Fiber orienting technology for a fill plate
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current food processing technologies result in products with uneven cook shapes and a tough, rubber-like texture due to excessive pressure and speed causing muscle fibers to contract and bind, leading to uncontrolled protein extraction and binding.
Innovation Solution
The use of a fill plate with spherical geometry and cylindrical intersections to create a venturi effect, reducing pressure and increasing velocity, which aligns meat fibers and controls their contraction, thereby improving texture and cook shape.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If high pressure and high speed are used in food processing, then productivity is improved, but the product texture becomes tough and rubber-like due to excessive protein binding
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the processing parameters by using controlled acceleration (g-force) instead of traditional high pressure and high speed. The fill plate design with specific hole patterns and the controlled filling process create a gentler processing environment that maintains productivity while preventing excessive protein binding that causes tough texture.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention replaces the traditional mechanical high-pressure system with an acceleration-based system. Instead of using high pressure to force meat through fill holes, the system uses controlled acceleration of the meat product, which changes the mechanical action from compressive to inertial, thereby reducing cell damage and protein binding.
2Speed
If high pressure is applied to accelerate meat through fill holes, then filling speed is improved, but muscle fibers are massaged and squeezed causing uncontrolled contraction and odd cook shapes
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the filling mechanism from pressure-driven to acceleration-driven. The fill plate design with specific hole patterns (including elongated holes and varying hole sizes) combined with controlled acceleration provides filling speed while preventing the massaging action that causes fiber contraction and shape distortion.
Solution Approach 2:
The fill plate is segmented into multiple zones with different hole patterns, including elongated holes in certain directions and varying hole sizes. This segmentation allows different regions to handle the meat flow differently, controlling fiber orientation and preventing uniform compression that leads to odd cook shapes.
3Quantity of substance
If complicated flow pathways are used in the filling process, then mixing and protein extraction are improved, but the product lacks quality due to excessive fiber binding
Solution Approach 1:
The invention replaces complicated mechanical flow pathways with a simpler acceleration-based filling process. The controlled acceleration naturally promotes protein extraction without requiring complex turbulence-inducing pathways, thereby maintaining product quality while achieving adequate protein binding.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention extracts only the necessary amount of protein for binding by using controlled acceleration and optimized fill plate design. Instead of using complicated pathways that over-extract protein, the system achieves adequate protein extraction through controlled filling parameters, preventing excessive fiber binding that degrades quality.
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 reduces myosin and actin mixing, resulting in a better bite and controlled cook shape, with uniform cooling and softening of the product texture.
Implementation Method 1
The use of a fill plate with spherical geometry and cylindrical intersections to create a venturi effect, reducing pressure and increasing velocity
Implementation Method 2
accelerating food product in order to cause the product to be stretched aligning the fibers of the product
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus and method for accelerating food product in order to cause the product to be stretched aligning the fibers of the product.