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
  • B65D85/8055—Means for influencing the liquid flow inside the package

Definitions

• the present invention relates generally to preparing ready- to-drink beverages that have the potential of treating or preventing diseases or enhancing the health of a human.
• the invention discloses a multi ⁇ compartment capsule that is capable of extracting active ingredients using high pressure in one compartment and mix that extract with the ingredients of the downstream
• Herbs have been used in tea bag formats for decades now with claims to improve well-being of consumers. Many customers would select herbs over drugs since they are natural ingredients that usually have no side effects.
• the making of a drink from herbs requires tea bags and some time for preparation of the drink.
• the herbs in the tea bags are usually dried and preprocessed, which reduces the potential of enhancing the health of the consumer.
• the tea bag is stored for some time before preparing the drink the taste and health enhancing quality of the herbs degrade as well.
• WO 2009092629 Al a sterilizing grade membrane having a 0.2pm rated pore size and made of polyethersulphone, cellulose acetate or polyamide is used to retain the possible bacteria that are present in the beverage. They also mention that it may be problematic to filter some infant formulas since they contain probiotics; i.e. good bacteria that helps digestion.
• WO 2008117329 Al describes a capsule with a perfectly flat top, containing a filter paper at the entrance of the capsule in order to create a homogeneous flow path into the capsule.
• WO 2010128031 Al teaches away from such a concept since such a large filter surface at the entrance of the capsule requires a thick and rigid plastic support
• a liquid e.g. water
• the solution comprising the liquid and the active ingredients must be ejected from the capsule.
• the present invention addresses, among other things, a novel membrane based capsule design that includes a valve system for ready to drink beverages.
• the invention relates to a high pressure
• extraction capsule for single beverage preparation with a porous hydrophobic membrane that acts as a barrier to fluid flow up to a certain pressure and exceeding said pressure allows for extracting the fluid with active ingredients but still acts as a barrier to particles, particularly ground herbs or roots, wherein the pore size of the membrane is bigger than 0.45pm and wherein the hydrophobic membrane is arranged to have a surface tension of less than 40
• dynes/cm i.e. less than 40 mN/m.
• Water intrusion pressure for a membrane is a function of its surface tension and it pore size. Increasing amounts of superhydrophobic chemistry and decreasing the pore size will increase the water intrusion pressure. Therefore, by arranging the membrane to have superhydrophobic
• the membrane provides for filtration of the ground herbs and roots, which is already known from prior art.
• the membrane provides for retention of bacteria that can potentially be introduced into the drink via the herbs or roots or by the liquid that is used for fabrication of the beverage.
• the membrane provides resistance to the liquid flow, i.e. water flow, and allows for building up a predetermined pressure to facilitate high pressure
• a suitable membrane can be capable of withstanding high pressures, e.g. like more than 100 psi, i.e. more than approx. 690 kPa or 6.9 bar.
• the water resistance pressure can be predetermined to a given value in the range between e.g. 15 psi and more than 100 psi, preferably between 50 psi and 75 psi (i.e. between approx. 130 kPa / 1.3 bar and more than 690 kPa / 6.9 bar, preferably between approx.
• the membrane then acts like a valve and prevents water from crossing the membrane if the pressure is less than the predetermined water resistance pressure.
• the water that has been injected into the capsule will remain within the capsule and extract the active ingredients from the ground herbs and roots, resulting in a solution of active ingredients in water.
• the membrane becomes permeable for the solution and allows for discharging the solution from the capsule.
• the hydrophobic membrane enables a user friendly and clean capsule disposal step upon beverage preparation for the end user, i.e. non-drip capsule.
• the preferred way of increasing water intrusion pressure is manipulating the surface energy i.e. the surface tension of the membrane.
• the hydrophobic membrane is arranged to have a surface tension of less than 35 dynes/cm, more preferably approx. 30 dynes/cm.
• a superhydrophobic membrane can have a large pore size but still act as a valve, i.e. at the same time have a large water resistance pressure.
