Capsule Passage Gate Mechanism for Safer Beverage Insertion
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing beverage preparation machines require manual effort to open and close the brewing device, which varies with dimensional tolerances of capsules, and lack flexibility in gate movement, potentially leading to user inconvenience and safety issues during capsule insertion and removal.
Innovation Solution
A beverage preparation machine with an intermediate mechanical conversion mechanism, such as a gear mechanism, that converts movements of a movable part into diverging or similar movements of a gate, allowing greater flexibility in gate positioning and movement, enabling motorized actuation and manual operation with enhanced safety features like finger presence detection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If manual actuation of the movable part is used, then the device structure remains simple, but user effort varies with capsule tolerances and safety is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
A safety door is introduced as an intermediary component between the user and the capsule passage. The safety door is coupled to the movable part through a switch mechanism that detects finger presence and prevents closure when a finger is detected, thereby mediating the interaction between user operation and machine movement to prevent injury
Solution Approach 2:
The manual mechanical actuation system is replaced with a motorized actuation system that automatically moves the movable part to close or open the brewing device. This substitution eliminates the need for users to manually overcome varying forces caused by capsule dimensional tolerances
2Adaptability or versatility
If the gate is directly coupled to the movable part, then the mechanism is simple, but gate movement flexibility is limited
Solution Approach 1:
An intermediate mechanical conversion mechanism is introduced as a mediator between the movable part and the gate. This mechanism converts the linear or rotational movement of the movable part into diverging or similar movements of the gate, providing flexibility in gate positioning and movement patterns while maintaining a relatively simple overall structure
Solution Approach 2:
The gate movement is made dynamic and adaptable through the intermediate conversion mechanism, which can transform the movement characteristics (direction, magnitude, type) based on the operational requirements, allowing the gate to move in diverging or similar patterns as needed
Data Source
Figure 1~3
Figure 4a~4b
Figure 5a~5b
AI summary
A machine (1) for preparing a beverage includes: - an ingredient processing module (10) that comprises a first part (20) and a second part (30) movable relative to the first part from a position for housing therein an ingredient (2) to a transfer position for inserting such ingredient into the processing module and/or for evacuation thereof from the processing module; - a passage (95, 96) for inserting such ingredient into the processing module and/or evacuating such ingredient therefrom; and - a gate (90) driven by the movable second part and associated with the passage and movable between a position opening the passage and a position closing the passage. The gate (90) is connected to the movable second part (30) by an intermediate mechanical conversion mechanism (37, 91, 92) for converting movements of the movable second part into movements of the gate.