Ingredient supply unit
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing ingredient storage devices have issues with maintaining temperature and preventing ingredients from spilling due to exposure of the screw's lower end, leading to incorrect ingredient dispensing.
Innovation Solution
An ingredient supply unit with an ingredient receptacle, metering means, and transfer means, featuring shutters and a shutter opening and closing mechanism to control ingredient transfer based on weight, ensuring accurate dispensing and temperature maintenance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If the ingredient storage device uses an open upward plastic container for holding ingredients, then the device structure is simple and easy to manufacture, but the ingredient cannot be maintained at a certain temperature
Solution Approach 1:
The patent places the ingredient container inside a refrigeration chamber, creating a nested structure where the container is housed within the temperature-controlled environment. This allows the simple open container structure to be maintained while the refrigeration chamber provides the necessary temperature maintenance for ingredients.
2Ease of operation
If the screw's lower end portion is exposed for ingredient dispensing, then the ingredient transfer is simple, but the ingredient spills down from the lower end portion due to vibrations when rotation is stopped
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a shutter mechanism that closes the lower end of the screw before the dispensing process completes. This preliminary closing action prevents ingredient spillage due to vibrations that occur when the screw rotation is stopped, ensuring accurate dispensing without compromising the simplicity of the transfer mechanism.
3Productivity
If the screw continuously transfers ingredient to the cooking container, then the productivity is high, but the ingredient spills when the weight reaches predetermined supply weight
Solution Approach 1:
The patent incorporates a weight detection mechanism that monitors the weight of dispensed ingredients and provides feedback to the control system. When the predetermined supply weight is reached, the system automatically closes the shutter to stop further dispensing. This feedback loop enables continuous high-speed transfer while ensuring precise control of the dispensed amount, preventing overflow.
Data Source
AI summary
Provided are an ingredient temperature maintenance and supply device and an ingredient supply unit which prevent an ingredient from spilling out from an ingredient transfer means to an ingredient metering means when a weight of the ingredient dispensed in the ingredient metering means reaches a predetermined supply weight and automatically supply the ingredient to a cooking container in a correct amount. The ingredient transfer means 213 is configured to transfer an ingredient I from an ingredient receptacle 211 to an ingredient metering means 212 until a weight of the ingredient I dispensed in the ingredient metering means 212 reaches a predetermined supply weight, the ingredient metering means 212 is configured to supply the ingredient I to a container C when a weight of the ingredient I dispensed in the ingredient metering means 212 reaches a predetermined supply weight, and an upper shutter 213d configured to adjust a transfer amount of the ingredient I to the ingredient metering means 212 on the basis of a result of metering the ingredient I by the ingredient metering means 212 is arranged between a downstream end of the ingredient transfer means 213 and the ingredient metering means 212 and configured to open and close a bottom surface opening 213a1 formed at a distal end of the ingredient transfer means 213.