Ingredient Bag Feeding Station for Clean, Accurate Pot Dispensing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing cooking systems face challenges in accurately and efficiently feeding ingredients from ingredient bags into a cooking pot, leading to incomplete feeding, contamination, and increased operational complexity, particularly due to issues with cartridge sealing, conveyor belt arrangements, and thermal interference.
Innovation Solution
A method and system for feeding cooking ingredients from ingredient bags into a cooking pot, involving clamping, conveying, toppling, and compressing mechanisms controlled by an automatic system to ensure complete and accurate dispensing, while minimizing contamination and operational complexity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Extent of automation
If ingredient bags are clamped and conveyed over the pot using conveyor belts, then automatic feeding is achieved, but the structure becomes complex and cleaning becomes troublesome
Solution Approach 1:
The feeding mechanism is extracted from the complex conveyor belt system over the pot and simplified to a dedicated feeding station positioned at the pot mouth. The ingredient bag is clamped and fed directly at this simplified station, eliminating the need for complex conveyor belts spanning over the cooking area, thus reducing structural complexity while maintaining automation.
Solution Approach 2:
A clamping mechanism acts as an intermediary device that secures the ingredient bag during feeding. This mediator enables automatic feeding by controlling the bag's position and opening, simplifying the overall system compared to complex conveyor arrangements while achieving the same automated function.
2Manufacturing precision
If ingredient bags are cut open over the pot to dispense ingredients, then feeding accuracy is improved, but contamination risk increases
Solution Approach 1:
The cutting tool is designed to cut the ingredient bag open from the bottom upward, causing ingredients to fall directly into the pot through the opening. This converts the potential harm of exposure to thermal radiation into a benefit by ensuring complete ingredient discharge into the pot, achieving both feeding accuracy and contamination prevention through controlled opening direction.
Solution Approach 2:
The ingredient bag is clamped and positioned at the feeding station before cutting. This preliminary positioning ensures the bag is securely held and properly oriented, enabling accurate cutting and ingredient dispensing while minimizing exposure to contamination risks during the feeding process.
3Manufacturing precision
If the feeding mechanism is disposed over the pot, then feeding accuracy is improved, but the mechanism is exposed to thermal radiation and smog
Solution Approach 1:
The feeding mechanism is extracted from the area over the pot and repositioned to a feeding station at the pot mouth. This extraction removes the mechanism from exposure to thermal radiation and smog generated during cooking, while maintaining feeding accuracy through precise positioning and clamping at the optimized location.
4Extent of automation
If ingredient bags are clamped and conveyed to feeding position, then automatic processing is achieved, but the bags may be deformed affecting feeding
Solution Approach 1:
The clamping mechanism applies localized clamping force at specific positions on the ingredient bag rather than uniform compression. This localized approach secures the bag for automatic conveying and feeding while preventing deformation that would affect feeding reliability, maintaining both automation and reliability.
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed are a cooking material dispensing system and dispensing method. The dispensing method comprises the following steps: setting a material bag (9) clamping station in a position near a cooking pot opening but outside the range of the pot opening, and clamping the material bag (9) containing a cooking material at the material bag (9) clamping station; confining the material bag (9), such that the material bag (9) is kept in a clamped state to control the deformation thereof during the dispensing procedure; flipping and/or tipping the material bag (9), and when in a position near the cooking pot opening, dispensing the cooking material in the material bag (9) into the cooking pot; and once the cooking material has been dispensed, shifting the material bag (9) from the range of the cooking pot opening and releasing the clamping of the material bag (9). The cooking material dispensing system comprises a dispensing device capable of clamping, confining, and transferring the material bag (9) and flipping the opened material bag and/or tipping the cooking material into the cooking pot. The dispensing system and dispensing method take a material packaged in the material bag (9) and can accurately move the material bag (9) into the dispensing position, making the cooking process convenient, fast and simple, and the entire process will not be contaminated.