DESIGN AND FABRICATION OF ELECTRIC FOOD SLICER
Session 2017-2021
Imran Sattar
2017-BT-MECH-759
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Mechanical Engineering and Technology Program
Muhammad Nawaz Sharif
University of Engineering and Technology, Multan Pakistan
Declaration
I, Imran Sattar (Reg. # 2017-BT-MECH-759) hereby declare that I have completed
final year project presented in this report, during the scheduled period of study.
Date: ___________ Signature of the student: ___________________
(Student Name: ________________________)
(Registration No. :_______________________ )
CERTIFICATE
It is certified that Mr. Mubashir Shehzad (Reg # 2017-BT-MECH-713) has carried
out all the work related to this final year project under my supervision at the Department
of Mechanical Engineering and Technology, Muhammad Nawaz Sharif University of
Engineering & Technology Multan and the work fulfils the requirements for award of
B.Sc. Mechanical Engineering and Technology degree.
Date: _______________________
Supervisor Signature:
Supervisor Name: Engr. Umar Kallidoon
Mechanical Engineering Department.
Miss Misbah Niamat
In-charge Tours and Internships,
Mechanical Engineering Department.
Mr. Muhammad Umar Khalidoon
Head of Mechanical Engineering Department
ABSTRACT
A food slicer machine was designed and constructed. It can be powered electrically. The
vegetable is fed into the machine through the slider made of acrylic sheet to the slicing
carriage which carries slicing blades made of stainless steel. The chute constructed of
stainless steel accepts the sliced vegetable and released it out with the aid of
gravitational force. The result obtained shared that the rotating speed has significant
effects on the slicing capacity, slicing efficiency, and sliced vegetable geometry. The
higher the rotating speed, the higher the slicing capacity and the lower the slicing
efficiency.
Keywords- functionality, portable, productivity, quality, safety.
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Dedication
Dedicate to beloved parents and Teachers.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We consider our self to be fortunate to get this opportunity to be part of a Project
Report on in “ELECTRIC FOOD SLICER” We are sincerely grateful to Engineer
Umar Khalidoon (Guide) for his invaluable guidance, motivation and support at all
stages and creating a flexible and enjoyable environment to work in.
Special thanks to Engineer Umar Khalidoon (Head of Mechanical Engineer)
for the support and help us in completing this seminar program successfully. Last but
not least; we are thankful to the God, my dearly beloved Parents, all Faculty Members,
my Friends and all who directly or indirectly supported for completion….
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT i
Dedication…………………...……………………………………….………………….ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iii
Table Of Contents v
List Of Figures vii
List Of Tables ix
List Of Equations xi
List Of Abbreviations xiii
1 Introduction 1
1.1 Background 3
1.2 Aim & Objectives...…..…………………………………………………………...3
1.3 Problem Statement 4
1.4 5
1.4 Updating Tables of Contents, Lists of Figures and Captions 3
1.5 Inserting Landscape Pages 3
2 Literature Review 5
2.1 Section Heading (use Heading 2) 5
2.1.1 Subsection Heading (use Heading 3)...............................................................5
3 CHAPTER TITLE (USE HEADING 1) 7
3.1 Section Heading (use Heading 2) 7
3.1.1 Subsection Heading (use Heading 3)...............................................................7
4 CHAPTER TITLE (USE HEADING 1) 9
4.1 Section Heading (use Heading 2) 9
4.1.1 Subsection Heading (use Heading 3)...............................................................9
5 CHAPTER TITLE (USE HEADING 1) 11
5.1 Section Heading (use Heading 2) 11
5.1.1 Subsection Heading (use Heading 3).............................................................11
6 CHAPTER TITLE (USE HEADING v1) 13
6.1 Section Heading (use Heading 2) 13
6.1.1 Subsection Heading (use Heading 3).............................................................13
7 VALIDATION OF DEVELOPED SYSTEM (COST MODELLING SYSTEM FOR
LEAN PRODUCT AND PROCESS DEVELOPMENT) 15
7.1 Introduction 15
7.2 Detailed Research Methodology for Validation 15
7.2.1 Subsection Heading (use Heading 3).............................................................15
8 CHAPTER TITLE (USE HEADING 1) 17
8.1 Section Heading (use Heading 2) 17
8.1.1 Subsection Heading (use Heading 3).............................................................17
9 CHAPTER TITLE (USE HEADING 1) 19
v
9.1 Section Heading (use Heading 2) 19
9.1.1 Subsection Heading (use Heading 3).............................................................19
REFERENCES 21
APPENDICES 23
Appendix A Appendix Title (Use Heading 7) 23
vi
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1-1 A figure caption...............................................................................................2
vii
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1-1 A table caption..................................................................................................1
ix
LIST OF EQUATIONS
(1-1)1
xi
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
UET University of Engineering and Technology
xiii
Chapter 01
Introduction
1.1 Background
Knife and plastic grater were the most common devices used for slicing and grating
vegetables such as peppers, tomatoes, carrots, onions and lettuce. In the early 1960s, the
world’s first automatic vegetables cutting machine was developed. The slicing
technology has been developed mature abroad in 1970s where most of the slicers can
process monocrystal with large diameter up to 125mm. In 1980s, the slicing technology
has experienced its peak of development with the commercials of automatic multi-
function slicers.
