GB2552796A

GB2552796A - Coffee capsule

Info

Publication number: GB2552796A
Application number: GB1613590.7A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Alexander Gort-Barten Leslie; Gort-Barten Alex
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2016-08-08
Filing date: 2016-08-08
Publication date: 2018-02-14
Anticipated expiration: 2036-08-08
Also published as: GB2552796B

Abstract

Coffee capsule 1 for use in a coffee machine comprising: frusto-conical section with annular flange 7; a sealing means located on the flange comprising a plurality of arcuate members 11 having a first radius, each arcuate member being spaced from an adjacent arcuate element having the first radius. Preferably, seal comprises arcuate members at a second 12 and third 13 radius, where the spatial separation of arcuate member at each radius is offset by an angular cut. Preferably, the capsule is biodegradable cellulose material and is plastically deformed in use.

Description

(71) Applicant(s):

Leslie Alexander Gort-Barten

County Oak Way, CRAWLEY, West Sussex, RH11 7ST, United Kingdom

Alex Gort-Barten

County Oak Way, Crawley, West Sussex, RH11 7ST, United Kingdom (56) Documents Cited:

GB 2523775 A WO 2015/082982 A

WO 2013/164669 A DE 202015100813 U

DE 202015100812 U US 20150208852 A (58) Field of Search:

INT CLA47J, B65D Other: WPI, EPODOC, TXTA (72) Inventor(s):

Leslie Alexander Gort-Barten Alex Gort-Barten (74) Agent and/or Address for Service:

Jensen & Son

366-368 Old Street, LONDON, EC1V 9LT, United Kingdom (54) Title of the Invention: Coffee capsule

Abstract Title: Coffee capsule with arcuate sealing means (57) Coffee capsule 1 for use in a coffee machine comprising: frusto-conical section with annular flange 7; a sealing means located on the flange comprising a plurality of arcuate members 11 having a first radius, each arcuate member being spaced from an adjacent arcuate element having the first radius. Preferably, seal comprises arcuate members at a second 12 and third 13 radius, where the spatial separation of arcuate member at each radius is offset by an angular cut. Preferably, the capsule is biodegradable cellulose material and is plastically deformed in use.

At least one drawing originally filed was informal and the print reproduced here is taken from a later filed formal copy.

1/1

Fig.2

Coffee Capsule

The invention relates to a capsule for making espresso coffee using an espresso machine.

Powered espresso machines are well known. The conventional espresso machine comprises a water chamber, a heating element adapted to heat the water to around 9598 C, which is then pumped under high pressure of 15 to 19 bar to a filter holder or portafilter. Lower pressure systems also exist. The filter holder typically comprises a handle portion and a holder portion provided with two or three lugs that are adapted to engage in the installed position with the machine brewhead to where the water is pumped. The holder portion is adapted to receive a filter, which is usually a metal bowl with a number of perforations through its bottom. In use, the filter is filled with finely ground coffee and the water is forced through the coffee at the high pressure generated by the pump to produce the espresso coffee which is collected in a cup placed under the filter holder.

The classic coffee machine suffers from two potential drawbacks. The first drawback is that ground coffee starts to lose its freshness and flavour after a few days and so for the optimum espresso, the user will also need to have a coffee grinder. The other drawback is that the used espresso coffee has to be removed from the filter, which can lead to mess as the grinds are fine.

This lead to the development of ESE coffee pods, which can be used in many espresso machines. Coffee pods are generally individually wrapped to maintain freshness and consist of a small pod made of a perforated filter paper which contains the coffee. The pod is placed in the filter holder and then disposed of after use. Coffee pods are convenient but have to fit the filter holder and be placed correctly otherwise water can leak around the edge.

This in turn lead to the development of capsule machines. The coffee capsules for these machines are completely sealed. The capsule machines do not use the conventional filter holder. A capsule machine typically has a two part mechanism. The first part receives the capsule and is provided with an extraction surface upon which the capsule rests. The second part is provided with a locking lever which is used to make the first and second parts integral. In use, the second part cuts the upper surface of the capsule to allow water to enter the capsule and percolate down through the capsule, where it exits through the lower surface of the capsule at multiple locations determined by the geometry of the extraction surface. An example of such a machine is disclosed in EP 0870457 or W02005/004683. Capsules in the known capsule coffee machines are, in use, inserted into a capsule cage of the machine which holds the capsule in position so that it may be cut by a cutting member.

Capsule machines have proved to be commercially very successful as they are very convenient to use and produce a consistent product. However, each manufacturers coffee machines and capsules are designed to work with the manufacturers own brand. The most popular brand of capsule is Nespresso ®, which uses a sealed capsule made of aluminium. In use, the capsule is clamped into position in the machine with a capsule cage part holding the capsule so that it can be cut by typically three prongs to enable water under pressure to enter the coffee capsule.

To allow some tolerance in the capsule positioning, most machines now use a two part capsule cage to move the capsule from the inserted position to the extraction position. This type of capsule cage does not exert the same level of mechanical pressure on the capsule rim as the more simple one part cage and so the capsule is provided with a seal.

Aluminium has the considerable advantage that it is oxygen and water impermeable, which means that the coffee in the capsules has a long shelf life. Aluminium however also suffers from several major drawbacks in that the aluminium is easily deformed during the filling and packing stage and it is difficult and expensive to produce a reliable seal on the capsule rim. The known solutions to these problems require an extremely high capital investment.

One proposed solution to the sealing problem is the use of a rubber elastic material on the capsule rim, with which the capsule cage engages in the extraction position. This type of seal is highly effective but is very expensive to apply to the capsule.

