WO2021101456A1

WO2021101456A1 - Reusable capsule for beverage preparation

Info

Publication number: WO2021101456A1
Application number: PCT/TH2020/000011
Authority: WO
Inventors: Thanit VIHAKAPIROM
Original assignee: Vihakapirom Thanit
Priority date: 2019-11-19
Filing date: 2020-02-28
Publication date: 2021-05-27

Abstract

A reusable capsule for beverage preparation for preparing a beverage from ground beverage or beverage powder using the capsule-based beverage preparation machine comprising: a capsule cup, a movable enclosure disk, a sealing sheet, and a cover tightening ring wherein the capsule cup contains the beverage powder inside such that when hot water is injected into the capsule cup through the open-end for water inlet, and the water passes through the beverage powder resulting in beverage drink. The movable enclosure disk is designed to move when the piercer of the beverage preparation machine pushed the movable enclosure disk. For the original capsules, the piercer generally penetrates the bottom of them. With these four components, the reusable capsule can hold 7 grams of beverage powder same as the original one.

Description

REUSABLE CAPSULE FOR BEVERAGE PREPARATION

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the design and production of a reusable capsule for beverage preparations.

Background Art

The preparation of a beverage from a beverage capsule is to put the capsule prefilled with ground beverage or beverage powder into a beverage preparation machine. The machine injects high-pressure hot water into the capsule to mix with the beverage powder to be the ready to drink beverage. This kind of capsule beverage is very famous as the beverage providers can control the quality of the beverage powder, thus controlling the beverage quality itself and consumers can easily and quickly prepare the beverage themselves. Because of these reasons, many consumers have used the beverage capsule for their drinks.

An example of the famous beverage capsule is Nespresso’s coffee capsules which is well- known for the preparation of espresso coffee. It is known among coffee lovers that good espresso must have crema created by coffee ground and appropriate distribution of hot water in the process ofbrewing. Coffee brewing machine makers, therefore, try to control the quantity of coffee ground and the hot water distribution in the capsule to keep the quality of their coffee drinks. The examples of the invention disclosures about the beverage preparation machines and the capsules are EP 0512468 B1 and EP 0512470 B 1. However, since the capsules must be prepared from their factory before selling to consumers, they are disposable causing non-decomposable waste problems, especially when the capsules are made of aluminum or plastic materials.

Many attempts have been made to invent a reusable capsule to reduce the waste problems from the used capsules. The examples are EP 2682028 Bl, EP 2604151 Bl, and NL 1038020 C2. Three important design criteria of reusable capsule are: 1) the shape of the reusable capsule must be the same as its conventional counterpart because a capsule-based beverage preparation machine is designed for its special capsule shape only, and most of the time the beverage capsule manufacturer is the same one with the beverage preparation machine; 2) the reusable capsule must not damage the piercer of the machine, normally having two types of piercers i.e. one for high- pressure hot water injection into a capsule and the other for draining the prepared beverage out of the capsule; and 3) the quality of the beverage should be comparable with the one obtained from the conventional brewing capsule, meaning that the amount of beverage powder should be the same and the hot water injection channel of the capsule should be designed to distribute the hot water properly. These result in comparable beverage from its conventional one.

The invention GB 2489409 B has disclosed a reusable capsule for beverage preparation that the bottom end of the capsule can be deformed or is compressible such that it does not damage the piercer of the beverage preparation machine when the piercer pushes through the capsule. Instead the bottom end of the capsule moves or collapses inward to avoid the damage to the piercer. The deformation portion of the capsule can be designed either to be movable or extensible when pushed by the piercer. The cover section of the capsule is designed to be removable from the capsule body and has a plurality of water outlets for draining the brewed beverage. But the cover section has a thickened part that needs to be inserted into the capsule body in order to maintain the outer shape of the capsule to be the same as the original capsule. Thus, the amount of the beverage powder contained in the capsule is less than that of the original one resulting in the reduction in beverage quality and crema.

The patent AT 508887 B1 has disclosed a reusable capsule for beverage preparation that has the cover section of the capsule designed to attach to the capsule body with little portion indented into the capsule body. The bottom section of the capsule has a large indented section for the piercer to move in to avoid the damage to the piercer. There is a plurality of water inlets to allow hot water to get into the capsule without piercing the capsule bottom section. The indented section of the capsule bottom causes the reduction in the amount of the beverage powder contained in the capsule.

