Food Portioning Machine Carriage Thickness Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing food portioning machines struggle to maintain accurate and repeatable control of portion thickness, especially when dealing with variations in food product dimensions and physical properties, which affects the consistency of portion weight.
Innovation Solution
The food portioning machine incorporates a portion thickness control assembly that includes a movable carriage and a product stop, both driven by respective assemblies. The carriage can move linearly to adjust portion thickness, and the product stop can be precisely positioned to engage the food product, ensuring consistent cutting.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the feeder is used to control the distance by which the food product is fed past the cutter before each cut, then the machine can operate at high speed, but the control of portion thickness becomes less accurate and repeatable
Solution Approach 1:
The invention separates the thickness control function from the feeding function. The carriage assembly with product stop handles thickness positioning, while the feeder handles product advancement. This segmentation allows each component to optimize its function independently, enabling high-speed feeding while maintaining precise thickness control through the carriage's controlled movement.
Solution Approach 2:
The carriage assembly acts as an intermediary between the feeder and the cutter. It receives the food product from the feeder, positions it precisely at the desired thickness using the product stop, and then presents it to the cutter. This intermediary mechanism enables the system to achieve both high throughput and accurate portion thickness control.
2Productivity
If the machine operates at high speed to maximize throughput, then productivity increases, but the consistency of portion weight decreases due to variations in portion thickness
Solution Approach 1:
The carriage assembly performs preliminary positioning of the food product before cutting occurs. By using the product stop to advance the product to the precise location where the desired thickness begins, the system ensures consistent portion thickness regardless of feeding speed variations. This preliminary action of positioning enables reliable portion weight consistency even at high throughput rates.
3Manufacturing precision
If a movable carriage with product stop is introduced to improve portion thickness control, then manufacturing precision improves, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The carriage assembly serves multiple functions: it carries the product stop, provides a reference surface for thickness measurement, and acts as a positioning mechanism. By consolidating these functions into a single multi-functional component, the invention achieves improved portion thickness control without proportionally increasing overall system complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
A food portioning machine (2) includes a portion thickness control assembly (22) comprising a carriage (40) carried by a machine base (4) and able to move relative to the machine base in order to adjust the thickness of each portion to be cut from a food product (90). A carriage drive assembly (46) is coupled to the carriage to move the carriage relative to the machine base, a product stop (50) is carried by the carriage and able to move relative to the carriage between advanced and retracted positions, and a product stop drive assembly (68) is coupled to the product stop to move the product stop between the advanced and retracted positions. The carriage drive assembly is operable to move the carriage to a position relative to the machine base with reference to the thickness (t) of the next portion to be cut, and the product stop drive assembly is operable to move the product stop from its retracted position to its advanced position for engagement by the leading end of the food product.