Beverage filter cartridge holder

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6655260
  • Patent Number
    6,655,260
  • Date Filed
    Wednesday, April 3, 2002
    22 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, December 2, 2003
    21 years ago
Abstract
A brewer operates during a brew cycle to brew a beverage by infusing heated liquid with a dry beverage medium contained in a single serve disposable cartridge. During the brew cycle, the cartridge is contained in a cup-shaped housing closed by a lid. Rotation of the cartridge within the housing is resisted by locating surfaces arranged to interengage with at least one surface irregularity in the cartridge sidewall. Inlet and outlet probes pierce the cartridge and serve, respectively, to admit the heated liquid and to remove the served beverage.
Description




BACKGROUND DISCUSSION




1. Field of the Invention




This invention relates generally to brewers designed to produce single beverage servings by injecting heated liquid into disposable cartridges containing a dry beverage medium, and is concerned in particular with an improved beverage filter cartridge holder for such brewers.




2. Description of the Prior Art




Known beverage filter cartridges and cartridge holders are described in the above-referenced U.S. patents. The cartridge side walls are generally frustum-shaped and smooth and as such, do not provide a means of rotatably fixing and preferably also orienting the cartridges within the holders. This complicates and largely frustrates efforts to mark the cartridge side walls with coded indicia that can be reliably observed and interpreted by machine readers positioned within the brewers. Such indicia can be usefully processed by control systems designed, for example, to vary the amount and/or flow rate of liquid being dispensed, depending on the type of beverage medium being brewed.




More recently developed cartridges of the type disclosed for example in the above-referenced patent applications include side walls with surface irregularities that can be mechanically engaged to rotatably immobilize and orientate the cartridges within the holders.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




The principal objective of the present invention is the provision of a cartridge holder having internal surfaces or components configured and arranged to coact in mechanical interengagement with surface irregularities in the cartridge side walls to rotatably fix the cartridges within the holder.




A companion objective of the present invention is to also achieve a predetermined and repeatable orientation of the cartridges within the holders.




The holder of the present invention is designed for use in an apparatus for brewing a beverage by infusing heated liquid with a beverage medium contained in a single serve disposable cartridge. In one embodiment of the present invention, the holder is configured for use within a cartridge having an inverted frustum-shaped side wall specially contoured to provide at least one and preferably a plurality of strategically placed surface irregularities. The cartridge is removably received in a cup-shaped housing having a side wall configured and dimensioned to surround the cartridge side wall. Locating elements are arranged to coact with the one or plural surface irregularities in the cartridge side wall to rotatably immobilize the cartridge within the housing. A lid is mounted for manipulation between an open position accommodating insertion and removal of the cartridge, and a closed position confining the cartridge within the housing. Tubular probes associated with the lid and housing are arranged to pierce the thus confined cartridge to thereby accommodate a through flow of heated liquid for infusion with the beverage medium contained in the cartridge.




Preferably, the plural surface irregularities coact with the locating elements to not only rotatably fix the cartridge, but also to achieve a predetermined and repeatable orientation of the cartridge within the housing.




In other embodiments of the present invention the interior surface of the housing is contoured to coact in mechanical interengagement with the surface irregularities in the cartridge side wall.




These and other objectives, features and advantages of the present invention will now be described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS





FIG. 1

is a perspective view of a brewing chamber for a single serve beverage brewer embodying a cartridge holder in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;





FIGS. 2A-2D

are side views of the cartridge holder at successive stages during the brewing cycle;





FIG. 3

is an exploded view of some of the basic components of the cartridge holder;





FIG. 4

is a top plan view of the cartridge holder housing;





FIG. 5

is an isometric view of the housing portion of the cartridge holder;





FIG. 6

is an exploded perspective view of an alternative embodiment of a cartridge holder in accordance with the present invention;





FIG. 7

is a side elevational view of a beverage filter cartridge having surface irregularities in its side wall;





FIG. 8A

is a sectional view taken along line


8


A—


8


A of

FIG. 7

;





FIGS. 8B and 8C

are sectional views similar to

FIG. 8A

showing different cartridge side wall configurations;





FIG. 9

is an exploded perspective view of still another embodiment of a cartridge holder in accordance with the present invention;





FIG. 10

is a top plan view of the cartridge holder shown in

FIG. 9

; and





FIG. 11

is a sectional view taken along line


11





11


of FIG.


