Patent Application
20250011059
The present invention concerns a capsule for the preparation of a beverage in a beverage preparation device and a method for manufacturing said capsule. The capsule comprises a cup-shaped body made at least partially of cellulose pulp.
Containers or capsules made of cellulose pulp are known in the field of beverage preparation devices. Materials made of cellulose pulp are also known which are capable of maintaining the qualities of the beverage substance in the capsule, at least for a certain period of time. Single-use capsules for preparing a beverage in a beverage preparation device are also known.
These cellulose pulp-made single-use capsules provide a potential reduced environmental impact compared to capsules made of other materials.
It is known to attach an oxygen barrier liner on the inner surface of the cup-shaped body made of cellulose pulp.
Known cellulose pulp made capsules are used in beverage preparation devices and comprise a member enclosing the capsule during the beverage preparation process and the injection of water in the capsule for the preparation of the beverage.
In known paper capsules, it happens that when the water injection member pierces the dedicated portion of the cup-shaped body of the capsule, and penetrates the wall made of cellulose pulp, a detachment of the oxygen barrier occurs. This can in some cases block the machine during extraction, or block the capsule inside the beverage preparation device and/or cause an incorrect injection of the water and consequently an incorrect dispensing of the beverage.
The present invention aims to improve the attachment of the oxygen barrier liner in capsules, made at least partially of cellulose pulp, for the preparation of a beverage in a beverage preparation device.
The invention as claimed in claim 1 is a capsule for the preparation of a beverage in a beverage preparation device, comprising: a cup-shaped body and a cover for closing the cup-shaped body. This cup-shaped body comprises a bottom wall, a lateral wall and an annular flange for the cover to seal thereon. The lateral wall is made at least of a first structural layer and the bottom wall is made at least of a second structural layer.
The cup-shaped body comprises an oxygen barrier liner attached at least to the inner surface of said first structural layer. The oxygen barrier liner comprises at least a polymer, preferably a biopolymer. The bottom wall is suitable for being pierced by a piercing member of the beverage preparation device.
According to the invention, the first structural layer of the lateral wall is made of cellulose pulp, and the second structural layer of the bottom wall comprises: between 0% and 60% of cellulose pulp and between 40% and 100% of a polymer, preferably a biopolymer.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the oxygen barrier liner is attached at least to the inner surface of the first structural layer of the lateral wall, and to the inner surface of the second structural layer of the bottom wall.
In a further preferred embodiment of the invention, at least a polymer of the bottom wall is the same as at least a polymer of the oxygen liner, such as to increase the attachment of said oxygen liner to the bottom wall.
Preferably, the second structural layer of the bottom wall is 100% made of a polymer, preferably a biopolymer, and that, preferably, the oxygen barrier liner is provided only at the inner or outer surfaces of the lateral wall of the cup-shaped body, and that, preferably, the polymer the bottom wall is made has oxygen barrier proprieties.
According to another preferred embodiment, the cup-shaped body comprises a portion connecting the bottom wall and the lateral wall, said connecting portion comprising edges of the bottom wall and the lateral wall, these edges being tightly connected to each other, and preferably comprising one or more of the following features:
According to a still preferred aspect of the invention at least the bottom wall comprises through holes for evacuating the vacuum, during the connection of the oxygen barrier liner by thermoforming, to the inner surface of the cup-shaped body.
According to another preferred embodiment, the bottom wall of the capsule comprises one or more of the following polymers:
According to another preferred embodiment the cup-shaped body, its oxygen barrier liner and/or the cover of the capsule are made of home compostable materials.
Preferably but not exclusively, the capsule of the invention is a single use coffee capsule.
According to the invention, the use of a capsule as described before in a beverage preparation device is also disclosed.
The invention also relates to a method for producing a capsule comprising: a cup-shaped body and a cover for closing the cup-shaped body, wherein said cup-shaped body comprises a bottom wall, a lateral wall and an annular flange for the cover to seal thereon, wherein said lateral wall is made at least of a first structural layer and said bottom wall is made at least of a second structural layer and the cup-shaped body comprises an oxygen barrier liner attached to the inner surface of at least said first structural layer of said lateral wall, wherein said oxygen barrier liner comprises at least a polymer, preferably a biopolymer, and wherein the bottom wall is suitable for being pierced by a piercing member of a beverage preparation device. According to the invention the method comprises the steps wherein:
According to the invention, the method also comprises the steps of:
According to the invention, the method also comprises the steps of:
In the context of the invention, the term “cellulose pulp” refers to a pulp comprising cellulose fibres in a percentage ranging from 80% to 100% by weight.
The term “cellulose fibres” refers to fibres having a wood and/or a wood free origin. The fibres, by way of non-limiting examples, are: hard wood cellulose fibres, soft wood cellulose fibres, wheat fibres, corn fibres, bagasse fibres, bamboo fibres, hemp fibres, cotton fibres, other similar vegetable or plant fibres, or a combination thereof.
