Patent Application
20250057355
The present invention relates to the field of preparation of beverages with a system including a single-serve container comprising a beverage ingredient and a machine that has an extraction chamber in which the container can be inserted, extracted and from which it can be ejected.
Single serve containers for the automatic preparation of beverages encompass various formats of containers that can be relatively soft or flexible, such as pods, and made of any material, recyclable or non-recyclable, biodegradable or non-biodegradable, such as aluminium, plastic, filter paper.
One problem encountered with the systems extracting beverages from said pods is the handling of the pod in an extraction device, specifically the closing of the chamber around the pod to perform the extraction process and then the proper ejection of the pod from the chamber. The pod usually has to be positioned by the user in a housing, then the device is closed manually or automatically around the pod.
It is important to correctly position the pod so that the device closes properly around the latter and to form a good seal to ensure good conditions of extraction. Bad positioning may damage the pod, and thus affect the conditions of extraction. Finally, at the end of the beverage preparation, the pod shall be easily ejected without risk of false orientation and machine blocking.
EP 1859714 and WO 2013/026844 describe a system extracting beverages from soft or flexible pods presenting specific characteristics:
WO 2020/089404 describes another system extracting beverages from soft or flexible pods presenting other characteristics:
The extraction device is provided with an extraction chamber configured to adapt its size to the shape and volume of the pod introduced.
Due to the asymmetrical shape and the use of different sizes of pods, the extraction device of the above cited systems designed for single size of symmetrical pods cannot be used.
In addition, in order to respect environment, it is required today to use pods made of biodegradable and/or compostable materials, in particular made essentially of paper. These new materials lead to particular properties and consequently to specific problems during the beverage preparation and the handling of the pod in the extraction device.
In particular, production of pods presenting asymmetrical shapes can lead to inconsistent dimension of the pods, in particular the diameter of the flange of the pod can vary. For example, for a desired diameter of 54 mm, a difference of +/−1 mm can occur at the production.
The extraction device of the above cited systems cannot be used with pods presenting such inconsistent dimensions because there is a risk that the flange of some pods is pinched by the pod catchers which would prevent the correct closure of the chamber or would lead to some pods are not being centered correctly inside the chamber and consequently would interact with the chamber in non-desired manner. Moreover, the asymmetrical shape of the pod increases this pinching risk due to the position of the flange along the downstream piercing arrangement compared to a pod presenting a symmetrical shape along the plane of the flange.
An object of the invention is to address at least the above existing problems.
In a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a device for extracting a beverage ingredient by supplying an extraction liquid into a pod,
The invention relates to a device for extracting a beverage ingredient typically comprised in a beverage preparation machine configured for receiving pods. For instance, the machine is a coffee, tea, chocolate or soup preparation machine, preferably a coffee machine. In particular, the machine is arranged for preparing within the extraction chamber a beverage by passing water, preferably hot, or another liquid through a pod containing an ingredient of the beverage to be prepared, such as roasted ground coffee or tea leaves or instant coffee or instant tea or chocolate or cacao or milk powder or dehydrated soup. In the preferred embodiment, the beverage ingredient is roasted and ground coffee.
The device is configured for extracting a beverage from a beverage ingredient contained in the pod by supplying an extraction liquid, such as water, in contact with the beverage ingredient contained in the pod The device comprises upstream and downstream pod enclosing parts relatively movable between an open position for inserting and/or ejecting such pod and a closed position for forming an extraction chamber enclosing the pod during beverage ingredient extraction.
Typically, the pod can be inserted into the device from above under the effect of gravity. Ejection or removal of the pod upon reopening of the enclosing parts may also be driven by gravity.
The upstream and downstream pod enclosing parts are relatively translatable along a longitudinal axis (XX′) between an open position for inserting and/or ejecting the pod and a closed position for forming an extraction chamber enclosing the pod during extraction.
The upstream part defines an empty cage or cavity for enclosing the pod body and comprises an upstream piercing arrangement in the form of one or more piercers for piercing the bottom wall of the inserted pod and at least one liquid injector for supplying liquid through the pierced bottom wall of the pod.
This upstream piercing arrangement can comprise piercers in the form of blades. These blades can be designed and positioned to pierce the wall of the bottom of the pod body when the upstream and downstream pod enclosing parts are brought to the closed position. The liquid injector, such as a shower at the upstream part of the cage, can introduce the extracting liquid through the pre-pierced openings.
