Patent ID: 8771768
Filing Date: 2014-07-08
Classification: A23F,B65D

Abstract:
1. A cartridge comprising, one or more beverage ingredients and comprising an inlet for the introduction of an aqueous medium and a discharge outlet for the beverage produced from the one or more beverage ingredients, the cartridge incorporating within a beverage flow path between the inlet and the discharge outlet an eductor for entraining air into the beverage, the eductor comprising an aperture for producing a path of a jet of the beverage, at least one air inlet, a channel downstream of the aperture, the channel having an entrance and exit through which the beverage travels, and the channel comprising a wall and at least one impact surface onto which the jet of beverage impinges, wherein at least part of the wall of the channel is the at least one impact surface and wherein the channel is configured to impart an asymmetrical flow to the beverage; the cartridge further comprising a circulation chamber between the eductor and the discharge outlet, the circulation chamber having a spiral-shaped bounding wall with a curved portion thereof disposed adjacent the exit of the channel, the circulation chamber having a floor extending from the spiral-shaped bounding wall, that slopes inwardly and downwardly towards the discharge outlet, the channel comprising a curved section having a floor that extends from the wall of the channel, and wherein the floor of the channel slopes downwardly toward the circulation chamber, and wherein spiral-shaped bounding wall and the floor of the circulation chamber encircles the discharge outlet of the cartridge, and wherein the channel is configured to direct the beverage along the curved portion of the spiral-shaped bounding wall as the beverage enters the circulation chamber so that the beverage follows the spiral shape of the spiral-shaped bounding wall around the circulation chamber, and wherein the channel enters the circulation chamber tangentially to the spiral-shaped bounding wall, and the discharge outlet is at the center of the circulation chamber.