HK1179490B - Method and apparatus for cartridge-based carbonation of beverages - Google Patents

Description

Method and apparatus for cartridge-based carbonation of beverages

This application claims benefit of U.S. provisional application No. 61,337,184 filed on 1/2/2010.

Background

These inventions relate to carbonating liquids for use in preparing beverages. Systems for carbonating liquids and/or mixing liquids with beverage media to form beverages have been described in a number of documents, including U.S. patents 4,025,655, 4,040,342, 4,636,337, 6,712,342 and5,182,084, and PCT publication WO 2008/124851.

Disclosure of Invention

Aspects of the invention relate to carbonating a precursor liquid, such as water, to form a beverage. In some embodiments, a carbon dioxide source may be provided within the cartridge for generating carbon dioxide gas dissolved in the precursor liquid. A beverage medium, such as a powdered beverage mix or liquid syrup, may be provided in a cartridge that is the same as or separate from the carbon dioxide source and mixed (either before or after carbonation) with the precursor liquid to form the beverage. The use of one or more cartridges for the carbon dioxide source and/or the beverage medium may facilitate a convenient to use and not messy system for preparing carbonated beverages, for example, in a consumer's home.

In one aspect of the invention, a beverage making system includes a beverage precursor liquid supply configured to provide a precursor liquid and a cartridge chamber configured to hold a first cartridge portion and a second cartridge portion. The cartridge chamber may have a single cartridge receiver for receiving one or more cartridges, or may include multiple cartridge receivers separated from one another, for example, to receive two or more cartridges. If a plurality of receptacles are provided, they can be opened and closed simultaneously or independently of one another. A first cartridge portion may be disposed within the cartridge chamber, wherein the first cartridge portion contains a carbon dioxide source configured to emit carbon dioxide gas for carbonating the precursor liquid. In some embodiments, the carbon dioxide source may include a charged molecular sieve, such as a zeolite in solid form (e.g., granules) and having adsorbed carbon dioxide, which releases carbon dioxide in the presence of water. A second cartridge portion may be disposed within the cartridge chamber, wherein the second cartridge portion contains a beverage medium that is configured to be mixed with the liquid precursor to form a beverage. The system may be arranged to carbonate the precursor liquid using carbon dioxide gas emitted by the first cartridge portion and mix the beverage medium of the second cartridge portion with the precursor liquid. The precursor liquid may be carbonated within the first cartridge portion or within one or more other regions to which carbon dioxide is delivered (such as a reservoir or a membrane carbonator). The precursor liquid can be mixed with the beverage medium before or after carbonation, and can be within the second cartridge portion or at another location, such as a mixing chamber separate from the second cartridge portion.

The system may include a carbon dioxide activating fluid supply device configured to provide fluid to the cartridge chamber for contact with the carbon dioxide source to cause the carbon dioxide source to emit carbon dioxide gas. For example, the carbon dioxide activated fluid supply means may be arranged to control the amount of fluid (such as water in liquid or gaseous form) provided to the cartridge chamber to control the amount of carbon dioxide gas generated by the carbon dioxide source. This may allow the system to control the carbon dioxide gas pressure used to carbonate the precursor liquid. Thus, the cartridge chamber may be arranged to maintain at least the first cartridge portion within the cartridge chamber at a pressure greater than ambient pressure. The carbon dioxide gas supply may be arranged to deliver carbon dioxide gas emitted by the carbon dioxide source to the beverage precursor liquid at a pressure greater than ambient pressure to carbonate the precursor liquid. The carbon dioxide may be delivered to a carbonation tank, a membrane contactor, or other suitable structure for carbonation. For example, the system may comprise a carbonator comprising a membrane separating its liquid side from its gas side, wherein carbon dioxide gas is provided to the gas side and the beverage precursor liquid supply provides precursor liquid to the liquid side, whereby carbon dioxide on the gas side is dissolved in the precursor liquid on the liquid side. The pump may move the precursor liquid from the reservoir through the carbonator for subsequent discharge as a beverage, or the precursor liquid may be circulated back to the reservoir for one or more additional passes through the carbonator.

In some embodiments, the system can mix the beverage medium with the precursor liquid to form the beverage, and thus, no beverage is in contact with the carbon dioxide source. However, in other embodiments, the precursor liquid may be contacted with the carbon dioxide source, for example where the liquid is carbonated through the first cartridge portion. The first and second cartridge portions may be part of respective first and second cartridges that are different from one another, or the two cartridge portions may be part of a single cartridge. If part of a single cartridge, the first and second cartridge portions may be separated from one another, for example, by a permeable element such as a filter or an impermeable element such as a cartridge wall, which may or may not be breakable, breakable (such as by suitable pressure), pierceable, or otherwise rupturable to allow the first and second cartridge portions to communicate with one another. The cartridge associated with the first and second cartridge portions may be pierced when it is located within the cartridge chamber to allow access to the first and second portions. For example, if the two cartridge portions are separate cartridges, the two cartridges may be pierced by closure of the cartridge chamber to allow fluid to be provided to the first cartridge portion and/or gas to exit from the first cartridge portion, and to allow the beverage medium to exit the second cartridge portion, either alone or with the mixed precursor liquid.

In some embodiments, the volumes of the first and second cartridge portions may each be less than the volume of carbonated beverage formed using the cartridge portions. This may provide considerable advantages by allowing a user to use a relatively small volume cartridge to form a relatively large volume of beverage. For example, the system may be configured to use the first and second cartridge portions to form a carbonated liquid having a volume of about 100-. Carbonation may be performed at a pressure of about 20 psig to about 50 psig or greater. The cartridge portion in this embodiment may have a volume of about 50 milliliters or less, thereby reducing consumption and/or adding convenience to the system.

In another aspect of the invention, a method for forming a beverage includes disposing a first cartridge portion and a second cartridge portion within a cartridge chamber, wherein the first cartridge portion contains a carbon dioxide source configured to emit carbon dioxide gas for carbonating a liquid, and the second cartridge portion contains a beverage medium configured to be mixed with a liquid precursor to form the beverage. A fluid, such as in liquid or gaseous form, may be provided to the cartridge chamber to cause the carbon dioxide source to emit carbon dioxide, and the precursor liquid may be carbonated by dissolving at least a portion of the carbon dioxide emitted by the carbon dioxide source within the precursor liquid. The precursor liquid can be mixed with the beverage medium before or after carbonation to produce the beverage.

As mentioned above, the carbon dioxide source may be in solid form within the first cartridge portion, for example comprising a charged zeolite. The amount of fluid provided to the first cartridge portion may be controlled to control the carbon dioxide gas produced by the carbon dioxide source, for example to maintain the pressure of the gas produced by the carbon dioxide source within a desired range above ambient pressure. In one embodiment, the carbon dioxide source comprises a charged zeolite and the amount of fluid provided to the cartridge chamber is controlled to cause the charged zeolite to emit carbon dioxide for a period of at least 30 seconds or longer.

The carbonation of the precursor liquid may comprise providing carbon dioxide gas to a reservoir containing the precursor liquid, providing carbon dioxide to the gas side of the membrane, whereby the carbon dioxide on the gas side dissolves in the precursor liquid on the liquid side of the membrane, spraying the precursor liquid into the space filled with carbon dioxide, passing the precursor liquid under pressure through the first cartridge portion, and so on.

As described above, the first and second cartridge portions may be part of respective first and second cartridges that are different from each other, or the two cartridge portions may be part of a single cartridge. If part of a single cartridge, the first cartridge portion and the second cartridge portion may be separated from each other, for example, by a cartridge wall. The mixing of the precursor liquid may be performed before or after carbonation and may be performed at the second cartridge portion or at another location, such as a mixing chamber separate from the second cartridge portion.

In one embodiment, the steps of providing the fluid and carbonating may be performed over a period of time less than about 120 seconds (e.g., about 60 seconds) and using a gas pressure of 20-50 psig to form a carbonated liquid having a volume of about 100 and 1000 milliliters (e.g., about 500 milliliters) and a carbonation level of about 2 to 4 volumes. Thus, the system and method according to this aspect may produce a relatively highly carbonated beverage in a relatively short period of time without the need for a higher pressure.

In another aspect of the invention, a beverage making system includes a beverage precursor liquid supply for providing a precursor liquid, a cartridge chamber configured to hold a cartridge, and a cartridge including an interior space containing a carbon dioxide source. The carbon dioxide source may be configured to emit carbon dioxide gas, e.g., in response to contact with a fluid, such as water or other active agent, for use in carbonating the precursor liquid. The carbon dioxide activating fluid supply means may be arranged to provide fluid to the cartridge chamber for contact with the carbon dioxide source to cause the carbon dioxide source to emit carbon dioxide gas, and the carbon dioxide activating fluid supply means may be arranged to control the amount of fluid provided to the cartridge chamber to control the amount of carbon dioxide gas emitted by the carbon dioxide source, for example to control the pressure within the cartridge chamber or other region. The carbon dioxide gas supply may be arranged to transfer carbon dioxide gas emitted by the carbon dioxide source to the precursor liquid provided via the beverage precursor liquid supply at a pressure greater than ambient pressure to carbonate the precursor liquid. The ability to control carbon dioxide gas production and thus pressure in a relatively simple manner of controlling fluid flow into the cartridge chamber may provide the advantages of simple control and system operation.

The beverage precursor supply may include a reservoir containing precursor liquid, a carbonator including a membrane separating a liquid side from a gas side thereof, a pump that moves precursor liquid from the reservoir through the carbonator or other portion of the system, one or more filters or other liquid handling devices, and the like. The cartridge chamber may be configured to maintain the cartridge within the chamber at a pressure above ambient pressure, for example, within a pressure range suitable for carbonating the precursor liquid. In some embodiments, the gas pressure for carbonation may be between about 20 and 50 psig, although higher (or lower) pressures are also possible.

