AU612447B2 - Electrically operated hot beverage maker - Google Patents

Description

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612 44 7 FORM 10 Ref: 82490 C,MMONWR.L'tH OF AUS'TRALIA a.s w, ~PATENTS ACT 1952 is document contains te 1 :c o duni COMPLETE SPECIFICATION l83^ by the Superv;i..g Exainier on (O R IG INA L) "and is crrect [or printC I FOR OFFICE USE: Class Int Class Complete Specification Lodged: Accepted: Published: S Priority: S Related Art: C Name and Address of Applicant: George Barradas DEFAULT FOREIGN COUNTRY Address for Service:

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Spruson Ferguson, Patent Attorneys Level 33 St Martins Tower, 31 Market Street Sydney, New South Wales, 2000, Australia S Complete Specification for the invention entitled: Electrically Operated Hot Beverage Maker The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me/us S004482 23/ 2/8 5845/3 BA-207 A beverace maker as claimed in claim 3 wherein I ill I BA-207 ELECTRICALLY OPERATED HOT BEVERAGE MAKER This invention relates to an improvement in electrically operated coffee makers, particularly to a hot beverage producer,'such as a coffee maker in which the water compartment can be expanded to an upper limit depending upon the amount of coffee required to be brewed at any given time.

hus, the volume of the water compartment can be expanded at ':'will to produce a larger number of cups of coffee.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an *..electrically operated beverage or coffee maker in which the i* *.ater receptacle and brewed beverage or coffee are maintained separate at all times within the coffee maker.

It is a further feature of the present invention to provide a water supply which is heated by a heating element "located in the bottom of the coffee maker and is further *.:.provided with means for pumping or elevating the boiling water to flow through ground coffee beans in the filter arrangement *.to an annular receptacle which surrounds the periphery of the container.

t is still another feature of the present invention to provide a coffee maker with an upper compartment for hclding a supply of coffee in a filter arrangement, and a lower 1

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BA-207 compartment having an expandable water container and means for heating the water and flowing the same through the coffee in the upper compartment to drip down as brewed coffee to an annular receptacle surrounding the lower compartment, and whereby the upper compartment can be separated and removed from the lower compartment.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a stem cup measuring device in the water compartment which can also be used as a handle for lifting the water container 'compartment out of the coffee maker.

In order that the present invention will be more clearly understood, it will now be disclosed in greater detail with eference to the accompanying drawings, in which: FIG. 1 is a sectional view partly in elevation of the electrically operated hot beverage maker with expandable water .**.compartment in its assembled condition, and constructed in .'accordance with the teachings of my invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the electrically operated hot beverage maker shown in FIG. 1 prior to assembly.

FIG. 3 is an alternate embodiment of the F-esent 'i nvention shown in an exploded view and prior to assembly.

S FIG. 3a is a partial sectional view of the expandable water container of the hot beverage maker showing the suspension arrangement within the beverage maker.

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I~ BA-207 FIG. 3b is a top plan view of the support ring and spider shown in FIG. 3a.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view, partly in elevation, of another embodiment of the present invention which is similar to the construction shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of a detail of construction which is a non-conductive separator member for use in the beverage maker.

FIG. 6 is a view taken along the lines 6-6 of FIG. FIG. 7 is a side elevation view of the electrically operated coffee maker; and FIGS. 8, 9, 10 and 11 are various configurations of the S..*"xpandable water container.

FIGS. 1 and 2 show an electric coffee or other type of hot beverage maker made in accordance with the teachings of my invention and where an automatic drip coffee or other type of '..beverage make3: is shown and referred to generally by the reference numeral 10, which includes an upper compartment 12 a lower compartment 14. By referring to FIG. 2, it should be evident that the upper and lower compartments 12 and 14 are *..etachable, and that compartment 12 is provided with handle 6, where lower compartment 14 is provided with a separate handle 18. As is clearly seen in FIG. 2, the upper compartment 12 is provided with a fixed basket 20, having a ribbed interior surface 22. The upper basket 12 also is 3

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BA-207 provided with a central pump or delivery tube 24. As ceen in FIGS. 1 and 2, a throwaway or semi-permanent filter cone 26 provided with a central hole 28 is adapted to slide over the delivery tube 24 and seat itself within the correspondingly conical shaped coffee basket 22. The coffee basket 20 is further provided with a flange 30 forming a skirt at the bottom of said coffee basket. Located immediately above the flange or skirt 30 are openings 32 in the coffee basket so that the liquid, or brewed coffee, can pass through by gravity .*nd be deflected by the flange 30 to the peripheral coffee 000 container 34 in the lower compartment 14.

An important feature of the present invention is a provision of an expandable water container 36 in the lower receptacle 14. This water container can be made of silicone, rubber material, or any other suitable expandable substance, and may take a variety of forms or configurations as shown in 8-11 to be described hereinafter. The lateral expandability of the water container 36 into the space "occupied by the peripheral coffee container 34 is an important feature since this construction and arrangement provide for water container to accomodate additional water so that more cups of coffee can be made in a given size coffee maker.

