Tiltable Waffle Maker with Foldable Support for Compact Storage
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional waffle-making cooking devices are bulky, occupying substantial space due to their design, which complicates storage, transport, and increases costs.
Innovation Solution
A tiltable cooking device with a lower and upper grill unit and a pivotable support member that allows the device to be folded for compact storage and unfolded for oblique support, featuring a feed passage for perpendicular food material entry, optimizing space usage and cooking efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a conventional cooking device includes a base and multiple grill units, then the device can achieve its intended purpose of making waffles, but the volume of the device becomes large, occupying substantial space
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts and removes the base component from the conventional cooking device structure. The lower grill unit is designed to be self-supporting through an integrated support member, eliminating the need for a separate base. This extraction reduces the overall device volume while maintaining the cooking function, directly resolving the contradiction between functional reliability and compact volume.
Solution Approach 2:
The support member is designed with multi-functionality, serving both as a structural support element and as a tilt-adjustment mechanism. It enables the lower grill unit to be supported horizontally or tilted at oblique angles, providing universal adaptability for different cooking needs while maintaining a compact form factor when folded.
2Stability of the object's composition
If the device is designed with a base and fixed structure, then it provides stable support, but it complicates storage and transport
Solution Approach 1:
The invention introduces dynamic adjustability through the pivotable support member that can transition between a folded state (for compact storage) and an unfolded state (for stable operation). This dynamic structure allows the device to adapt its configuration based on whether it is being stored or used, resolving the contradiction between structural stability and storage convenience.
Solution Approach 2:
The support function is segmented into a separate, movable support member that can be independently folded and unfolded. This segmentation allows the stabilizing function to be activated only when needed, while the device remains compact during storage and transport, eliminating the need for a permanently extended base structure.
3Ease of operation
If the feed inlet faces upward in a conventional device, then batter can be easily poured, but the device requires a larger base structure to accommodate this orientation
Solution Approach 1:
The invention uses the dynamic tilt-adjustment mechanism to orient the feed inlet upward only when the device is in the tilted cooking position. When folded for storage, the feed inlet orientation is irrelevant as the device is compact. This dynamic reorientation eliminates the need for a large base structure to maintain upward feed inlet orientation in all positions.
Solution Approach 2:
The feed inlet is positioned on the lower grill unit at a location that becomes upward-facing when the unit is tilted. This local positioning strategy allows the feed inlet to achieve the desired upward orientation for easy batter pouring only in the operational tilted position, without requiring the entire device structure to be designed for this orientation in all states.
Data Source
AI summary
A cooking device includes a lower grill unit having a lower grill surface, and an upper grill unit cooperating with the lower grill surface to define a cooking space. A support member includes a pivoting end portion pivotally connected to the lower grill unit, and a supporting end portion opposite to the pivoting end portion. The support member is operable to move between a folded state, where the supporting end portion is received in the lower grill unit so that the latter can be horizontally placed on a flat surface, and an unfolded state, where the supporting end portion is pivoted downwardly and forwardly relative to and cooperating with the lower grill unit to obliquely support the cooking device on the flat surface.