Extraction bag
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Solution Overview
Problem
Drip-type extraction bags with flat bag main bodies experience low extraction efficiency due to limited internal space and manufacturing complexity, especially when filled with coffee powder, which tends to float in hot water due to carbon dioxide content.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating a thin plate-like member with a gripping portion on the outer surface and using a water-permeable filter sheet with specific bending resistance (0.09 to 6.0 mN·cm) to enhance the bag's internal space and extraction efficiency by allowing the bag to be moved up and down in hot water.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If a flat bag main body is used to reduce manufacturing cost, then manufacturing cost is reduced, but extraction efficiency deteriorates due to limited internal space
Solution Approach 1:
The bag main body is designed to dynamically change shape from a flat state during storage to an expanded three-dimensional state during extraction. The flexible filter sheet material allows the bag to deform and expand when filled with extraction material and submerged in water, creating sufficient internal space for efficient extraction while maintaining a compact flat form for cost-effective manufacturing and storage.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention transitions the bag main body from a two-dimensional flat structure to a three-dimensional expanded structure during use. By utilizing the vertical dimension and allowing the bag to puff up and create volume when filled and submerged, the design achieves adequate extraction space without requiring a complex pre-formed three-dimensional structure that would increase manufacturing costs.
2Quantity of substance
If coffee powder is filled in the bag main body, then the bag contains extraction material, but the bag floats up in hot water due to carbon dioxide making sufficient extraction difficult
Solution Approach 1:
A weight member is attached to the bag main body to counteract the buoyant force generated by carbon dioxide gas trapped in the coffee powder. This weight member acts as a counterweight that pulls the bag downward, ensuring it remains submerged in hot water during extraction and allowing sufficient contact between water and extraction material for effective extraction.
Solution Approach 2:
The weight member serves as an intermediary element between the floating bag and the water. It mediates the interaction by providing downward force that enables the bag to maintain proper positioning in the water, facilitating effective extraction operation without requiring manual intervention to hold the bag down.
3Ease of manufacture
If the bag main body is in a planar shape, then manufacturing cost is reduced, but the volume of the bag main body in hot water is insufficient for sufficient extraction
Solution Approach 1:
The bag main body is designed to dynamically change volume from a compressed flat state to an expanded three-dimensional state when submerged in hot water. The flexible filter sheet allows the bag to naturally puff up and increase its volume upon contact with water and filling with extraction material, providing sufficient extraction volume without requiring a pre-formed large-volume structure that would increase manufacturing complexity and cost.
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
Improves extraction efficiency by increasing the internal space of the bag main body, allowing for better water flow and faster extraction of desired concentration, while maintaining low manufacturing costs and preventing the bag from floating.
Implementation Method 1
a bag main body that is formed of a water-permeable filter sheet
Implementation Method 2
a bag main body that is formed of a water-permeable filter sheet and filled with extraction material
Implementation Method 3
a thin plate-like member that is provided on an outer surface of the bag main body... allowing expansion of an internal space of the bag main body
Data Source
AI summary
A dip-type extraction bag having a bag main body in a planar shape, being formed of a water-permeable filter sheet and filled with an extraction material, wherein the extraction efficiency is improved by providing the body with a specific gripping portion formed from a thin plate-like material and regulating the characteristics of the sheet. The extraction bag includes a bag main body, a thin plate-like member provided on an outer surface thereof, and an extraction material sealed in the bag main body, which is subjected to extraction. The bag main body is a flat bag that has two facing surfaces. The thin plate-like member has a gripping portion that protrudes or is able to protrude from an upper side or the outer surface of the bag main body. The bending resistance (41.5° cantilever method in JIS L 1913:2010 (ISO method)) of the water-permeable filter sheet is 0.09 to 6.0 mN·cm.