The water container 36 which is expandable and flexible is supported in the lower container 14 by means of an annular peripheral rim 37 on the mouth of the flexible container which 4 T- I BA-207 removably hooks into an annular channel 41 of the spider support member 39 on the lower container 14.

Referring to FIG. 2, it will be noted that the lower receptacle 14 is provided with a pouring nozzle 38 and the lower section 24a of the pump, or delivery tube 24 shown in the top receptacle.

Referring now to FIG. 1, it will be seen that the water W in the container 36 flows by gravity through the bottom opening 40 in the container 36 and into a channel 42 in .:communication with the heating element 44 which is a Calrod or sees any other suitable electrical heating element. After a period of time, the heating element, which is in heat exchange with water present in the channel 42, causes the water to boil and pump up through pump and delivery tubes 24, 24a and out the open end 46 of the top of the tube 24 to flow by gravity into and through the coffee grounds G present in the filter s* basket 26. The coffee is then brewed and the brewed liquid coffee flows by gravity through the holes 32 in the filter basket 26 and is deflected by the flange 30 to fall into the annular coffee receptacle 34 surrounding the periphery of the :water container 36. As a result of the present construction, water in the water container and the brewed coffee are held separate at all times within the electric coffee maker and there is no recycling of the brewed coffee to impair the improved flavor and aroma of the one-pass coffee brew.

5 i i I BA-207 As further seen in FIG. 1, a separator member 48 is shown wl'ich separates the water container 36 from direct contact with the heater 44. Enlarged views of the spacer member 48 are shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 which is shown provided with e central hole 50 through which the pipe 24a passes, as well as a semi-circular cutout 52, the purpose of which will be explained hereinafter.

The construction of the electric coffee maker, as shown in FIG. 3, varies from that shown in FIGS. 1 and 4 in that the "'..water pump tube 62 does not project centrally through the water container in the upper compartment filter basket, but is 'positioned vertically adjacent-to the handles 64 and 66 of the i "'coffee maker and is provided with a swingable spigot, or nozzle 68, which can be swung out of the way of the filter basket 70 when the same is inserted in the upper compartment S...72 and thereafter rotated a position as shown in FIG. 3

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S..wherein the hot water pumped up from the heating chamber 74 is i expelled through the nozzle 68 through the coffee grinds G and **thereafter through the openings 76 in the bottom of the coffee basket to flow into the annular area 78 surrounding the water *:pontainer 36. It should be evident that the water container is expandable laterally and therefore the water supply therein can be measured by means of measuring rod 80 which has calibrated graduations thereon ;:or measuring the amount of water necessary for making the selected beverage amounts. It 6-

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I I BA-207 should be evident that the bottom of post 80 is fixed to the bottom of the water container 36 centrally thereof and above the water outlet 82 in the water container 36. Consequently, the base 84 of the post 80 is provided with openings 86 through which the water in the container can flow into the water heating chamber 74 through the water outlet 82. The post 80 also functions as a handle for lifting the water container 36 from the beverage or coffee maker when desired.

It will be noted in FIG. 3 that the upper compartment 12 be easily and rapidly fitted over the lower compartment 14 whereby the disconnected pump up pipe 62 is connected to form i. *a unitary conduit for pumping up hot water to the coffee "tasket. Furthermore, when the coffee is brewed it flows by "gravity into the lower compartment 14. The upper compartment can be removed and the cover 88 can be placed over the open top of the lower compartment. Thus, the coffee maker has a normal appearance of a coffee pot but has the capability of making more cups of coffee than a standard coffee maker of the

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**..same size, and the coffee can be poured out of the spout 38 as required, and at the same time the cover maintains the S.*:elevated temperature in the lower compartment 14 since heat is :"*prevented from escaping from the coffee maker's lower compartment.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show a non-heat transferring separator which is circular in shape and has a semi-circular cutout 92 7 BA-207 for receiving the pump up pipe 62. The plate 90 is also provided with a plurality of rounded projections 94 which are located in the circular pattern on the top of the plate which are designed to engage the bottom surface of the water container 36.

FIGS. 8 through 11 show different or various forms of expandable water containers or bags referred to as container 36A in FIG. 8, container 36B in FIG. 9, container 36C in FIG.

and container 36D in FIG. 11. The configuration of the S'ater bag 36D in FIG. 11 is particularly adaptable for my novel coffee maker shown in FIG. 3, whereby about half the bag is expandable while the other half, which is located in the Small space adjacent to the pump-up pipe 62, is not expandable *e to any great extent. For example, silicone rubber has been found to be an excellent sanitary material for expandable or resilient water containers to be utilized in a coffee maker.

should be evident that the use of an expandable container allows fabrication of a smaller coffee maker with the capability of expanding the number of coffee cups during a single use of the coffee brewing apparatus.

It is especially advantageous in the present onstruction that the brewed coffee is not in contact with the water receptacle utilized for water to be heated and passed through the coffee for brewing purposes. It is therefore 8 i BA-207 possible to expand the capacity of the coffee maker at any given time without making use of additional coffee makers.

Referring now to FIG. 4, an adjustable thermostat 54 is shown whereby the temperature of the heating element 44 can be j adjusted after the coffee is brewed to maintain the brewed Scoffee at the proper temperature prior to consumption.

