Automatic coffee grinder
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing coffee grinders for professional catering face issues with aroma loss, oxidation, and inaccurate dosing due to manual handling and reliance on volumetric or timed controls, which are inefficient and require frequent recalibration.
Innovation Solution
A coffee grinder with a floating doser assembly and force transducer that allows for precise weighing and programming of coffee doses in grams, ensuring immediate delivery and maintaining aroma freshness by separating coffee doses in stacked chambers, eliminating the need for manual adjustment and recalibration.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If traditional volumetric dosing with a lever is used, then the device complexity is low, but the manufacturing precision of the dose is poor
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the traditional mechanical lever-based volumetric dosing system with an electronic force transducer-based weight measurement system. The force transducer continuously monitors the weight of ground coffee in the doser, providing precise digital feedback for accurate dosing without requiring complex mechanical adjustment mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a feedback control system where the force transducer continuously measures the weight of ground coffee and provides real-time feedback to the control system. This allows the grinder to automatically adjust the grinding process to achieve the programmed dose weight, ensuring high precision without increasing mechanical complexity.
2Ease of operation
If timed control grinding is used, then the ease of operation is improved, but the manufacturing precision of the dose deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the timed control mechanism with a weight-based control system using a force transducer. Instead of relying on timing intervals that are sensitive to variations in grinding speed, the system directly measures the weight of ground coffee, providing accurate dosing that is independent of grinding parameter fluctuations.
Solution Approach 2:
The force transducer automatically monitors and measures the dose weight without requiring operator intervention or calibration. The system self-adjusts the grinding process based on real-time weight feedback, eliminating the need for operators to manually adjust timing parameters when grinding conditions change.
3Productivity
If ground coffee is stored in a container for later use, then the productivity is improved, but the object-generated harmful factors increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the doser into multiple separate stacked chambers, each capable of holding ground coffee for individual doses. This segmentation allows each chamber to be used independently, enabling the system to prepare multiple doses in advance while minimizing the amount of ground coffee exposed to air at any given time, thus reducing aroma loss and oxidation.
Solution Approach 2:
The system grinds and prepares coffee doses in advance and stores them in the stacked chambers of the doser. By preparing doses beforehand and storing them in sealed chambers, the system maintains productivity while protecting the ground coffee from oxidation and aroma loss until the moment of dispensing.
4Measurement precision
If the filter holder is weighed separately, then the measurement precision is improved, but the ease of operation deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the filter holder with the doser assembly, allowing the force transducer to measure the combined weight of the filter holder and ground coffee together. This integration eliminates the need for separate tare operations, as the system automatically accounts for the filter holder weight in the total measurement, simplifying the operating procedure while maintaining measurement precision.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution provides accurate, reliable, and efficient coffee dosing with minimal aroma loss, allowing for quick preparation of one or more coffees while maintaining high precision and reducing operational complexity.
Implementation Method 1
A coffee grinder with a floating doser assembly and force transducer that allows for precise weighing and programming of coffee doses in grams
Data Source
Figure 1
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AI summary
The invention relates to a coffee grinder which comprises a hopper (1) for coffee beans, a grinding chamber (2) and a doser (4) for ground coffee, and which is characterised in that the doser (4) is floating and rests on a force transducer (10) that measures the weight of the empty doser (4) and the weight of the coffee doses that enter a first or second chamber (5 and 6) of the doser (4), allowing the weighed dose of coffee to be immediately delivered onto a corresponding filter holder (9).