Sheeter With Spiraled Stripper Wire And Conveyor Belt Landing Zone
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional sheeters in tortilla and tortilla chip production lines waste space due to intermediate band grooves on the front roller, and the spiraled stripper wire experiences frictional forces that cause it to sag, leading to product damage and inefficiencies.
Innovation Solution
A sheeter design featuring an internally grooveless front roller, a partially spiraled stripper wire, and a conveyor belt with a unique landing zone that includes a raised portion and a flat portion, minimizing product damage and eliminating the need for intermediate band grooves, allowing for increased product output and improved efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If intermediate band grooves are used on the front roller to hold stripper wire and manage re-work, then the stripper wire can effectively strip product pieces, but space on the front roller is wasted reducing product output
Solution Approach 1:
The invention removes the intermediate band grooves from the front roller, extracting the problematic structural elements that were wasting space. The stripper wire is repositioned and secured at the edges only, eliminating the need for intermediate grooves and maximizing the usable surface area of the front roller for product formation.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of using grooves to hold the stripper wire, the invention inverts the approach by having the stripper wire secured at the edges and using the wire's own tension and positioning to maintain its function without requiring intermediate support structures that reduce productivity.
2Ease of operation
If a fully spiraled stripper wire is used to strip product pieces, then the wire can follow the roller curvature, but frictional forces cause the wire to sag and damage product
Solution Approach 1:
The invention applies a partial spiral configuration to the stripper wire rather than a full spiral. The wire is spiraled only partially around the front roller, providing enough curvature to follow the roller surface and maintain contact, while limiting the spiral extent to prevent excessive sagging caused by frictional forces, thereby avoiding product damage.
3Productivity
If conveyor belt is flat to move product efficiently, then product transport is simple, but product pieces land with inconsistent distances causing defects
Solution Approach 1:
The conveyor belt is designed with different zones having different characteristics. The initial portion includes a raised section that creates a curved surface, while the remainder is flat. This local variation in the conveyor belt structure ensures consistent product landing distances in the curved zone while maintaining efficient transport on the flat zone.
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 design increases hourly output by 20% and reduces product defects by ensuring consistent landing distances for all product pieces, enhancing overall product quality and efficiency in tortilla chip production.
Implementation Method 1
The curved surface of the raised portion minimizes the distance that any one piece of product must fall when it is transferred from the front roller to the conveyer belt
Data Source
AI summary
A sheeter includes an internally grooveless front roller, a rear roller configured to rotate counter to the front roller, a partially spiraled stripper wire coupled across the front roller, and a conveyer belt connected to a proximal conveyer roller and a distal conveyer roller. The conveyer belt includes a landing zone configured to prevent damage to a received product. The conveyer belt includes a raised portion adjacent to the proximal end and flat portion towards the distal end.