Jaggery making is one of the oldest cottage industries in India. Jaggery is mainly produced by concentrating sugarcane juice in heating pans after which a thick, viscous syrup is poured into wooden/metallic moulds for solidification. One of the most laborious tasks in jaggery making is filling jaggery into moulds. This innovation is an automatic moulding-demoulding machine that allows thick, viscous syrup to get poured into moulds and push solid jaggery out from the other end.
Figure 1. Jaggery formed using the machine
Although jaggery has high nutritional value and strong market demand, its production remains largely unmodernized. The traditional process of making jaggery is labor-intensive and lacks consistency in quality while also being unhygienic. The lack of standardized processing, molding, demolding, and packaging results in poor shelf life, which reduces the market value of jaggery.
- This novel machine replaces the labor-intensive manual process for jaggery filling, molding, and demolding, with automation, ensuring consistent quality and hygiene of the jaggery.
- This machine increases productivity and standardizes the molding process, overcoming the limitations of traditional jaggery production.
- Uniformity and consistency in jaggery makes it more attractive to consumers, with a potential to realize higher market value compared to traditionally produced jaggery.
The machine features stainless steel molds mounted on a long conveyor chain, which rotates at a controlled RPM using an electric motor. Jaggery is poured from a feeder into the molds and weighed by a sensor beneath each mold. The chain length is adjusted so that the jaggery cools, solidifies, and is ready for demolding by the end of the cycle.
Proof of concept has been developed for this invention.
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For large-scale production, the conventional method of jaggery filling is not economically viable. Jaggery is also one of the oldest cottage industry in India and holds high nutritional value and demand in the market whose production has not been modernized yet. Jaggery produced with this machine will be more attractive to consumers and sellers due to its uniformity and consistency, resulting in higher market value compared to traditionally produced jaggery.
Jaggery cottage industry
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