Group 26 - Mr. Coffee Coffee Maker Gate 3 Product Evaluation
Contents |
Engineering Analysis
The process that would have been most helped by using an analysis process durring design would be the heating system. Things like Thermal efficiancy, Energy conversion, and Heat loss would be important to this process, and it would impact how hot the coffee was brewed at. The equations that would be used would be Thermal Efficancy equations and steady flow equations in Thermodynamics. Energy conversion and transfer equations would also be needed. Thermal Efficancy/Heat loss, Q/t= [kA (Thot-Tcold)]/[D] and conservation of energy, E = Ein-Eout would be used to see how much heat needs to be used and how much energy you would need.
Component Breakdown
Below is a list of our products components and their properties. The following scales help to make this comparison easier.
Size
Size is relitive to our product. Since our product is a small product, a "large" component would only be about the size of a baseball. Since few of our components are easily measured in volume, the sizes are aproxamations.
1 - Part is very small (less then 1 cubic inch)
2 - Part is small (between 1 and 2 cubic inches)
3 - Part is medium (between 2 and 4 cubic inches)
4 - Part is large (between 4 and 6 cubic inches)
5 - Part is Large (larger then 6 cubic inches)
Complexity
The complexity will be based on how hard the part is to make, how many steps are involved in making it, and how precise it needs to be.
1 - Very Simple (Part is made in 1 step and it is very easy to make. Very low precision needed)
2 - Simple (Part is made in 1 or 2 steps and it is fairly easy to make. Low Precision needed)
3 - Medium (Part is made in about 2 steps and is slightly dificult to make. Fair amount of precision needed)
4 - Complex (Part is made in 3 steps and is dificult to make. High precision needed)
5 - Very Complex ( Part is made in more then 3 steps and is very dificult to make. Very High precision needed)
| Component Summary | |||||
| Item Name | Material Used | Manufacturing Process | Item Size (Based on Scale) | Component Complexity (Based on Scale) | Object Picture |
| Coffee Maker Lid | plastic | Injection molding | 3 | 2 |  |
| Heating Plate | Steel | Forming/shaping | 3 | 1 |  |
| Circuit Board Base | plastic | Injection molding | 2 | 1 |  |
| Plastic Wire Guard | plastic | Injection molding | 1 | 2 |  |
| Circuit Board | Steel, Copper, Iron, Plastic, and rubber | Forging, forming/shaping, and milling, welding | 2 | 5 |  |
| Grinder Motor Base | Plastic | Injection molding | 3 | 2 |  |
| Grinder Motor | Steel, Plastic, Copper | Injection molding, Milling, Drawing, Machining | 3 | 5 | |
| 11 1/2 inch Red Tube | Rubber | Injection molding | 2 | 1 |  |
| Black Valve Small Ring | Rubber | Injection Molding | 1 | 1 |  |
| Rubber Stoppers | Rubber | Injection Molding | 1 | 1 |  |
| Black Valve | Plastic | Injection Molding | 1 | 3 |  |
| Base Plate | Plastic | Injection Molding | 3 | 1 |  |
| Black Valve Spring | Steel | Drawing, Forming/Shaping | 1 | 2 |  |
| Metal Guard | Stainless Steel | Forming/Shaping | 2 | 1 |  |
| Black Valve Casing | Plastic | Injection molding | 1 | 1 |  |
| 5-1/2 inch Red Tube | Rubber | Injection molding | 2 | 1 |  |
| Large Rubber Sealing Ring | Rubber | Injection molding | 1 | 3 |  |
| Heating Coil | Steel, Copper, Rubber | Forming/shaping, Drawing, Milling, injection molding | 3 | 5 |  |
| Power Cord | Copper, Rubber | Drawing, Injection molding | 4 | 3 |  |
| Control Center Base | Plastic | Injection molding | 3 | 3 |  |
| Thin Black Pin | Plastic | Injection molding | 1 | 3 |  |
| Control Center | Steel, Copper, Plastic, Rubber | Many different small electronic parts saudered and connected to a steel sheet. Many detailed processes involved | 2 | 5 |  |
| Clear Display Window | Plastic | Injection molding | 2 | 1 |  |
Table 4: Component Summary
Detailed Component Description
Below is the detailed descriptions for the parts in the filter subfunction. This is the most important of the subfunctions because it is where all of the other process come together to preform the task of brewing coffee. This is the part of the coffee maker we chose to Solid model.
