Centrifugal Beverage Capsule Pressure Ring for Back-Pressure Tuning
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Solution Overview
Problem
Centrifugal beverage production systems face challenges in adjusting back-pressure to predefined values, which affects the quality of coffee beverages, particularly the foam/crema and flow rate, as existing mechanisms are complex and not easily adaptable to various back-pressure settings.
Innovation Solution
A capsule design featuring an annular pressure-setting ring that engages with a valve member of the beverage production device to adjust back-pressure, allowing for selective control of the flow rate by blocking or delaying the release of liquid, thereby enhancing the interaction time between liquid and beverage substance and improving extraction characteristics.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stress or pressure
If a flow restriction is placed downstream of the filter to create a pressure gradient, then back-pressure is obtained, but the mechanism becomes complex and not easily adaptable to various back-pressure settings
Solution Approach 1:
The flow restriction function is extracted from the beverage production device and transferred to the capsule itself through the annular pressure-setting ring. This allows the capsule to independently provide back-pressure control without requiring complex valve mechanisms in the device, thereby reducing device complexity while maintaining back-pressure capability
Solution Approach 2:
The capsule becomes self-sufficient by incorporating the pressure-setting ring that automatically provides the required back-pressure. The capsule structure itself serves the dual function of containing coffee and regulating pressure, eliminating the need for separate complex pressure control mechanisms in the device
2Productivity
If rotational speed is increased to improve flow rate, then extraction quality improves, but the system requires higher energy input and may affect beverage attributes
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of changing only the rotational speed parameter, the invention introduces a new parameter - the back-pressure controlled by the pressure-setting ring. By adjusting the back-pressure, the system can optimize flow rate and extraction quality without necessarily increasing rotational speed, thereby reducing energy input while maintaining beverage quality
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
The capsule system enables easy and economic adjustment of back-pressure, improving the quality of coffee beverages by allowing for a range of beverages with different attributes, such as aroma, intensity, and crema/foam, while maintaining moderate rotational speeds and sufficient centrifugal forces, thus enhancing the overall coffee extraction process.
Implementation Method 1
preparing a beverage by centrifugation in a beverage production device... by passing a liquid fed by the device through the substance in the capsule using centrifugal forces
Implementation Method 2
the capsule comprises an annular pressure-setting ring configured for being engaged by a valve member of the beverage production device to provide a flow restriction valve... blocking or delaying the release of liquid
Data Source
AI summary
A capsule is designed for insertion in a centrifugal beverage production device for preparing a beverage from a substance contained in the capsule by introducing liquid in the capsule and passing the liquid through the substance using centrifugal forces. The capsule includes a body having a bottom end and an open end spaced apart in the axial direction, an upper wall for covering the body at the open end along a direction transverse to the axial direction, and an enclosure between the body and the upper wall containing a predetermined amount of beverage substance. The capsule further includes an annular pressure-setting ring configured for adjusting the backpressure in the beverage production device. The pressure-setting ring provides an improved coffee in-cup quality. A set of capsules can have pressure-setting rings of different dimensions for setting different backpressure when engaged in a centrifuging beverage production device.