Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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"Cartridge for the preparation of a liquid product, and
corresponding assortment"
****
Technical field
The present disclosure relates to cartridges for
preparing liquid products.
Various embodiments may refer to cartridges for
preparing beverages, for example coffee.
Technological background
Cartridges (or capsules or pods, according to
other terms widely used) for preparing liquid products,
such as a beverage, via introduction, into the
cartridge, of liquid (possibly under pressure and/or at
a high temperature) and/or steam constitute a
technological sector that is extremely rich and
articulated, as documented, for example, by FR-A-757
358, FR-A-2 373 999 (corresponding to which is US-A-4
136 202), FR-A-2 556 323, GB-A-938 617, GB-A-2 023 086,
CH-A-406 561, US-A-3 403 617, US-A-3 470 812, US-A-3
607 297 (corresponding to which is FR-A-1 537 031), WO-
A-86/02 537, EP-A-0 199 953, EP-A-0 211 511, EP-A-0 242
556, EP-A-0 468 078, EP-A-0 469 162, EP-A-0 507 905, WO
2010/106516 Al, and EP-A-2 218 653.
A fair share of the solutions described in the
documents referred to above primarily regards
preparation of liquid products constituted by beverages
such as coffee, tea, chocolate, broth, soups, or
various infusions.
As regards the preparation of coffee are solutions
known (for example from EP-A-0 507 905) that enable
preparation of espresso coffee.
There are likewise known and widely used solutions
in which the consumer buys a machine (e.g., a coffee
machine) and then purchases cartridges specifically
designed and produced for functioning in combination
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with that machine.
In this way, for the consumer, at the moment of
purchase certain salient characteristics of the
cartridge/machine system are defined and substantially
can no longer be modified, these characteristics, for
example, being:
- the outer shape of the cartridge for enabling it
to be introduced into the machine;
- the configuration of the infusion chamber that
contains the cartridge during the process of brewing of
the liquid product, such as a beverage;
- the modalities of interaction of the material
constituting the cartridge with the infusion chamber;
- the modalities of brewing of the beverage;
- the modalities of introduction of the cartridge
at start of delivery; and/or
- the modalities of ejection of the cartridge at
the end of delivery.
For instance, EP-A-0 507 905 describes a cartridge
that is to be perforated by filtering tips as a result
of the pressure of the liquid and/or steam introduced
into the cartridge.
A solution of this type may be used, for example,
for producing cartridges or capsules of a perforable
type, in which:
- the top sealing foil of the cartridge (through
which hot water and/or steam is introduced) is
mechanically perforated by the delivery assembly via a
first set of perforating tips; and
- the bottom of the cartridge (through which the
beverage flows out) can be perforated by a second set
of hollow tips (roughly resembling injection needles)
with filtering characteristics.
Solutions of the above type are particularly
suited for dispensing beverages of an espresso-coffee
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type.
Documents such as EP 1 295 554 Al, WO 2006/005736
A2, or EP 1 886 942 Al identify specific solutions
regarding filtering tips, the mechanism of
opening/closing/perforation by the perforating tips,
and the type of cartridge, with corresponding system.
The document No. WO 2010/106516 Al describes a
type of cartridge such as to combine a filter paper and
a biopolymer, the filter paper being positioned on the
side of the outlet for the beverage (coffee).
Again, the document No. WO 2012/077066 Al
describes a cartridge in which the perforation is aided
by the combination of a biodegradable/compostable
polymer with material such as paper.
Reference may again be made to the document No. WO
2010/137952 Al, where a cartridge or capsule is
described configured for functioning in a machine
(originally designed to function with a cartridge of a
different type) provided with tips that are designed to
tear the cartridge upon mechanical closing of the
assembly for enabling entry of water into the cartridge
through the tears made. The cartridge according to the
solution described in WO 2010/137952 Al is configured
so as to not to interact with the perforating tips of
the machine in so far as the tips in question do not
touch the bottom of the cartridge.
One or more embodiments may refer to cartridges of
the type described in WO 2014/097039 Al.
Object and summary
The object of the various embodiments is to
provide further improvements over the solutions
referred to above, for example as regards the
possibility of preparing liquid products starting from
a number of substances and/or the possibility of using
in succession one and the same machine for preparing
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different liquid products, reducing any possible
effects of cross-contamination.
