Abstract

This work focused on the design and fabrication of an electrically powered

rotary slicer for raw plantain chips production. The machine was designed for medium
scale industries but can also be used for domestic purposes which also include the slicing
of cucumbers. The machine works on shear cutting principle and has the capacity to
produce raw plantain chips of uniform sizes in lesser time and can slice up to a maximum
of 70mm diameter finger of raw plantain in just 2-3 seconds. Machine maintenance is
simple and requires just lubrication of rotating members and proper cleaning after use.
Plantain chips are in high demand and this demand is not being met by most small
scale food industries and shops due to some critical factors. Shops are only able to fulfill
approximately two-thirds of the demand. The biggest obstacle towards attaining self-
sufficiency in the production of plantain chips is the intensity of labor involved and the
tediousness of the process which often culminate into prolonged production time. Plantain
has a large amount of sap and this causes the skin to adhere to the fruit inside. After
peeling, they must be sliced into discs to fry into chips. Worker will hold up to eight
plantains in one hand and rapidly slice them using a wooden mandolin. Because of the
rapid pace at which they slice plantain and the absence of hand gloves on the workers,
accidents are very often unavoidable. These presents health hazards to both the worker,
who may develop infections from their injuries, and customers who may consume an
unsanitary product. This development is very uncomfortable and tasking on the workers.
They must hold the mandolin over the fryer so the plantains will fall in, which causes
splashing of the boiling hot oil that occasionally hits and injures the worker.
This research focused on design and fabrication of motorized / power operated
plantain slicer to meet the raising demands for plantain chips in Nigeria. The objectives of
this research was met as the machine has the capacity to produce plantain chips of uniform
size in shorter time and a greater slicing efficiency of up to 96.84% while keeping the cost
of the machine at an affordable price.

1
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
Plantain contains more starch and less sugar than dessert bananas; therefore,
they are cooked or otherwise processed before being eaten. They are always cooked or
fried when eaten green. At this stage, the pulp is hard and the peel is often so stiff that it
has to be cut with a knife to be removed. Mature plantain can be peeled like typical dessert
bananas. The pulp is softer than in immature, green fruit and some of the starch have been
converted to sugar. They can be eaten raw but are not as tasty as dessert bananas, so are
usually cooked. When mature, yellow plantains are fried, they tend to caramelize - turning
a golden brown color. They can also be boiled, baked or grilled over charcoal - both
peeled and still in the peel. An average plantain has about 220 calories and is a good
source of potassium and dietary fiber.
In Africa, plantain and bananas provide more than 25 percent of the
carbohydrate requirements for over 70 million people. In Ghana and Nigeria, most farmers
are unable to meet the export requirements for green plantain because of poor postharvest
handling practices and strict quality standards required for the export market. To avoid
blackening and fungal decay of harvested plantains, most farmers sell their produce
cheaply to middlemen at the farm gate. Slicing, frying and packaging as snack food, that is
plantain chips, is a method that reduces post-harvest losses to green or ripening plantain.
The use of a power operated plantain slicer can simplify the processing method.
The conventional method of cutting plantain into chips is to use a sharp
kitchen knife to cut the pulp of the plantain fruit on a board. This method is labor
intensive, time-consuming and prone to injury and it can only be practiced on a very small
scale of production. Plantain chips produced this way are never of uniform size, which is
why the use of a power operated plantain slicer is very necessary to reduce the labor
associated with continuous cutting of bulk plantains with a knife.
The use of a power operated plantain slicer will facilitate mass production of
plantain chips. More so, this can contribute to food security, export earnings and economic
growth. Okafor B.E and Okafor V.C.,2013[16]designed a plantain chips slicing machine,
which is made up of a cutting device, a feeding mechanism, a support frame and an
electric motor as a source of power. Stainless steel was used as the cutting blades; the
blades are arranged perpendicular to the plantain chips. They used a Geneva drive for the
feeding and discharge mechanisms. The Geneva drive was designed to deliver intermittent

2
motion to the conveyor, thereby causing the conveyor to move in a start-stop fashion.
G.Y.Obeng, 2004, also designed a plantain slicer, the plantain slicer consists of a main
frame, cutters, bottom plate and a container, all fabricated from 2mm stainless sheet, a
wooden mesh made from oak wood, bolts and nuts, woodscrews and pins.
The cutters of the slicer are designed to be parabolic in shape and are arranged
at intervals that will enable the required thickness of plantain chips to be attained. Relating
to gross value of production, Plantain and banana are one of the very most
crucial/important fruits in developing world. There are four main types of plantain
available in Nigeria distributive, which are strictly based on the bunch characteristics and
they include the following horn types: French type, false type and French –horn type but
in Nigeria the false hone type is the most widely distributed because of its ability to
tolerate poor soil condition than others.

