EP3046450A1

EP3046450A1 - Machine for the preparation of beverages with the use of pre-packaged charges

Info

Publication number: EP3046450A1
Application number: EP14796913.3A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Bruno Bardazzi; Alessandro Doria
Original assignee: Espressocap SpA
Current assignee: Espressocap SpA
Priority date: 2013-09-18
Filing date: 2014-09-16
Publication date: 2016-07-27
Also published as: WO2015040646A1; ITGE20130092A1

Abstract

Machine for the preparation of beverages with the use of pre-packaged charges of a powdery material to be extracted, brewed or dissolved, comprising pressurized hot water supply means (1, 201), filter-holder means (3) releasably coupled to said pressurized hot water supply means (1, 201) and communicating with dispensing means (203) for dispensing the extracted, brewed or dissolved beverage; said filter-holder means (3) comprise a container body (103) being pivotally coupled to a fork-shaped handle member (403) provided with radially protruding reliefs (453) on both the sides thereof, there being provided coupling means (2) between said pressurized hot water supply means (1, 201) and said filter-holder means (3), said coupling means (2) comprising cam guide means (1 1 2, 122, 132) adapted to cooperate with the protruding reliefs (453) of said fork-shaped member (403).

Description

Title of the Invention

"Machine for the preparation of beverages with the use of pre-packaged charges"

Text of the description

The present invention relates to machines for the preparation of beverages with the use of pre-packaged charges containing a powdered edible material intended to be extracted, brewed or dissolved.

Many types of machines are known for the preparation of beverages; particularly, espresso coffee machines are known which make use of pre-packaged charges. It can be safely said that, over time, this type of product has gained a wide acceptance in virtue of its practicableness which makes it very compatible for use both at home and. especially, in environments such as offices, studies and small businesses, where the use of expensive automatic machines of the "vending" type would be not justified.

There are many different approaches for the manufacture of this type of machines. Generally, the pre-packaged charge is inserted into a container, the so-called filter-holder, which can be formed either as one piece or as two half-shells, the container being then placed in cooperation with pressurized hot water supply means and being in communication with beverage ί dispensing means, in the past, the filter-holder has mimicked the forms of the same device used with bulk coffee powder in espresso machines of commercial businesses such as bars or restaurants, as in US5242702. However, the rotary bayonet-type movement usually does not fit well with the very nature of the average user: also the control of the sealing, of the pressure and, therefore, of the results in terms of quality of the brewed beverage is far from satisfactory.

Many machines are equipped with more or less complex systems in which the filter-holder into which the pre-packaged charge is inserted and the pressurized hot water supply means are brought into contact by automatic or semi-automatic means, leading to a series of problems from the point of view of potential jams as well as to an apparent difficulty in cleaning such devices, whose internal parts are usually not particularly accessible for the user. This entails particular problems when the pre-packaged charges contain products, such as milk powder or the like, which can provide a potential bacteria! culture medium, in this respect, documents EP717613, EP867142: WO2005004683 and EP1369069 can be seen.

in order to address certain of the problems existing in the state of the art, the same applicant has protected. in EP1635680, an espresso coffee machine for prepackaged charges in which the filter-holder is arranged within a door hinged to the body of the machine and further provided with means for delivering the brewed beverage. This machine solves several issues in terms of design simplicity, cleaning and reliability because it avoids the problems concerning the potential jams which - instead - may occur with many of the machines known from the state of the art,

In the device described in document EP2131704, there is provided a removable filter-holder having an extremely simple design, which is brought into the position in which extraction occurs thanks to the presence of suitable guide means which allow it to be appropriately positioned along a plane parallel to the resting plane of the machine. Since the filter-holder can be ver easily coupled to the rest of the machine, this type of system lends itself quite easily to the use of the machine for the production of beverages other than coffee, considering that the parts coming into contact with the prepared beverage are few and all washable in a relatively easy manner.

However, this filter-holder has to cooperate with pressurized hot water supply means which are quite complex, as they should be able to be lowered onto the pre-packaged charge and then raised therefrom to allow the charge to be expelled from the machine.

The problem generally encountered with many of the known machines is that the insertion of the pre- packaged charge occurs with a movement substantially perpendicular to the path of preparation of the beverage, except for the special case of the machine described in the above-mentioned patent in the name of the same applicant. This type of approach leads to obvious complications related to the need for establishing a contact between the charge and the water supply means while avoiding a contact of the latter with the charge before brewing occurs. In summary, when the design of the filter-holder is simplified, as in EP2131704. the rest of the machine becomes complicate, thereby binding the manufacturer to design choices which are expensive and often also poorly efficacious from the operational point of view.

Therefore, the aim of the present invention is to provide a machine for the preparation of beverages which can solve the problems highlighted during the study of the state of the art by allowing a brewing, extraction or dissolution operation to be performed in an extremely simple way with the use of filter-holder means which are completely removable from the body of the machine and entirely washable, thereby enabling also the use of different beverages without compromising the organoleptic features of the different preparations.

