Rotary Knife and Separator Layout for Hard Constituent Removal
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing grinders struggle to efficiently separate hard constituents (B-products) from food or feed products, leading to reduced quality and yield of A-products, and are prone to blocking and smearing due to inefficient separation, which affects the value and production efficiency of ground meat.
Innovation Solution
A rotatable knife with elevated arms and a central knife cavity, combined with a radial and axial separator system, facilitates both radial and axial separation of hard constituents, ensuring efficient removal and maintaining the quality of A-products.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If hard constituents (bones, cartilage, connective tissue) are ground together with food products, then the nutritional value is improved by creating a complete nutrient profile, but the grinding process becomes inefficient and damages the knife due to the hardness of these constituents
Solution Approach 1:
The grinding chamber is divided into two separate compartments: a first grinding chamber for soft food products and a second grinding chamber for hard constituents. This segmentation allows each chamber to be optimized for its specific material type, preventing hard constituents from damaging the knife while still enabling both to be processed together in the complete nutrient system.
Solution Approach 2:
Hard constituents are extracted from the main food stream and placed in a separate second grinding chamber. This extraction prevents them from interfering with the grinding of soft food products, eliminating the productivity loss and knife damage while still allowing both materials to be incorporated into the final product.
2Productivity
If hard constituents are removed before grinding food products, then grinding efficiency is improved and knife damage is reduced, but the convenience of adding all constituents at once is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The system is segmented into two independent grinding chambers that can be operated simultaneously or separately. Users can add soft food products to the first chamber and hard constituents to the second chamber at the same time, maintaining operational convenience while achieving efficient grinding in both chambers without interference between material types.
Solution Approach 2:
The outputs from both the first grinding chamber (soft food products) and the second grinding chamber (hard constituents) are merged into a common collection container. This merging allows users to benefit from efficient separate grinding while still achieving the convenience of processing all constituents together in a single operational cycle.
3Device complexity
If a single grinding chamber is used for all constituents, then the device structure is simple, but hard constituents cause knife damage and reduce grinding efficiency
Solution Approach 1:
The single grinding chamber is divided into two separate grinding chambers: a first chamber for soft food products and a second chamber for hard constituents. This segmentation prevents hard constituents from damaging the knife and interfering with the grinding of soft products, significantly improving grinding efficiency while maintaining relatively simple device architecture through the use of a common drive mechanism and collection 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
The system significantly increases the yield and quality of ground meat by effectively separating hard constituents, reducing downtime and preventing smearing, while maintaining the muscle fiber structure, thus enhancing the value of the final product.
Implementation Method 1
a rotor (20) having a plurality of grinding elements (21) arranged on the rotor (20) in a radial direction with respect to a rotation axis of the rotor (20), wherein the grinding elements (21) extend in an axial direction of the rotor (20)
Implementation Method 2
a stator (30) arranged substantially coaxially with the rotor (20), wherein the stator (30) has a plurality of grooves (31) formed radially inwardly from an outer periphery of the stator (30) in a radial direction with respect to a rotation axis of the stator (30)
Data Source
Figure 1
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AI summary
A rotatable knife with at least two arms, each arm having at least one knife edge for cutting meat or hard constituents, wherein a central knife cavity is arranged at a centre knife part of the rotatable knife at the same side of the rotatable knife as the at least one knife edge of the knife arms, the central knife cavity being defined by a floor that is recessed with respect to a height of the arms of the rotatable knife. A grinder for grinding food or feed products, such as meat, where the grinder comprises a rotatable knife as described and further comprising an axial separator and at least a radial separator connected to a wall of the knife housing, for separating hard constituents from food or feed products being ground.