Stirring tool
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current stirring tools for kitchen appliances are ineffective in uniformly mixing and heating or cooling larger ingredients like diced meat and vegetables, leading to uneven cooking or cooling due to their design, which fails to adequately turn over or mix ingredients across the volume of the bowl.
Innovation Solution
A stirring tool with a curved, inclined blade that lifts ingredients from the leading edge to the trailing edge, counteracting centrifugal force to prevent accumulation at the bowl's periphery, combined with a secondary helical blade to push ingredients downwards for uniform mixing, and a scraper to remove ingredients from the edge, ensuring thorough mixing and uniform heating or cooling.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If a flat bladed stirring tool is used, then the tool is simple in design and easy to manufacture, but it is ineffective at turning over larger ingredients and creating uniform mixing throughout the bowl volume
Solution Approach 1:
The blade is designed with a curved profile instead of a flat shape. The curvature allows the blade to effectively engage with and turn over larger ingredients like diced meat and vegetables, improving mixing effectiveness throughout the bowl volume while maintaining manufacturing simplicity
Solution Approach 2:
The stirring action is enhanced by adding vertical dimension through the curved blade profile that lifts ingredients upward and over the blade, in addition to the horizontal circular motion. This multi-dimensional mixing approach improves productivity without complicating the basic tool design
2Device complexity
If a flat bladed stirring tool is used, then the tool structure is simple, but it creates large temperature gradients between ingredients at the base and higher up in the enclosure
Solution Approach 1:
The curved blade profile engages ingredients at multiple heights within the bowl, lifting material from the base and redistributing it upward and outward. This curvature-based design promotes more uniform heat distribution throughout the food volume while keeping the tool structure simple
Solution Approach 2:
The blade design creates multiple mixing zones through its curved profile, with different portions of the blade interacting with ingredients at various heights and radial positions. This segmentation of mixing action ensures comprehensive temperature uniformity without increasing structural complexity
3Speed
If a flat bladed stirring tool is used, then the blade can be driven in simple circular motion, but it fails to counteract centrifugal force and allows ingredients to accumulate at the periphery
Solution Approach 1:
The curved blade profile is specifically designed to counteract centrifugal force by directing ingredients inward toward the center of the bowl during rotation. The curvature creates an inward component of force that prevents peripheral accumulation, improving ingredient distribution while maintaining simple circular motion operation
4Device complexity
If a flat bladed stirring tool is used, then the tool has fewer parts and lower device complexity, but it is ineffective at stirring larger volumes of ingredients
Solution Approach 1:
The curved blade design adds vertical mixing action to the horizontal circular motion, creating three-dimensional mixing that effectively handles larger volumes of ingredients. This dimensional enhancement increases stirring capacity without adding multiple separate parts or components
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 tool effectively turns over and mixes larger ingredients, preventing temperature gradients and ensuring uniform heating or cooling across the bowl, improving the cooking or cooling process by addressing the limitations of existing designs.
Implementation Method 1
the food impinging on the leading edge of the blade moves up the blade and falls off the trailing edge, causing the food to turn over. The food is urged inwardly to counteract centrifugal force which tends to push the food outwardly
Implementation Method 2
the food impinging on the leading edge of the blade moves up the blade and falls off the trailing edge, causing the food to turn over
Implementation Method 3
The food is urged inwardly to counteract centrifugal force which tends to push the food outwardly, such that it does not accumulate at the periphery of the bowl
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
A stirring tool for a kitchen appliance such as a food processor has a curved, inclined blade to lift food material from the base of the food processor bowl and turns it over. The tool comprises a shaft adapted to be driven in rotation by a drive outlet of the kitchen appliance, and a blade extending outwardly of the shaft at or adjacent a base thereof, the blade being shaped so as to lift food from a leading edge to a trailing edge thereof upon rotation of the blade, and the leading edge being shaped so as to urge food inwardly towards the shaft.