Patent Application
20080063772
Referring now to the drawings, in which like numbers refer to like elements,
The brewing device 100 further includes a saturated steam boiler 160. The saturated steam boiler 160 also may be of conventional design. The saturated steam boiler 160 maintains a volume of water at a desired temperature and pressure. As is well known, the pressure and the temperature of saturated steam are closely related. The saturated steam boiler 160 may be fed from a water source via a saturated steam boiler pump 170. The saturated steam boiler pump 170 may be of conventional design. As described above, a solenoid valve 180 and a check valve 190 may be positioned between the pump 170 and the saturated steam boiler 160. Likewise, a steam discharge outlet 200 may be used. Any similar type of boiler components may be used herein. The saturated steam boiler 160 and the main boiler 110 may be connected via a saturated steam boiler outlet 210. A check valve 220 may be positioned thereon.
The brewing device 100 also may include a brew head 230. The brew head 230 may be of conventional design. The brew head 230 may be positioned about a tealeaf receptacle 240. The tealeaf receptacle 240 includes an amount of tea leaves or amounts of similar materials. The brew head 230 is connected to the main boiler 110 via a main boiler outlet 250. A solenoid valve 260, a flow meter 270, and a temperature gauge 280 may be positioned on the main boiler outlet 250. Similar types of boiler components may be used herein. The brew head 230 also may be connected to the saturated steam boiler 160 by a presoak saturated steam outlet 290. A solenoid valve 300 may be used thereon. Other types of on/off valves or similar types of components may be used herein. A tea collection nozzle 310 may be positioned beneath the tealeaf receptacle 240. The brewed concentrated tea may stream therethrough.
The brewing device 100 also may include a make up water system 320. The make up water system 320 may include a water tank 330. Cool water may be stored within the water tank 330. The water tank 330 may be in communication with the tea collection nozzle 310. A solenoid valve 340 may be used thereon. Other types of on/off valves or similar types of components may be used herein. The make up water system 320 provides a predetermined amount of cool water to the brewed tea concentrate. The make up water also quenches the brewed concentrated tea in the tea collection nozzle 310 so as to ensure that the brewed tea remains a liquid as opposed to steam.
A control 350 may monitor the pressure and temperature of the boilers 110, 160, and operate the solenoid valves as may be desired. The control 350 may be a conventional microprocessor or the like.
In use, the boilers 110, 160 may be set to their desired pressure and temperature. The main boiler 110 may have a temperature of about 200 to about 300 degrees Fahrenheit (about 93 to about 149 degrees Celsius). The main boiler 110 may be kept at about atmospheric pressure. The saturated steam boiler 160 may be set at the desired pressure. The pressure may range from about thirty (30) to about seventy-five (75) pounds per square inch (about two (2) to about five (5) bar). As described above, the temperature of the saturated steam is directly related to the pressure.
Saturated steam from the saturated steam boiler 160 is fed into the main boiler 110 via the saturated steam outlet 210. The pressurized saturated steam acts as a propellant that drives the water in the main boiler 110 towards the brew head 230 under pressure. After the water passes through the tea receptacle, the brewed tea generally will be concentrated, i.e., the tea must be diluted with a volume of water. In this case, the concentrations can run from about eight (8) to one (1) to about fifteen (15) to one (1) or higher. The saturated steam boiler 160 also is directly connected to the brew head 230 in order to provide a steam presoak to the tea leaves within the tea receptacle 240.
By way of example, the main boiler 110 may be set at about 210 degrees Fahrenheit (about 98.9 degrees Celsius). The saturated steam boiler 160 may be set at about 75 pounds per square inch (about 5.2 bar) (and hence, a temperature of about 307.6 degrees Fahrenheit) (about 153.1 degrees Celsius)). About seven (7) grams of tea leaves may be placed in the tea receptacle 240 in order to produce about 100 milliliters of tea concentrate. Any desired amount of tea leaves or other substances may be used herein. The saturated steam from saturated steam boiler 160 may be used to presoak the tea leaves. The saturated steam from the saturated steam boiler 160 then may be released into main boiler 110 such that the water in the main boiler 110 is forced under pressure to the brew head 230. The water will pass through the receptacle 240 and produce the 100 milliliters of tea in about 10 seconds or so. The tea may be concentrated at about ten to one (10 to 1) or higher. By way of comparison, brewing the same amount of tea at the same temperature but at atmospheric pressure would result in a concentration of only about four to one (4 to 1) and would take more time.
The brewing device 100 described herein thus provides the ability to control the temperature and pressure of the brew water independently from one another. In addition to the use of the two (2) boilers 110, 160, however, any device that can control independently both pressure and temperature may be used herein.
For example, a system 400 may use a single boiler 410. The boiler 410 may be fed via a pump 420. A throttle valve 430 or a similar device may be positioned between the boiler 410 and the brew head 440. The pump 420 delivers the water to the boiler 410 at the desired pressure where it is heated before progressing to the brew head 440. The boiler 410 controls the temperature of the water while the pump 420 and the throttle valve 430 control the pressure delivered to the brew head 440.
A similar system 500 is shown in
The methods described herein thus provide high volumes of fresh brewed tea concentrate in a fast and efficient manner. The methods described herein essentially continually brew tea concentrate as desired. For example, a gallon of tea similarly may be brewed in less than about one (1) minute. Another benefit of the high concentration ratio is that the tea will quickly cool when cold dilution water is added. As such, the methods described herein are well suited to make large quantities of iced tea in a small amount of time.
It should be apparent that the foregoing relates only to certain embodiments of the present applicant and that numerous changes and modifications may be made herein by one of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the general spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the following claims and the equivalents thereof.
