WO2017097653A1

WO2017097653A1 - A coffee machine comprising an external water tank

Info

Publication number: WO2017097653A1
Application number: PCT/EP2016/079237
Authority: WO
Inventors: Eren MUTLU; Emre AYAROGLU; Nihat Gunduz; Ahmet Alptekin; Emre KARAAGAC; Resul KARTAL
Original assignee: Arcelik Anonim Sirketi
Priority date: 2015-12-11
Filing date: 2016-11-30
Publication date: 2017-06-15
Also published as: TR201515949A2

Abstract

The present invention relates to the coffee machine (1) comprising a body (2); a brewing chamber (3) wherein the coffee is brewed by being mixed with water and that is disposed in the body (2); a water tank (5) wherein the water used in the brewing process is stored and that can be attached to / detached from the housing (4) disposed on the body (2), and a pump (6) that enables the water in the water tank (5) to be delivered into the brewing chamber (3).

Description

A COFFEE MACHINE COMPRISING AN EXTERNAL WATER TANK

The present invention relates to a coffee machine comprising a detachable water tank wherein the water to be transferred to be brewing chamber wherein the coffee is brewed is stored.

In coffee machines, the use of detachable water tanks is known for storing the water to be used in the brewing process. The water tank is seated onto a housing disposed on the body. The water is preferably transferred from the water tank by means of a valve that is disposed at the base of the water tank and that opens when seated onto the protrusion on the housing base. As the valve is opened, water flows towards the pump from the water tank. When the coffee machine is not used for a long time, the water delivery line that extends to the pump gets dry and air is accumulated inside. In case the water tanks that are designed in big and long structures for the purpose of long term utilization are used, pressure sensitive valves are mounted to the outlet of the pump in order to prevent the siphon effect. In this case, when the water tank is mounted back to its place, the air in the water delivery line cannot be discharged from the outlet end of the pump due to the pressure sensitive valve, and the air gets stuck in the water delivery line and prevents the water from flowing to the pump. When the user pushes the start button in order to brew coffee, the pump starts operating but rotates at idle and cannot pump water. The air stuck in the water delivery line needs to be efficiently discharged, but not enough structural freedom is present in the small volume compact designed coffee machines for simple solutions.

In the state of the art Korean Patent Application No. KR20040084868, a water heater is disclosed, wherein the air bubbles are discharged by means of a discharge pipe.

In the state of the art United States Patent Application No. US5927553, a beverage preparation machine is disclosed, that has an air discharge assembly.

In the state of the art Chinese Patent Application No. CN203388696, a coffee machine is disclosed, wherein the water delivery line is prevented from getting dry.

The aim of the present invention is the realization of a coffee machine wherein the air gets stuck therein is efficiently discharged.

The coffee machine realized in order to attain the aim of the present invention, explicated in the claims, comprises a water delivery line that extends from the housing wherein the water tank in which the water is stored is placed towards the interior of the pump that enables the water to be delivered into the brewing chamber, and that has positive inclination almost from the pump to the housing. The air stuck in the pump and in the water delivery line due to the almost constant increase of the water delivery line level until the water tank moves forward towards the water tank without encountering any obstacles. Moreover, the water discharged from the water tank efficiently flows towards the pump.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the level of the end of the water delivery line that is connected to the housing is higher than the level of the water intake end of the pump. Thus, the water in the water delivery line is enabled to flow into the pump by constantly getting faster.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the lowermost level of a connection member that is disposed at the lower portion of the water tank and that enables the water tank to be placed to the housing is higher than the level of the end of the water delivery line that is connected to the housing. Thus, the air bubbles that move upwards along the water delivery line pass to the water tank by passing through the connection member without getting stuck in the connection member.

