Horizontal Cheese Vat External Braces Whey Removal
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current cheese vats with internal braces face challenges in cleanability and whey removal efficiency, limiting their versatility and ability to process various cheese types efficiently.
Innovation Solution
A horizontal cheese vat design featuring external braces and a longer whey strainer, allowing for improved cleanability and increased whey removal capacity by eliminating internal braces and optimizing the placement of stress-bearing elements on the exterior, which enhances mechanical and thermal stress resistance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If internal braces are used to withstand mechanical and thermal stress, then structural strength is improved, but cleanability deteriorates due to corner areas and reduced whey strainer space
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the braces from the interior of the vat and relocates them to the exterior. This extraction eliminates the corner areas that trap residue and reduce cleanability, while also increasing the available space for the whey strainer inside the vat. The exterior braces maintain structural strength while solving the cleaning and operational efficiency problems.
2Stability of the object's composition
If internal braces are used to provide structural support, then mechanical stability is improved, but whey removal speed deteriorates due to limited strainer length
Solution Approach 1:
By extracting the braces from the interior space, the patent creates additional room for a longer whey strainer. The extended strainer length increases the surface area for whey absorption, thereby accelerating whey removal speed. The mechanical stability is preserved through the exterior brace configuration.
3Ease of manufacture
If external braces are used instead of internal braces, then cleanability is improved, but device complexity increases due to exterior structural modifications
Solution Approach 1:
The patent inverts the conventional placement of braces by moving them from the interior to the exterior of the vat. This inversion simplifies the interior geometry for easier cleaning while the exterior braces assume the structural support function. The complexity is shifted to the exterior where it does not interfere with cleaning operations or whey removal efficiency.
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 design enables faster and more efficient whey removal, reducing cleaning time and agent usage, and increases the versatility of the cheese vat, enabling the production of cheese types that were previously difficult or impossible with traditional vats.
Implementation Method 1
the whey removal device can be lowered into the curd and whey mixture such that whey can be absorbed into the whey removal device and removed from the curd and whey mixture in the vat
Implementation Method 2
the curd and whey mixture is heated, often indirectly by providing hot water into a jacket of the cheese vat
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3A~3B
AI summary
A horizontal cheese vat (100) for processing a curd and whey mixture (C-W MIX) is presented. The vat (100) comprises a main body (102) for holding the curd and whey mixture (C-W MIX), a knives set (108) arranged on a horizontal shaft (106) extending along a center axis (C-A) of the main body (102), an upper body (104) arranged above the main body (102), a whey removal device (112) comprising a whey strainer (114) arranged to be placed into the curd and whey mixture (C-W MIX), and an arm (116) comprising a pipe connected to the whey strainer (114), wherein the arm (116) is rotatably attached to a fixed pipe arrangement (118) in the upper body (104) such that the whey strainer (114) in an idle position (IDLE) is placed in the upper body (102) and in a whey removal position (W-REM) is placed in the main body (102), wherein the upper body (104) is provided with a first and a second outer side wall (124a,b), wherein at least one first and second brace (120a,b) are provided between an outside of the main body (102) and the first and second outer side wall (124a,b), respectively.