In yet another aspect of the invention, a method for forming a beverage includes providing a cartridge having an interior space sealed to enclose a carbon dioxide source within the interior space, providing a fluid to the cartridge to cause the carbon dioxide source to emit carbon dioxide, controlling an amount of fluid provided to the cartridge over a period of time to control an amount of carbon dioxide gas emitted by the carbon dioxide source over the period of time, and carbonating a precursor liquid by dissolving at least a portion of the carbon dioxide emitted by the carbon dioxide source in the precursor liquid. The precursor liquid may be mixed with the beverage medium before or after carbonation, in a cartridge, or other area to produce the beverage. In one embodiment, the cartridge may be pierced using a beverage forming machine to provide liquid to the cartridge. As with the embodiments described above, the liquid may be carbonated in a cartridge or other area such as a carbonator or reservoir, the cartridge may include a second portion containing the beverage medium (or a second cartridge may be used for the beverage medium), and so on.

In another aspect of the invention, a method for forming a carbonated beverage includes providing a cartridge having an interior space sealed to enclose a carbon dioxide source within the interior space, wherein the carbon dioxide source is in a solid form, opening the cartridge (such as by piercing) and causing the cartridge to emit carbon dioxide, and carbonating a liquid by dissolving at least a portion emitted by the carbon dioxide source within the liquid. The liquid is mixed with the beverage medium by passing the liquid through a cartridge chamber containing the beverage medium to produce a beverage. By mixing the liquid with the beverage medium in the cartridge, the need for a separate mixing chamber can be avoided and flavour contamination between successively made beverages can be reduced (as the cartridge functions as a mixing chamber and is only used once).

In one embodiment, the cartridge enclosing the carbon dioxide source further comprises a cartridge chamber containing the beverage medium. For example, liquid may be introduced into a first portion of the cartridge in which the carbon dioxide source is located for carbonation, and the liquid passes from the first portion to a second portion in which the beverage medium is located. In another embodiment, the cartridge chamber in which the liquid is mixed with the beverage medium may be part of a second cartridge separate from the cartridge that encloses the carbon dioxide source.

Carbon dioxide gas from the cartridge may be directed to a region where the carbon dioxide gas is dissolved in the liquid, such as to a membrane contactor, a reservoir holding a substantial portion of the liquid, or other structure. The pressure of the carbon dioxide may be controlled by controlling the amount of fluid provided to the cartridge. As with other aspects of the invention, the various embodiments and optional features described herein may be used with this aspect of the invention.

In another aspect of the invention, a cartridge for forming a beverage includes a first cartridge having an interior space that is sealed and contains a source of carbon dioxide within the interior space. The carbon dioxide source may be in solid form and arranged to emit carbon dioxide gas for carbonating the precursor liquid. The first cartridge may be arranged to have an inlet through which fluid is provided to activate the carbon dioxide source and an outlet through which carbon dioxide gas exits the first cartridge. For example, the first cartridge may be pierced to form an inlet and an outlet, or the first cartridge may have a defined inlet/outlet. The second cartridge of the cartridge may include an interior space that is sealed and contains a beverage medium for mixing with a precursor liquid to form a beverage. The second cartridge may be arranged to mix the precursor liquid with the beverage medium in the second cartridge and may therefore be pierced or otherwise arranged to allow liquid to flow into and mixed liquid/beverage medium to flow out. The volumes of the first and second cartridges may be less than the volumes of beverages formed using the first and second cartridges, respectively, e.g., the volume of a cartridge may be about 50 milliliters and used to make a beverage having a volume of about 500 milliliters. The first and second cartridges may be joined together, for example, such that the cartridges cannot be separated from one another without the use of tools and without damaging at least a portion of the first or second cartridges. In one embodiment, the first and second barrels may be joined by a welded joint or by interlocking mechanical fasteners.

In another aspect of the invention, a cartridge for forming a beverage includes a container having an interior space that is sealed and contains a source of carbon dioxide within the interior space. The carbon dioxide source may be in solid form (such as charged zeolite or other molecular sieve) and arranged to emit carbon dioxide gas for use in carbonating the precursor liquid. The container may be arranged with an inlet via which fluid is provided to activate the carbon dioxide source and an outlet via which carbon dioxide gas exits the container for carbonating the precursor liquid. In one embodiment, the container may be pierced by the beverage forming machine to form an inlet and to form an outlet, for example, at the top, bottom, side, and/or other locations of the cartridge. In one arrangement, the container may include a lid that is pierceable by the beverage maker to form the inlet and the outlet. The container may have at least a portion that is semi-rigid or flexible, for example, that is not adapted to withstand pressures in excess of 80 psi within the cartridge without physical support. The container may include a second chamber containing a beverage medium for use in flavoring the precursor beverage to form the beverage, and the second chamber may be separate from the first chamber containing the carbon dioxide source. The volume of the container may be less than the volume of carbonated beverage formed using the cartridge.

In another aspect of the invention, a beverage making system includes a cartridge chamber configured to maintain a cartridge at a pressure greater than ambient pressure, and a cartridge including an interior space containing a carbon dioxide source configured to emit carbon dioxide gas for carbonating a liquid. The volume of the cartridge may be less than the volume of beverage produced using the cartridge, for example, a volume of 50 milliliters or less is used to carbonate a liquid volume of about 100 and 1000 milliliters to a carbonation level of about 2 to 4 volumes. The beverage precursor liquid supply can provide a precursor liquid into the interior space of the cartridge to cause the carbon dioxide source to emit carbon dioxide gas and dissolve at least some of the carbon dioxide gas in the precursor liquid when the precursor liquid is located in the interior space. Carbonating the liquid within the cartridge chamber may simplify system operation, such as by eliminating the need for a carbonation tank or other carbonator. Instead, the cartridge may at least partially function as a carbonator. In one embodiment, the cartridge includes a second chamber containing a beverage medium for mixing with a precursor liquid to form a beverage. The second chamber may be separate from the first chamber containing the carbon dioxide source or the first and second chambers may be in communication, for example, liquid may be introduced into the first chamber for carbonation and transferred from the first chamber to the second chamber where the beverage medium is located.

In another aspect of the invention, a method for forming a beverage includes providing a cartridge having an interior space sealed to enclose a carbon dioxide source within the interior space, wherein a volume of the cartridge is less than a volume of a beverage produced using the cartridge. A liquid may be provided into the cartridge to cause the carbon dioxide source to emit carbon dioxide, and the liquid may be carbonated by dissolving at least a portion of the carbon dioxide emitted by the carbon dioxide source into the liquid while the liquid is within the cartridge. The liquid may be mixed with the beverage medium in the cartridge before or after carbonation to produce the beverage. In fact, the cartridge may comprise a second chamber comprising a beverage medium for mixing with the precursor liquid to form the beverage, and the volume of the cartridge may be less than the volume of the beverage made using the cartridge. The cartridge may be pierced using a beverage forming machine to form the inlet and outlet.

In another aspect of the invention, a beverage making system includes a beverage precursor liquid supply, a cartridge chamber configured to hold a cartridge within the chamber, and a cartridge including an interior space containing a carbon dioxide source in solid form and configured to emit carbon dioxide gas for carbonating a liquid. The carbon dioxide activating fluid supply means may provide liquid to the cartridge chamber for contact with the carbon dioxide source to cause the carbon dioxide source to emit carbon dioxide gas. The system further comprises a carbonator comprising a membrane separating a liquid side from a gas side, wherein carbon dioxide gas emitted by the cartridge is provided to the gas side and the beverage precursor liquid supply means provides precursor liquid to the liquid side, whereby carbon dioxide on the gas side is dissolved in the precursor liquid on the liquid side. The cartridge chamber may be arranged to maintain the cartridge within the chamber at a pressure above ambient pressure, for example within a pressure range for carbonating a liquid within the carbonator. The carbon dioxide gas supply may be arranged to transfer carbon dioxide gas emitted by the carbon dioxide source from the cartridge chamber to the gas side of the carbonator at a pressure greater than ambient pressure. The membranes of the carbonator may comprise a plurality of hollow fibers, the interior of the hollow fibers being part of the liquid side and the exterior of the hollow fibers being part of the gas side.

In another aspect of the invention, a method for forming a beverage includes providing a cartridge having an interior space sealed to enclose a carbon dioxide source within the interior space, the carbon dioxide source being in a solid form and arranged to emit carbon dioxide gas, opening the cartridge (such as by piercing) and causing the cartridge to emit carbon dioxide gas, and carbonating a liquid by dissolving at least a portion emitted by the carbon dioxide source in the liquid. The carbon dioxide gas may be located on the gas side of the membrane and the liquid may be located on the liquid side of the membrane. The membrane may be constructed from a plurality of hollow fibers, with the liquid side being inside the fibers and the gas side being outside the fibers. The gas pressure on the gas side can be controlled based on controlling the amount of liquid supplied to the cartridge.

These and other aspects of the invention will be apparent from the following description and claims.

Drawings

Aspects of the invention are described with reference to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals represent like parts, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a beverage making system having a removable reservoir;

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a beverage making system having a contactor configured to circulate precursor liquid;

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a beverage making system in which liquid is passed through a carbonator once for carbonation;

FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a beverage making system in which a gas cartridge is located within a carbonation reservoir;

FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a cartridge chamber;

FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a gas cartridge and a beverage medium cartridge coupled together;

FIGS. 7 and 8 show perspective and top views, respectively, of a gas cartridge and a beverage medium cartridge;

FIG. 9 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a cartridge configured to carbonate liquid within the cartridge;

FIG. 10 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a cartridge configured to carbonate liquid within the cartridge in another orientation; and

fig. 11 shows an exemplary embodiment of a cartridge having separate chambers containing a gas source and a beverage medium.

Detailed Description

It should be understood that aspects of the present invention are described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate exemplary embodiments. The exemplary embodiments described herein do not necessarily show all embodiments according to the invention, but serve to describe several exemplary embodiments. Thus, aspects of the invention are not meant to be construed narrowly in view of the exemplary embodiments. Further, it should be understood that aspects of the invention may be used alone or in any suitable combination with other aspects of the invention.

