Segmented Circular Meat Blade with Beveled Knife Edges
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional circular meat saw blades are inadequate for cutting raw meats with bones and cartilage as they result in significant meat loss due to shredding and tearing.
Innovation Solution
A circular cutting blade with a substrate and peripheral edge defined by cutting knives featuring primary and secondary beveled knife-edge portions, where the primary edge is sharper and leads the secondary edge, which is stronger and takes over as forces increase, minimizing meat loss and extending blade life.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If a traditional circular meat saw blade with U-shaped notches is used to cut through bone and cartilage, then the blade is robust and aggressive enough to cut through hard materials, but significant meat loss occurs due to shredding and tearing
Solution Approach 1:
The blade edge is segmented into multiple discrete cutting elements (knives) arranged circumferentially, each with its own cutting edge. This segmentation allows each knife to make clean, controlled cuts rather than a continuous edge that shreds and tears the meat, thereby reducing meat loss while maintaining the ability to cut through bone and cartilage
Solution Approach 2:
Each cutting knife on the blade has a specific local geometry with a sharp cutting edge optimized for clean cutting. The knives are positioned and shaped to provide localized sharp cutting action at the periphery while the overall blade structure maintains robustness for cutting through hard materials like bone and cartilage
2Loss of substance
If a sharp, beveled cutting edge is used for clean cuts, then meat product loss is minimized, but the blade cannot effectively cut through bone and cartilage
Solution Approach 1:
The blade is divided into multiple discrete cutting knives around the periphery, each with its own sharp cutting edge. This segmentation allows the blade to combine the sharpness needed for clean cuts with the structural robustness needed to cut through bone and cartilage, as each knife operates independently to make clean cuts while the overall blade structure provides the necessary strength
Solution Approach 2:
The blade combines different material properties and structural features: sharp cutting edges for clean cutting action and a robust overall structure for cutting through hard materials. The composite design integrates both the delicate sharp edges needed to minimize meat loss and the strong structure needed to cut through bone and cartilage
Data Source
AI summary
A circular cutting blade is configured for cutting meat when turned about a rotation axis in a predetermined cutting direction. The cutting blade has a peripheral blade edge defined between the first and second sides and a plurality of circumferentially disposed cutting knives. Each cutting knife includes first and second knife sides and an arcuate knife edge that constitutes a portion of the peripheral blade edge. Each knife edge is titled and rises, relative to the rotation axis, between a first blade-edge location corresponding to a minor blade radius and a second blade-edge location corresponding to a major blade radius such that, when the circular blade is rotating in the predetermined cutting direction and cutting a work piece, the work piece first encounters the first blade-edge location of each cutting knife before encountering the second blade-edge location of that cutting knife.