Capsule Piercing Sprinkler Layout for Safer Percolating Machines
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing percolating machines with sealed capsules pose safety risks during servicing and cleaning due to the accessibility of needle-type piercing devices from the outside.
Innovation Solution
A percolating machine design featuring a removable percolating cup with a bayonet joint and a sprinkler system that includes saw-tooth projections for piercing the sealed capsule, allowing for safe operation and maintenance by minimizing exposure to pressurized hot water and needle devices.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of repair
If needle-type piercing devices are used in percolating machines with removable percolating cups, then the machine can be serviced and cleaned more easily, but user safety is compromised due to exposure to pressurized hot water and needle devices
Solution Approach 1:
The piercing device is divided into multiple independent projections (first, second, third projections) that can be separately positioned and controlled. Each projection can be independently retracted into its respective cavity, allowing the system to be serviced and cleaned while maintaining safety by preventing exposure to all piercing elements simultaneously.
Solution Approach 2:
The piercing projections are nested within cavities in the sprinkler body. Each projection can be retracted into its protective cavity, creating a nested structure that shields the hazardous needle elements during servicing and cleaning operations, while still allowing them to extend for their piercing function during normal operation.
2Ease of operation
If the percolating cup is made removable for easy cleaning, then maintenance becomes simpler, but access to piercing devices becomes more dangerous
Solution Approach 1:
The piercing projections are designed to automatically retract into their cavities when the percolating cup is removed. This preliminary action of retraction occurs before the user handles the removable cup for cleaning, ensuring that the hazardous needle elements are already protected and inaccessible during the cleaning operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The cavities in the sprinkler body act as intermediary protective structures between the piercing projections and the user. When the percolating cup is removed for cleaning, the projections remain nested within these intermediary cavities, providing a safety buffer that prevents direct exposure to the sharp needle elements.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enhances user safety during use, servicing, and cleaning by ensuring controlled access to piercing mechanisms, preventing accidents from pressurized hot water and needle exposure.
Implementation Method 1
a sprinkler having an end wall; a removable percolating cup for housing a sealed capsule of the type described above, and positioned, in use, with its inlet facing the end wall
Implementation Method 2
percolating machine for producing a beverage using a sealed capsule of anhydrous powdered material
Data Source
AI summary
A percolating machine for producing a beverage using a sealed capsule containing anhydrous powdered material, the machine having a pressurized-hot-water dispenser assembly extending along a vertical axis, and in turn having a sprinkler having an end wall substantially crosswise to the aforementioned axis; a removable percolating cup positioned, in use, with its inlet facing the end wall, and for housing a sealed capsule positioned with a sealing wall facing the end wall; and a piercing device integral with the sprinkler and having a number of substantially rectangular-based projections, which extend downwards from the end wall of the sprinkler, are equally spaced about the aforementioned axis along a peripheral portion of the end wall, and pierce the sealing wall of the sealed capsule when the percolating cup is set to a work position contacting the sprinkler.