The patent AT 507345 B1 has disclosed a reusable capsule for beverage preparation that uses a sealing sheet to contain the beverage powder inside the capsule body. The sheet is pierced to form water outlets to allow the brewed beverage to drain out of the capsule. The sheet can be forced to cut either by piercer or by using pressure. The sheet is sealed to the capsule body so the beverage powder can be kept inside the capsule body. Therefore, a new sheet must be replaced every time the capsule is used in the beverage preparation machine. Only the capsule body can be reused. However, the bottom section of the capsule in this invention has predefined water inlets without concerning the prevention of the damage to the piercer. Brief Summary of the Invention

The present invention relates to a reusable capsule for beverage preparation for preparing a beverage from ground beverage or beverage powder using the capsule-based beverage preparation machine. The capsule comprises a capsule cup, a movable enclosure disk, a sealing sheet, and a cover tightening ring. The capsule cup contains the beverage powder so that when hot water from the preparation machine enter the cup, the water mixes with beverage powder inside the cup. The capsule cup of the present invention further comprises a cup side wall, an open-end for water inlet and an open-end for water outlet, wherein the open-end for water inlet is a folded inward section for supporting the placement of the movable enclosure disk at the bottom of the cup. The inner wall of the open-end for water inlet touches the rim of the enclosure disk such that there is friction between the two surfaces. And the open-end for water outlet is a folded outward section for supporting the placement of the cover tightening ring, sealing the beverage powder within the capsule.

The objective of the present invention is to provide a reusable capsule for beverage preparation for the preparation of beverage from ground beverage or beverage powder using the capsule-based beverage preparation machine. The capsule can be used with regular beverage preparation machine. After the preparation, the capsule can be reused by refilling the beverage powder which reduces wastes created by conventional capsules. The bottom of the capsule has a movable enclosure disk comprising a plurality of holes for high-pressure hot water inlets. The enclosure disk is movable to avoid the damage to the piercer of the machine. The top-end of the capsule comprises of a sealing sheet and a cover tightening ring designed to incorporate and tighten the sealing sheet to fit and seal the top-end of the capsule. The cover tightening ring is designed to be detached easily. An appropriated embodiment of the present invention is the capsule for the Nespresso’s coffee machine with the piercer model Blade749. The present invention contains the same amount of coffee ground as its original capsule, therefore, obtaining similar crema.

Brief Description of the Drawing Fig. 1 is a structure of the present invention along with the disassembling of its components.

Fig. 2 is a capsule cup showing the cup side wall, the open-end for water inlet, and the open-end for water outlet.

Fig. 3a is a section view of the movable enclosure disk when positioned in the capsule cup.

Fig.3b is a section view of the movable enclosure disk when positioned in the capsule cup with the piercer at the bottom.

Fig. 4 shows possible holes for water inlet of the present invention.

Fig. 5 is the detailed structure of the piercer supporter along with the layout of the Blade749 piercer.

Fig. 6 is the positions of the movable enclosure disk at the bottom of the capsule cup before and after pushed by the piercer of the beverage preparation machine.

Fig. 7 is the detailed structure of the cover tightening ring and the sealing sheet. Detailed Description of the Invention

A reusable capsule for beverage preparation 10 for preparing a beverage from ground beverage or beverage powder using the capsule-based beverage preparation machine comprising a capsule cup 20, a movable enclosure disk 30, a sealing sheet 40, and a cover tightening ring 50 as shown in FIG. 1. The capsule cup 20 contains the beverage powder 1 inside such that when hot water is injected into the capsule cup the water mixes with the beverage powder inside the cup. Examples of the possible beverages that can be prepared by the present invention including tea, coffee, herbal drink, supplement drink, or milk.

An example of the beverage preparation is espresso. The espresso preparation injects nearly boiling water to mix with ground coffee in the capsule cup 20 creating strong coffee flavor drink. The espresso preparation is very famous amongst coffee lovers. The coffee foam formation or crema occurs when the coffee ground is forced through by hot water at high pressure of about 16 - 19 bar and a filter or filter sheet resists the water with certain flow resistance. Such the resistance creates crema in the process of coffee brewing. The reusable capsule according to the present invention can be used to prepare espresso drink with crema as the shape of the capsule are designed specifically to support the espresso crema. The present invention is, however, not limited to only the espresso. Any person having ordinary skills in the art can understand and apply the reusable capsule for beverage preparation of the present invention to other different drinks as well.

