Refrigerated Drink Dispenser With Slit Membrane Gravity Feed
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing refrigerated dispensers for consumable products face issues such as complex access mechanisms, energy wastage, mechanical breakdowns, and inefficient product retrieval, particularly in designs with moving parts or sealed doors.
Innovation Solution
A dispenser with a thermally insulated case featuring a blocking membrane with slits for airtight access and an angled ramp that automatically presents products at the outlet, allowing for easy manual retrieval without opening a door, and optionally integrated or remote refrigeration to minimize energy loss.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If a sealed door is used to maintain refrigeration, then energy loss is reduced, but product accessibility deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The sealed door is segmented by introducing a vertical slot that allows product retrieval without opening the entire door. This segmentation enables selective access while maintaining the overall seal, resolving the contradiction between energy conservation and accessibility.
Solution Approach 2:
A ramp structure acts as an intermediary element that guides products from the storage chamber through the slot to the retrieval area. This mediator enables product access while the door remains sealed, eliminating the need to compromise the refrigeration seal for accessibility.
2Ease of operation
If moving parts are included in the dispenser mechanism, then product retrieval is improved, but reliability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The ramp structure enables products to retrieve themselves through gravity-assisted movement along the inclined surface. This self-service mechanism eliminates motors, actuators, and other moving parts that would compromise reliability, while still achieving automated product presentation.
3Ease of operation
If a complex access mechanism is used to retrieve products, then product retrieval is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The complex mechanical access mechanisms (motors, belts, gears) are extracted and replaced with a simple ramp structure. This extraction simplifies the device while maintaining product retrieval functionality through passive gravity-based movement along the inclined ramp.
4Device complexity
If the outlet opening is located at the lower extremity with gravity descent, then device complexity is reduced, but product accessibility deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The outlet opening is repositioned to the upper extremity of the housing, utilizing vertical dimensionality change. Products descend along the ramp from the rear to the upper outlet, allowing easy hand access while maintaining design simplicity. This dimensional reconfiguration resolves the contradiction between simplicity and accessibility.
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 provides a simple, reliable, and energy-efficient product retrieval system that reduces mechanical complexity and energy wastage, offering easy access and maintaining airtight refrigeration.
Implementation Method 1
The outlet opening is closed by a blocking membrane with slits made of airtight material
Implementation Method 2
the outlet opening is located at the lower extremity of the housing, with the stacked products being automatically displaced by gravity
Implementation Method 3
a thermally insulated case having at least one housing to receive products
Data Source
AI summary
A simple, inexpensive, reliable and maintenance-free dispenser in which the stored products are offered automatically on the outside of the dispenser where they can be grasped by a hand without further manipulation. The dispenser includes housings in which the products, stacked in a column, are stored and moved by gravity and, at the base of each housing in front of the first product of the column, outlet orifices are closed by a closing membrane with slits. A slope is provided, in the lower rear part of each housing, to automatically advance the first product a predetermined distance through the outlet orifice so that the product partially emerges and can be grasped by hand on the outside of the dispenser. The dispenser can be used to automatically dispense consumable products, such as drinks, without prepayment, and for all types of industrial, commercial, home and other applications.