Elastic Hooking Unit for Automated Bone-in Meat Conveyance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing deboning systems face challenges in automatically and reliably conveying bone-in meat from arm or thigh parts of livestock carcasses from a horizontally placed state to a suspended state, particularly due to small asperities on the tip protruded parts, which can lead to manual intervention and reduced automation rates.
Innovation Solution
A device with a hooking unit attached to a robot arm, featuring belt-like main body parts with blade-like pointed ends and barbs, allows for secure pinching and conveyance of bone-in meat by adjusting the interval between hooking members to engage and release the bone effectively, utilizing a rotation drive mechanism to manage the engagement and prevent dropping during movement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a grip part is used to convey the work, then the work can be transported to the clamp stand, but the tip protruded part may be extracted from the grip part due to small asperities, causing conveyance failure
Solution Approach 1:
The hooking unit is divided into two separate hooking members (first and second), each with its own pointed end and barb structure. This segmentation allows independent engagement with the bone, providing redundant gripping points that prevent extraction even when one member slips due to small asperities.
Solution Approach 2:
The hooking members feature curved barb structures that wrap around the bone in a circular manner. This curved geometry creates a mechanical interlock that prevents linear extraction, converting the gripping force into a rotational constraint that maintains secure attachment despite surface irregularities.
2Ease of operation
If manual pre-processing is performed to suspend the work, then the work can be conveyed, but the automation rate is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The hooking members automatically engage with the bone through their own elastic deformation and barb structures, without requiring manual intervention for suspension. The elastic support mechanism provides automatic adjustment and maintenance of gripping force, enabling fully automated conveyance from horizontal placement to suspended state.
Solution Approach 2:
The hooking members are designed with elastic properties that allow dynamic adjustment during the conveyance process. They can deform to accommodate variations in bone shape and size, then recover to maintain secure engagement, enabling reliable automated operation across different work types without manual reconfiguration.
3Device complexity
If the interval between hooking members is fixed, then the structure is simple, but the engagement with bone of varying sizes is ineffective
Solution Approach 1:
The support mechanism transforms the fixed interval structure into a dynamic system where the distance between hooking members can automatically adjust. The elastic components allow the members to move closer together or farther apart based on the bone dimensions, providing adaptability without complex control mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the physical parameter of the interval between hooking members based on the bone size being engaged. This parameter adjustment is achieved through elastic deformation and mechanical compliance, allowing the same structure to effectively engage with bones of varying dimensions by naturally adapting its geometry.
Data Source
Figure 1
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AI summary
Two hooking members 43a and 43b of a hooking unit 42 used in a device for conveying bone-in meat respectively have belt-like main body parts 45a and 45b, blade-like pointed ends 46a and 46b provided at ends on one side of the main body parts 45a and 45b, and barbs provided on first sides of the main body parts 45a and 45b to be continuous with the points 46a and 46b. The hooking members 43a and 43b are supported so as to be in parallel with each other with an elastically changeable interval therebetween and to be rotatable about rotation axes along longitudinal axes of the main body parts 45a and 45b. Further, the hooking unit 42 has an actuator 57 which rotates the hooking members 43a and 43b about the rotation axes.