Shrimp Processing with Precision Heading and Mud Vein Severing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing shrimp processing methods result in high meat loss and inefficiencies due to manual handling and automated equipment that fails to accurately size, sort, and remove mud veins, leading to reduced revenue.
Innovation Solution
A shrimp processing system with automated stations for measuring, heading, and severing mud veins, using a conveying system to transfer shrimp between stations, and clamps to securely hold shrimp for precise processing, including mud vein severing, heading, and peeling, while minimizing meat loss.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If automated peeling and deveining equipment is used, then processing speed and productivity are improved, but meat loss increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary measurement of shrimp length and identification of mud vein location before the peeling and deveining operations. This allows the subsequent processing to be precisely targeted, avoiding unnecessary removal of meat and reducing overall meat loss while maintaining high processing speed.
Solution Approach 2:
The system adjusts processing parameters based on measured shrimp characteristics. By changing operational parameters according to the specific size and anatomy of each shrimp, the equipment can process shrimp efficiently while minimizing meat loss through precise, adaptive control of the peeling and deveining forces.
2Productivity
If automated heading equipment is used, then processing efficiency is improved, but meat loss increases due to inaccurate head removal
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary measurement of shrimp length to identify the precise location of the carapace-abdomen junction before heading. This preliminary measurement enables the heading operation to be accurately positioned, ensuring that only the head is removed while preserving all abdominal meat, thus improving efficiency without increasing meat loss.
3Loss of substance
If manual processing is used, then meat loss is minimized, but processing time and labor costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system incorporates feedback loops where measurement data from optical sensors is used to control the subsequent processing operations. The measured shrimp characteristics feed into the control system, which adjusts the peeling and deveining operations in real-time, achieving precision comparable to manual processing while maintaining automated processing speeds.
Solution Approach 2:
The system replaces manual mechanical processing with automated optical measurement and controlled mechanical processing. Optical sensors measure shrimp characteristics, and this information controls automated processing mechanisms, substituting the skilled manual mechanical operations with a combination of optical detection and controlled mechanical action that achieves both precision and speed.
4Ease of operation
If automated equipment processes all shrimp uniformly, then processing simplicity is improved, but measurement and sorting accuracy decrease
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies different processing parameters to different local regions of each shrimp based on measured characteristics. Rather than uniform processing, the system identifies specific features such as mud vein location and carapace junction point for each individual shrimp, and applies processing forces localized to those specific regions, maintaining both operational simplicity and measurement precision.
Data Source
AI summary
Shrimp processing apparatus to remove pleopods of individual shrimp, along with methods for removing pleopods of individual shrimp are described herein. The shrimp processing apparatus may be provided in systems may include one or more processing stations configured to perform one or more of the following functions on each shrimp individually: measurement of individual shrimp, heading of individual shrimp, peeling of individual shrimp, and severing the mud vein of individual shrimp.