t is not easy for those who want to cut a large amount of vegetables into smaller sizes in
a short period. It may also causes injuries as a result of carelessness. As the time goes
by, the slicing technology has been developed to overcome these problems. Slicing
machine was designed to ease the cutting of vegetables, to eliminate the time wasted
and to avoid injuries when using the knife.
Vegetable slicing machine can be manual-powered or automated. The design of manual
vegetable slicing machine is low operation cost as it eliminates the usage of electricity,
safer, consistent and affordable. However, it can be time consuming and low efficiency.
An automated slicing machine basically includes a base housing a motor, feeder part,
feeder mouth which houses a presser and cutting knife which carried by the cutting
plate. It allows the user to cut a large amount of vegetables precisely in a shorter period.
However, it is more expensive and difficult when it comes to maintenance operation.
This project is to design and fabricate an automated multipurpose vegetable slicing
machine. The purpose of this project is to design a compact, functional, safe and easy to
use automatic vegetable slicing machine that can perform various operations.
1.2 Aim and Objectives
The aim of this project is to design and fabricate a modified Food Slicer Machine. This
aim is achieved through the following objectives:
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Reduction of human effort in the process of vegetable slicing, as the machine is
designed to operate automatically using a set of motor and set of mechanism,
enabling power to be transmitted to the vegetable to be sliced.
Allowing variation of slicing speed by the user based on the nature of the
vegetable to be sliced, as a variable speed motor is utilized.
Processing of different sizes of vegetable with the aid of the mechanical
components of the machine.
Ensuring safety of the user by employing standard design requirement.
1.3 Problem Statement
Food preparation workers are employed in restaurants, hotels and other places where
food is served. Prepping vegetables and fruits in large quantities is time consuming even
though many people enjoy showing off their knife work. Additionally, consistency is
important in the commercial food industry. Human is not able to cut the vegetables
consistently for several hours because our steady hand may begin to fail. Human also
causes injuries as a result of carelessness. For those reasons, fruit and vegetable slicers
are design to overcome this problem. There are various vegetable prep tools that cut,
slice and dice but there is no any device that provide multipurpose functions. The
purpose of the thesis is to design and fabricate a semi-automated multipurpose vegetable
slicing machine that is able to reduce the human force for food preparation, improve the
capabilities to handle a large amount of vegetables, improves the safety features to
prevent user from injuries and able to perform various operations such as slicing, rolling
and crushing in a single machine.
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CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 History
The design and the production of a machinery as part of the technological development
of a country requires the acquisition of technology and development of capacity in the
three activities of design, fabrication or production and engineering research and
development Engineering development and testing of machinery and equipment is a
compliment to any design and manufacturing process. It is through such testing and
subsequent development that operational problems of the machines produced locally
can be investigated and solved and the quality of product maintained.
The invent of slicing technology can be dated back to the 1900's, with a number of
authors studying the principles of slicing and slicing machines. The first slicing machine
was invented by an American in 1873 (Hardin, 2001), the machine made usc of an
oblique knife in a vertical slicing frame for slicing dry beef and it worked the frame
holding the meat while slicing against the cutting blade (Odior and others. 2009) Otto
Rohwedder designed and manufactured the first slicing machine that would slice and
wrap bread in 1925 (Frank, 2004). The machine made use of an oblique knife in a
vertical sliding frame for slicing dry beef and it worked with the frame holding the meat
while slicing it against the cutting blade the conventional stitching machine was
originally designed to slice meat into pieces of uniform thickness. It was also used for
slicing cheese vegetables, ham, onions green peppers and sandwich ingredients Slicing
technology has already been developed mature in the western world in 1970s, in the
mideightics most of the slicens can process monocrystal with large diameter up to 125
mm (5 inches), like the horizontal inside diameter slicing machine manufactured by
Mayer Bu Geyer company in Switzerland which sliced materials with the matimum
diameter up to 300 mm (12 inches). During the period of industrialization, automatic
machines have proven to reduce the time needed to do specific task here they are
essential part of human life. Nowadays, human life becomes more competitive and
faster than before.
