Patent Grant
10842313
The inventions described herein relate to dissolving gas in liquids, e.g., carbonation, for use in preparing a beverage. Systems for carbonating liquids and/or mixing liquids with a beverage medium to form a beverage are described in a wide variety of publications, including U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,025,655, 4,040,342; 4,636,337; 6,712,342 and 5,182,084; and PCT Publication WO 2008/124851.
Aspects of the invention relate to carbonating or otherwise dissolving a gas in a precursor liquid, such as water, to form a beverage. In some embodiments, a carbon dioxide or other gas source can be provided in a cartridge which is used to generate carbon dioxide or other gas that is dissolved into the precursor liquid. A beverage medium, such as a powdered drink mix or liquid syrup, may be provided in the same, or a separate cartridge as the gas source and mixed with the precursor liquid (either before or after carbonation) to form a beverage. The use of one or more cartridges for the gas source and/or beverage medium may make for an easy to use and mess-free system for making carbonated or other sparkling beverages, e.g., in the consumer's home. (The term “carbonation” or “carbonated” is used herein to generically refer to beverages that have a dissolved gas, and thus refers to a sparkling beverage whether the dissolved gas is carbon dioxide, nitrogen, oxygen, air or other gas. Thus, aspects of the invention are not limited to forming beverages that have a dissolved carbon dioxide content, but rather may include any dissolved gas.)
In one aspect of the invention a beverage making system includes a beverage precursor liquid supply arranged to provide a precursor liquid. The precursor liquid supply may include a reservoir, a pump, one or more conduits, one or more valves, one or more sensors (e.g., to detect a water level in the reservoir), and/or any other suitable components to provide water or other precursor liquid in a way suitable to form a beverage. The system may also include a single cartridge having first and/or second cartridge portions. The first cartridge portion may contain a gas source arranged to emit gas for use in dissolving into the precursor liquid, e.g., for carbonating the precursor liquid, and the second cartridge portion may contain a beverage medium arranged to be mixed with a liquid precursor to form a beverage. The system may include a cartridge interface, such as a chamber that receives and at least partially encloses the cartridge, a connection port arranged to fluidly couple with the cartridge, or other arrangement. A gas dissolution device may be arranged to dissolve gas that is emitted from the first cartridge portion into the precursor liquid, and may include, for example, a membrane contactor, a chamber suitable to hold a liquid under pressure to help dissolve gas in the liquid, a sparger, a sprinkler arranged to introduce water to a pressurized gas environment, or other arrangement. The system may be arranged to mix precursor liquid with the beverage medium, whether before or after gas is dissolved in the liquid, to form a beverage. The beverage medium may be mixed with the liquid in the cartridge, in another portion of the system such as a mixing chamber into which beverage medium from the cartridge is introduced along with precursor liquid, in a user's cup, or elsewhere.
In one aspect of the invention, a beverage making system includes a beverage precursor liquid supply arranged to provide a precursor liquid, and a cartridge chamber arranged to hold first and/or second cartridge portions. The cartridge chamber may have a single cartridge receiving portion for receiving one or more cartridges, or may include a plurality of cartridge receiving portions that are separated from each other, e.g., for receiving two or more cartridges. If multiple receiving portions are provided, they may be opened and closed simultaneously or independently of each other. A first cartridge portion may be provided in the cartridge chamber where the first cartridge portion contains a gas source arranged to emit carbon dioxide or other gas for use in carbonating the precursor liquid. In some embodiments, the gas source may include a charged molecular sieve, such as a zeolite that is in solid form (e.g., pellets) and has adsorbed carbon dioxide or other gas, that releases gas in the presence of water. A second cartridge portion may be provided in the cartridge chamber where the second cartridge portion contains a beverage medium arranged to be mixed with a liquid precursor to form a beverage. The system may be arranged to carbonate the precursor liquid using the gas emitted by the first cartridge portion and to mix the beverage medium of the second cartridge portion with the precursor liquid. The precursor liquid may be carbonated in the first cartridge portion, or in one or more other areas (such as a reservoir or membrane carbonator) to which gas is delivered. Mixing of the precursor liquid with beverage medium may occur before or after carbonation, and may occur in the second cartridge portion or in another location, such as a mixing chamber separate from the second cartridge portion.
The system may include a gas source activating fluid supply arranged to provide fluid to the cartridge chamber for contact with the gas source to cause the gas source to emit gas. For example, the gas activating fluid supply may be arranged to control an amount of fluid (such as water in liquid or vapor form) provided to the cartridge chamber to control an amount of gas produced by the gas source. This may allow the system to control a gas pressure used to carbonate the precursor liquid. Thus, the cartridge chamber may be arranged to hold at least the first cartridge portion in the cartridge chamber under a pressure that is greater than an ambient pressure. Alternately, the first cartridge portion may be arranged to withstand a pressure caused by gas emitted by the gas source without a supporting structure or other enclosure. A gas supply may be arranged to conduct gas emitted by the gas source, under pressure greater than the ambient pressure, to beverage precursor liquid to carbonate the precursor liquid. The gas may be conducted to a carbonation tank, a membrane contactor, or other suitable arrangement for carbonation. For example, the system may include a carbonator that includes a membrane that separates a liquid side from a gas side of the carbonator, where the gas is provided to the gas side and the beverage precursor liquid supply provides precursor liquid to the liquid side such that gas on the gas side is dissolved in the precursor liquid on the liquid side. A pump may move precursor liquid from a reservoir through the carbonator for subsequent discharge as a beverage, or the precursor liquid may be circulated back to the reservoir for one or more additional passes through the carbonator.
In some embodiments, the system may mix the beverage medium with precursor liquid to form a beverage such that none of the beverage contacts the gas source. However, in other embodiments, the precursor liquid may contact the gas source, e.g., where the liquid is passed through the first cartridge portion to be carbonated. The first and second cartridge portions may each be part of respective first and second cartridges that are distinct from each other, or the cartridge portions may be part of a single cartridge. If part of a single cartridge, the first and second cartridge portions may be separated from each other, e.g., by a permeable element such as a filter, or an impermeable element such as a wall of the cartridge that may or may not be frangible, burstable (such as by suitable pressure), piercable or otherwise breached to allow the first and second cartridge portions to communicate with each other. A cartridge associated with the first and second cartridge portions may be pierced or otherwise arranged for fluid communication while in the cartridge chamber to allow access to the first and second portions. For example, if the cartridge portions are in separate cartridges, the two cartridges may be pierced by closing of the cartridge chamber to allow fluid to be provided to and/or gas to exit from the first cartridge portion, and to allow the beverage medium to exit the second cartridge portion whether alone or with a mixed precursor liquid.
In some embodiments, the first and cartridge portions may each have a volume that is less than a volume of carbonated beverage to be formed using the cartridge portions. This can provide a significant advantage by allowing a user to form a relatively large volume beverage using a relative small volume cartridge or cartridges. For example, the system may be arranged to use the first and second cartridge portions over a period of time less than about 120 seconds to form a carbonated liquid having a volume of between 100-1000 ml and a carbonation level of about 1 to 5 volumes. Carbonation may occur at pressures between 20-50 psi, or more. The cartridge portions in this embodiment may have a volume of about 50 ml or less, reducing an amount of waste and/or adding to convenience of the system.
In another aspect of the invention, a method for forming a beverage includes providing first and second cartridge portions to a beverage making machine where the first cartridge portion contains a gas source arranged to emit gas for use in carbonating a liquid, and the second cartridge portion contains a beverage medium arranged to be mixed with a liquid precursor to form a beverage. A fluid, such as water in liquid or vapor form, may be provided to the cartridge chamber to cause the gas source to emit gas, and a precursor liquid may be carbonated by dissolving at least a portion of the gas emitted from the gas source in the precursor liquid. The precursor liquid may be mixed with a beverage medium to produce a beverage, either before or after carbonation.
As noted above, the gas source may be in solid form in the first cartridge portion, e.g., including a charged zeolite. An amount of fluid provided to the first cartridge portion may be controlled to control gas production by the gas source, e.g., to maintain a pressure of gas produced by the gas source to be within a desired range above an ambient pressure. In one embodiment, the gas source includes a charged zeolite, and an amount of fluid provided to the cartridge chamber is controlled so as to cause the charged zeolite to emit gas over a period of at least 30 seconds or more.
Carbonation of the precursor liquid may include providing gas to a reservoir that contains precursor liquid, providing gas to a gas side of a membrane such that gas on the gas side is dissolved in the precursor liquid on a liquid side of the membrane, spraying precursor liquid in a gas-filled space, passing the precursor liquid through the first cartridge portion under pressure, and so on.
As mentioned above, the first and second cartridge portions may each be part of respective first and second cartridges that are distinct from each other, or the cartridge portions may be part of a single cartridge. If part of a single cartridge, the first and second cartridge portions may be separated from each other, e.g., by a cartridge wall. Mixing of the precursor liquid may occur before or after carbonation, and may occur in the second cartridge portion or in another location, such as a mixing chamber separate from the second cartridge portion.
In one embodiment, the steps of providing a fluid and carbonating may be performed over a period of time less than about 120 seconds (e.g., about 60 seconds) and using a gas pressure of 20-50 psi (e.g., above ambient) to form a carbonated liquid having a volume of between 100-1000 ml (e.g., about 500 ml) and a carbonation level of about 2 to 4 volumes (or less or more, such as 1 to 5 volumes). Thus, systems and methods according to this aspect may produce a relatively highly carbonated beverage in a relatively short period of time, and without requiring high pressures.
In another aspect of the invention, a beverage making system includes a beverage precursor liquid supply for providing a precursor liquid, a cartridge chamber or other interface arranged to hold a cartridge, and a cartridge including an internal space containing a gas source. The gas source may be arranged to emit gas for use in carbonating the precursor liquid, e.g., in response to contact with a fluid, such as water or other activating agent. A gas activating fluid supply may be arranged to provide fluid to the cartridge chamber for contact with the gas source to cause the gas source to emit gas, and the activating fluid supply may be arranged to control an amount of fluid provided to the cartridge chamber to control an amount of gas emitted by the gas source, e.g., to control a pressure in the cartridge chamber or other area. A gas supply may be arranged to conduct gas emitted by the gas source, under pressure greater than the ambient pressure, to precursor liquid provided via the beverage precursor liquid supply to carbonate the precursor liquid. The ability to control gas production, and thus pressure, in a relatively simple way of controlling fluid flow into the cartridge chamber, may provide advantages of a simple control and system operation.
The beverage precursor liquid supply may include a reservoir that contains precursor liquid, a carbonator that includes a membrane that separates a liquid side from a gas side of the carbonator, a pump that moves precursor liquid from the reservoir through the carbonator or other portion of the system, one or more filters or other liquid treatment devices, and so on. The cartridge chamber may be arranged to hold the cartridge in the chamber under a pressure that is greater than an ambient pressure, e.g., within a pressure range that is suitable for carbonating the precursor liquid. In some embodiments, gas pressure used for carbonation may be between about 20 and 50 psi, although higher (and lower) pressures are possible.
