Title of Invention	A METHOD OF DETECTING LACK OF COFFE BEANS IN A COFFEE BEAN GRINDER UNIT AND A COFFEE MAKER ADAPTED TO PERFORM THE METHOD
Abstract	There is disclosed a method of detecting lack of coffee beans in a coffee bean grinder unit, comprising the steps of measuring the level of an oscillation generated by the coffee bean grinder unit during its operation, and deciding whether or not coffee beans are present in the coffee bean grinder unit in dependence of the magnitude of said measured level of oscillation.

Full Text

The present invention relates to a method of detecting lack of coffee beans in a coffee bean grinder unit, and a coffee maker adapted to perform the method. Background of the Invention Coffee makers of the kind referred to herein are adapted to prepare a fresh coffee beverage fully automatically. Such coffee makers comprise a coffee bean container for receiving coffee beans to be ground, a grinder unit for grinding the coffee beans, and a brewing unit to which the freshly ground coffee powder is fed. In the brewing unit, the coffee powder is compressed and, thereafter, hot pressurized brewing water flows through the compressed coffee powder to extract a coffee beverage. Such coffee makers are also called "Espresso Coffee Machines" in general language use. There is one particular problem in connection with these coffee makers, in as much as a lack of coffee beans in the grinder unit should be detected as soon as possible; otherwise, the drive motor of the grinder unit could overheat if it runs under no load conditions for a certain time. Another problem is seen in the fact that a relationship should be established as to the amount of coffee beans already ground in the actual grinding cycle once the lack of coffee beans has been detected; thereby, after refilling coffee beans, the grinding cycle can be continued to grind only the re maining amount of coffee beans required to complement the already ground amount such that the correct total amount of coffee powder results that is required to brew a proper coffee beverage. Other- wise, the already ground amount of coffee would have to be dis- carded without having been used and replaced by a new, full charge of coffee powder. Prior Art The detection of a lack of coffee beans in a grinder unit of a coffee maker by means of conventional sensing means is problem- atic, since these are subject to rapid contamination, the more so as coffee beans are fatty and because coffee dust develops during the grinding operation, that dust being destructive for most of the sensing means used up to now. Moreover, it is known in the prior art to measure the current; the electric motor driving the grinding unit draws and to concludes from the magnitude of the current to the presence or absence of coffee beans in the grinder unit. Such a method may be theoreti- cally possible since the motor of the grinder unit draws more cur- rent under load than during operating in a no load condition. How- ever, this method did not prove its reliability in practice be- cause, in most cases, a gearbox is arranged between motor and grinder unit, hampering the detection of a lack of coffee beans because, due to the high reduction ration of the gearbox, only a small difference in current draw can be observed when the motor is operated under load and under no load conditions, respectively. A further problem is presented by the fact that certain compo- nents of the grinder unit run in over the months and years, re- sulting in a continuous reduction of the current draw of the mo- tor; thus, the detection of a lack of coffee beans by means of measuring the current is additionally complicated and hampered, respectively. Finally, further parameters as, for instance, the ambient tem- perature, the ambient humidity, the kind, size and degree of roasting of the coffee beans to be ground, the selected degree ot grinding as well as changes and wear of the grinder unit due to aging can have an influence on the current draw and, therby, on the validity of the measurement. Objects of the Invention It is an object of the present invention to provide a method of detecting a lack of coffee beans in a coffee bean grinder unit of a coffee maker that is substantially independent of changing or adjustable parameters of the grinder unit, further that can be easily realized and that delivers a reliable indication of a lack of coffee beans. It is a further object of the invention to pro- vide a coffee maker, using the method of the invention, in which the means required to reliably detect a lack of coffee beans in glinder unit are cost efficient and simple in the practic application. Summary of the Invention To meet these and other objects, the present invention pro- vides, according to a first aspect, a method of detecting a lack of coffee beans in a coffee bean grinder unit. The method com- prises the steps of measuring the level and/or the spectrum of an oscillation generated by the coffee bean grinder unit during is operation, and deciding whether or not coffee beans are present in the coffee bean grinder unit in dependence of the magnitude of the measured level and/or the nature of the measured spectrum of the oscillation. The grinding operation is interrupted if it is de- cided that no coffee beans are present