According to one aspect of the invention, a fluid (such as water, steam, or other) may be provided to the carbon dioxide source within the cartridge to cause the carbon dioxide source to emit carbon dioxide gas for use in carbonating the liquid. In one embodiment, the beverage forming machine may include a carbon dioxide activated fluid supply device configured to provide fluid to the cartridge chamber for contact with the carbon dioxide source to cause the carbon dioxide source to emit carbon dioxide gas. The carbon dioxide gas supply of the beverage forming machine may be configured to deliver carbon dioxide gas emitted by the carbon dioxide source to the precursor liquid at a pressure greater than ambient pressure to carbonate the precursor liquid. In some embodiments, the carbon dioxide source may be in a solid form, such as a zeolite, activated carbon, or other carbon dioxide-loaded molecular sieve, and the use of a cartridge may not only isolate the carbon dioxide source from the active agent (such as water vapor in the case of a loaded zeolite), but may also eliminate the need for a user to contact the carbon dioxide source or otherwise directly operate the carbon dioxide source.

Having a carbon dioxide active fluid supply means allows the invention to be used in another aspect where the volume or other measure of fluid provided to the cartridge can be controlled to control the amount or rate of carbon dioxide produced by the carbon dioxide source. This feature may utilize some source of carbon dioxide, such as the use of charged zeolite materials, if possible. For example, carbon dioxide charged zeolites tend to release carbon dioxide very rapidly and in relatively large quantities (e.g., a 30 gram mass of charged zeolite can readily produce 1-2 liters of carbon dioxide gas at atmospheric pressure in a few seconds with less than 30-50 milliliters of water). This rapid release can in some cases make it impractical to use zeolites to produce relatively highly carbonated liquids, such as carbonated water that is carbonated to a level of 2 volumes or more. (carbonation "volume" refers to the number of volumetric measures of carbon dioxide gas dissolved in a given volumetric measure of liquid.for example, a 1 liter amount of "2 volumes" of carbonated water includes a 1 liter volume of water having 2 liters of carbon dioxide gas dissolved therein.similarly, a 1 liter amount of "4 volumes" of carbonated water includes a 1 liter volume of water having 4 liters of carbon dioxide gas dissolved therein.A gas volumetric measure is the volume of gas that can be released from the carbonated liquid at atmospheric or ambient pressure and room temperature.) that is, the dissolution of carbon dioxide or other gas in a liquid typically takes a certain amount of time and the rate of dissolution increases only by a limited amount below extremes, such as ambient pressure of about 150 pounds per square inch and room temperature of about +/-40 to 50 degrees Celsius. By controlling the rate of carbon dioxide production by the carbon dioxide source, the total time the carbon dioxide source emits carbon dioxide can be extended, thereby allowing time for the carbon dioxide to dissolve without the need for relatively high pressures. For example, when employing one exemplary embodiment that includes one or more aspects of the present invention, the inventors have produced a liquid having a carbonation level of at least up to about 3.5 volumes in less than 60 seconds at a pressure of about 40 psig and a temperature of about 0 degrees celsius. This capability allows the carbonated beverage machine to operate at relatively moderate temperatures and pressures, thereby eliminating the need for relatively expensive high pressure tanks, conduits, and other components, as well as a large number of pressure relief, restriction structures, and other safety features that may otherwise be required, particularly for machines used in consumer homes.

In another aspect of the invention, a portion of the precursor liquid used to form the beverage can be used to activate the carbon dioxide source. This feature may help simplify operation of the beverage making machine, for example by eliminating the need for special actives. Thereby, the beverage forming machine or the method of forming a beverage may become less expensive and/or no special effect ingredients are needed. For example, in the case of a machine making carbonated water, all that is required to activate the carbon dioxide source may be a portion of the water used to form the beverage. However, it should be understood that other aspects of the invention do not require the use of a portion of the precursor liquid to activate the carbon dioxide source, but rather any suitable active agent may be used, such as citric acid in liquid form added to the bicarbonate material. For example, a cartridge including a carbon dioxide source may include (as part of the source) an active agent whose addition to another component of the carbon dioxide source is controlled to control the production of carbon dioxide.

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary embodiment that includes at least aspects of providing fluid to a cartridge and/or cartridge chamber to activate a carbon dioxide source and controlling fluid flow to control carbon dioxide production and using a portion of a beverage precursor liquid to activate the carbon dioxide source. The beverage making system 1 of fig. 1 comprises a beverage precursor liquid 2 contained within a reservoir 11. The beverage precursor liquid 2 can be any suitable liquid, including water (e.g., flavored or otherwise treated water, such as sweetened, filtered, deionized, softened, carbonated, etc.), or any other suitable liquid (heated or cooled or not heated or cooled relative to room temperature) used to form a beverage such as milk, juice, coffee, tea, etc. Reservoir 11 is part of a beverage precursor supply 10 that also includes a lid 12 that cooperates with reservoir 11 to form a sealed enclosure, a pump 13 for circulating precursor liquid 2, and a nozzle, showerhead or other component 14 for dispersing precursor liquid 2 within the headspace within reservoir 11. Of course, the precursor supply 10 may be provided in other ways, for example, including additional or different components. For example, the reservoir 11 and lid 12 may be replaced by a closed box having a suitable inlet/outlet, the pump 13 and/or nozzle 14 may be eliminated and/or other modifications made.

In this embodiment, initially, a user provides precursor liquid 2 to reservoir 11, the user providing liquid 2 into reservoir 11, for example from a tap or other source. The user may also provide ice or other cooling medium into the reservoir 11 as needed to cool the finished beverage. In other embodiments, the system 1 may include a refrigeration system or other cooling system (such as found in refrigerators, air conditioning units, thermoelectric cooling units, or other devices for dissipating heat from a material) to cool the liquid 2. In some configurations, cooling the precursor liquid 2 may aid the carbonation process, for example because cooler liquids tend to dissolve carbon dioxide or other gases more rapidly and/or are capable of dissolving greater amounts of gases. However, in one aspect of the invention, the carbonated liquid may be cooled after the carbonation process is complete, for example using a flow through a chiller just prior to discharge. This feature may allow the system 1 to cool only the beverage, and not other parts of the system, such as the reservoir 11, carbonator, pump, etc., thereby reducing the amount of heat output by the system 1. While the user initially provides beverage precursor liquid 2 into the reservoir 11, the precursor supply 10 may include other components to provide liquid 2 to the reservoir 11, such as a piped water line, controllable valves, and a level sensor to automatically fill the reservoir 11 to a desired level, a second or other water reservoir fluidly connected to the reservoir 11 (e.g., a removable water tank found in some coffee makers along with a pump and conduit to send water from the removable water tank to the reservoir 11), and other structures.

The beverage maker 1 further comprises a carbon dioxide activating fluid supply means 20 which supplies fluid to the cartridge 4 to activate the carbon dioxide source 41 to release carbon dioxide gas. In this embodiment, the carbon dioxide source 41 is located within a portion of the cartridge 4 and comprises a charge of adsorbent or molecular sieve, such as a zeolite material, which has adsorbed some amount of carbon dioxide gas released in the presence of water, whether in vapor or liquid form. Of course, other carbon dioxide source materials may be used, such as charcoal or other molecular sieve materials, or source materials that generate carbon dioxide by chemical means, such as sodium bicarbonate and citric acid (water added if bicarbonate and acid are initially dry) or others. Furthermore, aspects of the present invention are not necessarily limited to use with carbon dioxide gas, but may be used with suitable gases such as nitrogen dissolved in some beer or other beverages. In one embodiment, the sorbent charged is a zeolite, such as analcime, chabazite, clinoptilolite, heulandite, natrolite, phillipsite, or stilbite. The zeolite can of course be either already present or synthesized and can possess up to about 20 wt% carbon dioxide or more. The zeolite material may be provided in any suitable form, such as a solid block (e.g., in the form of a disk), spherical, cubic, irregular, or other suitably shaped particles, among others. A structure that allows the zeolite to flow or be flowable, such as spherical particles, may be used to pack the zeolite into a separate cartridge. Such a structure may allow zeolite to flow from the hopper into the cartridge container, for example, thereby simplifying the manufacturing process. The surface area of the zeolite particles may also be configured to help control the rate at which the zeolite releases carbon dioxide gas, since larger surface area metrics generally increase the gas production rate. Typically, the zeolite material will release the adsorbed carbon dioxide in the presence of water in liquid or vapor form, thereby allowing the zeolite to be activated by the addition of liquid water to the zeolite to release carbon dioxide.

The carbon dioxide activating fluid supply means 20 in this embodiment comprises a conduit fluidly connected to the pump 13 and a valve 21 that can be controlled to open/close or otherwise control the flow of precursor liquid 2 into the cartridge 4. As can be seen, circulating the liquid 2 by the pump 13 may allow activating the fluid supply device 20 to divert some (e.g., a first portion) of the precursor liquid 2 to the cartridge chamber 3, thereby generating carbon dioxide gas, e.g., by opening the valve 21. Other structures or additions may be used for the carbon dioxide activated fluid supply means 20, such as an appropriately sized orifice in the conduit leading from the pump 13 to the cartridge 4, a pressure reducing element within the conduit, a flow restrictor within the conduit, a flow meter for indicating the amount and/or flow rate of liquid into the cartridge 4, and so forth. Furthermore, the liquid source 20 does not have to use the precursor liquid 2 to activate the carbon dioxide source 41, but may use a dedicated fluid source. For example, the carbon dioxide-activated fluid supply device 20 may include a syringe, piston pump, or other positive displacement device capable of metering the desired amount of liquid (whether water, citric acid, or other material) delivered to the barrel 4. In another embodiment, the activation fluid supply 20 may comprise a gravity fed liquid supply having a controllable delivery rate, such as, for example, a drip-type liquid supply system for intravenous tubing to deliver fluid to a patient in a hospital, or may spray atomized water or other liquid to provide vapor or other vapor phase activation fluid to the cartridge 4. Furthermore, although fig. 1 suggests activating fluid supply 20 to provide liquid to the top of cartridge 4, liquid source 20 may provide fluid to the bottom of cartridge 4, such as filling the bottom of the cartridge, or other suitable location. It is also contemplated that the activating liquid may be provided within a cartridge having a carbon dioxide source 42, such as within a chamber that is pierced to allow the liquid to come into contact with the source 42.

