Beverage preparation system
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing beverage preparation systems face issues with accurate alignment and leakage due to flexible container materials, leading to imperfect beverage preparation and frequent cleaning needs, especially when the water injection needle struggles to pierce the container bottom and the strong water jet causes container deformation.
Innovation Solution
A beverage production system with a pack holder assembly and movable locking device that securely positions the pack, featuring a fluid processing device with a pointed part to pierce the flexible material, and a pack design with deformable areas and holes for precise alignment and fluid introduction, minimizing leaks and ensuring efficient preparation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a water injection needle is used to pierce the container bottom, then fluid introduction is enabled, but alignment precision deteriorates due to flexible container material deformation
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by positioning the container on a support structure with positioning elements (pins or clamps) before fluid introduction. The container is pre-aligned using these positioning elements that engage with corresponding features on the container bottom, ensuring correct alignment is established before the flexible material deforms under fluid pressure.
Solution Approach 2:
The support structure is segmented into multiple independent positioning elements (at least two pins or clamps) distributed around the container bottom. This segmentation allows each positioning element to independently constrain different degrees of freedom, providing stable alignment even as the flexible container material deforms during fluid introduction.
2Ease of manufacture
If the container is made of flexible material, then ease of manufacture is improved, but stability deteriorates during fluid processing
Solution Approach 1:
The invention explicitly utilizes flexible container material (thin film or shell) for the container body, accepting its flexibility as a given property. The stability issue is resolved by introducing an external support structure with positioning elements that constrain the flexible container during operation, allowing the flexible material to be used while maintaining operational stability.
3Productivity
If the water jet force is increased for efficient fluid introduction, then productivity is improved, but harmful factors increase due to container movement and leakage
Solution Approach 1:
The support structure with positioning elements acts as a counterbalancing system that opposes the forces generated by the water jet. The pins or clamps provide reaction forces that counteract the container movement tendency caused by high-pressure fluid introduction, allowing high productivity to be maintained without causing leakage or misalignment.
Data Source
AI summary
The invention concerns a beverage production system comprising a module (1) for producing a beverage from a pack (10), —said pack comprising a bottom side (101), and said bottom side (101) of said pack comprising an area (104) configured for being openable, said openable area being made of a flexible material, and—a module (1) comprising a pack holder assembly (2), a fluid processing device (11) designed to open the openable area (104)) of the pack, and an actuating device (12) to move said fluid processing device (11) and said pack (10) one to the other, and—the pack holder assembly (2) comprises a movable locking device (24) to position the pack (10) inside the pack chamber (22) when a beverage is prepared, and wherein the bottom part of the pack (10) comprises at least two fixing means (103), said fixing mean being a hole or a deformable area, and wherein the movable locking device (24) comprises at least two positioning means (242), each of said positioning means being configured: to move inside at least one respective hole (103) of the pack hold in the chamber, or. to move inside at least one respective deformable area (103) of the pack hold in the chamber and to fit in the resulting deformed area.