Segmented Cooking Vessel Cover for Steam-Safe Compact Storage
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing cooking vessel covers face issues such as steam scalding, heat accumulation, and storage space inefficiency, as well as the risk of the cover slipping or becoming dirty due to condensation and food particles, and they often require heavy, temperature-resistant materials.
Innovation Solution
A cooking vessel cover composed of rotatable individual segments that can be stacked for compact storage, featuring a carrier element with an axis of rotation and a handle designed to avoid steam and heat, allowing for easy assembly and disassembly, and incorporating a mesh or lattice structure for steam permeability while preventing fat droplets, with optional closure elements for added functionality.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If the cooking vessel cover is designed with a closed character to prevent steam escape, then steam protection is improved, but the central knob heats up due to steam accumulation
Solution Approach 1:
The cover is divided into multiple individual segments that can be fanned out, creating gaps between segments that allow steam to escape laterally rather than accumulating around the central knob. This segmentation resolves the contradiction by maintaining coverage functionality while providing steam ventilation paths.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the steam flow direction from vertical (upward to the knob) to lateral (outward between segments). By fanning out the segments, steam is redirected into the horizontal plane, bypassing the central knob area and preventing heat accumulation.
2Area of stationary object
If the individual segments are made long to cover the entire pan diameter, then coverage is improved, but the segments become heavy and prone to sagging
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple shorter segments are combined to achieve the same coverage area as one long segment. The segments work together collectively to cover the pan diameter, distributing the weight across multiple lighter components rather than requiring a single heavy segment.
Solution Approach 2:
The segments are designed to be mounted on a rotating axis, allowing them to be dynamically positioned. When fanned out, they achieve full coverage; when folded, they compact for storage. This dynamic positioning allows shorter segments to effectively cover the entire pan area through angular arrangement rather than requiring excessive length.
3Volume of moving object
If the individual segments are folded for compact storage, then storage space is improved, but the segments protrude from the handle requiring significant folded width
Solution Approach 1:
The individual segments are designed to nest within each other when folded, similar to a nested doll structure. Each segment can be positioned inside or alongside the others, minimizing the overall footprint of the folded cover and reducing the area it occupies in storage.
4Loss of energy
If the cooking vessel cover uses vapor-permeable individual segments, then steam escape is improved, but the user risks scalding from escaping steam
Solution Approach 1:
The cover segments are divided into multiple pieces with gaps between them, allowing steam to escape in a dispersed manner rather than concentrated in one location. This segmentation reduces the risk of scalding by distributing the steam flow across multiple escape points rather than creating a high-velocity jet from a single opening.
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 provides a lightweight, secure, and space-efficient cooking vessel cover that minimizes steam-related hazards, prevents heat transfer to the handle, and allows for easy handling while maintaining effective coverage and splash protection, with optional interchangeability for different cooking needs.
Implementation Method 1
incorporating a mesh or lattice structure for steam permeability while preventing fat droplets
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~4
Figure 5
AI summary
The invention relates to a vessel cover for vessels in the form of cooking vessels or household vessels, having a cover (1) which is formed from a plurality of individual segments (2) and which can be placed on the vessel edge, wherein the individual segments (2) are mounted at different heights such that they can be rotated with respect to one another about a rotation axis, so that they can be fanned out in the manner of a screen for the purpose of forming the cover (1) which at least partially covers the vessel, and can be rotated one onto the other so as to form a stack in an inoperative position. The known covers have the disadvantage that they take up a comparatively large amount of space and/or that there is a risk of being burnt when they are positioned on a steaming vessel. The invention prevents this by the rotation axis being arranged at an end of a stem-like support element (4) which has a handle (5) which projects over the cover (1) in the closed state, wherein the individual segments (2) are mounted on the support element (4) in such a way that the stack of individual segments (2) which are rotated one onto the other is arranged above or below the support element (4) in the inoperative position.