Coffee Maker Ice Basket Design for Extended Iced Coffee Cooling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing coffee makers fail to sufficiently cool coffee liquid to a temperature suitable for tasty iced coffee and maintain this cooled state, and also do not facilitate easy extraction of iced coffee without risking mechanical or thermal impact on the server.
Innovation Solution
A coffee maker design featuring a bottomed cylindrical ice basket within the server, where the coffee liquid is dispersed onto ice in a vertically elongated shape, allowing extended contact time for cooling, and a coffee liquid circulation passage to safely extract iced coffee while preventing ice from escaping, with an optional lid for suspension and a checking window for ice quantity visibility.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If a shallow ice basket is used in the server, then the device complexity is reduced, but the coffee liquid cannot be sufficiently cooled down to a temperature allowing tasty iced coffee
Solution Approach 1:
The ice basket is changed from a shallow horizontal configuration to a vertically elongated cylindrical shape. This dimensional change allows the coffee liquid to drip down through a longer path over the ice surface, increasing contact time and cooling effectiveness without requiring a larger or more complex horizontal structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The coffee liquid is made to drip down from the upper part of the extraction unit to the lower part where the ice basket is located. This preliminary action of directing the liquid flow through a vertical path ensures maximum contact time with the ice before the cooled coffee is collected in the server.
2Temperature
If the ice basket bottom is placed close to the server bottom surface, then the cooling efficiency is improved, but mechanical or thermal impact may occur on the server
Solution Approach 1:
A buffer portion is provided between the bottom surface of the ice basket and the bottom surface of the server. This buffer space acts as a cushion that prevents direct mechanical contact and thermal transfer between the ice basket (containing cold ice) and the server bottom, thereby protecting the server from both mechanical impact and thermal shock while still maintaining efficient cooling.
3Ease of operation
If the ice basket is designed to allow coffee liquid extraction, then the ease of operation is improved, but ice may escape from the basket
Solution Approach 1:
The ice basket is designed with different structural characteristics in different locations. The side walls are substantially closed to contain the ice, while the bottom surface has a mesh structure with specific aperture sizes. This local differentiation allows coffee liquid to pass through the mesh bottom for extraction while the ice pieces are retained inside due to their larger size compared to the mesh apertures.
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 coffee maker effectively cools coffee liquid to a tasty iced coffee temperature, maintains this state, and allows easy extraction of iced coffee without mechanical or thermal issues, while enabling precise control of ice quantity for consistent flavor.
Implementation Method 1
delivering the coffee liquid dripping from a chamber (6) containing the coffee powder to a surface of ice stored inside the ice storage rack (12)
Implementation Method 2
the coffee liquid is dispersed onto ice in a vertically elongated shape, allowing extended contact time for cooling
Data Source
AI summary
Provided is a coffee maker where a heated state coffee liquid can be obtained by performing an extraction operation in an extraction unit, and can be sufficiently cooled down to a temperature, to provide tasty iced coffee, and in which a cooled state of the coffee liquid can be maintained. An ice basket is arranged inside a server, and is disposed to receive and disperse the coffee liquid that is dripping from an extraction unit. The ice basket is formed in a vertically elongated shape, and internally includes an ice storage. A liquid feeding hole, which feeds the coffee liquid inside the ice storage to the server, is formed in a peripheral edge portion of a bottom portion. The bottom portion is arranged at a position close to a bottom surface of the server while being separated from the bottom surface.