In an alternative, this upstream piercing arrangement can comprise at least one hollow needle configured to pierce the wall of the bottom of the pod body and said hollow needle(s) can comprise an internal axial channel for guiding the extracting liquid in the chamber of the pod body.
The downstream part defines a plate extending along a plane transverse to the longitudinal axis. Accordingly, this plate extends along a plane that is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis XX′. This plate of the downstream part comprises a downstream plane piercing arrangement for opening the lid of the pod when the extracting liquid is introduced inside the pod. Usually, this downstream plane piercing arrangement is designed for opening the lid by relative engagement with the lid under the effect of the rise in pressure of the injected liquid in the pod body chamber and inflation of the lid against the piercing arrangement. This downstream plane piercing arrangement may comprise a rigid plate comprising opening elements such as spikes, that can present the shape of cones or pyramids, optionally truncated at their ends, on its surface turned to the lid. In addition, the plate comprises traversing holes to evacuate the beverage dispensed from the opened lid to a tube or nozzle collecting and dispensing beverage to a drinking cup.
In addition, the plate of the downstream part comprises a peripheral area that extends around the whole periphery of the downstream plane piercing arrangement. Consequently, this peripheral area extends in the same plane as the downstream plane piercing arrangement.
The device comprises an insertion section for inserting the pod in the device. Generally, this section is positioned above the upstream and downstream pod enclosing parts so that the pod is inserted by gravity between these two parts. This insertion section is designed so that the user is urged to position the pod with its lid facing the downstream piercing arrangement. Preferably, this insertion section can comprise a recognition device to recognise or identify the pod that is introduced inside the extraction device. The recognition device can comprise:
The recognition device is configured to enable the pod temporary blocking means to let the pod fall to the pod holder of the extraction device once the pod has been recognised.
The device comprises a pod holder attached to the peripheral area of the downstream part. While being attached, that is to say supported by the peripheral area, the pod holder can be moved between two positions:
The pod holder comprises a pair of retaining and positioning elements. In the receiving position of the pod holder, these elements retain the pod vertically or slightly inclined versus vertical and position the pod in front of the downstream plane piercing arrangement.
Each of these pair of elements of the pod holder comprises a lower holding surface and a transverse arc-shaped ridge.
This pair of elements are configured so that in their receiving position:
This inclination provides the additional advantage of limiting the movement of the pod inside the pair of elements when they are moved from the receiving to the retracted position since during said movement, the path of movement of the part of the pod laying on the lower holding surfaces is kept very short.
The transverse arc-shaped ridges can extend in a transverse plane that is inclined by few degrees relatively to the plane of the plane piercing arrangement.
Generally, the elements of the pair present symmetric shapes versus the vertical plane comprising the longitudinal axis XX′ extending through the centre of the downstream piercing arrangement.
The pair of retaining and positioning elements are movable between two positions depending on the status of the operation of the extracting device:
In addition, the pair of retaining and positioning elements are pushable from the receiving position to the retracted position by the upstream enclosing part when said upstream enclosing part is translated longitudinally from the open position to the closed position.
Consequently, depending on the operation step implemented in the extraction device, the pair of retaining and positioning elements are able either to interact with the pod by retaining it or to stop any interaction with the pod which can interact freely with the cage or can be ejected. Generally, the pair of retaining and positioning elements can be retracted inside the peripheral area of the downstream plane piercing arrangement. Receiving areas can be provided in the peripheral area to enable the movement of the elements to the retracted position.
According to the invention, the retaining and positioning elements move from the receiving position to the retracted position along diverging directions.
By “diverging directions”, it is meant that the directions followed by the first retaining and positioning element and the second retaining and positioning element are not parallel and that the distance between these elements is greater in the retracted position than in the receiving position.
Consequently, in the receiving position, the pair of retaining and positioning elements define an intermediate space that is sized to retain at least the smaller pods, that is the pods presenting the smallest diameters due to the inconsistent manufacturing. When these elements are pushed by the upstream enclosing part from this receiving position to the retracted position, the diverging directions cause the space between these elements to increase which guarantees:
The risk of pinching is particularly increased with pods presenting inconsistent diameter even if the tolerance is small.