In another embodiment of the present invention, a cut-out is disposed on the connection member in order for the air bubbles coming from the water delivery line to be enabled to pass to the water tank without any problems. By means of the cut-out, the air bubbles that are always at the uppermost point relative to the floor in the environment pass to the water tank without getting stuck in the connection member.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the upper level of the cut-out is higher than the end of the water delivery line that is connected to the housing. As disclosed above, the air bubbles prefer to stay at the upper point relative to the floor in the environment. By means of this embodiment, the air bubbles are forced to pass from the water delivery line to the connection member, and therefrom to the water tank.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the base of the pump is placed in an inclined manner so that the inlet end of the pump faces upwards. By means of this embodiment, a contribution is provided to the inclination of the water delivery line, and the air stuck in the pump is enabled to be efficiently discharged.

In the coffee machine of the present invention, since the water delivery line has a positive inclination from the pump to the housing, the air stuck in the water delivery line and the pump is enabled to be efficiently discharged.

The coffee machine realized to attain the aim of the present invention is illustrated in the attached figures, where:

Figure 1 – is the schematic view of a coffee machine.

Figure 2 – is the sideways schematic view of the water tank, the pump, and the water delivery line in an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 3 – is the partial perspective view of the water tank in another embodiment of the present invention.

The elements illustrated in the figures and the steps are numbered as follows:

Coffee machine
Body
Brewing chamber
Housing
Water tank
Pump
Water delivery line
Connection member
Cut-out
Delivery means

The coffee machine (1) comprises a body (2); a brewing chamber (3) wherein the coffee is brewed by being mixed with water and that is disposed in the body (2); a water tank (5) wherein the water used in the brewing process is stored and that can be attached to/detached from the housing (4) disposed on the body (2), and a pump (6) that enables the water in the water tank (5) to be delivered into the brewing chamber (3).

In the coffee machine (1), coffee is delivered to the brewing chamber (3) automatically or by the user filling manually. As the user gives the start brewing command, the water is delivered to the brewing chamber (3) from the water tank (5) by means of the pump (6), and a heater (not shown in the figures) enables the coffee to be brewed by heating the brewing chamber (3). The user can fill water by taking out the water tank (5), and then place the water tank (5) by seating the water tank ( 5) into the housing (4).

The coffee machine (1) of the present invention comprises a water delivery line (7) that extends from the housing (4) to the interior of the pump (6) and that has a negative inclination almost along its own length.

In the coffee machine (1) of the present invention, by giving a negative inclination to the water delivery line (7) almost along the whole length thereof wherein the water moves forward by means of the gravity effect, and that extends from the housing (4) wherein the water tank (5) is placed to the interior of the pump (6), the air stuck in the water delivery line (7) is enabled to be discharged from the water tank (5) by sliding along the inner surface of the water delivery line (7). As the inner surface of the water delivery line (7), especially the inner surface that remains at a higher level than the floor has a negative inclination, the accumulated air is discharged from the water tank (5) without encountering any obstacles.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the level of the end of the water delivery line (7) that is close to the water tank (5) is higher than the level of the inlet end of the pump (6). In this embodiment, in addition to the negative inclination of the water delivery line (7), the water is enabled to flow into the pump (6) without losing potential energy. Thus, a constant water flow is enabled towards the pump (6) from the water tank (5).

In another embodiment of the present invention, the coffee machine (1) comprises a connection member (8) that is disposed at the base of the water tank (5) so as to protrude outwards and that enables the water tank (5) to be connected to the housing (4), and the level of the end of the water delivery line (7) that is close to the water tank (5) is lower than or at the same level with the lowermost level of the connection member (8) while the water tank (5) is attached to the housing (4). In this embodiment, the stuck air that reaches the connection member (8) by moving forward in the water delivery line (7) that has a negative inclination is enabled to be discharged without getting stuck in the connection member (8). As the lowermost level of the connection member (8) is at the same level with or higher than the uppermost level of the water delivery line (7), the air stuck passes into the water tank (5) without encountering any obstacles by passing over the connection member (8).

