WO2010076927A1

WO2010076927A1 - Heat-blowing type coffee roaster

Info

Publication number: WO2010076927A1
Application number: PCT/KR2009/002609
Authority: WO
Inventors: Hyunsuk Lee
Original assignee: Hyunsuk Lee
Priority date: 2009-01-02
Filing date: 2009-05-18
Publication date: 2010-07-08
Also published as: KR100907684B1; CN102271563A; CN102271563B

Abstract

A convection coffee roaster is provided comprising a main body; a roasting unit having at its upper space a roasting vessel, a hopper, a first air blower, a first transfer pipe for connecting the roasting vessel and the first air blower, and a heater installed in line with the first transfer pipe; and a cooling unit having at its lower space a cooling vessel, a second air blower, a second transfer pipe for connecting the cooling vessel and the second air blower, a connecting pipe for connecting the roasting vessel and the cooling vessel, and a first solenoid valve installed in the connecting pipe. The convection coffee roaster applies the hot air streams and far infrared rays to quickly and evenly roast beans. The roaster carries out roasting and cooling processes simultaneously to shorten the roasting operation.

Description

HEAT-BLOWING TYPE COFFEE ROASTER

The present invention relates to a heat-blowing type coffee roaster. More particularly, the present invention relates to a convection coffee roaster that supplies hot air stream and far infrared ray to roast coffee beans rapidly and evenly. In addition, the present convection coffee roaster can proceed roasting and cooling at the same time in order to enhance the coffee flavor and aroma.

Coffee roasters may be generally categorized into a rotating chamber roaster equipped with a heater while roasting coffee beans and a stationary chamber roaster with a heater and internally mounted mixing vanes.

Korean Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 1994-23367 discloses a coffee maker using mixing vanes to roast coffee beans.

Quoting from the publication, the coffee maker has a roaster 20 for roasting the coffee beans, a blower 30 mounted at a lower side of the roaster 20 for blowing air to cool the roasted beans, and an extractor 40 that is mounted at the opposite lower side of the roaster 20 and doubles as a mill to grind the roasted beans to extract coffee. The roaster 20 has a body 21, which is provided with a top heater 22 and internal mixing vanes 23.

Thus, this known coffee maker uses the mixing vanes 23 to agitate the coffee beans and roast the beans through indirect heating with the heater 22.

However, in such an indirect heating of the coffee beans, roasting time becomes prolonged resulting in lost coffee aroma and thus a reduced origin flavor.

Also, the mixing vanes 23 limit the operating efficiency of agitating occasional heavy loads of coffee beans because the mixing vanes must rotate through the beans.

Moreover, the processes of bean roasting and cooling are deployed in sequence only in the body 21 of the roaster 20 causing an extended time to cool the beans and a reduced cooling efficiency.

The present disclosure is provided to solve the above described problems.

An embodiment of the present disclosure provides a convection coffee roaster that applies hot air stream and far infrared ray to roast coffee beans rapidly and evenly.

Another embodiment of the present disclosure provides a convection coffee roaster that proceeds the coffee roasting and cooling simultaneously to shorten the time for the roasting operation.

Yet another embodiment of the present disclosure provides a convection coffee roaster that isolates the coffee beans introduced into a roasting means from a radiant heat from a heater.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a convection coffee roaster comprises a main body; a roasting unit for roasting coffee beans, the roasting unit having at its upper space a roasting vessel, a hopper positioned above the roasting vessel to receive an input of coffee beans, a first air blower for inhaling atmospheric air and blow the same to the roasting vessel, a first transfer pipe for connecting the roasting vessel and the first air blower, and a heater installed in line with the first transfer pipe; and a cooling unit for cooling the coffee beans roasted through the roasting unit, the cooling unit having at its lower space a cooling vessel, a second air blower for inhaling atmospheric air and blow the same to the cooling vessel, a second transfer pipe for connecting the cooling vessel and the second air blower, a connecting pipe for connecting the roasting vessel and the cooling vessel, and a first solenoid valve installed in the connecting pipe.