In another aspect of the invention, a method for forming a beverage includes providing a cartridge having an internal space that is sealed to enclose a gas source in the internal space, providing fluid to the cartridge to cause the gas source to emit gas, controlling an amount of fluid provided to the cartridge over a period of time to control an amount of gas emitted by the gas source during the period of time, and carbonating a precursor liquid by dissolving at least a portion of the gas emitted from the gas source in the precursor liquid. The precursor liquid may be mixed with a beverage medium to produce a beverage, either before or after carbonation, whether in a cartridge or other area. In one embodiment, the cartridge may be pierced using a beverage making machine to provide liquid to the cartridge, while in other embodiments liquid may be provided to the cartridge via a defined port or other arrangement. As with the embodiments above, the liquid may be carbonated in the cartridge or other area, such as a carbonator or reservoir, the cartridge may include a second portion that includes the beverage medium (or a second cartridge may be used with the beverage medium), and so on.
In another aspect of the invention, a method for forming a carbonated beverage includes providing a cartridge having an internal space that is sealed to enclose a gas source in the internal space where the gas source is in solid form, opening the cartridge (such as by piercing) and causing the gas source to emit gas, and carbonating a liquid by dissolving at least a portion of the gas emitted from the gas source in the liquid. The liquid may be mixed with a beverage medium by passing the liquid through a cartridge chamber that contains the beverage medium to produce a beverage. By mixing the liquid with beverage medium in a 30 cartridge, the need for a separate mixing chamber may be avoided, and flavor contamination between consecutively made beverages may be reduced (because the cartridge serves as the mixing chamber and is used only once).
In one embodiment, the cartridge that encloses the gas source also includes the cartridge chamber that contains the beverage medium. For example, liquid may be introduced into a first portion of the cartridge where the gas source is located for carbonation, and pass from the first portion to a second portion where the beverage medium is located. In another embodiment, the cartridge chamber where liquid is mixed with beverage medium may be part of a second cartridge separate from the cartridge that encloses the gas source.
Gas from the cartridge may be routed to an area where the gas is dissolved in the liquid, e.g., to a membrane contactor, a reservoir that holds a substantial portion of the liquid, or other arrangement. A pressure of the gas may be controlled by controlling an amount of fluid provided to the cartridge. As with other aspects of the invention, various embodiments and optional features described herein may be used with this aspect of the invention.
In another aspect of the invention, a kit for forming a beverage includes a first cartridge having an internal space that is sealed and contains a gas source in the internal space. The gas source may be in solid form, or stored in the internal space at pressures below 100 psi, and arranged to emit gas for use in carbonating a precursor liquid. The first cartridge may be arranged to have an inlet through which fluid is provided to activate the gas source and an outlet through which gas exits the first cartridge. For example, the first cartridge may be pierced to form the inlet and outlet, or the first cartridge may have a defined inlet/outlet. A second cartridge of the kit may include an internal space that is sealed and contains a beverage medium for use in mixing with the precursor liquid to form a beverage. The second cartridge may be arranged to mix a precursor liquid with the beverage medium in the second cartridge, and thus may be pierceable or otherwise arranged to allow inlet of liquid and outlet of mixed liquid/beverage medium. The first and second cartridges may each have a volume that is less than a volume of beverage to be formed using the first and second cartridges, e.g., the cartridge may have a volume of about 50 ml and be used to make a beverage having a volume of about 500 ml. The first and second cartridges may be joined together, e.g., such that the cartridges cannot be separated from each other, without use of tools, without damaging at least a portion of the first or second cartridge. In one embodiment, the first and second cartridges may be joined by a welded joint or by interlocking mechanical fasteners.
In another aspect of the invention, a cartridge for forming a beverage includes a container having an internal space that is sealed and contains a gas source in the internal space. The gas source may be in solid form (such as a charged zeolite or other molecular sieve) and arranged to emit gas for use in carbonating a precursor liquid. In one arrangement, the gas or other gas source may be stored in a sealed space in the cartridge for an extended period at a pressure of less than about 100 psi prior to the sealed space being opened. Thus, the cartridge need not necessarily be capable of withstanding high pressures to store the gas source. The container may be arranged to have an inlet through which fluid is provided to activate the gas source and an outlet through which gas exits the container for use in carbonating the precursor liquid. In one embodiment, the container may be pierceable by a beverage making machine to form the inlet and to form the outlet, e.g., at the top, bottom, side and/or other locations of the cartridge. In one arrangement, the container may include a lid that is pierceable by a beverage machine to form both the inlet and outlet. The container may have at least one portion that is semi-rigid or flexible, e.g., that is not suitable to withstand a pressure over about 80 psi inside the cartridge without physical support. The container may include a second chamber that contains a beverage medium for use in flavoring the precursor liquid to form a beverage, and the second chamber may be isolated from a first chamber in which the gas source is contained. The container may have a volume that is less than a volume of carbonated beverage to be formed using the cartridge.
In another aspect of the invention, a beverage making system includes a cartridge chamber arranged to hold a cartridge under a pressure that is greater than an ambient pressure, and a cartridge including an internal space containing a gas source arranged to emit gas for use in carbonating a liquid. The cartridge may have a volume that is less than a volume of beverage to be created using the cartridge, e.g., a volume of 50 ml or less for use in carbonating a volume of liquid of about 100-1000 ml to a carbonation level of at least about 1 to 4 volumes. A beverage precursor liquid supply may provide precursor liquid into the internal space of the cartridge to cause the gas source to emit gas and cause at least some of the gas to be dissolved in the precursor liquid while in the internal space. Carbonating the liquid in a cartridge chamber can simplify system operation, e.g., by eliminating the need for carbonation tanks or other carbonators. Instead, the cartridge may function as a carbonator, at least in part. In one embodiment, the cartridge includes a second chamber that contains a beverage medium for use in mixing with the precursor liquid to form a beverage. The second chamber may be isolated from a first chamber in which the gas source is contained, or the first and second chamber may communicate, e.g., liquid may be introduced into the first chamber to be carbonated and pass from the first chamber to the second chamber where the beverage medium is located.
In another aspect of the invention, a method for forming a beverage includes providing a cartridge having an internal space that is sealed to enclose a gas source in the internal space where the cartridge has a volume that is less than a volume of beverage to be created using the cartridge. Liquid may be provided into the cartridge to cause the gas source to emit gas, and the liquid may be carbonated by dissolving at least a portion of the gas emitted from the gas source in the liquid while the liquid is in the cartridge. The liquid may be mixed with a beverage medium to produce a beverage, either before or after carbonation in the cartridge. In fact, the cartridge may include a second chamber that contains a beverage medium for use in mixing with the precursor liquid to form a beverage, and the cartridge may have a volume that is less than a beverage to be made using the cartridge. The cartridge may be pierced using a beverage making machine to form an inlet and an outlet.
In another aspect of the invention, a beverage making system includes a beverage precursor liquid supply, a cartridge chamber or other interface arranged to hold a cartridge in a chamber, and a cartridge including an internal space containing a gas source that is in solid form and is arranged to emit gas for use in carbonating a liquid. A gas activating fluid supply may provide liquid to the cartridge for contact with the gas source to cause the gas source to emit gas. The system may also include a carbonator that has a membrane that separates a liquid side from a gas side, where the gas emitted by the cartridge is provided to the gas side and the beverage precursor liquid supply provides precursor liquid to the liquid side such that gas on the gas side is dissolved in the precursor liquid on the liquid side. The cartridge interface may be arranged to hold the cartridge in the chamber under a pressure that is greater than an ambient pressure, e.g., within a pressure range used to carbonate the liquid in the carbonator. A gas supply may be arranged to conduct gas emitted by the gas source, under pressure greater than the ambient pressure, from the cartridge chamber to the gas side of the carbonator. The membrane of the carbonator may include a plurality of hollow fibers where an interior of the hollow fibers is part of the liquid side and an exterior of the hollow fibers is part of the gas side.
In another aspect of the invention, a method for forming a beverage includes providing a cartridge having an internal space that is sealed to enclose a gas source in the internal space that is in solid form and arranged to emit gas, opening or otherwise accessing the cartridge (such as by piercing) and causing the cartridge to emit gas, and carbonating the liquid by dissolving at least a portion of the gas emitted from the gas source in a liquid. The gas may be located on a gas side of a membrane and the liquid being located on a liquid side of the membrane. The membrane may be formed by a plurality of hollow fibers where the liquid side is located at an interior of the fibers and the gas side is at an exterior of the fibers. A gas pressure at the gas side may be controlled based on controlling an amount of liquid provided to the cartridge.
In another embodiment, a cartridge for use by a beverage making machine in forming a beverage includes first and second portions that are attached together and separated by an impermeable barrier, such as a lid or other container part of the first and/or second portion. The first portion may contain a gas source for emitting a gas to be dissolved in a beverage precursor liquid, and the second portion may contain a beverage medium for mixing with a precursor liquid to form a beverage. The first and second portions may be arranged with respect to each other so that the cartridge has a plane where the first portion is located below the plane and the second portion is located above the plane. For example, the second portion may be stacked on top of the first portion, e.g., with lids of the first and second portions located adjacent each other.
In one illustrative embodiment, a cartridge for use by a beverage making machine in forming a beverage includes a container with first and second portions that are attached together and separated by an impermeable barrier, such as a foil lid used to close a container part of the first and/or second portion. The first portion may contain a gas source for emitting a gas to be dissolved in a beverage precursor liquid, and the second portion may contain a beverage medium for mixing with a precursor liquid to form a beverage. The second portion may include a wall, such as a lid, a sidewall of a container part, a bottom of a container part, a wall of a bag, etc., that is movable to force beverage medium to exit the second portion for mixing with precursor liquid. The wall may be movable in any suitable way, such as by air or other gas pressure, a plunger, piston or other item contacting and moving the wall, and so on.
In the embodiments above, the first portion may have an inlet through which fluid is provided to activate the gas source (e.g., a lid or other part of the first portion may be pierced to form an inlet opening) and an outlet through which gas exits the first portion for dissolving in the precursor liquid (e.g., a lid or other part of the first portion may be pierced to form an outlet opening). The inlet and outlet may be located on a same side of the first portion, such as a top of the first portion. In one arrangement, the first portion may include a surface arranged to accommodate piercing to form an inlet through which fluid is provided to activate the gas source, and the first portion may be attached to the second portion such that the surface is unexposed. For example, the second portion may be attached to the first portion so that the piercable part of the first portion is covered by the second portion. This arrangement may help reduce the likelihood that the surface is prematurely pierced, e.g., pierced by accident prior to the cartridge being associated with a beverage making machine. The second portion may have an outlet through which the beverage medium exits the container for mixing with the precursor liquid, e.g., a part of the second portion may be pierced to form an opening for beverage medium exit, the second portion may have a frangible seal or other element that opens to release beverage medium, etc.
