A feeding system of a food 3D printer

Abstract

A kind of food 3D printer's feed system, including raw material mixing and stirring mechanism, paste caching mechanism and spray head mechanism;The top of raw material mixing and stirring mechanism is equipped with powder and liquid feed module, for uniformly mixing powder and liquid into premix;Paste caching mechanism includes vibrating paste box and caching cylinder, which is detachably connected with vibrating paste box and at least partially extends into the inner cavity thereof, the feed inlet of caching cylinder is connected with the discharge port of raw material mixing and stirring mechanism, and can receive the premix of mixing and stirring mechanism;Vibrating paste box has vibrating module for vibrating premix in caching cylinder and heating module for heat pasting premix in caching cylinder into cooked material;It also includes spray head mechanism detachably connected with the discharge port of caching cylinder and used for receiving cooked material pressed out from caching cylinder.The feed system of the present food 3D printer, mixing and stirring and paste caching are carried out separately, which can ensure the uniformity and printability of printing food materials, and facilitate flexible large-scale operation.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of food 3D printing technology, specifically to a feeding system for a food 3D printer. Background Technology

[0002] Currently, food 3D printers can achieve personalized food manufacturing, which can meet the needs of different groups of people. Therefore, food 3D printing technology has been studied by many scholars and has become a trend. However, compared with traditional food manufacturing methods, its production cycle is long and its production efficiency is low, which cannot meet people's needs and therefore has not been widely popularized.

[0003] Starch has been used in food printing materials. Before printing, it only needs to be mixed with water or other liquid components, gelatinized, and then fed to the print head. However, the following problems exist in its feeding process:

[0004] ① Before gelatinization, the food printing material is a mixture of powder or liquid. After gelatinization, it is in a semi-fluid state. Existing equipment directly produces gelatinized cooked material. The gelatinized food printing material is prone to losing its printability due to prolonged storage, and its use lacks flexibility.

[0005] ② For industrialized food printing processing, a large amount of food printing materials need to be stirred and gelatinized. Both stirring and gelatinization processes require a certain amount of time, making it difficult to carry out continuous, large-scale processing operations.

[0006] ③ Traditional single-head printing can no longer meet the needs of large-scale production.

[0007] Therefore, we have researched and proposed a feeding system for food 3D printers. Summary of the Invention

[0008] The purpose of this invention is to provide a feeding system for a food 3D printer, in which mixing and gelatinization are carried out separately, which can ensure the uniformity and printability of the printed ingredients and facilitate large-scale processing operations.

[0009] The technical solution adopted in this invention is: a feeding system for a food 3D printer, including a raw material mixing and stirring mechanism, a gelatinization buffer mechanism, and a nozzle mechanism;

[0010] The top of the raw material mixing and stirring mechanism is equipped with a powder and liquid feeding module, which is used to mix the powder and liquid evenly into a premix.

[0011] The gelatinization buffer mechanism includes a vibrating gelatinization box and a buffer cylinder detachably connected thereto and extending at least partly into its inner cavity. The inlet of the buffer cylinder is connected to the outlet of the raw material mixing and stirring mechanism and is capable of receiving the premixed material from the raw material mixing and stirring mechanism.

[0012] The vibratory gelatinization chamber has a vibration module that vibrates the premix in the buffer cylinder and a heating module that thermally gelatinizes the premix in the buffer cylinder into a mature product.

[0013] It also includes a nozzle mechanism that is detachably connected to the outlet of the buffer cylinder and receives the cooked material pressed out by the buffer cylinder. The nozzle mechanism is connected to the three-dimensional motion system of the food 3D printer.

[0014] As a preferred embodiment, the raw material mixing and stirring mechanism includes a mixing cylinder and a stirring module extending into the mixing cylinder to stir the powder and liquid materials therein.

[0015] As a preferred embodiment, the powder and liquid feeding module includes a powder pipe and a liquid pipe extending into the inner cavity of the mixing cylinder, wherein the outlet of the liquid pipe extends to the center of the mixing cylinder.

