Pasta cooking appliance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Professional pasta cooking appliances face significant electricity consumption and long recovery time due to foam formation from starch, which reduces water temperature and leads to frequent boil-overs, causing steam to be trapped and resulting in energy inefficiency.
Innovation Solution
A pasta cooking appliance equipped with an air jet blowing device controlled by an electronic unit that detects boil-over conditions, blowing air to prevent foam coverage and reducing heat output when necessary, along with an overflow drain system to manage excess water, thereby minimizing energy waste and recovery time.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If an overflow system drains excess water to prevent boil-over, then boil-over is prevented, but hot water is lost and recovery time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent converts the harmful foam that causes boil-over into a beneficial defoaming agent. The defoaming device uses the foam itself to break down the starch foam layer on the water surface, preventing boil-over while retaining hot water. This transforms the harmful accumulation of foam into a useful mechanism for foam removal without draining water.
2Quantity of substance
If fresh cold water is added after boil-over to restore water level, then water level is restored, but overall water temperature decreases and energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The defoaming device performs preliminary action by continuously or periodically breaking down foam before it can accumulate to cause boil-over. This preventive approach eliminates the need for subsequent water replacement, maintaining both water volume and temperature without the energy penalty of reheating cold water.
3Duration of action of moving object
If starch foam accumulates on water surface during cooking, then cooking continues, but steam cannot escape and boil-over occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The defoaming device extracts and removes the harmful starch foam layer from the water surface through mechanical disruption. By taking out the foam that would otherwise trap steam and cause boil-over, the system maintains reliable boil-over control while allowing cooking to continue uninterrupted.
4Reliability
If heating power is reduced to prevent foam accumulation, then boil-over is prevented, but cooking efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The defoaming device acts as an intermediary mechanism between the heating system and the water. It mediates the conflict between maintaining high heating power for efficiency and preventing foam accumulation, allowing full heating power to be used while the defoaming device handles foam control without requiring power reduction.
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 solution effectively prevents foam from covering the water surface, reduces energy consumption, and shortens the recovery time after boil-overs, enhancing the appliance's energy efficiency and operational stability.
Implementation Method 1
an electrically-operated blowing device adapted to blow an air jet towards the surface of the water contained in the cooking basin
Implementation Method 2
a heating device adapted to selectively heat up the water contained in the cooking basin so as to bring the same water to boil
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3~4
AI summary
Pasta cooking appliance (1) comprising a self-supporting cabinet (2), an open-top cooking basin (3) recessed on the top of the cabinet (2) and dimensioned to contain several liters of water, a heating device (4) adapted to heat up the water contained in the cooking basin (3) so as to bring the same water to boil, an electrically-operated blowing device (20) adapted to blow an air jet (F) towards the surface of the water contained in the cooking basin (3) to prevent starch foam from covering the whole surface of the water, and an electronic control unit (21) adapted to switch on and off the blowing device (20).