WO2006018860A1

WO2006018860A1 - Filter for making infusions and the like, and device for the use thereof

Info

Publication number: WO2006018860A1
Application number: PCT/IT2004/000465
Authority: WO
Inventors: Rolando Degasperi
Original assignee: Gilli, Walter; Odorizzi, Tiziano
Priority date: 2004-08-20
Filing date: 2004-08-20
Publication date: 2006-02-23

Abstract

A filter (2) for making infusions or similar beverages, apt to be used in a ‘Moka’ coffee maker, comprising a boiler (1) for water and infusion material, a container (3) for the made beverage, is characterized in that it comprises an elongate tubular element (21), a filtering element (22) located near a first end of the tubular element (21), connection means (27) at a second end of said tubular element (21) such that the filter (2), under operating conditions, is located near the bottom of the boiler (1) and the connection means (27) is apt to support the filter (2), in a manner such that the tubular element (21) be in communication with said container (3).

Description

FILTER FOR MAKING INFUSIONS AND THE LIKE, AND DEVICE FOR THE USE THEREOF

DESCRIPTION

The present invention relates to a filter for making infusions and to a device for making infusions comprising said filter.

For the household making of hot beverages there are a plurality of devices, differentiating depending on the beverage that is to be made.

Different infusion products, which may be in the form of leaves, or of powder (ground product), both of variable dimensions, require specific conditions for an optimal making, possibly entailing different kinds of filtering and of separation between fluid and infusion product.

E.g., for making coffee it is commonly used the device known as 'Moka' coffee maker, having a boiler, an element in which ground coffee is inserted, and a filter- equipped container, located above the boiler, into which the fluid, once heated up, is automatically decanted, transiting through the filter and thereby releasing the aroma of the coffee powder into the fluid.

The specific support used in the Moka coffee maker allows to house the coffee powder thereinside. During the heating of the water an entailed pressure increase takes place inside the boiler, allowing water to rise and flow through the section of the container in which the coffee is housed, until reaching the top container.

However, such a device exclusively allows the making from ground coffee.

Any other beverage requires the use of different devices, in general not merely using different components, but also exploiting different operation principles.

By way of example, the making of tea or of any other herbal infusion should use suitable boilers, and anyhow cannot take place inside such a Moka coffee maker.

In fact, should there be used leaves of infusion material inside the traditional container, the infusion material would not remain water-immersed long enough to allow the infusion to take place. Therefore, the making of said infusions should necessarily take place in suitable devices. Moreover, different devices are required not only for herbal infusions, but also for other fine-powder (finely ground) products, like barley, and also coffee itself. The latter, when it is to be made in the so-called 'American way', requires a suitable device, different from the abovedescribed Moka coffee maker.

Hence, the technical problem underlying the present invention is to provide a device for making different kinds of hot beverages, allowing to overcome the drawbacks mentioned hereto with reference to the known art. Such a problem is solved by a filter for making infusions according to claim 1.

The present invention provides several relevant advantages. The main advantage lies in that a plurality of beverages may be made with the use of a single device, regardless of the nature of the infusion material, be it in powder or in leaves.

Other advantages, features and the operation modes of the present invention will be made apparent in the following detailed description of some embodiments thereof, given by way of a non-limiting example. It will be made reference to the figures of the annexed drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is an exploded perspective view of a device for making infusions using a filter according to the present invention; Figures 2A and 2B are a perspective view and a side section view, respectively, of a filter for making infusions according to the present invention, a detail of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the device for making infusions containing a filter according to the present invention;

Figure 4 is a side section view illustrating the operation of the device for making infusions of Figure 1, using the filter of the present invention.

Figures 5A and 5B are side section views of two filters for making infusions according to two different embodiments.

Initially referring to Figure 1, a filter 2 for making infusions is used in conjunction with a device for making beverages comprising a boiler 1 , a container 3 in which the beverage is housed once the infusion has taken place, and, according to a preferred embodiment thereof, a gasket 4.

The boiler 1 is cup-shaped, and preferably it is substantially frustoconically shaped, in order to have a wider support base, base that will be in contact with a heat source.

The boiler 1 further comprises a safety valve 12, illustrated in Figure 3, in order to avoid excessive pressure inside the boiler 1.

At the top surface of the boiler 1 there is a thread 11 , apt to unite the boiler 1 to the container 3, which has a corresponding inner thread 31. The two threads 11, 31 form a threaded coupling that allows, by using the gasket 4 interposed between the boiler 1 and the container 3, to hold the seal inside the device according to the present invention.

