Design, Fabrication and Testing of a Manually Operated Locust Bean Cubing Machine

Abstract

Background and Objective: Cubing is a process of consolidating bulk agricultural products to allow precise sizing prior to packaging and marketing. This research was undertaken to develop a locust bean cubing machine. Materials and Methods: The machine was designed to cube 2 kg of fermented locust beans with the help of a piston-connecting rod arrangement, as a conveying mechanism. A handle attached to the connecting rod provides the drive and force required for cubing and the resultant piston speed was computed empirically. Results: The results showed that the machine required a piston speed and pressure of 33 m secG1 and 25.1 kN mG2, respectively. Also, the machine was able to produce cubed locust beans of an approximate size of 0.06 m2. Conclusion: Thus, the cubing of locust beans condiment can be successfully achieved with the help of this machine.