• the membrane opens and has a high permeability, resulting in a large flow of solution through the membrane and correspondingly short discharge times for emptying the compartment .
• the hydrophobic membrane can be arranged to have a surface tension of less than 25 dynes/cm or even less than 20 dynes/cm.
• the pore size of the hydrophobic membrane ranges from 0.45pm to 10pm, preferably from 0.45pm to 5pm. Pore sizes below 0.45pm reduce the permeability and result in undesired long discharge times. However, pore sizes above 5pm or 10pm will no longer effectively filter the most common bacteria that should not remain in or be added into the beverage.
• a particular capsule according to the invention comprises an inlet port, a compartment for holding a substance with active ingredients like, e.g. ground herbs or roots, an outlet port and a hydrophobic membrane that separates the compartment from the outlet port.
• active ingredients like, e.g. ground herbs or roots
• an outlet port and a hydrophobic membrane that separates the compartment from the outlet port.
• the characteristics of the hydrophobic membrane control the required pressure and the retention period of the liquid within the compartment and therefore the maximum uptake duration for transferring the active ingredients of the ground herbs into the
• a nonwoven backing can be used.
• membranes with a high water resistance pressure it is advantageous to combine the membrane with a supporting nonwoven that adds to the strength of the membrane.
• the hydrophobic membrane is supported by a support means of the capsule.
• Said support means may comprise a web-like support structure or radially inward extending protrusions mounted at side walls of the compartment that extend over the area that is covered by the hydrophobic membrane.
• Such support means can possess sufficient resisting power to hold the membrane in place and to prevent any damage to the membrane that might be incurred by excess pressure or a high liquid throughput .
• the capsule comprises a first compartment and a second compartment, wherein the inlet port opens into the first compartment and the second compartment opens out into the outlet port, wherein a first membrane separates the second compartment from the outlet port, wherein the first compartment is separated from the second compartment by means of a second membrane, and wherein, preferably but not necessarily, the second membrane has a higher water resistance pressure than the first membrane.
• a first ingredient that requires high pressure for extracting the active ingredients into solution can be placed in the first compartment and a second ingredient with active ingredients that are best dissolved at lower pressure is placed in the second
• the position of the ingredients can also be swapped.
• a fluid like e.g. water
• the water is filled into the capsule. At low pressure the water cannot penetrate the second high pressure membrane and remains in the first compartment. The water extracts the active ingredients that are positioned in the first
• predetermined water resistance pressure of the second membrane e.g. 5 bar.
• the second compartment there are substances with active ingredients that efficiently dissolve at a lower pressure, e.g. 0.1 bar.
• the first membrane that is positioned between the second compartment and the outlet port has a water resistance pressure of e.g. 0.1 bar that is much lower than the water resistance pressure of the second membrane.
• the solution that permeated from the first compartment only stays for a short duration of time in the second
• the first membrane may be hydrophilic, as it is not necessary for the first membrane to withstand a high pressure of the solution that comes from the first
• the pore size of the first membrane can be tailored in order to allow for efficient filtration of the solution before leaving the capsule.
• the capsule may consist of three or more compartments that are separated from each other by means of membranes.
• a flow distributing member is arranged between two adjacent compartments. The flow distributing member enhances turbulences of the water flow through the compartments and supports dissolution of the active ingredients as well as better mixing of the solution within the compartments.
• the flow distributing member can be a membrane.
• the pore size and structure of the membrane can be arranged to enhance flow distributing effects of the membrane.
• Figure 1 schematically depicts a cross sectional view of capsule with one compartment, wherein an outlet port is covered by a first porous hydrophobic membrane
• Figure 2 shows a schematic graph representation of the resulting water resistance pressure as a function of the amount of additional crosslinker used for modification of the membrane surface
• Figure 3 schematically depicts a cross sectional view of a capsule with two compartments separated by a second porous hydrophobic membrane
