MIZAN TEPI UNIVERSITY

College of Engineering and Technology

Department of Mechanical Engineering

Bachelor of Education in Engineering Drawing and Design

Proposal on

Title: - Design of vegetable milling machine

By

Asfaw Dana ETS/030/09

Sifaw Tadesse ETS/148/09

Aklilu Assefa ETS/024/09

Afework Abera ETS/019/09

Advisor

Yohannes Mulugeta (MSc)

Tepi, Ethiopia

August , 2024
Table of Contents
CHAPTER ONE ............................................................................................................................. 3

1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 3

1.1 Problem statement ................................................................................................................. 4

1.2 Objectives of Project ............................................................................................................. 5

1.2.1 General Objective .......................................................................................................... 5

1.4.1Specific Objectives ......................................................................................................... 5

1.3 Significance of the study....................................................................................................... 5

CHAPTER TWO ............................................................................................................................ 6

2. Literature review ......................................................................................................................... 6

CHAPTER THREE ........................................................................................................................ 8

3. Methods and methodology.......................................................................................................... 8

3.1 Methodology ......................................................................................................................... 8

3.2 Material selection .................................................................................................................. 8

4.Work plan................................................................................................................................... 10

5.Budget ........................................................................................................................................ 11

References ..................................................................................................................................... 12
 CHAPTER ONE

1. Introduction
Any part of a plant that may be consumed raw or cooked is referred to as a vegetable. As the
cheapest and most plentiful possible source of protein, leafy greens are highly valued in Africa
due to their economic potential and capacity to manufacture amino acids from a range of
fundamental materials [1], [2], [3]. Leafy crops can withstand abiotic conditions like heat and
drought [4]. They are extremely perishable, especially when kept at room temperature. Because of
their large surface area, the leaves are more susceptible to moisture loss. When cooked, the result
is a loss of crispiness, wilting, and hardness [5]. Vegetables improve the taste and consumption of
our primary foods. They also provide most of the nutrients lacking in other food sources, such as
calcium and iron, and minerals.

Generally, a balanced diet and addressing nutritional deficits require vegetables [1]. A tropical
vine known as the "fluted pumpkin" (Telfairia occidentalis), also known as "Ugu" by the Igbo
ethnic group of Eastern Nigeria, is grown there for its edible seeds and as a leafy vegetable [6],
[7]. It is a lowgrowing creeping leafy vegetable with long, twisted tendrils and huge lobed leaves
[8]. Amaranthus hybridus, also called green amaranth, is cultivated as a green vegetable in parts
of India, Mexico, the southern United States, and Africa [9], [10], [11], [12]. The leaves are rich
in protein and contain much energy. While in season, amaranth leaves give some African tribes up
to 25% of their daily protein [13]. Young seedlings are pulled up by the roots and picked in West
Africa before being sold in markets. These are the boiled greens that Africans eat the most
frequently. According to [4], the use of local leafy vegetables is dwindling in favor of exotic crops.
This is because they are not usually cultivated but mostly gathered.

Slicing, cutting, crushing, chopping, grinding, and milling are different size reduction methods.
They can be achieved mechanically without altering the material's chemical properties [14].
Cutting is the penetration of a sharp knife through a material, resulting in a new surface and smaller
sizes required for a particular purpose. Several methods have been devised, but these methods have
not been helpful in efficiently enhancing the slicing operation, as most of the machines are
manually operated, and there are no rollers (for compression) in others. [15] reported that cutting
force and specific energy studies on different vegetables help to design the appropriate slicing or
cutting devices and that the cutting tool parameters also influence the shape of the final output.
[16] reported that the variation in the width of slices was greater in motorized slicers because the
feeding could not be adequately controlled, and the cutting force required for slicing was 1.121N.

Therefore, the main objective of this research is to develop a leafy vegetable-slicing machine. It
was in recognition of the need to remove drudgery, avoid user harm and associated hardships,
minimize losses, and get the most out of vegetables economically that there arose the need for a
motorized leafy vegetable slicing machine that is made of slicing blades enclosed in a slicing drum
to ease problems related to manual slicing of leafy vegetables, thereby enhancing long shelf life
and mass production of sliced vegetables at a faster and easier rate.

1.1 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. The purpose of
the project is to design motorized 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, and crushing in a single machine.
1.2 Objectives of Project
1.2.1 General Objective
The general objective of this project is to design easily operated vegetable milling machine that
will be suitable for Small Scale Enterprise.

1.4.1Specific Objectives
To achieve the above mentioned general objective, the project includes the following specific
objectives: -

 To design each components of the milling machine

 To select appropriate materials for designed c components
 To model the machine using CAD software

1.3 Significance of the study

The significance of this thesis project is to improve simple machine with in low cost and proper
materials which is useful to all parts of Ethiopia. This thesis project is also important to save their
energy and their time consumption to workers.

Significantly the miller that we have designed is simple in construction and well modified the
machine for easy understanding of the operation and cost minimization. Anyone can operate this
machine easily there is no need of special skill therefore the everyone can easily operates.
 CHAPTER TWO

2. Literature review
A manual vegetable slicing device was designed and built by [17]. The device was made out of a
hopper, a drum for slicing, blades, a discharge chute, a handle, and a frame. The vegetable was
reduced to its smallest size by the rotating motion of the cutters (slicing blades) from the handle,
and the sliced vegetable was collected at the discharge chute.

For small-scale food processing, [18] designed a motorized leafy vegetable cutter. Frame, loading
chamber, discharge chute, cutting blades, and power transmission unit made up the machine.
Vegetables supplied into the loading chamber were transported via the hopper to the cutting
chamber, where they were sliced into a variety of sizes by the spinning action of the cutting blades.

