Modular Meat Mould Group for Stacking and Cooking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional moulds for forming and cooking compact meat products, such as cooked hams, face challenges in achieving smooth, rounded shapes without corners and edges, which hinders efficient stacking and temperature distribution during cooking, leading to suboptimal product quality and inefficient use of cooking ovens.
Innovation Solution
A modular group system of concave matrices with smooth internal surfaces, joined by horizontal and vertical rods, and elastic means for compressing the meat, allowing for stable vertical and horizontal stacking, improved steam circulation, and increased load capacity, enabling higher weight loss and uniform temperature distribution.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If traditional single moulds with smooth internal surfaces are used to produce rounded meat products, then product shape quality is improved, but stacking efficiency and temperature distribution during cooking deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The invention divides the traditional single mould into multiple modular matrices arranged in a group. Each matrix can be individually stacked while maintaining the rounded product shape quality, thus resolving the contradiction between product shape quality and stacking efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention combines multiple matrices into a modular group that functions as a unified cooking unit. This allows the group to be stacked efficiently in cooking ovens while each matrix continues to produce high-quality rounded products, simultaneously achieving both goals.
2Manufacturing precision
If traditional single moulds are used, then product shape quality is improved, but oven space utilization and cooking efficiency worsen
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the mould system into multiple smaller matrices within a modular group, the invention enables better arrangement and stacking in cooking ovens, improving space utilization while maintaining the ability to produce rounded products with high shape quality.
Solution Approach 2:
The modular group design allows for three-dimensional stacking configurations in cooking ovens, utilizing vertical and horizontal spaces more effectively. This dimensional optimization enables better oven space utilization without compromising product shape quality.
3Productivity
If moulds are designed for stable stacking, then stacking efficiency is improved, but product shape quality and roundedness deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The invention segments the mould system into standardized modular matrices with uniform dimensions and stacking interfaces. This segmentation enables stable stacking configurations while each matrix maintains its ability to form rounded products with high shape quality.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention applies local quality by designing specific regions of the matrices with different properties: the internal surfaces are optimized for producing rounded products, while the external surfaces and interfaces are optimized for stable stacking. This localized differentiation resolves the contradiction between shape quality and stacking efficiency.
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
The modular system enables the production of high-quality, compact meat products with reduced weight loss, improved stacking stability, and efficient use of traditional ovens, allowing for automated handling and increased productivity while maintaining product quality and reducing interstitial spaces for easier cleaning.
Implementation Method 1
elastic pushing means, interposed between the cover and the contrasting element, destined to push the cover in the direction of compressing the meat contained in the matrix
Implementation Method 2
improved steam circulation, and increased load capacity, enabling higher weight loss and uniform temperature distribution
Implementation Method 3
subjecting the product to cooking together with the mould that contains it
Data Source
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AI summary
A modular group for forming compact products, comprising a plurality of concave matrices (10), each destined to contain and give shape to a product a maximum dimension of which does not exceed three times an intermediate dimension thereof, having concavities facing upwards. The matrices (10) are manufactured singly and subsequently solidly joined to one another, arranged in a straight, horizontal and longitudinal alignment. A pair of heads (30) is also comprised, substantially flat and vertical and parallel to one another, arranged at two ends of the alignment of matrices (10) and externally thereof. A plurality of covers (20) is arranged aligned to one another in a straight, horizontal and longitudinal alignment. Means (15, 16, 17) are provided for constraining the matrices (10) and/or the heads (30) to one another, forming a monolithic group, and means (21, 33) are provided which are destined to constrain the covers (20) to one another and the covers (20) to the monolithic group formed by the matrices and the heads.