Various embodiments enable the above object to be
achieved thanks to a cartridge having the
characteristics recalled in the ensuing claims.
Various embodiments may also regard an assortment
of cartridges with differentiated characteristics.
The claims form an integral part of the technical
teaching provided herein in relation to the invention.
Brief description of the drawings
Various embodiments will now be described, purely
by way of non-limiting example, with reference to
annexed drawings, in which:
- Figure 1 is a general perspective view of a
cartridge according to embodiments;
- Figure 2 is a perspective view from beneath of
embodiments;
- Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view according to
the line III-III of Figure 2, reproduced at an enlarged
scale; and
- Figure 4 illustrates, at a further enlarged
scale, the portion of Figure 3 indicated by the arrow
IV.
Detailed description
Illustrated in the ensuing description are various
specific details aimed at providing an in-depth
understanding of various examples of embodiment. The
embodiments may be implemented without one or more of
the specific details, or with other methods,
components, materials, etc. In other cases, known
structures, materials, or operations are not
illustrated or described in detail so that the various
aspects of the embodiments will not be obscured.
Reference to "an embodiment" or "one embodiment" in the
framework of the present description is intended to
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indicate that a particular configuration, structure, or
characteristic described in relation to the embodiment
is comprised in at least one embodiment. Hence, phrases
such as "in an embodiment", "in one embodiment", or the
5 like that may be present in various points of the
present description do not necessarily refer to one and
the same embodiment. Furthermore,
particular
conformations, structures, or characteristics may be
combined in any adequate way in one or more
embodiments.
The references used herein are provided merely for
convenience and hence do not define the sphere of
protection or the scope of the embodiments.
In the figures, the reference number 10 designates
as a whole a cartridge (or pod, or capsule, these terms
being used herein as being equivalent) for the
preparation of a liquid product via introduction of
liquid and/or steam into the cartridge.
In one or more embodiments, the cartridge 10 may
contain a filling or dose 12 (represented schematically
with dashed lines just in Figure 3) of a substance or
ingredient for the preparation of a liquid product such
as a beverage, chosen, for example, from: toasted and
ground coffee, leaf tea, powdered or soluble milk,
soluble coffee, soluble chocolate, soluble barley,
sugar, soluble powdered flavourings, and combinations
thereof.
In one or more embodiments, the liquid product in
question may be obtained by introducing into the
cartridge liquid and/or steam under pressure and at
high temperature (i.e., hot).
In any case, the possible reference, in the
framework of the present detailed description, to the
preparation of a particular beverage is not to be
understood as in any way limiting the scope of the
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description, which is altogether general.
In one or more embodiments, the cartridge 10 may
contain, as exemplified in what follows:
- a filling Si of a first substance (i.e., a first
ingredient) for preparation of the aforesaid liquid
product; and
- a filling S2 of a second substance (i.e., a
second ingredient) for preparation of the aforesaid
liquid product.
The substances in question are represented
schematically with dashed lines just in Figure 3.
For instance, in one or more embodiments:
- the first substance (i.e., Si) may be chosen
from: toasted and ground coffee, leaf tea, powdered or
soluble milk;
- the second substance (i.e., S2) may be chosen
from: soluble coffee, powdered milk, soluble chocolate,
soluble barley, sugar, soluble powdered flavourings,
and combinations thereof.
In one or more embodiments, in the structure of
the cartridge 10, which may be shaped like a tray or
small cup within which the substances Si and S2 are
present, it is possible to distinguish:
- a casing 14, comprising a side wall 140 and a
bottom wall 142 that closes the casing 14 at one end of
the side wall 140; and
- a sealing foil 16, for example of a peelable
type, which closes the cartridge 10 at the end opposite
to the bottom wall 142.
The sealing foil 16 is suited to being sealingly
connected, for example by heat-sealing, to the side
wall 140 of the casing 14 of the cartridge, for example
at a flange 144 that surrounds the mouth part of the
casing 14.