The threaded coupling 11, 31 may be replaced by any other connection means, e.g. a bayonet system.

The container 3 further comprises a handle 33, a spout 34 for pouring the made beverage and a lid 35.

In particular, the container 3 has a base 32 at the center of which there is an elongate portion 36. In the latter, at a first end thereof, there is obtained a port that, referring to Figure 4, faces onto an elongate tubular duct (element) 21 and, at the opposite end thereof, a further port from which the fluid may exit toward the inner portion of the container 3.

Referring to Figures 2A and 2B, the filter 2 comprises the elongate tubular duct 21, a filtering element 22 located near a first end of the tubular duct 21, and connection means 27 located at a second end of the tubular duct 21.

The elongate tubular duct 21 extends substantially along the entire length of the boiler 1 , in a manner such that, under the operating conditions indicated in Figure 4, the end onto which the filtering element 22 is located be near the bottom of the boiler and the end connected to the connection means 27 be near the top surface of the boiler 1.

Referring to Figure 4, the elongate tubular duct 21 continues toward the elongate portion 36, so as to put in communication the boiler 1 and the container 3 therebetween.

According to a preferred embodiment, a plane filter 6 can be interposed between the boiler 1 and the container 3, in a manner such as to increase the filtering of the fluid when the latter is outletted from the elongate tubular duct 21 to get to the elongate portion 36.

The use of such a plane filter 6 is advised when it is desirable to make beverages deriving from infusions and solubilizations of powders that may escape the other filtering means of the device.

Referring now to Figure 4, by positioning the filtering element 22 near the bottom of the boiler 1 it is possible to bring to the container 3, in the manner described hereinafter, substantially all of the fluid present in the boiler 1. Moreover, the location of the connection means 27 near the top surface of the boiler 1 allows to exploit all the volume available thereinside and, ultimately, to make a greater quantity of beverage.

The filtering element 22 comprises a top foraminated surface 23 and a bottom foraminated surface 24, thereby defining a collection chamber 28 for the infusion fluid.

According to a preferred embodiment, the top foraminated surface 23 is shaped as a round ring, at the center of which it is inserted, with a tight coupling, said elongate tubular duct 21. The outside diameter of the top foraminated surface 23 is such as to allow the filtering element 22 to easily fit the inside of the boiler 1.

About the periphery of the top surface 23 there is a sidewall (side surface) 25, which in the present embodiment is void of foramina for the transit of fluid.

To the sidewall 25 it is secured, by an interference coupling, the bottom foraminated surface 24.

According to a preferred embodiment, the bottom foraminated surface 24 has a central zone 26 void of foramina for the transit of fluid, in a manner such that the end of the elongate tubular duct 21, to which the filtering element 22 is secured, is not directly exposed to the inflow of fluid from the boiler 1. Thus, the fluid, in order to get into the elongate tubular duct 21, is forced to follow the route inside the chamber 28, as indicated in Figure 4.

Moreover, the bottom foraminated surface 24 is positioned above the bottom end of the elongated tubular duct 21.

Thus, the tubular duct 24 may not collect the fluid directly from the boiler 1; the beverage shall necessarily transit through the chamber 28.

Hence, during the making of the beverage the fluid inside of the boiler 1 is never exhausted completely, thereby preventing, once the infusion has taken place and all the beverage has gotten to the container 3, the infusion material to remain in contact, charring, with the heat source in the absence of fluid. Moreover, as it is reported in Figure 2B, the sidewall 25 extends bottomwise toward the bottom of the boiler 1, beyond the bottom foraminated surface 24.

Thus, further referring to Figure 4, the sidewall 25 captures the leaves 5 of infusion material toward the bottom foraminated surface 24, holding them in such a position so as to improve the infusing thereof.

Alternatively, the sidewall may it also be foraminated and/or not extending below the foraminated surface 24. Thus, it is substantially defined a foraminated cage acting as filtering element 22. Filters according to the present invention having a differently shaped chamber 28 are reported in Figures 5A and 5B, respectively.

According to a preferred embodiment, the connection means 27 is a plate with a central hole, located at the elongate tubular duct 21. The plate 27 has a substantially conical shape, wherein the flare angle of the cone is preferably reduced. Such a conical shape of the plate 27 improves the connection between the elongate tubular duct 21 and the container 3.