According to one embodiment, the cartridge 4 (having one or more portions) may be located within the cartridge chamber 3 during carbon dioxide production. Thus, the cartridge 4 may be made of a relatively flexible material or otherwise configured such that the cartridge 4 cannot withstand a relatively large pressure gradient between the interior and exterior of the cartridge 4. That is, the cartridge chamber 3 can withstand any pressure generated by the carbon dioxide source 41 and support the cartridge 4 as needed. In this exemplary embodiment, the cartridge 4 is contained within a closed and sealed chamber 3 having a space or gap that surrounds all or most of the cartridge 4. For example, by allowing some of the gas emitted by the carbon dioxide source 41 to "leak" into the space around the cartridge 4 to allow the pressure between the interior space and the exterior of the cartridge 4 to equalize, and thus the cartridge 4 will not burst or collapse even if the cartridge 4 is made of a relatively semi-rigid, flexible, or weak material. In an alternative construction, the cartridge 4 may be adapted to the receiving space in the cartridge chamber 3, whereby the chamber 3 supports the cartridge 4 when pressure builds up in the cartridge 4. Such support may be adapted to function as desired to prevent cartridge 4 from bursting or otherwise preventing cartridge 4. In other embodiments, the cartridge 4 may be made suitably strong (in whole or in part) to withstand relatively large pressures (e.g., 1 atmosphere or greater) within the interior space of the cartridge. In this case, the cartridge chamber 3 only has to function as a physical support to hold the cartridge 4 in place, or otherwise establish a connection with the cartridge, to allow gas to be output from the cartridge 4 and/or liquid to be supplied to the cartridge 4. In another embodiment, the cartridge may be mechanically strong enough to withstand pressures up to 90 pounds per square inch (gauge), such as conventional carbonated soft drink cans.

The carbon dioxide gas supply means 30 may be arranged to supply carbon dioxide gas from the cartridge chamber 3 to an area where the gas is used to carbonate the liquid 2. The gas supply 30 may be provided in any suitable manner and in this exemplary embodiment comprises a conduit 31 in fluid connection between the cartridge chamber 3 and the reservoir 11 and a filter 32 to assist in removing material that may contaminate the precursor liquid 2, such as particles from the carbon dioxide source 41. The gas supply 30 may include other components, such as pressure regulators, relief valves, control valves, compressors or pumps (e.g., to increase the pressure of the gas), accumulators (e.g., to help maintain a relatively constant gas pressure and/or store the gas), and so forth. In this embodiment, the conduit 31 extends below the surface of the precursor liquid 2 within the reservoir 11 so that carbon dioxide gas is injected into the liquid 2 for dissolution. The conduit 31 may comprise a spray nozzle or other structure to facilitate dissolution, i.e. to increase the dissolution rate, e.g. by creating relatively small bubbles within the liquid 2. Alternatively, the conduit 31 may deliver gas to a headspace (if present) within the reservoir 11, rather than below the surface of the liquid 2.

The carbonation of the precursor liquid 2 may be performed via one or more mechanisms or processes, and the carbonation is therefore not limited to one particular process. For example, while the carbon dioxide gas delivered by conduit 31 to reservoir 11 may serve to assist in dissolving the carbon dioxide within liquid 2, other system components may further assist in the carbonation process. In this exemplary embodiment, the precursor supply 10 may facilitate carbonating the liquid by circulating the liquid through the pump 13 and the nozzle 14. That is, liquid 2 may be drawn from reservoir 13 through dip tube 15 and sprayed by nozzle 14 into the headspace of reservoir 11 filled with carbon dioxide gas. As is known in the art, this process may help the liquid 2 dissolve carbon dioxide gas, for example by increasing the surface area of the liquid 2 exposed to the gas. Although the dip tube 15 is in this embodiment separate from the reservoir 11 and extends below the surface of the precursor liquid 2, the dip tube 15 may be provided in other ways, such as being made integral with the wall of the reservoir 11. If dip tube 15 is made integral with the wall of reservoir 11, connecting reservoir 11 to cap 12 may establish a fluid connection between dip tube 15 and pump 13. Integrating the dip tube 15 with the reservoir 11 may allow the system 1 to accommodate different sizes (and thus different volumes) of reservoirs 11. In addition, this structure may help ensure that only a properly configured reservoir 11 (e.g., a container configured to withstand system pressures) is employed. Alternatively, the dip tube 15 may be made flexible or otherwise adapted to reservoirs 11 having different heights. Whether or not integrally formed with reservoir 11, dip tube 15 may include a filter, screen, or other structure to help prevent small particles, such as ice flakes, from being drawn into pump 13. In some embodiments, the reservoir 11 may serve as both a glass and a reservoir 11 within the system 1. That is, a user may provide the reservoir/glass 11 to the system 1 (e.g., including a desired amount of water, ice, and/or beverage medium) and use the reservoir/glass 11 to drink the beverage after carbonation is complete. The reservoir 11 may be insulated, for example to help keep the beverage cool, and to withstand the appropriate pressures experienced by the reservoir when used in the system 1.

The various components of the system 1 may be controlled by a controller 5, which may include a programmed general purpose computer and/or other data processing device with appropriate software or other operating instructions, one or more memories (including non-transitory media that may store software and/or other operating instructions), a power source for the controller 5 and/or other system components, temperature and fluid level sensors, pressure sensors, RFID interrogation devices, input/output interfaces (e.g., to display information to and/or receive input from a user), a communication bus or other link, a display, switches, relays, triacs, motors, mechanical connectors, and/or actuators, or other components necessary to perform the desired input/output or other function. In this exemplary embodiment, the controller 5 controls the operation of the valve 21 of the activation fluid supply device 20 and the pump 13 of the precursor liquid supply device 10. Also shown in fig. 1 is a sensor 51, which may represent one or more sensors used by the controller 5. For example, the sensor 51 may comprise a temperature sensor that detects the temperature of the precursor liquid within the reservoir 11. This information may be used to control system operation, for example, the hotter precursor liquid temperature may cause the controller 5 to lengthen the amount of time that carbon dioxide gas is allowed to dissolve in the precursor liquid 2. In other configurations, the temperature of the precursor liquid 2 may be used to determine whether to operate the system 1 to carbonate the liquid 2. For example, in some configurations, a user is required to properly add cooler liquid 2 (and/or ice) to reservoir 11 prior to operating system 1. (As mentioned above, the relatively hot precursor liquid 2 temperature may cause the liquid to under some conditions carbonate insufficiently.) in another embodiment, the sensor 51 may comprise a pressure sensor for detecting the pressure within the reservoir 11. This information may be used to determine whether the reservoir 11 is improperly sealed to the lid 12 or whether there is another pressure leak and/or to determine whether sufficient carbon dioxide gas is being generated by the cartridge 4. For example, the detected low pressure may cause controller 5 to allow more liquid to be delivered to cartridge 4 by activating fluid supply 20 or prompt the user to check whether reservoir 11 and cap 12 are properly engaged. Similarly, high pressure may cause the flow of liquid from activation fluid supply 20 to slow or stop. Thus, controller 5 may control the pressure of gas within reservoir 11 and/or other areas of system 1 by controlling the amount of liquid delivered to cartridge 4 and/or cartridge chamber 3. The sensor 51 may alternatively or additionally detect that the reservoir 11 is in place and/or whether the reservoir 11 is properly engaged with the lid 12. For example, when the reservoir 11 is properly seated on the seal of the lid 12, the switch may close, indicating proper engagement. In another configuration, the reservoir 11 may include an RFID tag or other electronic device capable of communicating its identifying characteristics or other characteristics of the reservoir 11 to the controller 5. This information may be used to verify that the reservoir 11 is suitable for use in the system 1, to control certain operating conditions (e.g., operating pressure may be limited based on the type of reservoir used, precursor liquid may be carbonated to a level corresponding to the reservoir 11, etc.), and/or for other uses. The sensor 51 may also detect the presence of the cartridge 4 within the chamber 3, e.g. via RFID tag, optical identification, physical sensing, etc. If no cartridge 4 is detected or the controller 5 detects that a cartridge 4 cannot be reused, the controller 5 may prompt the user to insert a new or different cartridge 4. For example, in some embodiments, a single cartridge 4 may be used to carbonate multiple volumes of precursor liquid 2. The controller 5 may track the number of times the cartridge 4 is used and prompt the user to change the cartridge once a limit is reached (e.g., 10 times). Other parameters may be detected by the sensors 51, such as the carbonation level of the precursor liquid 2, the presence of a suitable vessel to receive the beverage being expelled from the system 1 (e.g., to prevent beverage spillage), the presence of water or other precursor liquid 2 within the reservoir 11 or elsewhere within the precursor supply 10, the liquid flow rate within the pump 13 or associated conduit, the presence of a headspace within the reservoir 11 (e.g., if a headspace is not desired, the valve may be actuated to expel gas from the headspace, or if only carbon dioxide is desired within the headspace, the inhalation valve may be actuated to expel air from the headspace and replace the air with carbon dioxide), and so forth.

In order for the beverage maker 1 to produce a carbonated beverage, a user may first provide a desired amount of precursor liquid 2 into the reservoir 11, along with optional ice and/or beverage medium. Alternatively, the carbonated liquid may be flavored by automatic or manual means after carbonation is complete. The clamping mechanism or otherwise is then actuated to engage the reservoir 11 with the cap 12, such as by engaging threads on the reservoir 11 with the cap 12. A cartridge 4 containing a carbon dioxide source 41 (e.g., in solid form, such as charged zeolite) may be placed within the cartridge chamber 3 and the chamber 3 closed. The cartridge chamber 3 may be operated in any suitable manner, such as, for example, in many cartridge-based coffee machines or other beverage machines. For example, a manual lever may be operated to lift the cover of the chamber 3, thereby exposing the cartridge receiving portion of the chamber 3. With the cartridge 4 in the chamber 3, the lever may again be actuated to close the lid, thereby sealing the closed chamber 3. Controller 5 may then actuate system 1 to transfer liquid to chamber 3, for example to cause carbon dioxide to be produced. The controller 5 may initiate operation in an automatic manner, for example, based on detecting the presence of the cartridge 4 within the chamber 3, the liquid 2 being located within the reservoir 11, and the chamber 3 being closed. Alternatively, the controller 5 may initiate system operation to initiate beverage preparation in response to a user pressing a start button or otherwise providing input (e.g., via voice activation). The controller 5 may initiate operation of the pump 13 to draw liquid from the dip tube 15 and discharge the liquid 2 at the nozzle 14. The valve 21 may be opened to transfer a suitable portion of the precursor liquid 2 to the chamber 3 and the generated carbon dioxide gas may be provided to the reservoir 11 by the gas supply means 30. Operation may continue for a predetermined amount of time, or based on other conditions, such as a detected carbonation level, a drop in gas produced through the cartridge 4, or other parameters. During operation, the amount of liquid provided to the chamber 3 can be controlled to control the gas output by the cartridge 4. The control of the liquid supplied to the cartridge 4 may be based on a time sequence (e.g., the valve 21 may be open for a period of time, then closed for a period of time, etc.), based on a detected pressure (e.g., the liquid supply may be stopped when the pressure within the chamber 3 and/or reservoir 11 exceeds a threshold and restarted when the pressure falls below a threshold or other value), based on a volume of activating liquid delivered to the chamber 3 (e.g., a particular volume of liquid may be delivered to the cartridge 4), or other structure. When completed, the user may remove the beverage and reservoir 11 from the lid 12.

