Rotatable Blend Chamber Door for Sealing and Draining Control

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing blenders lack efficient mechanisms for sealing and draining liquids during and after the blending process, leading to potential spillage and difficulty in cleaning and sanitizing the blend chamber.

Innovation Solution

A blender design featuring a rotatable door with a hinge outside the blend chamber cavity, a sloping bottom wall, and a drain adjacent to the rear, allowing the door to rotate partially and seal the opening while directing liquid into the drain, thus preventing spillage and facilitating easy cleaning.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If a traditional fixed door design is used to seal the blend chamber, then sealing is achieved, but draining and cleaning become difficult

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvesealing effectivenessVSAvoidcleaning and draining ease

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The door is made rotatable between a closed position (for sealing during blending) and an open position (for draining and cleaning). This dynamic transformation allows the same component to serve multiple functions: sealing when closed and facilitating drainage/cleaning when open, thereby resolving the contradiction between reliable sealing and ease of operation.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #15Dynamics

2Ease of manufacture

If the hinge is placed inside the blend chamber cavity, then the door can be coupled easily, but it occupies valuable interior space and complicates cleaning

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvedoor coupling easeVSAvoidinterior cavity space

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of manufactureVSVolume of stationary object

Solution Approach 1:

The hinge is extracted from the interior cavity and repositioned on the exterior surface of the blend chamber. This removes the hinge from the limited interior space, freeing up volume for blending operations and simplifying cleaning by eliminating internal hinge mechanisms that would trap food particles and require disassembly for maintenance.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

3Ease of operation

If the door rotates more than 90 degrees, then full access is achieved, but the plate may interfere with the blending mechanism

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveaccess to blend chamberVSAvoidinterference with blending mechanism

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of operationVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The door is designed to rotate partially (less than 90 degrees) rather than fully. This partial rotation is sufficient to provide adequate access for draining and cleaning operations while preventing the door plate from interfering with the blending mechanism's path of operation. The hinge position and door dimensions are optimized to achieve the necessary access without excessive rotation.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #16Partial or excessive action

Data Source

PatentUS20250318687A1Blend chamber door

Publication Date: 2025.10.16 F REAL FOODS LLC

AI summary

A blender includes housing and a blend chamber disposed within the housing. The blend chamber includes an upper portion, a lower portion including an opening, and a door rotatably coupled to the blend chamber. The door includes a plate configured to selectively close the opening and a hinge about which the door is rotatable. The door is rotatable between a closed position, in which the plate seals the opening, and an open position. When the door is in the open position, the plate is disposed within the blend chamber. The hinge is coupled to the blend chamber on an opposite side of the opening as the plate.