Brew Basket Separate Cavity for Additives and Water Bypass
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing brew baskets lack the ability to easily integrate additional ingredients or flavorings into the brewing process, limiting the customization of beverage taste profiles and versatility in brewing multiple beverages simultaneously.
Innovation Solution
A brew basket with an integrated separate compartment for adding bypass water or ingredients, allowing for the mixing of flavorings or sweeteners with the brewed beverage as it is dispensed, and the ability to pivot for flexible dispensing into multiple containers.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a traditional single-compartment brew basket is used, then the structure is simple and easy to manufacture, but the ability to add ingredients or flavorings during brewing is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The brew basket is divided into two separate compartments: a first compartment for holding beverage grounds and a second compartment for holding ingredients or flavorings. This segmentation allows independent access and addition of different materials during the brewing process, enabling versatility without requiring complex integrated mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The second compartment is designed to be multifunctional, capable of holding various substances including ingredients, flavorings, sweeteners, or bypass water. This universal design allows the same structure to serve multiple purposes depending on user needs, enhancing adaptability without increasing structural complexity.
2Adaptability or versatility
If a separate compartment for bypass water or additives is integrated into the brew basket, then beverage customization is enabled, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The basket is segmented into functionally distinct compartments that can be independently accessed. The second compartment specifically accommodates bypass water or additives, allowing beverage customization through simple material addition rather than complex mechanical or electronic systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The second compartment acts as an intermediary space that facilitates the addition of flavorings or bypass water between the brewing process and the final beverage. This mediator structure enables customization without requiring direct integration into the brewing mechanism itself.
3Adaptability or versatility
If only hot water is used for brewing, then the brewing process is simple, but the ability to create different taste profiles or ice tea is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The second compartment is designed to accommodate multiple types of substances including bypass water, ice, flavorings, and sweeteners. This universal container design enables the brewing system to produce various beverage types (hot tea, iced tea, flavored coffee) without requiring separate delivery systems for each ingredient.
Solution Approach 2:
The function of adding various substances (bypass water, ice, flavorings) is extracted from the main brewing mechanism and placed into a separate, dedicated second compartment. This separation simplifies the overall system by removing complexity from the water delivery mechanism while maintaining the ability to create diverse beverage profiles.
Data Source
AI summary
A brew basket with an integrated separate cavity providing for a water bypass or additive conduit all of which may be added to the brewed beverage, as it exists its brew basket discharge spout during a brewing cycle. An integrated separate cavity is provided partially around the perimeter of the brew basket, as along its upper flange, for some angular distance, and which cavity tapers into a downward conduit, which conduit extends under the bottom of the brew basket, and empties into the same discharged port through which the brewed beverage is discharged from the brew basket and into a lower decanter, during performance of a brewing cycle. Additives such as flavoring, sweeteners, and even cold water may pass through the separate cavity, for intermixing with the brewed beverage, in order to add to its flavoring, sweetening, or even cooling, depending upon whether coffee, hot tea, or ice tea, has been selected for the brewing cycle. The brew basket is capable of pivoting, in its support under the cantilevered top of the brewing apparatus, to allow for the beverage to be dispensed into one or more decanters, during a brewing cycle, or during performance of sequential brewing cycles.