The diverging directions of the elements during movement to the retracted position avoid the risk of pinching.
Generally, when the retaining and positioning elements move from the receiving position to the retracted position, these elements can diverge transversally by a dimension corresponding to the tolerance about the diameters of the manufactured pods. For example, for a tolerance of more or less 1 mm, each element can diverge transversally by at least 0.5 mm, preferably 1 mm during the movement of the retaining elements from the receiving position to the retracted position.
Preferably, the pod holder comprises guiding parts that are configured to guide the movements of the retaining and positioning elements between the retaining position and the retracted position. These guiding parts can comprise slopes oriented to slide along surfaces of the peripheral area of the downstream enclosing part according to diverging directions.
In one preferred embodiment, for each of the retaining and positioning element, the pod holder comprises guiding parts comprising first slopes close to the bottom of the arc-shaped ridges and second slopes close to the top of the arc-shaped ridges.
Preferably, the pair of retaining and positioning elements are made of one single piece of material. As a result, both elements are moved simultaneously and they are better guided.
In particular the pair of retaining and positioning elements can be linked by a transversal bridge extending below the downstream piercing arrangement.
Preferably, the pod holder is able to be locked in the peripheral area of the downstream enclosing part and to remain locked until the operation of ejection of the pod is finished, preferably until a new pod is introduced in the insertion section.
By locking the pod holder in the peripheral area during the complete operation of ejection of the pod, there is no risk that the pair of retaining and positioning elements move during the movement of the upstream pod enclosing part back to the open position, and then no risk that at least one of the pair of retaining and positioning elements pinch or retain the flange of the extracted pod while the cage progressively liberates the extracted pod.
Preferably, the side of the upstream enclosing part facing the downstream enclosing part comprises rising elements configured to push the pair of retaining and positioning elements during the longitudinal translation of the upstream enclosing part from the open position to the closed position.
According to one embodiment, the peripheral area of the downstream enclosing part is able to pivot around a bottom transversal axis (YY′) and in the upstream direction.
Accordingly, during the operation of ejection of the pod, the peripheral area of the downstream enclosing part can be pivoted around this bottom transversal axis (YY′) and can push and incline the pod which helps its ejection from the extraction device.
Preferably, according to this embodiment, the upstream pod enclosing part comprises pulling means configured to engage with upper parts of the peripheral area of the downstream enclosing part, when the upstream pod enclosing part is moved from the closed position for forming an extraction chamber enclosing the pod during extraction to an open position for ejecting the pod.
Accordingly, the ejection of the pod is automatically facilitated by the movement of the upstream enclosing part.
Preferably, according to this embodiment, the central part of the peripheral area of the downstream enclosing part, the downstream plane piercing arrangement and the cage of the upstream enclosing part form the extraction chamber.
Accordingly, during extraction, the lid of the pod is supported by and in contact with:
The downstream plane piercing arrangement is usually circular and the central part of the peripheral area of the downstream enclosing part forms an annular area. Preferably, this annular area supports the sidewall of the pod body. Consequently, when the pod is ejected and pushed by the pivotable peripheral area of the downstream enclosing part, this central annular part of this peripheral area pushes the sidewall which is a part of the pod that is quite more solid and resistant than the flange after extraction of the beverage.
This embodiment prevents that the pivotable peripheral area of the downstream enclosing part pushes the pod flange only. Actually, due to the paper nature of the material the pod is made of, the extraction of the pod leads to the wetting of the walls of the pod that become soft and tearable; in particular the flange becomes very soft and pushing the flange can be insufficient to eject the pod. In addition, the nature of the material makes the ejection of the pod difficult due to the fact that the wet and soft material of the pod can stick to the downstream piercing arrangement in particular when spikes are present. By pushing the annular area of the lid that faces the sidewall, the risk of tearing and opening the pod in this area is reduced during pod ejection.
Preferably, the opened end of the cage defined by the upstream enclosing part is covered by a seal and this seal comprises a ridge configured to press the flange of the pod against the peripheral area of the plate of the downstream part.
Accordingly, the flange of the pod is pinched between the seal and the peripheral area of the downstream enclosing part strongly. The paths for liquid due to the presence of wrinkles around the flange of the pod are closed by the engagement of the seal.
