Design & Construction of Fruit Chips Maker Machine as Home Appliance

Introduction

Chips is an American word that refers to thin slices of potato fried in oil. This product has a bright yellow color, a popular taste, and a crispy texture. The current project is designing and constructing a fruit chip maker machine as a home appliance to produce healthy homemade chips. Considering that the demand for healthy and helpful nutrition is always felt in all societies and industrially-produced potato chips with high oil content are harmful to the health of the community, the production of homemade potato chips by removing their carcinogenic effects with the right oil content, rich in valuable minerals and organic substances, including vitamin C is a must.

Technical & Technological Description

In this highly innovative machine by harnessing the Internet of Things, raw materials are first sliced in a cylindrical SS304-based tube by rotary blades, and the centrifugal force causes raw slices to be thrown into another cylindrical SS304-based tube, where they will be blanched by water supplied by the municipal water system. Next, a screw conveyor driven by an AC motor continuously moves the slices forward, and simultaneously, the drying process is implemented on them. After, the slices are fried in hot oil at 195℃; concurrently, the flavoring ingredients are sprayed on the slices frying in the mentioned tube. At last, the sliced chips will be egressed from the end of the tube and ready for serving.

Feasibility Study

All feasibility studies include the analytical hierarchical process for prioritizing the demand of the target market, the control plan for designing the quality control procedures, and failure mode and effects analysis for all probable failures considered in the conceptual and detailed design of the project. The market research took place by surveying a large target market, and all feasibility studies were accepted by the investors interested in the mentioned project. According to the demand of the target market, a touch screen is used to control the machine automatically with nine recipe programs, and a feedback closed-loop control system is used to regulate properties like temperature.

Conclusion

Potato chips are mostly consumed as snacks in Iran. Paying attention to changing people’s diet habits and lifestyle, if the mentioned machine produces fruit chips as an alternative to industrial ones, it is expected that in the coming years, the device will find its position if it is introduced correctly to the target market. The design method of the mentioned machine was successful in feasibility studies and profitable economically to form jobs in society and increase the job employment rate. It is priceless to mention that 93% of people -approximately 4000 persons- who participated in a survey were interested in utilizing this machine to produce food in their homes.

Acknowledgment

The Techips team appreciates the financial facilities and scientific support from Kashef Accelerator Incorporation. The team has fundraised approximately 100 million tomans for implementing this highly innovative project and is currently working on the project’s construction phase. It is expected that this project can make a significant impact on food processing technologies by utilizing modernized robotic and mechatronics concepts. Also, the team is wholeheartedly grateful to all faculty members from the University of Tehran who helped transmute this detailed design into reality.