in the coffee bean grinder unit. According to a second aspect, the invention provides a coffee maker adapted to use the method described herein above. It com- prises a coffee bean container, a grinder unit adapted to grind coffee beans, a brewing unit having a brewing chamber for extract- ing the ground coffee beans by means of hot, pressurized brewing water, and at least one sensor means for recording the lost and/or the spectrum of the oscillation generating unit during the operation of the Thus, the fundamental idea of the invention consists in measuring the level and/or the spectrum of an oscillation generated by the grinder unit during its operation, and to decide on the basis of the measurement results whether beans are still present in the grinder unit or whether the latter one operates without load, i.e. without containing any coffee beans to be ground. Anyway, it has been shown that it is basically possible to detect the presence or lack of coffee beans in the grinder unit both on the basis of the measured level of oscillations and the measured nature of the spectrum of these oscillations. In a preferred embodiment, the level of the oscillations is continuously recorded and the operation of the grinder unit is stopped if the measured level changes by more than a preset value or if it falls below a reference value. Thereby, particularly, advantage is taken of the fact that the level of oscillations is substantially higher during a grinding operation than during an operation of the grinder unit under no load conditions. Brief Description of the Accompanying Drawings A preferred embodiment of the method and of the coffee maker according to the invention will be further described in the following, with reference to the sole drawing, showing a strictly schematic illustration of a coffee maker. Detailed Description of a Preferred Embodiment The coffee maker 1 schematically shown in the drawing com- prises a coffee bean container 2, a coffee grinder 3, a brewing assembly 6, a beverage outlet 9, a sensor 11, an electronic moni- toring and analyzing unit 13 as well as an electronic control unit 16. The coffee grinder 3 comprises an electric motor 4, driving by means of a reduction gearbox (not shown) at least one of two grinding wheels 5a, 5b. The coffee grinder 3 is located below the coffee bean container 2 and communicates with the coffee bean con- tainer 2 by means of a passage 2a. A sensor 11 is attached to the housing 3a of the coffee grinder 3 and connected to the electronic monitoring and analyzing unit 13 by means of a conductor 12. The electronic monitoring and analyzing unit 13 itself is connected to the electronic control unit 16, and the latter one is connected to the coffee grinder 3 by means of a control conductor 17. The brewing assembly 6 comprises a brewing chamber 7, serving for extracting the coffee and coffee powder 8, respectively, ground by the coffee grinder 3. The coffee powder 8 received in the brewing chamber 7 is compressed by means of a not shown piston and, thereafter, extracted by the brewing water fed into the brew- ing chamber 7 under pressure. The coffee beverage prepared in the brewing assembly 6 can flow through the beverage outlet 9 into a coffee cup put below the latter one. Out of the two grinding wheels 5a, 5b, preferably only the grinding wheel 5a is driven by the electric motor 4, while the other grinding wheel is stationary and torque proofly attached to the housing 3a of the coffee grinder 3. The sensor 11 attached to the housing 3a of the coffee grinder 3 is adapted to record a vibration or oscillation level, or a vi- bration or oscillation spectrum generated by the coffee grinder 3 during its operation. The present invention takes advantage of the fact that the coffee grinder 3 generates vibration or oscillations during its operation, the spectrum and particularly the level thereof distinctively changing depending on whether coffee beans are ground in the coffee grinder 3 or the coffee grinder runs without having any coffee beans to be ground in it, i.e. in a no load condition. For monitoring the vibration or oscillations, it has proven to be advantageous to attach the sensor 11 to the housing 3a of the coffee grinder 3 or to a housing portion thereof. With a sensor 11 attached in this way, the vibration or oscillations of the housing 3a, excited by the operation of the electric motor 4 driving at least one of the two grinding wheels 5a, 5b, can be easily de- tected and, subsequently, electronically interpreted by the elec- tronic monitoring and analyzing unit 13. Thereby, the electronic monitoring and analyzing unit 13 comprises a filter and amplifier circuitry 14 provided with a low pass filter as well as a thresh- old value switching circuitry 15. The threshold value switching circuitry 15 can be realized, for instance, by a comparator, com- paring the measured value with a reference value and producing an output signal to the electronic control unit 16 as soon as the measurement value exceeds the reference value or falls below the reference value. In the case when a decision has to be take re- garding - beans are present in the coffee bean container 2, or - the coffee bean container 2 does not contain any beans, on the basis of the measured vibration or oscillation level, the