Classifications

• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A47—FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
  • A47J—KITCHEN EQUIPMENT; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; APPARATUS FOR MAKING BEVERAGES
  • A47J31/00—Apparatus for making beverages
  • A47J31/24—Coffee-making apparatus in which hot water is passed through the filter under pressure, i.e. in which the coffee grounds are extracted under pressure
  • A47J31/34—Coffee-making apparatus in which hot water is passed through the filter under pressure, i.e. in which the coffee grounds are extracted under pressure with hot water under liquid pressure
  • A47J31/36—Coffee-making apparatus in which hot water is passed through the filter under pressure, i.e. in which the coffee grounds are extracted under pressure with hot water under liquid pressure with mechanical pressure-producing means
  • A47J31/3604—Coffee-making apparatus in which hot water is passed through the filter under pressure, i.e. in which the coffee grounds are extracted under pressure with hot water under liquid pressure with mechanical pressure-producing means with a mechanism arranged to move the brewing chamber between loading, infusing and ejecting stations
  • A47J31/3623—Cartridges being employed
  • A47J31/3638—Means to eject the cartridge after brewing
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A47—FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
  • A47J—KITCHEN EQUIPMENT; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; APPARATUS FOR MAKING BEVERAGES
  • A47J31/00—Apparatus for making beverages
  • A47J31/24—Coffee-making apparatus in which hot water is passed through the filter under pressure, i.e. in which the coffee grounds are extracted under pressure
  • A47J31/34—Coffee-making apparatus in which hot water is passed through the filter under pressure, i.e. in which the coffee grounds are extracted under pressure with hot water under liquid pressure
  • A47J31/36—Coffee-making apparatus in which hot water is passed through the filter under pressure, i.e. in which the coffee grounds are extracted under pressure with hot water under liquid pressure with mechanical pressure-producing means
  • A47J31/3604—Coffee-making apparatus in which hot water is passed through the filter under pressure, i.e. in which the coffee grounds are extracted under pressure with hot water under liquid pressure with mechanical pressure-producing means with a mechanism arranged to move the brewing chamber between loading, infusing and ejecting stations
  • A47J31/3623—Cartridges being employed
  • A47J31/3633—Means to perform transfer from a loading position to an infusing position