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2.2 Recent development
Current design consists basically of two cutting blades, a vegetable feeder (hopper), a
slicing processing chamber, a control unit, two electric motors, vegetable discharge unit
the machine was designed to enhance the hygienic slicing of vegetable for both
domestic and commercial consumption. It takes an average of 10 seconds to cut a bunch
of vegetables and one hour for 1,673 tonnes.
The traditional method of slicing plantain with a kitchen knife is laborious, time
consuming and prone to injury, and can only be practiced on a very small scale of
production. (Obeng and others, 2004) developed a mechanized plantain slicer for
cutting of bulk plantains into chips. The mechanized slicer seeks to reduce the drudgery
associated with traditional cutting of large-scale plantains into chips. The machine takes
5-7 seconds to slice a finger of an average-size plantain into chips of 2:3mm in
thickness compared to the 40-80 seconds with a kitchen knife, which gives non-uniform
thickness of plantain chips. It was found to be very convenient. And the average
thickness of plantain chips produced with the slicer compares favorably with
commercial standards
(Owolarafe and others, 2007) developed a manually operated lady's finger (okra)
(Abelmoschus Esculentus) slicing device suitable for on-farm use. It was designed,
fabricated and tested based on the engineering properties of the vegetable. The machine,
simulates the traditional method of okra slicing, consists of the feeder, slicer and
receiver It was made simple for ease of operation and maintenance. The machine was
tested with replicated experimental runs using 100200300400 and 500 g of okra. The
thickness of the slides (about 10 mm) corresponds evenly to the spacing of the cutting
discs. The machine has a slicing efficiency of about 774% and through put of about S.4
kg h.
(Megan, 2008) developed a Slicer featuring simplified controls, improved
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Geometry and enhanced carriage design and other innovations that make it easier to use
with clean and deliver improved slice quality. With a 50-degree cutting plane and glass-
bead-finished gauge plate and top knife cover, the slicers have a smoother glide against
the knife while improving visibility of the sliced product. A lighter tray makes repeated
loading and unloading casier. (Neidhardt, 2008) developed the tomato slicer, equipped
with a disposable blade cartridge Features include Razor-sharp blades cut with trouble-
free precision, thanks to a unique self-lubricating track material that resists
misalignment problems that cause nick sand broken blades. Vertical handle and
protective guards improve user comfort and safety
(Gave, 2008) developed a vegetable cutter which uses 40 different cutting discs to
replicate most hand-cutting styles. Features include a large hopper opening, -hp gear-
driven motor, stainless-steel body and base, removable hopper head, and a food pusher,
which has antimicrobial protection.
(Suryanto and others, 2009) developed a chopper for chopping bunches of palm into
small pieces using knife blades and an experimental cylinder-type chopping machine.
The knife edge angle had a significant effect on the specific cutting force and the cutting
energy. For the impact cutting, the specific torque requirement was affected by the
peripheral cutting speed. Increasing the speed from 53 to 14.3 ms. I reduced the cutting
torque by 14.3%. An experimental chopping machine with a capacity of 3540 kg h-1
has been developed and tested for the empty fruit bunches (Aziz Et and others. 2011)
developed a Slicing machine for fresh cut Pineapple Intensive research had been
conducted in developing a suitable slicing machine to cater for the needs of the local
pineapple processors. The development of the slicing machine was based on two
systems, namely rotary and centrifugal type working condition.
This paper emphasizes machine development and its operating system. At normal rate,
the slicing machine is capable of processing 360 fruits per hour. The slicing machine is
easy to operate, of simple design, cost effective and easy to clean The present existing
designs of vegetable slicing machine is too numerous to mention in this work, however,
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these machines operate on similar principles with a difference in the methods of
cutting/slicing. The two broad methods of slicing are identified as; rotary slicing method
and reciprocating slicing method. The rotary slicing method is achieved with the use of
electric motor. Here, the cutter blade is attached directly to the electric motor. The
slicing effect of the food is achieved via the rotation of the cutter blade attached to the
motor. The reciprocating method is usually manual or semi-automated. It is of a lower
efficiency compared to the rotary method which is fully automated.