[0016] As a preferred embodiment, the vibration module includes a flexible holding member that suspends and holds the buffer cylinder within the vibrating gelatinization box, and a vibration generator.

[0017] As a preferred embodiment, the flexible retaining component includes a base, an elastic connector, and a load-bearing seat;

[0018] The base is fixed to the inner wall of the vibrating gelatinization box. The base is connected to the support seat through an elastic connector. The support seat and the buffer cylinder are detachably connected.

[0019] As a preferred embodiment, the top of the vibratory gelatinization box has an opening for the buffer cylinder to extend into, and the opening is provided with a closed ring that flexibly contacts the buffer cylinder.

[0020] As a preferred embodiment, the buffer cylinder has a top cover, and an extrusion mechanism for squeezing out the material inside the buffer cylinder is installed in the middle of the top cover.

[0021] As a preferred embodiment, the nozzle mechanism includes a mounting base, a slider slidably connected to the mounting base, and a nozzle, as well as an adjustment mechanism that drives the slider to move in the same direction to adjust the gap between adjacent nozzles.

[0022] As a preferred embodiment, the outlet of the buffer cylinder and the inlet of the nozzle mechanism are connected by a conveying pipe, which passes through the bottom of the vibrating gelatinizing box and has one end coiled inside the vibrating gelatinizing box.

[0023] As a preferred option, a cleaning three-way valve is connected to the middle of the conveying pipe.

[0024] Compared with the prior art, the beneficial effects of the present invention are:

[0025] 1. The powder and liquid materials are mixed and continuously stirred in the raw material mixing and stirring mechanism to keep the printing ingredients mixture in a uniform state, which is conducive to the rapid feeding into the subsequent gelatinization buffer mechanism for gelatinization processing.

[0026] 2. The gelatinization buffer mechanism heats and gelatinizes the printing ingredients, maintaining a certain temperature and vibration to prevent the ingredients from clumping due to prolonged stillness, thus preventing them from becoming unprintable, and to supply the printhead with material at any time.

[0027] 3. The separate, alternating, and coordinated mixing and gelatinization processes reduce the waiting and processing time of ingredients, which is beneficial for large-scale processing.

[0028] 4. Set up multiple printheads for printing to improve processing efficiency;

[0029] The spacing between multiple nozzles is adjustable to accommodate products of different sizes and prevent the nozzles from interfering with adjacent food items. Attached Figure Description

[0030] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention or the prior art, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the invention. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative effort.

[0031] Figure 1 This is a schematic cross-sectional view of the present invention;

[0032] Figure 2 for Figure 1 Enlarged schematic diagram of the structure at point A;

[0033] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the nozzle mechanism of the present invention.

[0034] Figure label:

[0035] 1. Raw material mixing and stirring mechanism;

[0036] 101. Mixing cylinder; 102. Stirring module; 103. Powder pipe; 104. Liquid pipe; 105. Filter element; 106. Motor; 107. Reducer; 108. Stirring element.

[0037] 2. Vibrating gelatinizing box;

[0038] 3. Buffer cylinder;

[0039] 4. Vibration module;

[0040] 401. Vibration generator; 402. Base; 403. Elastic connector; 404. Bearing seat;

[0041] 5. Heating module;

[0042] 6. Nozzle mechanism;

[0043] 601. Mounting base; 602. Slider; 603. Nozzle; 604. Diamond-shaped telescopic frame; 605. Electric telescopic rod; 606. Crossbar.

[0044] 7. Closed loop;

[0045] 8. Extrusion mechanism;

[0046] 801. Through-type motor; 802. Piston plate;

[0047] 9. Material conveying pipe;

[0048] 10. Clean the three-way valve. Detailed Implementation

[0049] The present invention will now be described in detail through exemplary embodiments. However, it should be understood that, without further description, elements, structures, and features in one embodiment may be advantageously incorporated into other embodiments.