The object of the present invention is a machine for the preparation of beverages with the use of prepackaged charges of a powdery material to be extracted, brewed or dissolved, comprising pressurized hot water supply means, filter-holder means releasably coupled to said pressurized hot water supply means and communicating with dispensing means for dispensing the extracted, brewed or dissolved beverage; said filter- holder means comprise a container body provided with an axial cavity adapted to accommodate said prepackaged charge, an opening formed in the bottom wall of said cavity and communicating with said beverage dispensing means, said container body being pivoially coupled, at two points diametrically opposite to each other on its outer side wall in the proximity of its open end, to a fork-shaped handle member provided with radially protruding reliefs on both the sides thereof, there being provided coupling means between said pressurized hot water supply means and said filter- holder means, said coupling means comprising cam guide means adapted to cooperate with the protruding reliefs of said fork-shaped member in such a way as to configure, upon oscillation of said fork-shaped member, a position in which said supply means are coupled to said filter-holder means and a position in which said filter-holder means can be either inserted or evacuated, said guide means being formed in walls which are opposite to each other and arranged in the proximity of said supply means and perpendicular to the lying plane of said supply means.

In a preferred embodiment, said coupling means and said filter-holder means are provided with permanent magnets adapted to cooperate with each other in order to stabilize the initial coupling thereof.

Advantageously, said coupling means and said fork-shaped member are provided with mutual snap- coupling means so as to ensure an appropriate sealing of the extraction chamber resulting from the coupling of the water supply means to the filter-holder means.

Sn a preferred embodiment of the invention, said protruding reliefs of said fork-shaped member comprise two pairs of pins on each side of said member, said pins protruding above a plane parallel to the lying plane of said fork-shaped member, a first pin being arranged in the proximity of the pivoting connection with said container body, and a second pin being arranged on said member and aligned with said first pin at a distance substantially corresponding to half the cross-section of said container body.

Advantageously, said fork-shaped member is provided with an arm which is inclined with respect to the plane of said member, preferably by an angle corresponding to the oscillation angle provided for said fork-shaped member.

Further advantages and features will be apparent from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the present invention which is provided by way of illustration, and not by way of limitation, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation view, with exploded parts and parts in section, of a detail of an embodiment of the machine according to the present invention;

Figures 2 to 4 are side elevation views, with parts in section, of the different operational steps of the machine according to the present invention; and

Figure 5 shows, in longitudinal section, a variant embodiment of the machine according to the present invention.

In Figure 1 there is shown a detail of an embodiment of the machine according to the present invention; reference numeral 1 denotes the boiler of said machine, the bottom wall 101 of which boiler is provided with pressurized hot-water suppiy means comprising a dispensing mouth 201 provided with perforating spikes 211. A pocket 2 is formed around said mouth 201 for coupling to the filter-holder means 3, into which filter- holder means a pre-packaged charge 4 is inserted. Said pocket 2 comprises two identical walls 102 facing each other, one of which is illustrated in the figure, in which a contoured track 112 is formed which is provided with a circular sector-shaped loop 122 to which a retention groove 132 is opposed. The two walls 102, which are parallel to each other, are joined by a transverse wall 202 centrally provided with a permanent magnet 212. At the end of the wall 102 opposite to the wall 101 of the boiier, a contoured surface 142 is formed facing towards the inside of said pocket 2.

The filter-holder 3 comprises a basket 103 intended to contain the pre-packaged charge 4 and provided with a beverage-dispensing nozzle 203 at the bottom thereof. A radial flange 113 is provided near the open end of said basket 103, said flange protruding outwardly and extending into a flap 123. A permanent magnet 303, intended to cooperate with the permanent magnet 212 described above, is provided at the side wall of said basket.

The basket 103 has coupled thereto, via pins 133 radially protruding from the basket 103 itself, a fork- shaped grip 403 comprising two arms 413 substantially triangular in shape, only one of which can be viewed, in which one vertex is pivoted to a pin 133 via an eyelet 423, one vertex is provided with a tooth-shaped protrusion 433, and one vertex is provided with a connecting handle 443 adapted to connect the two arms 413 to each other and to allow a grip 403 to be used.

