Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
WO91/l4637 PCT/SE91/00210
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A Beveraqe container
The present invention relates to a container for a
beverage which comprises liquid, preferably water, and a
S flavourant or neutrient additive and which is intended
to be heated in the contain~r prior to being served.
When serving hot beverages comprising liquid, particu-
larly water, and a flavourant or nQutrient additive, it
is of the highest importanCQ, from a professional as-
pQCt, that whQn servin~ the bevQrage the two bevQrage-
components r~tain the highest possible quality and alsc
the greatQst uni~ormity with re~ard to the ~ixture
thQrQof. It is also important tha~ the bQversge is `
prepared quic~ly while avoiding waste during handiing,
and also that the preparation and heating of the bever-
age is effected as near as possible to the time at which
the beverage is to be served, so as not to expose the
beverage to the effect of air over an unnecessarily long
period and therewith impair the quality of the beverage.
~his applies, for example, when preparing coffee or tea
onboard passenger aircraft, by mixing ~ot water and
powdered coffee or powdered tea of the instant type. In
this case, water of varying quality is stored onboard
the aircraft in sealed containers provided with heating
devices. ~he powder is stored in separate containers or
v~ssels, in which the powder can be subjectQd to the
effQct of air long before the bQverage is prepared. It
has also been proposed to deliver ~ot water in sealed
containers of 4-5 litre capacity, therewith enabling the
quality of the water to be better controlled. This
~pplies ~ven t~ough thQ water is stored in sealed con-
tainers intended for one-time use only, such containers
having been availa~le commercially for a long time and
found to ~aintain a particularly high quality. The
handling of ready-to-serve beverages, however, is
WO91/14637 PCTJSE91/0021n
~ U~.3~
complicated even in these latter cases, and is also
excessively expensive.
The object of the present invention is to provide a
container which will enable a hot beverage to be pre-
pared quickly and e~fectively and to obtain a higher and
more uniform quality than earlier and at an acceptable
total cost.
~his has bQen achieved in accordance with the invention
in that in addition to containing a given quantity o~
l~quid, preferably water, t~e container also contains
the ~lavourant or neutrient addi~i~e Qnclosed in an
openable, watertight capsule or the like which has been
sealQd with a temperaturQ-dQpQndQnt substance which
remains active at temperatures up to a value immediately
beneath the tempQrature to which the~content of the
container is intended to be heated prior to being
served.
Thus, when using the inventive container, it is totally
unnecessary to transfer liquid from a storage container
to a mixing or serving vessel and nei~her is it neces-
sary to introduce a measured qu~ntity of additive there-
into. All that is necessary is to heat the content ofthe prefera~ly unopened inventive container, which can
be achieved by placing the container in a hot-air oven,
a microwave oven or some other efficient heating device.
Immediately before the container contents reach the
serving temperature, the temperature-dependQnt sealing
substance will no longer be able to ~old the capsule
sealQd and the cap ule will therewith open. The contain-
er can t~en be opened and thQ ready-mixed beverage can
be pourQd from the container. If the opening is not made
too large, the capsule will be unable to pass through
the opening and will remain in the container when it is
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W~91/1463- PCT/SE91/00210
3 ~73 3~
emptied. Further developments of the invention are set
forth in Claims 2-3.
As before mentioned, the cost of water of high, con-
trolled quality in containers of one to two litres is
relatively high, although this high cost can be accepted
owing to the fact that all handling costs related to
measuring and mixinq water and additive subs~ances no
longer apply and ~ecause coffee in particularly is very
strong du~ t~ the use of hiqh-quality water~ The ris~
that thQ additive is wrongly proportioned is also
Qliminated.
The invention will now be described in more detail with
reference to an exemplified ambodiment of an inventive
container and with reference to the accompanyin~ draw-
ings, in which
Figure 1 is a perspective view, partly cut-away view of
a disposable container, and
Figure 2 is a perspective view of an opened capsule.
Figure 1 illustrates the container 1 containing water 2
and a capsule 3 floating therein. The capsule is made of
a plastic material and contains a given quantity of a
~lavourant or neutrient additive, e.g. instant coffee
po~der.
As illustrated in Figure 2, the capsule 3 is manufac-
tured as a single unit comprising two parts 4, 5 which
ar~ mutually joined by a hinge means 6 and each of which
is provided with flanges 7, 8 which extends along
resp~ctive edqes o~ said parts and the mutually facing
surfaces of which are coated with a temperature-depen-
dent adhesive 9, for example a suitable wax. The capsule3 strives to take the appearance shown in Figure 2 and
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WOgl/1463, ~) 7 ~ j PCT/SE91/00210
when filled with coffee powder (no~ shown), the capsule
shall be closed and the flanges 7, ~ pressed toget~er so
as to be mutually connected in a watertight ~ashion by
the interlying wax 9.
s
The container contents are intended to be heated to a
temperature of ao-go'c prior to being served, and the
wax on the capsule is of a kind which will soften and
loose its ability to hold the capsule sealQd when heated
to a tempQraturQ of 60-70'C. At this lat~er temperature,
thQ capsule 3 will thus open and the co~ee powder will
fall from the capsule 3 and mix with the water during
t~e hQating process. The capsule is preferably made ~rom
a material which has a higher density than water, so
that thQ empty, opened capsule will sink to the bottom
of the container~
W~Qn heating is completed, the container can, if so
desired, be placed in a further container or vessel lO
having heat-insulating walls and a handle, whereafter
the container can be opened in a conventional manner and
served directly from the container. Alternatively, the
container can be perforated by a suction pipe forming
part of a pump device.
As an alternative to wax, there can be used some other
tasteless, non-toxic sealing substance which will soften
or melt at the desired temperature.
Naturally, the capsule 3 can be formad in some other
way, such that t~e smallQst possible amount of air is
enclosed and such that the opened capsule will readily
fill with water and sink. ~or example, the capsule may
co~prise a troug~-like part with low edges and a flat
part which is ~olded over the trough opening and con~
nected with a flange which extends around the trough
~ 091/1463~ PCl`/SE91/00~10
~Q78~60
edges, similar to the flange 7 or 8 show~ in Figure 2.
The flanges 7, 8 on the two ends of t~e capsule 3 may
also be provided wit~ resilient reinforcements 11 so
constructed as to strive to open t~e capsule.
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