In one embodiment, the movable wall defines, at least in part, the first portion of the cartridge. For example, the first portion may be defined at least in part by a first chamber wall, and the second portion may be defined at least in part by a second chamber wall that defines a second space. The first chamber wall may be received into the second space, e.g., like a plunger, and be movable relative to the second chamber wall to expel beverage medium from the second portion of the cartridge. In some embodiments, the wall may include a layer of barrier material, such as a metal foil, a metal foil/polymer laminate, a layer of plastic material, etc. For example, the second portion may be defined by a capsule formed by a layer a metal foil material, such as a sheet aluminum. The layer of barrier material may be arranged to open (e.g., by bursting or piercing) and allow beverage medium to exit the second portion when a force is applied to the barrier material. For example, the cartridge may include a piercing element that opens the second portion when a force is applied to the barrier material. In another embodiment, the wall includes corrugations and a frangible outlet that is openable based on pressure inside the second portion. The wall may be pressed so that the corrugations collapse, e.g., in a staged or sequential fashion, to force beverage medium through the outlet, which may include a burstable seal formed by a weakened portion of the wall (e.g., by scoring, partial perforation, etc.). Like the second portion, the first portion may be defined by a capsule formed by a layer of barrier material, and the first and second portions may be attached together, e.g., by crimping rims or edges of the barrier material together.
The first and second portions may be sealed from an exterior environment and the first portion may contain a carbon dioxide source in solid form (such as a charged zeolite) arranged to emit carbon dioxide gas for use in mixing with a beverage precursor liquid to form a beverage. In one embodiment, a pressure in the first portion prior to breaking a seal of the first portion to expose the gas source may be relatively low, e.g., less than 100 psi. However, the gas source may be arranged to emit gas suitable for forming a carbonated beverage having a volume of between 100-1000 ml and a carbonation level of about 1 to 5.
These and other aspects of the invention will be apparent from the following description and claims.
Aspects of the invention are described with reference to the following drawings in which like numerals reference like elements, and wherein:
It should be understood that aspects of the invention are described herein with reference to the figures, which show illustrative embodiments. The illustrative embodiments described herein are not necessarily intended to show all embodiments in accordance with the invention, but rather are used to describe a few illustrative embodiments. Thus, aspects of the invention are not intended to be construed narrowly in view of the illustrative embodiments. In addition, it should be understood that aspects of the invention may be used alone or in any suitable combination with other aspects of the invention.
In accordance with one aspect of the invention, a fluid (such as water, water vapor, or other) may be provided to a carbon dioxide or other gas source in a cartridge so as to cause the gas source to emit gas that is used to carbonate or otherwise for dissolution in a liquid. In one embodiment, beverage making machine may include a gas activating fluid supply arranged to provide fluid to a cartridge chamber for contact with the gas source so as to cause the gas source to emit gas. In other arrangements, the gas source may be caused to release gas in other ways, such as by heating, exposing the source to microwaves or other electromagnetic radiation, etc. A gas supply of the machine may be arranged to conduct gas emitted by the gas source, under pressure greater than the ambient pressure, to a precursor liquid to carbonate the precursor liquid. In some embodiments, the gas source may be in solid form, such as a zeolite, activated carbon or other molecular sieve that is charged with carbon dioxide or other gas, and the use of a cartridge may not only isolate the gas source from activating agents (such as water vapor in the case of a charged zeolite), but also potentially eliminate the need for a user to touch or otherwise directly handle the carbon dioxide source.
Having a gas activating fluid supply may enable the use of another aspect of the invention, i.e., a volume or other measure of the fluid provided to the cartridge may be controlled to control the rate or amount of gas that produced by the gas source. This feature can make the use of some gas sources, such as a charged zeolite material, possible without requiring gas storage or high pressure components. For example, zeolites charged with carbon dioxide tend to release carbon dioxide very rapidly and in relatively large quantities (e.g., a 30 gram mass of charged zeolite can easily produce 1-2 liters of carbon dioxide gas at atmospheric pressure in a few seconds in the presence of less than 30-50 ml of water). This rapid release can in some circumstances make the use of zeolites impractical for producing relatively highly carbonated liquids, such as a carbonated water that is carbonated to a level of 2 volumes or more. (A carbonation “volume” refers to the number of volume measures of carbon dioxide gas that is dissolved in a given volume measure of liquid. For example, a 1 liter amount of “2 volume” carbonated water includes a 1 liter volume of water that has 2 liters of carbon dioxide gas dissolved in it. Similarly, a 1 liter amount of “4 volume” carbonated water includes a 1 liter volume of water that has 4 liters of carbon dioxide dissolved in it. The gas volume measure is the gas volume that could be released from the carbonated liquid at atmospheric or ambient pressure and room temperature.) That is, dissolution of carbon dioxide or other gases in liquids typically takes a certain amount of time, and the rate of dissolution can only be increased a limited amount under less than extreme conditions, such as pressures within about 150 psi of ambient and temperatures within about +/−40 to 50 degrees C. of room temperature. By controlling the rate of carbon dioxide (or other gas) production for a carbon dioxide (or other gas) source, the total time over which the carbon dioxide (or other gas) source emits carbon dioxide (or other gas) can be extended, allowing time for the carbon dioxide (gas) to be dissolved without requiring relatively high pressures. For example, when employing one illustrative embodiment incorporating one or more aspects of the invention, the inventors have produced liquids having at least up to about 3.5 volume carbonation levels in less than 60 seconds, at pressures under about 40 psi, and at temperatures around 0 degrees Celsius. This capability allows for a carbonated beverage machine to operate at relatively modest temperatures and pressures, potentially eliminating the need for relatively expensive high pressure tanks, conduits and other components, as well as extensive pressure releases, containment structures and other safety features that might otherwise be required, particularly for a machine to be used in the consumer's home. Of course, as discussed above and elsewhere herein, aspects of the invention are not limited to use with carbon dioxide, and instead any suitable gas may be dissolved in a liquid in accordance with all aspects of this disclosure.
In another aspect of the invention, a portion of a precursor liquid that is used to form a beverage may be used to activate the gas source. This feature may help simplify operation of a beverage making machine, e.g., by eliminating the need for special activation substances. As a result, a beverage making machine, or a method of forming a sparkling beverage, may be made less expensively and/or without special purpose ingredients. For example, in the case of a machine making carbonated water, all that is needed to activate the carbon dioxide source may be a portion of the water used to form the beverage. It should be understood, however, that other aspects of the invention need not require the use of a portion of precursor liquid to activate a carbon dioxide source, and instead may use any suitable activating agent, such as a citric acid in aqueous form that is added to a bicarbonate material, heat, microwave or other electromagnetic radiation used to activate a zeolite source, and others. For example, the cartridge that includes the carbon dioxide source may include (as part of the source), an activating agent whose addition to another component of the carbon dioxide source is controlled to control carbon dioxide production.
In this embodiment, the reservoir 11 is initially provided with the precursor liquid 2 by a user, who provides the liquid 2 in the reservoir 11, e.g., from a water tap or other source. The user may also provide ice or other cooling medium in the reservoir 11 as desired, so as to cool the ultimate beverage made. In other embodiments, the system 1 may include a refrigeration system or other cooling system (such as that found in refrigerators, air conditioning units, thermoelectric cooling units, or other devices used to remove heat from a material) to cool the liquid 2 whether before, during and/or after carbonation. In some arrangements, cooling the precursor liquid 2 may help the carbonation process, e.g., because cooler liquids tend to dissolve carbon dioxide or other gas more rapidly and/or are capable of dissolving larger amounts of gas. However, in one aspect of the invention, a carbonated liquid may be cooled after the carbonation process is complete, e.g., just before discharge using a flow through chiller. This feature may allow the system 1 to chill only the beverage, and not other portions of the system, such as the reservoir 11, carbonator, pump, etc., reducing the heat output by the system 1. Although a user initially provides the beverage precursor liquid 2 in the reservoir 11, the precursor supply 10 may include other components to provide liquid 2 to the reservoir 11, such as a plumbed water line, controllable valve, and liquid level sensor to automatically fill the reservoir 11 to a desired level, a second water reservoir or other tank that is fluidly connected to the reservoir 11 (e.g., such as a removable water tank found with some coffee making machines along with a pump and conduit to route water from the removable tank to the reservoir 11), and other arrangements.
The beverage making system 1 also includes a carbon dioxide activating fluid supply 20 that provides a fluid to a cartridge 4 so as to activate a carbon dioxide source 41 to release carbon dioxide gas. In this embodiment, the carbon dioxide source 41 is located in a portion of the cartridge 4 and includes a charged adsorbent or molecular sieve, e.g., a zeolite material that has adsorbed some amount of carbon dioxide gas that is released in the presence of water, whether in vapor or liquid form. Of course, other carbon dioxide source materials may be used, such as charcoal or other molecular sieve materials, carbon nanotubes, metal organic frameworks, covalent organic frameworks, porous polymers, or source materials that generate carbon dioxide by chemical means, such as sodium bicarbonate and citric acid (with the addition of water if the bicarbonate and acid are initially in dry form), or others. In addition, aspects of the invention are not necessarily limited to use with carbon dioxide gas, but may be used with any suitable gas, such as nitrogen, which is dissolved in some beers or other beverages, oxygen, air, and others. Thus, reference to “carbonation”, “carbon dioxide source” “carbon dioxide activating fluid supply”, etc., should not be interpreted as limiting aspects of the invention and/or any embodiments to use with carbon dioxide only. Instead, aspects of the invention may be used with any suitable gas. In one embodiment, the charged adsorbent is a zeolite such as analcime, chabazite, clinoptilolite, heulandite, natrolite, phillipsite, or stilbite. The zeolite may be naturally occurring or synthetic, and may be capable of holding up to about 20% carbon dioxide by weight or more. The zeolite material may be arranged in any suitable form, such as a solid block (e.g., in disc form), particles of spherical, cubic, irregular or other suitable shape, and others. An arrangement that allows the zeolite to flow or be flowable, e.g., spherical particles, may be useful for packaging the zeolite in individual cartridges. Such an arrangement may allow the zeolite to flow from a hopper into a cartridge container, for example, simplifying the manufacturing process. The surface area of the zeolite particles may also be arranged to help control the rate at which the zeolite releases carbon dioxide gas, since higher surface area measures typically increase the gas production rate. Generally, zeolite materials will release adsorbed carbon dioxide in the presence of water in liquid or vapor form, allowing the zeolite to be activated to release carbon dioxide gas by the addition of liquid water to the zeolite.
