WO2016097778A1

WO2016097778A1 - Automatic infusion unit for making an aromatic drink

Info

Publication number: WO2016097778A1
Application number: PCT/IB2014/002841
Authority: WO
Inventors: Alessandro Ostuni
Original assignee: Alessandro Ostuni
Priority date: 2014-12-16
Filing date: 2014-12-16
Publication date: 2016-06-23
Also published as: CN106998938B; CN106998938A

Abstract

An automatic.infusion unit, (1) for producing an aromatic beverage, of the type comprising an infusion cylinder (2) and a piston (5) for closing said cylinder (2), which form a chamber (3) for housing a package (4) of a charge of aromatic essence, said piston (5) being operated by an automatic control device that comprises a control (400) for switching on a hydraulic pump (301) to enable reversible passage from a position for loading said package (4) to a dispensing position in which it engages with said cylinder (2).

Description

Automatic infusion unit for making an aromatic drink

Sector of the invention

The present inventron relates to an infusion unit for producing an aromatic beverage.

The infusion unit typically comprises an infusion cylinder having a chamber for housing a package containing a charge of aromatic essence and a piston for closing the chamber that is mobile between a position for loading the package and a dispensing position in which it engages with the cylinder, the piston being of the automatically driven type.

The aromatic essence may be of any type, for example ground coffee, barley, tea, etc.

Prior art

Automatically driven infusion units present on the market may be of the electrically driven type or of the hydraul ical ly driven type. In electrically driven units, the automatic movement of closing and opening is carried out with motor-driven systems. These units present the dual drawback of high cost and low reliability. In hydraulically driven units, a hydraulic driving piston is directly connected to the piston of the infusion unit and has a diameter that is comparable to, and generally greater than, the maximum diameter of the package of aromatic essence. The hydraulic piston then acts directly and axially on the piston of the infusion unit. The stroke of said hydraulic piston is the one necessary for moving the charge of aromatic essence from the loading position to the dispensing position and from the dispensing position to the unloading position. There follows a high cubic capacity of said hydraulic piston that requires a proportionally long filling time. This filling time results in a waiting time from when the dispensing step is activated to when the beverage is effectively dispensed.

Purpose of the invention

Consequently, the technical task of the present invention is to provide an infusion unit for producing an aromatic beverage that will enable elimination of the technical drawbacks presented by the prior art.

In the framework of this technical task, a purpose of the invention is to provide an automatically driven infusion unit for producing an aromatic beverage with shorter times for driving the infusion unit into the opening and closing conditions.

Another purpose of the invention is to provide an infusion unit for producing an aromatic beverage that is automatically driven by means of systems that guarantee a high intrinsic reliability and a contained production cost. Summary of the invention The technical task, as well as the above and other purposes, are achieved according to the present invention by providing an infusion unit- as specified Claim 1.

A first advantage lies in the fact that the infusion unit of the invention affords contained driving times and at the same time is economically advantageous to produce and reliable .

Furthermore, the infusion unit of the invention opens and closes automatically by itself, without any need for manual actuation using an external lever.

Other characteristics of the present invention are moreover defined in the subsequent claims.

List of the drawings

Further characteristics and advantages of the invention will emerge more clearly from the description of preferred but non-exclusive embodiments of the infusion unit according to the invention, illustrated by way of non- limiting example in the attached drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 shows a perspective view of the infusion unit in the loading position;

Figure 2 shows a perspective view of the infusion unit of Figure 1 in the dispensing position;

Figure 3 shows a side view of the infusion unit of Figure 1 in the dispensing position;

Figure 4 shows a side view of the infusion unit of Figure 1 in the dispensing position, sectioned along a vertical plane that excludes one of the two shoulders of the unit; Figure 5 shows a perspective view of the infusion unit in the loading .position; provided with dual hydraulic actuator;

Figure 6 shows a block diagram of the operating circuit of the infusion unit of Figure 1; and

Figure 7 shows the block diagram of a possible variant alternative to that of Figure 6.

In the various preferred embodiments of the invention parts that are equivalent will be designated by the same reference numbers.

Detailed description

With reference to Figures 1, 2, 5, and 7, an infusion unit for producing an aromatic beverage is represented, designated as a whole by the reference number 1.

The infusion unit 1 comprises an infusion cylinder 2 having a chamber 3 for housing a package 4 of a charge of aromatic essence, and a piston 5 for closing the chamber 3.

The package 4 may be a paper pod or else a rigid, semirigid, or soft capsule containing ground aromatic essence, for example coffee.

The piston 5 is mobile, as a result of a translation, between a position for loading the package 4 and a dispensing position in which it engages with the chamber 3. The piston 5 is hinged about the axis 39 to a connecting rod 38, which is in turn connected about the axis 37 to a crank 35. The crank 35 is fixedly connected about the axis 36 to a rotating pin 101, which is constrained to the opposed shoulders 57 of the frame of the infusion unit 1 that contain the cylinder 2 and the piston 5. Rotation of the pin 101 in one direction or in the opposite direction brings about movement of the piston 5 from the loading position to the dispensing position, and vice versa.

