Patent Application
20140072675
The present application relates to cartridges, systems and methods for preparation of beverages.
Cartridges for use in the preparation of beverages are well known. For example, it is known to provide a cartridge for use in a beverage preparation machine which, in use, is pierced by a piercing element of the beverage preparation machine to allow hot water to flow through the cartridge to brew a beverage medium such as roasted ground coffee.
One example is described in US2010/0028495. Such cartridges and beverage systems are often used in domestic and workplace settings. It is desirable by consumers for each beverage to be dispensed as quickly as possible. However, especially for beverages requiring extraction of ingredients (such as roast and ground coffee), it has been found that a better beverage is produced where the beverage ingredients are compacted and subjected to relatively high pressures. This tends to require filters having a small pore size which results in flow rates through the cartridges which are relatively slow.
The present disclosure provides a cartridge, containing one or more beverage ingredients, and comprising:
a cup-shaped body having a base, a peripheral side wall and an open top;
a lid attached to the cup-shaped body to close the open top to define a container volume, the lid being pierceable to accommodate an inflow of an aqueous medium into the container volume;
a filter located within the container volume to divide the container volume into an ingredient chamber volume containing the one or more beverage ingredients and a filtrate volume;
the base being pierceable to accommodate an outflow from the filtrate volume of a beverage formed from the aqueous medium and the one or more beverage ingredients;
the peripheral side wall comprising a plurality of flutes that define a plurality of filtrate channels configured to direct beverage flow downwards towards the base of the cup-shaped body;
wherein the cup-shaped body is configured to be laterally expandable in use when aqueous medium at a temperature of at least 85° C. and a pressure of at least 20 KPa is introduced into the container volume.
Without wanting to be bound by theory, it is believed that the lateral expansion of the cup-shaped body helps to ensure that the filtrate channels remain unblocked and hence allow a faster flow. In addition, expansion of the filter may allow a larger filter area to be obtained which can also reduce brew times.
The cup-shaped body may be configured to be laterally expandable by distortion of the flutes of the peripheral side wall.
The peripheral side wall may have a generally frustoconical shape prior to use and, after lateral expansion during use, may have a generally barrel shape.
In one aspect the peripheral side wall has a thickness of 0.15 to 0.35 mm.
In one aspect the base has a thickness of 0.35 to 0.55 mm.
The cup-shaped body may comprise a polymeric material.
The cup-shaped body may comprise a laminated material.
For example, the cup-shaped body may comprise a laminate of polystyrene and polyethylene. In another example, the cup-shaped body may be formed from a laminate having layers of polystyrene, ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVOH) and polyethylene.
The cup-shaped body may comprise a barrier layer. The barrier layer may form one layer of a laminate structure of the cup-shaped body. The barrier layer may be substantially impermeable to oxygen/air and/or moisture. Preferably the barrier layer acts to preserve the contents of the cartridge from potential degradation due to exposure to oxygen/air and/or moisture. An example of a suitable barrier layer is EVOH.
In one aspect the filter may be formed from a sheet material that may be formed into a cup-shape having a side wall and a base, wherein the filter may comprise a plurality of sections where the sheet material includes overlying sections when secured to the cup-shaped body and prior to introduction of the aqueous medium.
In use the filter may be configured to be laterally expandable by movement of the sheet material.
In use the filter may be configured to be longitudinally expandable by movement of the overlying sheet material.
In one aspect the cartridge may further comprise a guard element located in the filtrate volume;
wherein the guard element is separately-formed from the cup-shaped body and located within the filtrate volume to define an outlet zone, the guard element being interposed between the filter and the outlet zone;
wherein the guard element is configured to prevent encroachment of the filter into the outlet zone such that in use on full extension of a piercing element of a beverage preparation apparatus the piercing element is enabled to be placed in fluid communication with the outlet zone without the piercing element contacting the guard element or filter.
The guard element may be configured to provide physical support to at least a portion of the filter in use to limit or preclude axial expansion of the filter.
