A coffee machine comprising a residue container
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Solution Overview
Problem
Users face difficulty in determining when a coffee machine's residue container is full due to accumulated coffee grounds, which can lead to sensor malfunction and incorrect water level measurement.
Innovation Solution
A sensor is positioned within the coffee machine's body, protected from coffee grounds by a wall and channel, allowing for accurate water level measurement in the residue container, with a channel below the sensor base to collect coffee grounds and barriers to prevent liquid movement, ensuring reliable operation and user notification when the overflow limit is reached.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If the sensor is positioned in the residue container to measure water level, then the measurement function is enabled, but the sensor gets contaminated by coffee grounds and loses functionality
Solution Approach 1:
The residue container is divided into two distinct zones: a first region that receives coffee grounds and a second region where the sensor is positioned to measure water level. This segmentation prevents coffee grounds from contaminating the sensor while maintaining the measurement function.
Solution Approach 2:
A separation wall is introduced as an intermediary structure between the coffee ground accumulation area and the sensor location. This wall acts as a barrier that allows the sensor to function accurately by blocking coffee grounds from reaching it while still enabling water level measurement in the residue container.
2Ease of operation
If the sensor is exposed to the residue container interior, then water level can be measured, but coffee grounds accumulate on the sensor causing malfunction
Solution Approach 1:
The container interior is segmented into a first region for coffee ground accumulation and a second region for sensor placement. This spatial segmentation allows automatic monitoring functionality while protecting the sensor from coffee ground contamination through structural division.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the container are assigned different functional qualities: the first region is designed to collect and hold coffee grounds, while the second region is designed to accommodate the sensor with clear access to water level but blocked from coffee grounds. This local differentiation optimizes both monitoring capability and sensor protection.
3Quantity of substance
If the residue container is fully utilized for water accumulation, then capacity is maximized, but coffee grounds interfere with sensor measurement
Solution Approach 1:
The residue container is divided into functional zones where coffee grounds are segregated into a first region and water level is measured in a second region. This segmentation allows the container to maintain full water capacity while ensuring the sensor operates in a contamination-free environment for accurate measurement.
Solution Approach 2:
A separation wall serves as an intermediary structure that partitions the container interior. It allows the sensor to accurately measure water level in the second region while preventing coffee grounds from the first region from interfering with the measurement, thus maintaining both capacity and measurement precision.
Data Source
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AI summary
The present invention relates to a coffee machine (1) comprising a body (2); a brewing chamber (3) that is disposed in the body (2); a heater (4) that enables the brewing chamber (3) to be heated, and a residue container (5) wherein the liquid that drips from the brewing chamber (3) is accumulated, that is positioned so as to remain under the brewing chamber (3) and that has a grill (6) that partially covers the residue container (5).