[0050] It should be noted that, unless otherwise defined, the technical or scientific terms used herein should have the ordinary meaning understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention pertains. The terms "a," "an," or "the," etc., used in the specification and claims of this patent application do not express a limitation on quantity, but rather indicate the presence of at least one; the terms "first," "second," and "third," as used herein, should not be considered as a limitation on the order of components, but are merely for distinguishing different components; the terms "comprising," "including," etc., indicate that the elements or objects preceding "comprising" or "including" encompass the elements or objects listed following "comprising" or "including" and their equivalents, but do not exclude other elements or objects having the same function.

[0051] To more clearly describe the specific structural composition of the feeding system of this food 3D printer, in conjunction with the attached... Figure 1-3 This embodiment is described as follows:

[0052] like Figure 1 As shown, a feeding system for a food 3D printer includes a raw material mixing and stirring mechanism 1, a gelatinization buffer mechanism, and a nozzle mechanism 6.

[0053] The raw material mixing and stirring mechanism 1 mixes powder and liquid materials evenly, including the powder and liquid material feeding module set at its top, which is used to mix powder and liquid materials evenly into a premix.

[0054] The gelatinization buffer mechanism gelatinizes the premixed material and maintains the printability of the gelatinized material. The mechanism includes a vibrating gelatinization box 2 and a buffer cylinder 3 detachably connected to it and extending at least partly into its inner cavity. The inlet of the buffer cylinder 3 is connected to the outlet of the raw material mixing and stirring mechanism 1 and can receive the premixed material from the raw material mixing and stirring mechanism 1. The vibrating gelatinization box 2 has a vibration module 4 that vibrates the premixed material in the buffer cylinder 3 and a heating module 5 that thermally gelatinizes the premixed material in the buffer cylinder 3 into a mature material.

[0055] It also includes a nozzle mechanism 6 that is detachably connected to the discharge port of the buffer cylinder 3 and receives the cooked material pressed out by the buffer cylinder 3. The nozzle mechanism 6 is connected to the three-dimensional motion system of the food 3D printer. The three-dimensional motion system drives the nozzle mechanism 6 to move in three dimensions, thereby performing 3D printing.

[0056] In the above embodiments, see Figure 1 The powder and liquid feeding module includes a powder pipe 103 and a liquid pipe 104 extending into the inner cavity of the mixing cylinder 101. The liquid pipe 104 feeds in liquid, and the powder pipe 103 feeds in powder. The outlet of the liquid pipe 104 extends to the center of the mixing cylinder 101, which is beneficial for delivering the liquid to the center of the mixing cylinder 101 and for dispersing the liquid. The powder pipe 103 can be connected to an external powder inlet device to feed the powder into the mixing cylinder 101 by blowing air. When feeding in by blowing air, an exhaust port is provided at the top of the mixing cylinder 101, and a filter element 105 is provided in the exhaust port to prevent powder leakage.

[0057] The raw material mixing and stirring mechanism 1 includes a mixing cylinder 101 and a stirring module 102 extending into the mixing cylinder 101 to stir the powder and liquid materials therein. The stirring module 102 mainly includes a motor 106, a reducer 107 and a stirring element 108. The motor 106 drives the reducer 107 and the stirring element 108 to rotate, and the stirring element 108 stirs the powder and liquid materials in the mixing cylinder 101 evenly.

[0058] In the above embodiment, the vibratory gelatinization box 2 is a semi-enclosed structure with an opening at the top for the buffer cylinder 3 to extend into. After the buffer cylinder 3 is placed in, the sealing is maintained by the flexible contact between the sealing ring 7 inside the opening and the side wall of the buffer cylinder 3, while preventing the vibration of the buffer cylinder 3 from being transmitted to the vibratory gelatinization box 2.

[0059] See Figure 2 The vibration module 4 includes a flexible holding member that suspends and holds the buffer cylinder 3 within the vibrating pasteurization box 2, and a vibration generator 401. The vibration generator 401 drives the flexible holding member and the buffer cylinder 3 to vibrate, and can be a vibration motor, a turbine vibrator, etc., to maintain the food in a printable state.