In another embodiment of the present invention, the coffee machine (1) comprises a cut-out (9) that is disposed at least in a portion of the connection member (8) and that allows the air accumulated in the water delivery line (7) to move towards the water tank (5). The connection member (8) is preferably cylindrical. Especially, in case the lowermost level of the connection member (8) is at the same level with the uppermost level of the water delivery line (7), the stuck air may not exceed the connection member (8). By means of the cut-out (9) that is bored on the connection member (8), the discharging of the air is possible in such a situation.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the upper level of the end of the water delivery line (7) that is close to the water tank (5) is lower than the upper level of the cut-out (9). In case the connection member (8) extends toward under the water delivery line (7), the water delivery line (7) and the cut-out (9) are connected so that the upper level of the cut-out (9) is higher than the upper level of the water delivery line (7) in order for the stuck air to be discharged.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the base of the pump (6) is inclined relative to the floor so that the inlet end thereof faces upwards. In this embodiment, in addition to the inclination of the water delivery line (7), the pump (6) is also placed in an inclined manner, and both the stuck air is enabled to move to the water tank (5) and the water coming from the water tank (5) is enabled to be enter the pump (6) without losing energy, in other words without getting slow.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the water delivery line (7) has delivery means (10) wherein the water is carried by passing therethrough; and the inner surface of the water delivery line (7) has almost no step in the junctures where two delivery means (10) are joined, in other words the delivery means (10) are joined so as to provide the constant negative inclination of the water delivery line (7). The delivery means (10) can be state of the art components such as pipe, hose, gasket, bracket, the sealing element, etc. In this embodiment, in order for the inner surface of the water delivery line (7) to have a constant negative inclination, the inner surfaces of the delivery means (10) are joined in a no-step manner. By methods such as carving the end portions of the delivery means (10), the no-step joints are realized. By means of this embodiment, the air bubbles moving forward in the water delivery line (7) are prevented from getting stuck at the junctures.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the coffee machine (1) is suitable to brew Turkish coffee. The coffee is brewed in the brewing chamber (3) and is delivered into the cup.

In the coffee machine (1) of the present invention, the air accumulated, stuck in the pump (6) and the water delivery line (7) is discharged over the water tank (5) by giving the water delivery line (7) a constant inclination towards the water tank (5). Since the air bubbles always stay at the highest point relative to the floor in the environment, the air bubbles are enabled to be discharged without encountering any obstacles as the inner surface of the water delivery line (7) is produced in a no-step manner.

Claims

A coffee machine (1) comprising a body (2); a brewing chamber (3) wherein the coffee is brewed by being mixed with water and that is disposed in the body (2); a water tank (5) wherein the water used in the brewing process is stored and that can be attached to/detached from the housing (4) disposed on the body (2), and a pump (6) that enables the water in the water tank (5) to be delivered into the brewing chamber (3), characterized by a water delivery line (7) that extends from the housing (4) to the interior of the pump (6) and that has a negative inclination almost along its own length.
A coffee machine (1) as in Claim 1, characterized by the water delivery line (7) of which the level of the end that is close to the water tank (5) is higher than the level of the inlet end of the pump (6).
A coffee machine (1) as in Claim 1 or 2, characterized by a connection member (8) that is disposed at the base of the water tank (5) so as to protrude outwards and that enables the water tank (5) to be connected to the housing (4), and the water delivery line (7) of which the level of the end that is close to the water tank (5) is lower than or at the same level with the lowermost level of the connection member (8) while the water tank (5) is attached to the housing (4).
A coffee machine (1) as in Claim 3, characterized by a cut-out (9) that is disposed at least in a portion of the connection member (8) and that allows the air accumulated in the water delivery line (7) to move toward the water tank (5).
A coffee machine (1) as in Claim 4, characterized by the water delivery line (7) of which the upper level of the end that is close to the water tank (5) is lower than the upper level of the cut-out (9).
A coffee machine (1) as in any one of the above claims, characterized by the pump (6) the base of which is inclined relative to the floor so that the inlet end thereof faces upwards.