Hand-Held Fruit Pitter with Simultaneous Multi-Cherry Processing
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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 handling multiple cherries.
Innovation Solution
A hand-held fruit pitter with a supporting frame, a fruit holder, a lid, and a pusher plate that pivotally rotate about a common axis, featuring cutting rods that pass through the fruit holder to simultaneously remove pits from multiple cherries, with a design allowing for efficient collection of pitted fruit into a receptacle.
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 fruit holder with multiple cavities for holding multiple cherries, a lid with multiple cutting rods for simultaneous pitting, and a pusher plate for ejecting pitted fruit. This segmentation allows parallel processing of multiple cherries while maintaining manageable component complexity
Solution Approach 2:
Multiple cutting rods are merged into a single lid assembly, allowing simultaneous pitting of multiple cherries held in the fruit holder. The cutting rods, fruit holder, and pusher plate are combined in a single integrated device that performs multiple operations in one action, eliminating the need for separate unloading steps
2Productivity
If multiple cherries are pitted using a receptacle-based device, then batch processing is enabled, but frequent unloading into separate containers slows down the process
Solution Approach 1:
The ejection function is merged into the same device by incorporating a pusher plate that pushes pitted cherries off the cutting rods and into a collection container positioned directly beneath the device. This eliminates the need to transfer cherries to separate containers, maintaining continuous batch processing without interruption
Solution Approach 2:
The device performs self-ejection of pitted fruit through the pusher plate mechanism, which automatically pushes the pitted cherries off the cutting rods and into the collection container. This self-service feature eliminates manual unloading operations and maintains continuous processing flow
3Ease of operation
If the lid and pusher plate rotate about different axes, then component design is simplified, but coordination of cutting and ejection actions becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
Both the lid and pusher plate are designed to rotate about the same vertical axis, allowing them to perform their respective functions (cutting and ejection) in a coordinated manner within the same rotational plane. This shared axis simplifies the mechanical linkage and ensures that both components can be operated simultaneously or sequentially without interference
Data Source
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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.