Meat Mincer Knife with Constant Thickness Wall
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current knife devices for meat grinders used in the food industry, particularly for cutting meat intended for dry sausage production, have a limited lifespan and require frequent sharpening due to wear issues, leading to high maintenance and material consumption, and existing solutions complicate hygiene and maintenance.
Innovation Solution
A knife device with star-shaped branches featuring a cutting edge defined by a constant thickness wall and a perpendicular edge face, which minimizes wear and simplifies sharpening by maintaining the sliding face's width, reducing material consumption and extending the knife's lifespan.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional knife blades are used in meat grinders, then the cutting function is provided, but the cutting edge dulls quickly due to friction against the grid, requiring frequent sharpening and replacement
Solution Approach 1:
The knife blade is divided into two distinct parts: a wear-resistant carbide strip attached to the body, and a separate grid component. This segmentation allows the carbide strip to be replaced independently when worn, without replacing the entire knife assembly, thus extending the overall lifespan while maintaining cutting performance.
Solution Approach 2:
The knife design changes the material parameter of the cutting edge from standard steel to carbide, which has superior wear resistance. This parameter change significantly reduces the rate of dulling and extends the operational lifespan of the cutting edge between replacements.
2Use of energy by moving object
If high-performance cutting edges are used, then energy consumption is reduced and overheating is limited, but the knives still require frequent sharpening for fine meat cutting applications
Solution Approach 1:
The knife combines different materials with complementary properties: a carbide strip for wear resistance and a steel body for structural integrity and ease of sharpening. This composite structure provides both low energy consumption through efficient cutting and extended lifespan through wear resistance, resolving the contradiction between energy efficiency and durability.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If interchangeable blades are used on knife branches, then hygiene problems are avoided, but adjustment and alignment of contact surfaces becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The carbide strip is permanently attached to the knife body as a single integrated component rather than being separable. This merging eliminates the complexity of adjustment and alignment associated with interchangeable blades, while still maintaining hygiene benefits by providing a smooth, non-porous surface that is easy to clean and sanitize.
4Strength
If carbide strips are attached to knife branches, then wear resistance is improved, but the connection integrity is compromised by machining operations
Solution Approach 1:
The carbide strip is extracted as a separate component that is attached to the knife body through a recessed area, rather than being machined directly into the body. This extraction allows for a dedicated attachment zone that preserves the integrity of the carbide-carbon connection while maintaining the structural stability of the overall knife assembly.
Data Source
Figure 1~5
Figure 3~4
AI summary
The device has a hole (40) coupling a shaft permitting to drive the device in rotation around a rotation axis (XX`). A lower side (42) contacts with a grill for cutting a material e.g. meat. Each of branches (5) comprises a convex face (50) having an outer face of a wall (51) whose thickness is constant and comprised between 0.5 and 2.5 mm. A free end of the wall (51) comprises a sliding face (52), which extends in a plane perpendicular to the axis. The face (52) forms a cutting edge (53) with the face (50), where the cutting edge contacts with the grill.