Definitions

• the present invention refers to a device for delivering and expelling capsules for delivering machines for infusion beverages; the present invention further refers to a delivering machine for infusion beverages equipped with such device.
• Delivering machines for infusion beverages are already known in the art, such as for example for delivering tea or coffee contained in capsules, equipped with several types of devices for removing used capsules once the beverage has been prepared and delivered.
• loading the capsule inside the device must be as practical, easy and quick as possible, in order not to impair the real easiness of use of these delivering machines .
• Known devices therefore have different configurations of mechanisms and kinematisms whose tasks are substantially to try and make it easier to insert and position the capsule inside the machine and to perform a sufficiently high seal around the capsule itself in order to be able to perform its extraction at relatively high, typical operating pressures.
• the capsule must be placed by the user on a suitable capsule support or in an housing in order to then manually or automatically proceed to close the device to take the capsule in an infusion and delivering position.
• the art proposes devices that provide for introducing the capsule along a vertical plane and for moving the extraction or infusion parts along a horizontal plane around the capsule: in particular, positioning of the capsule for its extraction occurs due to the movement of at least one moving part that pushes the capsule against another part that takes care of delivering hot water and of performing the capsule infusion.
• Such devices though they allow a quick and practical capsule loading, are however extremely complex to make and are not suitable for inexpensive coffee machines: in fact, due to their excessive complexity, they are generally aimed for costly delivering machines for restoration, bars or communities .
• patent WO 98/47418 discloses a device for extracting pre-dosed capsules in which the capsule has been inserted vertically and extracted horizontally.
• the inconvenience of this device is that it comprises, to perform the capsule extraction, two mutually moving parts, this making the mechanism relatively complex.
• Patent EP 0 717 603 discloses a device for infusing wafers comprising means for guiding and holding the wafer made as moving abutments that are horizontally pushed by a moving piston towards the device for delivering hot water.
• this device provides that the abutments return to their initial position due to a spring in order to remove the wafer, that afterwards falls due to gravity effect when abutments are actuated in rotation to be opened downwards.
• Such device requires, obviously, the realisation of multiple combined movements of the means for driving and holding the water, making the device itself extremely complex and costly to make.
• Patent EP 1 219 217 discloses a device comprising a moving housing for the capsule oscillating between a capsule-receiving position and a capsule-extracting position.
• the moving housing is then pushed against the device for delivering hot water by a piston that moves horizontally when the housing itself is in a vertical position.
• the expulsion of the capsule after infusion occurs through a further downward housing oscillation.
• the number of moving parts necessary for operating the device is such as to make this latter one extremely complex, costly and scarcely reliable.
• Patent WO 2005/004683 discloses a device for extracting a capsule comprising a first part, a second moving part with respect to the first part, a housing for the capsule defining, in a closing position of the second moving part against the first part, an extraction position of the capsule along an axis in such housing, a part for introducing and positioning the capsule arranged in order to allow inserting the capsule by gravity and positioning such capsule in an intermediate position, the second moving part being adapted to move the capsule from the intermediate position to the extraction position upon closing the device.
• this device requires, for extracting the capsule, the use of several moving parts such as, among the others, an extraction plaque comprising, as means for guiding the capsule, two members rotating around an axis and a movement finger of an actuating lever. Also in this case, therefore, the described device is relatively complex and costly.
• the art further proposes other devices in which the capsule is kept for delivery and afterward expelled by means of one or more linkages elastically cooperating with the device structure.
• Object of the present invention is solving the above prior art problems by providing a device for delivering and expelling capsules for delivering machines for infusion beverages that is simpler, less costly and mechanically more reliable with respect to what is proposed by the prior art.
• an object of the present invention is providing a delivering machine equipped with a device for delivering and expelling capsules that can be practically used and relatively inexpensive.
• FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the device for delivering and expelling according to the present invention in an operating position thereof;
• FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of the device for delivering and expelling according to the present invention in a following operating position thereof;
• FIG. 3 shows a side sectional view of the device for delivering and expelling of FIG. 2;
• FIG. 4 shows a perspective view of the device for delivering and expelling according to the present invention in another operating position thereof;
• FIG. 5 shows a perspective view of the device for delivering and expelling according to the present invention in a further operating position thereof
• FIG. 6 shows a perspective view of the device for delivering and expelling according to the present invention in another operating position thereof;
• FIG. 7 shows a side sectional view of the device for delivering and expelling of FIG. 2;
• FIG. 8 shows a top perspective view of the device for delivering and expelling according to the present invention in another operating position thereof;
• FIG. 9 shows a front perspective view of the device for delivering and expelling of FIG. 8.
• FIG. 10 shows an enlargement of the part of the device for delivering and expelling according to the present invention enclosed in box A in FIG. 9.
• the device for delivering and expelling 1 comprises: at least one first . fixed part 3, preferably comprising at least one filter-holder chamber 5; at least one second part 7, moving with respect to the first fixed part 3, such second part 7 comprising supporting means 9 of at least one capsule 11 cooperating with expelling means 13 for such capsule 11 and at least one water-delivering assembly 15, usually heated water, such second part 7 being moving with respect to the first fixed part 3 through actuating means 17 between a first loading position (FIG. 1, 2 and 3) of the capsule 11 on the supporting means 9, a second position for extracting and delivering the beverage (FIG.
• the second moving part 7 is equipped with a horizontal sliding movement with respect to the fixed part 3.
• the actuating means 17 are preferably made as at least one toggle mechanism comprising at least one actuating lever 19 rotating around at least one first rotation shaft 20 which is substantially horizontal and cooperating by interposing at least one toothed coupling 21 with the system composed of a crank 23, rotating around at least one second, substantially horizontal rotation shaft 24, and a connecting rod 25, the connecting rod being connected by interposing at least one hinge 27 to the second moving part 7.
• the second part 7 Under the action of the actuating means 17, the second part 7 therefore slides with respect to the first fixed part 3 along guiding rails 29 in order to cyclically pass from the first loading position of the capsule 11 on the supporting means 9 to the third position for expelling the capsule 11 through the second position for extracting and delivering the beverage in which the capsule 11 is taken inside the filter-holder chamber 5.
• the actuating means 17 can be made through any other manual or automatic kinematism or mechanism, for example through hydraulic, electric or mechanical systems, that allows conferring the necessary movement to the second moving part 7, without therefore departing from the scope of the present invention.
