Demand-Based Produce Ripening Rack
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Solution Overview
Problem
The current process of ripening produce by exposing it to ethylene gas before distribution leads to inefficiencies, resulting in wasted fruit due to over-ripening and mismatched quantities, as retailers often receive either insufficient or excessive amounts of ripe fruit.
Innovation Solution
A system comprising a fruit ripening rack with controlled ethylene gas supply and sensor-activated chambers that analyze historical and seasonal data to predict demand, calculating precise quantities and exposure times for each chamber to achieve customized ripeness levels, ensuring optimal fruit readiness and minimizing waste.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If produce is exposed to ethylene gas before distribution to initiate ripening, then the fruit ripens at a point in the supply chain, but the fruit continues to ripen resulting in waste due to over-ripening prior to consumer purchase
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary ripening action by exposing produce to ethylene gas in controlled chambers before distribution, but precisely controls the exposure duration and conditions to initiate ripening without completing it, thereby preventing over-ripening waste while ensuring fruit readiness at the destination
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes critical parameters including ethylene gas concentration, exposure time, and temperature to precisely control the ripening process. By adjusting these parameters, the system can stop ripening at the optimal point before distribution, preventing the fruit from continuing to ripen and become wasted
2Quantity of substance
If retailers order crates of pre-ripe produce, then they obtain sufficient quantities of ripened fruit, but they may obtain too many cases resulting in over-ripening waste or too few cases resulting in deficit of fruit
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables retailers to perform their own ripening service at the destination location using controlled chambers. This self-service approach allows precise control over the ripening process based on actual demand, eliminating the need to order excessive quantities that would lead to over-ripening waste or insufficient quantities that would cause fruit deficit
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary ripening preparation by distributing unripe or partially ripe fruit in controlled quantities, then completes the ripening process on-demand at the retail location using the controlled chamber system, ensuring the exact quantity needed is ripened without waste
3Manufacturing precision
If containers of un-ripe produce are exposed to ethylene gas sufficient to at least partially ripen the fruit upon arrival, then the fruit reaches the market in a ripened state, but the process is inaccurate and inefficient
Solution Approach 1:
The system achieves precise control over the ripening process by independently adjusting critical parameters including ethylene gas concentration, exposure time, and temperature for each chamber. This parameter control enables accurate ripening to the desired level while maintaining high efficiency through automated monitoring and control
Solution Approach 2:
The system divides the ripening process into segmented, independently controllable chambers, each capable of handling different quantities and types of produce with customized ripening parameters. This segmentation enables precise control for each batch while maintaining overall system efficiency through parallel processing
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
This approach allows for on-site ripening based on predicted demand, reducing waste by ensuring the right quantity and level of ripeness of fruit is available, meeting customer preferences and optimizing inventory management.
Implementation Method 1
The produce is exposed to ethylene gas to initiate ripening at a point in the supply chain prior to shipment or delivery to a market or store for consumption
Data Source
AI summary
Examples provide a fruit ripening rack having a plurality of chambers for on-site produce ripening at a retail location. A controller component generates predicted demand for ripened fruit on a selected date at a selected location based on transaction history data and/or seasonal demand. The controller component calculates the quantity of fruit based on the predicted demand. The controller component determines conditions within each chamber to accelerate ripening of the calculated quantity of one or more types of fruit to one or more selected levels of ripeness on the selected date. The conditions include amount of ethylene gas in each chamber, length of exposure to the ethylene gas, temperature inside the chamber and/or humidity level inside the chamber. The fruit ripening rack controls internal conditions within each chamber to provide variable fruit ripening in accordance with per-chamber configurations to satisfy predicted daily demand at the selected location.