The bottom wall and the oxygen barrier liner preferably comprise a polymer of fossil or non-fossil origin, or a BioSource polymer.
Preferably, the bottom wall and the oxygen barrier liner preferably comprise at least a common polymer.
The bottom wall, by way of non-limiting examples, comprises one or more of following polymers:
The oxygen barrier liner is made of one layer, preferably several layers.
A preferred multilayer barrier liner comprises a core layer having oxygen and/or moisture barrier properties, surrounded by a sealing layer for sealing said barrier liner to the cellulose pulp material.
The oxygen barrier liner, by way of non-limiting examples, comprises one or more of following layers:
The cover is made in a known material, preferably it is a polymeric film membrane.
The cover may be flat, i.e., non-formed in a three-dimensional shape.
The cover is sealed onto a sealing layer of the cup-shaped body opening, in order to close it after filling with an ingredient.
Preferably, the barrier to oxygen for both the cover and the cup-shaped body is selected to provide a sufficient shelf life depending on the nature of the beverage ingredients. For coffee, for example, the shelf life expected may be of 12 months.
Preferably, the cup-shaped body, its oxygen barrier liner and/or the cover of the capsule are made of home compostable materials. The capsules according to the invention are normally meant to be recycled in recycling processes that are organized at official recycling facilities according to national regulations (for instance in paper recycling streams, or in general garbage recycling or treatment streams).
However, in case the capsule is placed in nature, in a household compostable waste or in a landfill, said capsules are manufactured with materials that are naturally ready to be degraded by bacteria and in conditions of temperature and humidity that are naturally present in nature. In this way, it is ensured that such capsules will not stay in nature and will naturally disappear within a short period of time (a few weeks in principle) within the conditions defined by home composability standards.
More precisely, home composability is now well defined on a national level and mainly based on international standard EN 13432; therefore, they do not require to be further defined in-depth in the present specification. Materials or products compliant with these standards can be recognized by a conformity mark stating their home composability. Some examples of home composability certifications at a national level include, but are not limited to, the following. The certifier TUV AUSTRIA BELGIUM offers such a home composability certification scheme, and DIN CERTCO offers a certification for home composability according to the Australian standard AS 5810. Italy has a national standard for composting at ambient temperature, UNI 11183:2006. In November 2015, the French Standard “NF T 51-800 Plastics-Specifications for plastics suitable for home composting” was introduced. This standard is covered in the DIN CERTCO scheme.
The preparation of the beverage is obtained by mixing of the fluid substance with an ingredient contained in the capsule. Preferably, the ingredients are chosen within the list of roast and ground coffee, compacted or not, soluble powder coffee or leaf tea. Dairy ingredients (e.g., milk or creamer) could also be provided, as well as chocolate, fruit juices, soups, vegetable juices, bouillons, smoothies, purees, coulis, creams, chicory, barley, culinary aid, soup ingredient, infant formula or a combination thereof, in powdered soluble form, liquid concentrated form having various viscosities or in gel form.
Most preferably, the beverage ingredients are roast and ground coffee.
The capsule of the invention may typically interact with a beverage and/or food preparation device, such as by being fed with a diluent (e.g., hot, cold or ambient water) in the container; such diluent mixes, or interacts otherwise, with the beverage ingredients. With the expression “mixing of the diluent with the beverage ingredient(s)” it should be intended that all the ingredients contained in the capsule are in a form which is compatible with a generic mixing operation (dissolution, extraction or infusion) with the diluent to obtain the beverage product. Devices of this type are for example those used for the extraction of traditional Nespresso® capsules.
Preferably, the cavity delimited by the capsule body and the cover of the capsule is essentially oxygen-free and the empty space is saturated with an inert gas such as nitrogen, carbon oxide and combinations thereof. Preferably, the capsule has an internal pressure of gas above atmospheric pressure, due to the gas contained in the coffee and emanating in the cavity after sealing, such as carbon oxide and dioxide.
Additional features and advantages of the present invention are described in, and will be apparent from, the description of the presently preferred embodiments which are set out below with reference to the drawings in which:
In
The lateral wall 5 is made at least of a first structural layer 5A and the bottom wall 4 is made at least of a second structural layer 4A. The cup-shaped body comprises an oxygen barrier liner 14 attached to the inner surface 5C of at least said first structural layer 5A (in
According to the invention, the first layer 5A of the lateral wall 5 and the second layer 4A of the bottom wall 4 are made of different materials:
Preferably, as shown in
According to an alternative embodiment (not shown) discussed in detail below, the oxygen barrier liner 14 is provided only at the inner or outer surfaces of the lateral wall 5 of the cup-shaped body, and the bottom wall 4 is made in at least a polymer having oxygen barrier proprieties.
