Why aren't there screw-threads inside the Aeropress sleeve?

boing
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Originally published at: http://boingboing.net/2017/03/16/simple-machines.html

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I am an Aeropress fan. Aeropress is my coffee machine. I don’t think a screw would do it. You need the air pressure. Bring a cup with you.

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Have you considered calling down to room service and asking if you could get a proper cup from them?

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I’m staying in a hotel with nothing but paper cups in the room,

Geez, not even a bed.

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Just look at them.

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The interior walls of the outside housing have to be smooth for the rubber end of the plunger to have a tight seal for it. And the linear length of that smooth wall has to stay the same to be able to function (make the coffee) as well as it does. So the screw mechanism has to go around or above the system that already exists. At that point you’re looking at a very large, difficult to disassemble, and probably much, much more expensive product that gives you little to know advantage a vast majority of the time.

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I would reckon if you put threads on the inside you wouldn’t be able to produce a durable enough gasket to survive long periods of time and use. that being said what you need is an external harness that holds the main tube and has a screw down arm at the top that pushes the plunder for you…it could come with free standing adjustable legs.

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I do believe it’s to do with pressure and leaks. If you put in a screw system, You have to put the screw thread somewhere. To prevent leaks, you cannot put it inside the tube (or the joint will be complex to make). So you have to add a piece on top of the aeropress external tube that will contain the thread.
If I had to engineer such a thing, I would:
1/ carve the screw-thread on the external side of the internal (pusher) part (sorry for my English, it’s not my first language). The angle of the path needs to be defined (not too hard, not too slow, not too fast, etc.)
2/ add a piece on the external part of the aeropress, that screws on top of it. That part adds a cylinder with two pins that will follow the screw thread of the piston. That piece always stay attached to the piston (by the pins)

You get the screw-pushing without any leak. It’d be easier explained with a drawing, though.

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Having threads on the sleeve would result in the rubber piston face failing to seal due to threadgaps.

I don’t know how it would effect durability, But you could thread the rubber piston face which would… oh for fucks sake go find a real rigid drinking vessel.

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I’d guess that a screw would triple manufacturing costs, increase shipping costs, reduce speed/ease/performance/lifespan, and be far more difficult for the user to clean. As it stands now they’re just printing money with their revolutionary ‘tubes of slightly different sizes’ technology. Get this: They’re like regular tubes, but… of slightly different sizes.

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You should try a Cafflano Compact instead of ruining the Aeropress design.

http://www.cafflano.com/product.php

It’s close to being like the inverted Aeropress, but clean up is a bit messier.

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Or calling room service for a pot of coffee? This is some peak White People Problems shit right here. Embarrassing.

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The screw will just turn turn the coffee around and will not compress it at all. Stirring is great, but there’s nothing to force the coffee through the filter.

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Concur, this is the answer. Screw-on top with a silky smooth threaded linear actuator dead center. Small bladed handle like a large wingnut would be more compact, but slower; folding handle extension would be a bit more complex but faster. I’m mobile just now or I’d sketch it.

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You could mimic how a syringe pump works

But modify a C clamp to depress the plunger

Or a caulking gun

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And a quick google search

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Yeah, I was gonna say he needs to take a pill - just not sure whether to say chill pill or a caffeine pill.

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Don’t have a ceramic mug, but have a (whatever that is? Modded caulking gun maybe?) then there is a solution!

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It’s an interesting alternative, to be sure, but I just watched the video, and it looks like this wouldn’t do anything to resolve the cup-crushing problem.

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The obvious solution for a true Maker™:

  • go to the hardware store, buy a small piece of PVC pipe and a gasket.
  • use a wrench to undo the U-joint under the sink. Attach your pipe.
  • place paper cup under pipe.
  • remove sink stopper.
  • brew your Aeropress directly into the sink drain.
  • enjoy!
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