CAPSULE AND SYSTEM FOR BEVERAGE PREPARATION

• US 20140318380A1
• Filed: 11/20/2012
• Published: 10/30/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 11/22/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Tuttoespresso, Srl (Larene SRL)
• Original Assignee: Tuttoespresso, Srl (Larene SRL)
• Inventors: Doglioni Majer, Luca
• Granted Patent: US 10,752,431 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 99/295
• CPC Class Codes: A47J 31/407 with ingredient-containing cartridges; Cartridge-perforating means
• CPC Class Codes: B65D 85/8049 Details of the inlet

Abstract

A capsule for the preparation of a beverage comprises a lateral wall, an inlet wall and a lower wall forming a hollow body having a substantially central axis, the inlet wall extends from a peripheral end of the lateral wall towards said central axis and a plurality of sunken portions are extending on both lateral and inlet walls across the edge between said walls each portion connecting together the lateral wall and the inlet wall.

Claims

1. A capsule for the preparation of a beverage from a brewing device, said capsule comprising a lateral wall, an inlet wall and a lower wall forming a hollow body where a brewing product is contained and having a central axis, said inlet wall extending from a peripheral end of the lateral wall towards said central axis, wherein said walls of the capsule comprise at least one sunken portion, said sunken portion extending on both said lateral wall and said inlet wall, wherein said at least one sunken portion corresponds to a protrusion inside the hollow body of the capsule, and said at least one sunken portion is provided on said lateral and inlet walls in correspondence of said peripheral end of the lateral wall to connect together said walls.

2. A capsule according to claim 1, wherein said at least one sunken portion comprises a surface forming an additional wall that is angled with respect to both lateral and inlet walls and with respect to said central axis of the capsule, and in that said surface is connecting said lateral and inlet walls.

3. A capsule according to claim 2, wherein said surface lies on a plane that extends from said lateral wall to said inlet wall or said surface has an axis that extends from said lateral wall to said inlet wall.

4. A capsule according to claim 1, wherein said sunken portion has a shape that is a prism or a portion of a prism, preferably selected from a parallelepiped, a cylinder, a triangular or an hexagonal prism.

5. A capsule according to claim 2, wherein said at least one surface of said sunken portion directly connects areas of the lateral and inlet walls that are spaced from the edge between lateral and inlet walls.

6. A capsule according to claim 4, wherein said sunken portion or said at least one surface of said sunken portion forms an acute angle with respect to said central axis of the capsule, said acute angle being comprised in the range 10°

-65°

, preferably 30°

-50°

, most preferably 40°

-50°

.

7. A capsule according to claim 1, wherein said at least one sunken portion is radially arranged with respect to the central axis of the capsule.

8. A capsule according to claim 1, further comprising a plurality of sunken portions arranged with constant spacing along the said peripheral end of the lateral wall, to provide a corrugation or ondulation of portions of both the inlet and lateral walls.

9. A capsule according to claim 1, wherein the angle formed between said lateral wall and said inlet wall at said peripheral end of said lateral wall is equal or greater than 90°

preferably more than 90°

, most preferably is 100°

to 130°

.

10. A capsule according to claim 1, wherein the number of sunken portions is selected from prime numbers, preferably selected from 5, 7, 11 and 13.

11. A capsule according to claim 1, wherein the thickness in correspondence of said sunken portion is equal to the thickness of the inlet wall and/or of the lateral wall outside said sunken portion.

12. A capsule according to claim 1, wherein the thickness of the inlet wall and/or of said at least one sunken portion is equal or reduced with respect to the thickness of the lateral wall.

13. A capsule according to claim 1, wherein at least a portion of the lateral wall below said peripheral end has the same thickness of said inlet wall and/or of the said at least one sunken portion.

14. A capsule according to claim 1, wherein said lateral wall has different thickness along its extension between the inlet wall and the lower wall.

15. A capsule according to claim 1, wherein said inlet wall comprises at least one piercing area provided between said central axis of the capsule and at least one sunken portion on said inlet wall.

16. A capsule according to claim 15, wherein the thickness of said piercing area is lower than the thickness of the inlet wall outside said piercing area.

17. A capsule according to claim 15, wherein said piercing area forms at least one circular line or at least one annular path.

18. A capsule according to claim 1, wherein a barrier layer is provided on or within said capsule body to prevent or reduce gas transmission across it.

19. A system for preparing a beverage comprising a capsule according to claim 1 and a brewing device comprising piercing means arranged along a predetermined path for perforating said capsule to inject a brewing liquid into said capsule, wherein said inlet wall of the capsule comprises at least one piercing area on said inlet wall, said at least one piercing area being contacted and perforated by said piercing means of said brewing device.

20. A system according to claim 19, wherein said at least one piercing area is arranged along a path corresponding to the path along which said piercing means of the brewing device perforate said inlet wall.