Virtual sight glass for a portable beverage dispensing container
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Solution Overview
Problem
Satellite brewing systems face issues with heat loss and contamination due to traditional sight glasses, which are fragile and difficult to read, especially when residue accumulates, affecting the quality and temperature of beverages.
Innovation Solution
A virtual sight glass system using light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and a translucent internal beverage holding tank to provide a visual indication of the beverage level, with light patterns indicating the filled and unfilled portions, eliminating the need for physical sight glasses and reducing heat loss.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If a traditional sight glass is used to indicate beverage level, then visual indication is provided, but the sight glass is fragile and prone to contamination
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a virtual copy of the sight glass function using LED lights and translucent material. Instead of using a physical glass window that can break and contaminate, the system projects a light pattern through the translucent shuttle wall to create a visual representation of the beverage level, eliminating the need for a physical sight glass while maintaining the information display function
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical/optical sight glass structure with an electronic lighting system. LED lights are positioned behind the translucent shuttle wall, and their illumination pattern (visible or invisible spectrum) creates the visual indication of beverage level, substituting the traditional mechanical sight glass with an electronic display mechanism
2Loss of information
If a sight glass is installed on the shuttle, then beverage level can be monitored, but heat loss increases
Solution Approach 1:
The virtual sight glass creates an optical illusion of a window without actually creating a physical opening or translucent panel that would conduct heat. The LED lights projected through the existing translucent wall material create the visual indication without requiring additional heat-conductive components, thus maintaining thermal insulation while providing monitoring capability
3Loss of information
If residue accumulates on the sight glass, then reading becomes difficult, but the sight glass remains in use
Solution Approach 1:
The virtual light pattern projected through the translucent material has no physical surface for residue to accumulate on. The LED lights create an optical display that can be viewed through the shuttle wall without any intermediate glass surface, eliminating the contamination issue entirely while maintaining clear visual indication of beverage level
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 virtual sight glass system offers a clear, contamination-free, and energy-efficient method to monitor beverage levels, maintaining beverage quality and reducing heat loss by eliminating the need for physical sight glasses.
Implementation Method 1
The brewing station includes one or more light sources, for example, light-emitting diodes (LEDs)
Implementation Method 2
The internal beverage holding tank is constructed from a translucent plastic or similar material. Thus, light directed through the openings in the housing of the shuttle continues through the wall of the internal beverage holding tank
Implementation Method 3
The internal beverage holding tank is constructed from a translucent plastic or similar material
Data Source
AI summary
A portable beverage dispensing container comprises a housing and an internal beverage holding tank positioned in and contained within the housing. The internal beverage holding tank is configured to receive and store a beverage, and the internal beverage holding tank is constructed from a translucent material. The housing includes an opening through a rear surface thereof, such that light from a light source (which is installed at a brewing station) can be directed through the opening and through the internal beverage holding tank, such a light pattern is projected on a sight glass window on a front surface of the housing that provides a visual indication of the level of the beverage in the shuttle.