In both embodiments a cup-shaped body, having a barrier to oxygen selected to provide a sufficient shelf life depending on the nature of the beverage ingredients, is provided. For coffee, for example, the shelf life expected may be of 12 months.
The cup-shaped body 1 is preferably revolutionary symmetrical.
In the context of the invention, the term “revolutionary symmetrical” refers to a three-dimensional shape not necessarily having a circular cross section nor a constant diameter, but preferably having a frustoconical shape, with more preferably a circular cross section and with an increasing diameter towards the annular flange 3.
Preferably, the lateral wall 5, when seen in a longitudinal section, is inclined with respect to a longitudinal axis of the cup-shaped body 1.
The cup-shaped body comprises a portion 1B connecting the bottom wall 4 and the lateral wall 5. This connecting portion 1D comprises the edges 4D and 5B of the bottom wall 4 and the lateral wall 5, which are tightly connected to each other (tightly meaning that the connection is able to stand the usual pressure created in the capsule by a beverage machine). These edges 4D and 5B are preferably shaped in such a way as to increase a stable and reliable connection between the lateral wall 5 and the bottom walls.
The lateral wall 5 comprises an edge 5B (
The bottom wall 4 preferably comprises a first inclined wall 6A and a second wall 6B, so as to delimit a shallow concave volume. The first inclined wall 6A preferably has a frustoconical shape, with a circular cross section and with an increasing diameter towards the edge 5B of the lateral wall 5. The second wall 6B is preferably convex (from the point of view of the cavity 1A, i.e., protruding internally towards the cavity 1A) as shown in
The bottom wall 4 comprises an edge 4D (
It should be noted that, in order to increase the attachment of the edges 5B and 4D of the lateral wall 5 and of the bottom wall 4, the end surfaces of these edges 5B and 4D may have other shapes cooperating with each other to increase the hooking of these edges 5B and 4D.
Preferably, the edge 4D of the bottom wall 4 also comprises a first protruding portion 4B which protrudes towards the inside of the cup-shaped body 1 and towards the flange 3 and which is shaped and dimensioned to come into contact with an extremal portion of the internal surface 5C of the lateral wall 5 at its edge 5B. This first protruding portion 4B increases the connection of the bottom wall 4 and the lateral wall 5.
According to this preferred embodiment, an extremal portion of the internal surface 5C of the lateral wall 5 at its edge 5B surrounds the lower extremal portion 4B of the bottom wall 4.
As disclosed in
The annular flange 3 comprises a preferably flat wall 3A.
The beverage preparation device 10, partially disclosed in
As usual for the skilled person, the enclosing member 9 is movable from an initial position (not shown), which allows the introduction of the capsule in the beverage preparation device 10, and a brewing position (shown in
Steps of the method of the invention will now be described in connection with
In a first embodiment of the method according to the invention, the lateral wall 5 is manufactured in a first step.
According to the invention, the lateral wall 5 is made of cellulose pulp and this lateral wall 5 is preferably obtained by moulding the dry or wet, preferably wet, cellulose pulp in a conventional mould. This step is shown in
In a subsequent step an oxygen barrier liner 14 is attached to the inner surface 5C of the lateral wall 5 (as shown in
In a subsequent step, shown in
According to a first embodiment of the invention, the bottom wall 4 is 100% made of a polymer, preferably a biopolymer, also having oxygen barrier features. Therefore, advantageously, the bottom wall 4 must not be provided with an oxygen barrier liner: consequently, when this bottom wall 4 is pierced by the piercing member 12 of a beverage machine 10, there is no risk of a detachment of this liner. It is to be noted that in
It is to be noted that, according to this first mode of the method for manufacturing the cup-shaped body 1, it is not essential that the oxygen barrier liner 14 is attached to the lateral wall 5 before the bottom wall 4 is created over the edge 5B of this lateral wall 5. The oxygen liner may be attached to the inner surface of the lateral wall 5 also after the creation of the bottom wall 4. This inner oxygen liner may also be attached only and/or also to the outer surface of the lateral wall 5.
According to a second mode of the method of the invention, in a first step the lateral wall 5 is manufactured as disclosed in the first mode, that means by moulding in a usual mould a dry or wet, preferably wet, cellulose pulp. Unlike the previous mode an oxygen barrier is not immediately attached to this lateral wall 5 and/or only to this lateral wall 5.
In a subsequent step the bottom wall 4 is over-moulded or over-injected at the upper edge 5A of the lateral wall 5, as usual for the skilled person, and in such a way as to obtain the connecting portion 1A, between the edge 5B of the lateral wall 5 and the edge 4D of the bottom wall 4, discussed before.
According to this second method mode the bottom wall 4 comprises between 0.1% and 60% of cellulose pulp and between 30% and 100% of a polymer, preferably a biopolymer.