• the supporting means 9 of the second moving part 7 preferably comprise at least two branches 9a, suitably shaped in order to house and keep the side profile of the capsule 11 against the water-delivering assembly 15: the insertion of the capsule 11 inside the device 1 preferably occurs in a substantially vertical way, for example through at least one insertion slit 31 adapted to guide the correct positioning of the capsule 11 on the supporting means 9. Moreover, the two branches 9a mutually define at least one space through which the expelling means 13 for the capsule 11 operate.
• the expelling means 13, that move integrally with the second moving part 7 under the action of the actuating means 17, preferably comprise at least one rotating shaft 13a having its rotation axis substantially orthogonal to the sliding direction of the second moving part 7 with respect to the first moving part 3, such rotating shaft 13a being equipped, in at least one of its two opposite ends, with at least one actuating connecting rod 13b and, in an intermediate position, with at least one expelling tooth 13c, such tooth 13c being adapted to be inserted, under the rotation action of the rotating shaft 13a, in the space existing between the supporting branches 9a of the capsule 11.
• the rotating shaft 13a is kept in a rest position by elastic means, preferably made as at least one torsion spring 13d arranged coaxially to the rotating shaft 13a itself.
• the rotation of the rotating shaft 13a is determined by the cooperation between the actuating connecting rod 13b and at least one abutment 33, fixed with respect to the second moving part 7 and arranged in such a way as to bump into the actuating connecting rod 13b during the movement of the second moving part 7 to rotate the rotating shaft 13a along a direction coherent with the sliding direction of the second moving part 7, at the same time charging the elastic means 13d that, once having ended the interaction between actuating connecting rod 13b and abutment 33, take back the rotating shaft 13a to its rest position.
• an operating cycle of the device for delivering and expelling 1 is as follows : the device 1 is in the first loading position of the capsule 11 on the supporting means 9: a user then loads the device by vertically inserting ° (along the direction shown by arrow I in FIG. 1) a capsule 11 through the insertion slit 31; the capsule 11 is then arranged on the supporting means 9, and in particular on the two branches 9a (FIG. 2) , that take care of keeping it against the delivering assembly 15; the user operates on the actuating means 17 to take the second moving part 7 towards the second position for extracting and delivering the beverage from the capsule 11: in particular, with reference to FIG.
• the user operates on the actuating lever 19 by pressing it along the direction shown by arrow V A ; at the same time, due to the toggle mechanism, the second moving part 7 is taken to horizontally slide along the guiding rails 29, along the direction shown by arrow V 0 , towards the filter- holder chamber 5; by going on operating on the actuating lever 19 along the direction of arrow V A , the second moving part 7, in its horizontal movement along arrow V c , passes through an intermediate position (like the one shown, for example, in FIG.
• the second moving part 7 continues its horizontal movement along arrow V c to go to another intermediate position (like the one shown, for example, in FIG. 5) in which the actuating connecting rod 13b has passed the fixed abutment 33 and the elastic means 13d, by being discharged, have taken the rotating shaft 13a to its original rest position; always going on operating on the actuating lever 19 along the direction of arrow V A , the second part 7 is taken to its second position (FIG.
• the filter-holder chamber 5 can be equipped with at least one pouring spout 10 for the beverage infused in the capsule 11 into a glass (not shown) .
• each branch 9a of the supporting means 9 is equipped with an end 9b particularly shaped in order to be adapted to be inserted inside corresponding slits 9b' of the filter-holder chamber 5 to complete their shape and to guarantee their adequate seal against the pressure exerted by the water delivered by the delivering assembly 15; after having ended the infusion and delivering cycle of the beverage, the user operates on the actuating means 17 to take the second moving part 7 towards its third position for expelling the capsule 11: in particular, with reference to FIG.
• the user operates on the actuating lever 19 by pulling it along an opposite direction to the one shown by previous arrow V A , and namely along a direction shown by arrow V A ' : at the same time, due to the toggle mechanism, the second moving part 7 is taken to horizontally slide along the guiding rails 29 along an opposite direction to the one shown by previous arrow V 0 , and namely along the direction shown by arrow V 0 ' ; going on operating on the actuating lever 19 along the direction of arrow V A ' , the second moving part 7, in its horizontal movement along arrow V 0 ' , reaches the third position for expelling the capsule 11 in which the actuating connecting rod 13b of the rotating shaft 13a again meets the fixed abutment 33, in this case along an opposite direction with respect to what happened previously: then, by going on moving horizontally with the second moving part 7, a sliding is again caused for the actuating connecting rod 13b on the abutment 33, however generating the simultaneous counter-clockwise rotation of the rotating
• the expelling tooth 13c is taken to rotate upwards by passing through the space existing between the branches 9a to bump into the capsule 11 and displace it from the branches 9a themselves; the capsule 11 then, lacking the support guaranteed by the supporting means 9, falls by gravity outside the device 1, for example through a suitable lower opening (not shown) to be preferably collected in a tray or in any other recovering container; always going on operating on the actuating lever 19 along the direction of arrow V A ' , the second moving part 7 continues in its horizontal movement along arrow V c ⁇ in order to go to another intermediate position (not shown) in which the actuating connecting rod 13b has again passed the fixed abutment 33 and the elastic means 13d, being discharged, have taken back the rotating shaft 13a to its original rest position; always going on operating on the actuating lever 19 along the direction of arrow V A ' , the second part 7 is then taken back to its first loading position (FIG. 1) of the capsule 11, that substantially
• the device for delivering and expelling 1 can be integrated in a coffee machine or in any other system for delivering infusion beverages, such as, for example, systems for delivering multiple-beverages, soluble food products, such as cocoa, milk, tea, dehydrated substances for soups or combinations of such products.
• the present invention further refers to a delivering machine for infusion beverages (not shown) comprising at least one device for delivering and expelling 1 according to the present invention as previously described.
• the delivering machine for infusion beverages according to the present invention can comprise any system traditionally used for operating known machines or any other element that can be normally found in a coffee machine or in any other system for delivering infusion beverages, such as, for example, at least one water tank, at least one pump for moving water, means for heating water and at least one water-delivering duct to the delivering means 15 of the second moving part 7 of the device 1.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Food Science & Technology (AREA)
• Apparatus For Making Beverages (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Publications (1)

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ID=40512216

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• 2008
  • 2008-07-10 WO PCT/IT2008/000462 patent/WO2010004598A1/en active Application Filing
  • 2008-07-10 EP EP08790051A patent/EP2323521A1/de not_active Withdrawn
• 2009
  • 2009-04-02 WO PCT/IB2009/005187 patent/WO2010004376A1/en active Application Filing

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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