| Component Name | Component Function | Materials Used | Manufacturing Process Used | Evidence/Reason For Process | Description Of Part | Part # from Table 3 (Gate 2) | Image
(click to enlarge) |
| Grinder Blades | Grinds beans into small coffee grounds that can be used for brewing | Steel | Forming and Shaping | Thin steel sheet metal is bent in the middle. | The bend in the steel does not look like it was done very precisely because small variations in pitch would not matter in the over all process. This saves money | 2 |  |
| Grinder lid | Keeps grounds from spilling durring grinding process. Alows user access to grinder | Plastic | Injection molding | This would be the easiest and cheepest way to make this plastic part. Most plastic parts are made this way | This part is made with a fair amount of detail, so the mold needs to be made with high presision. | 3 |  |
| Plastic Half Circle Spacer | keeps space between grounds and the lid, this ensures minimal clogging of the filter | Plastic | Injection molding | Easiest and cheepest method, most plastic parts are done this way | This part requires minimal detail, could vary in dimensions slightly and therefor is a cheep part to make | 4 |  |
| Water Channel | Transports water from the heating units to the brewer and filter area. | Thermosetting Plastic. This type of plastic once molded, will not easily reform with heat. This is used because hot water passes through it and it avoids deformation. | Injection molding | Easiest and cheepest method, most plastic parts are done this way | this part has a seam on it where you can see that this part started as two parts and was glued together | 5 |  |
| Filter Basket | Contains filter paper and grounds, then water filters through it | Plastic frame. Polyester-fiber mesh filter. | Injection molding for frame | Easiest and cheepest method, most plastic parts are done this way | This part is made in a mold, then the mesh filter is placed inside it and glued in place | 6 |  |
| Coffee Basket | Contains Filter Basket. Coffee is funneled here. | Plastic | Injection molding | Easiest and cheepest method, most plastic parts are done this way | This part is a simple molding process. Easy and cheep to make | 7 |  |
| Coffee Basket Spring | Closes the funnel to stop coffee flow when the basket is removed. | Stainless Steel | Drawn into wire, then forming and shaping | This is how most small stainless steel springs are made | A common spring | 8 |  |
| Plastic end seperator | Used to hold spring in place | Plastic | Injection molding | Easiest and cheepest method, most plastic parts are done this way | Simple and cheep part | 9 |  |
| Rubber Coffee Basket Ring | Used to stop leaking from filter basket | Vinyl Rubber or Hypalon Rubber (both are used for high tempature resistance, Chemical resistance, and water resistance) | Injection molding | This is the most common method used for these types of plastic | Simple part but needs to fit tightly so precision is needed | 10 |  |
Table 5: Detailed Component Summary for Filter System
Component Complexity Breakdown
Component Complexity:
Define a meaningful scale
3: The component is very complex; which entails the component performing one or more functions, energy is transferred through the system, and there are moving parts.
2: The component is mildly complex; which entails the component performing a single function, no energy is transferred through the system and there are no moving parts.
1: The component is not complex; which entails the component serving a mundane task such as covering other components or holding other components in place.
How complex is each component?
Grinder (3): The component is very complex; the grinder takes electrical energy from the system used to create mechanical energy which provides rotational motion for the metal grinder blades; creating coffee grounds. The grinder has moving parts (the blades rotating) but only performs a single function of grinding coffee beans.
Heating Coil & Plate (3): The component is very complex; the heating coil takes electrical energy from the system to heat the plate which causes the water to stay warm and heat up. It also sends thermal energy through the metal tubing within the system.
Control Center (2): The component is mildly complex; it serves as a function to the user of the coffee maker letting the person select options in which how the user wants the coffee brewed, amount of time, brew strength etc.
Circuit Board (2): The component is mildly complex; it takes electrical signals from the control center and uses them to perform various functions via selection of the user.
Grinder Lid (1): The component is not complex; the purpose of this component is to cover the grinder so when you are using the grinder the coffee beans/grounds do not go everywhere and make a mess.
Plastic Half Circle (1): This component is not complex; this plastic piece is attached to the bottom of the grinder which helps hold the grinder pieces together.
Handle (1): The component is not complex; this plastic piece is attached to the grinder lid so when you desire to remove the lid you use the handle.
Filter Basket (2): The component is mildly complex; the component serves a single function of filtering out the water and coffee grounds to create coffee, no energy is transferred and no moving parts are involved.
Coffee Basket (1): The component is not complex; the purpose of this component is to hold the filter basket in place which it is filtering out the coffee.
Small Coffee Basket Spring (2): The component is mildly complex; the purpose of this component is to be compressed in between the filter basket and coffee basket, in which the spring is using potential and kinetic energy also the spring is being moved when being compressed or stretched out.
Plastic End Separator (1): The component is not complex; the purpose of this component is to separate to components in the system.