The carbon dioxide activating fluid supply 20 in this embodiment includes a conduit that is fluidly coupled to the pump 13 and a valve 21 that can be controlled to open/close or otherwise control the flow of precursor liquid 2 into the cartridge 4. As can be seen, circulation of the liquid 2 by the pump 13 can allow the activating fluid supply 20 to divert some (e.g., a first portion) of the precursor liquid 2 to the cartridge chamber 3 to cause the creation of carbon dioxide gas, e.g., by opening the valve 21. Other arrangements or additions are possible for the carbon dioxide activating fluid supply 20, such as a suitably sized orifice in the conduit leading from the pump 13 outlet to the cartridge 4, a pressure-reducing element in the conduit, a flow-restrictor in the conduit, a flow meter to indicate an amount and/or flow rate of liquid into the cartridge 4, and so on. In addition the liquid source 20 need not use precursor liquid 2 to activate the carbon dioxide source 41, but instead may use a dedicated source of fluid for activation. For example, the carbon dioxide activating fluid supply 20 may include a syringe, piston pump or other positive displacement device that can meter desired amounts of liquid (whether water, citric acid or other material) that are delivered to the cartridge 4. In another embodiment, the activating fluid supply 20 may include a gravity fed liquid supply that has a controllable delivery rate, e.g., like the drip-type liquid supply systems used with intravenous lines for providing liquids to hospital patients, or may spray atomized water or other liquid to provide a water vapor or other gas phase activating fluid to the cartridge 4. Moreover, although
In accordance with one embodiment, the cartridge 4 (having one or more portions) may be located in a cartridge chamber 3 during carbon dioxide production. As a result, the cartridge 4 may be made of a relatively flexible material or otherwise constructed so that the cartridge 4 cannot withstand a relatively high pressure gradient between the interior and exterior of the cartridge 4. That is, the cartridge chamber 3 may contain any pressure generated by the carbon dioxide source 41 and support the cartridge 4 as necessary. In this illustrative embodiment, the cartridge 4 is contained in a closed and sealed chamber 3 that has a space or gap surrounding all or most of the cartridge 4. The pressure between the interior space of the cartridge 4 and the exterior of the cartridge 4 is allowed to equalize, e.g., by allowing some of the gas emitted by the carbon dioxide source 41 to “leak” into the space around the cartridge 4, and so even if the cartridge 4 is made of a relatively semi-rigid, flexible or weak material, the cartridge 4 will not burst or collapse. In alternate arrangements, the cartridge 4 may be made to fit a receiving space in the cartridge chamber 3 so that the chamber 3 supports the cartridge 4 when pressure is built up inside the cartridge 4. This support may be suitable to prevent the cartridge 4 from bursting or otherwise preventing the cartridge 4 from functioning as desired. In yet other embodiments, the cartridge 4 may be made suitably robust (either in whole or in part) so as to withstand relatively high pressures (e.g., 1 atm or more) in the cartridge interior space. In such a case, the cartridge chamber 3 need not function as much more than a physical support to hold the cartridge 4 in place or otherwise establish a connection to the cartridge for gas output by the cartridge 4 and/or liquid supply to the cartridge 4. For example, the cartridge chamber 3 in such an arrangement may simply include a connection port that serves to fluidly and physically couple the cartridge 4 to the system 1. Thus, in some embodiments, the cartridge may be mechanically robust enough to withstand pressures up to 90 psig, e.g., like a conventional carbonated soft drink can, and be fluidly coupled to the system 1, but without receiving physical support from the system 1 (e.g., the cartridge may be exposed and not enclosed by walls of a chamber) to prevent the cartridge 4 from bursting during use.
A carbon dioxide gas supply 30 may be arranged to provide carbon dioxide gas from the cartridge chamber 3 to an area where the gas is used to carbonate the liquid 2. The gas supply 30 may be arranged in any suitable way, and in this illustrative embodiment includes a conduit 31 that is fluidly connected between the cartridge chamber 3 and the reservoir 11, and a filter 32 that helps to remove materials that may contaminate the precursor liquid 2, such as particles from the carbon dioxide source 41. The gas supply 30 may include other components, such as pressure regulators, safety valves, control valves, a compressor or pump (e.g., to increase a pressure of the gas), an accumulator (e.g., to help maintain a relatively constant gas pressure and/or store gas), and so on. (The use of an accumulator or similar gas storage device may obviate the need to control the rate of gas output by a cartridge. Instead, the gas source may be permitted to emit gas in an uncontrolled manner, with the emitted gas being stored in an accumulator for later delivery and use in producing a sparkling beverage. Gas released from the accumulator could be released in a controlled manner, e.g., at a controlled pressure and/or flow rate.) In this embodiment, the conduit 31 extends below the surface of the precursor liquid 2 in the reservoir 11 so that the carbon dioxide gas is injected into the liquid 2 for dissolution. The conduit 31 may include a sparging nozzle or other arrangement to aid in dissolution, e.g., by creating relatively small gas bubbles in the liquid 2 to increase the dissolution rate. Alternately, the conduit 31 may deliver the gas to a headspace (if present) in the reservoir 11 rather than below the surface of the liquid 2.
Carbonation of the precursor liquid 2 may occur via one or more mechanisms or processes, and thus is not limited to one particular process. For example, while carbon dioxide gas delivered by the conduit 31 to the reservoir 11 may function to help dissolve carbon dioxide in the liquid 2, other system components may further aid in the carbonation process. In this illustrative embodiment, the precursor supply 10 may assist in carbonating the liquid by circulating the liquid via the pump 13 and the nozzle 14. That is, liquid 2 may be drawn from the reservoir 13 via a dip tube 15 and sprayed by the nozzle 14 into a carbon dioxide-filled headspace in the reservoir 11. As is known in the art, this process can help the liquid 2 to dissolve carbon dioxide gas, e.g., by increasing the surface area of liquid 2 exposed to gas. While in this embodiment the dip tube 15 is separate from the reservoir 11 and extends below the surface of the precursor liquid 2, the dip tube 15 may be arranged in other ways, such as being made integrally with the wall of the reservoir 11. If the dip tube 15 is made integrally with the reservoir 11, connecting the reservoir 11 to the lid 12 may establish a fluid connection between the dip tube 15 and the pump 13. Forming the dip tube 15 integrally with the reservoir 11 may allow the system 1 to accommodate differently sized (and thus different volume) reservoirs 11. In addition, this arrangement may help ensure that only suitably configured reservoirs 11 (e.g., a container arranged to withstand system pressures) is used. Alternately, the dip tube 15 could be made flexible or otherwise accommodate reservoirs 11 having a different height. Whether integral with the reservoir 11 or not, the dip tube 15 may include a filter, strainer or other arrangement to help prevent small particles, such as ice chips, from being drawn into the pump 13. In some embodiments, the reservoirs 11 can function as a drinking glass as well as a reservoir 11 in the system 1. That is, a user may provide a reservoir/drinking glass 11 to the system 1 (e.g., including a desired amount of water, ice and/or beverage medium), and after carbonation is complete, use the reservoir/drinking glass 11 to enjoy the beverage. The reservoir 11 may be insulated, e.g., to help keep a beverage cold, as well as made to withstand suitable pressures experienced in use with the system 1.
The various components of the system 1 may be controlled by a controller 5, which may include a programmed general purpose computer and/or other data processing device along with suitable software or other operating instructions, one or more memories (including non-transient storage media that may store software and/or other operating instructions), a power supply for the controller 5 and/or other system components, temperature and liquid level sensors, pressure sensors, RFID interrogation devices, input/output interfaces (e.g., to display information to a user and/or receive input from a user), communication buses or other links, a display, switches, relays, triacs, motors, mechanical linkages and/or actuators, or other components necessary to perform desired input/output or other functions. In this illustrative embodiment, the controller 5 controls the operation of the valve 21 of the activating fluid supply 20 as well as the pump 13 of the precursor liquid supply 10. Also shown in
The controller 5 may also be arranged to allow a user to define a level of carbonation (i.e., amount of dissolved gas in the beverage, whether carbon dioxide or other). For example, the controller 5 may include a touch screen display or other user interface that allows the user to define a desired carbonation level, such as by allowing the user to select a carbonation volume level of 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5, or selecting one of a low, medium or high carbonation level. All cartridges used by the system 1 may include sufficient gas source material to make the highest level of carbonation selectable, but the controller 5 may control the system to dissolve an amount of gas in the beverage that is consistent with the selected level. For example, while all cartridges may be arranged for use in creating a “high” carbonation beverage, the controller 5 may operate the system 1 to use less of the available gas (or cause the gas source to emit less gas than possible) in carbonating the beverage. Carbonation levels may be controlled based on a detected carbonation level by a sensor 51, a detected pressure in the reservoir or elsewhere, an amount of gas output by the cartridge 4, or other features. In another embodiment, the cartridge 4 may include indicia readably by the controller, e.g., an RFID tag, barcode, alphanumeric string, etc., that indicates a carbonation level to be used for the beverage. After determining the carbonation level from the cartridge 4, the controller 5 may control the system 1 accordingly. Thus, a user need not select the carbonation level by interacting with the system 1, but rather a carbonation level may be automatically adjusted based on the beverage selected. In yet another embodiment, a user may be able to select a gas source cartridge 4 that matches a carbonation level the user desires. (Different carbonation levels may be provided in the different cartridges by having different amounts of gas source in the cartridge 4.) For example, cartridges providing low, medium and high carbonation levels may be provided for selection by a user, and the user may pick the cartridge that matches the desired carbonation level, and provide the selected cartridge to the system 1. Thus, a gas source cartridge labeled “low” may be chosen and used with the system to create a low level carbonated beverage.
A user may alternately be permitted to define characteristics of a beverage to be made by interacting in some way with a cartridge 4 to be used by the system 1. For example, tab, notch or other physical feature of the cartridge may be altered or formed by the user to signify a desired beverage characteristic. For example, a broken tab, slider indicator, a covered or uncovered perforation on a portion of the cartridge, etc., that is created by the user may indicate a desired carbonation level, an amount of beverage medium to use in forming the beverage (where the system 1 is controllable to use less than all of the beverage medium in the cartridge to form a beverage), and so on. Features in the cartridge 4 may also be employed by the controller 5 detect features of the cartridge, a beverage being formed or other components of the system 1. For example, light guides in a cartridge 4 may provide a light path to allow the controller 5 to optically detect a level of beverage medium in the cartridge 4, a flow of precursor liquid in the cartridge 4, pressure in the cartridge (e.g., where deflection of a cartridge portion can be detected and indicates a pressure), a position of a piston, valve or other cartridge component, an absence of beverage medium in the cartridge (to signify completion of beverage formation), and so on. Other sensor features may be incorporated into the cartridge, such as electrical sensor contacts (e.g., to provide conductivity measurements representative of a carbonation level or other properties of a precursor liquid), an acoustic sensor (to detect gas emission, fluid flow, or other characteristics of the cartridge), and so on.
