Claims:The scope of the invention is defined by the following claims:

Claim:
1. A customizable khoa making machine with variable vessel and fuel usage comprising:
a) A cantilever plate (2) is attached to a height adjustable vertical stand (1).
b) A geared motor (3) is firmly mounted on one of its ends of the cantilever plate and a slotted disc (4) is connected to its shaft from the bottom of the plate.
c) Using nut and bolt fitting, stirring rods (6) of adjustable lengths are coupled to the slotted disc (4) through hollow cylindrical rods (5).
d) Flat scrapper blades which includes a side scrapper (7) and two bottom scrappers (8) are employed to remove the milk solids that are adhered to the walls of a vessel (9).
2. As mentioned in claim 1, an adjustable vertical stand and cantilever plate are used to fix the machine in accordance to the vessel dimensions.
3. A slotted disc connected with hollow cylindrical rods is used to adjust the length of the stirring rods of scrapper blades.
4. A vessel is an independent component of machine which can be heated by any means of fuel. , Description:Field of Invention
The present invention pertains to make stirring operation in the Khoa preparation easy and operate with milk capacities ranging from 10 – 150 litres.
Background of the Invention
In rich Indian diverse cultures, milk based sweets are shared among the people to celebrate one’s happiest moments. And, they also become an integral part in every Indian festival. Khoa is an intermediate coagulated milk product which is considered as a base material for many sweets, such as peda, gulab jamun, kalakand etc. It is estimated that khoa is produced annually at around one million tons by consuming almost 6 million tons of milk which is an equivalent to approximately 7% of total milk production (Avijit Shaw et. al. [2015], Indian Journal of Dairy Science, 68, p 321-325). Traditionally, khoa is prepared in batch wise by continuously stirring the cow or buffalo milk for about 3-4 h under hot conditions in a big vessel called Kadai. During the stirring process, milk that is in contact with the vessel surface is prevented from getting burned. When the coagulation of milk protein gets starts, the color of the product changes as an indication and gradually the thickness of product increases. A very careful attention is paid from this stage to until the end (Kaushik Khamrui, Online Training for Master Trainers on Dairy Processing, p 107-122).
Khoa prepared through traditional route suffers from many drawbacks, such as time and labour consuming, inconsistency in quality, spillage losses, and limited capacity due to batch operation (Sunil Patel et. al. [2015], Proceedings of National Seminar on “Indian Dairy Industry – Opportunities and Challenges held by Anand Agricultural University, p 321-325). Attempts have been made to mechanize the process, which started in 1968, when Banerjee et. al., designed an equipment for continuous production of khoa (Banerjee et.al. [1997], Dairy India, 5th Edn, P 381). The production of khoa using this machine was standardized by De and Singh in the year 1970 (De et. al. [1980], Outlines of Dairy Technology, Oxford University Press, p 386-387). Further developments were added in terms of replacing mild steel with stainless steel by Rajorhia and Srinivasan. Later, in 1990, an inclined scraped surface heat exchanger (SSHE) has been proposed for continuous production of khoa by Punjrath et. al. (Punjrath et. al. [1990], Indian Journal of Dairy Science, 43, p 225-230). Further, Khoa system was studied with two and three SSHE for heat transfer characteristics. Avijit Shaw et. al. proposed a mechanized cooling system for Khoa when prepared in industrial scales and concluded that the system can be integrated to continuous khoa making equipment to rapidly cool the product, thus, reducing their manufacturing times (Avijit Shaw et. al. [2015], Indian Journal of Dairy Science, 68, p 321-325). The effect of number of blades, weight of blades and rotor speeds on the milk concentration was examined by Dhruv Juyal et. al. (Dhruv Juyal et. al. [2018], International Journal of Science, Environment and Technology, 7, p 569-576). It is observed that higher evaporation rates are achieved with increasing scraper speed and number of blades. The weight of the blades had an adverse on the milk concentration.
