Relief-Shaped Capsule Seal for Irregular Brewing Surfaces
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing beverage capsules face issues with inconsistent sealing due to irregularities in the sealing surfaces of beverage production devices, leading to pressure drops and potential leaks, which affect the quality of beverages like espresso-style coffee.
Innovation Solution
A capsule with a relief-shaped sealing member featuring protrusions and recessions, made of resilient materials like plastic or rubber, that compensates for irregularities by deforming to ensure effective sealing across various device designs, minimizing weight and volume while maintaining a fluid-tight seal.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a conventional sealing member is used, then the capsule structure is simple, but sealing consistency deteriorates due to irregularities in device sealing surfaces
Solution Approach 1:
The sealing member incorporates localized protrusions and recessions (relief shapes) at specific regions to compensate for irregularities in the device sealing surface. These localized structural variations enable the sealing member to adapt to surface imperfections while maintaining overall structural simplicity.
Solution Approach 2:
The sealing member is designed with resilient material properties allowing it to deform dynamically under pressure. This dynamic deformation enables the sealing member to conform to irregular sealing surfaces during the brewing process, ensuring consistent sealing despite device wear or manufacturing variations.
2Reliability
If the sealing member is made resilient to compensate for irregularities, then sealing reliability improves, but the material and structural complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The sealing member is constructed from resilient material that can flex and deform to accommodate sealing surface irregularities. This flexible approach allows the sealing member to maintain effective contact with the device sealing surface despite variations in surface geometry, ensuring reliable sealing without complex mechanical adjustments.
Solution Approach 2:
The sealing member features segmented relief shapes with protrusions and recessions that can independently deform to fill gaps or accommodate irregularities in the sealing surface. This segmentation allows localized adaptation while keeping the overall sealing member design relatively simple.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the sealing member deforms to adapt to different devices, then versatility improves, but structural stability may deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The sealing member is designed with controlled deformability, allowing it to adapt its shape during the brewing process to match different device sealing surfaces. The resilient material properties enable this dynamic adaptation while maintaining sufficient structural integrity to perform the sealing function effectively across various device designs.
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 relief-shaped sealing member effectively adapts to different device designs, ensuring consistent sealing and preventing leaks even with wear and tear, allowing the capsule to be used with a variety of beverage preparation devices without compromising pressure build-up.
Implementation Method 1
The sealing member comprises at least two lips radially distanced to one another, the protrusion has a height that is at least 1.5 time, preferably at least 2 times, even most preferably at least 3 times, larger than its average width
Data Source
Figure 1a~1b
Figure 2
Figure 3~4
AI summary
The present invention proposes a capsule (10) for containing beverage ingredients, the capsule being designed for insertion in a beverage production device, the capsule comprising a cup-like body portion (1), a flange-like rim portion (2), a delivery wall and a sealing member (8) having - in a radial cross sectional view - at least one protrusion and/or recession (8a).