The automated leafy vegetable cutter designed by [18] was assessed by [19]. When put to the test,
the green vegetable cutting machine had an output of 29 kg/h with an efficiency of more than 80%.

The manual tomato slicing device designed by [20] was redesign by [21]. The same operating
theory was applied. The new machine has improvements such as better cutting blades, a collecting
unit, and the usage of aluminum in place of wood for machine components. The device's
production capacity and slicing efficiency were 92% and 3.012 kg/h, respectively. A motorized
machine for slicing fluted pumpkin leaves was designed by [16]. The device was composed of a
frame, a rubber belt conveyor, a three-bladed cutting disc, a driving shaft, a bearing assembly, and
a power drive mechanism (gear). The device has a 6.67 kg/h capacity and a 73.2% efficiency.

[22] developed a slicer machine for slicing bananas and potatoes, assessed in terms of slicing
capacity, broken percentage, and uniform slicing. Around 68.78 kg of bananas and 91.8 kg of
potatoes may be sliced each hour on average, respectively.

A vegetable-slicing device designed by [23] was discovered to have a 1.717 kg/h capacity. [24]
designed a manually operated potato-slicing machine with the goal of increasing process
throughput and efficiency. The weight of the sliced vegetable divided by the weight of the
vegetable before slicing was used to calculate the machine's capacity and efficiency, which were
found to be 42.93 kg/h and 88.8% respectively.
A fruit and vegetable slicing machine with a 96 kg/h capacity and a 70% efficiency was designed
by [25]. [26] created a prototype vegetable cutter that was tested on carrots. The cutter was
constructed with a 0.5 hp, 1400 rpm motor, a 30 kg/h cutting capacity, and an 86% efficiency.

A mechanical tomato slicer designed by [27] feeds tomatoes to revolving blades using a gravity
feeding method. The machine's efficiency and capacity were determined using a 0.25 hp and 1200
rpm motor, the machine's capacity and efficiency were determined to be 468 kg/h and 60.34%,
respectively. For greater effectiveness, it was advised that the knife carriage be strengthened.

For small-scale food processing businesses, [28] developed a power-operated banana slicer with
an emphasis on the cutter assembly. The cutter plate and the cutting blade make up the assembly.
It was powered by a 360 rpm motor. The machine's efficiency was determined to be 93% and its
effective capacity to be 100 kg/h.

Cutting force, according to [29] increased with increasing load speed, while shear energy remained
constant. Knife cutting angles from 00 to 400 sharpening angles resulted in a decrease in cutting
power, strength, energy values, and specific energy values. The maximum cutting force
measurement was recorded by a knife with a sharpening angle of 17.50, and the lowest by a knife
with a sharpening angle of 2.50

[30] Claim that when the speed of the slicing disc rose, mechanical damage reduced and efficiency
and throughput capacity improved. The findings of the experiment were as follows: the greatest
value of throughput capacity was 184.11 kg/h, the highest value of slicing efficiency was 99.88%,
and the mechanical damage index value decreased from 16.05% at 300 rpm to 0.30% at 1200 rpm.
 CHAPTER THREE

3. Methods and methodology

In this study the process of designing of vegetable milling machine following methodologies are
followed to achieve the project objective.

3.1 Methodology
Data collection

 Secondary data was collected by assessing the previous different literature reviews about
vegetable milling machine by reading different reference books, from website, from
internet access and from different handbooks, journals and articles.
Literature survey

 In this process we used various books, journals, websites and articles which considering
about vegetable milling machine.
Modeling of the machine

 Solid work software was used to model the developed mechanism

Design analysis
 Using stresses and force applied to the component each component of machine analyzed.

3.2 Material selection

The following characteristics are considered during material selection:

1. Mechanical properties: The material selected should have the necessary strength, toughness,
hardness, and ductility to withstand the operational stresses and loads placed on the machine
components.

2. Corrosion resistance: If the machine is operating in a corrosive environment, materials with

good resistance to corrosion, such as stainless steel or special alloys, should be chosen to prevent
degradation and maintain the component's integrity.

3. Wear resistance: Components that are subject to wear and friction should be made from
materials with high wear resistance to prolong their lifespan and reduce maintenance needs.
4. Temperature resistance: If the machine operates at high temperatures, materials with good
thermal conductivity and heat resistance should be used to prevent deformation or failure.

5. Cost considerations: The selected material should strike a balance between performance and
cost to ensure that it is cost-effective for the intended application.

6. Machinability: Materials that are easy to machine and shape should be selected to reduce
manufacturing time and costs.

7. Availability: The chosen material should be readily available in the required quantities and
forms to ensure timely production and maintenance of the machine components.

8. Environmental impact: Consideration should be given to the environmental impact of the

material, including its recyclability and disposal methods, to ensure sustainability and compliance
with regulations.

design
Data collection literature survey analysis

modeling Assembly Drawing Finalizing

Figure 3. 1 methodology
 4.Work plan

September
February
January

August
march
Tasks

April

June
May

July
No

1 Problem
identification
2 Literature
review
3 Design
calculation
4 Modeling

5 Finalizing
 5.Budget

Item Quantity Unit Price(ETB) Total price(ETB)

1 Paper pack 1000 1000

2 Pen 4 25 100

3 Fixer 4 50 200

4 Rubber 20 80

5 Flashcard(USB Drive),16GB 1 450 450

6 Printing 150 5 750

7 Color print 10 10 100

8 Cover page 2 10 20

9 Scale ( Ruler) 1 60 60

10 Scientific Calculator 1 750 750

11 Lead for pencil(fixer) 2 15 30

Total amount of budget 3,540

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