Household appliance with a container for ground material and a grinder
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing coffee machines with grinders lack effective detection of ground material levels and foreign bodies, leading to inefficient operation, potential injuries, and damage, as they only detect the absence of material after it's too late for refilling, and cannot reliably distinguish between coffee beans and foreign objects.
Innovation Solution
A coffee machine equipped with a detection means, such as a capacitive sensor, that identifies physical properties in the feed area to detect the presence, quantity, and type of material, allowing for early refill alerts and prevention of foreign bodies from entering the grinder, thereby preventing injuries and damage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If power consumption or noise monitoring is used to detect empty grinder, then detection capability is provided, but detection only occurs after grinder is already empty causing insufficient ground material
Solution Approach 1:
The capacitive sensor detects changes in the feed area before the grinder becomes completely empty. By monitoring the physical properties of material in the feed area proactively, the system provides early warning that refilling is needed, preventing the situation where ground material is insufficient for a desired coffee preparation.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If mechanical means are provided to prevent operator from reaching into feed area, then protection against injuries is improved, but device complexity increases and foreign bodies cannot be removed
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces mechanical safety means (such as guards or barriers) with a capacitive sensor-based detection system. The sensor monitors the feed area for foreign bodies and operator intrusion by detecting changes in physical properties, eliminating the need for complex mechanical protection while maintaining safety and allowing foreign body removal.
3Reliability
If detection means detects physical properties in feed area, then early detection of material level and foreign bodies is enabled, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The capacitive sensor serves multiple functions: it detects the presence and quantity of ground material, identifies foreign bodies, and monitors operator intrusion in the feed area. This multi-functionality reduces the need for multiple separate detection systems, minimizing the increase in device complexity while maximizing detection reliability.
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
This solution enables early detection of low material levels and foreign bodies, preventing grinder damage and operator injuries, improving comfort and sustainability by allowing for timely refills and safe operation without mechanical safety means.
Implementation Method 1
detection means (6), in particular a capacitive sensor, for detecting a physical property of matter located in the feed area (5)
Implementation Method 2
the physical property correlates with a dielectric constant ε of the matter located in the feed area (5)
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2~3
Figure 4~5
AI summary
The invention relates to a household appliance (1), in particular a coffee machine, with a grinding container (2) and a grinding mechanism (3), wherein grinding material (4) can be received in the grinding container (2) and fed to the grinding mechanism (3) in a feed area (5), and wherein a detection means (6) for detecting a physical property of matter located in the feed area (5) is arranged at the feed area (5).