An apparatus for preparing a hot liquid drink
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Solution Overview
Problem
Hot drinks apparatuses require complex and costly thermostatic control for pumping, often using noisy electric pumps, which is inefficient and disliked by users.
Innovation Solution
A piston pump driven by the expansion of a phase change material, such as wax, which automatically displaces liquid at the desired temperature, eliminating the need for electric pumps and thermostatic control, and allowing for low-noise operation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If an electric pump is used for pumping water, then the pumping function is reliable, but the apparatus generates noise and requires complex thermostatic control circuitry
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the electric pump with a thermal expansion-based pumping mechanism. The pump chamber contains a material that expands when heated, automatically displacing water without requiring electric motors or complex control circuitry. This substitution eliminates noise while maintaining the pumping function through passive thermal-mechanical action.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention utilizes phase transition of a material (such as wax transitioning from solid to liquid) within the pump chamber. When the material undergoes phase change due to heating, it expands and drives the pumping action. This phase transition provides automatic temperature-based control without external thermostatic circuitry, resolving the contradiction between reliability and complexity.
2Reliability
If an electric pump is used for pumping water, then the pumping function is reliable, but the apparatus generates noise which is disliked by users
Solution Approach 1:
The electric pump is replaced with a thermal expansion-based pumping mechanism. The pump chamber contains a material that expands when heated, automatically displacing water without requiring electric motors or complex control circuitry. This substitution eliminates noise while maintaining the pumping function through passive thermal-mechanical action.
3Temperature
If thermostatic control is implemented for the pump, then the pumping temperature can be controlled, but the apparatus complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The invention utilizes phase transition of a material (such as wax transitioning from solid to liquid) within the pump chamber. When the material undergoes phase change due to heating, it expands and drives the pumping action. This phase transition provides automatic temperature-based control without external thermostatic circuitry, resolving the contradiction between reliability and complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The pump system is self-regulating through the inherent properties of the thermal expansion material. The material automatically expands at its characteristic transition temperature, providing self-controlled pumping without external thermostatic circuitry. This self-service mechanism eliminates complex control systems while maintaining temperature control capability.
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 phase change material-based pumping system provides efficient, low-noise liquid displacement without the need for electric pumps or complex control systems, reducing costs and improving user experience.
Implementation Method 1
apparatus for preparing a hot liquid drink which makes use of expansion of a phase change material to drive displacement of the liquid
Implementation Method 2
The expansion of the phase change material is used to drive a piston pump
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3A~3F
Figure 4A~4C
AI summary
An apparatus is provided for preparing a hot liquid drink which makes use of expansion of a phase change material /( 18) (as is for example used in a wax motor) to drive displacement of the liquid into or out of a heating vessel (10).