Most manufacturers have therefore adopted plastic capsules. Plastic capsules solve the problems of the ease of handling the capsule during the packing process but require other compromises. The plastic capsule needs to be able to be pierced by the blades in the capsule coffee machine without shattering the capsule or damaging the machine. The capsule also needs to be sealed at its open end with an aluminium foil which adheres to the plastic capsule in a reliable manner and at low enough temperatures that the quality of the coffee is not impaired.

EP2303077 discloses the use of a series of concentric rings moulded in the same plastic material that the capsule is made of with the capsule cage engaging with two or more of the rings to provide a seal. Due to the harder nature of the sealing material, such capsules have a tendency to leak around the seal so that water then drips into the extracted coffee affecting its flavour and the crema formation.

The present invention therefore seeks to provide an improved seal for a beverage capsule for use in a high pressure espresso machine.

According to the invention there is provided a capsule for use in a coffee machine having a generally frusto-conical form with an upper surface and a lower surface, an annular flange being provided at the lower surface, which annular flange is provided with sealing means on the surface facing towards the upper surface, wherein sealing means comprises a plurality of arcuate members having a first radius, each arcuate member being spaced from an adjacent arcuate element having the first radius.

It has surprisingly be found that the use of a softer plastically deformable material with gaps in the concentric rings provides an improved seal over the use of continuous concentric rings. It is thought that this is due to the material deforming into the spaces rather than into an adjoining ring providing a bridge through which water can then flow.

Exemplary embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to the drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 shows a plan view of a first embodiment of the capsule

Fig. 2 shows a plan view of a second embodiment.

Figure 1 shows a top view of a first embodiment of a capsule 1 having a generally frustoconical form for the main body 2. The upper end of the capsule can have a second frustoconical sectionwith a greater opening angle that the opening angle of the main body 2. The upper end of the cone fru strum therefore has a smaller diameter than the lower end. The upper end is further provided with an additional frustoconical indent at the centre of the upper end. The second frustoconical section 4 is provided with line with a reduced thickness which are adapted to break under pressure to enable water to enter the capsule. The capsule is provided with a flange 7 at the end of main body 2 remote from the upper end.

The side of the flange facing towards the upper end is provided with a seal. The seal is shown schematically as a series of concentric upstanding arcuate members 7, the arcuate members having first, second and third radii with respect to the a common centre. Each of the six arcuate members having a first radius is spatially separated by a small distance 8 from the adjacent arcuate members having the first radius. Similarly each of the six arcuate members having a second radius is spatially separated by a small distance 9 from the adjacent arcuate members having the second radius. Similarly each of the six arcuate members having a third radius is spatially separated by a small distance 10 from the adjacent arcuate members having the third radius. The spatial separations 8, 9 and 10 are offset from one another so that the spatial separation 8 is located opposite to the midpoint of an adjacent arcuate member of different radius. Similarly, the spatial separation 9 is located opposite to the midpoint of an adjacent arcuate member having a different radius. The spatial separation 10 is also located opposite to the midpoint of an adjacent arcuate member having a different radius.

Figure 2 shows an alternative arrangement to that of Figure 1. The side of the flange facing towards the upper end is provided with a seal. The seal is shown schematically as a series of concentric upstanding arcuate members 7, the arcuate members having first, second and third radii with respect to the a common centre. Each of the six arcuate members having a first radius is spatially separated by a small angular cut 11 from the adjacent arcuate members having the first radius, the angular cut being tangential to the arcuate member rather than perpendicular to it. Similarly each of the six arcuate members having a second radius is spatially separated by a small angular cut 12 from the adjacent arcuate members having the second radius. Similarly each of the six arcuate members having a third radius is spatially separated by a small angular cut 13 from the adjacent arcuate members having the third radius. The spatial separations 11, 12 and 13 are offset from one another so that the angular cuts are aligned to form a substantially contiguous groove from the arcuate members of a first radius to the arcuate members of a third radius via the arcuate members of a second radius.

The provision of the spatial separation between arcuate members of substantially the same radius is particularly advantageous when the seal and/or the entire capsule is made of a material that plastically deforms in the extraction position in the coffee machine. Plastic deformation of a ring seal has been found to encourage leaks as the water finds a way to bridge the seal. The provision of the gaps or cuts leads to an improved seal under deformation. An example of a plastically deformable material suitable for the capsule seal and capsule is a biodegradable material made from cellulose material such as is disclosed in WO2010149884.

Although the capsule has been specifically described as being used to make espresso coffee, it would be possible to make other beverages such as tea or chocolate.

Claims

1. A capsule for use in a coffee machine having a generally frusto-conical form with an upper surface and a lower surface, an annular flange being provided at the lower surface, which annular flange is provided with sealing means on the surface facing towards the upper surface, wherein sealing means comprises a plurality of arcuate members having a first radius, each arcuate member being spaced from an adjacent arcuate element having the first radius.

2. A capsule according to Claim 1, wherein the seal comprises arcuate members having a first radius and arcuate members having a second radius.

3. A capsule according to Claim 2, wherein the seal comprises arcuate members having a third radius.

4. A capsule according to Claim 2 or Claim 3, wherein the spatial separation of arcuate members of a first radius is offset from the spatial separation of arcuate members of a second or third radius.

5. A capsule according to any one of Claims 1 to 4, wherein the spatial separation comprises an angular cut.

6. A capsule according to any one of Claims 1 to 5, wherein the seal is plastically deformed in use.

7. A capsule according to any one of Claims 1 to 6, wherein the capsule is substantially biodegradable.

8. A capsule according to any one of Claims 1 to 7, wherein the capsule is made from a cellulose based material.

9. A capsule substantially as described herein with reference to and as illustrated in Fig. 1 or Fig. 2 of the accompanying drawing.

Intellectual

Property

Office

Application No: GB1613590.7