Even more preferably, the peripheral area of the downstream enclosing part comprises a groove conformal to the shape of the ridge of the seal.
In a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a beverage preparation machine comprising an extraction device such as described above.
Generally, this beverage machine comprises a liquid supply system connected to the upstream enclosing part. This liquid supply system can comprise:
The liquid is usually water.
This beverage machine can comprise recognition means as mentioned above.
This beverage machine usually comprises a motor to actuate the movement of the enclosing parts of the extraction device
Usually, this beverage machine comprises a control unit configured to control the movement of the enclosing parts of the extraction device and the supply of liquid to the extraction device. The control unit can be configured to control the recognition operation of the recognition device if present or to display information to the user.
In a third aspect of the invention, there is provided a system comprising an extraction device such as described above and a pod or comprising a beverage preparation machine such as described above and a pod, wherein this pod comprises:
In such systems:
In a fourth aspect, there is provided a method to prepare a beverage with a device such as described above, comprising the steps of:
In general, the extraction device is configured for implementing the step of moving the upstream and downstream enclosing parts to the open position just after the extraction and dispensing of the beverage to avoid drying of the lid on the downstream piercing arrangement and to facilitate ejection. Otherwise, a part of the lid may remain attached and may block the device.
In the preferred embodiment, the pod holder of the extracting device is able to be locked in the peripheral area of the downstream, and the method comprises an additional pod catcher release step, wherein the upstream enclosing parts is moved to an intermediate position between the closed and the open positions in order to move the pod catcher from the retracted to the receiving position.
This final step is implemented after the pod was ejected and before a new pod is introduced.
In a fifth aspect, there is provided the use of a pod for preparing a beverage in a device for extracting a beverage ingredient such as described above or with a beverage machine such as described above or with a system such as described above,
Preferably, the body and the lid of the pod are made of paper material.
In one preferred embodiment, the paper material is a multilayer paper material comprising a layer of paper coated with at least a plastic film, preferably a compostable plastic film. This compostable plastic film can be a multilayer plastic film. This film can provide additional properties such as air barrier and sealants to avoid delamination.
Preferably, the body is made of a paper material presenting a thickness of at least 100 μm, preferably at least 120 μm.
Preferably, the pod body is manufactured by forcing a disc of paper material in a mould. In particular, the pod body can be formed from a disc of paper material by a blank sliding process, by a stamping process or a deep-drawing process.
Such manufacture of the body generally leads to inconsistency on the diameter of the body, particularly when the paper material is thick.
Such manufacture generally leads to the presence of wrinkles on the pod, particularly when the paper material is thick.
In the present application:
Generally, these terms are used to describe the relational positioning of features of the extraction device. These terms should be understood to refer to said device in its normal orientation when positioned in a beverage machine for the production of a beverage as shown in the
The above aspects of the invention may be combined in any suitable combination. Moreover, various features herein may be combined with one or more of the above aspects to provide combinations other than those specifically illustrated and described. Further objects and advantageous features of the invention will be apparent from the claims, from the detailed description, and annexed drawings.
Specific embodiments of the invention are now described further, by way of example, with reference to the following drawings in which:
The pod 3 comprises a pod body 31 with one sidewall 311 that extends axially from a bottom wall 313 towards a top. The sidewall 311 extends towards a top opening 312. At the top opening 312, the body comprises a circumferential annular flange 314 that extends radially outward from the sidewall 311 along the circumference of the opening 312.
The flange comprises a top surface 3142 facing the top and a bottom surface 3141.
Generally, any transversal cross section of the body is circular from the bottom to the top and the flange is circular too.
The body delimits a chamber for containing a beverage ingredient.
This beverage ingredient packed is preferably an ingredient able to be extracted like roast and ground coffee.
In a less preferred manner, the beverage ingredient can be tea leaves or a water soluble powder ingredient such as: instant coffee powder, milk powder, cream powder, instant tea powder, cocoa powder, soup powder, fruit powder or mixture of said powders, or even a soluble liquid ingredient or a beverage concentrate such as a syrup or milk concentrate. The powders can be agglomerated or sintered.
The capsule comprises a lid 32 that is fixed, sealed or attached to at least a part of the top surface 3142 of the circumferential flange and accordingly covers and closes the top opening 312.
The bottom wall 313 is adapted to be pierced so that liquid can be injected in the pod through the pierced openings.
