Circumferential Grooved Rollers for Semi-Solid Food Metering
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing machines using counter rotating horizontal profiled rollers for extruding semi-solid materials face issues with low extrusion pressure, leakage, and inconsistent product flow due to limited traction and inability to create a positive seal, leading to slippage, frictional heat, and reduced viscosity, which affects the quality and consistency of products like cookies and icing.
Innovation Solution
The use of counter rotating rollers with circumferential tractive grooves and matching profiled scrapers provides increased traction and pressure, allowing for a positive seal and reduced leakage, while the circumferential grooves enable better passage of inclusions and air pockets, ensuring consistent product flow and improved hygiene.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Force
If horizontal grooves or saw tooth profiles are used on rollers to increase grip, then traction capability is improved, but extrusion pressure remains limited and material leakage occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from horizontal grooves (parallel to roller axis) to vertical circumferential grooves (perpendicular to roller axis). This dimensional change allows the grooves to effectively trap and pressurize material while enabling scrapers to seal against the roller surfaces, thereby achieving both high traction and high extrusion pressure simultaneously.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces scrapers as intermediary elements that engage with the vertically grooved rollers. These scrapers create positive seals against the roller surfaces, preventing material leakage and building up pressure in the compression chamber, thus enabling the system to achieve high extrusion pressures without compromising traction.
2Ease of operation
If horizontal profiled rollers are used to entrain material, then material movement is achieved, but positive seal cannot be created leading to leakage
Solution Approach 1:
By changing the groove orientation from horizontal to vertical (circumferential), the patent creates surfaces that are perpendicular to the roller axis. This dimensional change enables scrapers to make effective contact and form positive seals, preventing material leakage while maintaining efficient material entrainment through the grooved surfaces.
3Productivity
If slippage occurs at roller-material interface, then material flow rate decreases, but frictional heat generation softens material further reducing viscosity
Solution Approach 1:
The scrapers act as intermediaries that eliminate slippage by creating positive seals against the vertically grooved rollers. This ensures consistent material flow rate while preventing the frictional heating that would otherwise occur at the roller-material interface, maintaining material viscosity and flow characteristics.
4Productivity
If clearance is provided between profile and die block, then material can pass through, but positive seal is prevented causing leakage
Solution Approach 1:
The vertical circumferential grooves create a different geometric relationship between the roller and die block interfaces. This dimensional change allows scrapers to engage effectively and form positive seals, eliminating leakage paths while maintaining adequate material throughput through the properly designed groove geometry and scraper clearance.
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 configuration enhances extrusion pressures, reduces slippage and leakage, and maintains product consistency by providing higher traction and a positive seal, preventing recirculation and scaling deviations, resulting in improved hygiene and accurate portioning of semi-solid materials.
Implementation Method 1
The rollers of these devices typically have grooves or saw tooth profiles running across the face of the rollers, in a horizontal or longitudinal direction parallel with the axis of rotation of the roller. These profiles tend to add a degree of grip or traction so as to grip the material introduced.
Implementation Method 2
As the two rollers counter rotate towards and past the pinch point or convergence point of the rollers the entrained material will pass thru this pinch point or point of convergence so as to impart a degree of pressure on the material in the area just beyond the roller pinch point.
Implementation Method 3
The roller profiles are matched to the scrapers so as to provide for a positive seal between the scrapers and the rollers.
Data Source
AI summary
A device that provides better movement of semi solid materials (1) such as but not limited to food products for metered dispensing. The device is able to take bulk semi solid material (1), entrain or draw the material into the device and add pressure to the semi solid material (1) so that the semi solid material may be passed thru a nozzle (16A) or controlled discharge metering device or orifice. The rollers (13A,13B) have circumferential grooved profiles (14A,14B) and scrapers (15A,15B) that are able to actively remove the semi-solid materials from the grooved profiles. The emitted semi solid material can then be more accurately applied or portioned in a metered fashion. Typical applications include but are certainly not limited to the production of cookies from bulk dough, the application of icing to a cake base/body/top or perimeter, metering of dough for bread or rolls so as to allow for a cutting device to cut off into uniform pieces.