Claims
- 1. A coffee brewer, comprising:
a brew basket for receiving a quantity of ground coffee; a plurality of jet ports for introducing a plurality of hot water streams into said brew basket, at least one of said jet ports being positioned to deliver a hot water stream into the brew basket at a location beneath the level of ground coffee contained therein, whereby the hot water streams introduced into said brew basket turbulently agitate and stir the coffee grounds to produce a substantially fluidized bed of water-borne coffee grounds to produce brewed coffee; and at least one filter element for passage of the brewed coffee substantially without passage of the coffee grounds.
- 2. The coffee brewer of claim 1 wherein said at least one filter element defines a wall portion of said brew basket.
- 3. The coffee brewer of claim 1 further including means for directing the brewed coffee from said at least one filter element for flow into a coffee pot.
- 4. The coffee brewer of claim 1 wherein said brew basket further includes a substantially transparent window to permit visual observation of the fluidized bed of water-borne coffee grounds contained therein.
- 5. The coffee brewer of claim 1 further including means for coupling said jet ports to a source of hot water.
- 6. The coffee brewer of claim 1 wherein said jet ports are positioned and aimed forjetting water streams generally tangentially into said brew basket in a common swirling direction.
- 7. The coffee brewer of claim 1 wherein each of said jet ports defines a tapered profile with a cross sectional size that reduces in a direction toward a downstream end thereof, and further including a filter screen disposed generally at an upstream end thereof.
- 8. The coffee brewer of claim 1 wherein said brew basket has a generally bowl-shaped configuration defining a bottom wall and an upstanding side wall of generally cylindrical shape, said bottom wall defining a false bottom in combination with a downwardly open feed port for receiving a supply of hot water into said false bottom, said side wall defining a plurality of hollow upstanding ribs in flow communication with said false bottom and each further defining at least one of said jet ports positioned to deliver a hot water stream into the brew basket at a location beneath the level of ground coffee contained therein.
- 9. The coffee brewer of claim 8 wherein each of said hollow ribs defines a plurality of said jet ports, at least one of which is positioned to deliver a hot water stream into the brew basket at a location beneath the level of ground coffee contained therein.
- 10. The coffee brewer of claim 8 wherein said plurality of hollow ribs comprises three ribs disposed at approximate 120° intervals about said side wall.
- 11. The coffee brewer of claim 8 said jet ports defined by said plurality of hollow ribs are positioned and aimed for jetting water streams generally tangentially into said brew basket in a common swirling direction.
- 12. The coffee brewer of claim 8 wherein said at least one filter element defines a side wall portion of said brew basket extending generally between an adjacent pair of said hollow ribs.
- 13. The coffee brewer of claim 1 further including a brewer head defining an upwardly open brew cavity for removably receiving and supporting said brew basket, said brewer head further including a drip outlet port for guided drip flow passage of brewed coffee passing through said at least one filter element into a coffee pot.
- 14. The coffee brewer of claim 13 further including a base platen for removably supporting a coffee pot in position for drip flow reception of brewed coffee passing through said drip outlet port.
- 15. The coffee brewer of claim 14 further including a support post for supporting said brewer head in spaced relation above said base platen.
- 16. The coffee brewer of claim 14 wherein said base platen further includes a heating element.
- 17. The coffee brewer of claim 13 said brew basket further includes a substantially transparent window to permit visual observation of the fluidized bed of water-borne coffee grounds contained therein, said transparent window being visible from the exterior of said brewer head.
- 18. The coffee brewer of claim 1 further including a reservoir for receiving a supply of water, a heating element, a first check valve for permitting unidirectional flow of water from said reservoir into heat exchange relation with said heating element to produce hot water, and a second check valve for permitting unidirectional flow of said hot water to said at least one jet port.
- 19. A coffee brewer, comprising:
a brew basket for receiving a quantity of ground coffee; at least one jet port for introducing a hot water stream into said brew basket at a location beneath the level of ground coffee contained therein, whereby the hot water stream turbulently agitates and stirs the coffee grounds to produce a substantially fluidized bed of water-borne coffee grounds to produce brewed coffee; and at least one filter element for passage of the brewed coffee substantially without passage of the coffee grounds.