Rubber Coffee Basket Ring (1): The component is not complex; the purpose of this component is to hold the coffee basket together.
How do the following three categories impact complexity?
Manufacturing Methods: This category impacts complexity because how something is made and what material being used is important when defining how complex something is. Certain materials have different properties such as thermal conductivity, insulation or corrosion resistance which makes a system more complex; though many of these properties do not exist within in the selected components.
Component Form: This category impacts complexity because shapes, sizes, colors, and weights also play a role in complexity, just not as much as the other two categories. Certain dimensions or shapes in a system could be complex in the way that they work making the components more complex.
Component Function: This category impacts complexity the most I believe because how something works is truly what defines how complex something. If a component has multiple functions it makes a component more complex, simply because its serving more than one purpose in the system which may involve many different types of energy usage profiles.
How complex are the interactions?
Grinder (3): The interactions are very complex; which involves the blade rotating and grinding the coffee beans which serves as two interactions.
Heating Coil & Heating Plate (3): The interactions are very complex; the heat coil and heat plate go hand in hand with interacting with each other. The heat coil keeps the heating plate hot so the water stays hot also water travels through the heating coil keeping that hot as well.
Control Center (2): The interactions are mildly complex; the user interacts with this component letting him select various options such as coffee brewed, amount of time, brew strength etc.
Circuit Board (2): The interactions are mildly complex; the circuit board and control center go hand in hand, the control center sends electrical signals to the circuit board to perform a certain function.
Grinder Lid (1): The interactions are not complex; the grinder lid serves as a top to the grinder.
Plastic Half Circle (1): There are no interactions; holds grinder pieces together.
Handle (1): The interactions are not complex; people interact with this component to remove the lid to the coffee grinder.
Filter Basket (3): The interactions are very complex; which involves the water and coffee grounds getting filtered into a coffee pot which serves as two interactions.
Coffee Basket (1): The interactions are not complex; the coffee basket holds the filter basket in place.
Small Coffee Basket Spring (2): The interactions are complex; this component interacts with the filter basket and coffee basket and is compressed in between them.
Plastic End Separator (1): The interactions are not complex; separates two components within the system.
Rubber Coffee Basket Ring (1): The interactions are not complex; helps hold the coffee basket together.
Solid Modeling
Autodesk Inventor Proffessional 11 was used to Solid Model the following componets of the coffee basket system. The components were chosen based on simplicity of design for quick 3d modeling due to the limited time constraint. Color was neglected in several of the renderings to properly illustrate the geometrical features of the components. The images can be enlarged by simply clinking on the desired thumbnail. All part files can be made available upon request.
| 3D Modeling of Coffee Basket System | |||||
| Coffee Basket |  |
Filter Basket |  | ||
| Rubber Coffee Basket Ring |  |
Coffee Basket Spring |  | ||
| Plastic End Separter |  |
Exploded View |  | ||
| Assembled View |  |
||||
Four Product Alterations
There are a few main things that group 26 would change about our product and these changes are affected by the four factors. The four factors are Global, Economic, Societal, and Environmental concerns.
Change Number 1
We would alter the water transportation system. The tubing and water chambers are poorly or not at all insulated. This means that the water looses a lot of heat in the transportation step of the brewing process. Insulating the tubes and water chambers would cost more money, and therefor rise the price of production and the price of the product to consumers, which is a negative effect on Economic Concerns. It would, however, increase the tempature of the brew, thus adding more flavor and quality to the coffee. This is a positive Societal concern as people like good coffee. Group 26 thinks the benifit of better coffee would outweigh the negative cost increase.
Change Number 2
The Grinder blades are not very sharp and there are only 2 of them. Group 26 thinks that it would be better to add in an additional 2 blades and to make them sharper. This would cost slightly more in the Economic area, but the quality of the grounds would be much better. This is important to the societal area of the product. This change would make the coffee maker slightly more expensive, but far more wanted by consumers.
Change Number 3
The filter basket has a very fine filter size. This means that the grounds are filtered out to an even smaller size, increasing the quality of the coffee. If you were to just make the consumer place a coffee filter inside it however, the filter would not need to be as fine, thus decreasing the cost of the filter, and in turn, the coffee maker. This would be a benifical thing as far as the economic factors.
Change Number 4
The motor efficiancy is relitivly low. This means that more power needs to be suplied to the motor in order to get the desired outcome. Increasing the motors efficiancy would increase the cost, which is a negitave economic impact. It would also decrease the power consumption and thus be better for the environment. This is a positive environmental impact, and would be a good selling point in the US.
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