Portable Beverage Dispenser with Sensor-Controlled Additive Dosing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing portable hydration containers lack the ability to alter the flavor, consistency, or nutritional content of consumable liquids over time, failing to optimize user health and well-being through dynamic supplementation with additives like vitamins, energy boosters, or calming supplements.
Innovation Solution
A portable, self-contained beverage apparatus with a dispensing assembly that allows for the variable and controlled dispensing of additives into a consumable liquid, using a level sensor to adjust quantities based on liquid levels, temperature, user preferences, and contextual variables, and featuring removable additive vessels that can be recycled.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a portable hydration container uses fixed consumable contents, then the device structure remains simple, but the ability to optimize user health through dynamic supplementation is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The beverage system is segmented into a base consumable liquid in the container and separate additive vessels containing supplements, vitamins, or flavorings. The dispensing assembly dispenses additives from these separate vessels into the base liquid, allowing dynamic customization without redesigning the entire container system. This segmentation enables adaptability while maintaining relative structural simplicity.
Solution Approach 2:
The dispensing assembly is designed with universal functionality to handle multiple types of additive vessels (powders, liquids, capsules) and dispense them into the consumable liquid. The system can adapt to different supplement types and user needs through a single multi-functional dispensing mechanism, reducing the need for multiple specialized components.
2Measurement precision
If additives are dispensed in fixed quantities, then the dispensing mechanism remains simple, but the precision of dosage control is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The dispensing mechanism transitions from fixed-quantity dispensing to dynamic, variable-quantity dispensing. The system adjusts the amount of additive dispensed based on real-time feedback from sensors that monitor consumable liquid level, additive vessel contents, and user preferences. This dynamic adjustment capability achieves precise dosage control while the control system manages the complexity through software algorithms.
Solution Approach 2:
The system incorporates sensors that continuously monitor the consumable liquid level, additive vessel status, and dispensing progress. This feedback information is processed by a controller that adjusts subsequent dispensing actions to achieve target dosages. The feedback loop enables precise dosage control by compensating for variations in liquid volume, additive concentration, and user consumption patterns.
3Ease of operation
If additive vessels are not removable, then the device structure remains integrated, but the ease of recycling and reuse is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The additive vessels are designed as removable, separable components from the dispensing assembly. This segmentation allows users to easily remove empty vessels for recycling or disposal and insert fresh vessels without disassembling the entire device. The attachment mechanism provides secure holding during use but enables simple removal when needed, balancing structural integrity with ease of recycling.
Solution Approach 2:
The system is designed with the understanding that additive vessels will be consumed and discarded. The removable vessel design facilitates easy discarding of empty vessels and recovery/recycling of materials. The dispensing assembly maintains the ability to securely hold vessels during use while allowing straightforward removal for the discard and recover process.
Data Source
AI summary
A portable, self-contained beverage apparatus includes a container assembly having a known storage capacity for storing a consumable liquid, and a dispensing assembly disposed within the container assembly that dispenses variable, non-zero quantities of additives into the consumable liquid. The dispensing assembly includes multiple apertures structured and arranged to retain vessels containing the additives to be dispensed into the consumable liquid. The beverage apparatus also includes a level sensor disposed within the container assembly that determines a consumable liquid level of the consumable liquid stored in the container assembly. In certain embodiments, one or more positive displacement pumping mechanisms are configured to pump additive liquid from additive containers into a beverage chamber.