The axis 39 is positioned on the midline of the piston 5 and is constrained to slide in a guide eyelet 40 made on the shoulders 57 with development parallel to the substantially horizontal axis of coupling between the chamber 3 and the piston 5.

The hinging axes 36, 37, and 39 are mutually parallel and are orthogonal to the substantially horizontal axis of coupling between the chamber 3 and the piston 5.

Advantageously, the infusion unit 1 has means 110 for hydraulic movement of the rotating pin 101, which are controlled by an automatic hydraulic system preferably comprising a pump 301 that supplies the hydraulic circuit 302, which in turn connects a hydraulic actuator 200.

The hydraulic actuator 200 acts according to its actuation axis 205 on the rotating pin 101 with a torque proportional to the lever arm 105 formed by the perpendicular of the axis 36 to the actuation axis 205. In detail, a lever 102 on one side is fixed with respect to one of the ends of the rotating pin 101 and on the opposite side engages, via the pin 103, to the piston 203 of the hydraulic actuator 200. The hydraulic actuator 200 is constituted by a cylinder 201 constrained to turn about a pin 202 fixed with respect to the opposed shoulders 57 of the frame of the infusion unit 1 and by a piston 203, which, as has been said above, has one end constrained to turn about the pin 103 that is fixed with respect to the end of the lever 102. A return spring 208 is connected to the pins 103 and 202.

The mobile part 203 of the actuator may occupy any of the intermediate positions, comprised between a completely retracted position (referred to henceforth as "retracted configuration") shown in Figure 1 and a completely protracted position shown in Figure 2 (referred to henceforth as "extracted configuration"). In the retracted configuration, the piston 5 is in the condition for loading the package 4; in the extracted configuration, the piston 5 is in the dispensing position.

In the retracted configuration, the force along the actuation axis 205 acts on the rotating pin 101 with a relatively small lever arm 105, thus giving rise to a contained torque C 206. In this configuration, the forces resisting the movement of the piston 5 are relatively small in so far as there are no significant mechanical obstacles to be overcome except the forces of friction.

Advantageously, as the piston 5 approaches the chamber 3, the lever arm 105 increases, and consequently also the torque C 206 that acts on the rotating pin 101. In the extracted configuration illustrated in Figure 2, the torque 205 is maximum or very close to the maximum. This behaviour of the torque is the desired one since, as the dispensing position is approached, it becomes necessary to press the package 4 forcefully against the piston 5 and/or overcome mechanical forces that oppose approach of the piston 5 to the chamber 3. In the extracted configuration moreover, the torque 205 opposes the tendency towards recession of the piston 5 from the chamber 3, caused by the dispensing force 207 due to the dispensing pressure that acts on the chamber 3 and on the piston 5.

The effect of the lever arm 105 described above enables adoption of a relatively contained section 209 of action of the hydraulic pressure necessary for the movement of approach of the piston 5 to the chamber 3 and for maintenance of the extracted configuration. The cubic capacity 210 of the hydraulic actuator 200 is hence relatively contained, and as a consequence the times for filling the hydraulic actuator 200 are contained.

Advantageously, in the extracted configuration shown in Figure 4, the axis 37 is located above the plane 211 of union of the axis 39 with the axis 36. This means that at the end of dispensing the force 207 due to the residual pressure, which persists within the package 4 also after the pressure present in the hydraulic circuit has vanished, helps the movement of recession of the piston 5 from the chamber 3. The movement of recession of the piston 5 from the chamber 3 is concluded thanks to the force of the return spring 208.

In a variant of the invention shown in Figure 5, the dispensing unit 1 has two hydraulic actuators arranged symmetrically with respect to the vertical midplane of the unit .

In a variant of the invention illustrated in Figure 6, the macro-movement of the piston determined by the hydraulic actuator 200 is associated to a micro-movement of the closing piston 5, which comprises a fixed part 14, mounted on which is a mobile part 15 having a valve 16 suitable, at the moment of dispensing, for creation of a pressure jump that generates a force of thrust on the mobile part 15 so as to extract it from the fixed part 14 and compress the package 4, thus displacing it from its temporary position to a final position against the bottom of the chamber 3. In the case represented by way of example in Figure 7, a pump 301 is operated by a control 400, for example a switch-on pushbutton, and supplies the hydraulic circuit 302 that connects the hydraulic actuator 200 to a solenoid valve 303 and to a non-return valve 304. The pump 301 draws the water from a reservoir 305. The solenoid valve 303 in this example gives out into the same reservoir 305. The non-return valve 304 is in turn connected to a boiler 306, which communicates via the circuit 307 with the piston 5 and from here with the charge 4 and with the chamber 3. Operation of the infusion unit is briefly described in what follows.