The convection coffee roaster of the present disclosure may provide heat with hot air streams and far infrared rays to roast coffee beans rapidly and evenly. In addition, a unit for roasting coffee beans is arranged independently of a unit for cooling the roasted beans so that the bean roasting and cooling processes may be simultaneously carried out to shorten the operational time. Moreover, the bean roasting unit is arranged isolated from the heater, whereby the coffee beans are not affected by radiant heat from the heater enhancing the natural coffee flavor and aroma.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a convection coffee roaster according to the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view of a convection coffee roaster of FIG. 1; and

FIGS. 3-5 illustrate the coffee bean roasting and cooling processes using the convection coffee roster of the present disclosure.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. It is to be noted that the same elements are indicated with the same reference numerals throughout the drawings. In the following description, a detailed description of known configurations or functions incorporated herein will be omitted when it may make the subject matter of the disclosure rather unclear.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a convection coffee roaster according to the present disclosure and FIG. 2 shows the roaster in a schematic cross sectional view.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, heat-blowing type or convection coffee roaster 100 has a main body 110, a roasting unit 120 for roasting coffee beans and a cooling unit 140 for cooling the roasted beans from the cooling unit 140.

The main body 110 defines the exterior of convection coffee roaster 100 and is generally formed into a rectangular parallelepiped. The interior of body 110 is comprised of an upper space 112 exposed to atmosphere and a closed lower space 114. Installed in the upper space 112 are roasting unit 120 and cooling unit 140 while lower space 114 has first and

second blowers

132, 152 and a heater 136 installed as will be described below.

Upper space 112 of body 110 is exposed so that a barista or customers may observe the coffee making progress. Meanwhile, lower space 114 is closed to reduce noises generated from first and

second blowers

132, 152 and heater 136.

In addition, roasting unit 120 is installed in the upper space 112 away from heater 136 in lower space 114 in order to prevent any radiant heat produced by heater 136 from affecting the coffee beans introduced into roasting unit 120. This enhances the coffee aroma and flavor.

The described roasting unit 120 includes a cylindrical roasting vessel 122, which is provided in upper space 112. In the vessel 122, there are provided a hopper 124 for pouring in the coffee beans, an exhaust pipe 126 to expel heat, gases and debris produced during the bean roasting operation.

In addition, roasting vessel 122 has at its lower portion a connection pipe 162 for connecting to a cooling vessel 142, which will be described below. On the connection pipe 162, a first solenoid valve 172 is installed. A hot air duct 128 is provided about connection pipe 162. Also provided is a vent net 129 between roasting vessel 122 and hot air duct 128.

In the lower space 114 of body 110, first air blower 132 is installed to draw atmospheric air and blow it to roasting vessel 122. The first air blower 132 is connected to roasting vessel 122 by a first transfer pipe 134, which has a heater 136 installed in line.

Cooling unit 140 that is adapted to cool the roasted beans in roasting unit 120 includes cooling vessel 142, which is connected to roasting vessel 122 via connection pipe 162. On top of cooling vessel 142 is provided a heat duct 144 for relieving the hot air after its heat exchange with the coffee beans. To discharge cooled coffee beans, an outlet pipe 164 is provided at the bottom of cooling vessel 142. On outlet pipe 164, a second solenoid valve 174 is installed. About outlet pipe 164 a cool air duct 146 is provided and also placed between cooling vessel 142 and cool air duct 146 is a vent net 148.

In the lower space 114 of body 110, second air blower 152 is installed to draw atmospheric air and blow it to cooling vessel 142, to which second air blower 152 is connected via a second transfer pipe 154.

On the other hand, the cooling vessel 142, more specifically heat duct 144 has at its lateral side one end of a third transfer pipe 156 connected thereto. The other end of third transfer pipe 156 is connected to first air blower 132. This serves the purpose of reclaiming the hot air discharge from heat duct 144, i.e. the hot air after its heat exchange with the coffee beans. By circulating this hot air into the first air blower 132, the thermal efficiency will be substantially improved.

