Hold-down Tooling for Fill and Shear Plate Flatness
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing food patty molding machines face issues with flexing fill and shear plates leading to clogging, wear, and reduced tooling life due to lack of dimensional integrity, causing performance problems and product quality issues.
Innovation Solution
A hold-down tooling package with a space keeper around the shear plate and a hold-down device within the fill plate, utilizing a center support with a mounting stud and nut, maintains the flatness and proximity of the fill and shear plates, preventing gaps and flexing, and includes a method for filling the mold plate with product while counteracting pressure.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional tooling without hold-down assembly is used, then the structure is simpler, but the fill plate and shear plate flex causing clogging, wear, and reduced tooling life
Solution Approach 1:
The hold-down assembly is divided into separate components including hold-down devices, space keepers, and center supports that can be independently installed and maintained on the fill plate and shear plate, allowing modular replacement and reducing overall tooling complexity while improving reliability
Solution Approach 2:
Space keepers are introduced as intermediary elements between the fill plate and shear plate to maintain proper spacing and prevent direct contact that causes wear, while center supports act as mediators to maintain dimensional integrity and prevent plate flexing
2Ease of manufacture
If fill plate and shear plate are allowed to flex, then the structure is more flexible and easier to manufacture, but performance problems and product quality issues occur
Solution Approach 1:
The hold-down devices are strategically positioned at specific locations on the fill plate and shear plate to provide localized support where needed to maintain flatness and dimensional integrity, rather than requiring uniform reinforcement across the entire plate structure
Solution Approach 2:
The hold-down assembly changes the mechanical parameters of the plates by applying controlled downward force to maintain contact between the fill plate and shear plate, preventing flexing and maintaining manufacturing precision during operation
3Manufacturing precision
If hold-down assembly is added to maintain plate flatness, then cutting quality and product definition improve, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The hold-down assembly components serve multiple functions simultaneously: hold-down devices secure the plates, space keepers maintain spacing and prevent clogging, and center supports maintain dimensional integrity, reducing the need for separate components for each function
Solution Approach 2:
The space keepers and center supports are designed to automatically maintain proper positioning and spacing of the plates throughout the cycling operation, providing self-regulating dimensional control without requiring additional active control mechanisms
4Productivity
If traditional tooling without space keepers is used, then the structure is simpler, but gaps form between plates causing clogging
Solution Approach 1:
The space keepers are designed as simple, easily replaceable components that maintain critical spacing between plates, providing a low-cost solution to prevent clogging and maintain productivity without requiring complex mechanical systems
Data Source
AI summary
A hold-down tooling package that maintains the dimensional integrity between the product manifold, shear and fill plate.