The outside diameter of the plate 27 is slightly greater than that at the inlet to the boiler 1 and anyhow smaller than the diameter of the thread 11. In the operating configuration, illustrated in Figure 4, the plate 27 rests onto the side surface of the boiler 1 and the filtering element 22 is located near the bottom of said boiler 1, without resting thereon.

The external size of the plate 27 is such as to allow the closing of the container onto the boiler 1 by means of the threaded coupling 11, 31. Moreover, the base 32 of the container 3 is such that, referring again to Figure 4, upon reaching the end of stroke of the threaded coupling, the plate 27 is held in contact between the side surface of the boiler 1 and said base 32. During the tightening of the device for making infusions, above the plate 27 it is located the gasket 4 which, blocked by the tightening of the container 3 onto the boiler 1, holds the filter 2 in a stable position.

The operation of the filter for making infusions according to the present invention is illustrated in Figure 4.

Inside the boiler 1 there are inserted water and infusion material, which in the embodiment is in the form of leaves 5, in a quantity varying depending on the desired infusion to be made and strength of the beverage aroma. In particular, once inserted the filter 2 inside the boiler 1, the water level should be sufficiently lower with respect to the capacity of the boiler 1.

After having inserted the filter 2 inside the boiler 1, the plate 27 being rested onto the side surface of the boiler 1 , the container 3 is closed by means of the threaded coupling 11, 31.

By placing the device for making infusions on a heat source, the fluid thereinside heats up and, during the heating, the leaves, immersed in the water inside the boiler 1 , infuse, releasing aroma into the fluid.

Owing to the heating, the pressure inside the boiler 1 increases, until the fluid, nearing boiling temperature, tends to rise along the elongate tubular duct 21. However, the filtering element 22 separates the leaves 5 from the fluid phase, which gets, by transiting first through the elongate tubular duct 21 and then through the elongate portion 36, to the container 3.

In case the material for making the beverage is in the form of powder the use of the plane filter 6 is preferable, in order to prevent powder residues from getting to the container 3.

The temperature inside the boiler 1 holds constant during the outletting of the fluid into the container 3, as inside the former a phase equilibrium state is maintained.

Inside the boiler 1 the boiling of the fluid is attained exclusively during the final stage of the process, when the water and the remaining leaves 5 take up merely a minimal fraction of the volume available in the former. Thus, it is ensured a high quality of the final product, which would unavoidably be spoilt should the boiling occur during the infusing of the leaves 5.

The present invention has hereto been described with reference to preferred embodiments thereof. It is understood that other embodiments afferent to the same inventive kernel may exist, all falling within the protective scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A filter (2) for making infusions or similar beverages, apt to be used in a 'Moka' coffee maker, said coffee maker comprising: a boiler (1) for water and infusion material; - a container (3) for the made beverage; said filter (2) being characterized in that it comprises

- an elongate tubular duct (21);

- a filtering element (22) located near a first end of said tubular element; - connection means (27) at a second end of said tubular element (21); such that said filter (2), under operating conditions, is located near the bottom of said boiler (1) and said connection means (27) being apt to support said filter (2) in an operating condition, in a manner such that said tubular duct (21) be in communication with said container (3).

2. The filter (2) for making infusions or similar beverages according to the preceding claim, wherein said filtering element comprises a top foraminated surface (23), a bottom foraminated surface (24), and a side surface (25) void of foramina, such that said surfaces (23, 24, 25) define a chamber (28) for inletting fluid in said elongate tubular duct (21).

3. The filter (2) for making infusions or similar beverages according to claim 2 or 3, wherein said side surface (25) is provided with foramina for the transit of the fluid.

4. The filter (2) for making infusions or similar beverages according to claim 2 or 3, wherein said top foraminated surface (23) has a substantially conical shape.

5. The filter (2) for making infusions or similar beverages according to claim 2 or 3, wherein said side surface (25) extends bottom wise to said bottom foraminated surface (24).

6. The filter (2) for making infusions or similar beverages according to one or more of the preceding claims, such that said connection means is a plate (27).

7. The filter (2) for making infusions or similar beverages according to one or more of the preceding claims, wherein said filtering element (22) has a section with a diameter at least double with respect to said tubular duct (21).

8. A device for making infusions or similar beverages, comprising a boiler (1), a top container (3) and the filter (2) according to the preceding claims.

9. The device for making infusions or similar beverages according to the preceding claim, comprising an additional plane filter (6) interposed between said filter (2) and said top container (3).

10. The device for making infusions or similar beverages according to claims 7 or 8, wherein said tubular duct (21) has a length such that said filtering element (22) is located near the bottom of said boiler (1).