Stirring Blade Pivoting Mechanism for Rapid Vat Cleaning
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current mixing apparatuses in the food processing industry require labor-intensive and time-consuming cleaning and maintenance processes, leading to downtime and increased production costs due to the complexity of removing and reattaching stirring blades from support plates.
Innovation Solution
A stirring blade and support plate combination that allows for easy installation and removal with minimal downtime, featuring a design with an aperture and notch configuration for pivotal motion, enabling quick detachment and cleaning without the need for specialized tools.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional attachment means (taper pins, bolts and nuts) are used to attach blades to driving equipment, then the attachment is secure and reliable, but the removal and reattachment process becomes labor intensive and time consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The blade assembly is segmented into a blade component and a support plate component that can be easily separated. The support plate remains attached to the driving equipment while the blade can be quickly removed for cleaning, eliminating the need to remove the entire assembly with conventional fasteners.
Solution Approach 2:
The blade is extracted as a separate removable component from the support plate. This allows the blade to be taken out for cleaning while the support plate remains in place, significantly reducing the time and labor required for maintenance compared to removing the entire blade assembly with conventional fasteners.
2Reliability
If conventional attachment means (taper pins, bolts and nuts) are used to attach blades to driving equipment, then the attachment is secure, but the cleaning process becomes labor intensive and requires specific tools
Solution Approach 1:
The blade assembly is divided into separable components (blade and support plate) that can be easily manipulated during cleaning. The blade can be independently removed and cleaned without requiring tools to undo complex fastener assemblies.
Solution Approach 2:
The blade and support plate design allows for tool-free removal and reattachment. The components are designed to be easily handled and cleaned by operators without requiring specialized tools or technical expertise associated with conventional fastening systems.
3Stability of the object's composition
If blades are securely attached to driving equipment using conventional means, then the mixing operation is stable, but the reattachment process requires downtime and increases production costs
Solution Approach 1:
The blade assembly is segmented into a permanently attached support plate and a removable blade component. This allows the support plate to remain securely mounted during mixing operations while the blade can be quickly exchanged for cleaning, minimizing production downtime.
Solution Approach 2:
The support plate is pre-attached to the driving equipment in a secure manner, while the blade is designed for quick attachment and detachment. This preliminary secure attachment of the support plate structure allows for rapid blade changes without compromising mixing stability.
Data Source
AI summary
The present disclosure relates to a stirring blade for attachment to a support plate, and to a combination of a stirring blade and of a support plate, for use in a mixing vat of a mixing apparatus. The support plate is attached to a driving element of the mixing apparatus. The stirring blade has an elongate section for mixing a content of the vat. The stirring blade also defines an aperture for attachment of the stirring blade to the support plate. The aperture is configured so that raising the stirring blade away from the bottom surface of the vat causes an upper surface of the stirring blade to abut on a stop of the support plate, and raising the driving element and the support plate away from the bottom of the vat allows the stirring blade to pivot downward about the support plate for easy removal of the stirring blade.