Beverage preparer with cup table
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Solution Overview
Problem
Beverage makers face challenges in accommodating vessels of different sizes due to fixed distances between the outlet and storage areas, leading to splashing and quality issues, and height-adjustable outlets complicate handling and cleaning.
Innovation Solution
A beverage maker with a pivoting upper shelf that adjusts the distance between the outlet and storage areas, allowing for multiple storage levels and easy operation, cleaning, and space-saving design.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the beverage outlet is height-adjustable to accommodate different vessel sizes, then the adaptability to different vessel heights is improved, but the device complexity increases due to movable hoses and media-carrying lines
Solution Approach 1:
The cup table is divided into two separate levels: a lower storage area for taller vessels and an upper storage area for shorter vessels. This segmentation allows the system to accommodate different vessel heights without requiring the beverage outlet to be height-adjustable, thus maintaining device simplicity while achieving adaptability to various cup sizes.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of adjusting the beverage outlet vertically to match different cup heights, the invention adds a vertical dimension by introducing an upper cup table level. This allows shorter vessels to be positioned higher up, creating appropriate filling height without moving the outlet, thereby solving the adaptability problem while keeping the outlet stationary.
2Device complexity
If the beverage outlet is made stationary relative to the machine housing, then the device complexity is reduced, but the adaptability to different vessel sizes deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The storage area is segmented into two distinct levels: a lower level for taller vessels and an upper level for shorter vessels. This segmentation enables the stationary beverage outlet to serve both vessel types appropriately, with the upper level providing sufficient clearance for shorter cups while the lower level accommodates taller containers.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention introduces a vertical stacking dimension by placing an upper cup table above the lower storage area. This allows the system to handle different vessel heights by selecting the appropriate level, maintaining a stationary beverage outlet while achieving versatility across various cup sizes.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the distance between the beverage outlet and storage area is increased to fit taller vessels, then the adaptability to taller vessels is improved, but the beverage quality deteriorates due to splashing and temperature loss
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the storage area into upper and lower levels, the invention allows shorter vessels to be placed on the upper level where they receive beverages from a shorter distance, minimizing splashing and temperature loss. Taller vessels are accommodated on the lower level, thus each vessel type experiences optimal filling conditions appropriate to its height.
Solution Approach 2:
The vertical stacking of storage levels creates a solution where vessel height no longer dictates the outlet-to-cup distance. Shorter vessels on the upper level experience shorter filling distances regardless of how tall vessels are placed below, thereby preserving beverage quality while accommodating diverse vessel heights.
Data Source
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AI summary
The present invention describes a beverage maker, in particular an electrically operated coffee machine, for preparing a beverage, with a housing (1) and a first shelf (2), which is referred to below as the lower shelf, for setting down a first beverage-receiving external container, characterized by a second storage surface (3), which is hereinafter referred to as the upper storage surface, for storing a second, drinks-receiving, external container that is lower in height than the height of the first container, the upper storage surface (3) from a first, hereinafter referred to as the stowage position designated position (3-V) in the housing (1) in a second, horizontal, hereinafter referred to as parking position (3-A) is pivotable and vice versa.