Capsule Rotor Pocket Orientation for Reliable Beverage Feeding

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing capsule orienting devices for beverage producing machines are inefficient, costly, and prone to failure due to complex mechanical components and unreliable operation, especially when handling large quantities of randomly oriented capsules in vending machines.

Innovation Solution

A capsule orienting device with a rotating container featuring capsule receiving pockets and apertures that ensure capsules are released in a univocally oriented position, eliminating the need for additional advancement means and simplifying the design, using a rotor with capsule receiving pockets and apertures that guide capsules into a collector under gravity, ensuring consistent orientation.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Productivity

If capsules are introduced randomly oriented into a magazine, then filling speed increases, but capsule orientation reliability deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecapsule filling speedVSAvoidcapsule orientation consistency

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The rotor pockets are pre-configured with specific geometries (inclined bottoms, lateral walls) that automatically guide and orient capsules as they enter, ensuring correct orientation is established before the capsules are discharged, thus maintaining both speed and reliability

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The rotor acts as an intermediary device between the random capsule input and the brewing unit, using its specially designed pockets to capture, orient, and present capsules in the correct orientation, thereby decoupling the random input from the required output orientation

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Manufacturing precision

If complex mechanical orienting mechanisms are used, then capsule orientation precision improves, but device complexity and cost increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecapsule orientation precisionVSAvoidmechanical component count

Core Design Contradiction:

Manufacturing precisionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The rotor pockets are designed to automatically orient capsules through their own geometry (inclined bottoms, lateral walls) without requiring external actuators or complex mechanical mechanisms, making the system simpler while maintaining orientation precision

Inventive Principle:

Principle #25Self-service

Solution Approach 2:

The invention replaces complex mechanical orienting mechanisms with a gravity-based system where capsule orientation is achieved through the geometric design of rotor pockets rather than through mechanical actuators, reducing device complexity

Inventive Principle:

Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

3Reliability

If multiple mechanical components are used for capsule advancement, then capsule feeding reliability improves, but device complexity and failure risk increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecapsule feeding reliabilityVSAvoidmechanical component count

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The invention extracts and eliminates the need for separate capsule advancement mechanisms by integrating the orienting and feeding functions directly into the rotor structure, reducing the number of mechanical components and potential failure points while maintaining feeding reliability

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

4Reliability

If capsules are pre-oriented before magazine filling, then orientation reliability improves, but filling time increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecapsule orientation reliabilityVSAvoidmagazine filling time

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The rotor pockets are pre-configured with specific geometries that automatically orient capsules during the loading process itself, so that capsules are oriented as they are placed in the magazine rather than requiring a separate pre-orientation step, thus eliminating time loss while maintaining reliability

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

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 solution provides a more efficient, reliable, and cost-effective capsule orientation, reducing the risk of capsules becoming blocked and enhancing the operational simplicity of beverage producing machines by ensuring all capsules enter the brewing unit in a predefined orientation, thus improving the overall efficiency and reliability of the device.

Implementation Method 1

using a rotor with capsule receiving pockets and apertures that guide capsules into a collector under gravity, ensuring consistent orientation

Methodology Applied

Scientific EffectGravity: Gravitation

Data Source

PatentUS9974411B2Device for orienting capsules in a beverage producing machine

Publication Date: 2018.05.22 SAGA COFFEE SPA

AI summary

A device (1) for orienting capsules (C) is described. The device comprises a container (9) for receiving randomly oriented capsules (C), which has bottom wall (11), provided with at least two apertures (17A, 17B). A rotor (13) is rotatingly arranged in the container and above the bottom wall (11). The rotor is provided with capsule receiving pockets (15). Under the apertures of the bottom wall (11), a capsule collector (19) is arranged, for receiving capsules discharged from the capsule receiving pockets (15) through either one or the other of the two apertures (17A, 17B). The capsule receiving pocket (15), the two apertures (17A, 17B) and the capsule collector (19) are shaped and arranged such that the capsules (C) randomly contained in the container (9) exit the capsule collector (19) with a pre-determined orientation.