Device for preparing a coffee product
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing coffee preparation devices face challenges in maintaining consistent coffee quality due to fluctuations in coffee amount, grind size, and compactness, which affect pressure and retention time, leading to variable product composition.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating an adjustable valve device with a flow sensor to regulate system resistance, allowing the control system to adjust counter-pressure and retention time based on measured volume flow, enabling consistent coffee quality and varying preparation profiles.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If no adjustable restriction is applied in the outlet conduit, then the device structure remains simple, but coffee quality becomes unstable due to fluctuations in coffee bed resistance
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies an adjustable restriction device in the outlet conduit that can dynamically modify the resistance characteristic. This dynamic element allows the system to compensate for variations in coffee bed resistance, maintaining stable extraction conditions and consistent coffee quality despite changes in coffee dosage, grind size, or tamping force.
Solution Approach 2:
The restriction device enables modification of the resistance parameter in the outlet conduit. By adjusting this parameter, the system can counterbalance fluctuations in coffee bed resistance, ensuring that the overall extraction parameters remain within optimal ranges for consistent coffee quality across different preparation conditions.
2Reliability
If a fixed restriction is applied in the outlet conduit, then coffee quality becomes more stable, but the device cannot adapt to diverse coffee product requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The adjustable restriction device allows dynamic modification of resistance characteristics during operation. Users can adjust the restriction setting to match different coffee product requirements, enabling the same device to produce various coffee types (espresso, filter coffee, Americano, etc.) while maintaining quality consistency for each selected profile.
Solution Approach 2:
The adjustable restriction mechanism provides multi-functionality to the coffee preparation device. A single device can accommodate diverse coffee product requirements by modifying the resistance parameter, eliminating the need for multiple specialized devices while maintaining adaptability to different coffee types and preparation styles.
3Reliability
If the restriction is adjusted to compensate for coffee bed fluctuations, then coffee quality stabilizes, but additional control complexity is introduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent incorporates a flow sensor that provides feedback on the actual product flow rate. This feedback signal is processed by a control system that automatically adjusts the restriction device to maintain the desired flow rate, compensating for coffee bed fluctuations without requiring complex manual intervention. The feedback loop simplifies the control task by making it automatic and responsive to real-time conditions.
Solution Approach 2:
The control system with flow sensor feedback enables the device to self-regulate the restriction setting based on detected flow conditions. The system automatically compensates for coffee bed variations without user intervention, making the complexity hidden from the user while providing stable coffee quality. The device essentially serves itself by monitoring and adjusting its own parameters.
4Manufacturing precision
If flow sensor and automatic control are implemented, then preparation parameters can be precisely regulated, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The flow sensor provides real-time feedback on product flow rate, enabling the control system to precisely regulate preparation parameters such as extraction time and flow rate. This feedback mechanism allows automatic adjustment of the restriction device to maintain optimal extraction conditions, achieving high precision in parameter control while making the system adaptive to varying coffee bed conditions.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces manual mechanical adjustment of extraction parameters with an automated control system that uses electronic sensing and actuation. The flow sensor and control system substitute for manual operation, providing precise and repeatable parameter control that would be difficult to achieve through mechanical means alone, while enabling programmable preparation profiles for different coffee types.
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 solution stabilizes coffee quality by compensating for fluctuations in coffee bed resistance, allowing for diverse coffee products with consistent quality and enabling customizable pressure and retention time profiles, enhancing the coffee preparation process.
Implementation Method 1
pump means for carrying hot water under increased pressure to the preparation chamber
Implementation Method 2
a flow sensor is provided therein in order to measure a magnitude of a volume flow of the product
Implementation Method 3
By applying an adjustable restriction, and likewise resistance, in the outlet conduit of the preparation chamber this total resistance is no longer determined solely by the resistance of the coffee bed
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2~3B
Figure 4~5A
AI summary
A device for preparing a coffee product comprises a preparation chamber (135) which is intended and configured to receive and collect a quantity of ground coffee in a coffee bed (125), and pump means (15) for carrying water under increased pressure to the preparation chamber. The preparation chamber (135) is provided with a water inlet (136) for water at increased temperature and pressure on a first side of the coffee bed (125) and with an outlet (137) on an opposite side beyond the coffee bed (125). The outlet is coupled via a liquid conduit (20) to an outflow (6) at which the coffee product can be taken away. The device is provided with an electronic control system (17) which imposes a preparation cycle each time a product is prepared. Accommodated here in the liquid conduit (20) between the outlet (137) of the preparation chamber (135) and the outflow (6) at which the coffee product can be taken away is an adjustable restriction (30) with a passage (35) which is proportionally adjustable and controllable by the control system (17).