The lid 32 is adapted to be opened by relative engagement with a piercing arrangement under the effect of the liquid pressure increase inside the pod during injection of liquid.
The pod shape is symmetric relatively to the central axial axis ZZ′ extending from the bottom wall to the lid and the pod shape is asymmetrical relatively to the plane of the lid and the flange.
This difference in sizes enable the preparation of different beverages, preferably different coffee beverages like ristretto, espresso, lungo (long cups), americano, . . . .
Other sizes than those illustrated can be provided, like an intermediate size.
When the pod comprises roast and ground coffee, quantities of coffee can range between 4 and 15 g. The axial dimension of the pod can extend from 5 mm to 30 mm for a same diameter of the body of about 53 mm.
Preferably the pods 3 are essentially made of a biodegradable or compostable material, preferably a home compostable material since extracted coffee cakes can easily be made composted at home.
Preferably, the material of the pod comprises a paper layer. This paper layer is formable, i.e. a sheet of paper can be given a three-dimensional shape that is the form of the body of the above described pod. Contrary to common pods made of filter paper, this paper is thick and keep the three-dimensional shape provided during a shaping step of manufacturing of the pod.
Preferably, the paper layer of the pod can have a grammage of at least 20 g/m2, preferably at most 150 g/m2. The paper of the body can present a higher grammage than the paper of the lid because it needs to be stretched and deformed during manufacturing.
The grammage of the paper of the body can be comprised between 80 and 150 g/m2.
The lid can present a grammage comprised between 20 and 120 g/m2.
Both papers can present a grammage of about 100 g/m2.
The material of the pod can comprise a layer of paper and some other materials to provide additional properties such as air barrier, stretchable or deformable properties. These additional properties can be provided with at least one plastic layer, for example as described in WO 2020/114995. Some additional layers of the body and of the lid can be different.
In fact, in order to shape the paper as a container for the beverage and to create a barrier to protect the beverage ingredient, the paper must be sufficiently thick. In addition, to create a barrier to atmosphere, in particular oxygen to which roast and ground coffee is particularly sensitive, the layer of paper is preferably coated with a compostable plastic film. Sealants layers are often necessary to attach the different layers and prevent delamination. For example, such a multilayer paper material can be the material described in WO 2020/114995 or in WO 2022/022899.
With such pod materials, the thickness of the multilayer paper material of the body can be about 200 μm and the thickness of the multilayer paper material of the lid can be about 140 μm which means that the thickness of the flange is usually greater than 200 μm, even greater than 300 μm.
The manufacturing of the pods comprises generally the steps of:
Due to the nature of the paper material, that is an heterogenous material (random position of the plant fibres in the sheet), and due to the thickness of the paper material, the shaping of the first sheet of material produces pods with particular features that impact the preparation of a beverage within an extraction device.
During the shaping of the first sheet of paper material by forcing a disc of this sheet in a mould, it was observed that the final diameter between the edges of the flange of the pod body was inconsistent. For example, to produce a final pod presenting a lid diameter of about 53 mm and a pod body diameter of about 48 mm with a first sheet presenting a thickness of about 200 μm and a diameter of 70 mm, it was observed that the diameter varied between 54.5 mm and 51.5 mm. These inconsistent values of the diameter impact the correct handling of the pod by the extraction device during the beverage preparation.
To avoid such inconsistency, the pods could be manufactured from largest sheets of paper material and the flange of the pod could be cut to a precise diameter after shaping or after the lid has been sealed to the body flange. Yet, such manufacturing process does not meet the requirements of a sustainable approach aiming at saving paper material and using only the needed quantity to produce the pod whatever the final aspect.
In addition, the shaping of the paper material in a mould leads to the creation of wrinkles 35 all along the periphery of the side wall 311 and of the bottom face 3142 of the flange as illustrated in
Finally, the particular nature of the paper material implies that the mechanical properties of the pod change before liquid, such as water, is introduced inside the pod and when the pod is filled with water. Once wet, the paper material loses its rigidity, become soft and easily tearable. Consequently, the handling of this pod is totally different between the step of introducing a new non-extracted pod inside the extraction device and the step of ejecting the wet and soft extracted pod from the extraction device.
