MODERN APPROACHES TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF HIGH-TECH MEAT GRINDERS

Abstract

The article considers the disadvantages of the grinding process in meat cutters, which include high energy consumption with low productivity of machines. Thin grinding is one of the most energy-intensive processes of sausage production, and the quality of the finished product largely depends on the conditions in which it is carried out. Topical issues of finding ways to reduce the energy consumption of the cutting process and improve the quality of minced meat are considered. Among the many types of equipment currently used for fine grinding of raw meat are meat emulsifiers – mincers of continuous action, which allow high-quality and efficient processing of primary minced meat in the stream, while being simpler in design and less metalintensive than cutters with a bowl. In order to improve the technological properties of meat emulsions, the existing approaches to improve the design solutions for working parts of emulsifiers in the processing of minced meat, for grinding heads of different designs for production of sausages as well as the problem of cutting tools wear during operation are examined. The principles of improving cutting heads are revealed. The issue of cutting elements wear when the entire shaft with bearing support moves in the direction of the grilles to compensate for cutting elements wear is considered. A new generation of emulsifiers is described, in which type IP 56 closed engines with external cooling and protection were installed for the first time. Special heated bearings were installed on these engines to prevent condensation. It is shown that in vacuum emulsifiers a good result is achieved by setting the vacuum depth from 50% of the atmospheric pressure and above. As a result, the raw material acquires a denser consistency. Emulsifiers are classified as innovative developments, in which a pump with adjustable speed of rotation is installed between the feed auger of the hopper and the cutting set, which allows to additionally control the grinding process. The advantage of such emulsifiers is automatic temperature control of the product at the end of the process. It is emphasized that emulsifiers with automatic control of the position of the cutting element will eventually remain high-tech developments in the near future. It is determined that at fast cutting the basic geometrical elements of a cutting part have to be brought to calculated certain values then at the same size of stability it is possible to increase cutting speed by 10-15%. If the cutting speed is left within the same limits, the stability of such a high-speed tool will increase almost 2 times, which will reduce operating costs and auxiliary time associated with tool change and machine readjustment.