Fig. 1 shows only one exemplary embodiment of a beverage making system 1, but other configurations are possible, including systems incorporating other aspects of the invention. For example, in one aspect of the invention, the flavoring of carbonated beverages can be accomplished in an automated fashion and can be performed in a cartridge. This feature may make the beverage forming process simpler and easier for the user, and help reduce the likelihood of cross-contamination between beverages and/or the need to flush the mixing chamber. That is, by mixing the beverage medium with the precursor liquid in the cartridge (which may be disposable), each beverage made by the system 1 can be made efficiently using its own mixing chamber. For example, if system 1 is used to make a carbonated cherry drink, followed by a lemon drink, there is a possibility that the cherry flavor left in the mixing chamber will cross into the subsequent lemon drink. Flushing or other cleaning of the mixing chamber may help eliminate or reduce such flavor cross-talk, but mixing each beverage in one cartridge may eliminate the need to flush the entire mixing chamber or other system components.

In another aspect of the invention, the precursor liquid may be carbonated using a contactor (one type of carbonator) that includes a permeable membrane (e.g., at least permeable to gas) having a gas side and a liquid side. The precursor liquid on the liquid side of the carbonator may be exposed to the gas on the gas side of the membrane, and since the membrane may be arranged to increase the surface area of the liquid exposed to the gas, carbon dioxide or other gases may be dissolved within the precursor liquid more rapidly than using other techniques. In one embodiment, the carbonator may include a contactor having a hollow fiber structure in which hollow fibers made of a hydrophobic material, such as polypropylene, are entrained with a precursor liquid. The fibers are permeable and have pores that, in combination with the hydrophobicity of the material, allow gas on the exterior of the fiber to contact liquid while preventing liquid from leaving the interior of the fiber. Membrane contactors suitable for this purpose are made by porous international corporation (Membrana) of charlotte, north carolina, usa.

In yet another aspect of the invention, a cartridge chamber of a beverage forming machine may be configured to hold a first cartridge portion and a second cartridge portion, wherein the first cartridge portion contains a carbon dioxide source configured to emit carbon dioxide gas for use in carbonating a precursor liquid and the second cartridge portion contains a beverage medium configured to mix with a liquid precursor to form a beverage. The cartridge chamber may have a single cartridge receiver for receiving the two cartridge portions, or may include multiple cartridge receivers separate from each other, for example to receive two or more cartridges associated with the first cartridge portion or the second cartridge portion, respectively. Such a configuration may help simplify use of the system, particularly where the cartridge portion is configured for single use only, e.g., a single volume of beverage is formed and then discarded. For example, a user can place one or two cartridges, including a first cartridge portion and a second cartridge portion, within the receptacle of the cartridge chamber without having to establish a pressure-tight, leak-proof, or other connection necessary for the system to function properly. Alternatively, only the cartridge portion may be placed into the receptacle and the cartridge chamber closed, leaving the system ready for beverage production.

Fig. 2 illustrates another exemplary embodiment that includes using a membrane contactor to carbonate a precursor liquid with a gas provided by a cartridge, mixing a beverage medium within the cartridge with the liquid, and using a cartridge chamber that receives a first cartridge portion and a second cartridge portion that contain a gas source and a beverage medium, respectively. This embodiment is similar in many respects to fig. 1 and may be modified to have one or more components like those in fig. 1. However, certain alternative configurations are shown in FIG. 2 to illustrate further ways in which the beverage making system 1 may be modified in accordance with aspects of the present invention. In this embodiment, the reservoir 11 is a closed box without a removable lid. Reservoir 11 may have any suitable volume and is fluidly coupled to a pump 13 that is capable of circulating precursor liquid 2 through contactor 6 and back to reservoir 11 via nozzles 14. As mentioned above, the precursor liquid 2 may pass through the hollow fibers within the contactor 6 to obtain carbon dioxide or other gas around the fibers, but the structure may be reversed, i.e. the gas flows into the fibers and the precursor liquid 2 is located outside the fibers. A filter 16 may be provided to remove material within the precursor liquid 2 that may clog fibers, pores within the fibers, or otherwise interfere with the operation of the contactor 6. Alternatively or additionally, the filter 16 may condition the liquid 2 by, for example, softening, removing alkaline elements or other elements that tend to raise the pH of the liquid 2, by removing elements that may prevent the formation of a good tasting beverage, and the like. For example, filter 16 may include activated carbon and/or other components found in commonly used water filters. Contactor 6 may be configured with a plurality of hollow fibers extending within a closed tube or other chamber such that the internal passages of the fibers fluidly connect the fluid inlet and the fluid outlet of contactor 6. The gas space around the fibers may be in communication with the carbon dioxide supply 30 via one or more ports on the gas side of the contactor 6. However, it should be understood that the contactor 6 may be otherwise arranged, such as having one or more membranes in the form of flat plates or other forms than tubular, to define the liquid and gas sides of the contactor 6.

The activation fluid supply 20 is arranged similarly to that in fig. 1, with a controllable valve 21 fluidly coupled to the output of the pump 13. However, in this embodiment, the activation fluid supply 20 introduces liquid near the bottom of the cartridge chamber 3 and the cartridge 4. Such a configuration may help to activate fluid supply 20 to better control the release of gas from carbon dioxide source 41. For example, dripping water from the top to the carbon dioxide source 41 will allow the water to spread over a larger area, thereby allowing the charged zeolite or other source material to spread over a larger area to release gas. By providing liquid from below, activating the fluid supply means 20 may fill the cartridge 4 and/or the chamber 3, thereby allowing water to contact the source material 41 from the bottom upwards. This may allow for more precise control of the volume of source material 41 that is activated to release gas. Where the carbon dioxide source 41 may wick or otherwise move water upward (such as by capillary action), portions of the source 41 may be separated from one another by a non-wicking agent. For example, the source 41 may comprise a stack of disks of zeolite material separated by non-wicking material, such as metal or solid plastic separators. This may allow fluid supply 20 to gradually increase the fluid level within the cartridge 4 over a period of time to activate each disc in turn.

The gas produced by the cartridge 4 is directed by the gas supply 30 (via optional filter element 32 and conduit 31) to the gas side of the contactor 6. Conduit 31 may include a water-float check valve or other structure that allows gas to pass to contactor 6, but prevents liquid from leaving cartridge chamber 3. For example, a floating ball in the cartridge chamber 3 may normally free the opening of the conduit 31 for gas flow, but may also rise above the liquid level in the cartridge 4 to close the opening, for example in the event that the activation fluid supply means 20 provides an excess of activation liquid. Controller 5 may monitor the gas pressure within chamber 3, within conduit 31, and/or on the gas side of contactor 6 to control activation of fluid supply 20 and gas generation. In one embodiment, activation fluid supply 20 may be controlled to provide a gas pressure of about 35-45 psig on the gas side of contactor 6. This pressure has been found to be at least sufficiently effective to carbonate 400-500 ml of water in about 30-60 seconds using a hollow fiber contactor at a temperature of about 0 degrees celsius, as described in more detail in the examples. When the carbon dioxide in the contactor dissolves in the precursor liquid 2, the pressure on the gas side will drop, prompting the controller 5 to supply additional liquid 2 to the cylinder 4a to cause additional gas to be generated. Similar to the system in fig. 1, the process may be performed based on any criteria, such as the passage of a particular amount of time, the detection of a particular level of carbonation of the liquid 2, the exhaustion of the carbon dioxide source 41, the volume of liquid delivered to the cartridge 4a, etc., so that the pressure of the carbon dioxide gas can be maintained within a desired range above ambient pressure.

Once carbonation of precursor liquid 2 is complete, controller 5 may direct liquid 2 to beverage medium cartridge 4b within cartridge chamber 3. Although the precursor liquid 2 may be caused to flow out of the reservoir 11 in any suitable manner (such as by gravity, a pump, etc.), in this embodiment, the controller 5 actuates the air pump 7 that pressurizes the reservoir 11 to cause the precursor liquid 2 to be forced to flow via the conduit to the cartridge chamber 3 and beverage medium cartridge 4 b. In other embodiments, the gas pressure generated by carbon dioxide source 41 may be used to pressurize reservoir 11 and drive the flow of precursor liquid to beverage medium cartridge 4 b. For example, when carbonation is complete, gas from cartridge 4a may be directed directly into reservoir 11, rather than to contactor 6, to pressurize reservoir 11. Although a valve is not shown in the conduit fluidly connecting reservoir 11 with barrel 4b, a controllable valve, pump, or other suitable component may be added as desired. Using air or other gas to move liquid 2 through cartridge 4b (or to expel beverage medium from cartridge 4 b) may allow system 1 to "empty" cartridge 4b at or near the end of the beverage process, for example to remove any remaining material from cartridge 4 b. This may be useful in making the cartridge 4b less messy to operate (e.g., by reducing the likelihood that the cartridge 4b will drip liquid when the cartridge 4b is removed from the chamber 3). A similar process may be used to evacuate the cartridge 4a, for example, using an air pump or gas generated by the source 41.