In this section all design concepts developed are discussed and based on evaluation
criteria and process developed, and a final design was chosen. However, some features
of the selected design were modified to further enhance the functionality of the design.
The modifications are also discussed.
3.1 Operating Principle
The vegetable slicing machine was redesigned to slice fresh vegetable into finer finishes
and improved performance. The vegetable slicing machine uses rotary motion
transferred by the motors to the blades to cut the vegetable. It is made up of a frame
with electric motor, the slicing processing chamber, the wedge bar, the vegetable
feeder/hopper, the tray which stores the sliced vegetable after the slicing process in the
slicing chamber. It consists of three cutting blades which are spaced 120 degree from
each other to give a slice thickness of 0.2mm.
The vegetable is separated from the stem and introduced into the machine via the
hopper. The quantity of leaves to be introduced at a time depends on the size and fixture
of the leave. The leave is then cut into smaller sizes by three rotating knife blades
spaced at 120 degrees. A wedge bar place just beneath the rotating blades traps the
vegetable for a while for slicing action to take place before allowing the cut leave to fall
into a collector just below the slicing chamber. The speed of the motor can be regulated
depending on the size of the slices desired by the operator and the operator may also re-
introduce the sliced leaves into the hopper for a finer and better slice.
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The machine is designed to produce fine and hygienic slices. It consists of the following
main components:
1. Stainless steel cutter blades (rotating)
2. Slicing processing chamber with a Wedge bar attached to the side plate
3. Feeder/hopper,
4. Slide plate
5. Electric motor and control unit.
3.2 Design Considerations
The importance of this device has made it necessary for some proper design
Considerations to be made. Some of those considerations made during the design and
fabrication of the Vegetable slicing machine are:
The Functionality and Manufacturability of the design
Economic viability, that is general cost implication of materials and fabrication
techniques employed.
The durability and maintainability of the machine.
The potential of the machine for modification, Safety and Ergonomics
The strength required of each element was also used as a factor in determining the
geometry and the dimensions of that element to avoid failure of components. Also, the
height of the column and the area of base were designed and materials carefully selected
for rigidity, stability and portability of the machine. To ensure an improvement in the
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shape of the machine, the Aesthetics design was also put into consideration. Finally,
ergonomics principle was considered in this design for convenience of the operator.
3.3 Component Parts of the Machine
To case design effort, the system is divided into the following subsystems which
include:
a. Frame
b. Rotating Disc Cutter
c. Slide Plate/Tray Carriage
d. Feeder
e. Motor and Regulator
Frame
The frame is a carriage (the skeleton of the system) which serves as a support for the
occupant and the other components to be added on. The frame is made of acrylic sheet.
The base of the platform which will be joined with bolts and nuts for easy maintenance.
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The Rotating Disc Cutter
The rotating cutter blade is a tapered flat disc made of stainless steel material. It is
130mm in length. The cutter blade fixed at one end of the electric motor, is a tiny flat
metal bar and razor sharp. The blade upon receiving a rotational motion slices 12 the
vegetable into edible sizes. The blade rotates at a speed of 1500 revolutions per minute.
The Slide Plate / Tray Carriage
The slide plate or tray carriage is the acrylic component that conveys the sliced
vegetable from the slicing chamber to the outlet. In modifying this component, a
moveable tray carriage is adopted in the place of a framed one. This modification aids in
reducing vegetable wastage due to the compactness of the design.
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Slide Plate/Tray Carriage
A carriage for a food slicer; wherein the carriage includes a tray for supporting a food
product. The tray has a relatively flat portion and an upstanding side portion, a food
gripping portion attached to the tray and at least one handle attached to the side portion
of the tray for moving the tray in a reciprocating motion past the slicing blade.
Preferably, the carriage includes a second handle such that the user can grasp either
handle. The tray also includes a slide plate for slid ably supporting the food gripping
portion. The slide plate may be optionally mounted to either side of the tray, before or
after the food product
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Feeder
Consistent food chip frying, seasoning, and packaging all depend on how
evenly food enter your system. The Slicer Feeder provides a continuous and
uniform flow of food to the slicer for maximum slicing efficiency and less
waste.
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Electric Motor
This produces the torque power which is transmitted via the spindle connecting the
cutter blade of the machine. The continuous rotary motion of the blade ensures
continuous slicing of the vegetable in the slicing chamber of the machine.
