WO2017019733A1 - Insulated hot beverage brewing device - Google Patents

Abstract

A hot beverage may be freshly brewed at a point remote from an electrical power source by a device that has a housing in which a hot liquid is retained and a spout portion in which a filter cartridge containing a beverage extract is received. The hot liquid is maintained at temperature by thermal insulation in the housing. A manually-operated pump raises the hot liquid from the housing into a head of the device, where the liquid flows through the filter cartridge.

Description

INSULATED HOT BEVERAGE BREWING DEVICE Cross-Reference to Related Applications

[0001] This application is a non-provisional patent application filed under provisions of the Patent Cooperation Treaty and makes a priority claim to US provisional application 62/197,195, filed on 27 July 2015, which is incorporated by reference as if fully recited herein.

Technical Field

[0002] The disclosed embodiments of the present invention relate to an insulated vessel for preparing a hot beverage at the point of use, which may be remote from a source of electricity. More particularly, the embodiments relate to an insulated vessel in which a hand operated pump or bellows dispenses hot water through a spout of the vessel. The conduit from the vessel interior to the spout includes a cup which contains a filter and an amount of an extract for the beverage being prepared.

Background of the Art

[0003] With the proliferation of coffee and beverage machines and with the popularity of venues such as Starbucks and Tim Hortons, consumers have come to appreciate and, indeed, require a freshly brewed hot beverage. However, it is not always practical to be able to visit one of these venues or to actually brew the beverage with an electrically-operated beverage brewing device.

[0004] A good piece of this popularity of fresh hot beverages can be attributed to the success of United States Patent 5,325,765, to Sylvan, which describes the beverage filter cartridge that is generally referred to as a "Keurig cup." In such a cartridge, a beverage extract is stored inside a filter element that separates the interior of the cartridge into a first chamber, where the extract is located, and a second chamber, which receives beverage generated when hot water is contacted with the extract and the resulting beverage flows through the filter into the second chamber. Devices that use the cartridge described in the '765 patent require a brewing device that heats the water to a proper temperature and that injects the hot water under pressure into the first chamber of the cartridge. [0005] It is therefore an unmet advantage of the prior art to provide an insulated vessel for storing and dispensing hot beverage that is freshly prepared at the point of use.

Summary of the Invention

[0006] This and other unmet advantages are provided by a device for brewing a hot beverage from a liquid, using an extract contained in a beverage filter cartridge. Such a device has a housing, a spout portion, a head and a fluid conduit.

[0007] The housing has a shell, with a walled vessel contained in the shell. The walled vessel defines a reservoir for holding a quantity of a liquid, especially a hot liquid. The space between the shell and the walled vessel, including the walls of the vessel, are used to provide thermal insulation to the liquid.

[0008] The spout portion is attached to, or integral with, the housing at an open end of the shell. The spout portion has a receptacle that is adapted for removably receiving a beverage filter cartridge, a lower end of the receptacle having a spout through which the brewed liquid can flow.

[0009] The fluid conduit, especially a removable tube that extends from a first end at a bottom portion of the reservoir to a second end at the spout portion, provides the ability to flow the liquid through the beverage filter cartridge.

[0010] The head is attached at an open end of the shell for movement between an open positon, in which access is provided to the walled vessel and the receptacle, and a closed, operative position. A tube stub, arranged on an inner surface of the head, is joined to the fluid conduit and pierces a beverage filter cartridge positioned in the receptacle when the head is in the closed position.

[0011] Fluid flow from the reservoir to the spout portion is caused by a manually- operated pumping means, preferably arranged in the head.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0012] A better understanding of the disclosed embodiments will be obtained from a reading of the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings wherein identical reference characters refer to identical parts and in which: FIG. 1 is a side sectional view of an exemplary embodiment of the inventive concept;

FIG. 2A is a perspective view, showing the Fig.1 embodiment with a pump lever lowered;

FIG. 2B is a perspective view of the Fig. 1 embodiment with the pump lever raised into an operative position;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the Fig. 1 embodiment to show a release button that allows the pump lever to be deployed to the operative position of Fig. 2B; and

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the Fig. 1 embodiment to show a release latch to allow the head of the device to be opened for filling, cleaning and the like.