The flow of precursor liquid 2 through beverage medium cartridge 4b causes liquid 2 to mix with beverage medium 42 before being discharged, for example, to a waiting cup 8 or other container. The beverage medium cartridge 4b may include any suitable beverage making material (beverage medium), such as concentrated syrup, coffee powder or liquid coffee extract, tea leaves, herbal tea, powdered beverage concentrate, dried fruit extract or powder, natural and/or synthetic flavoring or coloring agents, acids, aromas, viscosity modifiers, suspension agents, antioxidants, powdered or liquid concentrated bouillon or other soups, powdered or liquid medicinal materials (such as powdered vitamins, minerals, bioactive ingredients, pharmaceuticals or other pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, and the like), milk powder or milk or other creams, sweeteners, thickeners, and the like. (as used herein, "mixing" a liquid with a beverage medium includes a variety of mechanisms, such as dissolving a substance within the beverage medium in the liquid, extracting the substance from the beverage medium, and/or the liquid otherwise receiving some material from the beverage medium.) the liquid 2 may be introduced into the cartridge 4b in any suitable manner, and/or the cartridge 4b may be configured in any suitable manner to facilitate mixing of the liquid 2 with the beverage medium 42. For example, the precursor liquid 2 may be introduced into the barrel 4b to create a spiral or other flow pattern, and the barrel 4b may include a labyrinth or other tortuous flow path to create turbulence within the flow to facilitate mixing, and the like. One potential advantage of mixing precursor liquid 2 within beverage medium cartridge 4b is that cross-contamination of the beverage medium that can occur if a mixing chamber is used for mixing beverage medium and liquid 2 for each beverage made by system 1 can be avoided. However, the system 1 may be modified to employ a reusable mixing chamber, for example, the beverage medium 42 provided by the cartridge 4b and the precursor liquid 2 are mixed together in the same manner as an on-machine beverage is made by a commercial beverage machine. For example, beverage medium 42 may be driven from cartridge 4b (e.g., by air pressure, carbon dioxide gas pressure generated by cartridge 4a, by gravity, by suction generated by a muscle pump (adductor stem), venturi tube, or other structure, etc.) into a mixing chamber into which precursor liquid 2 is also introduced. Flushing of the mixing chamber may or may not be necessary, for example to help prevent cross-contamination between beverages. In some configurations, the entire volume of beverage medium 42 may drain into the mixing chamber, thereby causing the initial amount of flavored precursor liquid 2 exiting the mixing chamber to have a higher beverage medium concentration. However, as beverage medium 42 is swept from the mixing chamber by precursor liquid 2, the precursor liquid itself may effectively flush the mixing chamber.

The embodiment of fig. 2 may be modified to direct the flow of precursor liquid 2 exiting the contactor 6 directly to the beverage medium cartridge 4b or to another mixing chamber where beverage medium 42 is mixed with carbonated precursor liquid 2, for example as in fig. 3. That is, in this exemplary embodiment, carbonated precursor liquid 2 is not circulated from reservoir 11 through contactor 6 and back to reservoir 11, but rather precursor liquid 2 passes through contactor 6 once and then proceeds to mix with beverage medium 42 in mixing chamber 9 and discharge to cup 8. Mixing chamber 9 may take any suitable form, for example, precursor liquid 2 and beverage medium 42 may be caused to move in a spiral, vortex, or other manner to enhance mixing, one or more motor-driven blades, impellers, or other elements may be provided to mix the contents located within chamber 9, and so forth. The mixing chamber 9 may also be cooled, for example by a refrigeration system, to assist in cooling the beverage provided to the cup 8. Alternatively, the precursor liquid 2 may be cooled at any other location within the reservoir 11 and/or within the system 1. In the case where carbonated liquid 2 is not flavoured or liquid 2 is mixed with beverage medium 42 prior to passing through carbonator 6, mixing chamber 9 may be eliminated or arranged to mix precursor liquid 2 with beverage medium 42 upstream of contactor 6. Alternatively, the precursor liquid supply 10 may be arranged to mix precursor liquid 2 with beverage medium 42 in cartridge 4b before directing liquid 2 to contactor 6. The controller 5 may detect the gas pressure on the gas side of the contactor 6 and control the fluid supplied to the cartridge 4a accordingly, for example to maintain a suitable gas pressure within the contactor 6. The reservoir 11 may in this embodiment be an unpressurized water storage tank and may be removable from the system 1, for example to facilitate filling by a user. If desired, the user may add ice and/or a beverage medium to the precursor liquid 2 in the reservoir 11. Alternatively, the reservoir 11 and the pump 13 may be replaced by a pipe connection to a pressurized water supply and an optional control valve and/or pressure reducer. Of course, as with the other embodiments, the system 1 may be suitably enclosed within a housing having a visual display, user input buttons, knobs or touch screens, user operated means for opening/closing the cartridge chamber, and other features found in beverage makers.

Other configurations for the beverage forming system 1, such as that shown in fig. 4, are possible. In this exemplary embodiment, cartridge chamber 3 is coupled to reservoir 11 such that cartridge 4a with carbon dioxide source 41 is located within reservoir 11. The cartridge 4a may be placed in the reservoir 11/cartridge chamber 3 by removing the lid 12 from the reservoir 11. Liquid may be provided to barrel 4a by any suitable activation of fluid supply 20, a syringe or piston pump that delivers a metered amount of liquid to barrel 4a, or the like, such as the configuration shown in fig. 1. In this embodiment, the carbon dioxide supply device 30 is combined with the reservoir 11, and thus, a part of the reservoir functions to deliver carbon dioxide gas to the precursor liquid 2. The pump 13 may assist the carbonation process by circulating the liquid 2 and injecting the liquid 2 into the head space filled with carbon dioxide in the reservoir 11. In another embodiment, contactor 6 may be disposed within reservoir 11 (e.g., at the location of nozzle 14) such that liquid 2 flows through hollow fibers extending downwardly from cover 12 while carbon dioxide within the headspace is adsorbed by the liquid as it flows through the fibers. In yet another configuration, the membrane portion of contactor 6 may be at least partially submerged within precursor liquid 2, and gas from source 41 may pass through the hollow fibers of contactor 6. Thereby, the liquid 2 outside the fibres can extract carbon dioxide from the gas passing through the fibres.

Although the cartridge chamber 3 may be provided in any suitable manner, fig. 5 shows an exemplary configuration in which the carbon dioxide source cartridge 4a and the beverage medium cartridge 4b can be received by the same cartridge chamber 3. In this embodiment, cartridges 4a, 4b (which have portions containing gas source 41 and beverage medium 42, respectively) are received within separate cartridge receptacles 33, and each cartridge receptacle 33 may include a piercing element 34 located at the bottom of cartridge receptacle 33. A piercing element 34, which may comprise a hollow needle, spike, blade, knife, or other structure, may form an opening in the corresponding barrel 4. Alternatively, the cartridge 4 may have defined openings, such as one or more ports including a septum or other valve type element, that allow flow into and/or out of the cartridge 4. Similarly, the lid 12 may comprise a piercing element 35 which, for example, forms a corresponding opening in the top of the cartridge 4 when the lid 12 is closed. When closed, the lid 12 may form a sealed chamber in which the cartridges 4a, 4b are located and spaced from each other. The openings formed in the cartridges 4a, 4b may allow communication with the inner spaces of the cartridges 4a, 4b as shown in fig. 5. For example, the top opening of cartridge 4a may allow carbon dioxide or other gas to exit cartridge chamber 3, while the bottom opening of cartridge 4a may allow water or other activating fluid to enter cartridge 4 a. Of course, the openings may be formed at other locations, such as openings for allowing fluid to flow in at the top or sides of the cartridge. Likewise, gas may exit the cartridge via a bottom, side, or otherwise positioned opening. As described above, gas may be allowed to leak from cartridge 4a into the space within cartridge chamber 3 around cartridge 4a, e.g., via an opening within cartridge 4a, a hole or other opening within piercing element 35, etc. This may allow the pressure around the cartridge to equalize with the pressure inside the cartridge during gas generation, thereby helping to prevent the cartridge 4a from bursting. Alternatively, the cartridge 4a may fit tightly into the cartridge receiver 33 so that the cartridge chamber 3 can support the cartridge 4a (if desired). An opening in the top of beverage medium cartridge 4b may allow precursor liquid 2 to be introduced into cartridge 4b (e.g., to mix with the beverage medium), or allow pressurized air or other gas to enter the cartridge (e.g., to force beverage medium 42 out of cartridge 4b and into the mixing chamber). The bottom opening of the cartridge 4b may allow the beverage to drain to a waiting cup or other container or allow the beverage medium to travel to the mixing chamber. As with cartridge 4a, the opening in the beverage medium cartridge 42 may be provided at any suitable location.

Cartridge chamber 3 may be opened and closed in any suitable manner to allow placement of cartridge 4 within chamber 3 and/or removal of cartridge 4 from chamber 3. In the embodiment of fig. 5, the lid 12 is pivotably mounted to the receptacle of the chamber 3 and may be opened and closed manually, such as by a handle or linkage arrangement, or automatically, such as by motor drive means, to close the cartridge receptacle 33. In other embodiments, the cover 12 may have two or more sections that are each coupled with a corresponding cartridge receiver 33. Accordingly, the cover sections can be moved independently of each other to open and/or close the cartridge receiving portions 33. Of course, the cap 12 may be provided in other ways, such as by a threaded connection (like a threaded end cap) to mate with the receiver 33, by the receiver 33 moving away from and toward the cap 12 while the cap 12 remains stationary, by the cap and receiver, and so forth. Furthermore, the cartridge chamber 3 does not necessarily have to have a lid and receiving structure like that shown in fig. 5, but may have any suitable means that cooperate to open and/or close and support the cartridge. For example, the pair of clamshell members may be moved relative to each other to allow the cartridge to be received and physically supported. Some other exemplary cartridge chamber configurations are shown, for example, in U.S. patents 6,142,063, 6,606,938, 6,644,173, and 7,165,488. As described above, the cartridge chamber 3 may allow a user to place one or more cartridges within the chamber 3 without the user having to take special steps to establish a pressure-tight, leak-proof, or other dedicated connection between the cartridge and the rest of the system 1. Rather, in some embodiments, the user can easily place the cartridge within the receiving space and close the cartridge chamber.