[0060] Specifically, the flexible retaining component includes a base 402, an elastic connector 403, and a support 404. The base 402 is fixed to the inner wall of the vibrating gelatinization box 2, and the base 402 is connected to the support 404 through the elastic connector 403. The support 404 is detachably connected to the buffer cylinder 3. The support 404 and the buffer cylinder 3 can be connected by threads or snap-fit, facilitating disassembly.

[0061] A pipe is connected to the lower outlet of the mixing cylinder 101, and the other end of the pipe is connected to the inlet of the buffer cylinder 3. A peristaltic pump is installed in the middle of the pipe to transport the premixed material into the buffer cylinder 3.

[0062] Specifically, the buffer cylinder 3 has a top cover, and an extrusion mechanism 8 for squeezing out the material inside the buffer cylinder 3 is installed in the middle of the top cover. The extrusion mechanism 8 includes a through motor 801 and a piston plate 802. The through motor 801 is fixed on the top cover, and the piston plate 802 is fixed to the end of the lead screw of the through motor 801. The piston plate 802 is attached to the inner wall of the buffer cylinder 3 and the top side of the feed inlet of the buffer cylinder 3. Before feeding, the piston plate 802 is raised to a height that does not interfere with the inlet of the buffer cylinder 3. The feed falls below the piston plate 802. During use, driven by the through motor 801, the piston plate 802 descends and squeezes the food into the printhead to provide power for printing.

[0063] The heating module 5 can be electrically heated, specifically by an electric heating rod. A water inlet valve and a water outlet valve are respectively installed at the top and bottom of the vibrating gelatinization box 2. During heating, water is accumulated in the vibrating gelatinization box 2 to submerge the bottom of the buffer cylinder 3. The water is heated by the electric heating rod to gelatinize the food. When using water bath heating, the water level should ideally be lower than the vibrating module 4 to avoid interference with the vibrating module.

[0064] See Figure 3 In the above embodiment, the printhead mechanism 6 includes a mounting base 601, a plurality of sliders 602 and printheads 603 that slide on and are connected to the mounting base 601, and an adjustment mechanism that drives the sliders 602 to move in the same direction to adjust the gap between adjacent printheads 603. Using multiple printheads 603 for printing improves processing efficiency; the spacing between the multiple printheads 603 is adjustable to accommodate products of different sizes and prevents the printheads from interfering with adjacent food items.

[0065] Specifically, the adjustment mechanism can be a diamond-shaped telescopic frame 604 and an electric telescopic rod 605. A crossbar 606 is fixed on the mounting base 601, and all the sliders 602 are slidably engaged with the crossbar 606. The diamond-shaped telescopic frame 604 includes connecting rods that are hinged together to form multiple diamonds. The hinge points of adjacent diamonds coincide, and two opposite hinge points of each diamond are rotatably connected to adjacent sliders 602. The electric telescopic rod 605 is mounted on the mounting base 601, with one slider 602 locked in place on one side, and the slider on the other side connected to the telescopic arm of the electric telescopic rod 605. The electric telescopic rod 605 drives one of the sliders to move. Under the action of the diamond-shaped telescopic frame 604, the slider 602 moves and synchronously adjusts and maintains the gap between adjacent sliders 602. For larger products, it is necessary to increase the gap between adjacent sliders 602 to prevent the nozzles 603 from interfering.

[0066] See Figure 1 The outlet of the buffer cylinder 3 and the inlet of the nozzle mechanism 6 are connected by a conveying pipe 9. The conveying pipe 9 passes through the bottom of the vibrating gelatinizing box 2 and one end is coiled inside the vibrating gelatinizing box 2. When the buffer cylinder 3 is pulled up, the coiled pipe unfolds, so the pipe joint can be disassembled after the buffer cylinder 3 is removed. There is no obstruction, which makes it convenient for disassembly and cleaning.

[0067] Furthermore, to facilitate the cleaning of the feed pipe 9 and the nozzle, a cleaning three-way valve 10 is connected in the middle of the feed pipe 9. The other port of the three-way valve 10 is connected to an external cleaning pipeline. During cleaning, the nozzle and the external cleaning pipeline are opened to introduce soft water, and the valve is closed after rinsing.