- 20. The coffee brewer of claim 19 wherein said at least one filter element defines a wall portion of said brew basket.
- 21. The coffee brewer of claim 19 wherein said brew basket further includes a substantially transparent window to permit visual observation of the fluidized bed of water-borne coffee grounds contained therein.
- 22. The coffee brewer of claim 19 wherein said jet port is positioned and aimed for jetting the hot water stream generally tangentially into said brew basket.
- 23. The coffee brewer of claim 19 wherein said jet port defines a tapered profile with a cross sectional size that reduces in a direction toward a downstream end thereof, and further including a filter screen disposed generally at an upstream end thereof.
- 24. The coffee brewer of claim 19 wherein said brew basket has a generally bowl-shaped configuration defining a bottom wall and an upstanding side wall of generally cylindrical shape, said bottom wall defining a false bottom in combination with a downwardly open feed port for receiving a supply of hot water, said side wall defining at least one hollow upstanding rib in flow communication with said false bottom and further defining said at least one jet port positioned to deliver the hot water stream into the brew basket at a location beneath the level of ground coffee contained therein.
- 25. A coffee brewing method, comprising:
introducing a plurality of hot water streams into a brew basket containing a quantity of ground coffee, with at least one of the hot water streams being introduced into the brew basket at a location beneath the level of ground coffee contained therein so that the hot water streams turbulently agitate and stir the coffee grounds to produce a substantially fluidized bed of water-borne coffee grounds to produce brewed coffee; and filtering the brewed coffee from the coffee grounds.
- 26. The coffee brewing method of claim 25 wherein said filtering step comprising passing the brewed coffee through a porous wall portion of the brew basket.
- 27. The coffee brewing method of claim 25 further including the step of directing the brewed and filtered coffee into a coffee pot.
- 28. The coffee brewing method of claim 25 wherein the hot water streams are jetted generally tangentially into the brew basket in a common swirling direction.
- 29. A coffee brewing method, comprising:
introducing at least one hot water stream into a brew basket containing a quantity of ground coffee, at a location beneath the level of ground coffee contained therein so that the at least one hot water stream turbulently agitates and stirs the coffee grounds to produce a substantially fluidized bed of water-borne coffee grounds to produce brewed coffee; and filtering the brewed coffee from the coffee grounds.
- 30. A coffee brewer, comprising:
a brew basket for receiving a quantity of ground coffee; at least one jet port for introducing at least one hot water stream into said brew basket for at least partially filling said brew basket with hot water to intermix with ground coffee contained within said brew basket to brew coffee, said at least one jet port being positioned to deliver said at least one hot water stream into said brew basket at a location beneath the water level within said brew basket when said brew basket is partially filled with hot water, and further for thereupon turbulently agitating and stirring the coffee grounds to produce a substantially fluidized bed of water-borne coffee grounds to produce brewed coffee; and at least one filter element for passage of the brewed coffee substantially without passage of the coffee grounds.
- 31. The coffee brewer of claim 30 wherein said at least one jet port comprises a plurality of jet ports for introducing a corresponding plurality of hot water streams into said brew basket, each of said jet ports being positioned to deliver the associated hot water stream into said brew basket at a location beneath the water level within said brew basket when said brew basket is partially filled with hot water, and further for thereupon turbulently agitating and stirring the coffee grounds to produce the substantially fluidized bed of water-borne coffee grounds to produce brewed coffee.
- 32. The coffee brewer of claim 31 wherein at least one of said jet ports is further positioned for introducing the associated hot water stream into said brew basket at a location beneath the level of the ground coffee contained therein.
- 33. The coffee brewer of claim 31 wherein said plurality of jet ports are positioned and aimed for jetting the associated hot water streams generally tangentially into said brew basket in a common swirling direction.
Parent Case Info
[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/471,926, filed May 19, 2003.
Provisional Applications (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
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60471926 |
May 2003 |
US |