To cause the beverage making system 1 to create a carbonated beverage, a user may first provide a desired amount of precursor liquid 2 in the reservoir 11, along with optional ice and/or a beverage medium. Alternately, the carbonated liquid may be flavored after carbonation is complete either by automated or manual means. The reservoir 11 is then engaged with the lid 12, such as by engaging a screw thread on the reservoir 11 with the lid 12, activating a clamp mechanism, or other. A cartridge 4 containing a carbon dioxide source 41 (e.g., in solid form, such as a charged zeolite) may be placed in the cartridge chamber 3 and the chamber 3 closed. In other embodiments, the cartridge 4 may be otherwise fluidly coupled to the system 1, such as by engaging a threaded portion of the cartridge 4 with a corresponding port of the system. The cartridge chamber 3 may operate in any suitable way, e.g., like that found in many cartridge-based coffee or other beverage machines. For example, a manual lever may be operated to lift a lid of the chamber 3, exposing a cartridge receiver portion of the chamber 3. With the cartridge 4 in the chamber 3, the lever may be again activated to close the lid, sealing the chamber 3 closed. With the cartridge 4 associated with the system 1, the controller 5 may then activate the system 1 to deliver liquid to the chamber 3, e.g., to cause carbon dioxide to be generated. The controller 5 may start operation in an automated way, e.g., based on detecting the presence of a cartridge 4 in the chamber 3, liquid 2 in the reservoir 11 and closure of the chamber 3. Alternately, the controller 5 may start system operation in response to a user pressing a start button or otherwise providing input (e.g., by voice activation) to start beverage preparation. The controller 5 may start operation of the pump 13, drawing liquid from the dip tube 15 and discharging the liquid 2 at the nozzle 14. The valve 21 may be opened to deliver a suitable portion of the precursor liquid 2 to the chamber 3, and carbon dioxide gas created may be provided to the reservoir 11 by the gas supply 30. Operation may continue for a preset amount of time, or based on other conditions, such as a detected level of carbonation, a drop in gas production by the cartridge 4, or other parameters. During operation. the amount of liquid provided to the chamber 3 may be controlled to control gas output by the cartridge 4. Control of the liquid provided to the cartridge 4 may be made based on a timing sequence (e.g., the valve 21 may be opened for a period of time, followed by valve closure for a period, and so on), based on detected pressure (e.g., liquid supply may be stopped when the pressure in the chamber 3 and/or reservoir 11 exceeds a threshold, and resume when the pressure falls below the threshold or another value), based on a volume of activating liquid delivered to the chamber 3 (e.g., a specific volume of liquid may be delivered to the cartridge 4), or other arrangements. When complete, the user may remove the beverage and reservoir 11 from the lid 12.
In another aspect of the invention, precursor liquid may be carbonated using a contactor (a type of carbonator or gas dissolving device) that includes a porous membrane (e.g., that is porous at least to gas) having a gas side and a liquid side. Precursor liquid on the liquid side of the carbonator may be exposed to gas on the gas side of the membrane, and since the membrane may be arranged to increase the surface area of the liquid exposed to gas, dissolution of carbon dioxide or other gas into the precursor liquid may be done more rapidly than using other techniques. In one embodiment, the carbonator may include a contactor with a hollow fiber arrangement in which hollow fibers made of a hydrophobic material, such as polypropylene, carry the precursor liquid. The fibers are porous, having holes that, combined with the hydrophobicity of the material, allow for contact of gas on the exterior of the fibers with the liquid while preventing the liquid from exiting the fiber interior. Membrane contactors suitable for such use are made by Membrana of Charlotte, N.C., USA. Of course, other “membrane” arrangements may be used, such as arrangements that prevent bulk flow of liquid across a barrier, but allow gas to pass through the barrier for dissolution in the liquid. For example, a membrane having a flat, spiral wound and/or a flat, interdigitated arrangement could be used instead of a hollow fiber arrangement. Also, in some arrangements the flow of gas through the contactor may be generally opposite that of the flow of liquid through the contactor, e.g., to help with gas exchange. However, other flow arrangements are possible.
In yet another aspect of the invention, a cartridge chamber of a beverage making system may be arranged to hold first and second cartridge portions where the first cartridge portion contains a carbon dioxide source arranged to emit carbon dioxide gas for use in carbonating the precursor liquid, and the second cartridge portion contains a beverage medium arranged to be mixed with a liquid precursor to form a beverage. The cartridge chamber may have a single cartridge receiving portion for receiving both cartridge portions, or may include a plurality of cartridge receiving portions that are separate from each other, e.g., for receiving two or more cartridges that are each associated with a first or second cartridge portion. Such an arrangement may help simplify use of the system, particularly where the cartridge portions are arranged for only a single use, e.g., formation of a single volume of beverage and discarded thereafter. For example, a user may be enabled to place one or two cartridges that include the first and second cartridge portions in receiving portions of the cartridge chamber without the need for establishing pressure-tight, leak-proof or other connections needed for the system to operate properly. Instead, the cartridge portions may be simply placed in a receiver, and the cartridge chamber closed, making the system ready for beverage production.
The activating fluid supply 20 is arranged similarly to that in
Gas produced by the cartridge 4 is routed by the gas supply 30 (via an optional filter 32 and conduit 31) to the gas side of the contactor 6. The conduit 31 may include a water-buoyant check valve or other arrangement that allows gas to pass to the contactor 6, but prevents liquid from exiting the cartridge chamber 3. For example, a floating ball in the cartridge chamber 3 may normally leave an opening of the conduit 31 free for gas flow, but may raise upwardly on the surface of liquid in the cartridge 4 to close the opening, e.g., in case that the activating fluid supply 20 provides an excess of activating liquid. The controller 5 may monitor the gas pressure in the chamber 3, in the conduit 31 and/or in the gas side of the contactor 6 to control the activating fluid supply 20 and gas production. In one embodiment, the activating fluid supply 20 may be controlled to provide approximately 35-45 psi gas pressure at the gas side of the contactor 6. This pressure has been found to work at least adequately in carbonating about 400-500 ml of water at a temperature of about 0 degrees C. in about 30-60 seconds using a hollow fiber contactor, as described in more detail below in the Examples. As carbon dioxide in the contactor is dissolved into the precursor liquid 2, the pressure on the gas side will drop, prompting the controller 5 to supply additional liquid 2 to the cartridge 4a to cause additional gas to be created. Similar to the system in
Once carbonation of the precursor liquid 2 is complete, the controller 5 may direct the liquid 2 to a beverage medium cartridge 4b in the cartridge chamber 3. While the precursor liquid 2 may be caused to flow from the reservoir 11 in any suitable way (such as by gravity, a pump, etc.), in this embodiment, the controller 5 activates an air pump 7 which pressurizes the reservoir 11 such that the precursor liquid 2 is forced to flow via a conduit to the cartridge chamber 3 and the beverage medium cartridge 4b. In other embodiments, gas pressure created by the carbon dioxide source 41 may be used to pressurize the reservoir 11 and drive the flow of the precursor liquid to the beverage medium cartridge 4b. For example, when carbonation is complete, gas from the cartridge 4a may be routed directly into the reservoir 11 instead of to the contactor 6 so as to pressurize the reservoir 11. Although no valve is shown in the conduit that fluidly couples the reservoir 11 and the cartridge 4b, a controllable valve, pump or other suitable component may be added to control flow as desired. The use of air or other gas to move liquid 2 through the cartridge 4b (or to expel beverage medium from the cartridge 4b) may allow the system 1 to “blow down” the cartridge 4b at or near the end of the beverage process, e.g., to remove any remaining material from the cartridge 4b. This may be useful in making the cartridge 4b less messy to handle (e.g., by reducing the likelihood that the cartridge 4b will drip when removed from the chamber 3. A similar process may be used to blow down the cartridge 4a, e.g., using an air pump or gas produced by the source 41.
Flow of the precursor liquid 2 through the beverage medium cartridge 4b may cause the liquid 2 to mix with the beverage medium 42 before being discharged, e.g., to a waiting cup 8 or other container. The beverage medium cartridge 4b may include any suitable beverage making materials (beverage medium), such as concentrated syrups, ground coffee or liquid coffee extract, tea leaves, dry herbal tea, powdered beverage concentrate, dried fruit extract or powder, natural and/or artificial flavors or colors, acids, aromas, viscosity modifiers, clouding agents, antioxidants, powdered or liquid concentrated bouillon or other soup, powdered or liquid medicinal materials (such as powdered vitamins, minerals, bioactive ingredients, drugs or other pharmaceuticals, nutriceuticals, etc.), powdered or liquid milk or other creamers, sweeteners, thickeners, and soon. (As used herein, “mixing” of a liquid with a beverage medium includes a variety of mechanisms, such as the dissolving of substances in the beverage medium in the liquid, the extraction of substances from the beverage medium, and/or the liquid otherwise receiving some material from the beverage medium.) The liquid 2 may be introduced into the cartridge 4b in any suitable way, and/or the cartridge 4b may be arranged in any suitable way to aid in mixing of the liquid 2 with the beverage medium 42. For example, the precursor liquid 2 may be introduced into the cartridge 4b so as to cause a spiral or other flow pattern, the cartridge 4b may include a labyrinth or other tortuous flow path to cause turbulence in the flow to aid in mixing, and so on. One potential advantage of mixing the precursor liquid 2 in a beverage medium cartridge 4b is that cross contamination of beverage medium that may occur with the use of a mixing chamber that is used to mix beverage medium and liquid 2 for every beverage made by the system 1 may be avoided. However, the system 1 could be modified to employ a reused mixing chamber, e.g., a space where beverage medium 42 that is provided from a cartridge 4b and precursor liquid 2 are mixed together in much the same way that fountain drinks are formed by commercial drink machines. For example, the beverage medium 42 could be driven from the cartridge 4b (e.g., by air pressure, carbon dioxide gas pressure created by the cartridge 4a, by gravity, by suction created by an adductor pump, venturi or other arrangement, etc.) into a mixing chamber or the user's cup where the precursor liquid 2 is also introduced. Rinsing of the mixing chamber may or may not be necessary, e.g., to help prevent cross contamination between beverages. In some arrangements, the entire volume of beverage medium 42 may be discharged into the mixing chamber, causing initial amounts of flavored precursor liquid 2 exiting the mixing chamber to have a high beverage medium concentration. However, as the beverage medium 42 is swept from the mixing chamber by the precursor liquid 2, the precursor liquid itself may effectively rinse the mixing chamber. In arrangements where the beverage medium 42 is a dry material, such as a powder, some precursor liquid may be introduced into the cartridge to pre-wet the medium 42 or otherwise improve an ability to mix the medium 42 with precursor liquid 2. The wetted medium 42 may be mixed with additional precursor liquid 2 in the cartridge, or the wetted medium 42 may be expelled from the cartridge, e.g., by air pressure, a plunger, etc., to a mixing chamber or other location for additional mixing with precursor liquid 2. Liquid 2 may be introduced into a mixing chamber using multiple streams, e.g., to enhance a mixing rate using low flow speeds so as to reduce loss of dissolved gas.