Plantains are a staple food in the tropical regions of the world, specifically the tenth
most important staple that feeds the world. Plantain is treated in much the same way as
potatoes and with a similar neutral flavor and texture when the unripe fruit is cooked by
steaming, boiling or frying. Plantain fruits all year round, which makes the crop a reliable

3
all-season staple food, particularly in developing countries with inadequate food storage,
preservation and transportation technologies.
Plantain is a type of banana which is common in tropical regions. It is starchier and
less sweet when compared to bananas. Plantains are usually served steamed, boiled or
fried, although ripe plantains can be eaten raw. They are a rich source of antioxidants,
vitamin B-6 and minerals, and their soluble fiber content may help ward off intestinal
problems. Plantain for local consumption plays an important role in food and income
security and has the potential to contribute to national food security and reduce rural
poverty . Plantains provide the essential minerals that help the body to function efficiently.
A cup of sliced or cooked plantain has 49 milligrams of magnesium and 716
milligrams of potassium, giving the body 15 percent of the recommended daily intake for
each of these minerals. The body needs magnesium for proper muscle contraction and
nerve function, while potassium is a crucial component in the body fluids. A cup of
plantains also contains 5 to 10 percent of the iron need of the body. Iron helps to carry
oxygen through the bloodstream which serves as a benefit to the muscles of the body.
Although raw plantain is bitter and starchy, some people like them raw. They are more
nutritious raw, with about 10 percent more magnesium, phosphorus and potassium.
A cup of raw plantains has 27 milligrams of thiamin, a B-vitamin that helps
the body's cells use carbohydrates as energy and helps ensure the proper functioning of the
heart, muscles and the nervous system. A cup of cooked plantain has less than 1 milligram
of thiamin. Considering the enormous benefits of raw plantain, slicing it can create
additional benefits in terms of post-harvest processing. Plantain processed into flour can
be stored for up to a maximum of two years.
The purpose of the machine is to make slicing process less laborious
especially for medium scale industries and for domestic purposes. Obeng developed a
mechanized plantain slicer which took 5-7 seconds to slice a finger of plantain. When
compared with the traditional method of cutting with a sharp knife, the traditional method
took 40-80 seconds per finger of plantain. Because of the lesser time taken to slice a finger
of raw plantain and uniformity of chips sizes produced, an electrically powered rotary
slicer incorporating two feeding chuteshas technological edge over traditional slicing
methods.
Plantain (Musa spp.) is an important dietary source of carbohydrate in the
humid tropical zones of Africa, Asia and South America (Robinson, 1996). It is rich in
vitamins A, C and B group as well as minerals such as calcium and iron (Marriott and

4
Lancaster, 1983). Musa spp. are useful as food to be consumed by human either as flour to
be used in confectionaries or as jams and jellies; in chips etc. Its peel can be used as
animal feed. All parts of the plantain plant have medicinal applications; the flower is uses
in bronchitis and dysentery and on ulcers, cooked flowers are given to diabetic patients
etc. Its leaves are also useful for lining cooking pots and for wrapping food materials.
Improved processes have also made it possible to utilize plantain fiber for ropes, table
mats and handbag (Chandler, 1995).
As a result of poor storage facilities, substandard transportation network and
high standard of exportation requirements, leading African plantain producing countries
like Nigeria and Ghana, lost lots of tons of plantains to inadequate post-harvest handling
and management practices (Obeng, 2004). Hence, most plantain farmers are forced to sell
their produce cheaply at meagre prices to cut their losses. Processing of these harvested
plantain into various forms, most especially into chips, have not only proven to be a
remedy to preventing post-harvest loses, but as a means of income and livelihood to the
producers, since both ripen and unripen plantain can be used in this case.

In an effort to meet the high demand for plantain slices to industries, families
and schools, several means have been devised in slicing plantain into pieces which is
further processed into baked or fried chips and flour. The use of hand operated platform
type or rotary type slicer by most of the entrepreneurs presently does the slicing of peeled
plantain. However, some small scale entrepreneurs still use traditional household knives.
These equipment have proven to be labor-intensive and cumbersome in operation, posing

5
danger to operators’ finger by inflicting injury while slicing. It also produces slices of non-
uniform sizes, shapes, thickness and chips of poor end quality after frying. Hence, there is
a need to develop an automated plantain chipping machine that will help to eliminate these
challenges and yet effective for both small and large scale processing of plantain.