The guard element may comprise a filter support surface and at least one strut portion for spacing the filter support surface from the piercing surface of the cartridge, wherein a distal end of said strut portion may be abutted into an angle formed between the side wall and the base.
The filter may comprise an upper rim that is connected at or near a lid-end of the peripheral side wall and/or between the peripheral side wall and the lid and may further comprise a filter side wall that is unconnected to the peripheral side wall.
The present disclosure also provides a system comprising a cartridge and a beverage preparation machine;
wherein the beverage preparation machine comprises:
wherein the cartridge comprises a cup-shaped body having the base, a peripheral side wall and an open top closed by the lid and the peripheral side wall comprises a plurality of flutes;
wherein the holder comprises a wall defining a cavity for receiving the cartridge, the cavity having an internal diameter that is larger than an external diameter of at least a substantial portion of the peripheral side wall of the cartridge such that on insertion of the cartridge into the cavity an annular expansion gap is provided between at least a substantial portion of the peripheral side wall of the cartridge and the wall of the holder.
The cup-shaped body may be configured to be laterally expandable in use when aqueous medium at a temperature of at least 85° C. and a pressure of at least 20 KPa is introduced into the container volume by the beverage preparation machine.
The present disclosure also provides a method of forming a beverage from a cartridge having a cup-shaped body and a lid and containing one or more beverage ingredients, the method using a beverage preparation machine having an inlet piercer, an outlet piercer and a holder for the cartridge, the method comprising the steps of:
inserting the cartridge into the holder, such that the cup-shaped body of the cartridge is received in a cavity bounded by a wall of the holder;
piercing the lid of the cartridge with the inlet piercer;
piercing the a base of the cartridge with the outlet piercer;
injecting an aqueous medium through the inlet piercer into the cartridge to form the beverage, the aqueous medium being injected at a temperature of at least 85° C. and a pressure of at least 20 KPa; and
dispensing the beverage via the outlet piercer;
wherein due to passage of the aqueous medium through the cartridge the cup-shaped body is laterally expanded.
Suitable materials for the filter include woven and non-woven materials, paper, and cellulose as well as plastics such as polypropylene and polyethylene. The paper or cellulose material may contain fibres of another material, for example, polypropylene or polyethylene.
The lid may be formed from polyethylene, polypropylene, polyesters including polyethylene terephthalate, polyvinyl chloride, polyvinylidene chloride, polyamides including nylon, polyurethane, paper, viscose and/or a metal foil. The lid may comprise a laminate, be metallised or formed of copolymers. In one example, the lid comprises a polyethylene-aluminium laminate.
The disclosure finds particular application where the beverage medium is an extractable/infusible product such as roasted ground coffee or leaf tea. However, the beverage medium may alternatively be a water-soluble ingredient such as instant spray-dried or freeze-dried coffee, a chocolate powder, a milk powder or a creamer powder. Milk powders may include dried skimmed milk, part-skimmed milk, and whole milk, dried milk protein concentrates, isolates, and fractions, or any combination thereof. Creamer powders may be manufactured from dairy and/or non-dairy food ingredients and typically contain emulsified fat, stabilized by protein or modified starch, dispersed in a carrier that facilitates drying, especially spray drying. The powdered product may be agglomerated. As a further alternative the beverage medium may be a mixture of extractable/infusible ingredients and water-soluble ingredients, for example a mixture of roasted ground coffee and instant freeze-dried coffee.
Aspects of the present disclosure will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
As shown in
The cup-shaped body 2 of
The base 4, illustrated for example in
The cup-shaped body 2 may be formed from a laminate having layers of polystyrene, ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVOH) and polyethylene. The EVOH layer may act as a barrier layer which may be substantially impermeable to oxygen/air and/or moisture. Preferably the barrier layer acts to preserve the contents of the cartridge from potential degradation due to exposure to oxygen/air and/or moisture.
A plurality of cup-shaped bodies 2 may be stacked together prior to assembly of the cartridges 1.