The embodiment of
In the case where the carbonated liquid 2 is not flavored or where the liquid 2 is mixed with the beverage medium 42 before passing through the carbonator 6, the mixing chamber 9 may be eliminated or arranged to mix the precursor liquid 2 and beverage medium 42 upstream of the contactor 6. Alternately, the precursor liquid supply 10 may be arranged to mix the precursor liquid 2 with the beverage medium 42 in the cartridge 4b prior to routing the liquid 2 to the contactor 6. In this embodiment, the beverage medium 42 may be delivered to the mixing chamber 9 by any suitable means, such as air or other gas pressure (e.g., as supplied by an air pump, the gas source 41 or other), by gravity feed (e.g., by the opening of a valve or door), by introducing all or part of the precursor liquid 2 used to make the beverage into the second cartridge 4b, by compressing the cartridge 4b to force the medium 42 to flow to the mixing chamber 9, and others. The controller 5 may detect the gas pressure on the gas side of the contactor 6, and control fluid supply to the cartridge 4a accordingly, e.g., to maintain a suitable gas pressure in the contactor 6. The reservoir 11 may be a water storage tank that is not pressurized in this embodiment, and may be removable from the system 1, e.g., to make filling by a user easier. The user may add ice and/or beverage medium to the precursor liquid 2 in the reservoir 11, if desired. Alternately, the reservoir 11 and pump 13 may be replaced by a plumbed connection to a pressurized water supply and an optional control valve and/or pressure reducer. Of course, as with other embodiments, the system 1 may be suitably enclosed in a housing having a visible display, user input buttons, knobs, or touch screen, user-operated devices for opening/closing a cartridge chamber, and other features found in beverage making machines.
Other arrangements for a beverage forming system 1 are possible, such as that shown in
While the cartridge chamber 3 may be arranged in any suitable way,
The cartridge chamber 3 may open and close in any suitable way to allow cartridges 4 to be placed in and/or removed from the chamber 3. In the
The cartridges 4 used in various embodiments may be arranged in any suitable way, such as a relatively simple frustoconical cup-shaped container having a lid attached to the top of the container, e.g., like that in some beverage cartridges sold by Keurig, Incorporated of Reading, Mass. and shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,840,189, for example. In one embodiment, a cartridge having a frustoconical cup-shaped container and lid may have an approximate diameter of about 30-50 mm, a height of about 30-50 mm, an internal volume of about 30-60 ml, and a burst resistance of about 80 psi (i.e., a resistance to cartridge bursting in the presence of a pressure gradient of about 80 psi from the inside to outside of the cartridge in the absence of any physical support for the cartridge). However, as used herein, a “cartridge” may take any suitable form, such as a pod (e.g., opposed layers of filter paper encapsulating a material), capsule, sachet, package, or any other arrangement. The cartridge may have a defined shape, or may have no defined shape (as is the case with some sachets or other packages made entirely of flexible material. The cartridge may be impervious to air and/or liquid, or may allow water and/or air to pass into the cartridge. The cartridge may include a filter or other arrangement, e.g., in the beverage medium cartridge 4b to help prevent some portions of the beverage medium from being provided with the formed beverage, and/or in the gas cartridge 4a to help prevent carbon dioxide source material from being introduced into the beverage or other system components.
In one aspect of the invention, the cartridge or cartridges used to form a beverage using the beverage making system may have a volume that is less, and in some cases substantially less, than a beverage to be made using the cartridge(s). For example, if carbon dioxide and beverage medium cartridges 4 are used, the cartridges may each have a volume that is about 50 ml or less, and be used to form a beverage having a volume of about 200-500 ml or more. The inventors have found (as shown in some of the Examples below) that an amount of charged carbon dioxide adsorbent (e.g., a charged zeolite) of about 30 grams (which has a volume of less than 30 ml) can be used to produce about 400-500 ml of carbonated water having a carbonation level of up to about 3.5 volumes. Moreover, it is well known that beverage-making syrups or powders having a volume of less than about 50 ml, or less than about 100 ml, can be used to make a suitably flavored beverage having a volume of about 400-500 ml. Thus, relatively small volume cartridges (or a single cartridge in some arrangements) having a volume of about 100 ml to about 250 ml or less may be used to form a carbonated beverage having a volume of about 100 to 1000 ml, and a carbonation level of at least about 1.5 to 4 volumes in less than 120 seconds, e.g., about 60 seconds, and using pressures under 50 psi.
While the carbon dioxide and beverage medium cartridges 4 can be provided separately, in one embodiment, the cartridges 4 may be joined together, like that shown in
In another aspect of the invention, a single cartridge may be used to provide a carbonating gas as well as a beverage medium. In fact, in some embodiments, the precursor liquid can be both carbonated and flavored in the same cartridge. For example,
While
In the embodiments above, the cartridge 4 has been described to have a defined bottom and top with the cartridge operating in an upright configuration. However, as suggested in connection with
As also mentioned above, a single cartridge 4 may be arranged to have first and second chambers 46, 47 that are isolated or separated from each other.
The cartridge(s) may be made of any suitable materials, and are not limited to the container and lid constructions shown herein. For example, the cartridge(s) may be made of, or otherwise include, materials that provide a barrier to moisture and/or gases, such as oxygen, water vapor, etc. In one embodiment, the cartridge(s) may be made of a polymer laminate, e.g., formed from a sheet including a layer of polystyrene or polypropylene and a layer of EVOH and/or other barrier material, such as a metallic foil. Moreover, the cartridge(s) materials and/or construction may vary according to the materials contained in the cartridge. For example, a gas cartridge 4a may require a robust moisture barrier, whereas a beverage medium cartridge 4b may not require such a high moisture resistance. Thus, the cartridges may be made of different materials and/or in different ways. In addition, the cartridge interior may be differently constructed according to a desired function. For example, a beverage medium cartridge 4b may include baffles or other structures that cause the liquid/beverage medium to follow a tortuous path so as to encourage mixing. The gas cartridge 4a may be arranged to hold the gas source 41 in a particular location or other arrangement in the interior space, e.g., to help control wetting of the source 41 with activating liquid.
A cartridge may also be arranged to provide a visual or other detectable indication regarding the cartridge's fitness for use in forming a beverage. For example, the cartridge may include a pop-up indicator, color indicator or other feature to show that the gas source has been at least partially activated. Upon viewing this indication, a user may determine that the cartridge is not fit for use in a beverage making machine. In another embodiment, an RFID tag may be associated with a sensor that detects gas source activation (e.g., via pressure increase), beverage medium spoilage (e.g., via temperature increase), or other characteristic of the cartridge, which may be transmitted to a reader of a beverage making machine. The machine may display the condition to a user and/or prevent activation of the machine to use the cartridge to form a beverage.
In another aspect of the invention, a cartridge may include a gas source portion, a beverage medium portion and a mixing chamber portion (also referred to as first, second and third portions, respectively) that are separated from each other. Thus, as discussed above, a cartridge may include a mixing chamber that is separate from a portion that is used to hold a beverage medium prior to use of the cartridge. The first portion may contain a gas source for emitting a gas to be dissolved in a beverage precursor liquid, the second portion may contain a beverage medium for use in mixing with a beverage precursor liquid to form a beverage, and the third portion may be arranged to receive beverage medium from the second portion and receive precursor liquid to mix the precursor liquid with the beverage medium. The precursor liquid may enter the third portion with the beverage medium and/or enter the third portion via a separate flow path. Thus, the cartridge may be capable of mixing a precursor liquid (e.g., whether carbonated or not) with beverage medium and outputting a mixed beverage (e.g., for later carbonation). This may help avoid the need to clean a mixing chamber, e.g., because the cartridge may be made disposable so that each beverage is made using its own mixing chamber.
This embodiment incorporates another aspect of the invention, i.e., that a cartridge may include a movable part arranged to move so as to configure the cartridge useable for making a beverage. For example, the movable part may move relative to the cartridge container to open the gas source portion and/or the beverage medium portion, e.g., as shown in
In accordance with an aspect of the invention, the cartridge 4 may include a lock element that prevents movement of a movable part, e.g., which is movable to configure the cartridge suitable to form a beverage, and the lock element may be releasable by a user. As shown in
Another aspect of the invention incorporated into the cartridge of
While in this embodiment the cartridge 4 includes a movable part 61 with piercing elements, the cartridge 4 need not include a movable part 61 that moves to configure the cartridge for forming a beverage. Instead, the cartridge 4 may be arranged without the movable part 61, and a beverage machine that uses the cartridge may include a suitable set of piercing elements or other components arranged to interact with the cartridge to communicate with inlets and/or outlets of the cartridge as suitable.
In another aspect of the invention, a cartridge may include an activation fluid inlet that directs an activation fluid to a bottom of the gas source portion. This arrangement may allow for improved control of gas release, e.g., because a gas source may be exposed to activation fluid from a bottom to a top. Thus, if the activation fluid is water, a lower part of the gas source portion may be flooded with water, causing a lower layer of the gas source to be activated. However, higher layers of gas source may remain unactivated because the activation water does not reach above a lower part of the gas source. To activate upper players of the gas source, more water may be provided to the gas source portion, raising the top level of the activation fluid in the gas source portion. Flooding of the gas source portion may be continued at a controlled rate, thereby controlling gas emission of the gas source. This arrangement may help avoid wetting a gas source from a top surface of the source, such as by sprinkling water on the top surface of a charge of zeolite material. This sprinkling may cause uncontrolled wetting, and thus activation, of the source, causing the gas source to emit gas in a less controlled way.
Other ways of controlling gas release may be used in a cartridge, such as encapsulating gas source material 41 in a structure that bursts, dissolves or otherwise degrades to expose the interior gas source to activating fluid. For example, capsules containing gas source 41 may be arranged to dissolve at different rates, thereby releasing gas source material for activation in a time-release fashion. Other arrangements are possible as well, such as a first portion 46 that has multiple steps or platforms on which gas source 41 is located. As the first portion 46 is flooded with water or other activator, the gas source 46 at each step may be exposed one after the other, thereby causing a staged emission of gas.
Another aspect of the invention incorporated into the embodiment of
The embodiment of
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a beverage medium portion of a cartridge may include a wall that is movable to expel beverage medium from the beverage medium portion. For example, the beverage medium portion may be defined by a barrier layer (e.g., a foil laminate) that is arranged to surround a beverage medium. The barrier layer may be flexible so that the second portion of the cartridge can be squeezed, pressed or otherwise have a force exerted on it so as to reduce the volume of the second portion to force the beverage medium from the second portion. For example, the barrier layer may form a pouch that contains beverage medium, and the pouch may be squeezed to force the beverage medium to exit, e.g., into a user's cup, a mixing chamber of the cartridge, or other location where the beverage medium is mixed with a liquid precursor. In another illustrative arrangement, the second portion may include a syringe-type arrangement where a plunger is moved in the second portion to force beverage medium from the second portion. Other arrangements are possible, as discussed more below.