Detailed Description of a Preferred Embodiment

[0013] FIG. 1 shows a side sectional view of an exemplary embodiment of an insulated hot beverage brewing device 10 that incorporates the inventive concept disclosed herein. The device 10 has a body 20 and a head 50. In Fig. 1 , the head 50 is depicted in an "open" position in which a reservoir 22 for containing water or the like can be accessed. In the depicted embodiment, a walled vessel 25 defines the reservoir 22. Surrounding the vessel 25 is a means for thermally insulating the reservoir 22 and a shell 24 that contains both the reservoir and the thermal insulation means. In general, the structure of the body 20, the reservoir 22 and the shell 24 will be typically as known in the prior art. In some instances, the thermal insulation means will be provided by providing a closed chamber 26 formed between the walled vessel 25 and the shell 24. In other instances, the thermal insulation means will be provided by an insulating material, typically a closed cell material, that is placed in the closed chamber 26. In another case, the vessel 25 itself may be double-walled to provide a further level of insulation around reservoir 22. In this case, the internal space between the walls of the vessel 25 can have a vacuum drawn on it, as in a conventional thermos-type vessel. For a variety of reasons known to those of skill, the vessel 25 will typically have a neck portion 28 with a restricted flow area near the top of the vessel, where it joins the shell 24, but this feature is not required. [0014] Towards the top of the body 20, it would be typical to provide a means for connecting the body to the head 50. An especially preferred means would be a hinged connection 30. In an especially preferred embodiment, the hinged connection would be in two complementary and separable parts, one of which is connected to the head 50 and the other of which is connected to the body 20. This allows the head 50 to be removed from the body 20 to facilitate cleaning of the body and head in a separated condition. It is preferred that the head pivot about the connection means 30.

[0015] Another part of the body 20 shown in Fig. 1 is a spout portion 40, which also is positioned on the top of the body, preferably opposite the connection 30, as the head 50 will engage the spout portion when the head is closed. Between the spout portion 40 and the connection 30 at the top of the neck 28, the head 50 and body 20 will typically be provided with a means for forming an air-tight seal for the reservoir 22. In a typical application, this sealing means will be provided by a silicone or urethane ring 32.

[0016] Directing attention now to the spout portion 40, a spout 42 on a lower side thereof will extend through a wall of the spout portion into a cartridge receptacle 44 provided therein. Inside the cartridge receptacle 44, the spout will have one or more piercing elements 46. These are positioned so that when a beverage filter cartridge B, such as one of the type described in US Patent 5,325,765 is placed into the cartridge receptacle 44 and the head 50 is closed, the piercing elements 46 will pierce a lower surface of the beverage filter cartridge B that has been placed in the receptacle, establishing fluid communication between the interior of the cartridge and the spout. As shown in Fig. 1 , the head 50 is opened in order to place a cartridge B into the cartridge receptacle 44 or to remove an expended cartridge after it has been used. A latch 64 (not shown in Fig. 1 , but shown in Fig. 4) is used to hold the head 50 in the closed position when the latch is engaged. One or more piercing elements 52, surrounded by a tube stub 54, are arranged on a lower surface of the head 50, so that closing and latching the head onto the body 20 and the spout portion 40 causes the piercing elements 52 to pierce a top surface of the cartridge B, establishing a fluid connection for the tube stub through the upper surface, into a chamber of the cartridge that contains a beverage extract. [0017] Inside the head 50, a means for establishing a fluid communication between the tube stub 54 and a bottom portion of the reservoir 22 is provided. In a typical embodiment, this means is a dip tube 56. Such a tube 56 may have a rigid length in the portion that runs through the reservoir 22, but it is likely to be a flexible material, especially a polymeric material, in the region where the body 20 and head 50 are joined. It may be useful in some applications to use a more rigid channel formed in the head 50 and the body 20 to establish this fluid communication.

[0018] Located on the top of the head 50 is a pump lever 60. This pump lever 60 is shown in a closed position in Fig.1 , as well as in FIG. 2A, where the embodiment 10 is shown with head 50 closed and latched on to body 20, but it is shown in a deployed or open position in FIG. 2B. As shown even further in FIG 3, a release button 62 normally secures the pump lever 60 in the closed position. When the release button 62 is activated by a user, a biasing means (not shown in the drawings) located inside the head 50 urges the pump lever 60 to pivot away from the closed position into the open position. Operatively connected to the pump lever 60, and preferably located inside the head 50 is a means for applying pressure to the liquid inside the reservoir 22. In this manner, the body 20 and head 50 operate in a manner similar to the operation of an "air pot" type of beverage carafe. A typical means for applying this pressure is a bellows, but other means will be known to those of skill in this art. An exemplary patent relating to 'air pots" is found at US Patent 4,359,174 to Ikunosuke.