The lid 3 comprises a disc that is bonded or otherwise sealed to the upper rim 21 of the cup-shaped body 2 to close the open upper end 20 of the cartridge 1. The lid 3 defines an upper piercing surface 43 of the cartridge 1.
In one embodiment, the filter 8 has a generally cup-shaped form having an upper filter rim 50 which is bonded or otherwise sealed to the cup-shaped body 2 (e.g. to the peripheral side wall) either at or near the upper rim 21. In a non-illustrated example the filter rim 50 is bonded between the upper rim 21 of the cup-shaped body 2 and the lid 3. A filter side wall 51 may extend downwardly from the filter rim 50 and may be closed off at a lower end by a filter base 52 as illustrated. The filter 8 may be moulded from a suitable material. Alternatively, the filter 8 may be formed from sheet material that is subsequently formed into the required geometric shape.
The filter guard 6 may be formed as a separate component from the cup-shaped body 2 and filter 8 and may be located at a lower end of the cup-shaped body 2 as shown in
The filter guard 6 may be rigid; meaning that it has sufficient structural strength so as not to undergo any substantial deformation during the use described below.
Advantageously, the filter guard 6 is shaped so as to be a stackable component prior to assembly of the cartridge 1. The downwardly extending tube 17 serves to ensure that adjacent filter guards 6 are spaced slightly from one another when stacked to ensure ease of separation of each filter guard 6 from the stack.
As most clearly shown in
In an exemplary assembly technique for the cartridge 1 as shown in
Next, the filter 8 is inserted into the cup-shaped body 2 through the open upper end 20 and bonded or otherwise connected to or near the upper rim 21, for example by heat sealing.
As shown in
A portion of beverage ingredients 7, such as roasted ground coffee, is filled through the open upper end 20 into the beverage ingredient volume B. The cartridge 1 is then closed by sealing the lid 3 to the upper rim 21 with or without sandwiching of the filter rim 50 therebetween. Two or more of the assembly steps described above may be combined into a single assembly process step.
In
In use, as shown in
The beverage preparation machine comprises an inlet piercing element 55 and outlet piercing element 56 which are engaged with the cartridge 1 to permit brewing and dispensation. As shown, the inlet piercing element 55 pierces the upper piercing surface 43 of the cartridge 1 to form an inlet so as to provide fluid communication to the beverage ingredient volume B. The outlet piercing element 56 pierces the lower piercing surface 40 of the base 4 to form an outlet to provide an exit flow path for beverage formed from the beverage ingredient 7 to leave the cartridge 1 and thereafter the beverage preparation apparatus can be dispensed to a receptacle such as a cup. The outlet piercing element 56 may be offset from the centre of the cartridge 1 so as not to be impeded by the downwardly-extending tube 17.
Aqueous medium, such as hot water, is injected into the cartridge 1 through the inlet piercing element 55 to contact the beverage medium 7. A beverage extract is thus formed which passes through the filter 8 into the filtrate volume C. The beverage extract passes through the filter side wall 51 into the channels 29 where it is able to run downwardly and into the outlet zone D via the side apertures 13 in the filter guard 6. Extract also passes through the filter 8 through the filter base 52 and into the outlet zone D through the upper apertures 13 and central aperture 16 of the filter guard 6.
During the flow of the water through the cartridge 1 the cartridge expands laterally due to the internal pressurisation of the cartridge and the softening effect of the water which typically has a temperature of at least 85 degrees Celsius. The lateral expansion is made easier by configuring the side wall 5 to comprise the flutes 28. The lateral expansion causes the annular expansion gap 59 to be reduced or even closed entirely. As the uppermost and lowermost portions of the side wall 8 are more resilient to lateral expansion, the expansion process results in the frustoconical side wall 5 deforming into a barrel-shape as shown, for example, in
The lateral expansion of the cup-shaped body 2 of the cartridge 1 has advantageously been found to lead to reduced beverage formation times, which will be discussed further below.
