WO2024178078A1

WO2024178078A1 - Beverage pod holder and pod collection bin for a beverage machine

Info

Publication number: WO2024178078A1
Application number: PCT/US2024/016668
Authority: WO
Inventors: Neha Thatte MALLIK
Original assignee: Keurig Green Mountain, Inc.
Priority date: 2023-02-22
Filing date: 2024-02-21
Publication date: 2024-08-29

Abstract

Aspects described herein relate to improvements in beverage machines and methods of brewing beverages therein. According to some embodiments, a beverage machine includes a pod holder. The pod holder may include a plurality of pod receptacles. The pod holder may be a rotatable pod holder. The beverage machine may position the pod holder in position to load a beverage pod into the beverage machine. A user may remove the pod holder from the beverage machine. According to other embodiments, pod holder may receive a cassette of beverage pods including an identifier to identify the beverage pods to the beverage machine. According to some embodiments, a collection bin for spent beverage pods is provided, the collection bin may manage liquid effluent emitted from spent beverage pods.

Description

BEVERAGE POD HOLDER AND POD COLLECTION BIN FOR A BEVERAGE MACHINE

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/486,465, filed February 22, 2023, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

FIELD

[0002] The present disclosure relates to beverage making machines, such as coffee brewers that use a liquid to form a coffee beverage.

BACKGROUND

[0003] Beverage machines are widely used to make beverages using capsules that contain ingredients, such as coffee grounds, tea leaves, and/or other soluble and/or insoluble ingredients. Such beverage machines can often be used with capsules containing a wide variety of different ingredients so as to make different beverages, such as coffee, tea, hot chocolate, flavored still drinks, flavored carbonated drinks, and so on.

SUMMARY

[0004] According to some aspects, a beverage pod holder for storing a plurality of beverage pods for a beverage machine is provided. The beverage pod holder may include a first pod receptacle, a second pod receptacle, and a partition separating the first pod receptacle from the second pod receptacle. The beverage pod holder may include an opening configured to permit release of a beverage pod out of the first pod receptacle. The beverage pod holder may be configured to physically interface with a beverage machine such that a single actuation actuates both the beverage pod holder and the beverage machine.

[0005] According to some aspects, a beverage pod holder for storing a plurality of beverage pods for a beverage machine is provided. The beverage pod holder may include a plurality of pod receptacles each containing at least one beverage pod. The beverage pod holder may also include at least one identifier configured to be read by a beverage machine. The beverage pod holder may be configured to removably couple to a beverage machine. [0006] According to some aspects, a beverage machine may include a pod insertion aperture and a pod holder. The pod holder may include a pod receptacle and an opening. The pod receptacle may be configured to store a beverage pod. The pod holder may be configured to position the beverage pod for insertion into the pod insertion aperture. The opening may be configured to release the beverage pod from the pod receptacle in response to actuation of the beverage machine.

[0007] According to some aspects, a beverage forming machine may include a brew chamber configured to form a beverage from a beverage pod. The beverage forming machine may include a removable spent pod collection bin and a drain configured to drain liquid from the spent pod collection bin.

[0008] According to some aspects, a method of forming a beverage is provided. The method includes actuating a pod holder to release a beverage pod into a beverage machine, where the actuation of the pod holder is tracked by the beverage machine.

[0009] It should be appreciated that the foregoing concepts, and additional concepts discussed below, may be arranged in any suitable combination, as the present disclosure is not limited in this respect. Further, other advantages and novel features of the present disclosure will become apparent from the following detailed description of various nonlimiting embodiments when considered in conjunction with the accompanying figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0010] The accompanying drawings are not intended to be drawn to scale. In the drawings, each identical or nearly identical component that is illustrated in various figures may be represented by a like numeral. For purposes of clarity, not every component may be labeled in every drawing. In the drawings:

[0011] FIG. 1 is a front view of a beverage machine having a pod holder according to some embodiments;

[0012] FIG. 2 shows a top view of the beverage machine illustrated in the embodiment of FIG. 1 showing the pod holder;

[0013] FIG. 3 shows a top view of the embodiment of FIG. 2 with the pod holder removed; [0014] FIG. 4 illustrates an exploded view of a rotatable pod holder according to some embodiments according to some embodiments;

[0015] FIG. 5 illustrates a side view of an embodiment of a rotatable pod holder;

[0016] FIG. 6 illustrates an exploded view of another embodiment of a rotatable pod holder;

[0017] FIG. 7 illustrates an embodiment of a pod holder in the form of a disposable cassette of beverage pods;

[0018] FIG. 8 illustrates a side view of a cassette of beverage materials according to some embodiments;

[0019] FIG. 9 illustrates a beverage pod according to some embodiments;

[0020] FIG. 10A illustrates a rotatable pod holder according to some embodiments;

[0021] FIG. 10B illustrates a rotatable pod holder according to other embodiments;

[0022] FIG. 11 illustrates another embodiment of a rotatable pod holder;

[0023] FIG. 12 shows a planform view of a beverage pod according to one embodiment;

[0024] FIG. 13A shows a top view of a beverage pod according to another embodiment;

[0025] FIG 13B shows a side view of the beverage pod of the embodiment of FIG. 13A;

[0026] FIG. 14 illustrates another embodiment of a rotatable pod holder configured to receive beverage pods such as those depicted in the embodiments illustrated in FIGs. 12-13B; [0027] FIG. 15 shows a schematic block diagram of various components that may be included in a beverage machine in one illustrative embodiment

[0028] FIG. 16 is a diagram for a method of forming a beverage;

[0029] FIG. 17 illustrates a side view of a beverage machine according to some embodiments; and

[0030] FIG. 18 illustrates another embodiment of a spent pod collection bin.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0031] It should be understood that aspects of the invention are described herein with reference to the figures, which show illustrative embodiments. The illustrative embodiments described herein are not necessarily intended to show all embodiments in accordance with the invention, but rather are used to describe a few illustrative embodiments. Thus, aspects of the invention are not intended to be construed narrowly in view of the illustrative embodiments. In addition, it should be understood that aspects of the invention may be used alone or in any suitable combination with other aspects of the invention.

[0032] A beverage machine may be used to form a beverage by combining a beverage precursor liquid with a beverage ingredient. Single serving or small batch beverage machines are popular in the market. These beverage machines allow a user to prepare a small quantity of a beverage such as a single serving or a small batch of beverage. Multiple users can use the same machine to prepare different beverages, such as individual servings of different beverage types or beverage flavors quickly and without wasting unconsumed beverage.

[0033] A single serving or small batch beverage machine may be used with a beverage pod to form a beverage such as tea, coffee, espresso, cocoa or other infusion type beverages. The beverage pod may include beverage ingredients such as suitably prepared coffee beans, tea leaves, etc. The beverage machine may form such beverages using a beverage precursor liquid, such as water, that may be combined with the beverage ingredients of the beverage pod under suitable conditions to form the beverage.

[0034] Conventional beverage pods are typically individually packaged servings of beverage ingredients, such as suitably ground coffee, to be combined with liquid and brewed. These individual packages of beverage ingredients may then be disposed after the beverage has been prepared.

[0035] The inventors have recognized and appreciated improvements in beverage machines, beverage ingredients packaging and methods of preparing a beverage. These improvements may reduce beverage ingredients packaging and/or waste resulting from the preparation of a beverage. Beverage ingredients may be portioned for use within a beverage machine without separate disposable packaging for each portion according to some embodiments disclosed herein.

[0036] In some embodiments, the beverage machine may be used with package-less beverage pods. The package-less beverage pod may be able to hold its own shape, and thus may not require individual packaging to prevent dispersing of the beverage ingredients prior to use in forming a beverage. Such beverage pods may, for example, be in the form of a compacted tablet or a capsule (which may or may not be made of compacted materials). The beverage ingredients may be contained without a separate, removable vessel. In some embodiments, the beverage ingredients of the package-less beverage pod have been compacted. In some embodiments, the package-less beverage pod may be bound together with a food-grade binder or with another beverage ingredient that promotes formation of the beverage tablet into a cohesive structure. Some package-less beverage pods may be formed through processing alone, such as by pressing, heating, or drying into the desired form.

[0037] In some embodiments, the package-less beverage pod may include a shell, such as a coating, disposed along the outer surface at the periphery of the pod. In some embodiments, the shell may bind the beverage ingredients within the interior of the pod. The beverage ingredients within the pod may be loose, such as loose ground coffee, or compacted. The shell may be a food grade binder, an alginate, edible, soluble, or any other suitable material. In some embodiments, the shell may serve as a barrier to reduce infiltration of oxygen and/or moisture such as to maintain freshness of the beverage ingredients. Material of the package-less beverage pod, including a shell of the pod if one is present, may directly contact some portion of the beverage machine, such as the brew chamber, before brewing the beverage, without intervening packaging in-between.

