Sausage Portioning Device with Offset Clamps and Transverse Blade
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing portioning devices for continuous sausages with coextruded casings face issues of envelope rupture due to shear forces and product ejection during cutting, leading to imperfect cuts.
Innovation Solution
A portioning device with clamping means featuring a pair of offset plates forming a variable-section passage, allowing progressive pinching and expulsion of the food product, and a cutting blade that can be moved transversely to make a clean cut at a flattened portion between the plates.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If a single pair of clamps with a single passage is used to pinch the sausage, then the pinching action is simple and direct, but the shear forces applied to the coextruded casing are too great and cause envelope rupture
Solution Approach 1:
The clamp is divided into two separate plates (first plate and second plate) that are offset relative to each other, creating two separate passages (first passage and second passage) instead of a single passage. This segmentation distributes the pinching force across multiple contact points, reducing the shear force concentration on the coextruded casing and preventing envelope rupture during the pinching operation.
2Device complexity
If the cut is made just upstream or downstream of the clamps, then the cutting operation is simple, but the food product tends to come out of the casing via the end of the sausage and the cut is not clean
Solution Approach 1:
The blade is positioned to cut the sausage at the level of the flattened portion that is formed between the first and second passages during the pinching operation. This preliminary flattening action prepares the sausage by creating a restricted section with reduced food product, which then allows the blade to make a clean cut without the food product ejecting from the casing. The cut is made at a predetermined location that has been pre-prepared by the pinching action.
3Productivity
If the clamps are moved at high speed to match sausage transport speed, then portioning efficiency is high, but the pinching and cutting precision may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The clamp system is designed with two plates that can be dynamically positioned at different locations along the sausage transport direction. The offset arrangement of the plates allows them to move independently to some extent, enabling the system to adapt to varying sausage positions and speeds. This dynamic configuration maintains pinching and cutting precision even when operating at high speeds matching the sausage transport velocity.
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
Ensures precise and clean cuts of sausages by minimizing envelope rupture and product ejection, maintaining the integrity of the coextruded casing during the cutting process.
Implementation Method 1
cutting means comprising at least one blade associated with the pair of pliers, able to be actuated by second actuating means to cut the rod when the pliers are close to their closed position
Implementation Method 2
clamping means comprising at least one pair of opposite clamps adapted to be moved towards each other from an open position to a closed position to clamp the tube
Data Source
Figure 1~10
Figure 2~4
Figure 5~8
AI summary
The invention relates to a device for dividing a continuous sausage into portions, in particular sausage links. The invention includes at least one pair of opposing clamps which can be moved towards one another by actuation means in order to crush the sausage. Each clamp includes at least a first plate (141, 151) and a second plate (142, 152), each of said plates having front clamping edges (141a, 151a; 142a, 152a) and being arranged such that the front edge of the first and second plates form respectively first (181) and second (182) variable-cross-section passages. The invention also includes at least one blade associated with the pair of clamps, which can be moved transversely to the plates between the first passage and the second passage in order to cut the sausage.