Sausage Shaping Device with Scissors-Shaped Apertures
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing devices for parting a continuously produced skein of sausages result in misshapen ends due to non-uniform support, leading to diagonal squashing and leakage of roast material, especially with soft sausage sleeves that are not yet firm during tying off and parting.
Innovation Solution
A shaping device with displacement assemblies featuring adjacent flat plates with scissors-shaped side profiles that widen to form aperture sections, allowing for uniform rounded tip formation by adjusting the displacement elements to enclose the sausage ends effectively during tying off and parting.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If bar-shaped displacement elements are used to part the sausage skein, then the sausage can be parted, but the sausage ends become misshapen with diagonal squashing and are not properly closed off
Solution Approach 1:
The displacement element is segmented into multiple sections: a cutting edge for parting the sausage skein, and rounded aperture sections that enclose the sausage ends. This segmentation allows the single element to perform both parting and shaping functions simultaneously, resolving the contradiction between ease of operation and manufacturing precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The displacement element is designed with multi-functionality, serving both as a cutting tool for parting the sausage skein and as a shaping tool that forms rounded tips on the sausage ends. The aperture sections create uniform rounded shapes while the central cutting edge performs parting, eliminating the need for separate operations and ensuring proper sausage end formation.
2Productivity
If displacement elements move towards one another to part the sausage, then parting is achieved, but no uniform support occurs during tying off and parting
Solution Approach 1:
The displacement element features local quality variations with different sections having distinct functions: the central cutting edge provides concentrated cutting action for efficient parting, while the lateral aperture sections provide distributed uniform support and rounding. This local differentiation ensures both high productivity through efficient cutting and manufacturing precision through uniform sausage end support.
3Productivity
If conventional displacement shears are used, then parting takes place, but roast material can be emitted at the misshapen sausage end
Solution Approach 1:
The displacement element performs preliminary shaping action by forming rounded aperture sections that enclose the sausage ends before the final parting cut is completed. This preliminary enclosure ensures the sausage ends are properly sealed and rounded, preventing roast material emission during subsequent processing, while the central cutting edge maintains parting speed.
Data Source
AI summary
A shaping device and a method of forming rounded tips on the ends of sausages and of tying off and/or parting into individual portions a continuously produced sausage skein filled with paste material, with two oppositely located displacement assemblies, which move towards one another and between which the filled sausage skein can be moved in the transport direction, wherein the displacement assemblies are formed such that two opening sections are formed, which widen out in the transport direction, respectively opposite the transport direction, in a tying off and/or parting position between the two displacement assemblies.