[0019] As mentioned above, a further latch means 64, shown in FIG. 4, is used to hold the head 50 down onto the body 20 in the operative condition. Latch means 64 secures the head 50 to the body 20, and, in doing so, maintains the piercing elements 46 in a piercing relationship to beverage cartridge B and the piercing elements 52 in a piercing relationship to the top surface of the beverage cartridge, after the act of closing the head causes the respective piercing elements to penetrate the beverage cartridge. A further feature illustrated in Fig. 4 is an optional handle means for the device 10, shown as a bail 66. The bail is 66 retracted in Figs. 2A, 2B and 3 and raised in Fig. 4.

[0020] In a typical "air pot" carafe device, the bellows that is used forces ambient air into the headspace in the reservoir. It is well-known that exposure to the oxygen in the air at the elevated temperatures in the air pot will degrade flavor components in the coffee, giving it a bitter or stale taste. In a similar manner, the act of roasting coffee and storing the coffee in a container where it is exposed to oxygen, even at room

temperature, can also cause flavor degradation. The solution provided by the inventive concept does not expose brewed coffee to the elevated temperatures of the reservoir; it exposes only water, which is not subject to the flavor degradation, to the elevated temperatures. Similarly, and the beverage cartridges used with this concept may be outside the scope of the inventive concept, the extract in the beverage cartridges can be blanketed with nitrogen or another inert gas, eliminating the oxidation potential. Beyond the actual effect, the inventive concept allows the user to experience the brewing process, in the same manner as when a brewing machine is used. Some of the important flavor components in coffee are highly volatile (have low boiling points), so they begin to escape from the coffee as soon as it is brewed. If brewed coffee is stored in an air pot, these volatiles will remain in the head space and not be delivered through the spout. However, using the inventive concepts, these volatiles will be delivered from the beverage cartridge into the user's cup, where the aromas can be enjoyed as they escape the liquid surface of the beverage.

[0021] While the exemplary example provided has been based around a beverage cartridge containing a coffee-based extract, the same advantages will inhere in applications involving teas, chocolate drinks and the like, as much of the attraction of the hot beverages is the volatile aromatic content of the drinks.

Claims

What is claimed is: Claim 1. A device for brewing a hot beverage from a liquid, using an extract contained in a beverage filter cartridge, the device comprising:

a housing, comprising:

a shell;

a walled vessel, contained within the shell, the walled vessel defining a reservoir for holding a quantity of a liquid;

means, arranged between the shell and the walled vessel, for thermally insulating the reservoir; and

a spout portion, attached to, or integral with, the housing at an open end of the shell, the spout portion comprising a receptacle adapted for removably receiving a beverage filter cartridge, a lower end of the receptacle having a spout;

a fluid conduit, comprising a removable tube that extends from a first end at a bottom portion of the reservoir to a second end at the spout portion; and

a head, attached at an open end of the shell for movement between an open positon, in which access is provided to the walled vessel and the receptacle, and a closed, operative position, the head comprising:

a tube stub, arranged on an inner surface of the head to piercingly enter a beverage filter cartridge positioned in the receptacle when the head is in the closed position, the tube stub removably attachable to the second end of the removable tube;

means for manually applying pressure to the liquid in the walled vessel when the head is in the closed position, the pressure applied through a pump lever arranged on a surface of the head.

Claim 2. The device of claim 1 , wherein the walled vessel is a double-walled vessel with a vacuum drawn between the walls thereof.

Claim 3. The device of claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the head is pivotably attached to the shell.

Claim 4. The device of claim 3, wherein the pivotable attachment is provided by a hinged connection means comprising separable parts such that the head is removable from the shell.

Claim 5. The device of claim 1 , further comprising a release button that secures the pump lever in a closed position in the head.

Claim 6. The device of claim 1 , further comprising a latch means that secures the head to the shell in the closed operative position.