Meat Processing Device for Uniform Pork Belly Shaping
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for processing pork bellies into bacon result in irregular shapes and excessive tissue movement during smoking and heating, leading to internal cracking, breaking, and seam separation, which reduces slicing yields and increases manual correction needs.
Innovation Solution
The use of specialized meat processing devices that control the width and thickness of both ends of the pork belly, maintaining a flat or nearly flat bottom end and tapered top end to minimize tissue movement and damage, ensuring more uniform bacon slabs and increased processing capacity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If conventional hanging methods are used during smoking, then processing capacity is maintained, but pork bellies form irregular shapes causing excessive tissue movement and internal damage during pressing
Solution Approach 1:
The hanging device is divided into multiple components: a comb with tines for insertion, a frame structure, and a cover that can be opened and closed. This segmentation allows the device to control different parts of the pork belly independently, ensuring uniform shaping while maintaining manageable device complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The pork belly is shaped and confined within the hanging device before the smoking process begins. The cover is closed to secure the belly in a predetermined uniform shape, preventing irregular formation during heating. This preliminary action ensures dimensional uniformity is established before thermal processing occurs
2Productivity
If pork bellies are hung closer together on trolleys to increase capacity, then processing capacity increases, but tissue damage and internal cracking increase
Solution Approach 1:
The device confines each pork belly individually within its own frame and cover structure, creating separate processing zones. This segmentation allows bellies to be hung closer together without their thermal fields and mechanical forces interfering with each other, maintaining slice quality while increasing density on trolleys
Solution Approach 2:
The device maintains specific dimensional parameters of the pork belly (width, thickness, shape) through physical confinement during smoking. By controlling these parameters in advance, the belly undergoes uniform heating and shrinking, reducing internal stresses that cause cracking when bellies are processed in closer proximity
3Productivity
If pressing is performed on irregularly shaped slabs, then processing speed is maintained, but slicing yields decrease due to excessive tissue movement
Solution Approach 1:
The pork belly is pre-shaped and confined in a uniform rectangular configuration within the hanging device before smoking. This preliminary shaping ensures that when pressing occurs afterward, the tissue structure is already organized and stable, allowing high-speed pressing without excessive movement that would cause internal cracking and reduce slicing yields
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach results in higher quality bacon slices with reduced damage and increased processing efficiency, allowing for closer hanging of pork bellies on trolleys, thereby enhancing slicing yields and capacity by up to 60% without the need for facility expansion.
Implementation Method 1
The present invention produces bacon slab dimensions suitable for slicing by controlling both the width and thickness of both the top/flank end and the bottom/brisket end of the hanging belly during the smoking and heating process
Implementation Method 2
By maintaining the width of the top/flank end, it has been found that gravity and heat during the smoking/heating process result in a more uniform belly width from the top to the bottom of the pork belly
Implementation Method 3
gravity and heat during the smoking/heating process result in a more uniform belly width
Data Source
AI summary
A meat processing device for defining a uniform shape of a pork belly, and including a frame, a shoulder defining a confinement space with the frame, and a tine and a retaining member for securing the meat in the confinement space.