Soluble Coffee Tablet Manufacturing with Porous Core and Hardened Crust
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for manufacturing soluble coffee tablets often require additives and are complex, lacking in mechanical resistance and convenience for handling, storage, and rapid dissolution.
Innovation Solution
A method involving compaction of a coffee composition to form a compacted product, followed by moistening and controlled drying to create a porous core surrounded by a hardened crust, enhancing mechanical resistance while maintaining rapid dissolution.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If additives are used to form tablets and enable required properties in terms of resistance and dissolution time, then mechanical resistance and dissolution properties are improved, but the complexity of the manufacturing process and the need for additional materials increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts and eliminates additives from the tablet formulation, using only coffee particles. The mechanical resistance is achieved through the compaction process itself and the natural properties of coffee particles, rather than through added binding agents or structural modifiers.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the physical parameters of the coffee particles through compaction under controlled pressure and moisture conditions. By adjusting compaction pressure, moisture content, and particle size distribution, the method achieves the required mechanical resistance without additives.
2Reliability
If additives are used to form tablets and enable required properties in terms of resistance and dissolution time, then dissolution properties are improved, but the purity of the coffee product decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention removes all additives from the formulation, achieving dissolution properties through the natural structure of compacted coffee particles. The tablet structure itself, formed by compaction of moisture-containing coffee particles, enables rapid dissolution without compromising purity.
3Speed
If a porous structure is created to enable rapid dissolution, then dissolution speed is improved, but mechanical resistance decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention creates local density variations within the tablet structure. The compaction process produces regions of different density and porosity that coexist, with denser regions providing structural strength and more porous regions enabling rapid water penetration and dissolution.
Solution Approach 2:
The tablet structure functions as a composite material system where compacted coffee particles of varying density and moisture content create a multi-phase structure. This composite structure simultaneously provides mechanical integrity and rapid dissolution characteristics.
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 method produces soluble coffee tablets with increased mechanical resistance for handling and storage, along with rapid dissolution in hot water, without the need for additives and with a simpler implementation process.
Implementation Method 1
compaction of the coffee composition to form a compacted coffee product
Implementation Method 2
Moistening of the compacted coffee product to moisten the exterior surface of the compacted product
Implementation Method 3
Drying of the moistened compacted product to form the soluble coffee tablet
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~4
Figure 5~6
AI summary
The invention relates to a method for manufacturing a soluble coffee tablet comprising the following successive steps: a. Taking a quantity of a coffee composition comprising coffee, wherein the coffee consists of soluble coffee particles; b. Compaction of the coffee composition to form a compacted coffee product of three-dimensional form; c. Moistening of said compacted coffee product to moisten the exterior surface of the compacted product; d. Drying of the moistened compacted product to form the soluble coffee tablet. Such a method makes it possible to form a soluble coffee tablet having an internal part and an external part entirely surrounding the internal part, with the external part having a greater density than the density of the internal part. The internal part is a porous core promoting the dissolution of the tablet and the external part forms a thick hardened crust with a density greater than the density of the core, thus increasing the mechanical resistance of the tablet.