Bone-In Limb Meat Clamping Structure for Rotation-Stable Loading
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current technologies face challenges in automating the loading of bone-in limb meats, such as thigh meats, in the same direction for uniform processing, requiring manual intervention and lacking secure holding mechanisms for efficient machine-based handling.
Innovation Solution
A clamping device with a pair of clamp pieces, a support portion, and rotation suppressing portions that protrude perpendicular to the clamp pieces' opening/closing direction, allowing stable holding and orientation control, enabling secure automation of loading and suspension of bone-in limb meats.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a clamping device is used to hold bone-in limb meat, then the meat can be securely held and transported, but the meat may rotate or wobble during handling, reducing holding stability
Solution Approach 1:
The clamping device divides the holding function into multiple independent components: clamp pieces for gripping, support portions for positioning, and rotation suppressing portions for orientation control. Each segment performs a specific function, collectively achieving stable holding without rotation.
Solution Approach 2:
The rotation suppressing portions extend in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the clamp pieces, adding a third-dimensional constraint. This vertical protrusion prevents rotational movement by contacting the meat from above, complementing the horizontal clamping action.
2Manufacturing precision
If manual loading is used to load bone-in limb meats in the same direction, then uniform processing can be achieved, but labor costs increase and automation is not realized
Solution Approach 1:
The clamping device automatically orients the bone-in limb meat in the same direction during the clamping operation itself. The support portions and rotation suppressing portions work together to self-align the meat, eliminating the need for separate manual orientation steps and enabling automated uniform loading.
Solution Approach 2:
The clamping device performs multiple functions simultaneously: gripping the meat, preventing rotation, controlling orientation, and enabling uniform loading. This multi-functional design allows a single device to achieve both automation and loading uniformity that previously required separate manual operations.
3Ease of operation
If the tip portions of clamp pieces are positioned beyond the rotation suppressing portions, then the clamp can close fully, but the meat cannot be securely picked up from below
Solution Approach 1:
The rotation suppressing portions are positioned to contact the meat first during the closing operation, performing a preliminary action of securing the meat from above. This prevents the meat from slipping before the tip portions make contact, ensuring secure pickup while maintaining full closing capability.
Data Source
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AI summary
A clamping device for a bone-in limb meat according to an embodiment includes: a pair of clamp pieces for holding the bone-in limb meat; a support portion openably/closably supporting the pair of clamp pieces in respective base portions of the clamp pieces; and rotation suppressing portions for suppressing a rotation of the bone-in limb meat, the rotation suppressing portions being respectively disposed so as to protrude from surfaces of the pair of clamp pieces along a direction perpendicular to a plane including opening/closing directions of the pair of clamp pieces. In an opened state of the pair of clamp pieces, the pair of clamp pieces respectively have tip portions at positions closer to a center line between the pair of clamp pieces than the rotation suppressing portions and positions farther away from the support portion than the rotation suppressing portions in a direction along the center line.