HK1194718B - Capsule, machine, system and method for preparing a beverage - Google Patents

Description

Capsule, machine, system and method for preparing a beverage

Technical Field

The present invention generally relates to a system for preparing a beverage, in particular espresso coffee, using a capsule or the like containing a substance for preparing the beverage, in particular ground roast coffee.

The invention mainly relates to a capsule of this type, comprising:

a housing having first and second end walls spaced apart from each other and interconnected by a side wall having a generally annular shape, and defining a cavity containing a quantity or dose of a substance for preparation of a beverage;

the housing has at least one permeable or permeable first wall portion and at least one permeable or permeable second wall portion, the first and second wall portions serving as an inlet for the introduction of a flow of water into the chamber and an outlet for the outflow of beverage from the chamber, respectively.

Background

Capsules of this type, which can be used in particular for preparing espresso coffee, are disclosed in patents such as EP-0584314B1 and EP-2141093B1, both in the name of the applicant.

Known capsules of the above-defined type have a casing of generally cylindrical or frustoconical shape, in which the substance for preparing the beverage forms a filter plate, known as a corresponding shape. In this type of capsule, pressurized hot water is introduced at one of the two end faces of the capsule and the beverage exits at the other end face.

The wall of the capsule for the introduction of pressurized hot water and for the outflow of the beverage may be of the water-permeable type or of the type that can be perforated by any suitable known perforation device.

In these capsules, the annular lateral wall is completely impermeable and is not penetrated during the preparation of the beverage.

With the known type of capsule described above, it is important to ensure that the filter plate, formed by the dose of substance contained in the capsule, has a suitable wettability (wetting) in order to achieve an optimal extraction of the beverage. For this purpose it must be ensured that the entry of pressurized hot water into the capsule takes place over a wide flow area or cross section.

In the known types of capsules manufactured so far, the maximum area of introduction of water into the capsule does not exceed the area of the end surface or wall (generally circular) through which water is introduced.

An increase of the diameter of this surface of the wall with the aim of improving the wettability of the substance contained in the capsule is practically not feasible, since for a certain capsule internal volume an increase of the diameter of this surface of the wall requires a considerable reduction of the height of the capsule, which has a negative effect on the contact properties between the water and the substance contained in the capsule.

Disclosure of Invention

It is therefore a first object of the present invention to provide a capsule which overcomes the drawbacks of the prior art capsules described above and which in particular improves the wettability of the substance contained in the capsule.

Said object is achieved according to the invention by a capsule as defined in the introduction, which is characterized in that an inlet wall portion for introducing water into the capsule is formed in said side wall of the substantially annular shape.

According to the invention, the pressurized hot water can be introduced into the capsule solely through one of the one or more portions of the annular side wall, or through the annular side wall and also partially through one of the end surfaces or walls of the capsule.

Further advantageous features of the capsule according to the invention are defined in the invention.

The invention also proposes a machine for preparing a beverage by means of the capsule of the invention, the salient features of which are defined in the invention.

In the machine for preparing beverages according to the present invention, the infusion chamber is configured in such a way that it can define, with respect to the capsule positioned therein, an annular space extending around part of said lateral wall of said capsule, which is formed in order to let water be introduced into said capsule, which is connected to a pressurized water supply and is separated in a liquid-tight manner from evacuation means arranged to let the beverage formed in the infusion chamber flow out towards the collection container.

The invention also proposes a system for preparing a beverage, comprising, according to the invention, a capsule according to the invention and a machine.

Finally, the invention also comprises a method for preparing a beverage having the remarkable features defined in the present invention.

Drawings

Further characteristics and advantages of the invention will be clarified by the following detailed description, provided purely by way of non-limiting example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

figure 1 is a perspective view of a first capsule for preparing a beverage according to the invention;

figure 2 is a diagram of a machine for preparing a beverage using the capsule according to figure 1 according to the present invention;

figure 3 is a perspective view of a variant embodiment of the capsule according to figure 1;

figure 4 is a partial cross-sectional view showing an infusion chamber of a machine for preparing beverages according to the present invention, using a capsule according to figure 3; and

figure 5 is a perspective view of another variant embodiment of a capsule according to the invention.

Detailed Description

In fig. 1, the numeral 1 indicates as a whole a capsule for preparing a beverage, such as espresso coffee, according to the invention.

