Spiral Coffee Bean Conveyance for Accurate Weight Dispensing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current coffee bean dispensers are bulky, fail to accurately control the quantity or weight of coffee beans, leading to unnecessary waste and increased material costs due to inconsistent coffee brewing.
Innovation Solution
A coffee bean conveyance device with a conveying unit, coffee bean holding unit, driving mechanism, and control device that ensures a constant weight of coffee beans is supplied to a grinder or dispenser by using a rotating coil spring and weighing system to maintain consistent coffee bean delivery.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a conveyor belt is used to convey coffee beans, then the coffee bean dispenser can dispense coffee beans, but the device becomes bulky in volume and not suitable for use on a bar counter
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the essential conveying function from the traditional conveyor belt system and implements it using a compact spiral conveyor mechanism that fits within the dispenser housing, eliminating the need for a separate bulky conveyor belt system while maintaining the coffee bean conveying capability
Solution Approach 2:
The spiral conveyor is nested within the cylindrical housing of the dispenser, with the conveying mechanism integrated into the internal space of the container, allowing the device to maintain a compact form factor suitable for bar counter placement
2Measurement precision
If manual weighing and dispensing is used, then the coffee store can sell home-brand roasted coffee beans, but the labor cost increases and the process cannot be done fast and accurately
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the manual mechanical weighing process with an automated electronic weighing system that includes a load cell sensor and control circuitry, enabling fast and accurate measurement of coffee bean quantity without manual intervention
Solution Approach 2:
The control system automatically monitors the weight of coffee beans dispensed and stops the conveying mechanism when the target weight is reached, eliminating the need for manual monitoring and operation while ensuring consistent accurate dosing
3Reliability
If too many coffee beans are taken out from the container at a time, then the brewed coffee would taste too strong, but the extra ground coffee beans are discarded to form unnecessary waste and increase material cost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a feedback control system where the load cell continuously monitors the weight of dispensed coffee beans and provides real-time feedback to the control unit, which adjusts the conveying mechanism to stop at the precise target weight, ensuring consistent brewing quality and eliminating waste from over-dosing
4Reliability
If an insufficient quantity of coffee beans is taken out from the container for making a cup of coffee, then the brewed coffee might taste too light and the operator might have to discard it and make another cup of coffee, but this increases material cost
Solution Approach 1:
The load cell-based feedback system ensures that the precise target weight of coffee beans is dispensed by continuously monitoring the weight during dispensing and stopping the conveying mechanism at the exact target weight, preventing under-dosing that would result in weak coffee and subsequent waste from remaking
5Productivity
If a conveyor belt system is used, then coffee beans can be conveyed, but the device fails to accurately control the quantity or weight of coffee beans to be dispensed each time
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical conveyor belt system with a spiral conveyor mechanism integrated with an electronic weighing system using a load cell, which provides precise weight measurement and control capability that the mechanical conveyor belt lacked
Solution Approach 2:
The control unit adjusts the conveying parameters such as spiral rotation speed and duration based on the target weight input, dynamically controlling the dispensing process to achieve accurate weight control rather than relying on fixed mechanical conveyance
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 device reduces waste and material costs by ensuring a consistent quantity of coffee beans is dispensed, improving the efficiency and accuracy of coffee brewing.
Implementation Method 1
the driving mechanism is eccentrically connected to the conveying unit, so that the coil spring is driven by the driving source to rotate about a second axis that is parallelly spaced from the first axis of the conveyance passage
Implementation Method 2
The control device stops the driving mechanism from operating when the measured weight data sent thereto is the same as the preset weight data stored in the control device
Data Source
AI summary
A coffee bean conveyance device includes a conveying unit, a coffee bean holding unit and a driving mechanism. The conveying unit is a hollow member detachably assembled to the coffee bean holding unit, such that the coffee bean holding unit and the conveying unit are internally communicable with each other. The driving mechanism is eccentrically connected to the conveying unit, such that axes of the conveying unit and driving mechanism are parallelly spaced from each other. When the driving mechanism operates, coffee beans in the coffee bean holding unit are caused to stably move into the conveying unit and a constant weight or quantity of coffee beans is continuously fed to a coffee bean grinder or a coffee bean dispenser disposed below an outlet of the conveying unit. With these arrangements, the feeding of irregular weight or quantity of coffee beans to the coffee bean grinder or dispenser is avoided.