[0038] The package-less beverage pod may be configured to break into pieces during brewing or it may be configured to remain intact during brewing. The package-less beverage pod may be configured to at least partially or completely dissolve. In some embodiments, the package-less beverage pod may contain roasted coffee grounds (e.g. that remain behind after forming a beverage), soluble coffee, soluble materials, binders or other materials, and any combination of the above. The package-less beverage pod may be any suitable shape, such as a cylinder, a sphere, an ellipsoid, an elliptical prism, a teardrop shape, a frustrum of a cone, a cone or other shape.

[0039] A beverage machine may be capable of forming a variety of single-serving beverages. Each single-serving beverage may fully utilize the beverage ingredients of a single beverage pod. A plurality of beverages may be formed from a corresponding plurality of beverage pods. After a beverage is formed, such as by brewing the beverage, the beverage material becomes spent beverage material and the beverage pod becomes a spent beverage pod. As an example, spent beverage material may be spent coffee grounds. According to some embodiments, the spent beverage material may remain within the beverage pod contained by the shell. The spent beverage material and shell may be biodegradable.

[0040] Physical properties of the shell may change during brewing, for instance the shell may become softer and/or more elastic. In other embodiments, a beverage pod, such as a beverage tablet, may break during the brewing process resulting in loose spent beverage material.

[0041] According to some embodiments, a single beverage pod may be used to form a single- serving beverage. A plurality of beverages may be formed from a corresponding plurality of beverage pods. According to other embodiments, a single beverage pod may be used to form any quantity of beverage, such as a pot of coffee.

[0042] According to some embodiments, beverage pods may be stored within the beverage forming system prior to using the beverage pods to form a beverage. Beverage pods may be stored in a container or pod holder which may form a portion of the beverage machine or may be attached to the beverage machine. The pod holder may be controlled by the beverage machine so as to dispense a specific beverage pod corresponding to a specific type of beverage. The pod holder may release a specific beverage pod at the command of the beverage machine and load the beverage pod into the beverage machine to brew the beverage. The pod holder may be configured to enable the beverage machine to identify beverage pods.

[0043] In some embodiments, the beverage pod holder may be a rotatable pod holder. The rotatable pod holder includes a pivot axis about which the rotatable pod holder may rotate. Pod receptacles are arranged about the pivot axis and spaced apart by an angular displacement. One or more beverage pods may be disposed within each pod receptacle. In some embodiments, a portion of the rotatable pod holder may rotate and a portion may remain stationary. The rotating portion may be a rotor which may include the plurality of pod receptacles. The rotor may rotate a beverage pod across an opening in a stationary portion of the rotatable pod holder causing the beverage pod to be expelled from the rotatable pod holder, such as by gravity. The rotatable pod holder may deposit the beverage pod into a pod insertion aperture in the beverage machine.

[0044] According to one aspect, a beverage machine may receive and interact with a cassette of beverage pods, where the cassette is disposable after the beverage pods of the cassette have been used (e.g. to form beverages). A used cassette may be removed from the beverage machine and replaced by a fresh cassette. In some embodiments, a pod holder of the beverage machine may receive the cassette of beverage pods, where the pod holder is a re-useable component and the cassette is a disposable component. In some embodiments, the cassette of beverage pods serves as the entirety of the pod holder, and there is no separate reuseable pod holder of the beverage machine. Stated another way, in some embodiments, the pod holder is a disposable cassette. Accordingly, the above and below description relating to pod holders may also apply to cassettes also.

[0045] The cassette of beverage pods may include a plurality of beverage pods disposed in a plurality of pod receptacles spaced in the cassette. In some embodiments, the cassette may be circular, with pod receptacles angularly spaced from one another. In other embodiments, a cassette may be non-circular, e.g. square or rectangular. In some embodiments, pod receptacles of a cassette may be spaced in a linear or rectangular pattern. [0046] Beverage pods may be loaded into the cassette at the factory. In some embodiments, beverage pods may be sealed in the cassette and covered by one or more frangible covers, which may serve to maintain freshness of the pods, avoid contamination of the pods, and/or other suitable purpose. In some embodiments, the beverage machine may break the frangible cover(s) to access the beverage pods.

[0047] In some embodiments, a cassette may include an identifier such as a bar code, QR code, other pattern RFID chip or other identifier. An identity, position, etc. of the beverage pods loaded in the cassette may be included in the identifier. As one illustrative example, the beverage machine may read the identifier to determine brewing parameters for the pods contained within the cassette.

[0048] Turning to the figures, specific non-limiting embodiments are described in further detail. It should be understood that the various systems, components, features, and methods described relative to these embodiments may be used either individually and/or in any desired combination as the disclosure is not limited to only the specific embodiments described herein.

[0049] FIG. 1 depicts a beverage machine 100 according to some embodiments. The beverage machine 100 includes the beverage machine housing 101, a user interface 110, and a brewing head 102 protruding from the beverage machine housing. A pod holder in the form of a rotatable pod holder 120 is illustrated as removably attached to the top of the beverage machine. A hand lever 122 is provided for a user to operate the beverage machine. In some embodiments, operating the hand lever 122 may advance the rotatable pod holder, open a beverage pod aperture, release a beverage pod from the rotatable pod holder into the beverage pod aperture and load the beverage pod into a brew chamber for brewing. It should be noted that in other embodiments, these steps may be performed by actuators within the beverage machine and brewing may be initiated by a touch screen, button, phone interface etc. In such embodiments, a handle may not be present. The beverage machine is illustrated in the process of brewing a beverage 10 (shown as a stream of beverage), emanating from the brewing head 102 and directed into a cup 300 (the cup may not part of the beverage machine). The beverage machine may include a drip tray 131 configured to support the cup 300. The drip tray may capture spillage or overflow from the cup. The beverage machine 100 and a pod of beverage material (not visible) may form a beverage forming arrangement. [0050] FIG. 2 shows a top view of the beverage machine of FIG. 1. The beverage machine 100 includes the beverage machine housing 101 and liquid reservoir 141. A rotatable pod holder 120 is illustrated as removably attached to the top of the beverage machine and configured to rotate about a pivot axis 203. A hand lever 122 is provided for a user to operate the beverage machine. The drip tray 131 may be visible protruding from the beverage machine at front.

[0051] The rotatable pod holder 120 includes a plurality of pod receptacles 202 arranged about the pivot axis 203 and spaced from each other by an angle. Partitions 205 separate individual pod receptacles 202. As illustrated, each pod receptacle 202 contains a beverage pod 201. The pod receptacles 202, partitions 205 and beverage pods 201 are illustrated with dashed lines as they may not be visible from outside the rotatable pod holder 120. In some embodiments, the rotatable pod holder, or some portion of the rotatable pod holder, such as a top or cover portion may be transparent/translucent to allow a user to observe the beverage pods within the rotatable pod holder.

[0052] To prepare a beverage, a user may operate an actuator 122, such as by pulling, pushing on, or otherwise interacting with a hand lever 122. In some embodiments, the actuator may automatically advance the rotatable pod holder and release a beverage pod into a pod insertion aperture within the beverage machine. In some embodiments, operating an actuator may also open a brew chamber lid, cause the insertion of the beverage pod, and close the brew chamber for brewing. In some embodiments, the rotatable pod holder may automatically load beverage pods into the beverage machine without a user needing to separately interact with the rotatable pod holder. Although lever activated beverage machines have been discussed, according to some embodiments, no hand lever 122 may be present and the beverage machine may actuate the rotatable pod holder, release the beverage pod and operate the brew chamber by electric actuators such as electric motors. In some electrically actuated beverage machine embodiments, a user may only need to press a button or make a selection through a phone application to cause a beverage to be brewed.

[0053] In some embodiments, a single actuation may actuate both the beverage pod holder to release a beverage pod, and may also actuate the beverage machine (e.g. to open a brew chamber to receive a beverage pod and/or to wake from sleep in preparation for a beverage formation process, etc.)

[0054] In some embodiments, a beverage machine may be configured to track when a pod holder has been actuated to release a beverage pod into the beverage machine. For example, when a user actuates an actuator to advance the rotatable pod holder, the beverage machine may track such an actuation. The beverage machine may track the actuation for any number of suitable purposes, e.g. as a trigger to prepare for a beverage preparation process, to determine how many beverage pods are remaining in a pod holder (e.g. and potentially trigger a reminder to the user to replenish the pod holder when the pod holder is determined to be empty), or any other suitable purpose.

[0055] According to some embodiments, a user may occasionally refill the pod holder with beverage pods. The pod holder may be removed from the beverage machine. The pod holder may be washable such as in a dishwasher. Fresh beverage pods may be inserted into the pod receptacles and the pod holder returned to the beverage machine. In other embodiments or optionally, a user may reload the pod holder while the pod holder remains attached to the beverage machine such as by removing a cover and inserting fresh beverage pods.

[0056] FIG. 3 illustrates the beverage machine of the embodiment illustrated in FIGs. 1 and 2 with the pod holder removed. The beverage machine 100 includes the beverage machine housing 101 and liquid reservoir 141. The pod holder in the form of a rotatable pod holder (120 in FIG. 2) has been removed to illustrate features located underneath. The rotatable pod holder rotates about the pivot axis 203. In some embodiments, the beverage machine includes a drive gear 221 configured to drive movement of the rotatable pod holder. [0057] In some embodiments, a pod insertion aperture 250 is provided to receive beverage pods released from the rotatable pod holder. The pod insertion aperture may be arranged to be positioned directly beneath at least a portion of the rotatable pod holder when the rotatable pod holder is coupled to the beverage machine.

