Pancake cooking device
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional pancake cooking methods result in unevenly cooked pancakes with convex tops, requiring flipping and leading to disparate cooking times, and when stacked, toppings like butter and syrup tend to drip and spread rather than being absorbed, making them difficult to handle and store.
Innovation Solution
A pancake cooking device with two opposable, electrically heated circular plates that cook pancakes in an inverted position, forming a pancake with a uniform thickness and a circumferentially extending, upwardly inclined lip, allowing for even cooking and retaining toppings on the pancake, and enabling nesting for efficient storage and serving.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If pancakes are cooked on a conventional griddle with a flat or slightly crowned surface, then the cooking process is simple, but the pancakes develop a convex top surface causing uneven cooking and requiring flipping
Solution Approach 1:
The patent inverts the conventional pancake shape by using a mold with a downwardly inclined annulus that creates an upwardly inclined wall in the finished pancake. This inversion of the mold geometry produces a pancake with a flat top surface and an inclined retaining wall, eliminating the convex shape problem while maintaining simple operation
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses a two-part mold system with a base member and a lid member that nest together to form the cooking cavity. The lid member with its downwardly inclined annulus nests over the base member, creating the inverted pancake shape through the interaction of these nested components
2Device complexity
If pancakes are cooked on one surface at a time on a griddle, then the cooking equipment is simple, but cooking time increases and uneven cooking occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the cooking surfaces by placing the pancake batter between two heated plates (base member and lid member), allowing simultaneous cooking of both surfaces. This combining of cooking actions eliminates the need for flipping and reduces cooking time while maintaining simple equipment structure
3Ease of manufacture
If pancakes have a convex top surface, then they are easy to make, but toppings like butter and syrup drip and spread instead of being retained
Solution Approach 1:
The patent inverts the conventional pancake geometry by creating a flat top surface with an upwardly inclined retaining wall through the use of a mold with a downwardly inclined annulus. This inverted shape allows toppings to be retained on the flat surface without dripping, while maintaining simple manufacturing
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies different geometric properties to different parts of the pancake: a flat horizontal top surface for holding toppings and an upwardly inclined peripheral wall for retaining liquids. This local differentiation of surface qualities solves the topping retention problem while keeping the overall structure simple
4Productivity
If pancakes are stacked for serving and storage, then portioning is efficient, but the convex shape causes instability and difficulty in handling
Solution Approach 1:
The patent inverts the pancake shape to create a flat top surface and an upwardly inclined peripheral wall, which provides a stable stacking configuration. The inverted geometry with the inclined wall facing outward creates a more stable stack compared to conventional convex pancakes, improving handling and storage stability while maintaining serving efficiency
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
The device produces pancakes with uniform thickness and a retaining wall that keeps toppings in place, facilitating easier serving and storage, reducing cooking time and preventing toppings from dripping, while allowing for efficient stacking and packaging.
Implementation Method 1
two opposable, generally circular, electrically heated cooking plates
Implementation Method 2
contact and cook flowable pancake batter disposed between the plates
Data Source
AI summary
A pancake cooking device with two opposable, generally circular, internally heated cooking plates having substantially smooth cooking surfaces that are cooperatively configured to be selectively placed in facing and spaced-apart relation to contact and cook flowable pancake batter disposed between the plates to form a generally circular pancake that, when removed from the device and oriented in a preferred serving position, has a substantially uniform thickness between substantially planar, top and bottom pancake surfaces, and a continuous, circumferentially extending, outwardly inclined and upwardly facing lip of substantially uniform height disposed around the perimeter of the top surface of the pancake. The pancake cooking device is desirably configured to cook each pancake in an inverted position with the circumferentially extending, outwardly inclined lip projecting downwardly and away from the top and bottom pancake surfaces when the cooked pancake is oriented in a preferred serving position.