Vibratory Conveyor with Apertures for Coating Collection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Malleable food products like chicken cutlets pose challenges in uniform orientation and coating management during processing due to their non-uniform shapes and tendency to stick, leading to increased production costs and waste.
Innovation Solution
A conveyor system with vibrating product transfer pans that use a series of linked shaker motors and spring arms to align products by imparting vibrations, ensuring parallel orientation and utilizing apertures and a chute to collect excess coatings effectively.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If malleable food products are processed through conventional conveyors, then they can be transported between stations, but they cannot be uniformly oriented due to their non-uniform shapes and tendency to stick
Solution Approach 1:
The conveyor system incorporates a vibratory mechanism that imparts oscillating motion to the malleable food products as they travel through the conveying path. This vibration causes the products to repeatedly change orientation and settle into a more uniform alignment, overcoming their tendency to stick and maintain random orientations. The vibratory action effectively orients the products without requiring manual intervention.
2Loss of substance
If excess coating is not collected during processing, then production continues without interruption, but waste increases and clean-up burdens grow
Solution Approach 1:
The system includes a coating collection device that extracts excess coating material from the food products during conveyance. The collection mechanism removes loose or excess coating that would otherwise fall to the ground as waste or contaminate subsequent processing stations. This extraction function is integrated into the conveyor system, allowing continuous operation while reducing waste.
3Reliability
If personnel manually monitor and orient cutlets after drum coating, then product rejects are reduced, but production costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The conveyor system provides self-service orientation functionality, automatically orienting the coated cutlets without requiring manual intervention. The vibratory conveying mechanism causes the cutlets to self-align through repeated oscillations, eliminating the need for personnel to manually monitor and reorient each product. This automated self-orientation maintains product quality consistency while reducing labor costs.
4Object-generated harmful factors
If excess coating is carried to later processing stations, then coating application is complete, but contamination occurs and operational interference increases
Solution Approach 1:
The coating collection device actively removes excess coating material from the food products at the appropriate stage in the processing line. By extracting the excess coating before products reach subsequent processing stations, the system prevents contamination of batter at application stations and contamination of oil at frying stations. This extraction function maintains proper coating material usage without allowing harmful carryover.
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 conveyor system ensures uniform alignment of malleable food products and efficiently collects excess coatings, reducing production costs and waste by maintaining product orientation and preventing contamination.
Implementation Method 1
The shaker motors 104/204/304, which may be conventional rotary electric motors whose shafts bear rotating imbalances, impart vibration to the spring arms 102/202/302 such that their lengths vibrate, causing the spring arm ends linked to the transfer pans 100/200/300 to vibrate along directions perpendicular to the spring arm lengths. The product transfer pans 100/200/300 therefore likewise vibrate, with their movement having both a horizontal component (moving along a vibration distance oriented along the length of the conveyor system 1000) and a vertical component (moving along a vibration height oriented perpendicular to the length of the conveyor system 1000).
Implementation Method 2
Product placed on the product transfer pans 100/200/300 is then conveyed along a product throughput path across the pans 100/200/300 in a "bouncing" motion by this vibration (primarily by its horizontal component), as well as by any inclination of the product transfer pans 100/200/300.
Implementation Method 3
The product transfer pan 400 (here its pan section 400c) includes apertures 412 defined therein (preferably at the bottoms of the channels 406), whereby excess coating from products traveling atop the product transfer pan 400 falls through the apertures 412.
Implementation Method 4
a chute 414 is affixed to the frame 408 below the apertures 412, whereby the chute 414 receives the excess coating falling through the apertures 412
Data Source
AI summary
A vibratory conveyor system includes a product transfer pan linked to a shaker base via spring arms. Vibration transferred from the shaker base to the spring arms causes the product transfer pan to oscillate and convey products across the product transfer pan. The product transfer pan has apertures defined therein, such that excess coatings on (or fallen from) the conveyed products tend to fall through the apertures. A chute situated beneath the apertures collects the fallen coatings, and preferably diverts it to a side of the conveyor for collection and subsequent reuse or disposal. The chute is preferably linked to the product transfer pan such that the chute and pan oscillate in tandem.