Gathering Scoop with Agitating Gate Valve for Powder Dispensing

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing containers for powdered nutritional products, such as scoops, face challenges in consistently gathering and dispensing precise quantities due to air pockets, vacuum formation, and spillage issues, especially when dealing with finely particulated products and small-neck containers.

Innovation Solution

A gathering and dispensing scoop with a gate valve that is non-airtight, featuring a handle and an agitating gate valve that opens and closes to prevent vacuum and surface tension, allowing for single-hand operation and precise dispensing without inversion, using a dispensing chute for accurate placement and minimizing spillage.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If a scoop with an airtight seal is used to gather powdered product, then the scoop can be inverted without spillage, but air pockets form within the scoop preventing complete filling and creating vacuum that prevents emptying

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveprevention of spillage during inversionVSAvoidcomplete filling and emptying of product

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSQuantity of substance

Solution Approach 1:

The scoop is designed with a non-airtight seal that allows air to pass through, preventing vacuum formation. The seal is intentionally made porous or gaps are provided to allow air exchange, enabling the scoop to be inverted without spillage while maintaining the ability to fill and empty completely.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #31Porous materials

Solution Approach 2:

The seal is segmented or provided with openings rather than being continuous and airtight. This segmentation allows air to pass through specific regions while still providing containment for the powdered product during normal operation.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

2Ease of operation

If a spoon is used to gather product, then it is easy to access the container, but it is difficult to consistently gather and dispense a consistent quantity due to heaping and sloughing off

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveaccess to containerVSAvoidconsistency of quantity gathered and dispensed

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of operationVSMeasurement precision

Solution Approach 1:

The scoop incorporates an agitating gate valve that can move to agitate the product within the scoop. This dynamic element helps to level and consolidate the powdered product, ensuring consistent quantity measurement by preventing heaping and sloughing off issues that plague static spoons.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #15Dynamics

Solution Approach 2:

The agitating gate valve creates mechanical disturbance or vibration within the scoop to settle the powdered product uniformly. This agitation mechanism ensures that the product is evenly distributed and consistently measured, eliminating the variability associated with manual spoon gathering.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #18Mechanical vibration

3Ease of operation

If a scoop with a large opening orifice is used, then product can be easily accessed, but product falls outside the end-use container opening causing mess and waste

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveaccess to productVSAvoidproduct waste from spillage

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of operationVSLoss of substance

Solution Approach 1:

The dispensing function is segmented from the gathering function. The scoop has a large opening for easy product access during gathering, but a separate controlled dispensing mechanism (gate valve) that regulates product release. This segmentation allows the scoop to excel at both gathering ease and dispensing precision without compromise.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The gate valve acts as an intermediary between the large-opening scoop and the end-use container. It controls and regulates the product flow, ensuring that product is dispensed precisely into the container opening rather than spilling outside, thus preventing waste while maintaining easy access during gathering.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

4Measurement precision

If a scoop requires two hands to operate properly, then precise control can be achieved, but users with limited hand coordination cannot use it easily

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecontrol over dispensingVSAvoidusability for users with limited coordination

Core Design Contradiction:

Measurement precisionVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The gathering and dispensing functions are merged into a single integrated scoop unit with a unified operating mechanism. The agitating gate valve is positioned and designed to be operated with one hand, combining the benefits of precise control and ease of operation that previously required two hands.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Solution Approach 2:

The agitating gate valve is designed to be self-activating or easily activated by a simple single-hand motion. The mechanism allows the user to control both agitation and dispensing with one hand, making the scoop self-sufficient and eliminating the need for complex two-handed coordination.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #25Self-service

Data Source

PatentUS9896319B2Gathering and dispensing scoop with gate valve

Publication Date: 2018.02.20 SUSAN THOMSON

AI summary

A gathering and dispensing scoop with agitating gate valve provides a hemispherically shaped scoop body defining an upper opening, a bottom opening, and a channel extending therebetween. A handle extends radially from an outer peripheral surface of the scoop body. A sector shaped gate valve transects the channel and has a user operable finger tab adjacent to the handle for a user to pivot the gate valve from a first position obstructing the bottom opening to a second position wherein the gate valve no longer obstructs the channel and opens the bottom opening.