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AssigneeBunn-O-Matic Corporation
InventorsJohn T. Knepler, Cloyce Newton, Kenneth W. Stover
Estimating the term…
A digital control system for a coffee bean grinder, particularly one with a dual hopper, which is conveniently programmable and automatically operable for selecting bean type and grinding with a high degree of accuracy bean quantities ranging from a few ounces (e.g., 3 ounces or less) for brewing a few cups of coffee, to large quantities (e.g., 2 pounds or more) for brewing several gallons of coffee. The invention may be confined entirely to a grinder, or may be incorporated in a brewing system consisting of a brewer and one or more grinder. The invention allows one grinder to accommodate one or more coffee grinders either of the same type or of different types (i.e., a brewer for making multi-cup quantities or urns for making gallon quantities).
In combination with a coffee bean grinder having a bean grinding mechanism, an electric motor operably connected in driving relationship with said grinding mechanism, at least one bean hopper mounted in gravity feed relationship with said grinding mechanism, and gate means interposed between said hopper and said grinding mechanism and operable variably to connect said hopper in gravity feeding relationship with said grinding mechanism for measuring and dispensing different quantities of beans to the grinding mechanism, a coffee brewer operatively associated with said grinder and including a brewer control circuit providing multiple brewing modes and providing a control effect on said grinder indicative of a selected brewing mode, said control effect selecting a quantity of beans to be measured and ground by said grinder based on a selected volume of coffee to be brewed by said brewer, said grinder including a grinder control circuit comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.