The present disclosure relates to a funnel liquid shield and sensor for use in brewing funnels of a beverage making apparatus. The liquid shield is moveably attached to the funnel. The sensor detects at least one of a presence and absence of liquid in the funnel and is used to provide a signal to at least one of lock or unlock the funnel from the beverage making apparatus or provide a signal corresponding to the condition of liquid in the funnel.
A variety of brewing funnels are available which are used to support filter papers or reusable/permanent filters containing a beverage brewing substance, such as tea or ground coffee. Typically, a brewing funnel is attached to a brewing apparatus such that heated water can be sprayed over the brewing substance to infuse the substance and produce a liquid brewed beverage. The bottom of the funnel is configured with an aperture to allow the brewed beverage to drain from the bottom of the funnel into a carafe or pot positioned therebelow.
Brewing funnels normally should remain in the brewing apparatus throughout the brewing cycle until the entire volume of brewed beverage has drained therefrom. However, in a traditional brewing apparatus, it is possible for a user to remove the brewing funnel from the brewing apparatus prior to complete draining of the brewed beverage from the brewing funnel. When this occurs, a slurry of the heated water, brewing substance and/or brewed beverage retained in the funnel may slosh out of the funnel when it is removed. Commonly, brewing funnels have a handle which is held by the user's hand when putting the brewing funnel into or removing it from the brewing apparatus. If a user does not act with caution when removing the brewing funnel, the slurry of heated water, brewing substance and/or brewed beverage may slosh onto the user's hand.
An object of the present invention is to provide a liquid shield for use with a brewing funnel to prevent unintentional escape of brewing substance and water from the funnel.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a funnel including a liquid shield to prevent unintentional escape of brewing substance and water from the funnel.
A further object of the present invention is to provide structure for easily moving a liquid shield of a brewing funnel out of a mouth of the associated brewing funnel, and thereby out of a flow path of a filter and brewing substance inside the brewing funnel, for cleaning or for when the funnel is inverted for disposal of the filter and spent grounds.
A further object of the present invention is to position a liquid shield on a brewing funnel so that it does not interfere with the placement of the brewing funnel in the brewing apparatus when the liquid shield is located within the circumference of the brewing funnel.
Another object of the present invention is to configure the liquid shield to interfere with the placement of the brewing funnel in the brewing apparatus when the liquid shield has been displaced from the brewing funnel.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a brewing funnel lock that prohibits movement of the brewing funnel until a sensor of the brewing apparatus detects substantially all of the liquid in the brewing funnel has drained out of the funnel.
Another object of the present invention is to position a sensor to electronically detect whether liquid in the brewing funnel has been emptied or drained from the funnel and to notify the user whether the funnel has been emptied based on the detection by the sensor.
Additional features of the present disclosure will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of illustrative embodiments exemplifying the best mode of carrying out the disclosure as presently perceived.
The detailed description particularly refers to the accompanying figures in which:
As seen in
A liquid shield 44 is attached to the funnel 20 generally adjacent the handle 36, as illustrated in
The liquid shield 44 is formed of material that is resistant to moisture and heat, such as the material from which the brewing funnel 20 is formed or any other suitable material. The liquid shield 44 includes a body portion 46 which is position proximate to the cavity and in at least one embodiment extends inwardly over at least a portion of a cavity 48 defined by at least the wall 30 and mouth 22. The funnel 20 includes a bottom 28 and in at least one embodiment, the drain aperture 26 extends through the bottom 28. When the liquid shield 44 is in an engaged position with the funnel 20, as illustrated in
The liquid shield 44 is attached to the funnel 20 by a hinge assembly 56. In an illustrative embodiment and as illustrated in
The hinge assembly 56 may be configured in any known method for creating a hinge joint between two components. For example, the shield wing 62 may be coupled to a bottom surface 66 of the liquid shield 44, and the funnel wing 60 may be coupled to the inside surface 52 of the side wall 30 of the brewing funnel 20, as illustrated in
As shown in
Generally, the liquid shield 44 is positioned near or below the mouth 22 proximate to the handle 36 when the liquid shield 44 is positioned relative to the funnel for blocking movement of the slurry of material in the funnel or in engagement with the funnel 20. In illustrative embodiments, the liquid shield 44 may include two extensions or tabs 32, 34 that extend away from the body portion 46. Two notches 72, 74 are provided in the side wall 30 of the brewing funnel 20, the two notches 72, 74 generally corresponding with the size and location of the tabs 32, 34 when the liquid shield 44 is engaged with the brewing funnel 20, as illustrated in
While the design and placement of the liquid shield 44 relative to the brewing funnel 20 as show in the Figures is generally symmetric relative to the handle 36, it is envisioned that there may be other relationships between the handle 36 and the liquid shield 44. For example, if the geometry of the funnel 20 is different, the relationship movement of the liquid and beverage brewing substance in the funnel 20 may dictate placement of the liquid shield 44 in a different location relative to the handle 36. The specific embodiments disclosed herein are provided as a means of illustration and not limitation. It is envisioned that while all possible embodiments are not illustrated, one of ordinary skill in the art should be capable of producing the structures based on the teaching herein without undue experimentation.