The lateral expansion of the side wall 5 of the cartridge 1 may be accompanied by lateral expansion of the filter 8. This may be particularly the case where the filter 8 is formed from a sheet material which is formed into a cup-shaped form by the overlapping of the sheet material as shown, for example, in
Advantageously, as shown in
As before, the filter guard 6′ may be formed as a separate component from cup-shaped body 2 and is located at a lower end of the cup-shaped body 2 as shown in
The filter guard 6′ may be rigid meaning that it has sufficient structural strength so as not to undergo any substantial deformation during the use described below.
Assembly of the cartridge 1 is as described previously except that the filter guard 6′ is inserted such that the lower rim 31′ is engaged in or close to the corner 27 of the cup-shaped body 2. As above, the inwardly-tapered section 23 serves to maintain the filter guard 6′ in the correct position.
As can be seen from
Use of the cartridge 1 is as described above except that beverage extract passing through the filter 8 is channeled to the outlet piercer 56 via the side apertures 19′ and the annular outlet zone D.
In a modification of the above aspect, the outer circumferential wall 11′ may also be provided with apertures 19′ for passage of beverage flow into the outlet zone D.
This aspect is substantially the same as the first aspect except that the cartridge 1 does not contain a filter guard 2. Instead the filter 8 is suspended and configured to be kept clear of the outlet piercer 56 by its axial length.
Use of the cartridge 1 is as described above. However, now the filter 8 is able to expand laterally and longitudinally downwards some way towards the base 4 of the cartridge 1. As with the first aspect this expansion of the side all of the cartridge 1 and expansion of the filter 8 has been found to be advantageous for reducing beverage formation times.
Four types of cartridge 1 were prepared. Each type had a fill weight of roast and ground coffee of 9 g. Ten samples of each type of cartridge were then brewed using a Cuisinart Model SS-700 beverage preparation machine, available from Cuisinart, Stamford, Conn., USA. The annular expansion gap between the wall of the holder and the side wall of the cup-shaped body was approximately 2 mm. The beverage preparation machine was set to dispense a drink of ‘Drink size 8’ (a nominal 8 oz drink size that during experiments delivered a drink weight of approximately 205-210 g) and the brew time to dispense each sample was then measured.
The cartridge types were as follows:
Type 1—A cartridge 1 as described in the second aspect, that is without a filter guard 2.
Type 2—A cartridge 1 as described in the second aspect, that is without a filter guard 2 but additionally having a collar placed around the peripheral side wall 5 of the cup-shaped body 2 to substantially prevent any lateral expansion of the cup-shaped body 2.
Type 3—A cartridge 1 as described in the first aspect, that is with a filter guard 2 as shown in
Type 2—A cartridge 1 as described in the first aspect, that is with a filter guard 2 as shown in
Thus, the Type 2 and Type 4 cartridges acted as controls to highlight the technical effect of the lateral expansion of the cartridges of Types 1 and 3.
The average brew times were as follows:
As can be seen, the lateral expansion of the Type 1 cartridge 1 led to a reduced brew time of 49 sec compared to 52 sec for the control. In the case of the Type 3 cartridge 1 the reduction in brew time was a very significant 10 secs, from 61 secs to 51 secs.
Without wanting to be bound by theory, it is believed that the lateral expansion of the cup-shaped body 2 (and optionally the filter 8 within) helps to ensure that the channels 29 which act to drain the beverage downwards towards the base 4 of the capsule 1 remain unblocked and hence allow a faster flow. In addition, expansion of the filter 8 allows a larger filter area to be obtained which can also reduce brew times.
Whilst the fastest brew times were obtained where a filter guard 2 was not used, in some circumstances the advantages of using a filter guard will offset the potentially longer brew time. Even in this case, the lateral expansion has been found to be advantageous in reducing brew times by about 6%.
From the foregoing it will be appreciated that cartridges for preparation of beverages and components for such cartridges are provided.
