Coffee Brewer Stripping Element for Powder Residue Clearance
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Solution Overview
Problem
In brewing apparatuses for coffee machines, coffee powder residues accumulate between the stripping element and the driven part, leading to malfunction and potential damage due to trapped powder, which prevents the stripping element from assuming its resting position.
Innovation Solution
The rear-side surface of the stripping element is equipped with a protrusion featuring inclined deflecting surfaces, forming a wedge shape, and a cam lobe with a beveled surface, allowing coffee powder residues to be laterally cleared and preventing collision with the upper piston, ensuring the stripping element can return to its rest position.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the stripping element is designed to strip coffee-powder cake from the piston surface, then the brewing chamber can be opened and cleaned, but coffee powder residues accumulate between the stripping element and driven part, preventing the stripping element from returning to its resting position
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the harmful coffee powder residues from the problematic region by introducing a dedicated ejection mechanism. The protrusion with inclined surfaces acts as a scraper that actively removes accumulated powder from between the stripping element and driven part, separating the stripping function from the powder removal function.
Solution Approach 2:
The protrusion with inclined ejection surfaces serves as an intermediary element between the stripping element and the coffee powder residues. This intermediate structure facilitates the removal of powder by providing a mechanical interface that converts the stripping motion into powder ejection, preventing direct accumulation that would block the resting position.
2Ease of manufacture
If tolerances are allowed for injection molded parts, then manufacturing is easier, but gaps form between moving parts allowing coffee powder to slip through and accumulate
Solution Approach 1:
The invention converts the harmful effect of gaps (which allow powder accumulation) into a beneficial feature. The protrusion with inclined surfaces is specifically designed to utilize the space and motion available in the toleranced system to actively eject powder through the gaps, transforming the manufacturing tolerance from a source of problems into part of the solution mechanism.
3Reliability
If coffee powder residue accumulates between the stripping element and driven part, then the stripping element cannot assume its resting position, but adding more clearance would allow more powder to accumulate
Solution Approach 1:
The invention applies preliminary action by providing a proactive powder ejection mechanism before the stripping element reaches its resting position. The protrusion with inclined surfaces continuously acts to remove powder during the stripping motion, preventing accumulation that would later block the resting position, rather than relying on passive clearance alone.
Data Source
AI summary
A brewing apparatus (1) for a coffee machine comprises a brewing cylinder (6) with a cylindrical bore and an upper piston and a lower piston (4), by means of which the brewing cylinder (6) is able to be closed off in order to form a brewing chamber. The brewing cylinder (6) and the pistons are held in a frame (2) in a way displaceable relative to one another, and are drivable via a spindle (9). Interacting with the spindle is a threaded part (7a) which is arranged on a driven part (7) fitted on the brewing cylinder (6). A coffee-powder-feed device is provided for filling the brewing chamber with coffee powder, and a stripping element (19) serves for stripping off the coffee-powder cake which remains on the surface (4a) of the bottom piston (4) following the brewing operation. The rear-side surface (31) of the stripping element (19) is provided with a protrusion (32) which is arranged on the region directed towards the piston surface (4a) and which has at least one deflecting surface (33, 34) which is inclined in relation to the stripping-off direction. Residues of coffee powder which can accumulate behind the stripping element (19) can be conveyed away laterally by this inclined deflecting surface, it being ensured that the stripping element can reach the rest position.