3.4 Material Selection
The knowledge of engineering material properties is of great importance to a design
engineer. The machine components should be made of materials which have properties
suitable for the operating conditions. Besides, the designer must be familiar with the
effects which the manufacturing processes and heat treatment have on the properties of
the materials.
Selection of the most suitable material for a given component is one of the greatest
challenges in engineering design, as such careful and enduring attention was exercised
to ensure that material chosen for a given element is one which serves the desired
objective at the minimum cost.
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Most engineering works are involved with materials on a daily basis in manufacturing,
processing, design and construction of components and structures. The materials
selected to be incorporated into any design must withstand failure analysis. (Hedge,
1995). In ensuring adequacy of design certain considerations were being made some of
which are;
a. Whether the material can consistently be machined to dimensional tolerance and
maintain form in use.
b. Ease of joining with other parts of an assembly
c. Whether material can be machined economically to save costs.
The materials used in this project includes: Mild steel for the frame, the hopper, the
carriage tray and the rota
ting disc cutter, the base, and other parts of this machine will all use this material.
The choice of the materials used were influenced by some of the under listed factors
Availability of the material.
Suitability of the material for the working conditions in service, the cost of the material
The important properties which determine the utility of the material are its physical,
chemical and mechanical properties. The physical properties of the material include
luster, colour, size and shape, density, electric and thermal conductivity, and melting
point.
The mechanical properties of the material are its strength. Stiffness, elasticity.
Plasticity, ductility, brittleness, malleability. Toughness, resilience, creep and hardness.
While the material chemical properties reveal among others, its ability to resist
corrosion.
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CHAPTER 04
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The presentation of the input and output data are being made in this section. The results
are obtained using MICROSOFT EXCEL environment based on the evaluation of the
design models previously presented. Tables are utilized in presenting the input and
output data for more clarity. Graphs are also used to show relationships between various
parameters.
4.1 Input data
The data used in in carrying out the design analysis incorporates both data gotten from
adequate selection of some components such as the electric motor and some which are
considered standards in engineering design.
4.2
Maximum allowable shear stress
Factor of safety
Maximum normal stress
Output data
From the input data, the values of the required output parameters from calculations are
gotten. The larger value of the diameter from the various theories was being considered
as the shaft diameter.
4.3
In the evaluation of the machine performance, the physical characteristics of the
vegetable were taken into consideration. The effect of the slicing blade and operating
speed on the slicing of the vegetable was carefully observed and the relationship
between the slicing speed and other parameters were also stated.
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4.3.1 Physical characteristics of the vegetables
600g of vegetables of similar size and shape were bought from the local market. The
oval shaped medium size vegetables were chosen on visual basis. The weight of the
samples of 5 vegetables (25g. 50g. 100g. 150g and 200g) were measured with the help
of a digital weighing balance.
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CHAPTER 05
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
5.1 Conclusion
Over the years, the traditional process of slicing vegetable has always been slow,
tedious, boring, time consuming and in some cases unhygienic Designing and
fabricating a machine capable of slicing vegetable which will mechanize the slicing
process for both domestic and commercial consumption becomes a necessity. The
design demonstrates that simple member elements can be assembled to make a
functional engineering device, Engineering materials that rust free were selected.
Simple design equations involving Cutting force, Torque, Bending moment and shear
forces, etc were related in the course of going through the design process. The results
and fabrication of this project has shown the possibility of manufacturing a relatively
cheap, easy to use and reliable machine for slicing vegetable which reduces human
effort, variation of slicing speed by the user based on the nature of the vegetable to be
sliced, as a variable speed motor is utilized. Its flexibility and wide range of
applicability is an added advantage. The machine was safely operated. This design is
environmentally friendly as it does not use an internal combustion engine but requires
power for just the electric motor, thus the production of fumes is entirely eliminated.
Almost Every home in Nigeria cats vegetables. Hence, the vegetable slicing machine
would serve perfectly in slicing of these vegetables into edible sizes.
5.2 Recommendations
Despite the huge success recorded in the fabrication of this machine, some areas might
still need attention should the need for further research and improvement arise. One of
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such areas of improvement which should also be geared towards improving the overall
efficiency of the machine
• The attachment of an automated uniform feed mechanism to control the amount of
vegetables to be fed into the machin
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REFERENCES
https://www.scribd.com/document/351878773/Design-and-Fabrication-of-Vegetable-
Slicing-Machine-
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