Leafy Vegetable Washing via Gravity Water Drops and Air Suction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for washing leafy vegetables, such as immersion and water jet processes, are ineffective in detaching impurities without damaging the vegetables and often lead to recontamination due to the use of large quantities of water, which complicates filtration and contaminates the wash batch.
Innovation Solution
A mesh belt conveyor system with a sprinkler nozzle arrangement that uses gravity-driven water drops to gently detach impurities, combined with air suction to facilitate efficient drainage and minimize water usage, ensuring effective cleaning without damaging the vegetables and reducing contamination risks.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If mechanical agitation is increased to detach impurities, then cleaning effectiveness improves, but vegetable leaves are damaged
Solution Approach 1:
The water flow is segmented into discrete drops rather than continuous flow or high-pressure jets. The sprinkler device generates individual water drops that fall onto the leaves, creating multiple gentle impacts that accumulate to detach impurities without concentrating force on any single point, thus protecting leaf integrity while maintaining cleaning effectiveness
Solution Approach 2:
The cleaning process uses periodic dripping of water drops at controlled intervals rather than continuous flow. The sprinkler system delivers drops in a rhythmic pattern that allows leaves to rebound between impacts, preventing cumulative damage while the repeated gentle taps gradually loosen and detach impurities from the leaf surface
2Manufacturing precision
If large quantities of water are used for washing, then impurity detachment improves, but recontamination and filtration complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts and removes detached impurities and excess water immediately after the washing process using the drying belt with suction capability. This prevents impurities from remaining in the wash water and causing recontamination, allowing effective cleaning with minimal water usage and simplifying filtration requirements
Solution Approach 2:
The wash water and detached impurities are discarded rather than recirculated. The system uses a small amount of water that is effectively discarded after single use, eliminating the need for complex filtration and recirculation systems while maintaining cleaning effectiveness through the gentle drop-wise application method
3Area of stationary object
If water flows continuously over leaves, then washing coverage improves, but water consumption and heating increase
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of continuous water flow, the system segments water delivery into discrete drops distributed across the leaf surface. The sprinkler device creates a pattern of individual drops that cover the entire leaf area over time, ensuring comprehensive washing coverage while using minimal water quantity compared to continuous flow systems
Solution Approach 2:
The system employs periodic dripping rather than continuous flow, delivering water in rhythmic intervals that allow drops to fall, impact, and evaporate or drain between cycles. This periodic application ensures complete coverage of leaf surfaces over the washing period while dramatically reducing total water consumption and associated heating requirements
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 method effectively removes impurities from leafy vegetables while minimizing water consumption and preventing recontamination, allowing for finer filtration and improved conservation of the washed products.
Implementation Method 1
a device for sprinkling the vegetable leaves in drops, the kinetic energy of the drops being acquired solely by gravity
Implementation Method 2
The kinetic energy of the drops being acquired solely by gravity... If the impurity is under the drop, the impact may be enough to detach it
Implementation Method 3
a mesh belt conveyor designed for the draining of vegetable leaves
Implementation Method 4
combined with air suction to facilitate efficient drainage and minimize water usage
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2~3
AI summary
The installation (1) has washing assemblies (3, 4) including two conveyors (5, 12) that are provided with respective wire bands (6, 13) for draining vegetable leaves (2) i.e. salad leaves. A single layer spreading unit (8) spreads the vegetable leaves on the wire bands. Washing devices (9, 15) spray water on the vegetable leaves in drops (24). Air suction devices (25) are arranged under the wire bands to accelerate flow of water drops through the vegetable leaves and the wire bands, respectively. An independent claim is also included for a method for washing leafy vegetables.