Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65D—CONTAINERS FOR STORAGE OR TRANSPORT OF ARTICLES OR MATERIALS, e.g. BAGS, BARRELS, BOTTLES, BOXES, CANS, CARTONS, CRATES, DRUMS, JARS, TANKS, HOPPERS, FORWARDING CONTAINERS; ACCESSORIES, CLOSURES, OR FITTINGS THEREFOR; PACKAGING ELEMENTS; PACKAGES
  • B65D85/00—Containers, packaging elements or packages, specially adapted for particular articles or materials
  • B65D85/70—Containers, packaging elements or packages, specially adapted for particular articles or materials for materials not otherwise provided for
  • B65D85/804—Disposable containers or packages with contents which are mixed, infused or dissolved in situ, i.e. without having been previously removed from the package
  • B65D85/8043—Packages adapted to allow liquid to pass through the contents
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65B—MACHINES, APPARATUS OR DEVICES FOR, OR METHODS OF, PACKAGING ARTICLES OR MATERIALS; UNPACKING
  • B65B29/00—Packaging of materials presenting special problems
  • B65B29/02—Packaging of substances, e.g. tea, which are intended to be infused in the package
  • B65B29/022—Packaging of substances, e.g. tea, which are intended to be infused in the package packaging infusion material into capsules

Definitions

• the beverages are obtained by mixing high-pressure water with the contents of the capsule, usually powder or granules, which allows the attainment of a beverage from hot chocolate to a simple espresso coffee, according to the contents of the capsule.
• the present invention seeks to solve the aforementioned problems by creating a capsule which is adaptable in a simple and economical way according to the beverage to be obtained, that ensures an excellent conditioning of the product contained in the capsule since it is completely sealed, that can be used both in machines where the capsule is mechanically perforated or is hydraulically opened, and that has a manufacturing cost substantially lower than the existing solutions.
• Fig. 1 shows a general view of the capsule according to the invention
• Fig. 2 shows a cross section of the capsule, enabling the view of some components inside
• Fig. 3 shows a detail of the capsule, highlighting the film (3)
• Fig. 4 shows some alternative embodiments of markings on the plastic face (3b) of the film (3)
• Fig. 5 shows a detail of the film (3) highlighting two faces (3a) and (3b)
• Fig. 6 shows an alternative embodiment of the capsule without paper filter Description of the main components:
• the state of the art of the capsules of soluble or not soluble beverage machines consists in that the tightness of the capsule is achieved by a film that is perforated only at the moment when the capsule is placed in a machine, an example of which is PAT N° EP 512 468.
• this type of capsules works only on machines mechanically perforating the capsule and having, downstream of the capsule in the machine itself, an array of fluid flow channels with an extremely reduced diameter and intended to increase the contact time between water and product, as well as to create the much desired foam in beverages such as espresso.
• One of the major disadvantages of this system is that because of the extremely small diameter of these channels, this part of the machine tends to fail due to clogging by accumulation of small particles of limestone or ground coffee.
• Patent WO03059778 attempts to solve the above mentioned problem by developing a capsule in which the film that maintains the airtightness of the capsule is not pierced mechanically, but instead by water pressure created by the machine.
• this solution it is the capsule itself that creates the route that the mixture water / product travels throughout the extraction, avoiding the deposition of product remains in the machine and increasing its lifetime.
• This solution has a major disadvantage compared to the previous one: the manufacturing cost of the capsule increases significantly.
• the configuration of the capsule, that determines the route that the water / product travels along it serves only for a given powder preparation, so that, in case of placing a different product in the capsule, one has to develop a capsule with a different configuration.
• the present capsule has a lid (6) that in the preferred embodiment is mechanically pierced by the machine, allowing the water to enter inside the capsule.
• the water will initially contact the powder preparation, traversing posteriorly the composite film (3) and being forced out through the face opposite do the lid (6).
• the machine does not have any mechanical action on the lid (6), it is designed in a way that when subjected to a predetermined hydraulic pressure the lid (6) bursts in a controlled way, allowing the water to enter also in the capsule.
• the capsule is sealed in one of its faces with the lid (6), while on the other side it is sealed with a composite film (3) consisting in aluminium foil (3a) and a plastic film (3b).
• this film has a dual function: it ensures that the air does not contact with the product placed inside the capsule, and at the same time defines the route that the water / product should travel when preparing the extraction of the beverage.
• the plurality of product extraction channels which in the state of the art only exist either on the machine or within the capsule itself, with a fixed and specific configuration of these channels, are engraved through an indentation directly on the film (3), with the predefined shape, dimensions and directions depending on the desired result, forming a pattern (4a to 4f) also chosen taking into account the type of capsule content or the machine in which it will be used.
• the pre-indentation of the film is achieved through a process of laser engraving, allowing the thickness of the film (3) to be reduced to the desired dimension along the various elements of the chosen pattern, so that, when submitted to the water pressure, it can only burst through the intended spots and form the product flow channels having the desired dimensions, shapes and directions.
• This laser engraving is made exclusively on the plastic face (3b) of the film, not damaging in any way the aluminium foil (3a) that thus maintains its integrity throughout the engraving process, ensuring the complete tightness of the capsule.
• this capsule After its placement in the beverage extraction machine, the capsule is submitted to water pressure until the pressure inside the capsule bursts the film (3). This burst does not cause random destruction of the film. Rather, due to the pre-indentation made on the film (3), as the capsule is being subjected to an increasing water pressure, this film will break initially where the surface was mostly worn, and then along the entire pattern. This stepwise and progressively opening increases the product contact time with water inside the capsule and allows the water to sort at high speed, leading to the formation of foam and density of the desired beverage.
• This engraving process besides being much more economical than the manufacture of capsules with traditional dies, allows different patterns to be produced quite easily (Fig. 4), thus enabling the manufacture of capsules appropriated for the product contained therein (from different batches of coffee, barley type mixtures, powdered chocolate, powdered milk, etc.) and the attainment of results with regard to the characteristics and appearance of each type of beverage type in particular.
• the film (3) also works as a filter, the result of which is achieved due to the small size of the channels engraved on it.
• a film serving as filter (5) inside the capsule, the parts of the capsule being limited to the housing (2) and to the film, as can be seen in Figure 6.
• the engraving process developed for the pre-indentation of the composite film of plastic and aluminium consists in the wear of the film plastic face in a preferential range of 25% to 75% of the thickness thereof corresponding to the cutting depth of the plastic film between 0.015 and 0.045 microns.
• the pattern printed on the film is the result of a detailed study concerning the coffee powder mixture that will be used in the capsule or other preparation (soluble or not) to be used.
• Figure 4 shows some examples of different patterns depending on the type of preparation used in the capsule or on the desired results for the drink. These patterns, resulting from the pre-indentation of the composite film (3) are not only different in their geometrical shape and dimensions, but can also have different marking thicknesses of the plastic film (3b).

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Apparatus For Making Beverages (AREA)
• Tea And Coffee (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=52434924

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (5)

Families Citing this family (7)

Family Cites Families (5)

• 2015
  • 2015-01-21 LU LU92637A patent/LU92637B1/fr active
• 2016
  • 2016-01-20 WO PCT/EP2016/051151 patent/WO2016116515A1/en not_active Ceased
  • 2016-01-20 BR BR112017015683-0A patent/BR112017015683B1/pt not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2016-01-20 US US15/545,207 patent/US20180002104A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2016-01-20 EP EP16701139.4A patent/EP3247644A1/de not_active Ceased

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