[0058] Reader 222 is provided to read an identifier, such as a barcode, QR code or RFID chip. In some embodiments, an identifier may be included on the rotatable pod holder, whereas in other embodiments an identifying mark may be included on the beverage pod itself. In some embodiments, a portion of the rotatable pod holder may be transparent to allow the code to be read.

[0059] The rotatable pod holder may be driven by the beverage machine in several ways. According to some embodiments, the beverage machine may include a drive shaft that may run coaxial or parallel to the pivot axis 203. The shaft may engage with the rotatable pod holder by any suitable coupling such as a square on the shaft engaging with a square hole in the rotatable pod holder or by the engagement of teeth cut into the shaft engaging with teeth in the rotatable pod holder, or by engaging the rotatable pod holder with a slot or drive pin in the shaft or other suitable removeable coupling. The rotatable pod holder may be removed from such a coupling without removing screws, clips, etc. In some embodiments, the rotatable pod holder may rotate freely on the pivot axis driven by gears, sprags, pawls etc. A central pivot pin may sit on the pivot axis and allow the rotatable pod holder to turn thereon. The illustrated embodiment shows drive gear 221 which may be configured to mesh with mating gear teeth attached to the rotatable pod holder. In some embodiments, the drive gear 221 may be mechanically connected to the operating mechanism, e.g. a device actuator, of the beverage machine, such that when the beverage machine prepares to brew a beverage, the drive gear rotates, thereby advancing the rotatable pod holder to the next position and releasing a beverage pod for brewing. This may occur when a user operates actuator 122. In some embodiments, the drive gear may be operated by a ratchet and pawl that is mechanically connected to a brew chamber lid so as to advance the rotatable pod holder by one position when the brew chamber opens. In other embodiments, the drive gear 221 may be driven by an electric actuator such as an electric motor. An electric motor, such as a stepper motor, may directly drive the drive gear, the electric motor being configured to move in response to a controller in the beverage machine. In other embodiments, a single electric actuator may drive a mechanical assembly that operates both the brew chamber and the rotatable pod holder.

[0060] FIG. 4 illustrates an exploded view of a rotatable pod holder according to some embodiments. Rotatable pod holder 420 includes a rotating portion 431, a cover 435 and a stationary portion 432. The stationary portion 432 is configured to sit on a beverage machine. Central pivot hole 413 is provided to allow passage of a central pivot shaft. An opening 433 in the stationary portion 432 is provided to allow a beverage pod to exit the rotatable pod holder. The rotating portion 431 is configured to rotate relative to the stationary portion 432 in order to advance beverage pods contained in the rotatable pod holder toward the opening 433.

[0061] Beverage pods may pass through the opening 433 and into the pod insertion aperture 250 illustrated in FIG. 3 so as to load the beverage machine in preparation to form a beverage. In some embodiments, the beverage pod may pass through the opening 433 and into the pod insertion aperture 250 under gravity.

[0062] The rotating portion 431 may include a plurality of pod receptacles 402 separated by partitions 405. In some embodiments, the rotating portion 431 may be driven by a shaft through the central pivot bore 403. In other embodiments, however, the rotating portion 431 may be directly manually rotated by a user, or mechanically coupled to a manual actuator such as a lever. In some embodiments, the rotating portion 431 may be driven by a gear as in FIG. 3 (a suitable gear clearance cutout may be positioned in the stationary portion to accommodate the gear). In some embodiments, the rotating portion 431 by have teeth configured to engage with a drive unit of a beverage machine. For example, the teeth may be located around the circumference of the rotating portion. The cover 435 may be attached the rotating portion 431 and may rotate therewith. In some embodiments, the cover 435 and rotating portion 431 are integrally formed as a one-piece construction. In some embodiments, the cover 435 is removable from the rotating portion 431.

[0063] One or more beverage pods may be disposed within each of the pod receptacles 402. Eight pod receptacles 402 are illustrated in the figures, however any number of pod receptacles may be included. According to some embodiments, the rotating portion 431 may not include a floor within the pod receptacles such that the pods may be supported by the stationary portion 432. The pods may be, in some embodiments, in direct contact with the stationary portion 432. The rotating portion 431 may be rotated (e.g. advanced to the next position) such as from a shaft 439 engaging with the central pivot bore 403. In some embodiments, the shaft 439 may be electrically or mechanically driven by a component of the beverage machine, wherein the shaft is fixed to the bore 403 such that rotation of the shaft 436 causes rotation of the rotating portion 431. In some embodiments, the shaft 439 may be fixed to the stationary portion 432 and the bore 403 may be free to turn on the shaft 439. In some embodiments, a user may directly manually rotate the rotating portion 431 by grasping and turning a handle 437 located on the cover 435, which may in turn be attached to the rotating portion 431. As a result, the cover 435 and rotating portion 431 may be rotated about the shaft 439, and rotated relative to the stationary portion 432.

[0064] As the rotating portion rotates, the beverage pods may be moved relative to the stationary plate 432 with the rotating portion 431, held within their pod receptacles by the partitions 405. When a beverage pod passes over the opening 433, the beverage pod falls through the open floor of the rotating portion 431, through the opening 433 of the stationary portion 432, and into the beverage machine for brewing.

[0065] In some embodiments, it may be desirable to seal a pod holder such as the rotatable pod holder 420 so as to store beverage pods in an airtight environment. Seals may be present between the stationary portion 432 and the rotating portion 431 of the rotatable pod holder. In some embodiments, the opening 433 may include a door. The door may include seals.

[0066] FIG. 5 illustrates a side view of an embodiment of a rotatable pod holder similar to the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 4. Rotatable pod holder 520 includes a rotating portion 531, a cover 535 and a stationary portion 532. The stationary portion 532 is configured to sit on a beverage machine. An opening 533 is provided in the stationary portion to allow a beverage pod 501b to pass from the rotatable pod holder. The beverage pod 501b may pass through the opening and into the pod insertion aperture 250 illustrated in FIG. 3. The beverage pod may pass through the opening 533 and into the pod insertion aperture under gravity. As illustrated, the rotatable pod holder includes beverage pods 501a and 501b. Beverage pod 501b shown in solid lines represents beverage pod 501b after it has passed out of the rotatable pod holder through the opening 533. The partitions 505 in the rotating portion 531 push the beverage pods (501a, 501b) along the surface of the stationary portion 532. Beverage pod 501b is shown as pushed over the opening 533. The position of 501b is not stable and pod 501b will fall through the opening 533 as illustrated in FIG. 5. Partitions 505 and pods 501a and 501b are illustrated dashed as they may be obscured by the rotatable pod holder. In some embodiments, the frame of the rotatable pod holder, the cover 535 or portions of either/both may be transparent allowing a user to view beverage pods stores within the rotatable pod holder.

[0067] In some embodiments, a pod holder may be in the form of a cassette in which beverage pods are pre-packaged during manufacturing. FIG. 6 illustrates an exploded view of another embodiment of a pod holder rotatable pod holder. Rotatable pod holder 620 includes a stationary portion 632 and a rotating portion 631. The stationary portion 632 is in the form of an open cylindrical container sized to receive the rotating portion 631. The rotating portion 631 is in the form of a rotor with arms formed by partitions 605. The space between the partitions 605 forms a pod receptacle 602. Unlike the previously described embodiments, the rotating portion 631 includes a floor 604 connected to the arms formed by the partitions 605 and rotating therewith. The rotating portion 631 may be driven by a shaft through the central pivot bore 603 or, in some embodiments, by a gear or ratchet teeth disposed on the underside of the floor 604 of the rotating potion. When the rotating portion 631 is inserted in a bore 634 in the stationary portion, the inner surface 635 of the stationary portion 632 may serve to hold beverage pods within the space between the partitions. As the rotating portion 631 turns, pod receptacles are rotated into the position behind an opening 633 in the stationary portion 632. Once positioned behind the opening 633, a beverage pod may pass through the opening for loading into the beverage machine for subsequent brewing. In some embodiments, the floor 604 may be pitched toward the inner surface 635 of bore 634 to facilitate the passage of beverage pods through the opening 633. A cover may be included (not shown) such as by closing over the stationary portion 632. As with previous embodiments, portions or all of the rotatable pod holder may be transparent.