The capsule 1 in fig. 1 comprises a casing 2, for example made of food-grade plastic material.

In the illustrated embodiment, the housing 2 is of generally cylindrical configuration and has first and second end walls 3 and 4 at its top and bottom, respectively, spaced from one another and interconnected by a generally annular side wall 5.

The housing 2 may also be made in a non-cylindrical shape such as a frustoconical shape.

As shown in fig. 2, the housing 2 defines an inner area or chamber 6, which inner area or chamber 6 contains a quantity or dose of a substance 7 for preparing a beverage, such as ground roasted coffee.

The annular side wall 5 of the housing 2 has an upper portion 5a, which upper portion 5a has a plurality of micro-pores 8 to render said upper portion water permeable. Each of the micro-holes 8 may have a cross-section such that it prevents the substance contained in the casing 2 for preparing the beverage from flowing out of the casing 2, and/or a filter made of paper or the like may be placed inside the casing 2, in close proximity to the inner surface of the side wall 5, to retain the aforementioned substance in the casing 2.

At least one portion, preferably the central portion, of the lower end wall 4 of the casing 2 is also preferably provided with micro-holes (designated by the numeral 9 in fig. 2) so that said wall portion is made permeable to the liquid beverage formed by the substance 7 contained in the capsule in contact with the water entering the capsule via the entrance portion 5a of the lateral wall 5 of the capsule.

Fig. 2 schematically shows a machine M usable for preparing beverages, which machine M uses a capsule 1 of the type described above with reference to fig. 1.

In the embodiment shown, the machine M comprises a supporting casing 50 in which an electric pump 51 can be driven in a known manner to cause the water coming from a container 52 to flow towards the infusion unit (designated as a whole by the numeral 53) after passing through an electric heating device 44 of known type.

The infusion unit 53 may comprise two elements 54 and 55 which may be moved away from or towards each other and which may be connected in a sealed manner so as to form, in combination, an infusion chamber 56 into which a capsule 1 of the type described above has been previously introduced.

In the embodiment shown in the schematic drawing, the element 54 of the infusion unit 53 carries an annular (toroidal) sealing ring 57 and the element 55 carries a sealing ring 58. The arrangement allows the capsule 1 introduced into the infusion unit 53 to be longitudinally enclosed between the sealing rings 57 and 58. In particular, the ring 58 extends around a central portion 4a of the lower wall 4 of the capsule, in which the outflow microholes 9 are provided.

The infusion chamber 56 is configured so as to define, with respect to the capsule 1 enclosed therein, an annular space 60 extending around the lateral wall of the capsule and in particular around the portion 5a of said wall in which the micro-holes 8 are provided for the introduction of water.

The space 60 is connected to the output of the pump 51 by one or more conduits, such as those designated by numerals 61-63 in fig. 2.

In the lower element 55 of the infusion unit, the area inside the sealing ring 58 communicates with a discharge channel 59, through which discharge channel 59 the beverage, which, in use, flows out of the capsule 1 via the micro-holes 9 in the lower bottom of the capsule, can be transferred to a collection container (such as a cup C) placed below.

The configuration of the machine M, schematically shown in fig. 2, is such that, as a result of the activation of the pump 51 and the heating means 44, a flow of pressurized hot water is fed into the space 60, from where it penetrates into the casing 2 of the capsule 1 through the micro-holes 8 in the inlet wall portion 5a of the annular lateral wall 5 of the capsule.

In fig. 2, the flow of hot water in the substance 7 contained in the capsule 1 is indicated by a dashed line (as a guide only). The path shown here shows how the substance 7 is effectively "wetted" and thus an optimal soaking is achieved.

Referring to fig. 1, a further inlet portion of the wall may be provided in the upper end wall 3 of the housing 2 for introducing pressurized water into the housing. In the embodiment shown by the dashed line in fig. 1, the other inlet portion of the wall is designated by 3a and is substantially in the form of a circular ring comprising a plurality of micropores (designated by the numeral 10).

In order to use a capsule additionally provided with a ring of inlet microholes 10 (as described immediately above), the infusion unit 53 of the machine M according to figure 2 must be provided with an upper sealing ring 57 having a suitably reduced diameter.

In a variant embodiment, not shown, the micro-perforated portion 3a of the upper end wall 3 of the capsule 1 may be centrally located, instead of peripherally as shown in the exemplary embodiment of fig. 1.