The two pod enclosing parts 1, 2 are hold and movable between two lateral and longitudinal metal sheets 6a, 6b. At least one of these parts is movable in translation between these two sheets in order to assess different relative and functional positions. In the preferred illustrated embodiments, the downstream enclosing part 1 is fixed and only the upstream enclosing part 2 is movable back and forth along the longitudinal axis XX′.
Preferably, this insertion section 4 can comprise a recognition device to recognise or identify the pod 2 that is introduced inside the extraction device. The recognition device can comprise:
The recognition device is configured to enable the pod temporary blocking means to let the pod fall to the pod holder of the extraction device once the pod has been recognised.
In
In
Usually, this central downstream plane piercing arrangement 12 is circular like the lid of the pod.
Opening happens by relative engagement of spikes with the lid under the effect of the rise in pressure of the injected liquid in the pod body chamber. This downstream plane piercing arrangement may comprise a rigid plate comprising opening elements 121 such as spikes, that can present the shape of cones or pyramids, optionally truncated at their ends, on its surface turned to the lid. In addition, the plate comprises traversing holes to evacuate the beverage dispensed from the opened lid to a tube or nozzle collecting and dispensing beverage to a drinking cup.
In addition, the plate comprises a peripheral area 13 surrounding that piercing arrangement 12.
The downstream part 1 comprises a pod holder 11 that is attached to the peripheral area 13. While being attached, the pod holder can be moved between two positions. In
The pod holder 11 comprises a pair of elements 11a, 11b that retain and position the pod when this pair is in the first receiving position. In this position of the pod holder, these elements retain vertically the pod, that is they stop the vertical fall of the pod falling from the insertion position. In addition, in this position, these elements position the lid of the pod in front of the downstream plane piercing arrangement 12, that is these elements align or centre the lid of the pod with the downstream plane piercing arrangement 12. Actually, due to the asymmetric shape of the pod, the centre of gravity of the pod is placed outside the plane of the lid and the introduced pod tips over in the space between the two enclosing parts if it is not retained longitudinally too.
Usually each of said elements of the pair comprises:
In the preferred illustrated embodiment, the retaining elements are attached to the bottom of the peripheral area 13 of the downstream plane piercing arrangement in a manner that enables the retaining elements to pivot around a transversal axis YY′ in a loose manner. Accordingly, the retaining elements can move from their inclined position to a position in alignment with the plane of the plate defined by the downstream part, that is in retracted position.
This inclination provides the additional advantage of limiting the movement of the pod inside the pair of elements when they are moved from the receiving to the retracted position since during said movement, the path of movement of the part of the pod laying on the lower holding surfaces is kept very short.
Usually the pair of elements 11a, 11b present symmetric shapes along the central vertical plane comprising the longitudinal axis XX′.
The pair of retaining elements 11a, 11b are movable from the receiving position to a second retracted position at the lateral sides of the downstream plane piercing arrangement as illustrated in
The pair of retaining elements are moved simultaneously, which is facilitated by the fact they are made of one single piece of material. In the specific illustrated embodiment, due to the inclination of the retaining elements, the movement of the retaining elements is a combination of translation and pivoting, each retaining elements 11a, 11b being attached to the bottom of the peripheral area 13 of the downstream plane piercing arrangement through a transverse shaft 133a, 133b respectively. The combination of translation and pivoting movements is obtained by connecting the shafts 133a, 133b in corresponding holes 115a, 115b respectively at the bottom of the retaining elements, said holes presenting a larger section than the section of the shaft providing a loose attachment to the shaft.
This combination of movements is particularly advantageous for the use of pods that present a thick flange and inconsistent diameter size because it reduces even more the risk of having a part of the flange remaining pinched by the retaining elements during their movement to the retraction position as further developed below.
During this movement of the retaining elements 11a, 11b from the receiving position to the retracted position, the retaining elements are progressively moved to the retracted position where they are aligned on the lateral sides of the downstream plane piercing arrangement 12. In the specific illustrated embodiment, the retaining elements are progressively moved to the downstream plane piercing arrangement 12.
During this movement of the retaining elements, the pod is moved from a position where its lid 32 is slightly inclined versus the plane of the piercing arrangement 12 to a position where the lid 32 extends along said plane. During this movement, the retaining elements 11a, 11b passes from the side of the bottom face 3142 of the flange of the pod to the side of the top face 3141 of the flange of the pod. During this movement, the flange 314 of the pod is successively pressed, curved and then released by the retaining elements 11a, 11b.