[0068] FIG. 7 illustrates an embodiment of a rotatable pod holder in the form of a cassette of beverage pods. Rotatable pod holder 720 includes the cassette 731 of beverage pods. The cassette includes a plurality of pod receptacles 702. One or more beverage pods (not visible) may be sealed into a body 750 of the cassette. The cassette of beverage pods is configured to removably attach to a beverage machine by the central pivot bore 703. The cassette may be rotated as with the rotating portion previously described embodiments of the rotatable pod holder. An identifier such as barcode 711 or QR code 712 may be included on the cassette 731. The identifier may be used for any suitable purpose, such as to identify the beverage pods contained therein, to establish a brewing parameter for the beverage pods, to determine pod expiration and/or lot information, to determine user preferences and/or to determine remaining inventory, etc. RFID chips or other identifiers may alternatively be used. The identifier may be read by a reader 710 located on the beverage machine. The identifier may be located in any convenient location, the locations shown in FIG. 7 being for illustrative purposes only. In some embodiments, different types of beverage pods may be loaded within a single cassette of beverage pods, in such case a beverage machine may use the identifier to positionally locate a desired beverage pod to brew a selected beverage. The beverage machine may additionally maintain an inventory of the beverage pods within the rotatable pod holder. The inventory may be displayed to a user such as by listing the types of beverage available to be brewed.

[0069] In some embodiments, beverage pods may be sealed within a cassette of beverage pods. Beverage pods may be held within beverage pod receptacles by a frangible cover, such as a film or foil. The beverage machine may remove, peel back, puncture, rupture, or otherwise remove the frangible cover to extract a beverage pod from the cassette of beverage pods. In some embodiments, the beverage pods may be factory packed in inert gas and/or partial vacuum to keep oxygen away from the beverage pods and thereby extend storage/shelf life. In some embodiments, multiple beverage pods may be located within a single pod receptacle. In some embodiments, multiple cassettes of beverage pods may be loaded onto a single beverage machine.

[0070] FIG. 8 illustrates a side view of a cassette of beverage materials according to some embodiments. The cassette 831 of beverage pods includes pod receptacles 802a-802c and beverage pods 801a and 801b. In this illustrative embodiment, the pod receptacles may each include two frangible covers: a top frangible cover 805 and a bottom frangible cover 806. The frangible covers 805, 806 seal beverage pods 801 and 801b into the pod receptacles 802a. However, it should be appreciated that in other embodiments, only a single frangible cover may be used for each pod receptacle. In yet other embodiments, more than two frangible covers, such as three or four frangible covers, may be used for each pod receptacle. [0071] When the beverage machine requires a beverage pod, the cassette of beverage materials is moved into an appropriate position and the beverage machine will break the frangible cover(s), releasing the selected beverage pod from the pod receptacle. The beverage machine may break a single frangible cover, for instance a lower frangible cover beneath the pod, allowing the pod to fall out under gravity. In other embodiments, the beverage machine may break multiple frangible covers corresponding to a single pod receptacle, such as by punching through a top frangible cover and driving the beverage pod through the lower frangible cover, rupturing the lower frangible cover and releasing the pod of beverage material to be loaded into the beverage machine for brewing. As shown in FIG. 8, the top frangible cover 805b and bottom frangible cover 806b have both been ruptured by the beverage machine, permitting pod 801b to be released from the pod receptacle 802b. Pod receptacle 802c is shown empty (e.g. the pod formerly contained has been used). The frangible covers 805c, 806c have been broken, such as by punching the beverage pod through from above.

[0072] According to some embodiments, the beverage pods 801a, 801b within the cassette 831 of beverage pods may be factory sealed into the cassette of beverage pods in an insert atmosphere which may reduce oxygen present in the pod receptacles 802a, 802b before the frangible cover(s) are broken near the time of brewing the beverage. The inert atmosphere may be nitrogen. The pressure within the pod receptacles may be a partial vacuum. The pod receptacles 802a, 802b within the cassette 831 of beverage pods may be configured to reduce gas space within the sealed pod receptacle. In some embodiments, the fit of the beverage pod in the pod receptacle may also serve to align the beverage pod for insertion into the beverage machine in a specific orientation.

[0073] FIG. 9 illustrates a beverage pod according to some embodiments. Beverage pod 90 includes beverage materials 901 contained by a shell 902. The shell 902 may be a coating, such as a binder, moisture barrier, and/or air barrier applied to the beverage materials. The shell 902 may be bound to the beverage materials 901 at all locations along the inside surface of the shell. Beverage materials may also be termed beverage ingredients. The formed shape of beverage materials may be termed the body of the beverage pod. The body of beverage materials 901 may be bound to and inseparable from the shell 902. The beverage materials 901 may substantially fill the entire inside volume of the shell. In some embodiments, the shell may differ from the remainder of the beverage materials only by the degree of compaction or other processing parameter and may not include any distinct ingredient or change in composition. A beverage pod in the form of a tablet may not include a shell and may be of a uniform composition with uniform properties throughout.

[0074] According to some embodiments, a beverage pod may include a body made of one or more beverage materials, an outer wall, a first surface, and a second surface. The first surface and the second surface are separated by a distance, and a primary brewing parameter is encoded in the distance. The first surface and the second surface may be planar surfaces or curved surfaces. In some embodiments (e.g., spherical beverage pods), the first surface and the second surface may be a spherical dome or spherical cap that may exist at the opposing poles of a sphere. The separation distance may be a diameter of the beverage pod.

[0075] In some embodiments, the outer wall is the outer periphery of the beverage pod. The outer wall may be composed of beverage materials and may have the same composition as the body of beverage materials. In some embodiments, the outer wall may have the same composition as the body of beverage materials but may have a greater degree of compaction such as to be more rigid and less porous than the body. The outer wall may additionally be made more rigid with heat or by drying the beverage materials into the desired shape. The outer wall may include a shell. A hardened outer wall formed of beverage ingredients (such as by drying, heating, compaction, etc.) may be one form of the shell. The material properties of the hardened outer wall may vary continuously from the outer periphery into the body such that there may be no distinct inner boundary between the shell and the body. In some embodiments, the shell may include additional ingredients. The shell may include a binder. The binder may join together and seal pores within particles of beverage material (e.g., ground coffee etc). The shell may be applied by coating onto beverage material such that the shell includes both beverage material and binder. A shell coating may be applied by spraying, dipping, applying in-mold, or other techniques for applying a coating. In some embodiments the shell may be thinner than an average particle size of the beverage material. In some embodiments, another beverage ingredient may be used as the shell such that the shell may dissolve and form the beverage. [0076] According to some embodiments, the beverage pod is without individual packaging. Beverage pods may not be individually packaged and packaging may not form any part of the beverage pod as it is received into the beverage machine. The shell of the beverage pod, if present, is inseparable from the beverage materials contained within the pod, is bonded to the beverage materials within the pod and is not packaging. In some embodiments, the beverage pod is configured to be received within a beverage machine without packaging such that the at least one beverage ingredient of the body directly contacts the beverage machine without intervening packaging prior to forming a beverage.

[0077] FIG. 10A illustrates a rotatable pod holder according to some embodiments. Rotatable pod holder 1031 includes partitions 1005 separating the rotatable pod holder into pod receptacles 1002 distributed radially about a central pivot bore 1003. The rotatable pod holder may be mounted to a beverage machine by a shaft or pivot pin that may engage with central pivot bore 1003. The partitions 1005 form a portion of a frame that may form the body of the rotatable pod holder and support the plurality of pod receptacles 1002. As illustrated, eight pod receptacles are shown, however it should be understood that any number of pod receptacles may be used and this disclosure is not intended to be so limiting.

Beverage pods of any shape may be stored in pod receptacles 1002 and released to the beverage machine therefrom. Each pod receptacle 1002 of the plurality of pod receptacles may be configured to hold a plurality of beverage pods. In some embodiments, the rotatable pod holder 1031 may be moved to advance beverage pods out of the rotatable pod holder automatically by the beverage machine without user interaction.

[0078] FIG. 10B illustrates a rotatable pod holder according to some embodiments. Rotatable pod holder 1041 includes partitions 1045 separating the rotatable pod holder into pod receptacles 1042 distributed radially about a central pivot bore 1043. The rotatable pod holder may be mounted to a beverage machine by a shaft that may engage with central pivot bore 1043. The partitions 1045 form a portion of a frame that may form the body of the rotatable pod holder and support the plurality of pod receptacles 1042. As illustrated, eight pod receptacles are shown, however it should be understood that any number of pod receptacles may be used and this disclosure is not intended to be so limiting. Beverage pods of any shape may be stored in pod receptacles 1042 and released to the beverage machine therefrom. In some embodiments, elliptical beverage pods may be stored within the elliptical pod receptacles 1042. The pod receptacles 1042 may include other features, such as one or more alignment pins or a sloped profile within the floor of the pod receptacles that may prevent a mating beverage pod from being inserted except for a one single orientation. Inserting beverage pods in one single orientation may allow the beverage pods to carry an identifier in a single location on the beverage pod, that location aligning with the same location within each pod receptacle. A reader within the beverage machine may be configured to read the identifier in that specific location to identify the beverage pod or to identify a brewing parameter for the beverage pod. In some embodiments, the rotatable pod holder 1031 may be advanced automatically by the beverage machine and release a beverage pod as commanded by the beverage machine. In other embodiments, a user may advance the rotatable pod holder. Beverage pods may be maintained in a single orientation within the rotatable pod holder so that the beverage machine may scan the beverage pods within the rotatable pod holder with a reader as the beverage pods pass by the reader. The beverage machine may then determine the identity and/or a brewing parameter of any of the beverage pods based on the information read from the identifiers on the beverage pods.

