Fruit-pressing machine
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing fruit-squeezing machines face issues with uniform cutting of fruits into halves, leading to irregular portions and suboptimal performance, and are often cumbersome, limiting their installation in spaces with reduced availability.
Innovation Solution
A fruit-squeezing machine with rotating cup assemblies that cut fruits into three radially spaced cups, synchronized with motor-driven cutting and squeezing mechanisms, ensuring equal halves are cut and efficiently squeezed, while also incorporating a rind-extracting system for enhanced efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If multiple cups and squeezing balls are used to increase juice production, then productivity is improved, but device complexity and space requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The machine is divided into multiple independent cup assemblies, each capable of processing one fruit simultaneously. The cup assembly includes a cup for holding the fruit, a cutting mechanism, and a squeezing ball, allowing parallel processing of multiple fruits to increase productivity without requiring a completely separate system for each function.
Solution Approach 2:
Multiple functional elements (cup, cutting blade, squeezing ball) are merged into a single integrated cup assembly unit. This consolidation allows the machine to process multiple fruits simultaneously through multiple cup assemblies while maintaining a compact structure, thereby increasing productivity without proportionally increasing overall device complexity.
2Productivity
If multiple cups and squeezing balls are used to increase juice production, then productivity is improved, but the machine becomes too large for facilities with reduced space availability
Solution Approach 1:
The cup assemblies are arranged vertically stacked rather than horizontally distributed. This vertical arrangement allows multiple processing stations to occupy a smaller horizontal footprint area while maintaining high productivity through parallel processing, effectively transitioning the space utilization from two-dimensional to three-dimensional configuration.
3Manufacturing precision
If the fruit is not positioned correctly during cutting, then cutting uniformity deteriorates, but achieving precise positioning increases device complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The cup is designed with a specific geometry that naturally positions the fruit in a consistent orientation during the cutting process. By creating an equipotential positioning system where the fruit naturally settles into the correct position due to the cup's shape and the cutting mechanism's alignment, precise cutting is achieved without requiring complex active positioning mechanisms.
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
The machine achieves higher juice production rates and efficient rind removal, addressing the issues of uniform cutting and space constraints, resulting in improved performance and efficiency compared to conventional machines.
Implementation Method 1
a blade centered with regard to both cup assemblies that cuts the fruit into two halves
Implementation Method 2
a pair of fruit-squeezing balls, each one of them arranged below one of the cup assemblies
Implementation Method 3
motor means that synchronize the continuous movement of the fruit feeder with the movement of the cutting and squeezing means
Implementation Method 4
a tray for collecting the juice obtained from the fruits, arranged below the cutting and squeezing means, with a filter for collecting the pulp and the seeds
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3~4
AI summary
Fruit-squeezing machine with automatic fruit (7) feeder (1) and cutting and squeezing means that have a pair of rotating assemblies of three fruit (7) receiving cups (4) and a cutting assembly (5) with a blade (10) and means for extracting the rinds after squeezing the fruit, and a pair of squeezing balls (6) below the cup assemblies (4). Additionally, the machine has a juice-collecting tray (2) with a fixed? filter (8), and rind-collecting means. The cup assemblies (4) rotate towards the inside of the machine, which has motor means that synchronize the continuous movements of the feeder (1) with the movement of the cutting and squeezing means.