Forced Convection Meat Slicer Drying Unit
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional forced convection treatment units for drying meat products, such as sausage slices, suffer from irregular drying due to a single-direction air current, leading to inconsistent moisture reduction across the product.
Innovation Solution
A forced convection treatment unit with a conveyor system that exposes meat slices to two conditioned air currents flowing in opposite directions parallel to the conveyor path, ensuring uniform drying across the entire width of the product.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If a single-direction air current is used in forced convection treatment units, then the drying process is simplified, but irregular drying occurs leading to inconsistent moisture reduction across the product
Solution Approach 1:
The air circulation system is segmented into multiple independent air currents (first air current from top, second air current from bottom) that can be controlled separately. Each air current targets different regions of the meat product slices, ensuring comprehensive and uniform moisture removal across the entire product surface, thereby resolving the irregular drying issue caused by single-direction air flow
Solution Approach 2:
Different air currents are directed at different locations of the meat product slices (top surface by first air current, bottom surface by second air current). This local quality approach ensures that each surface receives appropriate airflow for optimal drying, achieving consistent moisture reduction across the entire product while maintaining system simplicity
2Productivity
If traditional drying methods are used for sausage products, then the process is simple, but the drying time is prolonged from 10 days to several months
Solution Approach 1:
The forced convection treatment unit operates continuously with multiple air currents flowing simultaneously through the meat product slices. This continuous action removes moisture much faster than traditional passive drying methods, reducing drying time from 10 days to several months down to a fraction of that time, thereby significantly improving productivity without sacrificing drying quality
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses forced air circulation (pneumatic principle) to actively remove moisture from the meat product slices. By controlling air flow rate, temperature, and humidity through the enclosure, the system achieves rapid and uniform drying, transforming the traditionally slow passive evaporation process into an efficient forced convection process that dramatically reduces drying time
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 significantly reduces drying time and achieves uniform moisture reduction, enhancing the quality and efficiency of the sausage product preparation process.
Implementation Method 1
an air circulation device configured and arranged to make conditioned air pass through the inside of said enclosure and around said slices while the slices are conveyed by said conveyor device for sufficient time to reduce the moisture of the slices to a predetermined level
Implementation Method 2
first and second mutually parallel conditioned air currents, in opposite directions parallel to said permeable support surface and transverse to the direction of travel of the conveyor device, pass through two respective regions of the enclosure
Data Source
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Figure 5~6
AI summary
The present invention relates to a unit comprising a conveyor device (1) for conveying slices of meat product arranged in a single layer on a permeable support surface along a path inside an enclosure (2), and an air circulation device (3) with a air moving device associated to an arrangement of conduits (9, 10, 11) provided with a plurality of inlet and outlet mouths (5, 6, 7, 8) in communication with the inside of the enclosure (2) and arranged to make two mutually parallel conditioned air currents, in opposite directions parallel to said support surface and transverse to the direction of travel of the conveyor device, pass through two respective regions of the enclosure (2) traversed by the slices along said path. The process comprises several steps for preparing a relatively tender sausage meat product, cut into slices, using said unit.