FIG. 2 shows the capsule cup 20 of the present invention further comprising a cup side wall 21, an open-end for water inlet 22 at the bottom end of the capsule cup 20, and an open-end for water outlet 23 at the top end of the capsule cup 20. Each time the beverage is prepared, the beverage preparation machine injects high-pressure hot water 2 from the machine into the capsule cup 20 through the open-end for water inlet 22. The water passes through the beverage powder 1 resulting in beverage drink. The drink is then drained out of the capsule cup 20 through the open- end for water outlet 23.

FIG. 3 shows the movable enclosure disk 30 placed inside the capsule cup 20 at the open- end for water inlet 22 to seal the open-end for water inlet 22 containing the beverage powder inside the capsule cup and to let the water to get into the capsule cup 20. The movable enclosure disk 30 is designed to be movable when pressed by the piercer of the beverage preparation machine. For conventional capsules, the piercer moves to punch holes at the bottom end of the capsule to allow high-pressure hot water from the machine to get into the capsule. These holes make the conventional capsule non reusable.

In the present invention, the movable enclosure disk 30 further comprises a rim of the enclosure disk 31 folded inward such that the rim touches the capsule cup 20 at the open-end for water inlet 22 and creates friction between the movable enclosure disk 30 and the capsule cup 20 at the open-end for water inlet 22. The movable enclosure disk 30 can withstand the water pressure injected by the beverage preparation machine because of this friction. The movement of the movable enclosure disk 30, however, occurs just to avoid the damage to the piercer of the machine. The movable enclosure disk 30 further comprises a piercer supporter 32 to support the pressing of the piercer without letting the tip of the piercer touches the movable enclosure disk 30 and to allow the pressing of the piercer to push the movable enclosure disk 30 to move toward the inside of the capsule cup 20. These prevent the damage to the piercer and keep the volume of the capsule to be the same as the conventional capsule. The movable enclosure disk 30 further comprises a plurality of holes for water inlet 33 which is designed to allow the high-pressure hot water from the beverage preparation machine to get into the capsule. The holes for water inlet 33 can be in different forms such as circles, rectangles, triangles, ellipses, or strips, and can be more than one holes as shown in FIG. 4.

In the present invention, the preferred shape of the hole for water inlet 33 is rounded rectangle, having advantages on that less number of holes is required compared to the others, easier to produce, better hot water distribution, and an easy for cleaning as most of the beverage powders are spherical which can be taken out easily.

FIG. 5 shows the components of the movable enclosure disk 30 at the area of the piercer supporter 32 wherein supports the pressing on the piercer of the beverage preparation machine. In the preferred embodiments, the piercer supporter 32 is designed to support the piercer model “Blade 749” which is the piercer of the coffee preparation machine Nespresso designed for the capsule model “OriginalLine”. Blade 749 has a curvature shape blade and its wing is lower than the blade tip, and the wing is perpendicular to the blade tip. Inside of the piercer supporter 32 there is a blade supporting hole 34 where the piercer blade stays. The supporting hole helps avoiding the piercer blade being in contact with the movable enclosure disk 30. The open-end for water inlet 22 of the capsule cup is an inwardly folded section to support the movable enclosure disk 30 to place at the bottom of the capsule cup 20. And the inner wall of the open-end for water inlet touches the rim of the enclosure disk 31 of the movable enclosure disk 30 to create friction between the two surfaces. Since the rim of the enclosure disk 31 is designed to incline outwardly and have elasticity, the rim of the enclosure disk 31 possess the friction with the inner wall of the capsule cup. Said friction is strong enough to resist the pressure of the hot water that is injected by the beverage preparation machine. Thus, the movable enclosure disk 30 does not move when the hot water is injected from the beverage preparation machine. FIG. 6 shows the movement of the movable enclosure disk 3Q inside the capsule cup 20 when the piercer of the beverage preparation machine moves into its piercing position.

FIG. 7 shows the open-end for water outlet 23 of the capsule cup 20 having an outwardly folded section 60 to support the placement of the cover tightening ring 50, wherein the base of the outwardly folded section is a top supporting area 61 to fit the sealing sheet with the beverage preparation machine’s capsule receptor mean. The middle portion of the outwardly folded section 60 has a concave channel 62 for holding the sealing sheet 40 and containing the excessive portion of the beverage powder. The rim of the outwardly folded section is a downward folded rim 63 for holding the cover tightening ring 50 and strengthening the outwardly folded section. In the preferred embodiment, the outwardly folded section 60 is inclined to enhance the holding with the cover tightening ring 50. It also helps ease the cover tightening ring 50 removal.

