Coffee machine

• US 6,513,419 B2
• Filed: 12/01/1999
• Issued: 02/04/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 12/31/1998
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: WMF Wã¼Rttembergische Metallwarenfabrik AG
• Original Assignee: WMF Wã¼Rttembergische Metallwarenfabrik AG
• Inventors: Huber, Siegfried, Nagel, Günther
• Primary Examiner(s): ALEXANDER, REGINALD
• Application Number:
  US09/451,548
• Publication Number:
  US 20010042444A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,161 Days
• Field of Search: 993/15, 993/14, 993/12, 993/11, 993/10, 993/06, 993/05
• US Class Current: 99/315
• CPC Class Codes: A47J 31/4478 Spreader plates as an accessory of the filter A47J31/0631

Abstract

Described is a coffee machine (1) comprising a brewing member (5, 5′), a support surface (15) for ground coffee and a member (3, 6, 7) for applying water to the ground coffee, in which it is possible to level off the ground coffee positioned on the support surface (15) in a constructionally simple and generally applicable manner to obtain a layer having a substantially uniform thickness. To this end there is provided a member (22, 24, 25, 122, 222, 322) which guides water in a purposefully non-uniform manner over the ground coffee such that the ground coffee is distributed over the support surface (15) in a layer having a substantially uniform thickness.

Claims

1. A coffee machine comprising a coffee metering means, a brewing means having an essentially cylindrical housing and a support surface for receiving ground coffee transferred by the metering means into the brewing means and a means for applying water onto the ground coffee, characterized by a leveling means for purposefully guiding the water over the ground coffee in a non-uniform manner such that the ground coffee is distributed over the support surface in a layer having substantially uniform thickness, the leveling means contains a sieve arranged opposite to the support surface and comprising flow openings which have different sizes and/or are distributed in a non-uniform manner for producing a flow varying over the sieve, so that the open sieve surface formed by the sum of the flow cross-section of the flow opening is greater per unit area in a first central area of the sieve than in a second outer area of the sieve.

2. The coffee machine according to claim 1, wherein the leveling means comprise a plurality of supply means for applying the water in a plurality of stream onto the ground coffee.

3. The coffee machine according to claim 1, wherein the leveling means contains a sieve and first and second supply means for water, said first supply means communicating with a first area of the sieve and the second supply means communication with a second area of the sieve, and that the supply means are connected to shut-off means permit the selective supply of water to the first and/or the second area of the sieve.

4. The coffee machine according to claim 1, wherein the water flow can be concentrated by the leveling means onto the center of the support surface of the ground coffee.

5. The coffee machine according to claim 1, wherein water can be applied by the leveling means to the ground coffee to be distributed over the support surface in a quantitatively non-uniform manner.

6. The coffee machine according to claim 1, wherein water can be applied by the leveling means to the ground coffee at a pressure varying over the support surface.

7. The coffee machine according to claim 1, wherein the diameter of a flow opening in an area of the sieve is greater than the diameter of a flow opening in a second area of the sieve.

8. The coffee machine according to claim 1, wherein the flow openings in a first area of the sieve are concentrated and a further area is without any flow openings.

9. The coffee machine comprising a coffee metering means, a brewing means having an essentially cylindrical housing and a support surface for receiving ground coffee transferred by the metering means into the brewing means and a means for applying water onto the ground coffee, characterized by a leveling means for purposefully guiding the water over the ground coffee in a non-uniform manner such that the ground coffee is distributed over the support surface in a layer having a substantially uniform thickness, the leveling means contains a sieve having flow openings, and the leveling means contains first and second supply means for water, said first supply means communicating with a first central area of the sieve and the second supply means communicating with a second outer area of the sieve, and that the supply means are connected to shut-off means which permit the selective supply of water to the first and/or second area of the sieve.

10. The coffee machine according to claim 9, wherein the sieve arranged opposite to the support surface comprises flow openings which have different sizes and/or distributed in a non-uniform manner for producing a flow varying over the sieve.

11. The coffee machine according to claim 10, wherein the open sieve surface formed by the sum of the flow cross-section of the flow opening is greater per unit area in a first area of the sieve than in a second area of the sieve.

12. A method for opening a coffee machine, said coffee machine comprising a brewing means having a substantially cylindrical housing and a support surface positioned within the housing for receiving ground coffee, comprising:

introducing ground coffee into the housing, thereby forming a heaped cone having a peak of ground coffee supported by the support surface;

providing a flow of water into the housing;

initially concentrating the flow of the water on the peak of the heaped cone, and

distributing the coffee by the concentrated flow of water to form a layer of ground coffee having a substantially uniform thickness.

13. The method according to claim 12 further including a second flow of water over the distributed coffee for brewing the coffee.