From the literature survey, it is identified that the most of these continuously producing khoa machines are expensive for small scale producers to afford and they demand electric power supply to operate. There is no machine currently available in the market that can be used for a family of 4 or 5. In this work, a customizable khoa making machine is developed which operates with capacities ranging 10 – 150 litres of milk that is suitable for household and small scale producers. The machine can be operated not only with electric power supply but also with other fossil fuels.
Summary of the Invention
In light of the above mentioned drawbacks in the prior art, the present invention aims to provide a khoa making system for household and small scale producers who can operate the machine with either electric power supply or with any other available fuel sources.
The specific objective of the invention is to design a machine which can able to accommodate various vessels customized to the volume capacities ranging from 10 -150 litres and that can operate with any available power/fuel sources.
A further specific objective of the invention is to provide a necessary mechanism in the machine to adjust the height of the stand, length of the cantilever beam/plate and length of the stirring rods so that machine can be operated with different sizes of vessel and is suitable for heating milk using firewood which can temporarily counter the LPG requirement.
Brief Description of Drawings
The invention will be described in detail with reference to the exemplary embodiments shown in the figures wherein:
Figure 1 Pictorial representation of customizable khoa making machine with variable vessel and fuel usage
Detailed Description of the Invention
The embodiments of the present disclosure provide a customizable khoa making machine with variable vessel and fuel usage which produces high quality khoa. A customizable khoa making machine was designed and developed to operate with milk capacities in the range of 10 - 150 liters. Accordingly, vessels that can hold 10, 25, 50, 75, 100, 125 and 150 liters are made available. It provides freedom to the khoa makers in selecting the desired vessel as per the small/large scale khoa production. According to the vessel, provisions are made in the machine to adjust the height of the stand, length of the cantilever beam/plate and length of the stirring rods. Bottom and side scrapers can be made available in appropriate lengths that suits according to the vessel. It fetches greater advantage to the entrepreneurs in marketing the machine and their spare parts. By replacing flat scrapers with multiple hemispherical scrapers, the machine can be enabled to comfortably work with curved vessels as well. As the vessel is not an integrated part of the machine, it makes the machine more suitable for existing manual Khoa entrepreneurs and marks the solution more suitable to entrepreneur’s existing setup. The machine is suitable for heating milk using firewood, this can temporarily counter the LPG requirement. In addition, the machine is designed to operate on a 0.5 HP geared motor and the power supply to this motor can be obtained from domestic household power source or through an inverter batteries i.e. charged via solar panels. Finally, spillage losses during the stirring process are significantly reduced by considering the vessel with an inward bent.
With reference to the figure 1 the ‘customizable khoa making machine with variable vessel and fuel usage’ is provided in accordance to an embodiment of the present disclosure. A cantilever plate (2) is attached to a height adjustable vertical stand (1). A geared motor (3) is firmly mounted on one of its ends of the cantilever plate. A slotted disc (4) is connected to motor (3) shaft from the bottom of the plate. Stirring rods (6) of adjustable lengths are coupled to the slotted disc (4) using hollow cylindrical rods (5) through nut and bolt fitting. Flat scrapper blades which includes a side scrapper (7) and two bottom scrappers (8) are employed to remove the milk solids that are adhered to the walls of a vessel (9).
Vessel (9) used for heating the milk is an independent component of the machine which is selected in accordance with the desired production volume of khoa. Various adjustment holes provided on the stirring rods (6) helps the operator to adjust the length of the stirring rods as per the selected capacity of vessel. Side scrapper blade (7) and bottom scrapper blades (8) that are connected to stirring rods are ensured to be in contact with the vessel so that when these blades are operated they will scrap out the product that is adhered to the surface of the vessel.
The milk can be heated by using electric stove or gas stove or with firewood. It will become an additional attachment to the machine which is to be made available for heating the milk. According to the size of the stove, the length of the stand (1) and length of the cantilever plate (2) can be adjusted. Here, a 0.5 HP geared motor (3) is employed for stirring the 10-150 litres of milk. The motor (3) can be operated with the help of AC electric power supply or through DC power source from rechargeable batteries via solar power panels.