Due to the inconsistent size of the diameter of the pods used in the extraction device and to avoid that a part of the flange of some pods remain pinched by the retaining elements 11a, 11b, when that latter ones are in the retracted position, each of the retaining and positioning elements 11a, 11b move from the receiving position to the retracted position along diverging directions.
Consequently, in the receiving position, the pair of retaining and positioning elements 11a, 11b define an intermediate space that is sized to retain at least the smaller pods, that is the pods presenting the smallest diameters due to the inconsistent manufacturing. When these elements are pushed by the upstream enclosing part 2 from this receiving position to the retracted position, the diverging directions cause the space between these elements to increase which guarantees that a part of the flanges 314 of the pods presenting the biggest diameters do not remain pinched by these elements 11a, 11b in the retracted position and that the upstream enclosing part 2 is able to lean on the downstream enclosing part for forming the extraction chamber in an homogeneous manner all along the periphery of the pod flange.
A flange partially pinched in one of the retaining and positioning elements would lead to inequal closure, liquid leaking, impossibility to get the correct pressure increase and the correct extraction of the pod. The diverging directions of the elements during movement to the retracted position avoid that situation.
Preferably, the retaining and positioning elements 11a, 11b of the pod holder and/or the peripheral area 13 of the downstream plane piercing arrangement comprise guiding parts at their surfaces configured to guide the movements of the retaining and positioning elements between the retaining position and the retracted position. Usually, these guiding parts comprise slopes oriented to enable the retaining and positioning elements 11a, 11c to slide along surfaces of the peripheral area 13 of the downstream enclosing part according to diverging directions.
For example, the bottom slope 113a (
As a result, at the moment where the retaining elements 11a, 11b are retracted and bypass the flange of the retained pod, the distance between the retaining elements slightly increases which avoids the curved flange from remaining curved and pinched between one of the retaining elements and the peripheral area 13.
In one preferred embodiment, with pods 2 presenting a variability in manufacturing leading to pod diameters varying within +/−1 mm, each retaining and positioning elements can diverge transversally by at least 0.5 mm, preferably 1 mm when it moves from the receiving position to the retracted position.
The upstream part defines an empty cage or cavity 21 for enclosing the pod body.
The upstream wall of the cage bears an upstream piercing arrangement 22 for opening the bottom wall 313 of the pod body. The upstream wall comprises at least one liquid injector 25 for supplying liquid into the pod through the holes opened in the bottom wall of the pod.
This upstream piercing arrangement can comprise piercers in the form of blades. These blades cam be designed and positioned to pierce the wall of the bottom of the pod body when the upstream and downstream pod enclosing parts are brought to the closed position as in
Since pods 2 of different sizes can be introduced and extracted, the bottom of the cage 21 can be made movable to adapt the cage internal volume to the pod, for example as described in WO 2020/089404.
The edge 211 of the upstream opened face of the cage is surrounded by a seal 24 to ensure tightness of the chamber formed by the two parts 1, 2 in the closed position. This seal 24 covers the periphery of the edge of the cage.
In one preferred embodiment and as illustrated in
According to this preferred embodiment, preferably the downstream part 2 comprises a groove 137, that is conformal to the shape of the ridge of the seal, and that is configured to engage with said ridge 241 of the seal when the two enclosing parts 1, 2 are in the closed position and form the extraction chamber 5. This groove 137 can be designed in the peripheral area 13, in particular at the periphery of the central part 131. The pods 3 used with the extraction device are configured to be positioned inside the extraction chamber so that the flange 314 extends diametrically outside the annular central part 131 with the consequence that, when a pod 3 is being enclosed inside the extraction chamber 5, the ridge 137 of the seal forces a part of the annular flange 314 of the pod to enter inside the groove 137 along its whole periphery.
As illustrated in
In addition, the upstream enclosing part 2 can comprise two longitudinal protrusions 26a, 26b extending at the downstream face of the upstream pod enclosing part, of which function is described below.
Preferably, each of the retaining and positioning elements 11a, 11b can be locked in the retracted position during the extraction of the pod and during the ejection of the pod.
