Infusion Chamber Closure Layout to Prevent Coffee Pod Jamming
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing coffee machines face reliability issues due to incorrect relative positioning of upstream and downstream closure means, leading to jamming and malfunction, which complicates the mechanism, increases manufacturing costs, and defects.
Innovation Solution
A beverage production system with a closure device that alternates between two positions, where the upstream and downstream closure means are integral and offset, ensuring sequential operation and controlled access to the infusion chamber, reducing the number of moving parts and complexity, and preventing packaging from falling directly into the recovery tank without infusion.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If separate upstream and downstream closure means are used, then the infusion chamber can be controlled, but the relative positioning becomes complex and reliability decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the upstream closure means and downstream closure means into a single integral closure device. This merging eliminates the need to control relative positioning between separate components, directly reducing mechanism complexity while maintaining the functional ability to control infusion chamber access and ejection sequences.
2Reliability
If multiple separate closure components are used, then positioning control is needed, but the number of moving parts increases and jamming risk increases
Solution Approach 1:
By integrating upstream and downstream closure means into one piece, the patent reduces the total number of moving parts and eliminates interfaces between components where jamming could occur. The single integral structure ensures coordinated movement without requiring precise positioning control between multiple parts.
3Reliability
If the closure device has sequential operation with conditional access, then packaging integrity is maintained, but the mechanism becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The integral closure device maintains sequential operation and conditional access control through its unified design. The single structure incorporates both upstream and downstream closure functions that operate in sequence, preserving packaging integrity while eliminating the kinematic complexity that would arise from coordinating separate components.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
The system (10) has a sealing device (60) with an upstream sealing unit (61) to selectively prevent or enable access to packaging (1) in an infusion chamber (7). A downstream sealing unit (62) selectively receives the packaging in the chamber or enables egress of the packaging from the chamber by gravity. The sealing device is arranged such that the position of the upstream sealing unit determines the position of the downstream sealing unit and vice versa. The sealing units are integrated with each other. An independent claim is also included for a method of preparing a beverage by infusing a product in a packaging.