Apparatus for preparing a beverage and a decoction device
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing beverage decoction devices are relatively long due to the need for the decoction chamber to move twice its own length between the preparation and residue release positions, limiting their compactness.
Innovation Solution
The decoction device is designed to displace the decoction body relative to one of the bottoms between the second and third states, allowing the residue to be released without requiring additional space in the opposite direction, enabling a more compact design by completing the preparation cycle in three strokes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the decoction chamber moves twice its own length between preparation and residue release positions, then the residue can be completely released, but the device becomes relatively long and compactness is limited
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of moving the decoction chamber back to its original position to release residues, the invention inverts the approach by moving the bottom (piston) away from the decoction chamber while the chamber remains in place. This allows residue release without requiring the chamber to traverse the full twice-length distance, thereby reducing device length while maintaining complete residue evacuation.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention separates the movement functions: the decoction chamber remains stationary or moves minimally, while the bottom (piston) performs the extraction movement. This segmentation allows the residue release function to be decoupled from the chamber's full travel path, reducing the overall device length required while ensuring complete residue removal.
2Reliability
If the decoction chamber follows a long path between preparation and residue release, then residue removal is ensured, but the preparation cycle time increases
Solution Approach 1:
By inverting which component moves (bottom instead of chamber), the residue removal process is accomplished in a shorter time frame. The bottom can be quickly retracted from the chamber to release residues without requiring the chamber to travel a long path, thereby reducing the time lost in each preparation cycle while maintaining effective residue removal.
Solution Approach 2:
The bottom (piston) is positioned and compressed during the preparation phase, and then quickly retracted for residue release. This preliminary positioning and the subsequent quick retraction minimize the time required for the residue removal step, reducing overall preparation cycle time while ensuring complete residue evacuation.
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus for preparing a beverage comprises a decoction device (5) which comprises a decoction body (50) with a chamber Avail (53) inside which a decoction chamber (54) extends axially between a pair of bottoms (51,52) lying opposite each other. The chamber wall is provided locally with a filling opening (55) for admitting into the decoction chamber at least one ingredient for the beverage to be prepared. The decoction device is coupled to drive means which during operation impart a preparation cycle to the decoction device. A first bottom (51) moves closer to a second bottom (51) here in a first direction from a first starting position. Between a second and a third state the decoction body (50) performs a displacement in the first direction in order to carry the inlet opening (55) outside the decoction chamber. In a third ejecting state the first bottom lies outside the decoction body.