Tapered Brew Basket and Filter Pack for Full Coffee Saturation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing electric coffee brewing machines suffer from inefficiencies where heated water can flow around the coffee filter and not saturate the coffee grounds properly, leading to weaker or underdeveloped brewed coffee.
Innovation Solution
A brew basket and filter pack assembly with a tapered multi-sided three-dimensional shape that complements each other, ensuring heated water flows through the coffee grounds effectively, with the filter pack's design preventing water from bypassing the grounds and enhancing saturation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a conventional brew basket and filter configuration is used, then the brewing process is simple, but heated water flows around the coffee filter without saturating the coffee grounds properly
Solution Approach 1:
The filter pack is designed with a tapered shape that conforms to the curved bottom surface of the brew basket, eliminating gaps between the filter and basket. This curved/tapered configuration ensures that heated water cannot bypass the coffee grounds and must flow through the filter, achieving reliable saturation without complex additional components.
2Quantity of substance
If heated water flows around the coffee filter, then water loss is reduced, but the brewed coffee becomes weaker and underdeveloped
Solution Approach 1:
The filter pack is designed with varying thickness and porosity in different regions - tighter at the bottom where water exits and more gradual saturation zones above. This local variation in structure ensures that water is forced to percolate through the coffee grounds in a controlled manner, maximizing extraction efficiency while preventing water bypass.
3Productivity
If a tapered multi-sided filter pack is used, then water flow through coffee grounds is improved, but manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The filter pack utilizes a flexible, thin-walled structure that can be formed into the required tapered multi-sided shape through conventional forming processes. This flexible shell design allows the filter to conform to the brew basket geometry while maintaining structural integrity, achieving improved water flow control without excessive manufacturing complexity.
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
This configuration improves the quality of brewed coffee by ensuring thorough saturation of coffee grounds, increasing the strength and extraction yield of the coffee, and reducing water loss, resulting in a more consistent brewing process.
Implementation Method 1
The pouch is configured to receive heated water from the brewing machine at an uppermost one of the sides during a brewing operation with brewed beverage discharging from the inverted vertex
Data Source
AI summary
A brew basket is provided for use in a beverage brewing machine. The brew basket includes a body defining a brewing reservoir that extends along a longitudinal length from an open top to a bottom end having one or more openings. The brewing reservoir has an internally tapered multi-sided three-dimensional (3D) shape. The brewing reservoir having a first cross-sectional area at the open top that progressively narrows along the longitudinal length of the multi-sided 3D shape to a smaller second cross-sectional area proximate to the one or more openings at the bottom end. The open top is configured to receive heated water from the brewing machine during a brewing operation with brewed beverage discharging from the one or more openings. The multi-sided 3D shape of the brewing reservoir configured to receive a filter pack having a generally tapered multi-sided 3D shape similar to the multi-sided 3D shape of the brewing reservoir.