As shown in
During a brewing operation, the funnel 20 is situated within a brewing apparatus 10 with the handle 36 in a position such that the funnel 20 can be removed from the brewing apparatus 10 by gripping the handle 36 when the brewing process is complete. A filter 86 is positioned in the cavity 48 with a brewing substance placed therein. During the brewing process, water is sprayed through the mouth 22 and into the cavity 48 for mixing with the brewing substance. One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate the method of brewing as described herein above. The water and brewing substance begin the process of infusion whereby the water and the brewing substance are mixed together to form the material 82 from which a brewed beverage is extracted and drained through the filter 86 and out of the funnel through the drain aperture 26.
The filter 86 may be in the form of a paper filter which is disposable or a permanent filter which is reusable. In either embodiment of filter, the use of a shield 44 may be useful in order to be displaceable from the funnel and permit removal of the filter and wet but drained brewing substance and/or slurry from the funnel. The liquid shield 44 is sized and dimensioned so as to not interfere with the operation of a spray head (not shown) to dispense water into the cavity 48 and over the brewing substance during the brewing process but to prevent unintended escape of material 82 from the funnel 20.
In use, the funnel 20 is provided for receiving the liquid shield 44 therein and/or thereon. In one embodiment, the liquid shield 44 is positioned to be engaging with the funnel 20 when the tabs 32, 34 are inserted into the corresponding notches 72, 74. In this arrangement, first edge 50 and flange 76 may engage with side wall 30 of brewing funnel 20 and liquid shield 44 may be located below mouth 22. The shape of the liquid shield 44 and the location of the liquid shield 44 near the mouth 22 helps allow the funnel 20 to accept a standard filter 86 and does not require a custom-sized filter for operation of the brewing apparatus 10. Additionally, while the shield is shown herein in combination with the notches 72, 74 and tabs 32, 34, additional embodiments of the shield 44 which do not include tabs may be configured based on the teachings provided herein.
Disclosed herein is a shield 44 which is displaceable relative to a funnel 20 but is also retained on the funnel. The hinge 56, regardless of its several forms disclosed herein or taught hereby, provides a connection between the shield 44 and the funnel 20 to prevent loss or displacement of the shield 44 from the funnel assembly. The shield being connected to the funnel but displaceable therefrom also facilitates ease of inserting or removing a filter and beverage brewing substance. While movement of the shield 44 relative to the funnel 20 is less significant when inserting the filter and brewing substance is useful when disposing of the used filter and spent grounds at the end of the brewing process.
The brewing apparatus 10, shown diagrammatically in a significantly reduced size for illustration purposes only, in
Additionally, the controller 78 can be coupled to a funnel locking system 85 which blocks or otherwise prohibits removal of the funnel unless a predetermined condition is satisfied. In this regard, the controller 78 can indicate to the funnel locking system 85 that the funnel should remain locked in engagement with the brewer 10 until a predetermined condition relating to the presence, absence or other characteristic associated with liquid flowing through the drain 26 is achieved. Once the sensor 81 provides a signal that is within a predetermined range of characteristics, the funnel locking system will unlock the funnel and allow for removal of the funnel from the brewer 10. Notification to the user can also be achieved using an indicator 87 which proved a perceptible condition to the user such as a light, sound or other signal.
In one embodiment as shown in
An alternative embodiment is illustrated in
The foregoing terms as well as other terms should be broadly interpreted throughout this application to include all known as well as all hereafter discovered versions, equivalents, variations and other forms of the abovementioned terms as well as other terms.
The present disclosure is intended to be broadly interpreted and not limited. While the present disclosure describes various exemplary embodiments, the disclosure is not so limited. To the contrary, the disclosure is intended to cover various modifications, uses, adaptations, and equivalent arrangements based on the principles disclosed. Further, this application is intended to cover such departures from the present disclosure as come within at least the known or customary practice within the art to which it pertains. It is envisioned that those skilled in the art may devise various modifications and equivalent structures and functions without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure as recited in the following claims. The scope of the following claims is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent structures and functions.
This application is a U.S. nationalization under 35 U.S.C. §371 of International Application No. PCT/US2014/029339, filed Mar. 14, 2014, which claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/787,466, filed Mar. 15, 2013. The disclosures set forth in the referenced applications are incorporated herein by reference in their its entirety.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/US2014/029339 | 3/14/2014 | WO | 00 |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
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WO2014/144784 | 9/18/2014 | WO | A |
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20160029830 A1 | Feb 2016 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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61787466 | Mar 2013 | US |