Hollow Spindle Slot Segmentation for Dicing Machine Cleaning
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Solution Overview
Problem
The square interior corners of cutting devices, such as the cross-cutter in the Affinity® dicer, pose challenges for thorough cleaning, hindering sanitation and maintenance.
Innovation Solution
The design incorporates a hollow spindle with slots that have gaps along their length, eliminating most square interior corners, allowing for easier cleaning by enabling fluid passage through these gaps.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If slots have rectangular cross-section with base wall and side walls supporting the knife along its entire length, then manufacturing precision and knife support are improved, but cleaning difficulty increases due to square interior corners
Solution Approach 1:
The slot is divided into multiple segments along its length, with gaps between segments. This segmentation eliminates the continuous rectangular cross-section and removes square interior corners, allowing cleaning fluid to flow through the gaps and access surfaces that would otherwise be trapped in corners.
Solution Approach 2:
The design transitions from a two-dimensional rectangular slot cross-section to a three-dimensional segmented structure with gaps. This adds a new dimension (the gap space) that allows cleaning fluid to penetrate and reach all surfaces, solving the cleaning accessibility problem created by the original flat rectangular design.
2Stability of the object's composition
If slots have rectangular cross-section to support knife base and sides, then structural stability is improved, but sanitation capability deteriorates due to hard-to-clean corners
Solution Approach 1:
The continuous slot structure is segmented into discrete sections with gaps between them. This maintains structural stability through the distributed support points while eliminating the square interior corners that trap bacteria and prevent thorough cleaning.
Solution Approach 2:
The gaps in the segmented slot structure enable hydraulic flow of cleaning fluid through the slot areas. This allows cleaning solution to reach and flush out all surfaces, including previously trapped corners, thereby improving sanitation capability without compromising structural support.
Data Source
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AI summary
An apparatus for cutting food product includes at least one knife having longitudinal ends and a hollow spindle. The knife has a central region therebetween and a base and opposite sides located along a longitudinal extent thereof. The hollow spindle has a slot for receiving the knife. The slot has a base wall for engaging and supporting the base of the knife and side walls for engaging and supporting the sides of the knife. The spindle includes a circumferential wall in which at least two circumferential gaps are present to segment the wall into at least two end wall segments and a third wall segment therebetween. The gaps separate the slot into at least two end slot segments and a third slot segment therebetween that are complementary to and receive, respectively, the base and side walls of the knife at the longitudinal ends and central region, respectively, of the knife.