In one or more embodiments, as represented in the
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figures, the casing 14 may have a tray-like
conformation diverging from the bottom wall 142 to the
end closed by the sealing foil 16. In one or more
embodiments, the diverging conformation may be a
frustoconical conformation. This conformation is not on
the other hand imperative in so far as the cartridge 14
may present as a whole different shapes, for example
prismatic, frustopyramidal, square, etc.
Various embodiments may refer to the fact that the
bottom 142 can present a sculptured structure, i.e.,
with alternating parts in relief and recessed, for
example according to the criteria illustrated in WO
2014/097039 Al (already cited previously), to which the
reader is referred for a more detailed description.
For the purposes of the present description, it
may be noted that, in one or more embodiments, the
bottom wall 142, through which the liquid product is
able to flow out of the cartridge 10 may present, when
viewed from outside the cartridge 10, a protruding
central portion 1420.
In one or more embodiments, the bottom part 142
may likewise present one or more openings 1428 to
enable exit of the liquid product (e.g., a beverage)
formed in the cartridge 10.
In one or more embodiments, the aforesaid at least
one opening 1428 is provided in the protruding central
portion 1420 of the bottom wall 142.
In one or more embodiments, as exemplified here,
there may be provided openings 1428 located both in the
central portion 1420 and in the areas of the bottom
wall that surround it (e.g., one or more of the annular
cavities/ribbings of the sculptured conformation of the
bottom wall 142).
In one or more embodiments, as may be appreciated
more fully in the cross-sectional view of Figure 3, the
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bottom wall 142 may present, if viewed from inside the
cartridge 10, a surface that is as a whole planar (at
least in the aforesaid central portion 1420), with the
consequent possibility of applying on said planar
surface a lamina (e.g., a disk) 180 comprising
filtering material, such as filter paper or nonwoven
fabric.
In one or more embodiments, the filter element 180
can thus divide the internal volume of the cartridge 10
into:
- a first receiving chamber (at the top in the
figures) comprised between the filter element 180 and
the sealing foil 16, in which the filling of the first
substance Si can be located; and
- a second receiving chamber (at the bottom in the
figures) comprised between the filter element 180 and
the central portion 1420.
In one or more embodiments, thanks to the fact
that the central portion 1420 of the bottom wall 142
protrudes towards the outside of the cartridge 10,
within the cartridge 10 itself there may thus be
present, in addition to a "main" chamber for the
substance Si, a "secondary" chamber located in the
central portion 1420, which may receive a certain
amount of the substance S2.
In one or more embodiments, the opening or
openings 1428 may be made in the form of pervious
through holes. Conservation of the aroma and, in
general, of the organoleptic qualities of the
substances Si and S2 can hence be favoured by inserting
the cartridge 10 in a sealed sachet (for example, of
the flow-pack type), which can be opened by the user
for taking out the cartridge 10 to be used.
In one or more embodiments, as exemplified here,
the filter element 180 may comprise a radially outer
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portion applied at the openings 1428, which are
possibly provided in the part of the bottom wall 142
that surrounds the central portion 1420.
In one or more embodiments, a further filter
element 182 (e.g., including filter paper or nonwoven
fabric) may be provided, coupled to the opening or
openings 1428 provided in the protruding central
portion 1420 of the bottom wall 142.
In one or more embodiments, as exemplified here,
the filter element 182 may be coupled to the opening or
openings 1428 on the inner side of the bottom wall 142
of the cartridge 10.
Figure 4 highlights the fact that, in one or more
embodiments, the outer surface of the bottom wall 142
of the cartridge 10 may come to rest on an array of
tips P that may be present in certain brewing machines
(according to known criteria, exemplified in various
documents cited in the introductory part of the present
description) in order to perforate the bottom wall of
the cartridges and cause outflow of the liquid product
being prepared.
In one or more embodiments, as illustrated here,
the sculptured outer profile (i.e., presenting cavities
and reliefs) of the bottom part 142 may provide annular
seats that may be arranged, so to speak, "straddling"
the tops of the tips P, with the tips P functioning as
supporting formations that are able to support the
bottom wall 142 of the cartridge 10 during preparation
of the liquid product.
