Drip Coffee Machine Tank Design for Gravity-Driven Flavor Extraction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing coffee machines do not allow for complete extraction of organoleptic properties from ground coffee due to the introduction of pressurized hot water, which forces filtration and reduces the time for water to pass through the coffee, thereby incomplete extraction of flavors.
Innovation Solution
A coffee machine with a dispenser element that delivers hot water to a tank, where it decompresses to ambient pressure before slowly flowing through a hopper containing ground coffee, allowing for spontaneous percolation and complete extraction of flavors.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If pressurized hot water is delivered directly to ground coffee, then the filtration process is accelerated and water passes through coffee faster, but the extraction of organoleptic properties becomes incomplete
Solution Approach 1:
The water delivery system is segmented into two distinct stages: a pressurized delivery phase (using pump and nozzle) and a gravity-driven percolation phase (through the tank opening). This segmentation allows the system to benefit from both pressurized delivery efficiency and gravity-driven extraction quality, resolving the contradiction between filtration speed and extraction completeness.
Solution Approach 2:
The tank acts as an intermediary device between the pressurized water source and the coffee grounds. It receives pressurized water, allows pressure to equalize, and then releases water under gravity control. This intermediary structure enables the transition from high-speed pressurized flow to slow gravity-driven percolation, ensuring complete extraction while maintaining system productivity.
2Loss of time
If pressurized hot water flows through ground coffee, then the process time is reduced, but the dissolution of water-soluble substances is incomplete
Solution Approach 1:
The brewing process is segmented into two phases: rapid pressurized water delivery (reducing time loss) and slow gravity-driven percolation (ensuring complete dissolution). The tank serves as the transition point between these phases, allowing the system to achieve both time efficiency and complete substance extraction.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the flow parameter from high pressure to zero pressure (gravity-driven) at the tank opening. This parameter change enables the water to slowly percolate through the coffee grounds, ensuring complete dissolution of water-soluble substances while the overall process remains time-efficient due to the initial pressurized delivery.
3Reliability
If a tank is added to collect and decompress water, then complete extraction is achieved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The tank performs multiple functions: it collects pressurized water from the nozzle, allows pressure equalization, stores water temporarily, and controls gravity-driven flow to the coffee grounds. By consolidating these functions into a single component, the system achieves complete extraction without proportionally increasing complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The tank utilizes the natural gravity force to control water flow to the coffee grounds, eliminating the need for additional pressure control mechanisms or complex regulation systems. This self-service approach using natural physical forces achieves reliable extraction while minimizing added system complexity.
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 machine ensures the slow and complete extraction of organoleptic properties from ground coffee, enhancing the flavor profile of drip coffee by allowing hot water to flow through the coffee grounds by gravity, rather than under pressure.
Implementation Method 1
The tank has a discharge opening, so as to release by gravity, the hot water accumulated in the tank into a hopper configured to accommodate a dose of ground coffee
Implementation Method 2
the flow of pressurized hot water, delivered by the feeding members, by accumulating in the tank reaches the ambient pressure. Thus, the tank acts as a sort of 'decompression chamber' adapted to release the pressure of the flow of water exiting the feeding members
Implementation Method 3
By percolation, the hot water dissolves the water-soluble substances contained in the ground coffee, transferring them into the beverage
Implementation Method 4
the hot water dissolves the water-soluble substances contained in the ground coffee, transferring them into the beverage
Data Source
AI summary
The present disclosure concerns a coffee machine comprising a dispenser element configured to deliver hot water; feeding members in fluid communication with the dispensing element; a filter coffee dispensing unit comprising a tank arranged below the dispensing element along a longitudinal direction, configured to collect the hot water coming from the dispensing element, and having a discharge opening adapted to discharge the hot water accumulated in the tank by gravity into a hopper configured to accommodate a dose of ground coffee.