The BagelPod Story:

 The BagelPod is not the product of a sudden burst of inspiration. Rather it is the product of a design process where each feature is the solution to an encountered problem.

 For example, a lever type design offers the advantage of easier slicing. However, a design based on a straight lever is relatively large. The lever needs to pivot around some fixed point and the user handle has to clear the bagel.  Providing the necessary clearances dramatically increases the size of the device. Further, you have to consider the supporting structure of the device, which further increases the size.

To get the lever advantage we wanted and keep the size down, we decided to bend the blade around the bagel. This created another problem: when the curved blade reached the end of its range of motion, some of the area under the curve would be unsliced. The blade would form an arc bridge over the unsliced area. To solve this problem, we introduced another counter rotating blade to get a complete cut. This solution required the addition of some structural guides to move the blades around each other as they went through their range of motion.

Having solved the blades motion problem, we now had to design the blades for an optimum slice. This required that we come up with a completely new process for manufacturing the blades. This in turn created more problems in setting up manufacturing: new automated tooling, training, debugging, etc…

Another feature we wanted for the product was that it would handle a wide range of bagel sizes. The problem with the fixed slot type of slicers is that if the bagel is too small it tilts and the resulting slice is lopsided. On the other hand, if the bagel is too large it has to be jammed into and pried out of the slicer. Further, if the bagel is relatively large and has toppings, some or, at times, most of this is scraped off.  Therefore, we decided early on to have a system that closes in on the bagel from the sides to minimize the effects of scrapping.

We tried a few tests and found another problem. If the sides were stiff, they would compress the bagels. This squeezing would clamp on the slicing blade, increasing the friction, making slicing more difficult as well as degrading the quality of the cut. To eliminate this problem we introduced the elastic side grips.

The blade interlocks were a result of our desire to make the product as safe as possible.

So there you have the story of the first generation of BagelPod.

Coming next: a one handed version that slices more than just bagels, buns and rolls… 

For information about the company click here: www.bexter7.com