The second portion 47 in this embodiment includes a blister pouch that is formed by a layer of barrier material, such as a foil laminate. The second portion 47 may have any shape or size, but in this embodiment has a generally disc-like shape with a dome-like upper surface. A lower part of the blister pouch includes a layer of barrier material that covers a substantial part of the top surface of the support 72, e.g., to seal the first portion 46 closed as well as form a bottom of the second portion 47, but may be arranged in other ways. The blister pouch overlies a spike 73 on the support 72 so that if the blister pouch is urged toward the support 72, e.g., as shown in
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, beverage medium exiting the second portion 47 may be directed to a precursor liquid inlet 47a, e.g., where carbonated water is introduced into the cartridge. In this embodiment, the cartridge includes four precursor inlet ports, though other numbers of ports may be used. Also, an upper surface of the support 72 around the spike 73 is arranged to provide flow paths for the beverage medium so as to direct the beverage medium to areas near the precursor liquid inlets 47a. For example,
One feature of the arrangement shown in
The embodiment of
While
In another aspect of the invention, a second portion of a cartridge may include two or more sub-portions that each hold a corresponding volume of beverage medium 42. The cartridge may operate so that a controllable number of the sub-portions is caused to deliver its corresponding charge of beverage medium, e.g., to allow for different amounts of beverage medium to be used in making a beverage, to provide for staged release of different beverage media (e.g., flavoring beverage medium may be released prior to a foaming medium so that the resulting beverage has a foam provided on the top of the beverage), to accommodate the separation of incompatible components (e.g., components that do not mix well with each other or react together in an undesirable way prior to beverage formation), or others. For example, the second portion 47 in the
In another aspect of the invention, a first portion of a cartridge may move relative to a second portion to force beverage medium to exit from the second portion. For example,
Another aspect of the invention incorporated into this embodiment is that a mixing chamber portion of the cartridge (a third portion) may partially surround the first and second portions 46, 47. Such an arrangement may help to make the cartridge 4 more compact, as well as provide a larger space in which precursor liquid and beverage medium can move to help with mixing. In addition, when coupled with an arrangement in which the first portion is received in the second portion, the overall size of the cartridge may be reduced, particularly after use of the cartridge. It is also possible to make the third portion reusable, e.g., a user could remove and clean the third portion as needed, and replace the first and second portions for each new beverage to be made. This feature may help reduce waste, yet provide the user with the ability to replace a third portion used with the cartridge only as needed. In this embodiment, the third portion 62 is arranged with vanes, fins or other features to help induce movement of precursor liquid and beverage medium, e.g., to help with mixing. However, other arrangements are possible. (As with any features described herein, the use of vanes, fins or other features to help induce mixing may be used with any suitable cartridge configuration.) Moreover, different arrangements for the third portion 62 may be provided for different beverages. For example, highly carbonated beverages made with readily dissolvable beverage media may have the third portion arranged to induce little movement, e.g., to help reduce loss of carbonation due to turbulent motion of the liquid. However, with other beverages, such as hot chocolate, more turbulent motion may be induced in the third chamber to help with mixing, and with no concern for loss of carbonation (since the beverage is not carbonated). Thus, a beverage making machine may be configured to make a wide variety of hot, cold, carbonated, still and other beverages by, at least in part, providing different cartridge arrangements.
Close proximity of the gas source 41 and the beverage medium 42 in a cartridge 4 may provide the cartridge 4 with the ability to control or use heat generated by the gas source 41. For example, heat emitted by a zeolite gas source material during gas release may be absorbed by a beverage medium 42. In the case where the beverage medium 42 is a relative viscous liquid at lower temperatures, heating of the beverage medium 42 by the gas source 41 may reduce the viscosity of the beverage medium and enhance its dissolution into precursor liquid. In addition, or alternately, receipt of heat by the beverage medium 42 or other portion of the cartridge 4 from the gas source 41 may help prevent or otherwise resist excessive heat buildup in the cartridge 4. This may help reduce the risk of heat damage to the cartridge and/or help the gas source 41 emit gas more efficiently, e.g., where high heat levels may inhibit gas release.
In another aspect of the invention, a cartridge may be arranged to have a gas outlet and a beverage medium outlet on a same side of the cartridge container. In some embodiments, the cartridge may further have an activator inlet through which fluid is provided to activate a gas source and/or a precursor liquid inlet through which precursor liquid is introduced into the container for mixing with the beverage medium on a same side of the container as the gas outlet and the beverage medium outlet. Such an arrangement may make for a conveniently handled and used cartridge. For example, by providing inlet(s) and outlet(s) on a same side of the cartridge, an interface between the beverage making machine and the cartridge may be simplified. For example, in some cases, a cartridge may be simply plugged into or otherwise associated with the beverage making machine in a simple way with needed connections made in one local area on a single side of the cartridge.
By forming the first and second portions 46, 47 in a side-by-side arrangements like that in
Another aspect of the invention incorporated into this embodiment is that the gas outlet 46b includes a conduit 46d that extends from the gas outlet, through the gas source part of the first portion (i.e., where the gas source 41 is located), through a filter 46c, and into the gas outlet part of the first portion. While in this embodiment the conduit 46d is formed by a tube, the conduit 46d could be formed by the barrier layers themselves, e.g., by joining the barrier layers in a way to form a conduit 46d. In accordance with another aspect of the invention and as can be seen in
The way in which the barrier layers 79 are joined together to form the first chamber 46, e.g., including the filter 46c, may help to hold the gas source material 41 in a fixed bed arrangement. That is, the gas source 41 may be held relatively firmly, so that the gas source 41 does not freely move in the first portion 46. This may help with controlled wetting of the gas source 41, since the distribution of the gas source in the first portion 46 may be known, and the interaction of activating fluid with the gas source predictable and repeatable. The gas source 41 may be arranged to allow for free movement of gas through the fixed bed of materials, e.g., by sizing and shaping particles of gas source material so as to prevent extremely close packing. In another embodiment, rather than have the cartridge arranged to exert a force on the gas source 41 so as to form a fixed bed of material, an external force may be exerted on the first portion 46 to provide a fixed bed of material. For example, the air bladder arrangement discussed above may be used to squeeze the gas source 41 in the first portion 46, thereby preventing flowing of the gas source 41 in the first portion 46. In other cartridge embodiments, such as that in
Another aspect of the invention incorporated into this embodiment is that the precursor liquid inlet 47a may include a conduit extending into the second portion 47 that is arranged to introduce precursor liquid into the second portion at multiple locations along the conduit. Such an arrangement, e.g., as can be seen in
Another aspect of the invention relates to the arrangement that allows the second portion 47 to be squeezed or otherwise manipulated by an external force to cause beverage medium to be expelled from the beverage medium outlet 47b. This feature may be used whether or not precursor liquid is introduced into the second portion 47. For example, the cartridge may be modified to eliminate the precursor liquid inlet 47a, and instead, the second portion 47 may be squeezed to force the beverage medium 42 to exit via the beverage medium outlet 47b, e.g., for mixing with precursor liquid outside of the cartridge 4. Alternately, the second portion 47 may be squeezed after precursor liquid has been introduced into the second portion 47, e.g., to help remove liquid from the second portion and reduce dripping of the cartridge when removed from the beverage making machine. In yet another arrangement, a cartridge holder of a beverage making machine may apply a force to the cartridge that tends to squeeze the second portion 47 and expel beverage medium 42, but with a force or pressure that is less than a pressure of precursor liquid introduced into the second portion 47. Thus, the second portion 47 may expand to receive precursor liquid 2, but when precursor liquid 2 stops, the cartridge holder may squeeze the second portion 47 to substantially evacuate its contents. The cartridge holder may apply the squeezing force in any of a variety of ways, such as by employing an air bladder to which a suitable air pressure is applied to squeeze the cartridge in the cartridge holder. The force of the air bladder or other component may vary during use of the cartridge, e.g., to help with mixing and/or expulsion of beverage medium from the second portion 47. For example, a pressure applied to the bladder may be relatively high during an initial portion of the beverage making cycle to expel beverage medium from the second portion 47 and reduce the volume of the second portion 47. Thereafter, the pressure of the bladder may be released or otherwise reduced, allowing precursor liquid to be introduced into the second portion 47, enlarging its volume. Again, the pressure of the bladder may be increased to expel mixed liquid and beverage medium from the second portion 47, and reducing the volume of the second portion 47. This cycling of the bladder pressure may be repeated to effect better mixing in the second portion 47 and/or complete expulsion of beverage medium 42. Again, an air bladder is not required to perform this function, as other arrangements, such as a motor driven wall, plunger, roller, etc., may be used. In short, the cartridge may be manipulated by an external force prior to, during or after introduction of precursor liquid to help with mixing, expulsion of beverage medium, and/or reducing dripping of the cartridge after use.
As mentioned above, the system schematics shown in
Although
With the precursor liquid 2 aspirated into the first syringe pump 13a, the valve V1 may be closed, and the valve V2 opened to so that the pump 13a can force the liquid 2 into the contactor 6. (While
In another aspect of the invention, a cartridge may be arranged to control a flow of activation fluid into the cartridge to activate a gas source. As discussed above, one option is to have a beverage making machine control flow of activation fluid into the cartridge. However, the cartridge itself may also help to control activation of the gas source. Such an arrangement may allow the cartridge itself to define a carbonation or other gas dissolution level, allowing different cartridges to define different gas dissolution levels without requiring a change in system operation. For example,
In another aspect of the invention, a cartridge may include a filter in the first and/or second portion to separate an inlet from an outlet of the first and/or second portion. For example, a filter may be provided in a first portion of a cartridge to help resist exit of gas source materials from the first portion. A filter may be provided in a second portion of a cartridge to help prevent relatively large, undissolved particles from clogging the outlet, help prevent bacterial contamination of a beverage (e.g., where the precursor liquid includes organisms that can be filtered from the precursor liquid prior to being supplied as a beverage), and/or help distribute precursor liquid in the second portion (e.g., to help with dissolution).
As discussed above, a cartridge may be configured to allow a user to interact with the cartridge to define one or more characteristics of a beverage to be made. For example, a user may interact with a cartridge to define a carbonation level, a sweetness of the beverage, an amount of beverage medium to use in making the beverage, and so on.