Further, numeral 180 in FIGS. 1 and 2 denotes an exhaust unit, which is connected to exhaust pipe 126 in order to exhaust the heat, gas and debris produced during the coffee bean roasting operation to the atmosphere.

The roasting vessel 122 and cooling vessel 142 of convection coffee roaster 100 as structured above are preferably made of transparent material, e.g. glass so that the barista or customers can observe the coffee roasting progress. In particular, a main body 122b of roasting vessel 122 is preferably made of a transparent material radiating far infrared rays such as glass-mica. Moreover, it is preferable to apply far infrared radiant material, for example mica powder onto the interior surface of a cover 122a, which closes the body 122b of roasting vessel 122 and has hopper 124 and exhaust pipe 126 connected thereto. The same material may be also coated over a damper 122c positioned movably vertically along with first solenoid valve 172 at a lower part of roasting vessel 122 and inside thereof. Such coating of mica powder may be prepared by blending Teflon solution and mica powder in 8:3 by weight to spray the blend on cover 122a and damper 122c respectively with an additional overcoat of mica powder followed by sintering them at 300 ~ 400℃ for about 12 hours.

As shown in FIG. 3, green coffee beans may be first introduced into hopper 124 and transferred to roasting vessel 122 where high temperature air streams and far infrared rays together roast the beans. Here, the hot air streams are generated by heater 136 for heating to a predetermined temperature the exterior air pulled in through first air blower 132. The hot stream is then supplied by first transfer pipe 134 to roasting vessel 122. The thus supplied hot streams encircle and circulate inside roasting vessel 122 to roast the coffee beans evenly within a non-scorching temperature before being exhausted through exhaust pipe 126 and exhaust unit 180.

As the hot air stream is applied, far infrared rays radiate from vessel body 122b of glass-mica, cover 122a and damper 122c that are coated with mica and others. As a result, the hot air stream coupled with far infrared rays permits a quick transfer of heat in and outwards of the respective coffee beans resulting in an even roasting throughout the beans as well as a shortened roasting operation.

Attaining the targeted degree of roast, the beans may be transferred at an opening of first solenoid valve 172 from roasting vessel 122 thru connection tube 162 to cooling vessel 142, as shown in FIG. 4. There, the beans may be cooled down to a predetermined temperature by a cold air supplied thru second transfer pipe 154.

Then, at a certain cooled temperature of the beans, second solenoid valve 174 is opened to discharge the beans out through outlet pipe 164 as shown in FIG.5. At the end of outlet pipe 164, it is possible to install a means for grinding the cooled coffee beans.

Meanwhile, from cooling vessel 142 the formerly cold air stream that has become hot air after its heat exchange with the coffee beans is supplied through third transfer pipe 156 to first air blower 132. This serves the purpose of reclaiming the heat exchange with the beans in order to improve the thermal efficiency as stated above.

The convection coffee roaster 100 structured and operating as above according to the present disclosure is provided with the cooling unit 140 at a separate location. This allows the bean roasting and cooling processes carried out simultaneously, i.e. a batch of roasted beans may enter the cooling stage as the next batch comes into roasting. Therefore, compared to conventional systems where the roasting and cooling processes occur in the same place the presently disclosed convection coffee roaster 100 can shorten the processing time to roast and cool significantly.