6
CHAPTER 2
PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION AND OBJECTIVE
2.1 Problem Identification:
It is a common knowledge that until today we never heard of the existence of
asam gelugor processing facility. We commonly heard about coconut milk processing
machine, tapioca slice machine, keropok making machine, banana crisp slice machine,
pineapple slice machine and many other food processing machines. The potato chips are
available all around major hypermarket in this country and obviously their cutting
machine must be well developed. The irony is that actually “asam gelugor” or “asam
keping” as it normally known is the important ingredient in our local delicacy as well as
traditional medicine. Even though the market for this product is quite good and highly
profitable but still the processing of asam gelugor is being done manually by slicing it
using knife with hand. Now, this project is trying to change this scenario by inventing the
better asam gelugor processing machine for the betterment of local food industry.
2.2 Problem Statement:
This project seek to identify the easier way that could be use in slicing banana
seen banana is one of the most important fruit use in many fruit juice with high nutrient,
the project work is to seek on how to keep man in area of its production using banana
slicer.
2.3 Scope of Project:
Design the slicer machine by using CAD software such as AUTOCAD or
CATIA. To check the design and make sure it works smoothly if chosen to be the final
design for fabrication process. All the calculations involve in slicing the asam gelugor is
proper calculate to make sure it works after the fabrication of the prototype. To do force
diagrams and the velocity diagram for the machine linkages. Appropriate driving
mechanism such as hydraulic, pneumatic, electric motors or manually driven should be
addressed.
Do research on the best material to be used in designing the prototype so that
the prototype can be cost effective with no material problem which can effect the
processing of the asam gelugor. Non corrosive material shall be used as the machine
designed for processing food. Suitable machining technique for the machine components

7
and linkages is also to be selected. Availability of materials in the market should also be
considered before deciding on specific materials to be used.
Tools and equipment to be used will be identified and familiarized to avoid
malfunctioning of the system. Accuracy of equipments used in the tests also will be
checked in order to get accurate fabrication of the parts of the machine such as CNC lathe,
CNC milling, EDM wire cut, EDM die sinker, AUTOCAD, Welding Set, Drilling
machine, tap and die, etc
2.4 Purpose Of The Work:
This project was undertaken with the view to examine the function of function
in banana production to man.
2.5 Objective of Project:
To overcome these disadvantages a machine that can peel and slice the
bananas is in need. In the current scenario only manual methods of scrapping the skin is
being made use of. We plan to design and fabricate an automatic banana peeling and
slicing machine at a less cost which can peel and slice the bananas automatically in a less
amount of time and also boost the production rate. Also we plan to design the machine
such that even the unskilled labour can operate this machine and we also aim to
incorporate low maintenance in this machine.

8
CHAPTER 3
LITERATURE REVIEW

Plantain and other banana species are perennial crops that are staple and
starchy in nature (Tchango et al., 1999). The origin of plantain can be traced to South East
Asia because this location has been identified as the area where the earliest domestication
of crop occurred. (Simmonds, 1962). Plantain belongs to the genus musa of the family
musaceae consisting of about 40 different species (Simmonds, 1962 and Tchango et al.,
1999). Nearly all edible plantain cultivar are derived from two major wild species, Musa
acuminate and Musa balbisiana (Robinson, 1996). These wild species are classified on the
basis of the proportion of the genetic constitution contributed by each parental source
(Robinson, 1996).
Globally, plantains and bananas are one of the most important staple food,
cultivated in large scale of about 10 million hectares of land, with an annual yield of 88
million tons. Its ability to produce fruit all through the year as well as its low labour
requirements - when compared to other crops like potatoes, yam cassava, cowpea and rice
- makes it attract farmers to engage in its production and trade. (Frison and Sharrock,
1999; Marriott and Lancaster, 1983; IITA, 1998).
Plantain is a tropical plant that requires a warm humid climate to grow
successfully. A mean temperature of 26.7°C, rainfall of 100 mm/month and a deep, well-
drained friable loamy soil with adequate organic matter is the ideal condition for its
cultivation (Tchango et al., 1999; and IITA, 2015).
A. Plantain harvesting:
The size of plantain fruit increases, as it grows, accumulating starch until it
reaches complete physiological maturity. It is ready for harvest when the bunch is well
filled with fingers of relatively firm, thick and some few ripe plantain fruits. The dwarf
type plantain can be harvested by directly cutting the bunch from the pseudostem using a
cutlass. In the case of tall breeds, the pseudostem is either cut at about 1.5m to 2m height
from ground level, or close to the top level, allowing the stem to bend over due to the
weight of the bunch. Using a machete, the plantain bunch is then cut away from the
pseudostem (Wainwright and Burdon, 1991; Dadzie, 1994; and Tchango et al., 1999).