In the preferred embodiment, the top supporting area 61 is designed to be 0.5 to 1.2- millimeter height so that the capsule cup 20 perfectly fits to the flange of the capsule receptor of the beverage preparation machine. In the preferred embodiment, the cover tightening ring 50 fixes and seals the sealing sheet

40 to the open-end for water outlet 23 of the capsule cup to contain the beverage powder inside the capsule cup. Normally, the open-end for water outlet 23 is sealed with the sealing sheet 40 and the sealing sheet 40 is penetrated by the piercer of the beverage preparation machine to create small holes 41 for filtering and draining the beverage drink out of the capsule cup 20. These holes 41 create crema when preparing the espresso. With this filtering capability that needs to handle high-pressure hot water, the sealing sheet 40 can be made of aluminum foil or paper filter. In the preferred embodiment, the reusable capsule for beverage preparation 10 further comprises an O-ring placing at the bottom of the top supporting area 61 to prevent leakage of hot water when preparing the beverage.

In conventional capsule, the sealing sheet of the capsule cup is sealed by the capsule manufacturer using adhesive material to prevent humidity inside the capsule. This sealing makes the capsule non-reusable once the sealing is penetrated or cut. In the present invention, the inventor has applied the mechanism of the cover tightening ring 50 to seal the sealing sheet 40 at the open-end for water outlet 23 of the capsule cup 20. Therefore, when the capsule is used and the sealing sheet is cut, one can replace the new sealing sheet 40 and seal the open-end for water outlet 23 of the capsule cup 20 again by using the cover tightening ring 50 as the sealing mechanism. It makes the beverage capsule in the present invention reusable many times with only changing the new sealing sheet 40 and the new beverage powder.

In the preferred embodiment, the cover tightening ring 50 further comprises a folded inner side 51 having rounded shape for fixing the sealing sheet 40 to the middle portion of the outwardly folded section 60 of the open-end for water outlet 23 of the capsule cup 20 and a folded outer side

52 having downward rounded shape for holding the outer rim of the outwardly folded section 60 at the downward folded rim 63 of the open-end for water outlet 23 of the capsule cup 20. The folded inner side 51 and the folded outer side 52 of the cover tightening ring 50 are designed such that they are flexible like spring for fixing the cover tightening ring 50 to the capsule cup 20 to prevent the beverage powder 1 to leak out from the capsule cup 20. With the shape of the present cover tightening ring 50, a user can keep the beverage powder in the capsule for about 10 days without the beverage powder becoming moist. It is appropriate for preparing beverage capsules for travel. The use of the reusable capsule for beverage preparation 10 in the present invention starts from assembling the movable enclosure disk 30 into the capsule cup 20 by placing the movable enclosure disk 30 at the open-end for water inlet 22 at the bottom of the capsule cup, where the folded inward section supports the placement of the movable enclosure disk 30 inside the capsule cup 20. The rim of the enclosure disk 31 of the movable enclosure disk 30 fits to the inner wall of the capsule cup at the open-end for water inlet 22 to create friction between the surfaces of the rim of the enclosure disk 31 and the open-end for water inlet 22 of the capsule cup. Then, adding the beverage powder 1 into the capsule cup 20 until it full. If the beverage powder excesses the capsule size, use a knife or a plate to remove the excessing powder form the capsule at the open- end for water outlet 23 of the capsule cup 20. The capsule then contains the beverage powder of about 7 grams in weight, which is the same amount that of the conventional capsule. The amount of the beverage powder implies the intensity of the brewed beverage. If the beverage powder is less than 7 grams, the drink decreases its intensity. Once the beverage power is filled into the designed amount, cut the sealing sheet 40 into a circular shape having its size slightly larger than the size of the open-end for water outlet 23. Once obtained the sealing sheet 40, place the sealing sheet 40 on the open-end for water outlet 23, containing the beverage powder 1 within the capsule cup 20. Then incorporating the cover tightening ring 50 to the capsule cup 20 at the open-end for water outlet 23 such that the folded inner side 51 engages with the concave channel 62 in the middle of the outwardly folded section 60 fitting the sealing sheet 40 to the open-end for water outlet 23 by means of the top supporting area 61 for stretching and fitting the sealing sheet 40. And the folded outer side 52 attaches to the outer rim of the outwardly folded section 60 at the downward folded rim 63. With this cover tightening ring 50 locking mechanism, the capsule can keep the beverage powder fresh and dry for many days. To prepare the beverage drink from the beverage preparation machine, one puts the reusable capsule for beverage preparation 10 of the present invention, which has already filled in with the beverage powder and sealed, into the machine’s capsule receptor mean. The machine piercer moves to engage with the movable enclosure disk 30 at the piercer supporter 32. The pressure from the piercer, normally making holes at the capsule cup for water inlet, pushes the movable enclosure disk 30 to move inwardly into the capsule cup. The machine then injects high- pressure hot water into the capsule through the open-end for water inlet 22 causing the high- pressure hot water to move into the capsule cup 20 through the holes for water inlet 33 of the movable enclosure disk 30. The hot water then mixes with the beverage powder and raises the pressure inside the capsule cup 20. At the same time, the sealing sheet 40 that seals the top portion of the capsule cup 20 is forced by the pressure and the piercing mean of the machine to create a plurality of small holes 41. These holes 41 filter and drain the beverage drink out of the capsule cup 20 by the pressure inside the cup. With this pressure and the filtering of these holes, the crema is created to the drink from the preparation. The step of beverage preparation from the beverage preparation machine from the reusable capsule for beverage preparation in the present invention is then completed.