filter/amplifier circuitry 14 is preferably designed such that short peak-like level changes art not interpreted as lack of beans. Test measurements made with different existing coffee grinding units resulted in the fact that the vibration/oscillation level of the housing 3a of the grinding unit, depending on the de- sign of the grinding unit and the boundary conditions, is differ- ent by a factor between 2 and 40 in the two operating conditions discussed here, i.e. the grinding unit is operated under load and grinds coffee beans, and the grinding unit is operated without load, i.e. it runs, but no beans are ground. Particularly, the level of vibration/oscillation is, under worst case conditions, twice as high when coffee beans are ground then when the grinding unit runs without load. Using a piezo-electric sensor 11, directly attached to the housing 3a of the grinder 3, differences of the level of vibra- tion/oscillation up to a factor of 15 have been measured in the two operation modes, i.e. grinding beans (under load operation) or no load operation (no beans present to be ground). Moreover, by setting a second threshold value, a blocking of the grinding unit can be detected. As soon as the electronic monitoring and analyzing unit 13 recognizes a lack of coffee beans in the grinder unit 3, a corre- sponding signal is sent to the control unit 16 which in turn stops the electric motor 4 of the grinder unit 3. Simultaneously, on a display (not shown) of the coffee maker, a notice appears that the coffee bean container 2 is empty and needs refill. Instead of monitoring and analyzing the level of vibration or oscillation of the housing 3a of the grinder unit 3, also the spectrum of vibration/oscillations of the housing 3a of the grinder unit 3 can be recorded and processed by means of the sub- sequent monitoring and analyzing unit 13. Test have shown that the vibration spectrum and the vibration frequency, respectively, of the housing 3a of the grinder unit 3 changes distinctively between operating the grinding unit 3 under load and operating it in a no- load condition, i.e. without coffee beans to be ground. Particu- larly, the vibration spectrum and the vibration frequency, respec- tively, of the housing 3a of the grinder unit 3 is lower by as much as 50% under no-load condition. It is understood that both parameters, i.e. the level of vibration and the spectrum of vibra- tion, can be used simultaneously for detecting a lack of coffee beans in the grinder unit 3. Instead of a piezo-electric sensor, an inductive or a capaci- tive sensor could be used. Also the provision of one or more strain gauge(s) is possible, taking the function of the sensor. A further possibility is the provision of a microphone recording the airborne sound or the impact sound of the housing 3a of the grinder unit 3. Preferably, the vibration or oscillation of the housing 3a of the grinder unit 3 is measured and processed only during an actual grinding cycle. By detecting or measuring what amount of coffee beans prior to stopping the grinder unit 3 has been ground, in other words, what amount of beans has been ground between the start of the grinder unit 3 and the moment when it was detected that it runs in a no-load condition, the grinding operation can be continued, after the coffee bean container 2 having been refilled, until the desired total amount of coffee beans has been ground. This presents the advantage that the already ground amount of cof- fee beans can still be used for preparing the coffee beverage. Measuring the amount of coffee beans ground prior to stopping the grinder due to the lack of beans in the coffee bean container 2 can be accomplished, for example, by measuring the number of revo- lutions of the coffee grinder 3 between the start of the grinding operation and the stop of the motor 4 under the influence of the control unit 16 due to lack of beans. Monitoring and analyzing the vibrations/oscillations of the housing 3a of the grinder unit 3 preferably is started simultane- ously with the grinding operation and also stopped therewith or shortly before. The method and the coffee maker according to the present in- vention present the following advantages: • Cost efficient and simple design; • Quick detection of a lack of beans; • No run-in time of the grinding unit necessary; • Useable with almost and type of grinder unit; • Changes of the behavior of the grinder unit due to aging do not have a substantial influence on the measured result; • Substantially temperature independent operation; • Substantially friction independent operation; • Measured result substantially independent of the size, kind and degree of roasting of the coffee beans; • Substantially humidity independent operation; • Galvanic separation between sensor and grinder unit; and • The grinding operation can be continued, after the coffee been container having been refilled, up to the desired amount of ground coffee. WE CLAIM : 1. A method of detecting lack of coffee beans in a coffee bean grinder unit, comprising the steps of measuring the level of an oscillation generated by the coffee bean grinder unit during its operation, and deciding whether or not coffee beans are present in the coffee bean grinder unit in dependence of the magnitude of said measured level of oscillation. 