• Figure 4 depicts a partial sectional view of the capsule that is shown in figure 3
• Figure 5 depicts a partial sectional view of the capsule from a different point of view
• Figure 6 depicts an exploded view of the capsule that is shown in figures 3 to 5, and
• Figure 7 depicts the capsule with a closing lid
• filter medium refers to a material, or collection of material, through which a fluid carrying active ingredients for a ready to drink beverage and/or a microorganism contaminant passes, wherein microorganism is deposited in or on the material or collection of material.
• flux and “flow rate” are used interchangeably to refer to the rate at which a volume of fluid passes through a filtration medium of a given area.
• capsule refers to any container that is capable of holding solids that can be exposed to a fluid flow.
• a capsule comprises a compartment with an inlet port and an outlet port.
• a membrane is arranged to act as a barrier between a section within the compartment that holds the substances with active ingredients and the outlet port.
• the membranes are prepared from a broad range of polymers and polymer compounds, including thermoplastic and
• thermosetting polymers include, but are not limited to, nylon, polyimide, aliphatic polyamide, aromatic polyamide, polysulfone, cellulose, cellulose acetate, polyether sulfone, polyurethane, poly (urea
• PAN polyacrylonitrile
• poly (ethylene terephthalate) polypropylene
• polyaniline polyaniline
• poly (ethylene oxide) polyacrylonitrile
• polystyrene polystyrene (ethylene naphthalate) , poly (butylene terephthalate), styrene butadiene rubber, polystyrene, poly (vinyl
• Porous film membranes are produced from a variety of thermoplastic polymers, including polyamides, polysulfones , polyvinylidene fluoride, polytetrafluoroethylene,
• Methods of producing porous film membranes include solution phase inversion, temperature-induced phase separation
• TIPS vapor-induced phase separation
• VIPS solvent and chemical etching
• room temperature and heat-assisted biaxial stretching and combinations thereof.
• Figure 1 schematically depicts one embodiment of the present invention wherein a capsule 1 comprises an inlet port 2 into a compartment 3 within the capsule and an outlet port 4.
• a high pressure membrane 5 is attached to a bottom 6 of the compartment 3 and covers the outlet port 4, thereby separating the compartment 3 from the outlet port 4.
• ingredients 7 like, e.g. ground herbs and roots.
• a fluid e.g. water
• the fluid can be injected through the inlet port 2 into the compartment 3. If the fluid is injected with a pressure that is below a predetermined fluid or water resistance pressure of the membrane 5, the fluid cannot exit the compartment 3 and remains within the compartment 3. During this time, the fluid dissolves the solvable active ingredients of the ingredients 7 like e.g. ground herbs and roots and becomes a solution that contains the already solved active ingredients.
• the membrane 5 becomes permeable and the solution is ejected from the compartment 3 through the membrane 5 and the outlet port 4.
• Figure 2 shows the resulting water resistance pressure of a polyethersulfone membrane 5 after surface modification with a 4% hydrophobic Zonyl monomer as a function of the amount of crosslinker used, e.g. hexanedioldiacrylate .
• FIG 2 displays that by surface modification the water intrusion pressure of a cast polyethersulfone (PES)
• membrane can be easily varied from 15 psi to 75 psi, without changing its pore size rating.
• the resulting water resistance pressure was determined according to the pressure gauge reading in an apparatus were water is delivered from a pressurized tank into a 47mm stainless steel membrane holder. Pressurized water is applied upstream of the membrane and downstream side is monitored for any water flow. The pressure at which water starts to flow downstream of the membrane is recorded as the water intrusion pressure.
• Flux is the rate at which fluid passes through the sample of a given area and was measured by passing deionized water through filter medium samples having a diameter of 47mm (9.6cm 2 filtration area) .
• the water was forced through the samples using about 25 in Hg vacuum on the filtrate end via a side arm flask.
• Bubble point test provides a convenient way to measure effective pore size. Bubble point is calculated from the following equation:
• CWST critical wetting surface tension
• CWST test solutions are prepared by mixing water and isopropylalcohol in various ratios to achieve surface tensions of 21 - 72 dynes/cm, and by mixing water and sodium chloride in various ratios to achieve surface tensions of 73 - 100 dynes/cm.
• FIGS 3 to 7 there is shown a capsule 1 with a first compartment 3, a second compartment 8 and a third