B. Post-harvest handling:

9
 The harvested bunches of plantain are cut into fragments, washed and then
stored in plastic pellets. This is done to prevent the rate of mechanical damages on the
plantains and for easy transportation and carriage. Being a fragile and perishable staple
food, the rate of plantain postharvest losses varies from country to country based on the
organization of market chains and modes of consumption. In many developing countries
that produce plantain, there are no adequate data on the exact quantity of plantain lost
during the postharvest stage of plantain production (IITA, 2015).
Determining plantain post-harvest losses is a relatively complex process. This
is because both matured green fruits and overripe plantain fruits can be consumed or
processed at various stages. However, some factors accelerate the rate of plantain losses
after harvesting them. These include; poor handling, bad roads and transportation network
in the production areas; harvesting matured crop close to fruit ripeness; and inadequate
storage facilities. In the project carried out by FAO (1987), plantain post-harvest losses, in
developing plantain producing countries, should not be more than 35% of the total
harvested crops.

C. Plantain processing:
Plantain is taken in various forms such as fried plantain, boiled plantain,
roasted plantain, baked plantain, and plantain chips. The quality of processed plantain
chips or flour are greatly affected by the stage of ripeness of the plantain (Yomeni et al.,
2004). Slices of either unripe, slightly ripe or ripe plantain pulp, of about 2-4mm thick, can
be processed into plantain chips by frying in vegetable oil and then packaged into sachets
(Ekunwe and Ajayi, 2000). Fig. 1 shows the unit operations in processing plantains into
fried chips.
Plantains can also be processed into dough (Amala) by peeling, slicing, air
drying, milling into flour and preparing with boiled water to form dough which is served
with vegetable stew. Slightly ripe plantain can also be roasted and served as snacks
(booli). In some part of West Africa, plantain are fermented into beer and wine (Tchango
et al., 1999). Plantain peels are used as feed for livestock as well as for soap production.
The leaves can be used for packaging foods and as roofing materials. (Akinyemi et. al,
2010).

10
D. Technology of Slicing:
Plantain slicing is a size reduction process that involves the application of
shearing force on plantain with the aid of a cutter blade or knife to shear through the
plantain to obtain a minimum deformation and rupture of the cell wall. The cutter blade
could either be on a reciprocating or rotary motion. In some rare cases, the blades are
made stationary while materials travel against it and gets sliced in the process (Yusuf and
Abdullahi, 2007; and Sonawane et al., 2011). According to Yusuf and Abdullahi (2007),
slicing action could be accomplished through the following methods:
i. Slicing action with a sharp smooth edge: This involves slicing and cutting action on bio-
materials that result in the structural failure of the material due to shear, compression or
tension. This method requires frequent sharpening of the blades.
ii. Tearing action with a rough serrated edge: This method eliminates the limitation of
frequent sharpening. It operates by a combination of both slicing and sawing action to cut
through bio-materials.
iii. High velocity single element impact with a sharp or dull edge
iv. A two element scissor type action: Two knives or cutting elements move in opposite
directions against one another and thereby getting the food item sliced in the process.
Zhou et al. (2006) reported that, the fracture of a material, which is a result of
the interaction between the blade edge and the material, depends both on the material
properties and the knife geometry. Mahvash and Hayward (2001) formulated a
relationship between the cutting force and depth of cut during slicing. Atkins et al. (2004)
further clarified why there is a smaller cutting force required when pressing and slicing
contrasted with the application of only pressing force while slicing.

11
CHAPTER 4
WORKING PRINCIPLE

Banana slicer was tested with two varieties, which are used for chip making, Dwarf
Cavendish and Nendran, as shown in Fig 1. This slicer produces slices of round shape.
The machine performance was evaluated with regards to the capacity, roundness index,
efficiency of slicing, slice thickness etc. The capacity of the machine was determined by
feeding peeled banana into the machine and weighing the slices produced irrespective of
damage. The capacity of machines is expressed as kg of peeled banana sliced per unit
time. Breakage percentage is defined as the ratio of weight of damaged slices to the total
weight of slices. The damaged or broken slices are defined as the slices having the area
less than 2/3 of its circumscribing circle.

Researchers have put lots of efforts in developing automated slicers to chip plantain and
other food materials with similar properties. This effort was aimed at developing slicers to
meet the requirements of large scale processing industries and eliminate drudgery and
other limitations associated with manual hand slicing. Yet only a few of such machines
have been developed to the minimum required standard. The trend of development of
these machines are examined below showing their methods of operations, merits and
limitations
1.Hand operated plantain slicer: Ojuloge (1999) developed a manual hand operated
equipment for chipping plantain for small scale plantain chip producing industries. In this
design, a peeled plantain fed to the hopper is stopped by the adjustable plate. The plate is
also responsible for adjusting the chip thickness. The hand crank is manually rotated to
transmit motion to the bevel gears. The bevel gear converts this motion from the vertical
plane to the horizontal plane and supplies it to the cutter blades. The cutter blades slice the
fed plantain in the hopper. On testing the machine, it was discovered that the machine
capacity increases with an increase in chip thickness. The maximum machine capacity and
efficiency of 382.7 kg/h and 100% was recorded for a 15mm thick fully ripened plantain.
The maximum chip loss of 57.1% was recorded for unripen 15mm thick plantain. Hence,
the machine can be best used for chipping fully ripened plantain.
Limitations
a. Irregularities in speed was experienced since the machine is manually powered. Hence,
it requires an electric motor to obtain constant speed during operation.