[0079] FIG. 11 illustrates another embodiment of a pod holder rotatable pod holder. Rotatable pod holder 1131 includes a plurality of pod receptacles 1102a- 1102h separated by partitions 1105. The plurality of pod receptacles may hold a plurality of beverage pods. The beverage pods may be different types of beverage pods, for instance coffee beverage pods and espresso beverage pods. Pod receptacle 1102h is illustrated empty of beverage pods. Pod receptacles 1102a- 1102g each contain at least one beverage pod 1101a-l lOlh respectively. Pod receptacles may simultaneously hold a plurality of beverage pods within the same pod receptacle. Beverage pods may be released from the rotatable pod holder through an opening (not illustrated) in any convenient surface of the rotatable pod holder. In some embodiments, beverage pods may be conveyed from the rotatable pod holder to the beverage machine by gravity. As with previous embodiments, the rotatable pod holder is configured to rotate about the central pivot bore 1103.

[0080] According to some embodiments, each pod receptacle of the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 11 may hold a cassette of beverage pods. The beverage machine may scan an identifier on each cassette of beverage pods to determine an inventory of available beverage pods. The beverage machine may know the identity and location of each beverage within the rotatable pod holder at any given time. A user may select to brew a beverage from any of the available beverage pods. The rotatable pod holder may then position the corresponding cassette of beverage pods into position to release an appropriate beverage pod for brewing the selected beverage. A beverage machine may simultaneously accommodate several cassettes of beverage pods. One cassette of beverage pods of the several cassettes of beverage pods may be replaced without disturbing the remaining cassettes of beverage pods, such as to replace an empty cassette of beverage pods without removing nearby cassettes of beverage pods which may still contain fresh, unused beverage pods. A cassette of beverage pods may fit within a portion of rotatable pod holder such as between the partitions 1105 of rotatable pod holder 1131 in FIG. 11. For example, pod receptacles 1102a- 1102g may each contain a cassette of beverage pods, and each cassette of beverage pods may include a different type of beverage pods from the other cassettes of beverage pods.

[0081] FIG. 12 depicts a top view of a beverage pod according to one embodiment. Beverage pod 1501 includes a first surface 1511 and a perimeter 1512. An identifier 1514 is included on the beverage pod 1501. The identifier 1514 is shown as a bar code. The identifier may also be a QR code or any other suitable pattern or code. The identifier may include brewing parameters including at least one primary brewing parameter. The identifier may alternatively (or additionally) include an identity of the beverage pod that may be used to look up brewing parameters including one or more primary brewing parameters. Brewing parameters are parameters to be established to brew a beverage. Examples of brewing parameters include brewing pressure, brewing temperature, beverage volume, brewing time etc. The identifier may be read by a reader. The reader may be part of the beverage machine and may be a barcode reader, QR reader, etc. as appropriate. The placement of the identifier in FIG. 12 is for illustrative purposes only and may not represent the actual placement of identifiers which may be located at any convenient location.

[0082] The beverage pod 1501 of FIG. 12 includes a notch 1513 in perimeter 1512. The notch, in combination with the overall shape of the beverage pod, may limit possible insertion orientations of the beverage pod into a mating brew chamber. For instance, the brew chamber may be shaped as the negative of the beverage pod 1501, including the notch 1513, the brew chamber being only slightly larger than beverage pod 1501 so that the beverage pod will fit in the brew chamber in only one orientation. A reader may then be located in the beverage machine and positioned to read the identifier 1514 on the beverage pod. The identifier may be positioned in like position and orientation on all similar beverage pods such that a reader positioned to read one identifier on one beverage pod would be positioned to read the identifiers on any similar beverage pod. This may reduce a need to provide the identifier in more than one location on a beverage pod and may also reduce reading errors associated with reading misaligned identifiers etc.

[0083] First face 1511 of beverage pod 1501 may be a planar face. As illustrated, there is no plane of symmetry for beverage pod 1501 that intersects with a plane containing the first face 1511. This lack of symmetry enables the beverage pod to fit a similarly shaped brew chamber in only a single orientation of the beverage pod with respect to the brew chamber. According to some embodiments, a beverage pod includes a body made of one or more beverage ingredients, an outer wall, and a first face. The first face is a planar face, and the beverage pod is asymmetric about any plane intersecting the first face. Asymmetry about any plane intersecting the first face may limit the beverage pod to insertion within a brew chamber in a single orientation.

[0084] FIG. 13A depicts a top down view of a beverage pod according to another embodiment. Beverage pod 1601 includes a first surface 1611 and a perimeter 1612. An identifier 1614 is included on the beverage pod 1601. The identifier 1614 is shown as a bar code, but the identifier may also be a QR code or any other suitable pattern, code, or any other type of identifier. The identifier may include brewing parameters including at least one primary brewing parameter. The identifier may alternatively (or additionally) include an identity of the beverage pod that may be used to determine suitable brewing parameters. [0085] FIG. 13B depicts a side view of the beverage pod of the embodiment of FIG. 13A. As seen in FIG. 13B, the pod as a flat top surface 1611 and an bottom surface 1615. In some embodiments, the bottom surface 1615 may have a horizontal portion 1616 and a sloped portion 1617. Each of the horizontal portion 1616 and the sloped portion 1617 may be planar surfaces. The outer surface 1631 corresponds with the perimeter 1612 of FIG. 13A.

The presence of the sloped portion 1617 may serve to restrict insertion of the beverage pod to a single orientation of the beverage pod when the beverage pod is inserted into a similarly shaped brew chamber mating with the outer surface 1631 and the second surface 1615. [0086] Alternatively or in addition to the features described, insertion may be limited to a single orientation by other features on a beverage pod, including through holes, blind holes, or pockets with mating geometry within an appropriate brew chamber.

[0087] A variety of beverage pod shapes are contemplated. A beverage pod may be a sphere, or a portion of sphere such as a hemisphere. A beverage pod may be a frustrum of a cone. A beverage pod may be a cylinder or prism. A beverage pod may be shaped as a round right circular cylinder, an elliptical cylinder, an ellipsoid, a teardrop shape (see FIGs. 12-13B) or other shape. The beverage pod may have a first face and a second face, at least a portion of the first face being parallel to a portion of the second face and displaced from the second face by a distance. The first face and the second face may be of the same size and shape, for example as in a right circular cylinder, or the size and/or shape of the first face and the second face may differ. For instance, a frustrum of a cone may have two parallel faces of the same (e.g. circular) shape but having different sizes. In some embodiments, a beverage pod may lack any plane of symmetry in some embodiments. In some embodiments, a beverage pod may include holes or other features.

[0088] In some embodiments, a brew chamber is shaped to receive a beverage pod of a shape corresponding to a shape of the brew chamber. The brew chamber is shaped to allow the beverage pod to be received into the brew chamber in a single orientation of the beverage pod. For instance, a user may be able to insert a beverage pod into a brew chamber in a single orientation. A single allowable insertion orientation may be useful for locating an identifier in a single location such that a reader in the beverage machine may find the identifying marking in the same position and orientation to expedite reading/interpretation of the identifier. Such an identifier may be used to identify a pod of beverage material or a brewing parameter or recipe for the same.

[0089] FIG. 14 illustrates another embodiment of a rotatable pod holder configured to receive beverage pods such as those depicted in the embodiments illustrated in FIGs. 12-13B. Rotatable pod holder 1431 includes pod receptacles 1402 and 1402a spaced radially about a central pivot bore 1403 and spaced by an angular displacement. The pod receptacles 1402, 1402a are sized and shaped to fit beverage pods so that the beverage pods may fit within the rotatable pod holder in a single orientation, to align the beverage pods for reading the identifier marked on each beverage pod and also for proper alignment for inserting within a beverage machine. Pod receptacle 1402a includes an alignment feature 1413. The alignment feature 1413 is configured to mate with the notch 1513 shown in beverage pod 1501 of FIG. 12. The interaction of the notch with the alignment feature may allow the beverage pod of FIG. 12 to fit within rotatable pod holder 1431 in only a single orientation. Although only one pod receptacle 1402a is illustrated with the alignment feature, it is anticipated that in many embodiments, each pod receptacle of the plurality of pod receptacles in rotatable pod holder 1431 would include the alignment feature 1413. In other embodiments, other features of the beverage pod may limit a beverage pod to a single alignment within the rotatable pod holder. For instance, the beverage pod 1601 of FIGs. 13A-13B may fit within pod receptacles 1402. A surface of pod 1601 of FIGs. 13A-13B, such as the sloped portion 1617 shown in FIG. 13B may interact with the pod receptacle 1402 to limit insertion of the beverage pod to a single insertion orientation within the rotatable pod holder 1431. The single orientation may allow a reader, such as reader 222 of FIG. 3 to read the identifier such as identifiers 1514, 1614 of FIGs 12- 13A respectively. As with previous embodiments, although eight pod receptacles are illustrated in the rotatable pod holder of FIG. 14, larger and smaller numbers of pod receptacles are contemplated.

