Bone-In Meat Clamping Blocks for Variable Bone Thickness
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional clamping devices for bone-in meat are unable to reliably grip meat sections with varying thickness due to a fixed groove width, requiring multiple devices with different locking groove widths for different thicknesses.
Innovation Solution
A clamping device with adjustable gripping blocks that can displace and pivot to accommodate varying thicknesses, using displacement restricting parts and biasing members to securely hold bone-in meat.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a constant groove width locking groove is used, then the clamping device can reliably grip bone-in meat with average thickness, but it cannot accommodate bone-in meat with large variations in thickness
Solution Approach 1:
The locking groove is designed with a tapered shape where the groove width varies along the length of the groove. The groove width is larger at the opening and gradually decreases toward the bottom, allowing the groove to dynamically adapt to different bone thicknesses. This dynamic geometry enables a single clamping device to reliably grip bone-in meat with varying thickness without requiring multiple devices with different constant groove widths.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the geometric parameter of the locking groove from a constant width to a variable width (tapered) profile. By making the groove width a variable parameter that decreases along the groove length, the system can accommodate a range of bone thicknesses, thereby improving adaptability while maintaining gripping reliability through the tapered confinement mechanism.
2Adaptability or versatility
If multiple clamping devices with different locking groove widths are prepared, then bone-in meat with various thicknesses can be processed, but the device complexity and operation time increase due to device exchange requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The tapered locking groove design enables a single clamping device to perform multiple functions by accommodating bone-in meat of various thicknesses. Instead of requiring separate specialized devices for different thickness ranges, the universal tapered groove geometry allows one device to handle the full spectrum of bone thicknesses, thereby reducing device complexity and eliminating the need for device exchange operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The dynamic tapered geometry of the locking groove allows the same physical structure to adapt to different bone thicknesses, effectively making one device replace multiple devices with different constant groove widths. This dynamic adaptation eliminates the complexity of managing multiple devices and the time required to exchange them.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the locking groove width is made larger to accommodate thicker bones, then thick bone-in meat can be gripped, but thin bone-in meat will fall out from the groove
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the groove width parameter from constant to variable along the groove length. The tapered profile ensures that the groove width is larger near the opening to accommodate thick bones, while gradually narrowing toward the bottom to provide secure confinement for thin bones. This parameter variation along the groove length resolves the contradiction between accommodating thick and thin bones within a single groove structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The tapered geometry creates a dynamic adaptation mechanism where the effective groove width that contacts the bone varies depending on the bone thickness. For thick bones, the wider upper portion engages; for thin bones, the narrower lower portion engages, ensuring reliable gripping across the full range of bone thicknesses.
Data Source
AI summary
A device for clamping bone-in meat includes a plurality of gripping blocks, and a displacement restricting part. The gripping blocks have grip parts that can abut an outer circumferential surface around a bone section of bone-in meat, and that are provided to be displaceable in a direction in which the grip parts approach and separate from each other. The displacement restricting part restricts displacement of the plurality of gripping blocks, which are gripping the bone-in meat, in a separating direction.