12
b. Over-ripened plantain tends to stick to the cutter blades during operation. A limitation
that can be overcome using a scrapper.
c. The machine performance was so poor while slicing unripen plantain.
d. More time is required on chipping large quantity of plantain since the machine hopper
can only accommodate one plantain at a time.
2. Mechanized plantain slicer: Obeng (2004), developed a mechanized slicer that slices
plantain into chips of relatively uniform thickness and improved speed when compared to
manual knife slicing. It completely slices a single plantain for a duration of about 5 to 7
seconds, depending on the length. The chip thickness produced by this machine ranges
between 2.5mm and 3.5mm. The major components of the machine are; series of a 2mm
curved stainless steel blades arranged in such a distance to represent the required chip
thickness, a wooden mesher and a container positioned beneath the cutter blades for
collecting the sliced chips.
Limitations
a. There exist a large variation in chip thickness.
b. Ripened and over-ripened chips tend to stick to the mesher and the edges of the blades.
c. The thin stainless steel blades tends to bend during cutting action and hence, altering
blade interval and chip thickness.
d. There is difficulty in removing and sharpening of blades.
3. Design of aplantain chip slicing machine: Okafo and Okafo (2013) designed a
plantain slicer for small scale industries. It is made up of a cutter chamber, an electric
motor and a feed and discharge mechanism. The cutter chamber consists of a stainless
steel blade, a flywheel and a connecting rod. The Geneva and the conveyor make up the
feed and discharge mechanism. The machine was developed to slice a single plantain in 4
seconds during a single revolution of the input shaft. The machine efficiency is 73.8%.
Limitations
a. Chip thickness cannot be varied or controlled.
b. Irregularities were observed in chip thickness due to the momentary fluctuations
between the time of cut and the time the conveyor moves.
4. Development of a plantain slicing machine: Adesina et al., 2015 developed an
automated electric powered plantain slicer with an efficiency of 80% and a machine
capacity of 52kg/hr. The machine can uniformly slice a single plantain for about 16 to 20
seconds, depending on the plantain length, as against 40 to 60s of manual slicing method.
The major machine parameters are; the cutter plate, a 2 horse powered electric motor, belt,

13
bearings and pulleys.Plantain is fed through the collector into the cutting chamber of the
machine. The motor supplies rotary motion through the belt and pulley drive to the cutter
plate. This performs the cutting action that slices the plantain into chips of relatively
uniform sizes.

14
CHAPTER 5
MANUFACTURING OPERATION

Various operation done by making the project

o Welding operation
o Drilling operation
o Punching operation

5.1 Welding operation

Welding Is a fabrication or sculptural process that joins materials, usually metals or

thermoplastics, by using high heat to melt the parts together and allowing them to cool
causing fusion. Welding is distinct from lower temperature metal-joining techniques such
as brazing and soldering, which do not melt the base metal.
In addition to melting the base metal, a filler material is typically added to the joint to
form a pool of molten material (the weld pool) that cools to form a joint that, based on
weld configuration (butt, full penetration, fillet, etc.), can be stronger than the base
material (parent metal). Pressure may also be used in conjunction with heat, or by itself, to
produce a weld. Welding also requires a form of shield to protect the filler metals or
melted metals from being contaminated or oxidized.
Many different energy sources can be used for welding, including a gas flame
(chemical), an electric arc (electrical), a laser, an electron beam, friction, and ultrasound.

15
While often an industrial process, welding may be performed in many different
environments, including in open air, under water, and in outer space. Welding is a
hazardous undertaking and precautions are required to avoid burns, electric shock, vision
damage, inhalation of poisonous gases and fumes, and exposure to intense ultraviolet
radiation.
Until the end of the 19th century, the only welding process was forge welding,
which blacksmiths had used for millennia to join iron and steel by heating and hammering.
Arc welding and oxy-fuel welding were among the first processes to develop late in the
century, and electric resistance welding followed soon after. Welding technology
advanced quickly during the early 20th century as the world wars drove the demand for
reliable and inexpensive joining methods. Following the wars, several modern welding
techniques were developed, including manual methods like shielded metal arc welding,
now one of the most popular welding methods, as well as semi-automatic and automatic
processes such as gas metal arc welding, submerged arc welding, flux-cored arc welding
and electro slag welding. Developments continued with the invention of laser beam
welding, electron beam welding, magnetic pulse welding, and friction stir welding in the
latter half of the century. Today, the science continues to advance. Robot welding is
commonplace in industrial settings, and researchers continue to develop new welding
methods and gain greater understanding of weld quality.
To supply the electrical power necessary for arc welding processes, a variety
of different power supplies can be used. The most common welding power supplies are
constant current power supplies and constant voltage power supplies. In arc welding, the
length of the arc is directly related to the voltage, and the amount of heat input is related to
the current. Constant current power supplies are most often used for manual welding
processes such as gas tungsten arc welding and shielded metal arc welding, because they
maintain a relatively constant current even as the voltage varies. This is important because
in manual welding, it can be difficult to hold the electrode perfectly steady, and as a result,
the arc length and thus voltage tend to fluctuate. Constant voltage power supplies hold the
voltage constant and vary the current, and as a result, are most often used for automated
welding processes such as gas metal arc welding, flux cored arc welding, and submerged
arc welding. In these processes, arc length is kept constant, since any fluctuation in the
distance between the wire and the base material is quickly rectified by a large change in
current. For example, if the wire and the base material get too close, the current will

