Design and construction of fish Pressing Machine for Making Salted Thread-fin Fish

Abstract

The purposes of this research were to:  1) design and construct a fish pressing machine for making salted thread-fin fish through the engineering design process, 2) study the strength of spring stiffness of the fish pressing machine.  And 3) compare the efficiency of hand-pressing method with the developed pressing machine. The research tools included quality assessment forms for the experts to validate the pressing machine and the experimental record forms.  The research statistics included mean, standard deviation (SD), and t-test for performance analysis. The research showed that 1) the developed fish pressing machine for making salted fish was evaluated by the experts with the result of a high level. (mean= 4.42 , S.D. = 0.56).  2) The spring stiffness of 1.814 N/mm was suitable for pressing fish. And 3) the test showed that the efficiency of the fish pressing machine was faster than that of the hand pressing method. The resulting soft texture of the fish meat and skin is appropriate for culinary use.