The cartridges 4 used in the various embodiments may be provided in any suitable manner, such as a relatively simple truncated cone shaped cup container having a lid attached to the top of the container, for example, as some beverage cartridges sold by the Kurileg company of Ridin, Mass and shown in, for example, U.S. patent 5,840,189. In one embodiment, a cartridge having a truncated cone shaped cup-shaped container and lid may have a general diameter of about 30-50 millimeters, a height of about 30-50 millimeters, an internal volume of about 30-60 milliliters, and a burst resistance of about 80 pounds per square inch (i.e., a resistance to burst of the cartridge with a pressure gradient of about 80 pounds per square inch from the interior to the exterior of the cartridge without any physical support for the cartridge). However, as used herein, a "cartridge" may take any suitable form, such as a web of bags (e.g., opposing layers of filter paper enclosing a beverage medium), a pouch, a sachet, a package, or any other structure. The cartridge may or may not have a defined shape, as in the case of some pouches or other packaging that is entirely supported by a flexible material. The cartridge may be impermeable to air and/or liquid, or may allow water and/or air to enter the cartridge. The cartridge may include a filter or other structure, for example, within the beverage medium cartridge 4b to help prevent portions of the beverage medium from being provided with the formed beverage, and/or within the gas cartridge 4a to help prevent the introduction of carbon dioxide source material into the beverage or other system components.

In one aspect of the invention, the volume of the cartridge or cartridges used to form a beverage using the beverage forming system may be smaller, and in some cases much smaller, than the volume of the beverage formed using the cartridge or cartridges. For example, if carbon dioxide and beverage medium cartridges 4 are used, the cartridge volumes may be about 50 milliliters or less, respectively, and may be used to form a beverage having a volume of about 200 and 500 milliliters or more. The inventors have discovered (as shown in some of the examples below) that an amount of charged carbon dioxide adsorbent (e.g., charged zeolite) of about 30 grams (less than 30 milliliters by volume) can be used to produce about 400-500 milliliters of carbonated water having a carbonation level of up to about 3.5 volumes. In addition, it is well known that beverages having a volume of less than 50 ml may be prepared as syrups for preparing suitably flavored beverages having a volume of about 400 and 500 ml. Accordingly, a relatively small volume cartridge (or a single cartridge in some constructions) having a volume of about 100 milliliters or less may be used to form a carbonated beverage having a carbonation level of about 1.5 to 4 volumes in a volume of about 100 to 1000 milliliters in less than 120 seconds, such as about 60 seconds, and using pressures below 50 pounds per square inch.

Although the carbon dioxide and beverage medium cartridges 4 may be provided separately, in one embodiment, the cartridges 4 may be joined together as shown in fig. 6. The cartridges 4a, 4b may be connected by any suitable structure, such as tabs 43 extending from the corresponding cartridges 4a, 4b, and attached together, for example, by heat welding, adhesives, interlocking mechanical fasteners such as snap-fit or clips, and the like. This configuration may allow the cartridges 4a, 4b to be manufactured separately at the time of manufacture and installation, for example because the cartridges require very different manufacturing processes. For example, the beverage medium cartridge 4b may require a highly sterile environment, and the gas cartridge 4a need not be made in such an environment. In contrast, the gas cartridge 4a may need to be manufactured in a moisture free environment, and the beverage medium cartridge 4b may not take these requirements into account. After the cartridges 4a, 4b are manufactured, the cartridges may be prevented from being attached together in a manner that separates the cartridges and/or breaks one or both of the cartridges without the use of tools (such as scissors). The cartridge chamber 3 may be arranged to receive an attached cartridge, allowing a user to place a single item within the cartridge 3 to form a beverage. Furthermore, the manner in which the cartridge 4 and/or cartridge are attached, along with the structure of the cartridge chamber 3, may help ensure that the gas cartridge 4a and beverage medium cartridge 4b are placed within the appropriate cartridge receptacle 33. For example, the cartridges 4 may have different sizes, shapes, or other configurations, and thus, the combined cartridges 4 cannot be placed in the chamber 3 in the wrong orientation. Alternatively, the controller 5 may detect improper placement of the cartridge (e.g., by communicating with an RFID tag on one or both of the cartridges, by optically or otherwise identifying the cartridge, etc.) and prompt the user to make the change as desired.

Fig. 7 and 8 illustrate another embodiment in which pairs of cartridges are joined in a manner that helps prevent improper placement of the cartridges within the chamber and/or enables the cartridges to operate in other orientations. As shown in fig. 7, the cartridges 4a and 4b are attached by a connector 43 such that the cartridge 4a is disposed in a vertical orientation with the container bottom 44 facing downward and the lid 45 covering the top of the container facing upward, while the cartridge 4b is on its side with the lid 45 facing the side. Fig. 8 shows a top view of the embodiment with the lid 45 of the can 4a facing the viewer and the lid 45 of the can 4b facing downwards. Such a configuration may be useful in embodiments where the cartridge 4 is only pierced at the cap region, e.g., not within the base 44 or other portion of the container. That is, the gas cylinder 4a may be pierced at the lid 45 to allow liquid to be introduced into the cylinder 4a and gas to exit. Similarly, the lid 45 of the cartridge 4b may be pierced to allow liquid to be introduced into the cartridge 4b to mix with the beverage medium 42 and to allow the flavored beverage to exit the cartridge 4 b. Avoiding the container from being pierced may be useful in constructions in which the container is made of a relatively thick and/or rigid material (e.g., to withstand the operating pressure of the cartridge 4).

In another aspect of the invention, a single cartridge may be used to provide both the carbonated gas as well as the beverage medium. Indeed, in some embodiments, the precursor liquid may be carbonated and flavored within the same cartridge. For example, fig. 9 shows a cross-sectional view of a cartridge 4 including a gas source 41 (e.g., a zeolite carbon dioxide source) and a beverage medium 42. In this embodiment, cartridge 4 includes a first chamber (portion) 46 and a second chamber (portion) 47 containing gas source 41 and beverage medium 42, respectively. The first chamber (portion) 46 and the second chamber (portion) 47 may be separated from each other by a permeable element such as a filter or an impermeable element such as a wall molded with the cartridge container. In this embodiment, the first chamber (portion) 46 and the second chamber (portion) 47 are separated by a filter 48 attached to the cover 45, but may be otherwise provided. The precursor liquid and/or activation liquid may be introduced into first chamber 46 through piercing element 35 or other structure such as a port formed as part of cartridge 4. The interior space of the cartridge 4 may be maintained at a pressure above ambient pressure, e.g., 30-150 psig or more, so that the carbon dioxide gas released by the source 41 dissolves more rapidly than at lower pressures. In addition, a system 1 configured to use such a cartridge may include a back pressure valve or other structure that helps maintain a suitable pressure within the cartridge 4, for example as an aid to carbonation. As described above, the cartridge chamber 3 holding the cartridge 4 may be configured to closely conform to the cartridge 4 as needed to support the cartridge and prevent the cartridge from bursting. Alternatively, the pressure within the cartridge 4 may be allowed to leak into the space around the cartridge 4 to equalize the internal and external pressures of the cartridge. Carbonated precursor liquid 2 and/or liquid and/or bubble mixture may pass through filter element 48 into second chamber 47 to mix with beverage medium 42. Thereafter, the precursor liquid 2 and beverage medium 42 mixture may exit cartridge 4, for example, through piercing element 34 at container bottom 44. Dissolution of carbon dioxide into precursor liquid 2 and mixing of beverage medium 42 with liquid 2 may continue after the material exits cartridge 4. For example, a mixing chamber may be located downstream of the cartridge 4 to facilitate more thorough mixing of the beverage medium and liquid as desired. Also, a conduit located downstream of the cartridge may assist the gas in continuing to dissolve by, for example, maintaining pressure within the liquid.

In the above embodiments, it has been described that the cartridge 4 has a defined bottom and top, whereas the cartridge operates in a vertical configuration. However, as suggested in connection with fig. 7 and 8, the cartridge may operate in any suitable orientation. For example, fig. 10 shows an embodiment using a cartridge configured as in fig. 9 when the cartridge 4 is located on its side. (note that the cartridge 4b in fig. 7 and 8 may be used in a similar manner as shown in fig. 10.) precursor liquid may be introduced into the first chamber (or portion) 46 (e.g., via the piercing element 35), causing the gas source 41 to emit gas and at least partially fill the interior space of the cartridge 4. As with the embodiment of fig. 9, the liquid may be carbonated and mixed with the beverage medium 42 before exiting the cartridge, e.g., via the piercing element 34.

As also mentioned above, a single cartridge 4 may be provided having a first chamber 46 and a second chamber 47 that are separate from each other. Fig. 11 shows one such embodiment where the first chamber (or section) 46 and the second chamber (or section) 47 are separated by a wall 49. Although the cartridge chamber 3 needs to be modified to accommodate a single cartridge 4, a cartridge similar to that shown in fig. 11 is employed, for example, in a system 1 similar to that shown in fig. 2. As shown in fig. 11, in one embodiment, the activation liquid may be provided via a piercing element 35 at the top of the first chamber (or portion) 46, and the gas may exit via the same or a different opening. Alternatively, the activation liquid may be introduced via the piercing element 34 at the bottom of the first chamber (or portion) 46, and the gas may exit via the piercing element 35 at the top. In another embodiment, the precursor liquid may be introduced at the top piercing element 35 and the carbonated liquid may exit via the bottom piercing element 34. The first chamber (or portion) 46 may include a filter or other suitable component, for example, to help prevent the gas source 41 from exiting the first chamber (or portion) 46. With respect to the second chamber (or portion) 47, air or other gas may be introduced through the piercing element 35 at the top of the second chamber (or portion) 47, causing the beverage medium 42 to be removed through the piercing element 34 at the bottom of the second chamber (or portion) 47. Alternatively, the precursor liquid may be introduced via the piercing element 35 at the top of the second chamber 47, may mix with the beverage medium 42, and exit the cartridge 4 via the piercing element 34. As noted above, the configuration of the piercing elements 34, 35 in this exemplary embodiment should not be construed as limiting aspects of the invention in any way. That is, a piercing element need not be used, but rather may flow into and/or out of the cartridge 4 through a port or other opening defined within the cartridge 4. Likewise, the flow ports or other openings in the cartridge need not be at the top, bottom, or other particular locations.