16
rapidly increase, which in turn causes the heat to increase and the tip of the wire to melt,
returning it to its original separation distance.
The type of current used plays an important role in arc welding. Consumable
electrode processes such as shielded metal arc welding and gas metal arc welding
generally use direct current, but the electrode can be charged either positively or
negatively. In welding, the positively charged anode will have a greater heat
concentration, and as a result, changing the polarity of the electrode affects weld
properties. If the electrode is positively charged, the base metal will be hotter, increasing
weld penetration and welding speed. Alternatively, a negatively charged electrode results
in more shallow welds No consumable electrode processes, such as gas tungsten arc
welding, can use either type of direct current, as well as alternating current. However, with
direct current, because the electrode only creates the arc and does not provide filler
material, a positively charged electrode causes shallow welds, while a negatively charged
electrode makes deeper welds. Alternating current rapidly moves between these two,
resulting in medium-penetration welds. One disadvantage of AC, the fact that the arc must
be re-ignited after every zero crossing, has been addressed with the invention of special
power units that produce a wave pattern instead of the normal sine wave, making rapid
zero crossings possible and minimizing the effects of the problem.
The process of welding is most important to our project because this process make our
work easy to joint mild steel square rod from making frame of our floor cleaning machine.

5.2 DRILLING OPRATION

Drilling is a cutting process that uses a drill bit to cut a hole of circular cross-section in
solid materials. The drill bit is usually a rotary cutting tool, often multi-point. The bit is
pressed against the work-piece and rotated at rates from hundreds to thousands of
revolutions per minute. This forces the cutting edge against the work-piece, cutting off
chips (swarf) from the hole as it is drilled.

17
 In rock drilling, the hole is usually not made through a circular cutting motion,
though the bit is usually rotated. Instead, the hole is usually made by hammering a drill bit
into the hole with quickly repeated short movements. The hammering action can be
performed from outside the whole (top-hammer drill) or within the hole (down-the-hole
drill, DTH). Drills used for horizontal drilling are called drifter drills.
In rare cases, specially-shaped bits are used to cut holes of non-circular cross-
section; a square cross-section is possible.
Drilling may affect the mechanical properties of the work piece by creating
low residual stresses around the hole opening and a very thin layer of highly stressed and
disturbed material on the newly formed surface. This causes the work piece to become
more susceptible to corrosion and crack propagation at the stressed surface. A finish
operation may be done to avoid these detrimental conditions.
For fluted drill bits, any chips are removed via the flutes. Chips may form long
spirals or small flakes, depending on the material, and process parameters.[3] The type of
chips formed can be an indicator of the machinability of the material, with long chips
suggesting good material machinability.
When possible drilled holes should be located perpendicular to the work piece surface.
This minimizes the drill bit's tendency to "walk", that is, to be deflected from the intended
center-line of the bore, causing the hole to be misplaced. The higher the length-to-diameter
ratio of the drill bit, the greater the tendency to walk.

18
5.3 PUNCHING OPRATION
Punching is a forming process that uses a punch press to force a tool, called a punch,
through the work piece to create a hole via shearing. Punching is applicable to a wide
variety of materials that come in sheet form, including sheet metal, paper, vulcanized fiber
and some forms of plastic sheet. The punch often passes through the work into a die. A
scrap slug from the hole is deposited into the die in the process. Depending on the material
being punched this slug may be recycled and reused or discarded.
Punching is often the cheapest method for creating holes in sheet materials in medium to
high production volumes. When a specially shaped punch is used to create multiple usable
parts from a sheet of material the process is known as blanking. In metal forging
applications the work is often punched while hot, and this is called hot punching. Slugging
is the operation of punching in which punch is stopped as soon as the metal fracture is
complete and metal is not removed but held in hole.

