Extensometer Crown Cleaning via Motorized Scraper
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing extensimeters for analyzing cereal dough mechanical characteristics face challenges in handling and maintaining dough samples, particularly in forming bubbles and controlling ambient conditions like temperature and humidity, leading to inconsistent measurements.
Innovation Solution
An improved extensimeter design featuring a horseshoe-shaped scraper driven by a motor for alternating rotational movement to remove dough residue after bubble burst, allowing for automated cleaning without human intervention and maintaining ambient conditions, combined with a movable support plate and adjustable crown for precise measurement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If manual cleaning of the crown is performed after bubble burst, then dough residue is removed, but measurement reliability deteriorates due to inconsistent ambient conditions and human intervention
Solution Approach 1:
The device performs self-cleaning through an automated scraper mechanism that removes dough residue from the crown after bubble burst without requiring human intervention. The scraper is driven by a motor and oscillates between two positions to effectively clean the crown surface, allowing the device to maintain itself and ensure consistent ambient conditions during measurements.
2Measurement precision
If the crown is moved close to the upper plate for measurement, then measurement precision is improved, but dough residue accumulates on the crown requiring cleaning
Solution Approach 1:
The scraper mechanism extracts and removes dough residue from the crown surface after the bubble bursts. By separating the cleaning function from the measurement function and implementing it through a dedicated scraping device, the system effectively removes accumulated dough without interfering with the precise measurement process when the crown is positioned close to the upper plate.
3Ease of operation
If automated scraper mechanism is added, then ease of operation is improved by eliminating manual cleaning, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The scraper mechanism is designed to be movable and dynamic rather than stationary. It can oscillate between two positions and is driven by a motor, allowing it to adapt to the cleaning needs after bubble burst. This dynamic design enables effective cleaning while keeping the structure relatively simple and integrated into the existing device framework.
Data Source
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AI summary
Extensometer improved for the blow analysis of the mechanical characteristics of a sample of a cereal-based dough in the shape of a disc, provided with means to clamp the dough disc on its rim, a means of pressurising with a gas to form a bubble by blowing and means of recording the pressure exerted, and comprising a fixed upper plate provided with a closable blow hole and a crown (6) which determines a central hole (8) and which is arranged under said upper plate in order to be able to move closer to it, be held in this position, and respectively be moved away from it, while a mobile support platen is provided to transport the dough disc under said crown (6), said mobile support platen being dimensioned to enter said central hole (8) of said crown (6) and fill it in order to form with it a lower plate intended to enable the crushing of said dough disc by moving said upper plate (1) closer, characterised by the fact that it comprises a device (14, 15, 16) to remove the dough remaining on said crown (6) after the bubble has exploded. Application particularly in the bread and pastry field.