10


.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION




With reference initially to

FIG. 1

, a brewing chamber for a single serve beverage brewer is shown at


20


. The brewing chamber


20


includes a slidable drawer


22


comprising side panels


24


,


26


that each include a mounting hole (not shown), which serve to pivotally mount the housing


28


of a beverage filter cartridge holder in the slidable drawer


22


. The drawer


22


slides horizontally along track assembles


32


,


34


.




The cartridge holder also includes a vertically moveable lid


40


that is manipulated by a linkage yoke


38


(partially shown), driven by an electric motor


37


through a pinion driven rack


39


. The lid


40


is guided along vertical tracks


42


,


44


between a raised ready position and a lowered beverage brewing position coacting with the housing. In the ready position, the lid


40


is positioned above and separated from the housing


28


, assuming of course that the slidable drawer


22


is in the closed position. The housing


28


defines a chamber


36


, and includes cartridge ejection arms


46


,


48


that support and position a beverage cartridge within the holder.




A typical beverage filter cartridge is depicted ay


50


in

FIGS. 7 and 8A

. The cartridge includes a cup-shaped base


51


having an inverted frustum-shaped side wall interrupted by surface irregularities indicated typically at


52


and comprising circumferentially spaced grooves. The cup-shaped base is closed by a lid


53


. As herein employed, the term “surface irregularity” is intended to broadly encompass any deviation from a smooth surface than can mechanically interengage with adjacent components or surfaces of the housing


28


. Non limiting examples of such surface irregularities may comprise a uniform array of grooves as shown in

FIG. 8A

, or pairs of oppositely disposed grooves


52




a


in the side wall of a cartridge


50




a


as shown in

FIG. 8B

, or a single surface irregularity such as the outwardly projecting rib


54




b


in the side wall of cartridge


50




b


as shown in FIG.


8


C.




With reference to

FIG. 3

, it will be seen that the housing


28


has a circular bottom


80


through which protrudes an upwardly extending hollow exit probe


84


. A slidable cartridge platform


86


has a bore


88


aligned with the upwardly extending probe


84


. The cartridge ejection arms


46


,


48


project upwardly from and are formed integrally with the cartridge platform


86


.




A spring


92


is interposed between the housing bottom


80


and the slidable cartridge platform


86


. Depending latch members


94


on to the slidable cartridge platform


86


pass through the spring


92


and through an opening


96


centered in the housing bottom


80


. The latch members


94


include radially projecting teeth


98


which interengage with the edge of opening


96


to thereby limit vertical axial movement of the cartridge platform


86


with respect to the housing bottom.




The housing


28


has a side wall


100


extending upwardly from the bottom


80


to define chamber


36


. The side wall


100


is configured and dimensioned to closely surround the side wall of a beverage filter cartridge


50


received in the chamber


36


. The sidewall


100


includes first and second guide channels


104


,


105


configured and arranged to receive the cartridge ejection arms


46


,


48


respectively, allowing the slidable cartridge platform


86


to move vertically within the chamber


36


. The cartridge ejection arms


46


,


48


include first ends


106


,


107


integrally joined to the slidable cartridge platform


86


, and second end surfaces


108


,


110


that are arranged to contact and support a radially outwardly protruding lip


53


′ of the cartridge


50


. The cartridge ejection arms


46


,


48


also include inwardly protruding locking ribs


300


,


301


respectively that mate and interengage with the surface irregularities


52


in the side wall of the beverage filter cartridge. This feature limits rotational movement of the beverage filter cartridge within the holder, and to a limited extent, also serves to orient the cartridge within the holder. It will be seem from

FIG. 8B

that the cartridge side wall may alternatively be provided with only two oppositely disposed grooves


52




a


, each being configured to coact with a respective one of the locking ribs


300


,


301


to further limit the orientation of the cartridge within the holder.