In a further step of this second method mode an oxygen barrier liner 14, 4F (
Preferably, the oxygen liner is thermoformed into the lateral wall 5 and the bottom wall 4. In this case through holes 4E (schematically shown in
According to this second method mode, preferably at least a polymer of the bottom wall 4 is the same as at least a polymer of the oxygen liner 4F such as to increase the attachment of the oxygen liner 4F to the bottom wall 4, relative to the attachment that this oxygen liner has when it is attached to a bottom wall 4 which is 100% made of cellulose pulp. This reduces the risk of detachment of the oxygen barrier liner 4F when the bottom liner is pierced by the piercing member 12 of the beverage machine 10.
The bottom wall 4, by way of non-limiting examples, comprises one or more of following polymers:
The oxygen barrier liner 14, 4F is made of one layer, preferably several layers.
A preferred multilayer barrier liner comprises a core layer having oxygen and/or moisture barrier properties, surrounded by a sealing layer for sealing said barrier liner to the cellulose pulp material.
The oxygen barrier liner 14, by way of non-limiting examples, comprises one or more of the following layers:
Preferably, the first and outermost polymeric layer has a thickness comprised between 10 μm and 50 μm, and said layer has an elongation at break comprised between 10% and 800%, a melt flow rate (MFR) comprised between 2 and 4 when measured at 150° C. during 10 minutes with a pressure of 2.16 kg, and said layer has a melting point temperature comprised below 80° C.
Preferably, the first tie layer has melting point temperature comprised between 180° C. and 230° C. and a thickness comprised between 1 μm and 12 μm.
Preferably, the barrier layer has a melting point temperature comprised between 180° C. and 230° C. and a thickness comprised between 1 μm and μm.
Preferably, the second tie layer has a melting point temperature comprised between 180° C. and 230° C. and a thickness comprised between 1 μm and 10μ m.
Preferably, the innermost polymeric layer has a thickness comprised between 10 μm and 50 μm, and said innermost layer has an elongation at break comprised between 10% and 1000%, a melt flow rate (MFR) comprised between 4 and 10 when measured at 190° C. during 10 minutes with a pressure of 2.16 kg, and said layer has a melting point temperature comprised between 110° C. and 180° C.
The cover 2 is made in a known material, preferably it is a polymeric film membrane.
The cover 2 may be flat, i.e., non-formed in a three-dimensional shape.
The cover 2 preferably comprises an oxygen barrier layer.
As usual, the cover 2 may take a convex form, i.e., protruding externally with respect to the cavity 1A (as shown in
The cover 2 is sealed onto a sealing layer of the cup-shaped body opening, in order to close it after filling with an ingredient.
Preferably, the barrier to oxygen for both the cover 2 and the cup-shaped body 1 is selected to provide a sufficient shelf life depending on the nature of the beverage ingredients. For coffee, for example, the shelf life expected may be of 12 months.
Preferably, the cup-shaped body 1, its oxygen barrier liner 14 and/or the cover 2 of the capsule are made of home compostable materials. The capsules according to the invention are normally meant to be recycled in recycling processes that are organized at official recycling facilities according to national regulations (for instance in paper recycling streams, or in general garbage recycling or treatment streams). However, in case the capsule is placed in nature, in a household compostable waste or in a landfill, said capsules are designed with materials that are naturally ready to be degraded by bacteria and in conditions of temperature and humidity that are naturally present in nature. In this way, it is ensured that such capsules will not stay in nature and will naturally disappear within a short period of time (a few weeks in principle) within the conditions defined by home composability standards. More precisely, home composability is now well defined on a national level and mainly based on international standard EN 13432; therefore, they do not require to be further defined in-depth in the present specification. Materials or products compliant with these standards can be recognized by a conformity mark stating their home composability. Some examples of home composability certifications at a national level include, but are not limited to, the following. The certifier TUV AUSTRIA BELGIUM offers such a home composability certification scheme, and DIN CERTCO offers a certification for home composability according to the Australian standard AS 5810. Italy has a national standard for composting at ambient temperature, UNI 11183:2006. In November 2015, the French Standard “NF T 51-800 Plastics—Specifications for plastics suitable for home composting” was introduced. This standard is covered in the DIN CERTCO scheme.
It should be understood that various changes and modifications to the presently preferred embodiments of the capsules described herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Such changes and modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention covered by the appended claims. For example, the connecting portion 1A of the cup-shaped body 1 may have a different shape and/or the end portions which are connected together, of the bottom wall 4 and the lateral wall 5, may have a greater or smaller length and/or thickness or shape than that shown in the previously discussed embodiments.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 21208126.9 | Nov 2021 | EP | regional |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/EP2022/081697 | 11/14/2022 | WO |
