Adjustable Clamp Arm

[RustyDoorknob]

Hi,
I'm working on a design for a food stirrer that is clamped to the top of the cooking pot with a motor-system as the middle base. I'm thinking of using three equal distance threaded "arms" with a clip attached to the end to hold onto the side of the pot. However, I want to make the arms themselves be adjustable in order to make it extremely portable instead of fixed distance. So, one of the ideas is that instead of threaded arms, I can make a braking arm to fold the clamp onto the middle of the base itself. Does anyone have any feedback or suggestion on this idea? Or any other ideas for adjustable clamp arm?

 

[drawoh]

RustyDoorknob,

I don't design things for food service. If I were, my first thought would be for cleanliness, and not having any cracks or seams to accumulate food, dirt and germs. If you could cast your food stirrer all in one piece, it would be easy to clean. How badly do you need adjustability?

--
JHG

 

[RustyDoorknob]

Well, the main idea of the project is to have more adjustability than the auto pot stirrer on the market i.e. the stirio or robo stir. So, most auto pot stirrer have a top down design where the clamps are attached to the side of the pot to maintain stability of the base where the motor is held. The design for my project is aiming to make most of the features adjustable to the user. One of the main features is to have the arms of the stirrer to be folded or closed in together for a more compact package. So, ideas being tossed around included having the arms be a hinge system so it can be folded upward towards the base when it is finished being used.
Below is an example of a homemade pot stirrer, all credits to the user dgm333 of thingiverse. Noticed how the arm of his pot stirrer is fixed setting. I'm aiming to have it be able to fold or closed in onto the base. I appreciate any feedback on the hinge or braking arm ideas before I create a rough model of it.

 

[berkshire]

The FDA would have a field day with that if you tried to get any approvals for it, They do not like exposed screw-threads that can hold dirt or old food particles. Whatever adjusting arms you make should be smooth and not trap food.
B.E.

You are judged not by what you know, but by what you can do.

 

[RustyDoorknob]

That design was an example I found, not the final result I'm going for. But yes, I am aiming to keep the adjusting arms to be smooth in a hinge-like system. The only problem that has been brought up is that the weight of the base would cause the hinge to cave in slightly from extended usage.

 

[BUGGAR]

Can you make the arms with those "bendable" plastic hinges to keep everything clean? Might not last long but could be cheap and replaceable.

 

[RustyDoorknob]

BUGGAR

That's a possibility, but the goal is for extended usage for long period of time, such as auto stirring a pot of candy. So, I'm thinking a classical hinge attached to two boards that unfolds to 90 degrees before being clamped to the side of the pot with a threaded screw.

 

[JNieman]

If each arm was of fixed length, and hinged, such that it would close up into a mostly cylindrical shape, it'd be compact, albeit long. The central motor or maybe the shaft of the beaters would have to be adjustable, since the hub would raise and lower as the arms adjusted for differing pot diameters. Combining that with a telescoping arm would eliminate the problem but introduces a cleanliness issue, possibly. Simple camlocks could be used to hold it in place once adjusted. Just spit balling.

 

[RustyDoorknob]

JNieman

Thank you for the suggestion! Yes, one of the other aspects of our design is to have adjustable shaft of the beaters, possibly it being telescopic. The only problem I can see with that is that it might be difficult to adjust during when placed inside the pot with food in it, but we're gonna have to make assumptions that the shaft will be adjusted before then.

 

[drawoh]

RustyDoorknob,

How about fixing the arms, and rotating the pot? This puts all the screws and mechanisms outside and below the pot opening.

--
JHG

 

[RustyDoorknob]

drawoh,

Can you elaborate a bit on that? The pot would assumed to be sitting on a typical home stove, so I'm not sure where the rest of the mechanisms would rest at.