Furthermore, as seen in FIG, the water container 56 is of a different shape and configuration than that shown in FIG. 1.

SHowever, in all cases, the water containers 36, 56 etc. can be expanded, for example, from 6 cups to 10 cups within the same dimensioned coffee maker. Consequently, although the coffee maker in general is of a relatively small size, the capacity S o*o can be increased at will to a predetermined upper limit, if so desired.

The overall appearance of the menufactured version of *the present coffee maker is shown in FIG. 7 and comparing that i appearance with the structure shown in FIG. 4, it should be i noted that upon brewing the coffee the upper compartment, or receptacle, is provided with cover 58 that covers the spout 38 when the coffee is being brewed. Consequently, it aids in ii.. more rapidly and efficiently maintaining the coffee at the S desired temperature. However, when the upper receptacle 12 is removed after the coffee is brewed, together with its filter arrangement, the cover for the upper receptacle can be removed and used to cover the lower receptacle to thereby prevent the -9- Ii

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BA-207 coffee from being cooled down while the temperature is maintained at a selected level by means of the adjustable thermostat 54. In this connection, the cover 60 has an opening 62 for the spout 38 so that pouring of the coffee can be achieved without removing the cover It should be evident that the water containers 36, 56, as well as those shown in FIGS. 8-11, are washable and comply with the sanitary codes of the government. It also should be apparent that although separate upper and lower compartments for the present beverage maker are shown and described hereinbefore, it is within the scope of the present invention r* to provide a unitary apparatus wherein the upper and lower compartments are integral and not separable, however, the lower compartment will, in all instances, be provided with an expandable water compartment.

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Claims (9)

1. A coffee maker provided with separable upper and lower compartments, said upper compartment including a coffee basket provided with holes therein, a filter in said basket for holding said coffee substance, said lower compartment having a flexible, expandable water container, means for *S 0 S heating said water, and means for conducting said heated water through said coffee to thereby drip through said holes in the so g S 10A e']e* BA-207 coffee basket, and an annular dispensing container surrounding said expandable water container for receiving said brewed coffee that has accumulated therein after passing through said holes, said flexible container upon filling with water has the capability of expanding laterally into said annular dispensing container in order to accomodate more water than when said container is in is relaxed condition.

2. A hot beverage maker provided with upper and lower compartments, said upper compartment including a filter basket provided with apertures and a flavored substance 0**0 therein, said lower compartment having a flexible expandable Swater container, means in said lower compartment for heating o said water, means for elevating said heated water to said upper compartment and conducting said heated water through said substance wherein flavor is extracted to form a beverage brew which drips through said apertures of the filter basket, ON and an annular dispensing container surrounding said water rontainer 4-r receiving said brewed beverage that has accumulated therein after passing through said apertures said flexible container upon filling with water has the capability o' of expanding laterally into said annular dispensing container Sin order to accomodate more water than when said container is in i:s relaxed condition.

3. A beverage maker as claimed in claim 2 wherein A y said expandable water container s resilient. L BA-207

4. A beverage maker as claimed in claim 3 wherein said water container is fabricated of rubber. A beverage maker as claimed in claim 2 further comprising a spacer member positioned in said lower compartment between said heating means and said expandable water container preventing direct contact between said heating means and said water con ainer.

6. A beverage maker as claimed in claim 2 wherein said means for elevating said heated water to said upper compartment is a vertically oriented pipe outside of said water container and having a swingable nozzle connected thereto and extending substantially perpendicular to said pipe.

7. A beverage maker as claimed in claim 2 wherein said means for elevating said heated water to said upper i compartment is a pipe, said water container and filter basket being provided with aligned openings through which said pipe projects to discharge said heated water therefrom into said Sfilter basket. I 8. A beverage maker as claimed in claim 6 wherein said vertically oriented pipe comprises two interfitting and separable sections, one of said sections being in the lower compartment while the other section is in the upper compartment. 12 i BA-207

9. A beverage maker as claimed in claim 7 wherein said pipe is constituted of two interfitting and separable sections, one of said sections being in the lower compartment while the ,'ther section is in the upper compartment. A hot beverage maker provided with separable upper and lower compartments, said upper compartment including a filter basket provided with apertures and said basket having a flavored substance therein, said lower compartment having a resilient water container which upon filling expands to accommodate more water than when said compartment is in its relaxed condition, said upper and lower containers having e interfitting parts when assembled but which'can be separated manually, means in said lower compartment for heating said water, means for elevating the water to said upper compartment and conducting said heated water through said flavored substance to form a beverage which drips through said apertures in the filter basket, and an annular container surrounding said water container for receiving said beverage that has accumulated therein after passing through said apertures.

11. A hot beverage maker as claimed in claim further comprising an annular flange at the bottom of said upper compartment located adjacent and below said apertures so that the brewed beverage dripping through said apertures is deflected into said annular container. 13 DATED this NINETEENTH day of JUI~ 1989 George Barradas Patent Attorneys for the Applicant SPRUSON FERGUSON p. eP *6 S 0 'S'S a,- S.D *4~ S J S 'S

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