Removable handle having an optimized assembly
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing removable handles for cooking containers with outwardly curved side walls are difficult to assemble and maintain due to complex screwing and inversion operations, leading to reliability issues over time.
Innovation Solution
A removable handle design featuring a subassembly of structural and lock components that can be easily inserted along a longitudinal direction, with a self-locking mechanism and metal construction for durability, allowing for automated assembly and secure guidance of the lock mechanism.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If screwing and inversion operations are used to assemble the removable handle, then the handle can be securely attached to the cooking container, but the assembly process becomes very difficult to automate and increases manufacturing complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The handle assembly is divided into distinct modular components: a gripping body, a structural part with integrated lock mechanism, and separate support members. This segmentation allows each component to be manufactured independently and assembled through simple insertion movements rather than complex screwing operations, resolving the contradiction between secure attachment and assembly complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The lock mechanism is merged with the structural part to form an integrated subassembly that moves as a single unit. This combination eliminates the need for separate locking operations and simplifies the overall assembly process to a single insertion movement, while maintaining reliable attachment through the integrated locking feature.
2Strength
If screwing operations are used to assemble the structural part and lock on the gripping body, then the components can be securely fastened, but the screw may become progressively loosened over time reducing operational reliability
Solution Approach 1:
The lock mechanism is designed with a self-locking feature where the blocking wall automatically engages with the gripping body upon insertion. This self-service locking mechanism eliminates the need for separate fastening operations that could loosen over time, maintaining operational reliability through automatic engagement rather than progressive tightening.
3Ease of manufacture
If multiple inversion operations are required to assemble the gripping body, then all components can be properly positioned, but the assembly difficulty increases and automation becomes impractical
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of requiring the gripping body to be inverted multiple times during assembly, the design inverts the approach by having all components insert into the gripping body in a single directional movement. This reversal of the assembly sequence eliminates complex inversion operations and enables straightforward automation.
Data Source
AI summary
A removable handle for a cooking container having a side wall extending upward by an outwardly curved portion including a free end, the removable handle extending in a longitudinal direction and including an internal support member and an external support member designed to rest against, respectively, an inner surface and an outer surface of the side wall, an upper support member designed to rest against the free end, a lock movable in translation between an open position and a closed position, with the lock including a blocking wall designed to be separated from the internal support member when the lock is in the open position and designed to generate a force on the free end when the lock is in the closed position, a gripping body that extends along the longitudinal direction and a structural part that includes the internal support member and the upper support member.