In another aspect of the invention, a cartridge may include a beverage outlet that extends from the cartridge, e.g., towards or to a user's cup or other container. Such an extending outlet may help deliver a beverage to a cup in splash-free way, may help reduce loss of carbonation or other dissolved gases, and/or may help reduce contact of the beverage with a beverage making machine. In one illustrative embodiment, the cartridge may include a trouser valve that includes two flat, elongated membranes sealed at opposing edges of the membranes along their length. The trouser valve may be folded or rolled up such that the folds or contact pressures in the rolled position close the valve, if necessary. In one embodiment, a relatively lightweight film can be used, e.g., to help the valve form a suitable seal when rolled or folded. When pressure is applied to the inner end of the trouser valve, the structure may unfold/unroll and expand into an elongated form. The extension of the trouser valve into a dispensing configuration may open any seal formed by the valve in its folded state and allow beverage to flow along the valve. The valve may be arranged to provide for smooth flow of the beverage through a tapered passageway, potentially reducing the risk of turbulence and loss of carbonation before dispensing. In other embodiments, a cartridge may include a more rigid outlet conduit that extends from the cartridge to conduct beverage toward a user's cup. For example, a retractable tube in the cartridge may extend under pressure built up in the cartridge. If desired, additional mixing action can be included in the beverage outlet flow path, e.g., by shaping the welds of a trouser valve to make the flow path serpentine or to include obstacles to enhance mixing of. Also, since a trouser valve may assume a flat condition after delivery of beverage, e.g., due to resilience of material used to make the valve that causes the valve to fold, the beverage outlet may retain little or no residual beverage, at least as compared to a cylindrical conduit of equivalent length. This may reduce leakage from the cartridge after use, reducing mess.
In another aspect of the invention, a cartridge (such as a mixing chamber portion) may include a mixer or other movable part that interacts with beverage medium and/or precursor liquid to enhance mixing of the beverage. For example, the movable part may be actuated by interaction with flow of the beverage medium or precursor liquid, such as a vibrating reed, rotating blade, or other element. In another embodiment, the movable part may be actuated by an external drive, such as a direct drive shaft of a motor associated with a beverage making machine, a magnetic coupling that provides contact-free movement of the mixer or other movable part, a pneumatic or hydraulic drive that provides moving fluid to the cartridge to drive the mixer, and others.
Thus, in accordance with an aspect of the invention, the first and second portions 46, 47 may be arranged so that the cartridge has a plane where the first portion 46 is located below the plane and the second portion 47 is located above the plane. In this case, the plane of the cartridge may be parallel to, and defined by, a portion of the lid 45a, 45b, or may be parallel to a planar portion of a part of the lid 45a or 45b. The first and second portions 46, 47 may be used with a beverage making machine in the assembled condition, or may be moved relative to each other, e.g., separated from each other, for use with a beverage making machine. As discussed above, the first and second portions 46, 47 may be oriented in different ways for interacting with a beverage making machine, such as in a side-by-side configuration shown in
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the first and second portions 46, 47 are separated by an impermeable barrier, e.g., the lid 45a or the lid 45b, which in this embodiment are both impermeable (although both need not necessarily be so). Also, as shown in
The lid 45b may have an inlet region 451 arranged to accommodate piercing to admit activating water, gas or other fluid, whether for mixing with the beverage medium 42, or to push the medium 42 to exit the second portion 47, e.g., through a pierced hole in the bottom of the second portion 47 for mixing with a precursor liquid in a user's cup, a mixing chamber, etc. The second portion 47 may also include a filter component 48b to help keep beverage medium 42 from contacting a piercing element that pierces the lid 45b. The filter component 48b may include a hydrophobic membrane, a piece of filter paper, or other suitable component, and may be attached to the lid 45b or other portion of the second container part 471. By avoiding contact of beverage medium 42 with a piercing element, unwanted contamination of the piercing element may be reduced or eliminated. Alternately, or in addition, a piercing element (whether used to pierce an inlet and/or outlet opening of a first or second portion 46, 47) may be arranged to be removable from a beverage making machine (e.g., for cleaning and replacement in the machine). Another possibility is to arrange the second portion 47 so that it can be squeezed, crushed or otherwise have a wall (such as the lid 45b or container part 471 sidewall) moved to urge beverage medium 42 to exit the second portion 47, e.g., through a burstable or otherwise frangible outlet or pierced hole. For example, the lid 45b may be pressed downwardly in the orientation shown in
The lid 45a (or the lid 45b) may have a pull tab (e.g., as shown in
Similarly, the second portion 47 may be arranged in a variety of different ways, but in this embodiment is arranged so that a wall 47a of the second portion 47 can be moved so that beverage medium 42 is caused to exit the second portion 47. For example, the wall 47a may include a corrugated sheet of material (such as a sheet of aluminum foil that has a set of steps arranged as concentric annular rings) that can be pressed from the bottom (as shown by the arrows 200 in
The wall 47a may be arranged so that when pushed in the direction of the arrows 200 in
In accordance with an aspect of the invention, at least a part of the first portion 46 may be received into the gusset of the second portion 47. For example, the gusset may form a partial ellipsoid shaped cavity into which the first portion 46, which may have a complementary shape, can fit. In one embodiment, the first portion 46 may fit entirely within the gusset such that the first portion 46 can form a surface or base of the cartridge 4 such that the cartridge can stand upright on a flat surface with the first portion 46 supporting the cartridge. For example, the lid 45a of the first portion 46 may provide a flat surface at the top of the cartridge 4 when the first portion 46 is received into the gusset cavity of the second portion 47, allowing the cartridge 4 to be inverted and stood on a table top with the first portion 46 resting on the table. However, this is not necessary, and the first portion 46 may protrude from the gusset cavity of the second portion 47, e.g., with a domed top surface. With the first portion 46 at least partially received in the gusset cavity, a rim 462 of the first portion 46 may be crimped or otherwise attached to a rim 472 of the second portion 47 to engage the first and second portions 46, 47 together. As in other embodiments, the first portion 46 may include inlet and/or outlet regions 451, 452 arranged to accommodate piercing for inlet and/or outlet flows.
As mentioned above, the second portion 47 may be squeezed or otherwise collapsed to release beverage medium 42. During this process, the first portion 46 may be subjected to the squeezing force, such as air pressure, opposed chamber walls moved toward each other with the second portion 47 located between the chamber walls, etc., or may be at least partially isolated from the squeezing force. For example, a rim 462 of the first portion 46 may be clamped in a cartridge receiver of a beverage making machine so that a sealed chamber located below the rim 462 can be formed around the second portion 47. This arrangement may help reduce or eliminate squeezing force on the first portion 46.
The release properties of a carbon dioxide adsorbent were measured in the following way: 8×12 beads of sodium zeolite 13X (such as are commercially available from UOP MOLSIV Adsorbents) were obtained. The beads were placed in a ceramic dish and fired in a Vulcan D550 furnace manufactured by Ceranico. The temperature in the furnace containing the beads was raised to 550° C. at a rate of 3° C./min and was held at 550° C. for 5 hours for firing and preparation of the beads for charging with carbon dioxide.
The beads were removed from the furnace and immediately transferred to a metal container equipped with a tightly fitted lid and entrance and exit ports permitting circulation of gas. With the beads sealed in the container, the container was flooded with carbon dioxide gas and pressurized to 15 psig. (Note, however, that experiments have been performed between 5-32 psig.) The chamber was held at the set pressure for 1 hour. During this hold period the chamber was bled every 15 min. At the end of this period a quantity of gas had adsorbed to the beads.
A 30 g sample of charged 13X zeolite was measured, and a beaker filled with 250 ml of water at room temperature of 22° C. The beaker and water was placed on a balance and the balance zeroed. The 30 g of charged zeolite was then added to the beaker and the change in weight versus time was measured. It was shown that the change in weight became approximately steady after a period of 50 seconds, and that the beads lost about 4.2 g (14 wt %) of weight attributed to the release of carbon dioxide. Of course, some carbon dioxide may have been dissolved into the water.
Charged zeolite 13X was prepared as in Example 1. A 30 g sample of the charged zeolites was then placed in metal chamber with a water inlet port at the bottom and a gas outlet port at the top. The chamber that held the zeolites was 34×34 mm in cross section and had 2 metal filter discs with 64 1/16″ diameter holes to retain the zeolite material. Tap water was then flooded into the bottom of the chamber perpendicular to the cross-section at an average flow rate of 60 ml/min. Gas evolved through the top outlet port.
The pressure of the gas in the chamber was measured with a pressure gauge and controlled using a needle valve attached to the exit port of the gas chamber. The needle valve was set to maintain the chamber at a pressure of 35 psig by manually adjusting the valve over the course of exposing charged zeolites in the chamber to water. Once the valve was set to an operating pressure, the system would perform repeatably with zeolite samples charged in the same manner.
Charged zeolite 13X was prepared as in Example 1. A 30 g sample of the charged zeolites was then placed in a semi rigid 50 ml polystyrene-polyethylene-EVOH laminate cup container and thermally sealed with a foil lid. The sealed zeolite cartridges were then placed into a sealed, metal cartridge chamber and pierced on the top and bottom.
Tap water was introduced at the bottom of the cartridge with the flow controlled by a solenoid valve. The solenoid valve was actuated via a pressure switch connected to the top gas outlet of the cartridge chamber. During three different tests, the pressure switch was set to three different operating pressures of 5, 22, and 35 psig. The resulting gas at the set pressures was then introduced into the shellside of a hydrophobic membrane contactor (1×5.5 Minimodule from Liquicel, of Charlotte, N.C.). The other shellside port was plugged to prevent gas from escaping. Water from a reservoir containing 400 ml of water and approximately 50 g of ice was circulated from the reservoir, through the contactor, and back to the reservoir (e.g., like that shown in
The resulting carbonated water was then tested for carbonation levels using a CarboQC from Anton-Paar of Ashland, Va. The results for are shown in the table below:
Thus, the gas was shown to evolve from the zeolites in the cartridges at a controllable rate (based on water delivery to the cartridge chamber) and then dissolved into water to produce a carbonated beverage. In addition, this illustrates the concept that by controlling system pressures one can control the level of carbonation of the finished beverage. It is expected that higher system pressures, e.g., of about 40-50 psi above ambient, would produce a 4 volume carbonated beverage (having a liquid volume of about 500 ml) in about 60 seconds or less.
Having thus described several aspects of at least one embodiment of this invention, it is to be appreciated that various alterations, modifications, and improvements will readily occur to those skilled in the art. Such alterations, modifications, and improvements are intended to be part of this disclosure, and are intended to be within the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the foregoing description and drawings are by way of example only.
This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/445,571, filed Jul. 29, 2014, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/565,214, filed Aug. 2, 2012, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/514,676, filed Aug. 3, 2011, the contents of each of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/565,214 is also a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 13/017,459, filed Jan. 31, 2011, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/337,184, filed Feb. 1, 2010.
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| Number | Date | Country | |
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| 20180153331 A1 | Jun 2018 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
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| 61514676 | Aug 2011 | US | |
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| Number | Date | Country | |
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| Parent | 14445571 | Jul 2014 | US |
| Child | 15872833 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
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| Parent | 13565214 | Aug 2012 | US |
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| Number | Date | Country | |
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| Parent | 13017459 | Jan 2011 | US |
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