Movable Trough Cheese Filling Line for Scalable Production
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing apparatuses for filling molds with curd or a mixture of curd and whey are limited by restrictive designs, making them less flexible and difficult to scale for continuous production processes.
Innovation Solution
The apparatus includes a production line with sequential stations for loading, filling, covering, pressing, and retrieving molds, featuring a trough system that allows for modular design, precise filling, and adjustable pressure, enabling continuous and flexible operation while maintaining quality control and traceability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If a traditional filling plant design is used, then the process can be simplified, but the design becomes restrictive and difficult to scale for continuous production
Solution Approach 1:
The filling plant is divided into separate functional stations (loading station, filling station, covering station, pressing station, retrieving station) that operate independently. Each station performs a specific task in the cheese production process, allowing the system to be scaled by adding or removing stations while maintaining operational simplicity at each individual station.
Solution Approach 2:
The trough is made movable to enable continuous production. The trough can be moved between different stations sequentially, transforming the static traditional design into a dynamic system that allows for continuous operation and flexible scaling by adjusting the movement sequence and number of stations.
2Device complexity
If molds are filled manually or with simple equipment, then the equipment can be simple, but automation and continuous production are limited
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables automated operation where the movable trough transports molds through the production sequence, and each station performs its function automatically. The combination of movable trough and sequential stations creates a self-organizing system that achieves continuous automated production without requiring complex centralized control.
3Productivity
If the production line is designed for high output, then productivity increases, but the ability to maintain quality control and traceability for individual batches becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
By dividing the production process into discrete stations with a movable trough, each mold can be tracked through individual stations. This segmentation allows quality control measures to be applied at each station while maintaining the ability to trace individual batches through the entire production sequence, even as productivity increases.
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 solution enables automated, flexible, and continuous filling of molds, allowing for scalable production, reduced whey content, and improved hygiene, with the ability to adapt to different mold sizes and types of cheese, ensuring efficient cheese production.
Implementation Method 1
a pressing station which possesses pressure-impingement means by way of which the cover can be pressed using a predefined force onto the curd filled into the at least one mold, or the mixture of curd and whey filled into said mold
Data Source
AI summary
The invention relates to an apparatus for filling moulds with curd or a mixture of curd and milk of at least one production line having at least one trough (8) in which at least one mould (12) can be accommodated. The production line comprises: a) a loading station (3), which has a first means in order to insert the at least one mould into the at least one trough; b) a filling station (4) which has at least one feed line, by means of which curd or a mixture of curd and milk can be put into the at least one mould; c) a covering station (5), which has second means in order to lay a cover (19) onto the curd or the mixture of curd and milk put into the at least one mould; d) a pressing station (6), which has pressure application means by means of which the cover can be pressed onto the curd or the mixture of curd and milk put into the at least one mould with a predetermined pressure; e) a removal station (7), which has a third means in order to remove the at least one mould from the trough. The apparatus also has movement means, by means of which the at least one trough can be moved sequentially between the loading station, the filling station, the covering station, the pressing station, the removal station and back to the loading station of the at least one production line.