Removable Pan Handle Clamping Mechanism for Heat-Resistant Fastening
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing handle elements for cooking vessels, particularly those with plastic bearings, often experience premature failure due to bearing pull-out and breakage, leading to safety and reliability issues, especially when used with gas stoves or open flames.
Innovation Solution
A handle element design featuring a metal claw with a single-arm lever and a tie-rod mechanism, combined with a spring element for tolerance compensation, which securely clamps onto the cooking vessel edge, enhancing fire resistance and ergonomic design while maintaining low production costs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If plastic bearings are used in the handle element, then manufacturing costs are reduced and ease of manufacture is improved, but reliability deteriorates due to bearing pull-out and breakage
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the material parameter of the bearing from plastic to metal, specifically using a sintered metal bearing with high porosity (30-70%). This material substitution resolves the contradiction by providing both the mechanical strength and heat resistance required for reliable operation, while maintaining ease of manufacture through powder metallurgy processes that are well-established in industrial production.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs composite material construction by combining metal bearing material with a plastic housing. The sintered metal bearing is embedded in a plastic support body, creating a composite structure that leverages the strength and heat resistance of metal while utilizing the molding advantages and cost-effectiveness of plastic manufacturing. This composite approach resolves the contradiction between reliability and ease of manufacture.
2Ease of manufacture
If plastic components are used in the handle element, then manufacturing costs are reduced, but fire resistance deteriorates when exposed to gas stoves or open flames
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the material composition parameter by introducing metal components (sintered metal bearing, metal spring element) with high fire resistance properties. These metal components are strategically positioned in areas exposed to heat and flame, resolving the contradiction by providing fire resistance where needed while maintaining plastic components in areas where cost and ease of manufacture are priorities.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies local quality by using different materials in different locations based on functional requirements. Metal components with fire resistance are placed in heat-exposed areas (bearing, spring element), while plastic components are used in non-heat-exposed areas (housing, handle). This localized material selection resolves the contradiction between manufacturing cost and fire resistance by applying fire-resistant materials only where necessary.
3Reliability
If a two-arm lever design is used, then the clamping mechanism is established, but device complexity increases compared to a single-arm lever
Solution Approach 1:
The patent inverts the conventional two-arm lever design by using a single-arm lever that pivots about one end. The clamping force is generated through the lever arm's rotation and the spring element's elastic force, rather than through a two-arm balanced lever system. This inversion simplifies the device structure while maintaining the clamping mechanism's reliability, resolving the contradiction between device complexity and clamping functionality.
4Object-affected harmful factors
If metal components are introduced to improve fire resistance, then temperature resistance is improved, but weight of the handle element increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by using metal components only in specific locations where fire resistance is required (bearing, spring element), while the majority of the handle element remains plastic. This localized use of metal minimizes the weight increase while providing adequate temperature resistance in critical areas, resolving the contradiction between temperature resistance and weight.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the material parameters by selecting lightweight metal alloys and optimizing the geometry of metal components. The sintered metal bearing and spring element are designed with minimal mass while maintaining structural integrity and heat resistance. This parameter optimization resolves the contradiction by providing temperature resistance with minimal weight penalty.
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 handle element provides improved safety and reliability by securely attaching to cooking vessels, withstanding higher temperatures and varying vessel wall thicknesses, and offering ergonomic and haptic advantages with enhanced clamping force transmission.
Implementation Method 1
a spring element (30), in particular a torsion spring, for tolerance compensation
Implementation Method 2
a control cam (25) is provided which has a cam face (26). When the closing lever (22) is displaced from a non-usage position into its usage position, the control cam (25) causes the claw (14) to be displaced from its open position into its closed position
Implementation Method 3
The closing lever is connected to the claw by way of a tie-rod (24). The tie-rod is capable of exerting tensile forces on the claw
Implementation Method 4
the pair of clamping faces can make secure contact with the corresponding engagement faces on the cooking vessel, i.e., in particular on the horizontally formed edge of the pan, and clamp the edge between them
Data Source
AI summary
A handle element for releasable fastening to a cooking vessel, including a carrying body, on which a claw provided by a single-armed lever is arranged, wherein: a clamping-surface pair with a first clamping surface on the carrying body and with a second clamping surface on the claw is provided. The claw can be pivoted between an open position, in which the two clamping surfaces are spaced apart from one another, and a closed position, in which the two clamping surfaces are in close proximity to one another. A closing lever is provided on the carrying body. The closing lever is connected to the claw via a tension rod and includes a control cam, which, as a result of the closing lever being displaced from a not-in-use position into an in-use position, causes the claw to be displaced from its open position into its closed position.