Stand Mixer Dough Mold Attachment for Shaped Cookie Production
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing stand mixers lack a dough mold attachment assembly capable of efficiently molding or forming dough into specific shapes, such as cookie shapes, without requiring additional tools or machinery.
Innovation Solution
A dough mold attachment assembly for a stand mixer comprising a dough hopper and a rotatable dough mold with defined mold cavities, driven by the mixer's motor, which forms and cuts moldable dough into desired shapes using a combination of rotation and a dough feeder block and linear actuator.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a stand mixer is used for mixing, then mixing function is provided, but dough molding capability is lacking
Solution Approach 1:
The stand mixer is enhanced with a multi-functional attachment assembly that combines dough molding, cutting, and shaping capabilities into a single device. The attachment includes a dough hopper, rotatable dough mold with multiple cavities, and integrated cutting blades, allowing the mixer to perform both mixing and molding functions, thereby improving versatility without requiring multiple separate tools
Solution Approach 2:
The attachment assembly features a nested structure where the dough mold with multiple cavities is positioned within the dough hopper, and the cutting blades are integrated within the mold assembly. This nested configuration allows compact arrangement of multiple functional components, adding dough molding capability while minimizing increase in overall device complexity
2Productivity
If manual dough shaping is done, then simple operation is maintained, but productivity is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The dough mold is pre-configured with multiple cavities in various shapes and sizes before operation. The attachment assembly automatically feeds dough into the mold cavities and performs cutting actions, eliminating the need for manual shaping steps. This preliminary preparation of the mold structure enables high-productivity automated dough shaping while maintaining ease of operation through simple attachment and detachment
Solution Approach 2:
The dough mold is divided into multiple separate cavities, each capable of forming different shapes simultaneously. This segmentation allows parallel processing of multiple dough portions, significantly increasing productivity compared to single-piece manual shaping, while each cavity remains independently simple in structure for easy cleaning and maintenance
3Manufacturing precision
If auxiliary tools are used for dough molding, then molding precision is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The attachment assembly merges multiple auxiliary tools into a single integrated unit: the dough mold with precise cavities for accurate shaping, cutting blades for clean edges, and a hopper for consistent dough feeding. This consolidation maintains high molding precision that would require separate professional tools while reducing the number of individual tools from multiple separate items to one attachment assembly
Solution Approach 2:
The same attachment assembly provides both precise molding through calibrated cavities and cutting functions through integrated blades, eliminating the need for separate molding tools and cutting tools. The universal design maintains professional-grade precision for various dough shapes while simplifying the toolset to a single multi-functional attachment
Data Source
AI summary
A stand mixer includes a base, a support column coupled to the base and extending upwardly from the base, a head coupled to an upper end of the support column and extending from the support column above the base, and a dough mold attachment assembly. The dough mold attachment assembly includes a dough hopper including an inlet for receiving moldable dough therethrough and an outlet for releasing the moldable dough as a molded dough therefrom, and a dough mold positioned within the dough hopper, the dough mold rotatable relative to the dough hopper and defining a mold cavity for forming the moldable dough into the molded dough as the dough mold is rotated relative to the dough hopper.