-diameter for fitting and small-diameter for constraining), which effectively shapes the mushroom clump while maintaining relatively simple structure
Solution Approach 2:
Different parts of the cap have different functions: the large-diameter part provides secure fitting on the bottle, while the small-diameter part provides precise constraint on the mushroom growth, achieving effective shape control without complex overall structure
Data Source
AI summary
A cap assembly for a cultivation bottle for growing mushrooms is provided. The cap assembly (10) includes a bottle fitting member (20) configured to fit onto a mouth part (54) of the cultivation bottle (50) and a bowl-shaped member (30) configured to be placed on the bottle fitting member. The cap assembly being connected to the bottle prior to fruiting such that the mushrooms grow up through the mouth of the bottle and the attached cap assembly. The bowl-shaped member being separable from the bottle and attached bottle fitting member to facilitate harvesting of the mushroom fruiting bodies and removal of a section of the elongated hard tip portion.