As soon as the ^" pump 301 is operated via the control 400, the solenoid valve 303 closes the circuit 302, which goes into pressure, bringing about movement of the actuator 200 from the retracted configuration to the extracted configuration. The non-return valve 304 is calibrated for opening at a desired pressure. This thus enables passage of water towards the boiler 306 only after the pressure in the circuit 302 has reached a desired value, necessary for complete movement of the hydraulic actuator 200. As the pressure in the circuit 302 increases further, water passes into the boiler and from here into the piston 5 as far as the charge 4 and the chamber 3. When the pump 301 is switched off, the solenoid valve 303 discharges the circuit 302 into the reservoir 305, and the return spring 208 brings the hydraulic actuator from the extracted configuration to the retracted configuration, bringing about recession of the piston 5 from the chamber 3 and consequent expulsion of the package 4.

Once again by way of example, a variant is shown in Figure 8. The hydraulic circuit 302 is connected to the elements 200 and 303 described above and to a normally closed hydraulic pushbutton 308. This is in communication via the circuit 309 with the non-return valve 304. The hydraulic pushbutton 308 is activated by a lever 310 fixed with respect to the lever 102. As soon as the pump 301 is operated, the solenoid valve 303 closes the circuit 302, which goes into pressure, thus bringing about, as in the previous example, movement of the actuator 200. When the movement of approach of the piston 5 to the chamber 3 is concluded, the lever 310 presses the hydraulic pushbutton 308, which causes passage of water to the non-return valve 304 and then to the boiler 306, to the piston 5, to the package 4, and to the cylinder 3. With this configuration, the passage of water from the circuit 302 to the circuit 307 occurs if and only if the movement of approach of the piston 5 to the chamber 3 is completely concluded.

The infusion unit thus conceived may undergo numerous modifications and variations, all of which fall within the scope of the inventive idea. Moreover, all the items may be replaced by technically equivalent elements. In practice, the materials used, as well as the dimensions, may be any according to the requirements and the state of the art.

Claims

1. An automatic infusion unit (1) for producing an aromatic beverage, of the type comprising an infusion cylinder (2) and a piston (5) for closing said cylinder (2), which form a chamber (3) for housing a package (4) of a charge of aromatic essence, said piston (5) being operated by an automatic control device that comprises a control (400) for switching on a hydraulic pump (301) to enable reversible passage from a position for loading said package (4) to a dispensing position in which it engages with said cylinder (2), said infusion unit (1) being characterized in that said piston (5) is moved via an articulated linkage (100) that draws its motion from a rotating pin (101) moved by at least one hydraulic actuator (200) operatively connected to said pump (301) .

2. The infusion unit (1) according to Claim 1, wherein the rotating pin (101) is fixed with respect to one or more levers (102) moved by one or more hydraulic actuators (200), which are arranged in such a way that the lever arm (105) of the direction of action (205) of the hydraulic actuator (200) with respect to the axis of rotation (36) of the rotating pin (101) increases in the first stretch of approach of the piston (5) to the chamber (3).

3. The infusion unit (1) according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that the hydraulic actuator (200) has a return spring (208).

4. The infusion unit (1) according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that the linkage (100) is constituted by a connecting rod (38) and a crank (35), which form a toggle.

5. The infusion unit (1) according to preceding claim, characterized in that the axis of coupling (37) between the connecting rod (38) and the crank (35) is arranged above the plane (211) of union of the other hinging axis (39) of the connecting rod (38) with the other hinging axis (36) of the crank ( 35 ) .

6. The infusion unit (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the hydraulic circuit has a non-return valve (304) that determines a pressure drop between the circuit (302) connected to the hydraulic actuator (200) and the circuit (307) connected to the piston ( 5 ) .

7. The infusion unit (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the hydraulic circuit (302) connected to the hydraulic actuator (200) is intercepted by a hydraulic pushbutton (308) that enables communication with the hydraulic circuit (307) connected to the piston ( 5 ) .

8. The infusion unit according to Claim 6, characterized in that the hydraulic pushbutton (308) is operated by a lever (310) fixed with respect to the lever (102), which is in turn fixed with respect to the rotating pin (101).

9. The infusion unit (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it has two hydraulic actuators arranged symmetrically with respect to the vertical midplane of the unit.

10. The infusion unit (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the piston (5) comprises a fixed part (14) and a mobile part (15).

11. A method for automatic movement of a package (4) of a charge of aromatic essence in an infusion unit (1) of the type comprising an infusion cylinder (2) and a piston (5) for closing said cylinder (2), which form a chamber (3) for housing a package (4) of a charge of aromatic essence, said piston (5) being operated by an automatic control device that comprises a control (400) for switching on a hydraulic pump (301) to enable reversible passage from a position for loading said package (4) to a dispensing position, where it engages with said cylinder (2), said method being characterized in that said piston (5) is moved via an articulated linkage (100) that draws its motion from a rotating pin (101) moved by at least one hydraulic actuator (200) equipped with a return spring (208), which is operatively connected to said pump (301) and moves one or more levers (102) fixedly with the rotating pin (101) .