h a l f b a k e r yI like this idea, only I think it should be run by the government.
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Start by forming a piece of gold plated metal mesh into a conveyer belt.
On one side of the device, a hopper dispenses ground coffee onto the conveyer.
In the middle region of the device, a series of nozzles drip hot water onto the coffee. This liquid goes through the coffee, through the conveyer,
into a funnel, and into the carafe.
On the other side of the device, as the conveyor goes around one of the rollers holding it in place, a scaper transfered the used grounds from the belt into a chute, where it slides into a container for later disposal.
To keep the coffee centered on the belt, and to prevent the water from washing the ground coffee off of the belt (and possibly into the carafe), two vertical pieces of plastic, run the length of the conveyor. The coffee sits inside the trough created by these plastic pieces and the belt.
To keep the belt from sagging, two more pieces of plastic are used, located below the conveyor belt, lined up with the plastic pieces above the belt.
Brew strength can be adjusted in either of three ways.
First, the rate at which coffee is dispensed from the hopper onto the conveyor belt can be adjusted.
Second, the rate at which the belt moves can be adjusted.
Third, by causing a controlled amount of hot water to bypass the coffee grounds and mix with the coffee. I would *not* use this myself, but I've noted that the "brew strength" selector on my drip coffeemaker uses this technique. I always set the machine to strong (no dilution), but I suppose someone out there must like watered down coffee, or the feature wouldn't exist.
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//into the carafe// This is the only weak point in this otherwise excellent idea. I think the continuous line should extend right up to consumption. Perhaps pipe the coffee through flexible hose fittings into drinking cups, so they are continuously refilled as you slurp. |
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It seems to be to "Rube Goldberg" to be HB. |
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Metal mesh coffee filters are made out of stainless steel with gold plating. I'm not sure why they're gold plated... maybe it just looks cool? |
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pmloc, hasn't bottomless coffee been suggested on the HB? |
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Too Rube Goldberg? That's just plain impossible! :) |
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Especially when there's only one moving mechanical part -- the conveyor belt. |
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Also, consider that from the user's point of view, it's no more complicated than a normal drip coffee brewer... Add ground coffee, drink brewed coffee, dispose of used coffee grounds. In fact, it's simpler -- there's no need to clean out the coffee filter. |
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Wow, a perpetual motion coffee machine. I'd add a rinse cycle for the belt at the turnaround point before reloading. |
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I'd considered including a rinse cycle, but that would require a supply of water for rinsing the belt, and a drain to discard used rinse water into. |
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On the other hand, if one consumes lots of coffee, having a coffeemaker that hooks up to the building's plumbing and drain system is a good thing -- not only does it allow the coffeemaker to clean itself, but it could save the user the work of adding water for brewing. |
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Plus, if the machine's brewed coffee storage is an internal compartment, rather than a carafe, then the machine can automatically discard stale coffee. |
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