Blade Portioner Speed Profiling for Cut Quality and Throughput
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing portioning systems for food products face challenges in optimizing the rotational speed of cutting blades to achieve clean, accurate cuts while maximizing throughput and minimizing heat generation in servo motors, which affects cut quality and efficiency.
Innovation Solution
A method for determining optimized parameters for cutting blades, including adjusting the rotational speed profile and feed rate based on desired physical specifications and throughput, using a servo motor to ensure precise cuts and efficient operation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the blade rotational speed is increased to maximize throughput, then productivity is improved, but heat generation in the servo motor increases and cut quality deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by varying the blade rotational speed dynamically during different phases of the cutting cycle. The servo motor rotates the blade at different speeds depending on whether the blade is in the cutting zone or returning to the starting position, optimizing both throughput and motor temperature management.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the operational parameters of the servo motor by adjusting the rotational speed profile. The system modifies the blade speed parameter throughout the rotation cycle, using higher speeds during non-cutting phases and controlled speeds during cutting, thereby managing heat generation while maintaining productivity.
2Productivity
If the blade rotational speed is increased to maximize throughput, then productivity is improved, but manufacturing precision of cuts deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts the blade rotational speed based on the operational phase. During the cutting zone passage, the blade rotates at a controlled speed that ensures precise cuts, while during the return stroke, the speed can be higher to maintain throughput without compromising cut quality.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs periodic action by implementing a cyclic rotational speed profile that repeats with each blade rotation. The speed varies periodically between cutting and non-cutting phases, ensuring that precision requirements are met during cutting while maintaining high overall throughput through optimized non-cutting phase speeds.
3Temperature
If the blade rotational speed is decreased to reduce motor heating, then temperature is reduced, but productivity decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The servo motor implements dynamic speed control, rotating the blade at lower speeds during cutting phases to reduce heat generation, while increasing speed during non-cutting phases to maintain overall throughput. This dynamic adjustment resolves the contradiction between temperature control and productivity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system applies partial action by using reduced blade speeds only during the necessary cutting portion of the cycle, while using higher speeds during the remaining non-cutting portion. This allows the system to minimize motor heating during critical cutting operations while compensating for the speed reduction by operating faster during idle periods, thereby maintaining overall productivity.
4Manufacturing precision
If the blade rotational speed is decreased to improve cut quality, then manufacturing precision is improved, but productivity decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically varies the blade rotational speed, maintaining lower speeds during the cutting zone passage to ensure high-quality precise cuts, while increasing speed during the return stroke to non-cutting positions. This dynamic speed profiling allows the system to achieve both high cut quality and maintained throughput by optimizing speed for each phase of operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements periodic speed variation synchronized with the blade's rotational cycle. The blade rotates at optimized speeds for cut quality during cutting phases and at higher speeds during non-cutting phases, creating a periodic pattern that maintains both manufacturing precision and overall productivity throughout continuous operation.
Data Source
Figure 1
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Figure 3a~3c
AI summary
A method and system (10) are provided for automatically portioning workpieces (14) using a rotating blade (22) passing through narrow gap (20) formed between the ends of adjacent conveyors (12) and (18). A scanning system (16) scans the workpieces (14) to physically characterize the workpieces and control the operation of the blade (22), including its rotational speed. The portioning of the workpiece can be carried out in accordance with one or more directly-controlled characteristics (parameter/specifications), such as a cutting path of the blade (22), the rotational speed of the blade (22), and the speed of the conveyor (12). The directly-controlled characteristics may be varied until an acceptable set of one or more indirectly-controlled characteristics is achieved, including, for example, the weight of the cut portions, the quality of the cuts achieved by the cutting blade, and the throughput of the portioning system (10).