Twisted Pressure Plate for Dough Dividing Uniformity
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing kneaded dough dividing apparatus fails to produce uniformly high-quality dough due to internal pressure gradients in the dough supply, resulting in quality differences between streams discharged from the outlets.
Innovation Solution
A pressure distribution changing plate is integrated into the dough supply pipe, twisted from 70° to 110°, specifically 80° to 100°, to reorient the dough and equalize internal pressures before division, ensuring consistent quality across all streams.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the kneaded dough is extruded from the screw extruder outlet in the form of a laminar flow, then the dough is discharged continuously, but a pressure gradient is created in the horizontal direction across the dough cross-section, resulting in nonuniform quality among different streams
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transforms the horizontal pressure gradient (x-direction) into a vertical pressure gradient (y-direction) by rotating the dough stream 90 degrees using a guide member. This dimensional transformation allows the pressure gradient to be redistributed uniformly across the cross-section when the dough is subsequently divided into multiple streams, eliminating the nonuniformity that would otherwise exist among different streams.
2Productivity
If the dough is pressed against the terminating end surface of the screw extruder and turned at a right angle before discharge, then the dough can be extruded efficiently, but the dough immediately adjacent to the end surface is subjected to high pressure while dough farther away experiences lower pressure, creating internal pressure differences
Solution Approach 1:
The guide member rotates the dough stream 90 degrees, transforming the pressure gradient from horizontal to vertical orientation. This reorientation ensures that when the dough is divided into multiple streams, the pressure distribution is uniform across each stream's cross-section, as the gradient now acts perpendicular to the division direction rather than parallel to it.
3Productivity
If multiple dividers are connected successively to produce a required number of streams, then the dough can be divided into many streams, but the pressure difference in the internal pressure conditions of the dough affects the quality of each stream differently
Solution Approach 1:
By rotating the dough stream 90 degrees before division, the patent ensures that the pressure gradient is oriented perpendicular to the direction of stream separation. This allows multiple streams to be produced with uniform pressure distribution across each stream's cross-section, ensuring consistent quality regardless of the number of streams or the complexity of the divider configuration.
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
This solution effectively homogenizes the internal pressure of kneaded dough streams, improving the uniformity and quality of dough discharged from the apparatus by correcting the pressure gradient, leading to consistent dough quality across all outlets.
Implementation Method 1
kneaded dough extruded from the outlet in the form of a laminar flow has a pressure gradient in a horizontal direction as seen in a cross-section thereof
Data Source
AI summary
Provided is a kneaded dough dividing apparatus including a divider having a single dough inlet receiving kneaded dough and two dough outlets for discharging the received kneaded dough as two streams of kneaded dough. The apparatus includes a dough supply pipe continuously supplying kneaded dough to the dough inlet of the divider, and a pressure distribution changing plate provided in the dough supply pipe. The pressure distribution changing plate having a width in a direction traversing a cross-section of the dough supply pipe as seen in the cross-section and a length extending from an upstream end to downstream end of the pressure distribution changing plate. The pressure distribution changing plate is twisted so that a direction of the width at the downstream end is generally at a right angle to a direction of the width at the upstream end.