2. A method of detecting lack of coffee beans in a coffee bean grinder unit, comprising the steps of measuring the spectrum of an oscillation generated by the coffee bean grinder unit during its operation, and deciding whether or not coffee beans are present in the coffee bean grinder unit in dependence of the nature of said measured spectrum of oscillation. 3. A method of detecting lack of coffee beans in a coffee bean grinder unit, comprising the steps of measuring the level and the spectrum of an oscillation generated by the coffee bean grinder unit during its operation, and deciding whether or not coffee beans are present in the coffee bean grinder unit in dependence of the magnitude of said measured level and nature of said measured spectrum of oscillation. 4. A method as claimed in any of claims 1 to 3, wherein the grinding operation is interrupted if it is decided that no coffee beans are present in the coffee bean grinder unit. 5. A method as claimed in any of claims 1 to 3, wherein the span of time is measured from the start of the grinding operation to the detection of a lack of coffee beans in the coffee bean grinder unit; and the grinding operation is continued once coffee beans have been added to the coffee bean grinder unit. 6. A method as claimed in claim 1 or 3, wherein the measured value of the magnitude of oscillation is compared with a reference value for recognizing a lack of coffee beans. 7. A method as claimed in claim 1 or 3, wherein the level of oscillation generated by the coffee bean grinder unit during its operation is measured; and it is decided that coffee beans are lacking if the magnitude of the level changes by more than a preset value or if the magnitude of the level falls below a reference value. 8. A method as claimed in claim 2 or 3, wherein the spectrum of an oscillation generated by the coffee bean grinder unit during its operation is measured; and it is decided that coffee beans are lacking if the nature of the spectrum changes by more than a preset value or if the nature of the spectrum reaches a reference value. 9. A method as claimed in claim 1 or 3, wherein the magnitude of the level of oscillation of the housing of the grinder unit or of an element attached to the grinder unit is measured. 10. A method as claimed in claim 2 or 3, wherein the nature of the spectrum of oscillation of the housing of the grinder unit or of an element attached to the grinder unit is measured. 11. A method as claimed in claim 3, wherein the magnitude of the level of oscillation and the nature of the spectrum of oscillation of the housing of the grinder unit or of an element attached to the grinder unit are measured. 12. A coffee maker adapted to perform the method as claimed in any of claims 1 to 3, said coffee maker comprising : at least one coffee bean container; a grinder unit adapted to grind coffee beans; a brewing unit having a brewing chamber for extracting the ground coffee beans by means of hot, pressurized brewing water; and at least one sensor means for recording the level and/or the spectrum of an oscillation generated by said grinder unit during the operation of the grinder unit. 13. A coffee maker as claimed in claim 12, comprising an electronic monitoring and analyzing unit, said sensor being connected to said electronic monitoring and analyzing unit, and said electronic monitoring and analyzing unit being adapted to acquire and analyze the signal delivered by said sensor during the grinding operation. 14. A coffee maker as claimed in claim 13, wherein said electronic monitoring and analyzing unit is connected to an electronic control unit, adapted to stop the operation of said grinder unit in dependence of the signal delivered by said sensor. 15. A coffee maker as claimed in claim 13, wherein said coffee bean grinder unit comprises a housing, said sensor being attached to said housing or to an element connected to said housing. 16. A coffee maker as claimed in claim 13, wherein a piezo-electric, a capacitive or an inductive sensor, or an impact sound microphone or an airborne sound microphone is provided for measuring the level and the spectrum of an oscillation generated by said grinder unit during its operation. There is disclosed a method of detecting lack of coffee beans in a coffee bean grinder unit, comprising the steps of measuring the level of an oscillation generated by the coffee bean grinder unit during its operation, and deciding whether or not coffee beans are present in the coffee bean grinder unit in dependence of the magnitude of said measured level of oscillation.

Documents:

240-KOL-2006-FORM 13.pdf

240-kol-2006-granted-abstract.pdf

240-kol-2006-granted-assignment.pdf

240-kol-2006-granted-claims.pdf

240-kol-2006-granted-correspondence.pdf

240-kol-2006-granted-description (complete).pdf

240-kol-2006-granted-drawings.pdf

240-kol-2006-granted-examination report.pdf

240-kol-2006-granted-form 1.pdf

240-kol-2006-granted-form 18.pdf

240-kol-2006-granted-form 2.pdf

240-kol-2006-granted-form 3.pdf

240-kol-2006-granted-form 5.pdf

240-kol-2006-granted-gpa.pdf

240-kol-2006-granted-priority document.pdf

240-kol-2006-granted-reply to examination report.pdf

240-kol-2006-granted-specification.pdf

240-kol-2006-granted-translated copy of priority document.pdf