Finally, the entire upper end wall 3 of the capsule 1 may be microporous, but in any case the flow cross section through this wall 3 is preferably smaller than the flow cross section through the microporous portion 5a of the side wall 5 of the capsule.

Fig. 3 shows another variant embodiment of the capsule 1 according to the invention. In this figure, parts and elements previously described are given the same reference numerals as previously used.

In the variant according to fig. 3, the annular lateral wall 5 of the casing 2 of the capsule has a peripheral projection 11, the lower annular surface or face 11a of which forms a transverse shoulder intended to abut in a substantially watertight manner against a corresponding support face 64 (fig. 4) provided in the infusion chamber 56 of the infusion unit 53 in which the capsule 1 is intended to be used in the infusion unit 53. As can be seen in fig. 4, the connection formed by the abutment of the peripheral projection 11 of the capsule 1 against the infusion chamber creates a watertight separation between the space 60 and the beverage discharge channel 59.

The upper end wall 3 of the capsule according to fig. 3 may also be provided with micro-holes to assist in introducing pressurized hot water into the capsule, if desired.

Fig. 5 shows another variant embodiment of the capsule 1 according to the invention. In this figure, parts and elements previously described are also given the same reference numerals as previously used.

In the capsule 1 according to fig. 5, the lateral wall 5 of the casing 2 has a cross-sectional profile forming a step 12 defining a downwardly facing outer annular surface or lateral shoulder 12 a. The step 12 has the effect of dividing the side wall 5 of the housing into an upper part 5a (with a larger cross section) and a lower part 5b (with a smaller cross section).

The shoulder 12a defined at the step 12 provides the same sealing function in the infusion chamber as provided by the peripheral projection 11 of the capsule described above with reference to figures 3 and 4.

The capsule according to fig. 5 may also have a region with micro-holes in the upper end wall 3 for additional introduction of pressurized hot water into the capsule.

Conveniently, in the capsule according to fig. 5, the ratio between the height H of the upper portion 5a and the overall height H of the capsule is in the range from 0.1 to 0.9. Furthermore, the ratio between the diameter D of the portion 5b and the diameter D of the portion 5a is also in the range from 0.1 to 0.9.

In all cases, the ratio between the total flow area or cross-section of the water introduced into the capsule 1 according to the invention and the area or cross-section of the beverage flowing out of the capsule is preferably greater than 1.

In various embodiments of the capsule according to the invention, the substance 7 for preparing the beverage is preferably in the form of granules or powder and is deposited so as to form in the capsule 1a laminar structure having a lower layer of greater concentration and compactness and an upper layer of lesser concentration, which is close to the inlet wall portion 5a for the introduction of water. This solution makes it possible to improve the diffusion of the "precursor" of the beverage into the capsule.

The inlet wall portion 5a may, if desired, be made of a film or sheet welded around the housing 2 and which can be pierced or torn by a spike, blade or the like in order to introduce water into the cavity 6.

In general, since the capsule 1 can be easily made of a single material, shaped to the final contour by injection molding, casting, stamping or injection-compression molding operations, the capsule 1 can be conveniently made of biodegradable/micro-decomposable materials, in particular of polymeric materials, preferably of polymers extracted from biomass (biomas) or micro-decomposable synthetic polymers, or of polymers produced by genetically modified microorganisms or bacteria, or of polymers made of fossil monomers (fossilminors), or of materials comprising natural fibers or products of lawn weeding as by-products of the food chain (chaff of corn, coffee, rice, etc.) agglomerated by means of adhesives, or of polymer blends.

Obviously, the forms of application and the details of construction may be widely varied, as far as the principle of the invention is maintained, without departing from the scope of protection of the invention as defined in the appended claims, on the basis of what has been described and illustrated purely by way of non-limiting example.

Claims (17)

1. Capsule (1) for preparing a beverage by introducing water under pressure, comprising:

a housing (2) having a first end wall (3) and a second end wall (4) spaced apart from each other and interconnected by a side wall (5) having a substantially annular shape, and defining a cavity (6) containing a quantity or dose of a substance (7) for beverage preparation;

-said housing (2) has at least one permeable or permeable inlet wall portion (5a) and at least one permeable or permeable outlet wall portion (4a), separate from each other, serving respectively as an inlet for the introduction of a flow of water into said chamber (6) and as an outlet for the outflow of said beverage from said chamber (6);

characterized in that said inlet wall portion (5a) for introducing water into said cavity (6) is provided in said side wall (5).