As already indicated in the introductory part of
the present description, the preparation of a liquid
product with a cartridge as exemplified here may
involve, according to criteria in themselves known:
- perforation of the top sealing foil 16 of the
cartridge via a set of perforating tips of the brewing
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machine;
- entry into the cartridge 10, through the
perforated foil 16, of hot water and/or steam, which
produces with the substance 12 contained in the two
5 chambers of the cartridge 10 a mechanism commonly
defined (even if in a way perhaps not altogether
correct) as infusion; and
- outflow of the resulting liquid product through
the bottom wall 142 (e.g., through the openings 1428
10 provided in the protruding portion 1420 and, possibly,
in the other portions of the bottom wall 142 that
surround it).
It will be appreciated that, in one or more
embodiments, thanks to the presence of the two
substances Si and S2, the resulting product may be a
bicomponent product, for example coffee or tea with
milk and/or sugar, coffee or milk with chocolate, etc.,
this example evidently not exhausting all the possible
combinations.
In one or more embodiments, the presence of the
filter element 180 set so as to separate the receiving
chambers in which the substances Si and S2 are present
can facilitate not only the operation of filling of the
cartridge but also separation of the two substances
until the end product is prepared, without on the other
hand hindering the infusion process.
In one or more embodiments, the presence of the
filter element 182 may facilitate the action of
contrast to exit from the cartridge 10 of the
ingredients contained therein (e.g., of the substance
S2) through the openings 1428 provided in the
protruding portion 1420 of the bottom wall 142.
The fact that in one or more embodiments there may
be provided openings 1428 also in parts of the bottom
wall 142 that surround the protruding portion 1420 and
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that the peripheral part of the filter element 180 can
extend also over said openings can facilitate the
action of contrast to exit from the cartridge 10 of the
ingredients contained therein (e.g., of the substance
Si) through the openings 1428 that may be provided in
the parts of the bottom wall 142 that surround the
protruding portion 1420.
In one or more embodiments, the fact that the
liquid product, and in particular the fraction thereof
in which there is likely to be a greater presence of
the substance S2, can flow out of the capsule 10 mainly
(if not exclusively) through the openings 1428 provided
in the protruding portion 1420 of the bottom wall 142
makes it possible to limit undesired phenomena of
cross-contamination of the tips P by the substance S2
used for preparing a certain product. The tips P may in
fact subsequently be used for preparing liquid
products, for example for preparing beverages in which
the presence of this substance is not envisaged:
consider purely by way of example the case of sugar.
In one or more embodiments, as exemplified here,
it may be envisaged that the central portion 1420 is
flush with the plane B-B' in which the peripheral rim
1432 of the bottom wall 142 lies, i.e., it does not
protrude from the casing of the cartridge 10 beyond
this plane (see Figure 3).
In one or more embodiments, it is possible to
envisage that the central portion 1420 protrudes from
the casing of the cartridge 10 beyond the plane B-B' in
which the peripheral rim 1432 lies.
In one or more embodiments, it is likewise
possible to envisage that the opening or openings 1428
for outflow of the aforesaid liquid product from the
cartridge 10 is/are located only in the protruding
central portion 1420, with the bottom wall 142 that, on
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the other hand, around the protruding central portion,
is without openings for outflow of the liquid product
from the cartridge 10.
In one or more embodiments, it is likewise
possible to envisage that the central portion 1420 is
shaped like a spout for delivery of said liquid
product.
One or more embodiments may envisage providing
assortments of cartridges such as those exemplified
herein, the assortment comprising cartridges 10 of two
or more different types, in which the central portion
1420 protrudes from the bottom wall 142 by a different
amount, for example by a first amount in a first type
of cartridge, a second amount, different from the
first, in a second type of cartridge, a third amount in
a third type of cartridge, and so forth.
This difference between the cartridges of the
assortment may be reflected, for example, in different
levels of presence of the second substance S2 (e.g.,
different levels of sugar) with respect to the first
substance Si, possibly also according to the different
nature of the first substance Si and/or of the second
substance S2.
Of course, without prejudice to the underlying
principles, the details of construction and the
embodiments may vary, even significantly, with respect
to what has been illustrated herein purely by way of
non-limiting example, without thereby departing from
the extent of protection.
The extent of protection is defined by the annexed
claims.
