Conical Burr Geometry for Fine Coffee Grinding Without Clogging
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing coffee grinders fail to produce a fine enough grind for Turkish coffee, often clog when grinding pre-ground coffee, and require excessive effort due to inhomogeneous particle sizes and inefficient grinding paths, leading to loss of aromatic compounds and flavor.
Innovation Solution
A grinding unit with a frustoconical burr and ring burr design featuring subsets of curved teeth that create a steep grinding gap, allowing for efficient and uniform grinding of coffee beans, including pre-ground material, with a geometrical outline at the top end face that promotes radial forces for effective particle transport and minimizes clogging.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If a conventional frustoconical burr mill is used with a single set of teeth, then the structure is simple, but the grinding path is too short and cannot produce fine enough grind for Turkish coffee
Solution Approach 1:
The burr tooth configuration is segmented into two distinct subsets: a first subset with teeth protruding at a first angle and a second subset with teeth protruding at a second angle. This segmentation creates multiple grinding zones within the burr mill, extending the effective grinding path and enabling progressive size reduction of coffee particles to achieve the fine uniform grind required for Turkish coffee.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the burr mill are given different local qualities through the two subsets of teeth with different protrusion angles. The first subset creates a coarser initial grind while the second subset provides finer grinding, allowing each local region to perform a specific function in the multi-stage grinding process.
2Productivity
If the inlet gap is made large to accommodate whole beans, then whole beans can be ground, but the grinding path becomes too short and requires many turns leading to loss of aromatic compounds
Solution Approach 1:
The grinding process is segmented into multiple stages by the two subsets of teeth, allowing the inlet gap to remain large for accommodating whole beans while the segmented tooth configuration creates an extended effective grinding path that achieves fine uniform grind in fewer turns, preserving aromatic compounds.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the burr mill grinds pre-ground coffee, then re-grinding is possible, but the burrs rapidly clog and require frequent maintenance
Solution Approach 1:
The segmented tooth configuration with two subsets at different angles creates a more open and distributed grinding structure that reduces particle accumulation and clogging, enabling the mill to handle both whole beans and pre-ground coffee with reduced maintenance requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The frustoconical shape of the burr mill combined with the curved tooth profiles creates smooth particle flow paths that prevent particles from becoming trapped, reducing clogging when grinding pre-ground coffee while maintaining the ability to process whole beans.
4Manufacturing precision
If manual grinding is used to achieve fine grind, then grind quality improves, but excessive effort is required due to inhomogeneous particle sizes
Solution Approach 1:
The two subsets of teeth automatically perform the multi-stage grinding process that would otherwise require manual intervention. The first subset performs initial size reduction while the second subset refines the particles, achieving uniform fine grind automatically and reducing the physical effort required compared to manual grinding.
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 enables faster, gentler grinding with fewer turns, preserving aromatic compounds and achieving a uniform grind size, reducing clogging and frictional heat, thus enhancing flavor and aroma extraction.
Implementation Method 1
the first subset of curved teeth and a second subset of curved teeth configured so that at least a part of the curved teeth of the first subset protrude longer into the grinding gap than the second subset of curved teeth
Implementation Method 2
the ring burr has an interior wall provided with annularly spaced apart first curved teeth protruding radially into the grinding gap, and the frustoconical burr has an annular exterior wall provided with annularly spaced apart second curved teeth protruding into the grinding gap
Data Source
AI summary
A grinding unit having a ring burr and a frustoconical burr that together delimit a grinding gap therebetween. A first angle between a first subset of curved teeth of the frustoconical burr and the first curved teeth of the ring burr provides a grinding gap having an angle smaller than a second angle between a second subset of curved teeth of the frustoconical burr and the first curved teeth of the ring burr. A geometrical outline taken through the cusps of the second curved teeth at the top end face of the frustoconical burr opposite the base is a square or rectangle. This grinding unit produces a ground product, such as ground coffee beans, with fewer turns than known grinding units and with less effort. The properties and qualities of the resulting ground products are superior to those obtained with conventional grinding units because flavor and aroma are retained.