Grated cheese is a food topping that is ubiquitous in the culinary industry. Mozzarella is often grated on all types of salads, pastas, and fine dishes. It is often left off the dish and then grated over the plate of the customer if they want grated cheese on top. For this reason, being able to remotely grate cheese is a demanded task in this niche market. For this product, we wanted something that was push-button operable, rechargeable, small, aesthetically pleasing, and required not manual force to grate cheese. The result of our engineering is the Amazing Portable Cheese Grater.
A sketch model proposal of our final product. In this design, the cheese is grated in a rotary fashion. The grating disk is at the bottom of the cylinder and the cheese is pressed up against the disk and spun. The grated cheese falls out the bottom of the device right onto a plate. Click on the design tab to see how we developed the final product.
The first step of the design process was to establish the functional requirements for the product. The function requirements are detailed below:
Once we were finished with the concept generation, we analyzed each idea based on feasibility, efficiency, and aesthetic to determine what would be the best design to satisfy the functional requirements. Based upon that work, we developed a sketch model of the proposed design.
It is clear that we decided to go with a rotary type grater that was contained in a cylindrical housing. This design afforded the most efficient, easy to use product that would remain as compact as possible. Next we needed to purchase components for the grater based on our analysis.
- Grate 20 grams of Parmesan cheese in 10 seconds
- The device must be a compact cordless device
- It must be easy to use with simple push-button operation
- The battery must be able to power the device for 10-15 minutes
Once we were finished with the concept generation, we analyzed each idea based on feasibility, efficiency, and aesthetic to determine what would be the best design to satisfy the functional requirements. Based upon that work, we developed a sketch model of the proposed design.
It is clear that we decided to go with a rotary type grater that was contained in a cylindrical housing. This design afforded the most efficient, easy to use product that would remain as compact as possible. Next we needed to purchase components for the grater based on our analysis.
- Grater housing Plastic was chosen because it is easy to manufacture, light-weight, and matches other kitchenware. Among plastic, Nylon is used for our final product because that is what the 3-D printer offered.
- Shredding Disc 302 Stainless Steel was chosen because it does not rust, corrode or stain with water and has good strength.
- Motor DC gear motor was chosen based on the torque required for the grating cheese.
- Battery E-Flite LiPoly Battery was chosen based on the result of critical function experiment that the Parmesan pulled about 12A from the battery. From this result, we ended up sizing a battery and found the battery that lasted 10-15 minutes.