[0090] FIG. 15 shows a schematic block diagram of various components that may be included in a beverage machine 200 in one illustrative embodiment. Those of skill in the art will appreciate that a beverage machine 200 may be configured in a variety of different ways, and thus aspects of the invention should not be narrowly interpreted as relating only to one type of beverage machine. In this embodiment, a precursor liquid (e.g. hot or cold water) may be supplied from a liquid supply (e.g. a water reservoir) to a brew chamber 215. A beverage pod 801 comprising one or more beverage ingredients (e.g. coffee grounds, soluble coffee, tea leaves, etc.) may be included for use in forming the beverage. The beverage pod 801 may comprise a compacted beverage tablet in which its beverage ingredients 211 have been compacted into a tablet form.

[0091] A liquid supply W may supply beverage precursor liquid to a brew chamber 215. The source W may have any suitable arrangement, e.g., may provide liquid from a removable or fixed storage tank, a mains water supply or other source. Thus, in some cases, the liquid provided from the source W may vary in temperature by a wide degree depending on various factors, such as time of year, a temperature of a room in which the beverage machine 200 is located, etc. For example, if the source W is a reservoir that is filled by a user, the temperature of liquid in the reservoir may vary between room temperature (e.g., if liquid sits in the reservoir for an extended time) and a cooler temperature (e.g., if the reservoir has just been filled with water that is dispensed from a tap).

[0092] A pump 210 may drive liquid from the liquid supply W through a valve 151 through a liquid conditioner 216 (e.g. a heater, chiller, and/or carbonator), into a supply line 156 through a fluid port 807 and into the brew chamber 215 where a beverage pod 801 is held.

[0093] Following introduction of beverage precursor liquid into the brew chamber 215, the beverage pod 801 may be mixed with the precursor liquid to form a desired beverage. The beverage may then be dispensed to a container 300 (e.g., a cup or a carafe) using a beverage machine dispenser outlet 225.

[0094] The pump 210 and/or valve 151 may be in electrical communication with a controller 16 and/or a user interface. In some embodiments, the pump 210 may serve as the sole fluid driving source that moves liquid from the liquid supply W to the brew chamber 215.

[0095] In some embodiments, an air valve 208 may be provided between the liquid supply W and the pump 210. The air valve 208 may allow air trapped within the liquid line 155 to escape the flow path prior to entering the pump 210. This may contribute to more efficient operation of the pump 210 and any downstream components, or reduce a likelihood of damage to the pump 210 or any downstream components. The air valve 208 may be in electrical communication with the controller 16 and/or a user interface.

[0096] In some embodiments, a pressure relief valve 212 may be provided between the pump 210 and the valve 151. The pressure relief valve 212 may allow liquid from the pump 210 to bypass the valve 151 in the event that excess pressure builds between the pump 210 and the valve 151. Liquid from the pressure relief valve 212 may be allowed to exit the beverage machine 200 through the brew chamber 215, or any other appropriate outlet of the machine. In this way, the pressure relief valve 212 may prevent a build-up of excess pressure between the pump 210 and the valve 151. This configuration may prevent damage to the pump 210, the valve 151, and/or other system components, particularly in the event that the valve 151 or another downstream component becomes blocked or clogged. [0097] In some embodiments, a liquid level detector 206 may be provided in the beverage machine 200 near the liquid supply W, or in some embodiments, in the liquid supply W itself. In some embodiments, the liquid level detector may be a conductivity probe positioned near an outlet of the liquid supply W. The liquid level detector may sense when the liquid in the liquid supply W is below a threshold fill level, such as when the liquid supply is empty or nearly empty. In other embodiments, the liquid level detector may include a microswitch with an attached float that rises with liquid level in a tank of the liquid supply W. In another embodiment, the liquid level detector may detect a capacitance change associated with one or more liquid levels in the tank, may use an optical emitter/sensor arrangement (such as an LED and photodiode) to detect a change in liquid level, may use a pressure sensor, may use a floating magnet and Hall effect sensor to detect a level change, and others. Thus, the liquid level detector is not necessarily limited to a conductive probe configuration. Moreover, the liquid level detector may include two or more different types of sensors to detect different levels in a tank of a liquid supply. For example, a pressure sensor may be used to detect liquid at a first dispense level, while a conductive probe may be used to detect liquid at a second, different dispense level. The liquid level detector 206 may be in electrical communication with the controller 16 and/or a user interface.

[0098] In some embodiments, the liquid conditioner 216 is a heater comprising any appropriate type of heater, boiler, or heat exchanger. For example, in some embodiments, the liquid conditioner 216 may be a flow-through heater that has a relatively small volume, e.g., a tube with associated heating element to heat liquid in the tube. Examples of flow-through heaters include a flat flow through heater, a spiral flow through heater, a U-shaped flow through heater, or any other type of heater. In some embodiments, the heater may be a heating element that heats a hot water tank. The heater may be in thermal communication with the hot water tank, e.g. inside the hot water tank in direct contact with the water inside the tank, or in a non-water contact arrangement in which the heater is provided outside the tank or embedded within the tank wall. The liquid conditioner 216 may be in electrical communication with the controller 16 and/or a user interface.

[0099] Of course, heating of the liquid is not necessary, and instead (or additionally) the liquid conditioner may comprise a chiller to cool the liquid, a carbonator to carbonate the liquid, or otherwise condition the liquid in a way that alters the volume of liquid supplied to the brew chamber.

[0100] The controller 16 may include a programmed processor and/or other data processing device along with suitable software or other operating instructions, one or more memories (including non-transient storage media that may store software and/or other operating instructions), temperature and liquid level sensors, pressure sensors, input/output interfaces (such as a user interface 17), communication buses or other links, a display, switches, relays, triacs, or other components necessary to perform desired input/output or other functions. A user interface 17 may be included to provide information to a user and/or receive information from a user, such as buttons, a touch screen, a voice command module (including a microphone to receive audio information from a user and suitable software to interpret the audio information as a voice command), a visual display, one or more indicator lights, a speaker, and so on.

[0101] A beverage is brewed in a brew chamber. A beverage machine may include one or more brew chambers. A brew chamber may be sealed by a brew chamber lid, which may close on the brew chamber and seal the brew chamber prior to the introduction of fluid to brew the beverage. A brew chamber lid should not be interpreted as being on any particular face of a brew chamber (e.g., the top) but may be on any face of the brew chamber, top, bottom, or any side. Fluid, including the precursor liquid, may be applied to a beverage pod from the brew chamber lid. A user may insert a beverage pod by opening the brew chamber lid, however other embodiments are contemplated where beverage pods may be loaded without the need for a user to manually open the brew chamber lid, which may not be accessible or visible to the user in some embodiments. A brew chamber lid may open in any direction such as vertically, horizontally, or at any angle to a vertical or horizontal plane. Likewise, the flow of fluid into, through, or from the brew chamber may be in any direction or combination of directions.

[0102] FIG. 16 shows a block diagram of a method to prepare a beverage according to some embodiments. First, a user selects to brew a beverage from a beverage machine in step 1901. The beverage machine positions a pod holder to locate a beverage pod for insertion into the beverage machine in step 1902. The pod holder releases the beverage pod into the beverage machine in step 1903. Finally, the beverage machine brews the selected beverage with the beverage pod in step 1904. In some embodiments, the pod holder may be a rotatable pod holder. The method may include the beverage machine rotating the rotatable pod holder to locate the beverage pod for insertion into the beverage machine. In some embodiments, the method may also include the beverage machine determining the appropriate beverage pod for the beverage selected by the user. For instance, this may include selecting an espresso beverage pod when the user selects an espresso beverage and selecting a coffee beverage pod when the user selects a coffee beverage. According to some embodiments, the method may include the beverage machine reading the beverage pods available in the rotatable pod holder and displaying the beverage types available for the user to select based on the beverage pods available in the rotatable pod holder.

[0103] FIG. 17 illustrates a side view of a beverage machine according to some embodiments. The beverage machine 100 includes the beverage machine housing 101, a user interface 110, and a brewing head 102 protruding from the beverage machine housing. A rotatable pod holder 120 is illustrated as removably attached to the top of the beverage machine. A hand lever 122 is provided for a user to operate the beverage machine. In some embodiments, operating the hand lever 122 may advance the rotatable pod holder, open a beverage pod aperture, release a beverage pod from the rotatable pod holder into the beverage pod aperture and load the beverage pod into a brew chamber for brewing.

