Touchless Gesture Control for Beverage Machine Access and Operation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing beverage preparation machines for aromatic beverages, such as espresso-type coffee, face ergonomic challenges, particularly in accessing the beverage discharge mechanism, which requires manual operation and does not allow for hands-free use, especially when holding a drinking recipient and another object simultaneously.
Innovation Solution
A system that enables touchless input gestures to activate the apparatus, allowing for the preparation of edible products without direct user contact, using input means that can detect and differentiate gestures such as free hand movements or gestures involving a recipient, to control the access and placement of edible substances and recipients, utilizing mechanical, optical, electromagnetic, or magnetic interactions within a defined input space.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If manual operation of access disposition is used, then device complexity is reduced, but ease of operation deteriorates when hands are occupied
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual mechanical operation with touchless input means (optical, electromagnetic, or magnetic sensors) that detect gestures in the input space. This allows users to operate the apparatus without physical contact, solving the problem of hands being occupied while maintaining operational capability through non-contact sensing mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary field (optical, electromagnetic, or magnetic) between the user and the apparatus. This intermediary allows gesture detection and command transmission without direct physical contact, enabling operation when hands are occupied while adding sensing infrastructure to the system.
2Ease of operation
If touchless input means are added, then ease of operation improves, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent designs the touchless input means to serve multiple functions: detecting presence, recognizing gestures, and triggering operations. By making the sensing system multi-functional, the patent reduces the need for separate components for each function, thereby limiting the increase in device complexity while improving ease of operation.
3Productivity
If access disposition requires manual actuation, then manufacturing precision requirements are reduced, but productivity deteriorates when hands are occupied
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual mechanical actuation with touchless gesture recognition. This eliminates the need for precise mechanical alignment and actuation components, reducing manufacturing precision requirements while improving productivity by enabling operation when hands are occupied through non-contact gesture control.
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
Enables efficient and ergonomic preparation of beverages by allowing users to operate the machine without touching it, reducing the number of initial input gestures required and improving ergonomics, ensuring reliable actuation of the access disposition for both recipient placement and edible substance introduction.
Implementation Method 1
utilizing mechanical, optical, electromagnetic, or magnetic interactions within a defined input space
Implementation Method 2
utilizing mechanical, optical, electromagnetic, or magnetic interactions within a defined input space
Implementation Method 3
utilizing mechanical, optical, electromagnetic, or magnetic interactions within a defined input space
Implementation Method 4
utilizing mechanical, optical, electromagnetic, or magnetic interactions within a defined input space
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention discloses systems and processes for preparation of edible products, for example aromatic beverages such as espresso coffee and similar, based upon portions (7) of edible substance, for example coffee in a capsule, including an apparatus (1) that comprises a recipient placement disposition (2) adapted for placing a recipient (10, 10′) for collecting edible product, an envelope (3) of apparatus and an access disposition (4) that provides selective access to at least one of said recipient placement disposition (2) and an entry passageway (8) of portions, whereby the cycle of beverage preparation can be carried out by means of apprehension of at least one type of touchless input gesture in the proximal surrounding of the apparatus (1), preferentially in the proximal surrounding of said access disposition (4).