Cheese Ripening Crate With Segmented Ventilation Wall
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing cheese ripening crates fail to maintain the shape of block-shaped cheeses during the ripening process, leading to uneven eye formation and texture due to differential fermentation and lack of proper ventilation.
Innovation Solution
A crate design with a peripheral wall that includes a solid strip and strategically placed through-holes, runners, and rails to maintain cheese shape while ensuring proper ventilation, featuring a polygonal shape with rectilinear sections and inclined portions to accommodate cheese expansion and air circulation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a conventional crate with large through-holes in end sections is used, then ventilation is provided, but the cheese shape is not maintained and swelling occurs at longitudinal ends
Solution Approach 1:
The peripheral wall is segmented into three distinct zones: an upper solid portion, a medium portion with through-holes for ventilation, and a lower solid strip. This segmentation allows different sections to serve different functions - the solid portions maintain cheese shape while the medium portion provides ventilation, resolving the contradiction between shape maintenance and ventilation.
Solution Approach 2:
Different portions of the peripheral wall have different properties: the upper and lower solid portions provide structural support and shape maintenance, while the medium portion with through-holes provides ventilation. This local differentiation of properties allows the crate to simultaneously maintain cheese shape and provide adequate ventilation.
2Productivity
If multiple cheeses are stacked in crates on a pallet, then productivity is improved, but differential propionic fermentation occurs leading to uneven eye formation
Solution Approach 1:
The crate design with segmented peripheral wall (solid portions and ventilated portions) ensures uniform air circulation throughout the cheese block, regardless of its position in the stack. This uniform ventilation prevents differential fermentation and ensures consistent eye formation across all cheeses, even when multiple crates are stacked on a pallet.
Solution Approach 2:
The crate design creates a standardized environment for each cheese by providing identical ventilation and shape-maintaining structures in every crate. This standardization ensures that all cheeses experience the same ripening conditions, leading to uniform eye formation and texture across the entire production batch.
3Shape
If the peripheral wall is made solid to maintain cheese shape, then shape maintenance is improved, but ventilation is insufficient leading to poor fermentation
Solution Approach 1:
The peripheral wall is divided into functional segments: solid upper and lower portions for shape maintenance, and a medium portion with through-holes for ventilation. This segmentation resolves the contradiction by providing both structural support and adequate air circulation pathways.
Solution Approach 2:
Different sections of the peripheral wall have differentiated properties - solid sections for structural support and hollow sections with through-holes for ventilation. This local quality differentiation allows the crate to simultaneously achieve shape maintenance and adequate ventilation for proper fermentation.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The crate effectively maintains the shape of cheeses during ripening, ensuring uniform eye formation and texture by preventing swelling at the longitudinal ends and optimizing air circulation for homogeneous fermentation.
Implementation Method 1
the peripheral wall comprises a solid strip enclosing the space intended to receive the cheese while being substantially parallel to the base, said solid strip including the medium portion of the peripheral wall and having a minimum height which is at least 15 of the height of the space intended to receive the cheese
Implementation Method 2
the peripheral wall comprising a medium portion which is approximately at mid-height of the space intended to receive the cheese and further having at least one through-hole formed therein
Implementation Method 3
During the ripening phase, these cheeses exhibit considerable and rapid gas evolution as a result of propionic acid fermentation
Data Source
AI summary
A crate (1) for a cheese, said crate (1) comprising a base (2), an open top (3) substantially parallel to the base (2), a peripheral wall (4), the peripheral wall (4) forming a closed contour and forming with the base (2) a space (8) intended to receive the cheese, the peripheral wall (4) comprising a medium portion (29) which is approximately at mid-height of the space (8) intended to receive the cheese and further having at least one through-hole (36, 60) formed therein.The peripheral wall (4) comprises a solid strip (27) enclosing the space (8) intended to receive the cheese while being substantially parallel to the base (2), said solid strip (27) including the medium portion (29) of the peripheral wall (4) and having a minimum height which is at least 15% of the height of the space (8) intended to receive the cheese.