Brewing Chamber Piston Control to Reduce Beverage Cycle Time
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing brewing devices for coffee and tea have a lengthy cycle time due to the sequential steps involved in loading, compressing, and unloading the brewing material, which affects the machine's ability to produce beverages quickly and increases user wait time, especially for short beverages.
Innovation Solution
A brewing device with a piston that moves in a variable loading configuration, allowing for simultaneous material loading and piston descent, reducing the need for a separate compression step and optimizing the brewing chamber volume, thereby shortening the cycle time by controlling the piston's movement through an electronic control unit.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of stationary object
If the piston is completely set back to the loading position (lower end-stroke) to maximize brewing chamber volume, then the volume available to receive brewing material is maximized, but the handling time increases due to the need for separate compression and unloading steps
Solution Approach 1:
The piston is preliminarily positioned at an intermediate loading position (not completely set back) before brewing material is loaded. This preliminary positioning allows the piston to be closer to the compression position, reducing the distance it needs to travel during the compression phase and thereby reducing the overall handling time while still providing sufficient chamber volume for material loading.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention introduces dynamic positioning of the piston during the loading phase, where the piston can be positioned at different intermediate levels depending on the type of beverage to be prepared. This dynamic adjustment optimizes the balance between chamber volume and compression distance, allowing the system to adapt to different brewing requirements and minimize handling time for each beverage type.
2Productivity
If the piston is raised to the unloading position to expel exhausted material, then the brewing chamber is cleared for the next cycle, but the cycle time increases due to the sequential nature of the operations
Solution Approach 1:
The invention merges the unloading operation with the piston's return to the loading position. As the piston descends from the unloading position back toward the loading position, brewing material is simultaneously supplied to the brewing chamber. This merging of operations eliminates idle time between unloading and loading, reducing the overall cycle time and improving beverage production speed.
Solution Approach 2:
The system maintains continuous useful action by ensuring that material supply occurs during the piston's return movement. Rather than having separate discrete steps for unloading and loading, the system creates a continuous flow where material is supplied throughout the piston's descent, maximizing the utilization of each phase of the cycle and minimizing non-productive time.
3Loss of time
If the piston speed is increased during the downward stroke to reduce handling time, then the cycle time is reduced, but the compaction quality of the brewing material may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The invention applies periodic or variable speed control to the piston, where the piston moves at different speeds during different phases of its stroke. During the compression phase, the piston moves at a controlled, slower speed to ensure proper material compaction. During the unloading and return phases, the piston can move at higher speeds to reduce handling time. This periodic variation in speed maintains compaction quality while minimizing overall cycle time.
Data Source
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AI summary
A brewing device (1) for preparing beverages, in particular coffee or tea, and comprising a brewing chamber (5) with an opening (6) for loading/unloading a brewing material; a piston (7) slidably mounted in the brewing chamber (5); and an electronic control unit (8) programmed to cause the piston (7) to move among a loading configuration, in which the brewing material is loadable in the brewing chamber (5), a compression configuration, in which the piston (7) compacts the brewing material in the brewing chamber (5), and an expulsion configuration, in which the piston (7) extracts the exhausted material from the brewing chamber (5). The electronic control unit (8) is programmed to cause, in the loading configuration, the piston (7) to lower from a higher position, corresponding to an initial loading configuration, to a lower position, corresponding to a final loading configuration, during the loading of the brewing material in the brewing chamber (5).