[0104] In some embodiments, the beverage machine may include a spent pod collection bin for holding spent pods. In some embodiments, spent pods may automatically fall into the collection bin after use in beverage formation. An illustrative example of a spent pod collection bin is shown in FIG. 17. In some embodiments, the beverage machine may include a drain 1704 for the spent pod collection bin 1701. Liquid from the spent pods may flow through the drain 1704 to decrease the amount of liquid retained within the collection bin. This may help to decrease and/or decelerate the buildup of mold, bacteria, and/or other unwanted substances in the collection bin. In some embodiments, the drain 1704 may lead to a drip tray 131 of the beverage machine. In other embodiments, the drain 1704 may lead to a different location other than the drip tray, such as a different collection tray that may be emptied by a user, or any other suitable arrangement. In some embodiments, the collection bin 1701 may include a permeable surface 1702 on which the spent pods 1751 rest. The drain 1704 may be a channel such as an enclosed tube or an open trough. [0105] Spent beverage pods 1751 may be deposited in the pod collecting portion 1705 of the spent pod collection bin 1701. In some embodiments, spent beverage pods 1751 may be ejected from a brew chamber and directed to the spent pod collection bin 1701 by motion of the hand lever 122. In other embodiments, electric actuation may eject spent beverage pods 1751 and direct them toward the spent pod collection bin 1701. Spent beverage pods in the pod collecting portion 1705 may emit a liquid effluent resulting from leftover liquid from the brewing process. The fluid effluent may leak or drain from the spent beverage pods 1751 and pass through the permeable surface 1702 into the fluid collecting chamber 1703. Liquid effluent in the fluid collecting chamber 1703 may be drained out through the drain 1704, and in some embodiments, into the drip tray 131. In some embodiments, a floor surface 1707 may be angled to promote flow of fluid into the drain 1704.

[0106] The spent pod collecting bin 1701 may be removed from the beverage machine 100. In some embodiments, the spent pod collecting bin 1701 may be removed as a drawer or as a bin that removably couples to the beverage machine. The spent pod collecting bin 1701 may be removed to dump spent beverage pods 1751 and/or to clean the spent pod collecting bin. In some embodiments, the drain 1704 may be attached to the spent pod collection bin and removeable therewith. In other embodiments, the drain may be connected to the beverage machine 100 or the drip tray 131 (such as if the latter is separately removeable). The drain 1704 may include a flared portion or funnel to collect liquid effluent from the spent pod collecting bin 1701.

[0107] FIG. 18 illustrates another embodiment of a spent pod collection bin 1801 (here illustrated as removed from a beverage machine). The spent pod collection bin 1801 includes a drain 1802 and a fluid collecting chamber 1803. The drain 1802 may be a permeable surface that may form at least a portion of a floor of a pod collecting portion 1805 of the spent pod collection bin 1801. The floor of the pod collecting portion may also include solid portions such as solid portion 1812. Some or all of the floor may be sloped as illustrated, such as to control the motion of liquid effluent. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 18, the fluid collecting chamber 1803 is in the form of a removeable vessel such as a drawer or tray which may be removed from the spent pod collection bin 1801 such as to dump collected liquid effluent. The fluid collecting chamber 1803 may be removed while the spent pod collection bin 1801 is either installed in or removed from the beverage machine. As with previous embodiments, spent beverage pods 1851 are collected in the spent pod collection bin which may be removed from the beverage machine dumped out to dispose of the spent beverage pods. Spent beverage pods may enter the spent pod collection bin 1801 through an open top or a portion of one of the sides. Arrow 1830 represents a trajectory of a spent beverage pod according to some embodiments.

[0108] Although aspects of the present disclosure may be described with respect to single serving beverage machines, this disclosure is not meant to be limiting to single serving beverage machines or to the preparation of any quantity of beverage and may be applied to any beverage machine which may prepare any quantity of beverage or any number of beverage servings during a beverage forming operation.

[0109] The above-described embodiments of the technology described herein can be implemented in any of numerous ways. For example, the embodiments may be implemented using hardware, software or a combination thereof. When implemented in software, the software code can be executed on any suitable processor or collection of processors, whether provided in a single computer or distributed among multiple computers. Such processors may be implemented as integrated circuits, with one or more processors in an integrated circuit component, including commercially available integrated circuit components known in the art by names such as CPU chips, GPU chips, microprocessor, microcontroller, or co-processor. Alternatively, a processor may be implemented in custom circuitry, such as an ASIC, or semicustom circuitry resulting from configuring a programmable logic device. As yet a further alternative, a processor may be a portion of a larger circuit or semiconductor device, whether commercially available, semi-custom or custom. As a specific example, some commercially available microprocessors have multiple cores such that one or a subset of those cores may constitute a processor. Though, a processor may be implemented using circuitry in any suitable format.

[0110] Further, it should be appreciated that a computer may be embodied in any of a number of forms, such as a rack-mounted computer, a desktop computer, a laptop computer, or a tablet computer. Additionally, a computer may be embedded in a device not generally regarded as a computer but with suitable processing capabilities, including a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a smart phone or any other suitable portable or fixed electronic device. [0111] Also, a computer may have one or more input and output devices. These devices can be used, among other things, to present a user interface. Examples of output devices that can be used to provide a user interface include printers or display screens for visual presentation of output and speakers or other sound generating devices for audible presentation of output. Examples of input devices that can be used for a user interface include keyboards, and pointing devices, such as mice, touch pads, and digitizing tablets. As another example, a computer may receive input information through speech recognition or in other audible format.

[0112] Such computers may be interconnected by one or more networks in any suitable form, including as a local area network or a wide area network, such as an enterprise network or the Internet. Such networks may be based on any suitable technology and may operate according to any suitable protocol and may include wireless networks, wired networks or fiber optic networks.

[0113] Also, the various methods or processes outlined herein may be coded as software that is executable on one or more processors that employ any one of a variety of operating systems or platforms. Additionally, such software may be written using any of a number of suitable programming languages and/or programming or scripting tools, and also may be compiled as executable machine language code or intermediate code that is executed on a framework or virtual machine.

[0114] In this respect, the embodiments described herein may be embodied as a computer readable storage medium (or multiple computer readable media) (e.g., a computer memory, one or more floppy discs, compact discs (CD), optical discs, digital video disks (DVD), magnetic tapes, flash memories, circuit configurations in Field Programmable Gate Arrays or other semiconductor devices, or other tangible computer storage medium) encoded with one or more programs that, when executed on one or more computers or other processors, perform methods that implement the various embodiments discussed above. As is apparent from the foregoing examples, a computer readable storage medium may retain information for a sufficient time to provide computer-executable instructions in a non- transitory form. Such a computer readable storage medium or media can be transportable, such that the program or programs stored thereon can be loaded onto one or more different computers or other processors to implement various aspects of the present disclosure as discussed above. As used herein, the term "computer-readable storage medium" encompasses only a non-transitory computer-readable medium that can be considered to be a manufacture (i.e., article of manufacture) or a machine. Alternatively or additionally, the disclosure may be embodied as a computer readable medium other than a computer-readable storage medium, such as a propagating signal.

[0115] The terms “program” or “software” are used herein in a generic sense to refer to any type of computer code or set of computer-executable instructions that can be employed to program a computer or other processor to implement various aspects of the present disclosure as discussed above. Additionally, it should be appreciated that according to one aspect of this embodiment, one or more computer programs that when executed perform methods of the present disclosure need not reside on a single computer or processor, but may be distributed in a modular fashion amongst a number of different computers or processors to implement various aspects of the present disclosure .

[0116] Computer-executable instructions may be in many forms, such as program modules, executed by one or more computers or other devices. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. Typically the functionality of the program modules may be combined or distributed as desired in various embodiments.

[0117] Also, data structures may be stored in computer-readable media in any suitable form. For simplicity of illustration, data structures may be shown to have fields that are related through location in the data structure. Such relationships may likewise be achieved by assigning storage for the fields with locations in a computer-readable medium that conveys relationship between the fields. However, any suitable mechanism may be used to establish a relationship between information in fields of a data structure, including through the use of pointers, tags or other mechanisms that establish relationship between data elements.

[0118] Various aspects of the present disclosure may be used alone, in combination, or in a variety of arrangements not specifically discussed in the embodiments described in the foregoing and is therefore not limited in its application to the details and arrangement of components set forth in the foregoing description or illustrated in the drawings. For example, aspects described in one embodiment may be combined in any manner with aspects described in other embodiments. [0119] Also, the embodiments described herein may be embodied as a method, of which an example has been provided. The acts performed as part of the method may be ordered in any suitable way. Accordingly, embodiments may be constructed in which acts are performed in an order different than illustrated, which may include performing some acts simultaneously, even though shown as sequential acts in illustrative embodiments.

[0120] Further, some actions are described as taken by a “user.” It should be appreciated that a “user” need not be a single individual, and that in some embodiments, actions attributable to a “user” may be performed by a team of individuals and/or an individual in combination with computer-assisted tools or other mechanisms.

[0121] While the present teachings have been described in conjunction with various embodiments and examples, it is not intended that the present teachings be limited to such embodiments or examples. On the contrary, the present teachings encompass various alternatives, modifications, and equivalents, as will be appreciated by those of skill in the art. Accordingly, the foregoing description and drawings are by way of example only.

Claims

CLAIMS What is claimed is:

1. A beverage pod holder for storing a plurality of beverage pods for a beverage machine, the beverage pod holder comprising: a first pod receptacle and a second pod receptacle; a partition separating the first pod receptacle from the second pod receptacle; and an opening configured to permit release of a beverage pod out of the first pod receptacle; wherein the beverage pod holder is configured to physically interface with a beverage machine such that a single actuation actuates both the beverage pod holder and the beverage machine.