• a first membrane 9 separates the second compartment 8 from the third compartment 16 and the outlet port 4.
• the first compartment 3 is separated from the second compartment 8 by means of a second membrane 10.
• Both compartments 3 and 8 contain ingredients 7 with solvable active ingredients that will be solved by the fluid that streams through the compartments 3 and 8. For some applications it might be advantageous to insert additional ingredients 7 also into the third compartment 16.
• the second membrane 10 has a higher water resistance pressure than the first membrane 9. According to the embodiment shown in figures 3 and 4, the second membrane 10 has a water resistance pressure of 5 bar, whereas the first membrane 9 has a water resistance pressure of 0.1 bar.
• the first compartment 3 contains ingredients 7 with active ingredients that require long exposure time or high fluid pressure for effective dissolution.
• the second compartment 8 there are ingredients 7 with active ingredients that easily dissolve at low pressure or short exposure times.
• the first compartment 3 may contain ground herbs and roots with active ingredients that are difficult to dissolve, and the second compartment 8 may contain other ground herbs or roots that are easily dissolved.
• the first compartment 3 may contain ground herbs and roots with active ingredients that are difficult to dissolve, and the second compartment 8 may contain other ground herbs or roots that are easily dissolved. According to another example the first
• compartment 3 may contain ground coffee, whereas the second compartment 8 contains milk powder. According to yet another example the first compartment 3, the second
• compartment 8 and the third compartment 16 may contain three different ingredients for a dietary supplement drink.
• the second membrane 10 is supported by a support disc 11 with many openings 12 that result in a web-like
• the first membrane 9 may be supported by radially inward extending protrusions 13 that are arranged in order to provide for a flat mounting support for the membrane 9.
• a housing 14 as well as the first membrane 9 and the second membrane 10 are
• the water resistance pressure of the first membrane 9 differs from the water resistance pressure of the second membrane 10 in a manner that the water
• resistance pressure of the second membrane 10 is significantly higher than the water resistance pressure of the first membrane 9.
• the first membrane 9 is introduced into the housing 14 and mounted above the radially projecting protrusions 13.
• the also prefabricated support disc 11 is mounted in the housing 14 of the capsule 1 at a distance to the first membrane 9.
• the second membrane 10 is mounted on top of the support disc 11.
• the second membrane 10 is at a distance to the first membrane 9 as well as at a distance to the inlet port 3 of the capsule 1.
• the first membrane 9 then separates the housing 14 of the capsule 1 into the third compartment 16 and the remaining first and second compartment 3 and 8, whereas the second membrane 10
• the capsule 1 can be sealed with a closing lid 15 that is only shown in figure 7.
• the closing lid 15 may be either rigid or flexible and can be made of any suitable material.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Apparatus For Making Beverages (AREA)
• Separation Using Semi-Permeable Membranes (AREA)
• Medicines Containing Plant Substances (AREA)
• Packages (AREA)
• Packaging Of Annular Or Rod-Shaped Articles, Wearing Apparel, Cassettes, Or The Like (AREA)
• Medicinal Preparation (AREA)

Priority Applications (9)

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Publications (1)

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Family Applications (1)

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Citations (8)

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• 2014
  • 2014-07-30 AU AU2014308077A patent/AU2014308077B2/en not_active Ceased
  • 2014-07-30 JP JP2016533875A patent/JP2016538203A/ja active Pending
  • 2014-07-30 WO PCT/EP2014/066415 patent/WO2015022191A1/en not_active Ceased
  • 2014-07-30 CN CN201480045015.8A patent/CN105452130B/zh not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2014-07-30 EP EP14755035.4A patent/EP3033283B1/en not_active Not-in-force
  • 2014-07-30 CA CA2921266A patent/CA2921266A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2014-07-30 BR BR112016002395A patent/BR112016002395A2/pt active Search and Examination
  • 2014-07-30 PT PT14755035T patent/PT3033283T/pt unknown
  • 2014-07-30 US US14/912,350 patent/US20160185519A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2014-07-30 RU RU2016108825A patent/RU2660289C2/ru not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2014-07-30 PL PL14755035T patent/PL3033283T3/pl unknown

Patent Citations (8)

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