Segmented Food Handling Fingers for Sticky Food Release and Orientation

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing food handling technologies face challenges with sticky or fatty foods adhering to suction heads or gripping members, leading to unstable placement and irregular food batch weights due to non-uniform slicing, necessitating manual adjustments, which lowers production efficiency.

Innovation Solution

A hand device with independently operable left and right finger-shaped portions, featuring projecting and retracting inner edges, and a driving mechanism for opening and closing, along with a removal aid means, enables stable orientation and shape arrangement of food items, and a controller for automated weight adjustment.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Productivity

If suction or gripping is used to collect sticky or fatty food, then food collection is achieved, but food adheres to the suction head or gripping members making removal difficult

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvefood collection efficiencyVSAvoidfood removal difficulty

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The finger-shaped portion is divided into multiple fingers (first finger, second finger, third finger, fourth finger) that can independently open and close. This segmentation allows the fingers to work together to hold food securely while enabling easy removal by opening individual fingers, solving the contradiction between secure holding and easy removal.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The finger-shaped portion is designed with dynamic opening and closing capability through multiple actuators. The fingers can transition between closed states (for secure holding) and open states (for easy removal), allowing the system to adapt its gripping force based on operational needs and resolve the contradiction between firm grasping and easy release.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #15Dynamics

2Productivity

If conventional gripping is used to hold food, then food collection is achieved, but stable orientation and shape arrangement cannot be maintained

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvefood arrangement capabilityVSAvoidfood orientation stability

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSManufacturing precision

Solution Approach 1:

The finger-shaped portion is segmented into multiple independent fingers that can selectively open and close. This allows precise control over which fingers contact the food and how they position it, enabling stable orientation and shape arrangement while maintaining collection capability.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

Different regions of the finger-shaped portion have different functions - some fingers are optimized for holding, others for positioning and orientation. The inner edge portions have specific structural features (protrusions, grooves) that provide localized functions for shaping and orienting food items, resolving the contradiction between general holding and precise arrangement.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #3Local quality

3Manufacturing precision

If block food is sliced to uniform thickness, then slicing consistency is achieved, but cross-sectional shape variations cause non-uniform size and weight in batches

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveslice thickness uniformityVSAvoidbatch weight consistency

Core Design Contradiction:

Manufacturing precisionVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The system compensates for variations in food batch weight by dynamically adjusting the number of food items arranged in each batch. The controller monitors batch weight and modifies arrangement parameters (number of items, spacing, configuration) to maintain target weight consistency, resolving the contradiction between slice uniformity and batch weight consistency.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #35Parameter changes

4Manufacturing precision

If manual weight adjustment is performed to correct batch weight variations, then weight consistency is improved, but production efficiency is reduced

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvebatch weight consistencyVSAvoidproduction efficiency

Core Design Contradiction:

Manufacturing precisionVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs automatic weight adjustment through the controller that monitors batch weight and automatically modifies arrangement parameters. This self-service capability eliminates the need for manual intervention, maintaining batch weight consistency while preserving production efficiency by automating the correction process.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #25Self-service

Solution Approach 2:

The controller receives feedback on batch weight and automatically adjusts arrangement parameters to maintain target weight consistency. This closed-loop feedback system resolves the contradiction by continuously monitoring and self-correcting weight variations without manual intervention, thereby maintaining both precision and efficiency.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #23Feedback

Data Source

PatentUS12543750B2Hand device, food dishing device using hand device, and food batch formation device

Publication Date: 2026.02.10 NIHON CAREER IND CO LTD

AI summary

A hand device for holding a food article with left and right finger-shaped portions that are configured to be operated to open and close. Each of the left and right finger-shaped portions includes a first member and a second member that are configured to be independently operated to open and close, wherein the first member and the second member are disposed in a vicinity of each other in each of the left and right finger-shaped portion. For each of the left and right finger-shaped portions, an inner edge portion of the first member is configured to be projected and retracted relative to an inner edge portion of the second member when the first member is being operated to open and close.