[0068] The parts not described in detail in the above embodiments are existing technologies.

[0069] It should be noted that although the present invention has been described through the above embodiments, the present invention may have many other embodiments. Without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention, those skilled in the art can obviously make various corresponding changes and modifications to the present invention, but all such changes and modifications should fall within the scope of protection of the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A feeding system for a food 3D printer, characterized in that: It includes a raw material mixing and stirring mechanism (1), a gelatinization buffer mechanism, and a nozzle mechanism (6). The top of the raw material mixing and stirring mechanism (1) is equipped with a powder and liquid feeding module, which is used to mix the powder and liquid evenly into a premix. The gelatinization buffer mechanism includes a vibrating gelatinization box (2) and a buffer cylinder (3) detachably connected thereto and extending at least part of its inner cavity. The inlet of the buffer cylinder (3) is connected to the outlet of the raw material mixing and stirring mechanism (1) and can receive the premixed material from the raw material mixing and stirring mechanism (1). The vibrating gelatinization box (2) has a vibration module (4) that vibrates the premix in the buffer cylinder (3) and a heating module (5) that heats the premix in the buffer cylinder (3) into cooked food. The heating module (5) is an electric heating rod. When heating, water is accumulated in the vibrating gelatinization box (2) and submerged at the bottom of the buffer cylinder (3). The water is heated by the electric heating rod to heat and gelatinize the food. The vibration module (4) includes a flexible holding member for suspending and holding the buffer cylinder (3) in the vibration gelatinization box (2) and a vibration generator (401); the flexible holding member includes a base (402), an elastic connector (403) and a support seat (404); the base (402) is fixed to the inner wall of the vibration gelatinization box (2), the base (402) is connected to the support seat (404) through the elastic connector (403), and the support seat (404) is detachably connected to the buffer cylinder (3); The buffer cylinder (3) has a top cover, and an extrusion mechanism (8) for extruding the material inside the buffer cylinder (3) is installed in the middle of the top cover; the extrusion mechanism (8) includes a through motor (801) and a piston plate (802), the through motor (801) is fixed on the top cover, and the piston plate (802) is fixed at the end of the lead screw of the through motor (801), and the piston plate (802) is attached to the inner wall of the buffer cylinder (3); It also includes a nozzle mechanism (6) that is detachably connected to the outlet of the buffer cylinder (3) and is used to receive the cooked material pressed out by the buffer cylinder (3). The nozzle mechanism (6) is connected to the three-dimensional motion system of the food 3D printer. The outlet of the buffer cylinder (3) and the inlet of the nozzle mechanism (6) are connected by a conveying pipe (9). The conveying pipe (9) passes through the bottom of the vibrating gelatinizing box (2) and one end is placed in the inner cavity of the vibrating gelatinizing box (2).

2. The feeding system for a food 3D printer according to claim 1, characterized in that: The raw material mixing and stirring mechanism (1) includes a mixing cylinder (101) and a stirring module (102) extending into the mixing cylinder (101) to stir the powder and liquid materials thereon.

3. The feeding system for a food 3D printer according to claim 2, characterized in that: The powder and liquid feeding module includes a powder pipe and a liquid pipe extending into the cavity of the mixing cylinder (101), wherein the outlet of the liquid pipe extends to the center of the mixing cylinder (101).

4. The feeding system for a food 3D printer according to claim 1, characterized in that: The top of the vibratory gelatinizing box (2) has an opening for the buffer cylinder (3) to extend into, and a closed ring (7) is provided at the opening to flexibly contact the buffer cylinder (3).

5. The feeding system for a food 3D printer according to claim 1, characterized in that: The nozzle mechanism (6) includes a mounting base (601), a plurality of sliders (602) that slide on the mounting base (601) and connected together, and a nozzle (603), as well as an adjustment mechanism that drives the sliders (602) to move in the same direction to adjust the gap between adjacent nozzles (603).

6. The feeding system for a food 3D printer according to claim 1, characterized in that: A cleaning three-way valve (10) is connected in the middle of the conveying pipe (9).

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