Automated Glazing Machine for Uniform Sauce Coating
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing methods for coating skewered food products, such as Japanese-style meatballs, with sauce are inefficient and inconsistent, often resulting in sauce being applied to skewers and between meat products, and require manual handling which can introduce contaminants and reduce production capacity.
Innovation Solution
An automated glazing machine with a lower mesh conveyor and an upper conveyor that moves at a different speed, allowing skewered food products to rotate and simultaneously contact both conveyors, ensuring a controlled and uniform application of sauce to the outer surface of the meatballs while minimizing sauce on skewers.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If manual brushing or dipping is used to apply sauce to skewered meat products, then the process is simple to implement, but the sauce application is inconsistent and sauce is applied to skewers and between meat products
Solution Approach 1:
The coating apparatus divides the sauce application process into separate zones: a first coating zone with a first conveyor for initial sauce application, and a second coating zone with a second conveyor for additional coating. This segmentation allows each zone to perform a specific function, improving sauce application consistency while keeping each individual zone relatively simple in structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The apparatus transitions from manual two-dimensional brushing to a three-dimensional system where meat products are conveyed horizontally through multiple coating zones, with sauce applied from above and below simultaneously. This dimensional change enables consistent coating without sauce transfer to skewers.
2Ease of manufacture
If dipping method is used to coat skewered meat products, then the coating process is simple, but sauce is transferred to skewers and between adjacent meat products
Solution Approach 1:
Conveyors act as intermediaries between the sauce source and the meat products. The first conveyor applies sauce to the bottom surface, while the second conveyor applies sauce to the top surface, preventing direct contact between sauce and skewers. This intermediary mechanism eliminates sauce transfer to skewers while maintaining coating simplicity.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of dipping meat products into sauce (upward motion), the apparatus inverts the approach by applying sauce downward from above and upward from below simultaneously. This inverted coating method prevents sauce contact with skewers while achieving uniform coating coverage.
3Productivity
If manual handling is used for sauce application, then the equipment requirement is low, but production capacity is limited and contamination risk increases
Solution Approach 1:
The coating apparatus performs multiple functions within a single integrated system: conveying meat products through the first conveyor, applying sauce from the bottom, conveying through the second conveyor, and applying sauce from the top. This multi-functionality increases production capacity while managing device complexity through functional integration.
Solution Approach 2:
The automated glazing machine eliminates the need for manual handling by using self-contained conveyors and sauce application systems. The first conveyor and second conveyor automatically transport and coat meat products without operator intervention, increasing productivity while reducing contamination risk from manual contact.
4Manufacturing precision
If a single conveyor system is used for coating, then the device structure is simple, but uniform sauce application on all surfaces is difficult to achieve
Solution Approach 1:
The coating system is segmented into two separate conveyors: the first conveyor for bottom surface coating and the second conveyor for top surface coating. This segmentation allows each conveyor to focus on a specific surface, achieving uniform sauce application on all sides of the meat products while maintaining relatively simple individual conveyor structures.
Solution Approach 2:
The system adds a vertical dimension to sauce application by using conveyors positioned above and below the meat products. This three-dimensional coating approach ensures uniform coverage on all surfaces without requiring complex multi-axis mechanisms within a single conveyor system.
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 automated system ensures consistent sauce application, reduces contamination risks, and increases production capacity by eliminating manual handling and ensuring minimal sauce is applied to skewers and between meat products.
Implementation Method 1
the upper conveyor and the lower conveyor may be configured to move at the same or different speeds such that when the skewered food products are conveyed through the glazing machine, the skewered food products rotate about a central skewer
Implementation Method 2
transferred sauce to an outer surface of the skewered food product as it is conveyed through the glazing machine
Data Source
AI summary
A method of coating a sauce onto skewered food product, which includes the steps of positioning a skewered food product on a top surface of a lower conveyor, conveying the skewered food product toward a glazing location of an automated glazing machine, wherein the glazing location comprises an upper conveyor comprising a bottom surface and a lower conveyor comprising a top surface, and wherein the upper and lower conveyors are spaced at a distance from each other so that the skewered food products simultaneously contact the bottom surface of the upper conveyor and the top surface of the lower conveyor at the glazing location, and transferring sauce to an outer surface of the skewered food product as it is conveyed through the glazing location.