The cartridge may be made of any suitable material and is not limited to the container and lid configurations shown herein. For example, the cartridge may be constructed of or otherwise include materials that provide a barrier to moisture and/or gases such as oxygen, moisture, and the like. In one embodiment, the cartridge may be constructed from a polymer laminate, for example, constructed from a sheet comprising a layer of polystyrene or polypropylene and a layer of EVOH and/or other barrier materials such as metal foil. Further, the material and/or construction of the cartridge may vary depending on the material contained within the cartridge. For example, the gas cartridge 4a may require a robust moisture barrier, while the beverage medium cartridge 4b may not require such high moisture resistance. Thus, the cartridge may be constructed of different materials and/or in different ways. Furthermore, the cartridge interior may be configured differently depending on the desired function. For example, the beverage medium cartridge 4b may include baffles or other structures that cause the liquid/beverage medium to flow through a tortuous path to promote mixing. The gas cylinder 4a may be arranged to hold the gas source 41 in a particular position or to hold other structures within the interior space, for example to help control wetting of the source 41 with the activating liquid.

Example 1

The desorption characteristics of the carbon dioxide adsorbent were measured in the following manner: sodium zeolite 13X (such as available from uopmolsii adsorbents (uopmolsitiv adsorbents)) was obtained as 8X12 beads (break). The beads were placed in a ceramic dish and fired in a vulcan d550 furnace manufactured by selymond (Ceramco). The temperature in the furnace containing the beads was raised to 550 ℃ at 3 ℃ per minute and held at 550 ℃ for 5 hours to fire and prepare the beads for charging with carbon dioxide.

The beads were removed from the furnace and transferred directly to a metal container equipped with a tightly fitted lid and inlet and outlet allowing gas circulation. With the beads sealed within the container, the container was filled with carbon dioxide gas and pressurized to 15 psig. (although it is noted that the experiments were conducted between 5-32 psig.) the chamber was held at the set pressure for 1 hour. During this hold, the chamber was vented every 15 minutes. At the end of this period, a large amount of gas has been adsorbed to the beads.

A 30 gram sample of the charged 13X zeolite was measured and the beaker filled with 250 ml of water at room temperature of 22 ℃. The beaker and water were placed on a balance and the balance was zeroed. Then, 30 grams of the charged zeolite was added to the beaker and the weight change over time was measured to have shown that the weight change became approximately even after a period of 50 seconds and the beads lost about 4.2 grams (14 weight%) of weight due to the release of carbon dioxide. Of course, some carbon dioxide may already be dissolved in the water.

Example 2

Charged zeolite 13X was prepared as in example 1. A 30 gram sample of the charged zeolite was then placed in a metal chamber having a water inlet at the bottom and a gas outlet at the top. The chamber holding the zeolite was 34x34 mm in cross section and had two metal filter disks comprising 64 pores 1/16 inches to hold the zeolite material. The tap water is then filled into the bottom of the chamber at an average flow rate of 60 ml/min perpendicular to the cross-section. Gas is vented through an outlet at the top.

The gas pressure in the chamber is measured with a pressure gauge and controlled with a needle valve attached to the outlet of the gas chamber. The needle valve was set to maintain the chamber at a pressure of 35 psig by manually adjusting the valve during exposure of the charged zeolite in the chamber to water. Once the valve is set to operating pressure, the system is repeated with zeolite sample fed in the same manner.

Example 3

Charged zeolite 13X was prepared as in example 1. A 30 gram sample of the charged zeolite was then placed in a semi-rigid 50 ml polystyrene-polyethylene-EVOH laminate cup container and heat sealed with a foil lid. The sealed zeolite cartridge was then placed in a sealed metal cartridge chamber and pierced at the top and bottom.

The water of the faucet is introduced at the bottom of the barrel, and the water flow is controlled by the solenoid valve. The solenoid valve is actuated via a pressure switch connected to the top air outlet of the cartridge chamber. During the three different tests, the pressure switch was set to three different operating pressures of 5, 22, and 35 psig. The resulting gas at the set pressure was then introduced into the housing side of a hydrophobic membrane contactor (a 1x5.5 micromodule from seigold corporation (Liquicel) of charlotte, north carolina). Other housing side ports are plugged to prevent gas escape. Water from a reservoir containing 400 ml of water and about 50 grams of ice is circulated from the reservoir through the contactor using an EAX5 vibratory pump of the Ulka (milan, italy) type and through the lumen side of the membrane contactor and back to the reservoir (e.g., as shown in fig. 2). The pressure of the reservoir and contactor is maintained at the same pressure as the pressure of the produced gas. The system generates gas and circulates the water for about 60 seconds before stopping.

The resulting carbonated water was then tested for carbonation levels using a CarboQC of antopar (Anton-Paar) of ashland, virginia. The results are shown in the following table.

Thus, it is shown that gas (based on the water delivered to the cartridge chamber) is emitted at a controlled rate from the zeolite within the cartridge and then dissolves in the water to produce a carbonated beverage. Furthermore, this shows the idea that by controlling the system pressure, the carbonation level of the prepared beverage can be controlled. It is expected that higher system pressures, for example about 40-50 psig above ambient pressure, will produce 4 volumes of carbonated beverage (having a liquid volume of about 500 milliliters) in about 60 seconds or less.

Having described several aspects of at least one embodiment of this invention, it is to be appreciated various alterations, modifications, and improvements will readily occur to those skilled in the art. Such alterations, modifications, and improvements are intended to be part of this disclosure, and are intended to be within the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the foregoing description and drawings are by way of example only.

Claims (20)

1. A beverage making system, comprising:

a beverage precursor liquid supply to provide a precursor liquid;

a cartridge chamber configured to hold a cartridge;

a cartridge comprising an interior space containing a carbon dioxide source in solid form having adsorbed carbon dioxide and arranged to emit carbon dioxide gas for carbonating the precursor liquid;

a carbon dioxide activated fluid supply arranged to provide fluid to the cartridge within the cartridge chamber to contact the carbon dioxide source to cause the carbon dioxide source to emit carbon dioxide gas, the carbon dioxide activated fluid supply being arranged to provide a controlled amount of fluid to the cartridge chamber in separate successive passes to control the amount of carbon dioxide gas emitted by the carbon dioxide source; and

carbon dioxide gas supply means arranged to transfer carbon dioxide gas emitted by the carbon dioxide source to precursor liquid provided via the beverage precursor liquid supply means to carbonate the precursor liquid at a pressure greater than ambient pressure.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the carbon dioxide activated fluid supply is configured to deliver fluid to the cartridge chamber to control pressure within the cartridge chamber.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the cartridge comprises a single container defining a sealed interior space, the single container comprising first and second chambers (46, 47) separated by an impermeable wall (49) and spaced from one another, the first chamber containing a carbon dioxide source (41) and the second chamber containing a beverage medium (42) for mixing with the carbonated precursor liquid.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the cartridge chamber is configured to introduce a pressurized gas into the second chamber while holding a single container within the cartridge chamber to move the beverage medium out of the second chamber to mix with the precursor liquid.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the beverage precursor liquid supply comprises a reservoir containing precursor liquid and the gas supply provides carbon dioxide gas to the reservoir to carbonate precursor liquid within the reservoir.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the cartridge chamber is configured to maintain the cartridge within the cartridge chamber at a pressure greater than ambient pressure within the sealed space.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the carbon dioxide activating fluid supply is configured to provide a first portion of the precursor liquid to the cartridge chamber to activate the carbon dioxide source.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the carbon dioxide activated fluid supply is configured to provide fluid to the cartridge chamber when the pressure of the cartridge chamber is greater than ambient pressure.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the cartridge has a volume that is less than a volume of carbonated beverage formed using the cartridge.

10. A method of forming a beverage using a beverage forming machine, the method comprising:

providing a cartridge having an interior space that is sealed to enclose a carbon dioxide source within the interior space, the carbon dioxide source being in solid form and having adsorbed carbon dioxide;

providing fluid to the cartridge to cause the carbon dioxide source to emit carbon dioxide when the cartridge is located within an enclosure of a cartridge chamber of the beverage forming machine;

controlling the amount of fluid provided to the cartridge over a period of time to control the amount of carbon dioxide gas emitted by the carbon dioxide source over the period of time, the fluid being delivered to the cartridge in separate successive times and in controlled amounts;

carbonating a precursor liquid by dissolving at least a portion of the carbon dioxide emitted by the carbon dioxide source within the precursor liquid; and

mixing the precursor liquid with a beverage medium to produce a beverage.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the cartridge comprises a single container comprising a single container defining a sealed interior space, the single container comprising a first chamber and a second chamber separated by an impermeable wall and spaced from each other, the first chamber containing the carbon dioxide source and the second chamber containing the beverage medium for mixing with the carbonated precursor liquid.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising introducing a pressurized gas into the second chamber while holding a single container within the cartridge chamber to move the beverage medium out of the second chamber to mix with a precursor liquid.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the carbon dioxide source is a charged zeolite.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein the step of carbonating comprises providing carbon dioxide gas to a reservoir containing the precursor liquid.

15. The method of claim 10, wherein the step of providing fluid to the cartridge comprises providing fluid into the cartridge chamber that retains the cartridge within the enclosed space, and the step of controlling the amount of fluid comprises controlling the amount of fluid provided to the cartridge chamber.

16. The method of claim 10, further comprising piercing the cartridge with the beverage forming machine to provide fluid to the cartridge.

17. The method of claim 10, wherein the step of providing a fluid comprises providing a first portion of the precursor liquid to the cartridge to activate the carbon dioxide source.

18. The method of claim 10, wherein the carbon dioxide source comprises a charged zeolite and the step of controlling the amount of fluid provided to the cartridge comprises controlling the fluid provided to the cartridge to cause the charged zeolite to emit carbon dioxide over a period of at least 30 seconds.

19. The method of claim 10, wherein the cartridge has a volume that is less than a volume of carbonated beverage formed using the cartridge.

20. The method of claim 10, wherein the steps of providing fluid to the cartridge, controlling the amount of fluid provided to the cartridge, and carbonating the precursor liquid by dissolving at least a portion of the carbon dioxide emitted from the carbon dioxide source in the precursor liquid are performed in a time period of less than 120 seconds to form a carbonated liquid having a volume of 100-.