Coffee Grinder Lid With Elastic Rim for Tolerance Sealing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional coffee grinder containers made of plastic suffer from electrostatic charging of coffee powder, leading to contamination, while glass containers have dimensional tolerance issues causing coffee powder to escape, resulting in an unsealed connection.
Innovation Solution
A lid with a deformation-resistant central part made of hard plastics and an elastically deformable rim part made of soft rubber, connected via a groove/tongue connection, compensates for height tolerances and ensures a sealed connection between the grinder container and coffee grinder.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If a grinder container is made of glass to reduce electrostatic charging, then coffee powder contamination is reduced, but dimensional tolerance increases causing gaps and coffee powder escape
Solution Approach 1:
The lid is segmented into two distinct parts: a rigid central lid part made of hard plastics material and an elastic lid-rim part made of soft rubber material. This segmentation allows each part to fulfill its specific function - the rigid part provides structural stability while the elastic part compensates for dimensional tolerances and ensures sealing, thereby resolving the contradiction between contamination prevention and manufacturing precision
Solution Approach 2:
The lid combines two different materials with complementary properties: hard plastics material for the central part and soft rubber material for the rim part. This composite structure leverages the non-electrostatic properties of the rigid material while utilizing the elastic properties of the rubber material to accommodate dimensional variations, thus simultaneously addressing both contamination prevention and sealing requirements
2Ease of manufacture
If a grinder container is made of plastic to reduce manufacturing cost, then ease of manufacture is improved, but electrostatic charging occurs causing coffee powder diversion
Solution Approach 1:
The lid applies local quality by using different materials in different regions: the central lid part is made of hard plastics material (similar to the container material for cost compatibility) while the lid-rim part is made of soft rubber material to prevent electrostatic charging. This localized material differentiation allows the system to maintain cost-effectiveness while eliminating the harmful electrostatic effect
3Reliability
If a lid with elastic rim part is used to compensate for dimensional tolerances, then sealing performance is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The lid merges the sealing function and the dimensional tolerance compensation function into a single integrated component - the elastic lid-rim part. This merging eliminates the need for separate sealing elements or adjustment mechanisms, achieving reliable sealing performance while keeping the device structure relatively simple
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 effectively prevents coffee powder diversion and contamination by maintaining a sealed connection despite dimensional variations in the grinder container, ensuring efficient coffee powder containment.
Implementation Method 1
an elastically deformable lid-rim part which is connected to the central lid part, comprises the circumferential web and is made of a soft rubber material
Data Source
AI summary
A grinder container (10) to be inserted in a coffee grinder comprises a lid (20) having a center inlet hole (26). The lid (20) rests on an opening rim (18) of the grinder container (10) with a peripheral lid rim (21). A peripheral web (30) projects into the interior of the grinder container (10) at a distance to the peripheral lid rim (21) and is opposite an inner wall (X) of the grinder container (10). In order to level out any dimensional tolerances regarding the height of grinder containers, the lid (20) consists of a deformation-resistant center lid part (24) which is produced of a rigid plastic material and comprises the center inlet hole (26) and of an elastically deformable lid part (22) which is produced of a soft rubber material, said lid part being connected to the center lid part (24) and comprising the peripheral web (30).