In addition, the hot air streams and far infrared rays are used to roast the coffee beans, which may then be optimally roasted in roasting vessel 122 in a fair blending and an even quality save an excess roasting. An added advantage is to shorten the time to roast the beans. As is well known, coffee aroma is highly volatile and an extended roasting duration will cause major loss of the desired aroma and fail to produce aromatically desirable coffee. Besides, an unevenly roasted bean throughout its depth will not cause a flavorful brewed coffee. Especially, bitter tastes of coffee are caused by an excess roasting with a concentrated heating externally of the beans while they fail to get roasted evenly in depth. Accordingly, the technology of roasting coffee beans is centered on how to roast quickly and evenly. Therefore, the presently disclosed roasting of beans with hot air and far infrared rays solves the problem of having beans roasted in and outsides consistently in a shortened duration, thereby creating fully aromatic coffee beans that take less energy in the processing. For example, while conventional systems require 15 to 20 minutes to roast beans, convection coffee roaster 100 of the present disclosure using the hot air and far infrared rays only takes 4 to 6 minutes to finish roasting beans with a quality aroma acquired.

Moreover, the air blowing method is also applied to the bean cooling process, thereby reducing the time to complete the cooling. In other words, blowing the cooling air into cooling vessel 142 from thereunder helps levitate the coffee beans with distances among others to improve the cooling efficiency.

Herein, the first and

second solenoid valves

172, 174 may be opened and closed by a controller (not shown). In this way, the durations of roasting and cooling the coffee beans may be determined by using the controller.

Although exemplary construction and operation of the convection coffee roaster according to the preferred embodiments have been described for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the essential characteristics of the invention. Therefore, the embodiments disclosed in the present invention have been described not for limiting the technical idea of the invention, but for describing the invention. Accordingly, the scope of the invention is not to be limited by the above embodiments but by the appended claims and the equivalents thereof.

As described, with a controller for the roasting and cooling durations the convection coffee roaster can provide controlled varieties of flavors and aromas of coffee.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This non-provisional application claims priorities under 35 U.S.C §119(a) on Patent Application No. 10-2009-0000156 filed in Korea on January 2, 2009, and Patent Application No. 10-2009-0034434 filed in Korea on April 21, 2009 the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference. In addition, this non-provisional application claims priorities in countries, other than U.S., with the same reason based on the Korean Patent Applications, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

Claims

A convection coffee roaster comprising:

a main body;

a roasting unit for roasting coffee beans, the roasting unit having at its upper space a roasting vessel, a hopper positioned above the roasting vessel to receive an input of coffee beans, a first air blower for inhaling atmospheric air and blow the same to the roasting vessel, a first transfer pipe for connecting the roasting vessel and the first air blower, and a heater installed in line with the first transfer pipe; and

a cooling unit for cooling the coffee beans roasted through the roasting unit, the cooling unit having at its lower space a cooling vessel, a second air blower for inhaling atmospheric air and blow the same to the cooling vessel, a second transfer pipe for connecting the cooling vessel and the second air blower, a connecting pipe for connecting the roasting vessel and the cooling vessel, and a first solenoid valve installed in the connecting pipe.
The convection coffee roaster in claim 1, wherein the cooling vessel has at its lower side an outlet pipe, which is equipped with a second solenoid valve.
The convection coffee roaster in claim 2 further comprising a controller for controlling operations of the first and second solenoid valves.
The convection coffee roaster in claim 1 further comprising a third transfer pipe for connecting the first air blower and the cooling vessel.
The convection coffee roaster in claim 1, wherein the roasting vessel has at its upper side an exhaust pipe, to which an exhaust unit is connected.
The convection coffee roaster in claim 1, wherein the roasting vessel and the cooling vessel are made of transparent material.
The convection coffee roaster in claim 1, wherein the roasting vessel has a main body containing a far infrared radiant material, and

further comprising a cover for closing the main body of the roasting vessel and having the hopper and the exhaust pipe connected thereto, and a damper positioned movably vertically along with the first solenoid valve at a lower part of the roasting vessel and inside thereof, and wherein the cover and damper are provided with coatings of the far infrared radiant material.
The convection coffee roaster in claim 7, wherein the far infrared radiant material is mica.
The convection coffee roaster in claim 8, wherein the coatings of mica are performed by blending Teflon solution and mica powder in 8:3 by weight to spray the blend on the cover and damper respectively with an additional overcoat of mica powder followed by sintering them at 300 ~ 400℃ for about 12 hours.