Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
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Ketchup Centrifuge

Tabletop turntable bottleneck unblocker
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Give me your tired of shaking and pounding bottles, your poor huddled masses yearning to be free of the wretched rest of their contents. Calling all frustrated consumers of catsup, salad dressing, syrup and hand cream. This gadget will ease your troubles by loosening and removing your viscous juices.

Place the offending bottle, with opening outward, in the cradle of the high-tech turntable with sure-grip base. The bottle’s opening is pressed into the omni-size lid that opens and closes on command. Lock the bottle in place with the sticky-bands and adjust the turntable counter weight aided by the leveling bubble. Grasp the vertical crank on the perimeter and rotate the turntable counter clockwise up to 20 revolutions, winding up the cobra-coil spring. Place a plate or hand under the target point and release the crank.

As the turntable unwinds at high speed, centrifugal force causes the bottle contents to rush towards the omni-size lid that opens for a millisecond each time it passes the target point, splott . splott .. splott ... splott .... splott ..... splott ...... splott ....... splott ........ splott, each time delivering 1/3 of a teaspoon of your longed-for liquid.

FarmerJohn, Sep 12 2002

half-baked and patented... http://www.colitz.c...3216423/3216423.htm
...but it's not for ketchup! [mihali, Sep 12 2002, last modified Oct 21 2004]

Home Body Part Extender http://www.halfbake...y_20Part_20Extender
...closer to this one I would think [FarmerJohn, Sep 12 2002, last modified Oct 05 2004]

polartomato's toy http://www.toymax.c...tral/CC/spinart.htm
Spin Art [half, Sep 13 2002, last modified Oct 21 2004]

ketchup and its thixotropic properties were discussed on this one http://www.halfbake...a/Mustard_20Bottles
[po, Sep 17 2002, last modified Oct 05 2004]

[link]






       Obscene.
General Washington, Sep 12 2002
  

       Any calculations on how fast this would need to rotate?
PeterSilly, Sep 12 2002
  

       G.W.: Well, I guess, now that you point it out.   

       P.S.: My nine-year-old moved an appreciable amount of ketchup to the capped end by whipping the bottle one revolution in one second, 60 rpm, on his 20 inch arm.
FarmerJohn, Sep 12 2002
  

       Peter:   

       <sigh>   

       Angular velocity is given by: w = 2ðf w=2ð/T has units of (rad s-1) Also from T=1/f then substitution yields w=2ðf   

       Linear speed of the body is given by v=radius*angular velocity v=rw Centripetal acceleration is given by a=v2/r and acts towards the centre of circular path, therefore a=w2r   

       Centripetal Force is given by F=mv2/r   

       For Rotational Motion of Rigid bodies then: Resultant torque is given by T=Moment of inertia*angular acceleration T=Iá Rotational Kinetic Energy is given by Ek=1/2Iw2 Angular Momentum is given by L=Iw.   

       Assume that the bottle is 200mm long and fixed by its base.   

       Now, first estimate the impulse normaly applied by the action of shaking the bottle in the hand and extrapolate it to a rotational model. It's not difficult. Marks will be awarded for tidy handwriting and showing working. I will post the correct solution later. Those posting incorrect answers will report to my office for a spanking.
8th of 7, Sep 12 2002
  

       Don'tlet 8/7 send you barking up a wild goosepath. If it opens for only a millisecond, and assuming it's open for say 20 degrees (at maximum), it must therefore complete a cycle every 360/20= 18 milliseconds, which is approx. 50 Hz.   

       Course if you want it to splot accuratlier, you got to spin it more faster...
General Washington, Sep 12 2002
  

       I've done the arm rotation thing many, many times to try to get the last bit of whatever out of bottles, like your son. Only thing is, it only lasts for a squirt or two before having to wind up again. Your device retains the momentum between spurts - nice.   

       Ranch-dressing-covered croissant.
XSarenkaX, Sep 12 2002
  

       Blissmiss: Er..... what made you think that I was the one giving out the spanky ? Did I say that ?   

       Mihali's link made me do the coffee-fountain thing too .... I can't believe it. Seriously, has anyone ever built one of those ? Would any woman ever use one ? Looks like a medaeval torture device - and the baby wouldn't be the only thing affected by the high-g .... simpler to sit the unfortunate patient in the back seat of an F-15 and put it in a 8g turn .... go from 2 crew to 3 in a single manoeuvre ....
8th of 7, Sep 12 2002
  

       <Anecdote> I was working in a nice restaurant in New Orleans, when the owner, who was notoriously cheap, proceeded to give a demonstration of how to shake the ketchup down to avoid waste. The lid was not on properly, and he slung a perfect red arc onto ceiling, wall, and floor. Three acoustic ceiling tiles had to be replaced, and the stain on the wall had to be painted over. <Anecdote>
Brackforn2, Sep 12 2002
  

       My point being that ketchup is a non-Newtonian fluid (like glass) and will require some considerable force to fling it out of the end of the bottle at the start of the exercise, assuming the bottle is not full. I wasn't getting hung up on how long the aperture was open for, I was more concerned with getting the ketchup to the aperture in the first place. Once the ketchup is at the end, different problems come in to play.   

       Really I was asking about regulating the flow out of the end of the bottle.
PeterSilly, Sep 12 2002
  

       Well, that depends if ketchup is thixotropic or not. I shall investigate.
8th of 7, Sep 12 2002
  

       I seem to remember, as a child of the eighties, having had a toy like this that you would spin and then paint would splatter out in way cool patterns. And it used to be totally dudical to do those rad spin-paint designs on your shirt. This idea just reminded me of it.   

       I dunno if the centrifuge would work, but it sure sounds cool. And it would make some kickass food designs.   

       Maybe all ketchup bottles could have a sliding blade thingy inside the bottle that you could manipulate through some complicated mechanisms of some sort, thus making the butterknife obsolete for these purposes.
polartomato, Sep 13 2002
  

       //totally dudical to do those rad spin-paint designs// Uh, yep, child of the 80's. (link to Spin Art Toy)   

       All this talk about ketchup difficulties gives me an idea...
half, Sep 13 2002
  

       "Dear, the room is spinning on me!   

       That's okay honey... just push. And try to time your pushes to when you see the two bands line up."
RayfordSteele, Sep 17 2002
  

       1/2 b/linky
po, Sep 17 2002
  

       This kind of brings me full circle. I first came upon the bakery while researching thixotropy, and Google threw up Custard Filled Speed Bumps.   

       I forget the terminology now because it wasn't relevant to what I needed, but ketchup viscosity is time as well as shear dependant. In other words the longerwise you shake it, the thinlier it gets. Course it never gets thin enough to slide out of the glass bottle, this technique just makes it easier to flick it to the nozzle end and squeeze. Try it. It works.   

       Doesn't apply to Golden Syrup, though, so croissant for FJ.
egbert, Nov 14 2002
  

       Use a squeeze bottle. Or a jar with a mouth wide enough for a spoon.
horripilation, Nov 19 2002
  

       Your bottle centrifuge would probably work better if it was a human operated sling. It would be cheaper at least.   

       But it would work. The other day I was emptying out a bottle of barbecue sauce. I held the bottle in my hand and windmilled it around for half a minute.   

       One seperation got about half of the stuff out, good enough for a serving of steak.
Cuit_au_Four, Oct 01 2006
  

       Everybody is now WELL aware of those snazzy little bottles that are stored upside down, right?
Juggalo4Eternity, Oct 01 2006
  
      
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