Mobile Infusion Unit for Automatic Coffee Powder Loading and Discharge
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing coffee machines require manual intervention for loading and unloading coffee powder, are prone to blockages, and require frequent cleaning, with complex valve devices that are not optimized for preparing American type coffee at low pressure.
Innovation Solution
A super-automatic coffee machine with a mobile infusion unit, a simplified valve device without hydraulic mechanisms, and a single delivery and discharge valve that allows for separate circuits, enabling automatic loading, infusion, and discharge of coffee powder without manual intervention, ensuring cleanliness and optimized low-pressure brewing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Extent of automation
If a complex valve device with hydraulic mechanisms is used to enable automatic infusion, then automation level increases, but device complexity and reliability worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The valve device is divided into separate functional components: a mobile body with sealing element for closing the infusion chamber, and a fixed body with defined channels for water flow. This segmentation eliminates complex hydraulic mechanisms while maintaining automation capability through simple piston-driven closure and predefined fluid pathways.
Solution Approach 2:
The complex hydraulic mechanisms are extracted and removed from the valve device. Instead, the patent uses a simplified approach where the mobile infusion unit's piston directly closes the chamber and predefined channels in the fixed body guide the water flow, eliminating the need for complicated hydraulic control systems.
2Device complexity
If the residual water circuit shares the feed circuit, then device complexity reduces, but cleanliness and reliability worsen due to contamination
Solution Approach 1:
The fluid circuit is segmented into separate functional zones: the feed circuit delivers water to the infusion chamber through defined channels in the fixed body, while the expulsion piston's movement path and the mobile body's interior form a separate zone for coffee powder handling. This segmentation prevents coffee powder contamination of the feed water circuit while maintaining circuit simplicity.
3Device complexity
If manual intervention is required for loading and unloading coffee powder, then device complexity reduces, but ease of operation worsens
Solution Approach 1:
The mobile infusion unit with its movable cylinder and piston provides dynamic operation: the cylinder can be positioned in different locations (loading position, infusion position, discharge position), and the piston automatically performs both closure of the infusion chamber and expulsion of used coffee powder. This dynamic design enables full automation of coffee powder handling without complex mechanisms.
4Device complexity
If the access zone of coffee powder is located in contact with the infusion zone, then device complexity reduces, but reliability worsens due to blockages from humidity
Solution Approach 1:
The interior of the mobile infusion unit is segmented into distinct functional zones: the access zone for coffee powder loading is separated from the infusion zone where water contacts the coffee. This segmentation allows the access zone to remain dry and free from humidity-related blockages while maintaining a simple overall structure.
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 provides a fully automatic, reliable, and easy-to-use solution for preparing American type coffee, maintaining aroma extraction standards, reducing manual cleaning needs, and preventing clogging, while keeping the water circuit clean.
Implementation Method 1
The water heated by the boiler is fed to the infusion chamber where, due to the effect of gravity, it percolates through the coffee powder, extracting its aromatic substances
Implementation Method 2
it percolates through the coffee powder, extracting its aromatic substances so as to obtain the coffee beverage
Implementation Method 3
a deflection valve which can be selectively activated to put said exit pipe in communication with a delivery configured to deliver the infused beverage into a receptacle of a user, or with a discharge pipe configured to discharge the residual water deriving from the drying of the dose of used coffee powder
Implementation Method 4
The valve device also comprises elastic members suitable to exert a determinate contrast force in an axial direction in order to maintain the mobile body stationary with respect to the fixed body, until a force greater than a predefined value is applied on it
Data Source
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AI summary
An automatic machine for preparing beverages, in particular American coffee, comprising a unit (35) to feed the coffee powder, a mobile infusion unit (11) comprising an infusion cylinder (12) which delimits an infusion chamber (15), and a hydraulic circuit (31) configured to heat the water for the infusion and feed it to the infusion chamber (15). The infusion unit (11) comprises an expulsion piston (13) slidable inside the infusion cylinder (12) and delimiting at the lower part the infusion chamber (15), and a valve device (16) provided with a valve body (21) and a closing piston (14) which can engage with the infusion cylinder (12) in order to close the infusion chamber (15).