Planar Spiral Meat Cutting for Low-Waste Bacon Packaging

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing methods for cutting pork belly into bacon slices result in excess waste due to the need to conform to standard packaging sizes, leading to lower value uses like bacon bits, reducing the economic value of the pork belly.

Innovation Solution

Cutting the pork belly in a planar spiral pattern to create an elongated strip, allowing for flexible slicing to standard sizes while minimizing waste, and packaging the elongated strip for efficient use.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Ease of manufacture

If pork belly is cut into standard-sized bacon slices, then the bacon slices can fit into standard packaging material, but excess pork belly must be cut off and discarded or used for lower value pork

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvepackaging compatibilityVSAvoidexcess pork belly waste

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of manufactureVSLoss of substance

Solution Approach 1:

The pork belly is divided into multiple segments through spiral cutting, creating an elongated strip that can be flexibly divided into standard-sized slices. This segmentation allows the entire pork belly to be utilized while maintaining compatibility with standard packaging sizes.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The cutting pattern transitions from traditional straight-line cutting to a spiral three-dimensional pattern. This dimensional change allows the pork belly to be unrolled into an elongated strip, maximizing the use of available material while enabling flexible slicing to standard sizes.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #17Another dimension (Dimensionality change)

2Loss of substance

If excess pork belly is used for bacon bits, then material utilization increases, but restaurants and consumers are not willing to pay as much for bacon bits

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvematerial utilizationVSAvoideconomic value

Core Design Contradiction:

Loss of substanceVSQuantity of substance

Solution Approach 1:

The pork belly is pre-cut into an elongated strip through spiral cutting before final slicing. This preliminary action creates a flexible format that can be divided into standard-sized slices, ensuring that all material can be used for high-value bacon slices rather than downgraded to bacon bits.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

3Device complexity

If traditional straight-line cutting is used, then the cutting process is simple, but the amount of pork belly that can be used for bacon is limited

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecutting process simplicityVSAvoidamount of bacon producible

Core Design Contradiction:

Device complexityVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The cutting pattern uses a spiral curve instead of straight lines. This curved cutting path allows the blade to continuously follow the contour of the pork belly, unrolling it into an elongated strip that maximizes the amount of meat available for slicing while maintaining a relatively simple cutting process.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #14Spheroidality (Curvature)

Data Source

PatentUS12376597B2Method of spirally cutting meat slices

Publication Date: 2025.08.05 HOLLYMATIC CORP

AI summary

A method of cutting a meat portion to make a plurality of meat slices according to exemplary aspects includes cutting the meat portion in a planar spiral pattern, thereby creating an elongated strip, wherein the planar spiral pattern comprises a curve on a two-dimensional plane coincident with a substantially planar surface of the meat portion.