2. The beverage pod holder of claim 1, wherein the first pod receptacle and the second pod receptacle are moveable relative to the opening, and wherein the single actuation causes the first pod receptacle and the second pod receptacle to move relative to the opening.

3. The beverage pod holder of claim 1, wherein the beverage pod holder includes an actuator, wherein the single actuation is of the actuator of the beverage pod holder.

4. The beverage pod holder of claim 1 in combination with a beverage machine having an actuator, wherein the single actuation is of the actuator of the beverage machine.

5. The beverage pod holder and beverage machine of claim 4, wherein the single actuation causes the beverage machine to prepare for formation of a beverage.

6. The beverage pod holder and beverage machine of claim 4, wherein the beverage machine comprises a pod insertion aperture for receiving a beverage pod, and wherein when the beverage pod holder is physically coupled with the beverage machine, the opening of the beverage pod holder is vertically aligned with the pod insertion aperture.

7. The beverage pod holder of claim 1, further comprising: a plurality of pod receptacles including the first pod receptacle and the second pod receptacle; a pivot axis about which the beverage pod holder is configured to rotate, and wherein the plurality of pod receptacles are arranged around the pivot axis and spaced apart by an angular displacement.

8. The beverage pod holder of any of the above claims, further comprising a first beverage pod disposed in the first pod receptacle, and a second beverage pod disposed in the second pod receptacle.

9. The beverage pod holder of claim 8, wherein the beverage pod holder is a disposable cassette.

10. The beverage pod holder of claim 9, wherein the cassette includes an identifier configured to be read by a beverage machine.

11. The beverage pod holder of claim 10, wherein the identifier encodes identifying information about the first beverage pod.

12. The beverage pod holder of claim 10, wherein the identifier encodes brew parameter information.

13. The beverage pod holder of claim 1, further comprising a frangible cover configured to seal at least a portion of the first pod receptacle.

14. The beverage pod holder of claim 13, wherein the frangible cover is provided at the opening to seal the opening.

15. The beverage pod holder of any of claim 13 and 14, wherein the frangible cover is configured to be broken by a beverage machine to release the first beverage pod.

16. The beverage pod holder of claim 7, further comprising teeth configured interact with the beverage machine and to rotate the beverage pod holder about the pivot axis.

17. The beverage pod holder of claim 7, wherein the beverage pod holder is configured to release the first beverage pod through the opening in a direction parallel to the pivot axis.

18. The beverage pod holder of claim 7, wherein the beverage pod holder is configured to release the fist beverage pod through the opening in a direction radial to the pivot axis.

19. The beverage pod holder of claim 8, wherein the first beverage pod and the second beverage pod are different types of beverage pods.

20. The beverage pod holder of claim 1, wherein the first pod receptacle is configured to be airtight.

21. A beverage pod holder for storing a plurality of beverage pods for a beverage machine, the beverage pod holder comprising: a plurality of pod receptacles each containing at least one beverage pod; and at least one identifier configured to be read by a beverage machine, wherein the beverage pod holder is configured to removably couple to a beverage machine.

22. The beverage pod holder of claim 21, wherein the at least one identifier is located on a surface of the beverage pod holder.

23. The beverage pod holder of claim 21, wherein the at least one identifier is located on the at least one beverage pod, and is configured to be read by a beverage machine while the at least one beverage pod is positioned in the corresponding pod receptacle.

24. A beverage machine, comprising: a pod insertion aperture; and a pod holder comprising a pod receptacle and an opening, wherein the pod receptacle is configured to store a beverage pod, and wherein the pod holder is configured to position the beverage pod for insertion into the pod insertion aperture and wherein the opening is configured to release the beverage pod from the pod receptacle in response to actuation of the beverage machine.

25. The beverage machine of claim 24, wherein the pod holder is further configured to be removably connected to the beverage machine.

26. The beverage machine of claim 24, wherein the pod holder is in the form of a rotatable pod holder.

27. The beverage machine of claim 26, wherein the rotatable pod holder includes: a pivot axis wherein at least a portion of the rotatable pod holder is configured to rotate about the pivot axis; and a plurality of pod receptacles, and wherein the plurality of pod receptacles are arranged radially about the pivot axis and spaced from each other by an angular displacement.

28. The beverage machine of claim 27, wherein the rotatable pod holder includes a stationary portion and a rotating portion and wherein the plurality of pod receptacles are disposed in the rotating portion and the opening is disposed in the stationary portion.

29. The beverage machine of claim 28, wherein the rotatable pod holder is configured to release a beverage pod by rotating one pod receptacle of the plurality of pod receptacles across the opening, allowing the beverage pod to pass out of the pod receptacle through the opening.

30. The beverage machine of any one of claims 24 or 28, wherein the beverage pod is conveyed from the pod holder to the pod insertion aperture by gravity.

31. The beverage machine of any one of claims 27 to 29, further comprising a shaft, wherein the shaft is coaxial with the pivot axis and configured to rotate a portion of the rotatable pod holder.

32. The beverage machine of claim 27, wherein the rotatable pod holder additionally includes teeth disposed in a radial pattern about the central axis, and wherein at least a portion of the rotatable pod holder is rotated by driving the rotatable pod holder from the teeth.

33. The beverage machine of any one of claims 27, 31 or 32, wherein the rotating portion of the rotatable pod holder is rotated by an electric motor.

34. The beverage machine of claim 24, wherein a pod receptacle is configured to hold a plurality of beverage pods.

35. The beverage machine of claim 27, wherein the plurality of pod receptacles are configured to hold more than one distinct type of beverage pod.

36. The beverage machine of claim 35, wherein the distinct types of beverage pods include coffee beverage pods and espresso beverage pods.

37. The beverage machine of claim 24, wherein the pod insertion aperture and opening of the pod holder are vertically aligned.

38. The beverage forming machine of claim 24 in combination with a beverage pod shaped as one of a frustrum of a cone, a sphere, an ellipsoid, an elliptical cylinder, a circular cylinder, or a teardrop.

39. The beverage forming machine of claim 24, wherein each of the plurality of pod receptacles has a shape having a rotational symmetry of order one such that a beverage pod is configured to fit within the pod receptacle in only a single orientation.

40. The beverage forming arrangement of claim 24 in combination with a beverage pod, wherein the beverage pod has a first face and a second face, the first face being parallel to the second face and displaced from the second face by a distance.

41. The beverage forming arrangement and beverage pod of claim 40, wherein beverage pod has a planform shape, the planform shape having a perimeter, wherein the perimeter of the planform shape is asymmetric about any plane normal to the first face or the second face.

42. The beverage forming arrangement of claim 24 in combination with a beverage pod, wherein the beverage pod has a first face and a third face, the third face making an acute angle with the first face.

43. The beverage forming arrangement of claim 24 in combination with a beverage pod, wherein the beverage pod has a planform shape, the planform shape having a perimeter, wherein the perimeter of the planform shape is a teardrop shape.

44. The beverage forming arrangement of claim 24 in combination with a beverage pod, wherein the beverage pod is configured to be received within the beverage machine without packaging such that the at least one beverage ingredient of the body directly contacts the beverage machine prior to forming a beverage.

45. The beverage forming arrangement of claim 24 in combination with a beverage pod, wherein the beverage pod further includes a shell disposed around the outer periphery of the beverage pod, wherein the shell is configured to contain solid beverage ingredients within the beverage pod when a beverage is brewed with the beverage pod.

46. The beverage forming arrangement of claim 24, wherein the pod holder is configured move to a position based on a beverage selection input by a user and to release one beverage pod from the pod holder, the one beverage pod corresponding to the beverage selection input by the user.

47. The beverage forming arrangement of claim 24, wherein the beverage machine is configured to maintain an inventory of beverage pods stored within the beverage forming arrangement.

48. A beverage forming machine comprising: a brew chamber configured to form a beverage from a beverage pod; a removable spent pod collection bin; and a drain configured to drain liquid from the spent pod collection bin.

49. The beverage forming machine of claim 48 further comprising a removable vessel disposed below the spent pod collection bin and configured to collect liquid that drains through the drain of the spent pod collection bin.

50. The beverage forming arrangement of 48, further comprising a drip tray, wherein the drain comprises a channel fluidly connecting the collection bin to the drip tray to direct liquid from the spent collection bin into the drip tray.

51. The beverage forming arrangement of claim 50, wherein the drip tray is configured to receive a container in which the beverage formed from the brew chamber is dispensed.

52. A method of forming a beverage comprising: actuating a pod holder to release a beverage pod into a beverage machine, wherein the actuation of the pod holder is tracked by the beverage machine.

53. The method of claim 52, wherein the step of actuating a pod holder is triggered by actuating a beverage machine to form a beverage.

54. The method of claim 52, wherein the pod holder holds a plurality of beverage pods.

55. The method of claim 52, wherein the pod holder is a rotatable pod holder and wherein the method additionally includes the beverage machine rotating the rotatable pod holder to locate the beverage pod for release into the beverage machine.

56. The method of claim 52, further comprising: reading, by the beverage machine, an indicator on the pod holder; setting a brew parameter based on information determined from reading the indicator.