Punch tooling (punch and die) is often made of hardened steel or tungsten carbide. A die is
located on the opposite side of the work piece and supports the material around the

19
 perimeter of the hole and helps to localize the shearing forces for a cleaner edge. There is
a small amount of clearance between the punch and the die to prevent the punch from
sticking in the die and so less force is needed to make the hole. The amount of clearance
needed depends on the thickness, with thicker materials requiring more clearance, but the
clearance is always greater than the thickness of the work piece. The clearance is also
dependent on the hardness of the work piece. The punch press forces the punch through a
work piece, producing a hole that has a diameter equivalent to the punch, or slightly
smaller after the punch is removed. All ductile materials stretch to some extent during
punching which often causes the punch to stick in the work piece. In this case, the punch
must be physically pulled back out of the hole while the work is supported from the punch
side, and this process is known as stripping.

CHAPTER 6
METHODOLOGY

20
 A mechanical mechanism to peel and slice the rind and the pulp of the plantain
banana is designed. The machine is fabricated using cast iron pipes and rods for the
support pillars and the blades are made using stainless steel (SS 204) materials. The blades
are placed in an iron pipe at 120º angles to horizontal and at 60 º angles to the vertical
surface of the pipe. This set-up has so far given satisfactory results and has achieved 75%
efficiency.
The automatic movement of the piston or ram is made possible using Scotch Yoke
mechanism. The movement of the wheel in the mechanism is powered by a 0.5HP geared
motor with a geared ratio of 1:50. The rotary motion of the wheel is converted into the
linear motion of the piston using the scotch yoke arrangement. The wheel radius and the
stroke length of the piston is equal.
The machine is made up of a support mechanism, a cutter mechanism, a feeder
mechanism, an outlet chute and an electric motor. The support mechanism comprises a
5mm by 20mm mild steel angle iron which is used for the fabrication of the frame, and
seats for an electric motor and a crankshaft. The frame is a 650mm long, 300mm wide and
300mm high angle iron, welded firmly together with electric arc welding machine using
gauge 12 steel electrode. The frame was designed for high strength, rigidity and vibration
resistance. The motor seat is a 150mm long, 100mm wide and 100mm high, serving as a
basement to which electric motor is bolted to. The crank seat is the part of the support
mechanism whose function is to provide suitable platform for proper functioning of the
crankshaft. It has a dimension of 80mm long, 90mm wide and 200mm high. The cutter
mechanism comprises the blade, blade housing, connecting rod and crank. The blade is a
removable 0.5mm thick stainless steel sheet, of 300mm wide and 70mm high, bolted
firmly to the blade housing. Its basic function is to slice plantain, loaded on the conveyor,
by reciprocation.
The blade housing is pair of hollow cylindrical pipe of 30mm diameter and 100mm
long. It is welded fixed to the frame to serve as a guard which allow free reciprocation of
the blade in the vertical axis. The connecting rod links the blade to the crank and mainly
function to transfer motion from the crank to the blade. The crank converts rotational
motion from the electric motor to a reciprocating motion to power the blade. The feeder
mechanism consist of a conveyor belt mounted on two rollers. This act both as feeding and
discharge mechanisms. The conveyor was designed to travel at a speed of 80rpm. It acts as
a feeder mechanism when it conveys loaded plantain to the reciprocating blade and act as

21
a discharge mechanism when it moves the sliced plantain from the blade to the outlet
chute.
The roller is a pair of mild steel hollow shaft of length 300mm and a diameter of
50mm machined to a solid shaft of length 450mm and diameter 30mm. The outlet chute is
the discharge point of the machine where sliced plantain are collected. It is made up of a
stainless steel sheet inclined at an angle of 30o to the horizontal such that sliced plantain
falls by gravity to the collecting tray. The electric motor is the prime mover that supplies
power to the entire system. It is a three phase motor rated 0.735 KWat and a speed of
1400rpm.

CONSTRUCTION:
1. Frame:
The frame was fabricated using a mild steel angle iron. The lengths and position of
holes were marked-out on the angle iron and four 650mm and 300mm and 300mm long
were cut out using the power hacksaw. The marked-out holes were drilled where
necessary on the angle iron before welding the irons perpendicular to one another. The
motor seat, 150mm long and 100mm wide, and crankshaft seat, 80mm long, 90mm wide
and 200mm high, were then marked-out, cut and welded permanently to the frame.

