Rotating Inlet Nozzle for Uniform Coffee Cartridge Extraction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Coffee brewers using stationary inlet needles often fail to fully extract coffee grounds, resulting in a brewed beverage that can be bitter and have an undesirable aftertaste due to channeling of hot water, leading to incomplete extraction of flavors.
Innovation Solution
A beverage brewing system that rotates or spins the inlet nozzle within the coffee cartridge, ensuring a fluidized mixture of water and coffee grounds for more thorough extraction, reducing bitterness and improving flavor consistency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If a stationary inlet needle is used to inject hot water into the coffee cartridge, then the device structure is simple, but the hot water channels through the coffee grounds resulting in incomplete extraction and bitter taste
Solution Approach 1:
The inlet nozzle is transformed from a stationary component to a dynamic one that rotates during the brewing process. This rotation is achieved through a motor-driven mechanism that spins the nozzle at controlled speeds, allowing the hot water stream to continuously change direction and wet different portions of the coffee grounds uniformly, thereby eliminating channeling and improving extraction consistency.
Solution Approach 2:
The inlet nozzle performs periodic rotation during the brewing cycle, creating a repeating pattern of water distribution across the coffee bed. This periodic motion ensures that all areas of the coffee grounds receive adequate wetting over time, preventing both over-extraction and under-extraction zones that occur with stationary nozzle injection.
2Manufacturing precision
If a stationary inlet needle is used, then the device is easy to operate, but the beverage quality is poor due to channeling and incomplete extraction
Solution Approach 1:
The system incorporates an automated control mechanism that manages the nozzle rotation speed and duration based on pre-programmed parameters. The motor controller automatically adjusts the rotation profile during brewing, eliminating the need for manual intervention and ensuring consistent extraction quality without requiring the user to understand or control the complex rotational dynamics.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically changes operational parameters including rotation speed, injection pressure, and brewing time to optimize extraction. By adjusting these parameters during the brewing process, the system adapts to different coffee types and user preferences while maintaining complete and uniform extraction, thereby improving beverage quality without increasing user operational burden.
3Manufacturing precision
If a rotating inlet nozzle is used to fluidize the coffee grounds, then flavor extraction is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces complex mechanical fluidization mechanisms with a simpler rotational injection system. Instead of using mechanical stirrers or fluidized bed components, the system achieves thorough mixing and extraction through the rotational motion of the injection nozzle itself, which creates turbulent flow patterns that effectively fluidize the coffee grounds during brewing.
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 rotating or spinning inlet nozzle system enhances flavor extraction, minimizing bitterness and improving the taste of brewed coffee by ensuring uniform wetting and extraction of coffee grounds, resulting in a more consistent and enjoyable beverage.
Implementation Method 1
the pump delivers at least a first fluid to an inner volume of the sealed container of beverage medium in the receptacle of the beverage head through the inlet nozzle such that an at least second fluid comprising the at least first fluid and a quantity of beverage medium are combined within the inner volume of the sealed container
Implementation Method 2
The water (solvent) infuses with the coffee grounds (slurry) in the cartridge, and extracts solutes (e.g., soluble portions of the slurry) or other materials from the coffee grounds to form the solution (e.g., beverage)
Data Source
AI summary
The brewing system disclosed herein includes a moving inlet nozzle for use in intermixing hot water and coffee in a coffee cartridge. The inlet nozzle may include one or more flow ports that inject hot water into an inner chamber of the coffee cartridge at select angles, locations and pressures to create the desired fluidized mixture of hot water and beverage medium.