As shown in

FIG. 8C

, orientation can be still further limited by providing the cartridge side wall with a single surface irregularity, e.g., one outwardly projecting rib


52




b


arranged to coact with only a single complimentary groove


300


′ in one of the ejection arms, This arrangement limits the manner in which the cartridge may be inserted to a single repeatable orientation.




The holder also includes shock absorbing members


112


,


114


(e.g., made of rubber) that rest on a ledge


116


of the sidewall


100


and support a compliance ring


117


. The shock absorbing members


112


,


114


have a height dimension


118


that positions the upper rim of the compliance ring slightly above the upper rim of housing


28


when no downward force is being applied to the ring. The function of the shock absorbing members


112


,


115


and the compliance ring


117


shall be discussed hereinafter.




The housing


28


has a pair of radially outwardly extending trunnions


120


,


122


that pivotally support the housing within the slidable drawer


22


, and pawls


124


,


125


that are used to manipulate the housing about the axis of the trunnions.





FIGS. 4 and 5

are top plan and isometric views, respectively, showing the above described components assembled within the housing


28


.




A typical brewing cycle is illustrated in

FIGS. 2A-2D

. Beginning with

FIG. 2A

, the lid


40


is elevated above the housing


28


, and a cartridge


50


is received in the housing chamber


36


. The lip


53


′ of the cartridge lid


53


is supported in the upper surfaces


108


,


110


of the cartridge ejection arms


46


,


48


. An inlet probe


126


carried by the lid


40


is located over the cartridge lid


53


.




In

FIG. 2B

, the lid


40


has been lowered, resulting in the cartridge


50


and the cartridge platform


86


being forced downwardly against the action of spring


92


. As a result, the cartridge lid and base are pierced respectively by the inlet and outlet probes


126


,


84


, thus accommodating a flow of heated liquid through the cartridge. The heated liquid infuses a beverage medium (not shown) contained in the cartridge to thereby produce a beverage which exits the cartridge via the outlet probe


84


.




As shown in

FIG. 2C

, at the conclusion of the brewing cycle, the lid


40


is raised, and hooks


160


on legs


130


depending from the lid engage the pawls


125


, causing the housing


28


to rotate to a discharge position at which the spent cartridge is ejected. Cartridge ejection is assisted by the spring loaded ejection arms


46


,


48


. The housing


28


is then returned to its original “ready” position as shown in FIG.


2


D.





FIG. 6

illustrates an alternative embodiment of a cartridge holder in which the side wall of the housing


28


is provided with internal grooves


300


″ configured and arranged to slidably receive and coact in mechanical interengagement with externally projecting ribs


52




c


in the side wall of cartridge


50




c






Still another embodiment of a cartridge holder is illustrated in

FIGS. 9-11

. The cartridge


50




d


is of the type described in the above-referenced patent application Ser. No. 09/782,660, with generally flat side walls diverging upwardly from a bottom to a top opening closed by a lid


53




a


. Oppositely facing side walls are provided with surface irregularities in the form of protruding somewhat triangular-shaped bosses


52




d.






The housing


28


is similarly configured, with oppositely facing side walls provided with internal triangular-shaped recesses


301


. When the cartridge


50




d


is received in the housing


28


, and the lid


40


is closed as shown in

FIG. 11

, the cartridge is pushed downwardly against the biasing action of spring


92


resulting in the cartridge bottom and lid being pierced, respectively, by inlet and outlet probes


126


,


84


.




The recesses


301


in the housing side walls coact with the bosses


52




d


in the cartridge side wall to orientate the cartridge within the housing in one of two possible positions.




It is contemplated that the housings may be mounted such that they do not pivot to automatically eject the cartridges at the end of the brewing cycle, thus requiring users to manually remove the used cartridges. The holder may also employ multiple inlet probes to increase liquid distribution within the cartridge. The inlet probes also may have different heights to improve saturation of the beverage medium within the cartridge. It is also contemplated that the brewer may include a control system for automatically determining the type of cartridge (e.g., the beverage medium within the cartridge) and adjust the brewing cycle accordingly. This may include providing machine readable data such as bar codes, data matrixes, dielectric encoding, etc, on a portion of the cartridge exterior accessible to a corresponding reader in the brewer.