2. Capsule according to claim 1, wherein the inlet wall portion (5a) for introducing water into the chamber (6) is provided only in the lateral wall (5).

3. Capsule according to claim 1, wherein a further inlet wall portion (3a) for introducing water into the capsule (1) is provided in the first end wall (3) of the casing (2).

4. Capsule according to claim 3, wherein the further inlet wall portion (3a) of the casing (2) for introducing water into the chamber (6) has a smaller flow area or cross section than the flow area or cross section of the inlet wall portion (5a) provided in the lateral wall (5) so that the introduction of water into the chamber (6) occurs mainly via the lateral wall (5).

5. Capsule according to any of the preceding claims, wherein one of the one or more outlet wall portions (4a) for the outflow of the beverage from the chamber (6) is provided in the second end wall (4) of the casing (2).

6. Capsule according to claim 5, wherein the outlet wall portion (4a) for the outflow of the beverage from the chamber (6) is provided in a central portion of the second end wall (4) of the casing (2).

7. Capsule according to any one of claims 1-4, wherein the casing has a general shape which is substantially cylindrical or frustoconical.

8. Capsule according to claim 6, wherein the casing has a general shape which is substantially cylindrical or frustoconical.

9. Capsule according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the lateral wall (5) of the casing (2) forms lateral shoulders (11a, 12a) intended to abut in a substantially watertight manner against respective surfaces (64) of an infusion chamber (56) of a machine (M) for the preparation of the beverage.

10. Capsule according to claim 8, wherein the lateral wall (5) of the casing (2) forms a transverse shoulder (11a, 12a) intended to abut in a substantially watertight manner against a corresponding surface (64) of an infusion chamber (56) of a machine (M) for the preparation of the beverage.

11. Capsule according to claim 9, wherein the lateral wall (5) of the casing (2) has a peripheral outer projection (11) defining the transverse shoulder (11 a).

12. Capsule according to claim 9, wherein the lateral wall (5) of the casing (2) has an axial cross-sectional profile forming at least one step (12) defining externally the transverse shoulder (12a) and dividing the casing (2) into a first portion with a larger cross-section and a second portion (5b) with a smaller cross-section.

13. Capsule according to claim 12, wherein the ratio between the height (H) of the first portion with larger cross section and the overall height (H) of the casing (2) is in the range 0.1 to 0.9.

14. Capsule according to claim 12 or 13, wherein the first end wall (3) and the second end wall (4) of the casing (2) are substantially circular and the ratio between the diameter (D) of the first end wall and the diameter (D) of the second end wall is in the range of 0.1 to 0.9.

15. A machine (M) for preparing beverages, comprising:

a support casing (50) in which an infusion chamber (56) is defined, into which a capsule (1) according to any one of the preceding claims can be introduced, and in which supply means (51, 52) for supplying a flow of water under pressure intended to be introduced into the capsule (1) and discharge means (59) for causing the beverage formed in the chamber (6) to flow out towards a collection container (C) are provided;

characterized in that the infusion chamber (56) is configured so as to define, with respect to a capsule (1) located therein, an annular space (60) extending around the inlet wall portion (5a) of the lateral wall (5) of the capsule (1) intended to allow the introduction of water into the capsule (1); -said annular space (60) is connected to said pressurized water supply means (51, 52) and is separated in a liquid-tight manner from said discharge means (59); such a configuration enables a pressurized flow of water introduced into the annular space (60) to penetrate into the capsule (1) via the entrance wall portion (5a) of the lateral wall (5) thereof.

16. A system for preparing a beverage, comprising:

capsule (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 14, and

machine (M) according to claim 15.

17. A method for preparing a beverage comprising the steps of:

providing a capsule (1) according to claims 1 to 14,

providing a machine (M) according to claim 15,

introducing the capsule (1) into the infusion chamber (56) of the machine (M), and

activating water supply means (51, 52), whereby a pressurized flow of water is introduced into the annular space (60) defined between the infusion chamber (56) and the lateral wall (5) of the capsule (1), and the flow of water permeates into the capsule (1) via the inlet wall portion (5a) of the lateral wall (5), wetting the substance (7) contained in the capsule (1).