A cylindrical stud 453 intended to cooperate with the contoured track 112 formed in each of the walls 102 of the pocket 2 protrudes radially outwardly from each arm 413, said stud being arranged on said arm 413 at a distance from the eyelet 423 which is substantially equal to half the cross-section of said basket 103,

The operation of the machine according to the present invention will appear evident from what follows, with particular reference to the accompanying figures from 2 to 4; once the pre-packaged charge has been inserted in the basket 103, the filter-holder 3 can begin to be introduced into the pocket 2. As is apparent from Figure 2, both the pins 133 and the cylindrical studs 453 are introduced into the contoured track 112 so as to guide the insertion of the filter-holder 3 into the pocket 2. Once the pins 133 have reached the end of the stroke, i.e. when they have established a contact with the wall of the loop 122, as shown in Figure 3, the handle 443 can be lowered, the arms 413 are then rotated and, as shown in Figure 4, the pins 133 are inserted into the grooves 132 while the protrusion 433 abuts against the contoured surface 142. The two permanent magnets 212 and 303, respectively positioned in the pocket 2 and on the outer side wall of the basket 103 of the filter-holder 3, contribute to the stabilization of the coupling, particularly during the operational step illustrated in Figure 3, i.e. before the fork-shaped grip 403 is driven to oscillate.

The result of this operation is that the prepackaged charge 4 is sealingiy coupled to the supply means 201, and therefore, the machine is ready to dispense the beverage.

In Figure 5 there is illustrated a variant embodiment of the machine according to the present invention; like parts are referred to by like numerals. The brewing chamber 503 formed within the basket 103 comprises, at a bottom wall 513 thereof, a nail 523 acting as a means for perforating a bottom wall 114 of the container body 104 of the pre-packaged charge 4 whose closure plane 124 was instead perforated by the perforating spikes 211 of the supply means 201, thereby being pervious to the pressurized hot water supplied from a conduit 221 ,

The naii 523 is inserted into the bottom wall 114, and its cooperation with the material of the wall will act as a valve for controlling the dispensing of the beverage through the conduit 143 which flows into the dispensing nozzle 203. in fact, depending on the material used to make the container body 104 of the pre-packaged charge 4 as well as, of course, on the thickness of such a material at the point intended to be perforated, there will be a different behaviour in terms of pressure exerted by the supplied water and in terms of perforation by the nail 523. Naturally, it can be provided to use a particular material even only to make the bottom wall of such a container body, or at most only the central portion of such a bottom wall, which is intended to be perforated by the nail. Of course, other configurations may be devised for the dispensing mode of the beverage prepared from the pre-packaged charge without changing the scope of protection of the present invention.

Therefore, the machine according to the present invention solves many problems existing in the devices known from the state of the art as it is very simple to be manufactured and operated, and additionally, it ensures an efficacious accessibility to the filter-holder means and thus a more thorough cleaning thereof. The machine accord ing to the present invention is proven to be suitable both for the preparation of espresso coffee and for the preparation of all the hot beverages which can be prepared from solid prod ucts by extraction , brewing or d issolution and which have now entered into the habits of most consumers.

Claims

1. Machine for the preparation of beverages with the use of pre-packaged charges of a powdery material to be extracted, brewed or dissolved, comprising pressurized hot water supply means (1, 201), filter- holder means (3) reieasably coupled to said pressurized hot water supply means (1, 201) and communicating with dispensing means (203) for dispensing the extracted, brewed or dissolved beverage; said filter-holder means (3) comprise a container body (103) provided with an axial cavity (503) adapted to accommodate said prepackaged charge, an opening formed in the bottom wall of said cavity and communicating with said beverage dispensing means, said container body (103) being pivotal!y coupled, at two points (133) diametrically opposite to each other on its outer side wail in the proximity of its open end, to a fork-shaped handle member (403) provided with radially protruding reliefs (453) on both the sides thereof, there being provided coupling means (2) between said pressurized hot water supply means (1, 201) and said filter-holder means (3), said coupling means (2) comprising cam guide means (112, 122, 132) adapted to cooperate with the protruding reliefs (453) of said fork-shaped member (403) in such a wa as to configure, upon oscillation of said fork-shaped member (403), a position in which said supply means (1, 201) are coupled to said filter-holder means and a position in which said filter-holder means (3) can be either inserted or evacuated, said guide means (112, 122, 132) being formed in walls (102) which are opposite to each other and arranged in the proximity of said supply means (1, 201) and perpendicular to the lying plane of said supply means.

2. Machine according to ciaim 1, wherein said coupling means (2) and said filter-holder means (3) are provided with permanent magnets (212, 303) adapted to cooperate with each other.

3. Machine according to claim 1 or 2, wherein said coupling means (2) and said fork-shaped member (403) are provided with mutual snap-coupling means (142, 433).

4. Machine according to any one of the preceding claims 1 to 3, wherein said protruding reliefs of said fork-shaped member comprise two pairs of pins (133, 453) on each side of said member (403), said pins protruding above a plane parallel to the lying plane of said fork-shaped member (403), a first pin (133) being arranged in the proximity of the pivoting connection with said container body (103), and a second pin (453) being arranged on said member and aligned with said first pin (133) at a distance substantially corresponding to half the cross-section of said container body (103),

5. Machine according to any one of the preceding claims 1 to 4, wherein said fork-shaped member (403) is provided with a handle (443) which is inclined with respect to the plane of said member (403), preferably by an angle corresponding to the oscillation angle provided for said fork-shaped member (403).