Claims

1, A reusable capsule for beverage preparation for preparing a beverage from ground beverage or beverage powder using the capsule-based beverage preparation machine comprising: a capsule cup comprising a cup side wall, an open-end for water inlet, and an open-end for water outlet where the capsule cup contains the beverage powder inside such that when hot water is injected into the capsule cup through the open-end for water inlet, and the water passes through the beverage powder resulting in beverage drink through the open-end for water outlet; a movable enclosure disk placed inside the capsule cup at the open-end for water inlet to seal the open-end for water inlet containing the beverage powder inside the capsule cup and to let the water to get into the capsule cup; a sealing sheet sealing the open-end for water outlet of the capsule cup to contain the beverage powder inside the capsule cup and when penetrated by the piercer of the beverage preparation machine to create small holes for filtering and draining the beverage drink out of the capsule cup; and a cover tightening ring fixing the sealing sheet at the open-end for water outlet of the capsule cup to contain the beverage powder in the capsule cup; characterized in that: the open-end for water inlet of the capsule cup is an inwardly folded section to support the movable enclosure disk to place at the bottom of the capsule cup and the inner wall of the open- end for water inlet touches the rim of the enclosure disk of the movable enclosure disk to create friction between the two surfaces; the open-end for water outlet of the capsule cup having an outwardly folded section to support the placement of the cover tightening ring, wherein the base of the outwardly folded section is a top supporting area to fit the sealing sheet with the beverage preparation machine’s capsule receptor mean, the middle portion of the outwardly folded section has a concave channel for holding the sealing sheet and containing the excessive portion of the beverage powder, and the rim of the outwardly folded section is a downward folded rim for holding the cover tightening ring and strengthening the outwardly folded section; the movable enclosure disk further comprising a rim of the enclosure disk folded inward such that the rim touches the capsule cup at the open-end for water inlet and creates friction between the movable enclosure disk and the capsule cup at the open-end for water inlet and the movable enclosure disk can withstand the water pressure injected by the beverage preparation machine because of the friction and adjust to the length of different piercer; a piercer supporter to support the pressing of the piercer without letting the tip of the piercer touches the movable enclosure disk and to allow the pressing to push the movable enclosure disk to move toward the inside of the capsule cup preventing the damage to the piercer and keeping the volume of the capsule to be the same as the conventional capsule; and a plurality ofholes for water inlet designed to allow the high-pressure hot water from the beverage preparation machine to get into the capsule cup; and the cover tightening ring further comprises a folded inner side having rounded shape for fixing the sealing sheet to the middle portion of the outwardly folded section of the open-end for water outlet of the capsule cup and a folded outer side having downward rounded shape for holding the outer rim of the outwardly folded section of the open-end for water outlet of the capsule cup.

2. The reusable capsule for beverage preparation as claimed in claim 1, wherein the holes for water inlet having rounded rectangle shape.

3. The reusable capsule for beverage preparation as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the sealing sheet is made of aluminum foil or paper filter.

4. The reusable capsule for beverage preparation as claimed in claim 1, further comprising an O-ring placing at the bottom of the top supporting area to prevent leakage of hot water when preparing the beverage.