Although the present invention has been shown and described with respect to several preferred embodiments thereof, various changes, omissions and additions to the form and detail thereof, may be made therein, without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.



Claims
  • 1. In an apparatus for brewing a beverage by infusing heated liquid with a beverage medium contained in a single serve disposable cartridge, a holder for containing said cartridge, said holder comprising:a cup-shaped housing for removably receiving said cartridge, said housing having a side wall configured and dimensioned to surround a side wall of said cartridge; locating means for rotabaly fixing said cartridge in said housing, said locating means comprising at least one projection in one of the side walls of said cartridge and housing, said projection being configured and dimensioned to coact in mechanical interengagement with a complimentary depression in the other of said side wall; a lid; means for manipulating said lid between an open position accommodating insertion of a cartridge into and removal of a cartridge from said housing, and a closed position confining a cartridge within said housing; and probe means associated with said housing and said lid for piercing a cartridge confined within said housing to accommodate a through flow of heated liquid for infusion with said beverage medium.
  • 2. The holder as claimed in claim 1 wherein said probe means includes a tubular inlet probe carried by said lid, and a tubular outlet probe carried by said housing.
  • 3. The holder as claimed in claim 2 further comprising ejection means shiftable with respect to the side wall of said housing for ejecting a cartridge from the housing interior.
  • 4. The holder as claimed in claim 3 wherein said locating means comprises a part of said ejection means.
  • 5. In an apparatus that operates during a brewing cycle to brew a beverage by combining heated liquid with a beverage medium contained in a single serve disposable cartridge, a holder for containing the cartridge during the brew cycle, said holder comprising:a cup-shaped housing having a bottom wall and a side wall, said housing being structured and dimensioned to removably received said cartridge; a lid for confining said cartridge within said housing; locating means comprising at least one projection in one of the side walls of said cartridge and housing, said projection being configured and dimensioned to coact in mechanical interengagement with a complimentary depression in the other of said side walls to resist rotation of said cartridge within said housing; and means associated with said housing and said lid for piercing said cartridge to accommodate a flow of said heated liquid through said cartridge to brew said beverage by infusion with said beverage medium.
  • 6. In an apparatus for brewing a beverage by infusing heated liquid with a beverage medium contained in a single serve disposable cartridge, a holder for containing said cartridge, said holder comprising:a cup-shaped housing for removably receiving said cartridge, said housing having a side wall configured and dimensioned to surround the side wall of said cartridge; locating means for coacting in interengagement with said surface irregularity to rotatably fix a cartridge received in said housing; a lid; means for manipulating said lid between an open position accommodating insertion of a cartridge into and removal of a cartridge from said housing, and a closed position confining a cartridge within said housing; and probe means for piercing a cartridge confined within said housing to accommodate a trhough flow of heated liquid for infusion with said beverage medium said probe means including a tubular inlet probe carried by said lid and a tubular outlet probe carried by said housing; and ejection means shiftable with respect to the side wall of said housing of ejecting a cartridge from the housing interior.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority of provisional patent application Serial No. 60/283,298 filed Apr. 11, 2001, and provisional patent application Serial No. 60/283,283 filed Apr. 11, 2001. The subject matter of this application is generally related to those of U.S. Pat. No. 6,079,315 (Beaulieu et al.) entitled Beverage Filter Cartridge Holder; U.S. Pat. No. 5,840,189 (Sylvan et al.) entitled Beverage Filter Cartridge; application Ser. No. 09/782,622 filed Feb. 13, 2001 (Sweeney et al.) entitled Beverage Filter Cartridge; and application Ser. No. 09/782,660 filed Feb. 13, 2001 (Lazaris et al.) entitled Disposable Single Serve Beverage Filter Cartridge, the disclosures of each of which are herein incorporated by reference.

US Referenced Citations (5)
Number Name Date Kind
5197374 Fond Mar 1993 A
5603254 Fond et al. Feb 1997 A
5794519 Fischer Aug 1998 A
5840189 Sylvan et al. Nov 1998 A
6026732 Kollep et al. Feb 2000 A
Provisional Applications (2)
Number Date Country
60/283298 Apr 2001 US
60/283283 Apr 2001 US