Confectionery Reservoir Refilling Coordination
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing systems for simultaneously producing multiple types of confectionery products face challenges in maintaining a consistent mixing ratio and preventing waste due to uneven consumption and refilling of reservoir masses, leading to variations in product ratios and inefficiencies during production changes or interruptions.
Innovation Solution
A method and apparatus that divide a common base mass into partial masses, mix with aggregates, and adjust batch sizes and times to ensure all reservoir masses are exhausted simultaneously, using sensors and a control unit to coordinate refilling and processing, thereby maintaining a constant mixing ratio and minimizing waste.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If reservoir masses are refilled in batches at different times, then production flexibility is improved, but mixing ratio consistency deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The control unit continuously monitors the mass levels in all reservoir containers and uses this feedback to dynamically adjust the refilling timing and batch sizes. This ensures that even when refilling occurs at different times, the mixing ratio remains consistent by coordinating the refilling operations based on real-time level data from all reservoirs.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts the refilling strategy based on the current state of each reservoir container. The control unit calculates optimal refilling times and batch sizes by considering the different consumption rates and current mass levels of each reservoir, transforming a static refilling process into a dynamic, adaptive one that maintains mixing ratio consistency.
2Loss of substance
If batch sizes are reduced to match consumption, then waste is reduced, but production efficiency deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The control unit calculates and coordinates refilling operations in advance based on predicted consumption patterns and current reservoir levels. By planning refilling timing and batch sizes beforehand, the system avoids both waste from overproduction and inefficiency from frequent small batches, optimizing the balance between material utilization and production efficiency.
3Stability of the object's composition
If refilling is coordinated across multiple product lines, then mixing ratio consistency is improved, but control complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
A single control unit serves all reservoir containers across multiple product lines, providing centralized coordination. This universal controller manages refilling operations for all reservoirs using a unified algorithm that considers all reservoir levels and consumption rates, simplifying the control architecture while achieving consistent mixing ratios across diverse product lines.
Data Source
AI summary
A method and an apparatus serve for controlling a system for simultaneously producing a plurality of different product kinds of confectioneries in a plurality of product lines. The method includes the steps of dividing a base mass into a plurality of partial masses, the base mass being a common mass for all product kinds and all product lines; mixing the partial masses with different aggregates to produce a plurality of different product masses, the aggregates varying depending on the respective product kind; further processing the product masses as reservoir masses; observing the consumption of the reservoir masses during further processing; refilling the reservoir masses with the respective product mass in response to the result of the observation of the consumption of the reservoir masses, wherein refilling takes place in each of the product lines in batches of product mass, refilling takes place in the product lines at different points in time, and the batches of product masses have approximately identical batch sizes, the batch size of a product masses being the amount of the product mass; and following to a production ending signal, changing the batch sizes and batch times of at least one product mass in a way that the reservoir masses of all product lines are exhausted at the same time.