Citrus Juice Apparatus Undesired Material Release Detector
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Solution Overview
Problem
Citrus juice processing equipment, such as juice extractors and finishers, experience malfunctions like strainer tube tears or screen ruptures, leading to undesired material releases into the juice stream, causing contamination and downtime due to the difficulty in detecting these failures within the equipment's internal locations.
Innovation Solution
A citrus juice apparatus with integrated undesired material release detectors, including magnetic field sensors and pressure sensors, coupled to each juice extractor and finisher to detect malfunctions and prevent contamination by moving a filter plate to block the release, allowing for quick identification and repair of faulty units.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If visual inspection of strainer tubes is performed to detect failure, then detection accuracy is improved, but device complexity and downtime increase due to partial disassembly requirements
Solution Approach 1:
A magnetic field sensor acts as an intermediary detection device that senses the position of a magnet attached to the filter plate without requiring direct visual access to the strainer tube interior. The sensor detects changes in magnetic field strength as the filter plate moves, providing indirect but accurate failure detection while avoiding the complexity of disassembly procedures
Solution Approach 2:
The mechanical visual inspection process is replaced with a magnetic field-based detection system. Instead of physically accessing and visually examining the strainer tube, the system uses magnetic field sensors to detect filter plate position changes, substituting a non-contact sensing mechanism for the mechanical inspection process
2Productivity
If extended operation is performed before inspection, then productivity is improved, but reliability decreases due to delayed failure detection
Solution Approach 1:
The magnetic field sensor provides continuous feedback on filter plate position, enabling real-time monitoring of strainer tube integrity. When undesired material causes the filter plate to move, the sensor immediately detects the position change and triggers an alert, providing timely feedback that maintains both continuous operation and reliable failure detection
Solution Approach 2:
The detection system operates continuously during juice extraction, maintaining constant surveillance of filter plate position. This continuous monitoring ensures that failures are detected immediately when they occur, allowing the system to maintain uninterrupted operation while preserving reliability through real-time failure detection
3Ease of operation
If filter plate movement is used to detect failure, then ease of operation is improved, but device complexity increases due to additional sensor components
Solution Approach 1:
The detection system uses localized magnetic field sensing at specific positions around the filter plate. By placing sensors at strategic locations and monitoring local magnetic field changes, the system achieves simple failure detection through localized measurements rather than requiring complex system-wide monitoring
Solution Approach 2:
The system detects filter plate movement by monitoring changes in magnetic field strength parameters. When the filter plate moves due to undesired material accumulation, the magnetic field strength at the sensor location changes, providing a simple binary detection signal that indicates failure without requiring complex analysis
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 solution enables rapid detection and prevention of contamination by identifying malfunctioning units and stopping the associated equipment, reducing downtime and product loss by isolating the undesired material release, thus ensuring the quality of the citrus juice stream.
Implementation Method 1
a magnetic field sensor positioned adjacent an exterior of the housing for sensing movement of the filter plate based on a change in magnetic field strength
Implementation Method 2
at least one pressure sensor for sensing at least one pressure change associated with the filter plate
Data Source
AI summary
A citrus juice apparatus may include at least one citrus juice processing device. The at least one juice processing device may include at least one juice output having a flow of juice therethrough. The at least one juice processing device upon a malfunction may cause an undesired material release along with the flow of juice into the at least one juice output. An undesired material release detector may be coupled to the at least one juice output for detecting the undesired material release. The detector may operate based upon magnetic proximity sensing of a moving filter plate within a housing of the detector. Alternatively, the detector may operate using a filter plate, and based upon pressure.