In this particular embodiment, this locker 135b can be designed so as to extend up to the upper side of the peripheral area and so as to form a pin 136a rising upwardly at this upper side. This pin 136a presents an inclined surface so that when the upstream enclosing part 2 is moved to the downstream enclosing part 1, its longitudinal protrusion 26a slides on said spring loaded pin 136 and pushes it downwardly, facilitating the movement of the pod catcher to the retracted position.
Preferably, each of the two longitudinal protrusions 26a, 26b (
In addition, with the aim of locking the retaining and positioning elements 11a, 11b, the upstream enclosing part 2 comprises side lockers 27a, 27b (
Preferably, the peripheral area 13 of the downstream enclosing part is pivotable around a bottom transversal axis (YY′).
The whole peripheral area 13 is pivoted, while the central piercing arrangement 12 remains immobile. This movement of the peripheral area and of the pod away from the piercing arrangement 12 guarantees that the extracted pod 2 is effectively ejected and does not remain partly attached to the piercing arrangement in particular the spikes 121 if present. Actually, when a pod made of a compostable material like thick paper is used, the properties of such material change after it has been contacted by liquid un particular water. In particular, when in contact with aqueous liquid, the material of the lid retains liquid, inflates, goes soft, which makes it closely attached to the piercing arrangement.
As a result, the simple return of the upstream enclosing part 2 to the opened position is not sufficient to guarantee the ejection of the pod from the extraction device.
The inclination of the peripheral area helps the ejection by inclining the pod downwardly and away from the piercing arrangement 12. This orientation of the pod helps its ejection since, due to its asymmetrical shape, its centre of gravity pulls its down and out of the spikes. For this reason, it is not necessary to provide inclination along an important angle.
In addition, preferably, the inclinable peripheral area 13 comprises an annular central part 131 that forms part of the extraction chamber when the upstream and downstream pod enclosing parts 1, 2 are in the closed position as illustrated in
In particular, when a pod 3 is in the closed extraction device like in
Consequently, during the ejection movement, this annular central part 131 does not support and does not push the flange 314 of the pod but does push this the whole circumference of the top of the sidewall 311. As a result, when the peripheral area 13 is pulled and inclined, its central part 131 pushes the whole circumference of the annular area 321 of the lid, which annular area supports the side wall 311. The change in the properties of the paper material of the pod comprise the rigidity of the material too. It was observed that once wet, the material becomes easily tearable too. As a result, if the peripheral area 13 pushes the flange 314 of the extracted pod only, the risk this flange is torn and the central part of the lid remains attached to the spikes of the piercing arrangement is important with the two undesired consequences that the pod is not ejected and part of the extracted beverage ingredient, like a coffee cake, goes out of the pod and dirties the internal parts of the extraction device.
But, by making this annular central part 131 of the peripheral area part of the brewing chamber inclinable with the peripheral area, the risk of tearing is avoided and efficient and proper ejection of the pod is obtained.
Preferably, the pivotable peripheral area 13 becomes spring loaded when it is pulled and pivoted by the upstream closing part 1 so that when the upstream closing part 1 releases the pivoted peripheral area, the latter automatically comes back to its position around the downstream piercing arrangement such as illustrated in
In general, the extraction device is configured for ejecting the pod just after the extraction to avoid drying of the lid around the spikes and to facilitate ejection
In order to be able to extract a new pod, the retaining and positioning elements 11a, 11b must be released from their locked positions illustrated in
In this operation, the upstream enclosing part 2 is moved in direction of the upstream enclosing part 2 in an intermediate position between the open and closed positions of
Accordingly, the downstream edge of the longitudinal protrusions 26a, 26b and the position of their indentations 161a, 261b are positioned relatively to corresponding pins 136a, 136b at the upper side of the peripheral area 13 to:
Although the invention has been described with reference to the above illustrated embodiments, it will be appreciated that the invention as claimed is not limited in any way by these illustrated embodiments.
Variations and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the claims. Furthermore, where known equivalents exist to specific features, such equivalents are incorporated as if specifically referred in this specification.
As used in this specification, the words “comprises”, “comprising”, and similar words, are not to be interpreted in an exclusive or exhaustive sense. In other words, they are intended to mean “including, but not limited to”.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 21216616.9 | Dec 2021 | EP | regional |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/EP2022/086661 | 12/19/2022 | WO |
