DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF GINGER SLICING MACHINE USING LOCALLY SOURCED MATERIALS

Abstract

The need for the design and construction of ginger slicing machine arose when manual slicing with
kitchen knives is injurious and cause health hazards. Ginger spice crop will be reduced to a
thickness of about 2 millimeters thereby reducing thickness and enabling fast drying on the sun or
other dryers for further processing. The designed machine consist basically of an electric motor
that provide the operation power and a drive shaft that bear a rotary disc with blades that effect
the slicing action. The driver shaft rotates on two ball bearing and is connected to the electric
motor by a pulley and v-belt synthesis and analysis were made before the prototype machine was
constructed. The design analysis show that a drive shaft with 20mm diameter and an electric
motor of one horse power running at 750 revolutions per minute is required for the construction
of the prototype. Also in the design consideration a V-belt drive of size A-35 is recommended for
the machine. The design of the component parts of the machine was based on strength and
rigidity, the entire component was assembled by welding and screwing with bolts.