2. Roller:

22
 Roller The roller was fabricated from the combination of a hollow shaft, 300mm long
and 50mm external diameter, and a solid shaft, 450mm long and 30mm diameter. The
shafts were machined and fastened together permanently by electric arc welding.
Roller Conveyor – A series of rollers supported in a frame over which objects are
advanced manually, by gravity or by power. These easy-to-install, low maintenance rollers
are built to help workers load and unload truckloads efficiently

3.HSS Blade:

23
High-speed steel (HSS) circular saw blades are widely demanded in various industries &
primarily used for cutting pipes, tubes, sections, and solid steel based materials. They are
also used to cut non-ferrous materials.
Metal Cutting Blades is most demanded in the industry, especially for cutting c-channel,
angle iron, thin steel, steel plate, rebar, joists, trusses, grading, conduit, and aluminum.
These blades can be customized for their number of teeth, carbide grade and the shape of
teeth. Suitable for heavy duty cutting of various metals including steel, thin steel,
aluminum and many others, these blades have tungsten carbide tips for longer life.

4. Slider:
A slider or track bar is a graphical control element with which a user may set a value by
moving an indicator, usually horizontally. In some cases user may also click on a point on
the slider to change the setting.

5. Gear Motor:

24
 A gear motor is a specific type of electrical motor that is designed to produce high torque
while maintaining a low horsepower, or low speed, motor output. Gear motors can be
found in many different applications, and are probably used in many devices in your
home.

6. Banana Slicer Machine:

CHAPTER 7
25
WORK FLOW CHART

7.1: FLOW CHART

7.2 Cost Estimation

SR.NO Component And Material Quantity Prize

Total

CHAPTER 8
26
ADVANTAGES, DISADVANTAGES AND APPLICATION

8.1 Advantages:
 The machine is artificially peeled.
 The machine is peeled clean, the peeled banana pulp is smooth and not damaged.
 The machine has a high output and can peel about 320KG per hour.
 The machine is suitable for peeling of green banana of any size and curvature.
 Peeled banana skin meat separation, automatic output.

8.2 Disadvantages:
 The machine performance was so poor while slicing unripen plantain.
 There exist a large variation in chip thickness.

 Chip thickness cannot be varied or controlled.

 More time is required on chipping large quantity of plantain since the machine
hopper can only accommodate one plantain at a time.

8.3 Application:
The slicer can slice vegetables and fruits that require round slices, such as banana,
plantain, apple, pineapple, lemon, potato, sweet potato, cassava, cucumber, eggplant,
carrot, taro, balsam pear, lotus root, etc.

CHAPTER 9

27
CONCLUSION
The work centered on the design of an electrical rotary slicer for raw plantain chips.
Fabrication was carried out using materials that were sourced locally. Though this
machine was designed for medium scale industries for raw plantain chips production, it
can also be used for domestic purposes. The machine can slice up to a maximum of 70mm
diameter raw plantain and is capable of slicing a finger of raw plantain in just 2-3 seconds.
Maintenance of the machine is simple requires just lubrication of rotating members and
proper cleaning after use.

The power operated rotary raw banana slicer was designed and developed. With the
chosen machine speed of 360 rpm, the slicing efficiency obtained was 93–94%; it was
acceptable for both varieties with optimum capacity 100 kg/h for three-blade cutter, which
meets the requirements of small scale processing unit. The best chip geometry was
obtained at moderate speed of machine; the slicer gives better results with average
roundness of 0.84 and 0.70 for Nendran and Dwarf Cavendish, respectively. Slice
thickness affects chip quality; it was found to be significantly uniform for both varieties
with maximum deviation of ±0.2 mm.The overall cost of developed power operated
banana slicer was around USD 230.00. Therefore the developed banana slicer is more
economical and efficient than other slicers.

The initial stage of this project is more towards designing the machine with
engineering software such as AutoCAD. One design selected to proceed with. Force and
velocity analysis of the design have been calculated to make sure enough power supported
to make sure it works after fabrication done. The approach taken toward the project will
ensure that the design is fully optimized and fully functional. Earlier determination of
which machine to be used will give an ease to student during the fabrication process.
Material to be used was chosen wisely during fabrication for cost effectiveness of the
machine. And list of possible material have also been selected. After fabrication process
completed, assembly of the machine is then done to finally proceed with test running the
machine. Adjustment made to the machine if any error encountered during test run for
smoother running of the machine. From the test run, the result is that by using this
machine the production can increase to double the traditional method. And from the cost
analysis, the profit gained over certain period of production time is higher compared to the

28
traditional method. The conclusion is that by using this machine, one can increase the
production output and also increase the profit gain.

The research focused on the design and fabrication of a motorized/ power operated
plantain slicer for raw plantain chips. The raw materials used for the fabrication were
sourced locally. The machine was designed for food industries but it can also be used for
domestic purposes. The slicing efficiency of the machine was found to be 96.84% and can
slice up to a maximum of 70mm diameter of raw plantain. The duration for slicing a finger
of raw plantain was found to be between 2-3 seconds. The machine is user friendly and
requires regular lubrication of the rotating parts to reduce wears and tears.

29
CHAPTER 10
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