Hand-Held Fruit Pitter with Pusher Plate for Batch Cherry Processing
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing hand-held fruit pitters are either slow and tedious for removing single cherry pits or require unloading into separate containers, slowing down the pitting process when dealing with multiple cherries.
Innovation Solution
A hand-held fruit pitter with a supporting frame, a fruit holder, a pivotally attached lid, and a pusher plate, featuring a cutting rod that passes through the fruit holder hole, allowing for simultaneous removal of multiple cherry pits into a receptacle, with the pusher plate facilitating the separation of pitted fruit from the cutting rods.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a single cherry is pitted at a time using traditional hand-held devices, then the device structure is simple, but the pitting speed is slow and tedious
Solution Approach 1:
The device is segmented into multiple functional components: a frame with multiple holes for holding cherries, multiple cutting rods corresponding to each hole, a lid with associated cutting rods, and a pusher plate. This segmentation allows simultaneous pitting of multiple cherries while maintaining manageable complexity through modular design
Solution Approach 2:
Multiple cutting functions are merged into a single device with multiple cutting rods arranged in parallel. The lid and pusher plate are combined in a coordinated arrangement where the lid applies cutting force while the pusher plate simultaneously pushes pitted cherries forward. This merging enables batch processing of multiple cherries in one operation
2Productivity
If multiple cherries are held in a receptacle for simultaneous pitting, then the pitting speed increases, but the requirement to unload into a separate container slows down the process
Solution Approach 1:
The pusher plate continuously pushes pitted cherries forward through the frame structure, maintaining continuous motion of the fruit through the device. This eliminates the need to stop and unload cherries into separate containers, as the pusher plate constantly advances them along the pitting path
Solution Approach 2:
The pusher plate acts as an intermediary component between the cutting rods and the fruit holder. It receives the pitted cherries from the cutting action and actively pushes them forward through the frame, mediating the transfer of fruit from the pitting zone to the collection area without requiring manual intervention
3Productivity
If a lid is used to apply cutting force to multiple cherries simultaneously, then the pitting efficiency increases, but the mechanism becomes more complex with multiple moving parts
Solution Approach 1:
The lid and pusher plate are designed as dynamic components that move relative to each other and to the frame. The lid pivots to apply cutting force while the pusher plate moves independently to push fruit forward. This dynamic arrangement allows the mechanism to adapt during operation, with each component performing its function at the appropriate moment in the cycle
Solution Approach 2:
The cutting function is segmented between the lid (which applies downward cutting force) and the frame-mounted cutting rods (which provide structural support and additional cutting action). This segmentation of the cutting mechanism allows for efficient multi-point contact with the fruit while distributing the mechanical complexity across separate, simpler components
Data Source
AI summary
A fruit pitter includes a frame, a fruit holder supported by the frame, and a lid and a pusher plate each pivotally attached to the frame. The fruit holder has a hole formed therethrough. The lid is moveable between a fully closed position adjacent to the fruit holder and a fully open position away from the fruit holder. A cutting rod depending from the lid passes through the fruit holder hole when the lid is moved from the fully open position to the fully closed position. The lid and the pusher plate rotate relative to the frame about a common rotational axis. The pusher plate is located between the fruit holder and the lid, and the cutting rod passes through the pusher plate as the lid is moved between the fully closed position and the fully open position.