Patent Application
20250178823
The invention relates to a coffee cup pod for individual coffee cup brewing.
Individual coffee cup pods are popular for brewing a single cup of coffee. These pods, however, are not highly efficient and can either lead to a lower extraction of dissolvable coffee or coffee ground particulate in the brewed cup of coffee.
It would be beneficial to provide an individual coffee cup pod that increases the flavor of coffee brewed through the pod.
This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter.
In one embodiment, the present invention is a single serving coffee cup pod that includes a generally cylindrical frame extending a length of the pod and a base attached to the frame, forming a chamber. A filter is located in the chamber. The filter has an elongated body with a hemispherical filter end extending downwardly therefrom. An opening is formed in the base.
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein and constitute part of this specification, illustrate the presently preferred embodiments of the invention, and, together with the general description given above and the detailed description given below, serve to explain the features of the invention. In the drawings:
In the drawings, like numerals indicate like elements throughout. Certain terminology is used herein for convenience only and is not to be taken as a limitation on the present invention. The terminology includes the words specifically mentioned, derivatives thereof and words of similar import. The embodiments illustrated below are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed. These embodiments are chosen and described to best explain the principle of the invention and its application and practical use and to enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the invention.
Reference herein to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment can be included in at least one embodiment of the invention. The appearances of the phrase “in one embodiment” in various places in the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment, nor are separate or alternative embodiments necessarily mutually exclusive of other embodiments. The same applies to the term “implementation.”
As used in this application, the word “exemplary” is used herein to mean serving as an example, instance, or illustration. Any aspect or design described herein as “exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects or designs. Rather, use of the word exemplary is intended to present concepts in a concrete fashion.
The word “about” is used herein to include a value of +/−10 percent of the numerical value modified by the word “about” and the word “generally” is used herein to mean “without regard to particulars or exceptions.”
Additionally, the term “or” is intended to mean an inclusive “or” rather than an exclusive “or”. That is, unless specified otherwise, or clear from context, “X employs A or B” is intended to mean any of the natural inclusive permutations. That is, if X employs A; X employs B; or X employs both A and B, then “X employs A or B” is satisfied under any of the foregoing instances. In addition, the articles “a” and “an” as used in this application and the appended claims should generally be construed to mean “one or more” unless specified otherwise or clear from context to be directed to a singular form.
Unless explicitly stated otherwise, each numerical value and range should be interpreted as being approximate as if the word “about” or “approximately” preceded the value of the value or range and includes a value+/−10% of the stated value.
The use of figure numbers and/or figure reference labels in the claims is intended to identify one or more possible embodiments of the claimed subject matter in order to facilitate the interpretation of the claims. Such use is not to be construed as necessarily limiting the scope of those claims to the embodiments shown in the corresponding figures.
It should be understood that the steps of the exemplary methods set forth herein are not necessarily required to be performed in the order described, and the order of the steps of such methods should be understood to be merely exemplary. Likewise, additional steps may be included in such methods, and certain steps may be omitted or combined, in methods consistent with various embodiments of the present invention.
Although the elements in the following method claims, if any, are recited in a particular sequence with corresponding labeling, unless the claim recitations otherwise imply a particular sequence for implementing some or all of those elements, those elements are not necessarily intended to be limited to being implemented in that particular sequence.
Single serving coffee cups are a popular way to brew coffee, allowing each user to pick a particular flavor and to brew just a single cup worth of that flavored coffee. Existing single serving coffee cups, however, have drawbacks that reduce the quality of the brewed coffee.
Referring to
An alternative prior art single serving coffee cup pod 60 is shown in
Base 63 has a small opening 72 formed therein that allows water that has passed through the coffee grounds 65 and filter 66 to drip from pod 60 into a coffee cup (not shown). While the water that is poured into the top of pod 60 is at about 1 bar pressure, them small opening 72 restricts the exit flow of the water, generating a back pressure under the coffee grounds 65, This back pressure prevents the coffee grounds 65 inside filter 66 from being compressed from the top pressure of the about 1 bar of water, leading to a less densely packed coffee bed with loose coffee grounds 65 and thereby allowing more of undesirable particulate in the grounds 65 to pass through filter 66 and eventually into the coffee cup.
Referring to
Optionally, a removable cover 114 can be provided across opening 112 that can be removed by pulling a tab 116 to remove cover 114 prior to putting pod 100 into a coffee brewing machine (not shown).
While cover 114 can be removable, those skilled in the art will recognize that cover 114 can remain attached to base 103 and a blade, a series of pointed needles, or some other structure for piercing cover 114 can be part of a coffee machine (not shown) and pierce cover 114 when pod 100 is inserted into the coffee machine. It is desired that such piercing of cover 114 is sufficient to prevent or to minimize the buildup of pressure above atmospheric pressure within pod 100 during the coffee brewing process.
Distinguishing pod 100 from pod 60 is the fact that opening 112 in base 103 of pod 100 has a significantly larger opening than opening 72 in pod 60 to allow the water provided to pod 100 to more readily flow from pod 100 into a coffee cup (not shown), and not generating the back pressure that is generated by pod 60, resulting in a poor quality of brewed coffee.
In an exemplary embodiment, opening 112 is about 1 inch in diameter, while frame 102 has a diameter at opening 112 of about 1.4 inches in diameter, forming an annulus 105, providing a ratio of the areas of opening size to an area of frame 102 at base 103 of at least about 0.5:1. The relatively large size of opening 112 compared to the diameter of frame 102 reduces back pressure under the grounds 105 and frame 102 forces the water being poured into pod 100 though the coffee grounds 105 and down to filter end 110, allowing the water soak all of the grounds 105 via the about 1 bar of pressure being applied from the top of pod 100, compressing the grounds 105 and forming a dense filtration bed, resulting in a “puck” of compacted coffee grounds 105 inside filter 106 while minimizing the build up of pressure within pod 100 to not much more than 1 bar, if that much, thereby improving coffee flavor extraction.
It will be further understood that various changes in the details, materials, and arrangements of the parts which have been described and illustrated in order to explain the nature of this invention may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention as expressed in the following claims.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63604220 | Nov 2023 | US |
