Moulded Meat Forming Interface for Additive Mixing and Fast Variant Changes
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing systems for forming moulded meat products, such as hamburger patties, are inefficient in handling variations in shape, taste, and content, particularly in shorter production runs, leading to cleaning losses and downtime due to the need to empty and refill the system with different seasoned or marinated meat masses.
Innovation Solution
A system with an interface module that includes a tubular section, a meat supply channel, and an additive supply channel, allowing for controlled addition of marination fluids and inclusions directly into the meat mass before moulding, reducing the amount of meat mass affected by changes and enabling quicker transitions between product variants.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the system uses a storage hopper to supply meat mass to the mould, then large production runs of uniform meat products can be achieved, but the system cannot easily handle variations or shorter production runs due to cleaning losses and downtime
Solution Approach 1:
The system divides the meat supply into two separate channels: a storage hopper for bulk uniform meat mass and an additive supply channel for varied additives. This segmentation allows the main storage to remain while adding flexibility through the separate additive pathway, enabling product variations without complete system refilling.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention extracts the seasoning and marination process from the bulk storage hopper and places it in a separate additive supply system. This allows the meat mass in the hopper to remain unchanged while variations are achieved by injecting different additives at the interface module, eliminating the need to empty and refill the entire storage system.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the system is emptied and cleaned to produce different burger variants, then product variety can be achieved, but cleaning losses of 10-50 kilograms of meat and system downtime occur
Solution Approach 1:
The seasoning and marination functions are extracted from the bulk storage system and placed in a separate additive supply channel. This allows different burger variants to be produced by changing only the additive composition rather than the entire meat mass, eliminating the need to discard 10-50 kilograms of meat during changeovers.
Solution Approach 2:
The interface module acts as an intermediary between the uniform meat mass from the hopper and the varied additive supply. It combines the base meat with different additives on-demand, allowing product variety without requiring the entire system to be emptied and cleaned for each variant change.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the system is emptied and cleaned for different burger variants, then product variety can be achieved, but system downtime increases
Solution Approach 1:
The variant-specific seasoning and marination processes are extracted into a separate additive supply system that can be changed quickly without affecting the main meat supply chain. This allows rapid switching between burger variants by simply changing the additive injection parameters rather than cleaning the entire system.
Solution Approach 2:
The base meat mass is prepared in advance in the storage hopper in a uniform state, ready for any variant. The specific variant characteristics are applied preliminarily through the additive supply channel just before moulding, allowing quick transitions between products without lengthy cleaning and refilling procedures.
4Productivity
If uniform seasoning is applied in the storage hopper, then large batch production is efficient, but flexibility for smaller batch sizes with different seasonings is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The seasoning and marination functions are extracted from the bulk storage hopper operation and placed in a separate additive supply channel. This allows the hopper to efficiently supply large batches of uniformly seasoned meat while the additive channel provides flexibility for different seasonings in smaller batches or variant production.
Solution Approach 2:
The seasoning application is segmented into two stages: uniform baseline seasoning in the storage hopper for efficiency, and variant-specific seasoning through the additive supply channel for flexibility. This segmentation allows both large batch efficiency and small batch adaptability to coexist in the same system.
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
Facilitates easier and faster changes between burger variants with minimal meat loss, enhancing system flexibility and efficiency in processing smaller batch sizes with reduced downtime.
Implementation Method 1
an additive supply pump for controllably supplying an additive via an additive supply channel
Implementation Method 2
a rotatable drive shaft comprising a first end outside the tubular section, configured to engage with a drive means, and a second end extending inside the tubular section
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3
Figure 4A~4C
AI summary
A system for forming moulded meat products from a meat mass comprising. The system comprises a mould with at least one mould cavity, a meat supply pump and an interface module for connecting the meat supply channel to the mould. The interface module comprises a tubular section, a meat supply opening, a meat delivery opening, and a rotatable drive shaft comprising a first end outside the tubular section, configured to engage with a drive means and a second end extending inside the tubular section. The system further comprises an additive supply for controllably supplying an additive via an additive supply channel.