Coffee Bean Dosing Package for Airtight Grinder Feeding
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing coffee makers suffer from flavor and aroma loss due to prolonged exposure of coffee beans to ambient air, and residual coffee grounds from previous grinding sessions can contaminate new beans, affecting the taste of freshly ground coffee.
Innovation Solution
A system that connects a coffee bean package directly to a grinder, preventing air exposure through airtight or vacuum packaging, and includes a dosing device to deliver precise amounts of coffee beans to the grinder, ensuring package-fresh coffee is ground and brewed, while preventing mixing with residual grounds.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If coffee beans are stored in a holder for later grinding, then convenience is improved, but flavor and aroma are lost due to prolonged air exposure
Solution Approach 1:
The coffee bean package is divided into multiple sealed compartments, each containing a separate dosage of coffee beans. This allows the package to be opened incrementally - only the current compartment is accessed while others remain sealed, minimizing air exposure to the entire supply while maintaining convenient sequential access.
Solution Approach 2:
Coffee beans are pre-dosed into individual sealed compartments within the package before use. This preliminary portioning allows the user to simply open the next compartment when needed, eliminating the need to store beans in a holder and ensuring each portion remains sealed until use, thus preserving flavor while maintaining ease of operation.
2Productivity
If a large amount of coffee beans is stored in the holder, then fewer refills are needed, but residual grounds from previous sessions contaminate new beans
Solution Approach 1:
The coffee supply is segmented into multiple sealed compartments rather than stored as a bulk quantity in a holder. Each compartment is hermetically sealed and contains a complete dosage, preventing any contact between different coffee batches and eliminating contamination from residual grounds while maintaining extended usage without refills.
Solution Approach 2:
The package uses disposable sealed compartments that are discarded after use. Each compartment is designed for single use, ensuring complete separation between different coffee dosages. This eliminates the contamination problem inherent in reusable holders while maintaining productivity through extended multi-dose capacity.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If coffee beans are ground immediately before brewing, then flavor and aroma are preserved, but the process requires more time
Solution Approach 1:
Coffee beans are pre-portioned into exact dosages within sealed compartments during manufacturing. This eliminates the need for measuring and transfer operations during preparation - the user simply opens the compartment and the pre-measured beans are ready for immediate grinding and brewing, preserving flavor while reducing preparation time.
Solution Approach 2:
The package design allows the compartment to self-empty into the grinder when opened, using gravity to transfer the pre-dosed beans automatically. This eliminates manual transfer time and effort while ensuring the exact correct amount is delivered, maintaining flavor preservation through immediate grinding.
4Productivity
If the package outlet remains open for dosing, then coffee beans can be delivered, but ambient air enters and degrades the coffee
Solution Approach 1:
A valve mechanism acts as an intermediary between the sealed coffee compartment and the external environment. The valve opens only during the brief moment when dosing is required, allowing beans to flow out, then automatically closes to reseal the compartment. This mediates between the need for efficient dosing and the requirement to prevent air contact, maintaining both productivity and coffee quality.
Data Source
AI summary
A system for dosing coffee beans, comprising a coffee bean package provided with at least one wall which at least partly encloses an inner space for multiple dosages of coffee beans, and a coffee bean outlet for delivering coffee beans, and an apparatus provided with a coffee bean grinder, a coffee bean inlet for supplying coffee beans from the coffee bean package to the grinder, a connecting device for connecting the coffee bean package to the apparatus, so that the coffee bean outlet can be connected to the coffee bean inlet, and a dosing device provided with a dosing space which is arranged for feeding-through one predetermined dose of coffee beans from the coffee bean outlet to the coffee bean inlet.