Encapsulating coffee between two layers of paper

A beverage brewer with tape formed of two layers of paper between which are packets of coffee. The tape has perforations along each edge and sprockets intermittently drive the tape so as to place fresh coffee into the brewer and to remove the used coffee from the brewing chamber.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates to a beverage brewing machine which brews a beverage 
from ground coffee or any other beverage ingredient encapsulated between 
two layers of a filter paper or plastic and separated into individual 
brewing packets. When each packet is placed in a special brewing mechanism 
and a cup of hot water is added, the beverage ingredient is first aerated 
from below for a few seconds and then the air pressure is replaced with a 
vacuum so as to withdraw the brewed beverage into the lower chamber to be 
then dispensed into a cup. 
DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART 
Beverage brewing machines such as coffee brewers are known such as my U.S. 
Pat. No. 4,903,586 which includes a strip-shaped filter and has upper and 
lower brewing chambers with a piston mounted in the lower brewing chamber 
for agitating and drawing the brewed beverage through the coffee grounds 
and filter. See also U.S. Pat. No. 4,426,919 which has strips formed with 
a lower porous layer and upper water proof layer with spaced packets of 
coffee therebetween and with annular seals in the top layer in which is 
mounted a porous layer. See also U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,309,820, 5,337,653, 
4,936,199, 5,353,692, 3,208,369, 3,143,954 and 3,122,988. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to a novel beverage brewer and a novel packet 
or tape in which coffee or other beverage ingredient is encapsulated 
between two pervious layers such as paper or plastic such that the 
encapsulated portion can be individually placed in the brewer, or in a 
multiple series of portions connected together in a tape which can be 
advanced into a brewing machine to allow beverage to be brewed after which 
the upper and lower portion of the brewing machine separate and the packet 
or tape with the spent coffee grounds is removed from the brewing chamber 
and a packet of encapsulated ground coffee is inserted or the tape moves 
into position for the next brewing process. 
Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be readily 
apparent from the following description of certain preferred embodiments 
thereof taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings although 
variations and modifications may be effected without departing from the 
spirit and scope of the novel concepts of the disclosure, and in which:

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate a beverage brewer 10 which has a housing 11 that 
supports a main cylinder 12 of cylindrical shape in which a piston 13 is 
movably mounted and is connected by a wrist a pin 19 to a link 14 that is 
pivoted by pin 16 to an arm 17 that is driven by a shaft 18 to which a 
suitable driving motor, not shown, is attached. The main cylinder 12 is 
formed with coffee discharge slots 20 so that the coffee from the lower 
brewing chamber can pass to a spout 15 where it is received in a cup or 
other container, not shown. 
An upper brewing chamber 23 is movably mounted relative to the main 
cylinder 12 in a manner as shown and described in my prior U.S. Pat. No. 
4,903,586. A rod 22 is supported for a movable motion and has a lower end 
that engages a cam 21 mounted on shaft 18. A funnel 36 is connected to the 
upper portion of the upper brewing chamber 23 and a spout 34 periodically 
discharges water through an opening 33 from the water container 24 into 
the upper brewing chamber 23 through the spout 34. A shaft 39 is fixedly 
mounted relative to the housing 11 and supports a reel 38 of tape of 
encapsulated coffee mounted between two porous layers of paper. As shown 
in FIG. 3, the tape 37 passes over sprockets 41 and 41a mounted on a 
supporting shaft 42 which is supported by the housing 11 for rotational 
motion and the sprockets 41 and 41a have extensions 43 and 43a which are 
aligned with perforations 63, 66 and 63a, 66a in the tape 37. The tape 37 
passes through the brewing chamber between the upper brewing chamber 23 
and the main cylinder 12 and then passes over a second set of sprockets 44 
which have projections 47 which are received in the perforations 63, 66 
and 63a and 66 and 66a. The sprockets 44 are mounted on a shaft 46 and the 
shaft 46 is rotatably supported by the housing 11 on the opposite side of 
the machine to that on which the shaft 42 is supported. A gear 45 is 
non-rotatably attached to the shaft 46 and sprockets 44 and is in mesh 
with the gear 48 which is rotatably mounted on a shaft 49 supported by the 
housing 11. 
A segment gear 51 with teeth 52 is non-rotatably mounted on a shaft 53 
which carries a pulley 54 and is supported by the housing 11. A belt 56 
passes over the pulley 54 and its lower end passes over a pulley 57 which 
is non-rotatably mounted on the shaft 18. The tape 37 passes over the 
sprockets 44 and through a guard 50 of the machine 10 and is received in a 
receptacle 61 which receives the used tape. 
As shown in FIG. 3, the tape 37 comprises a lower pervious layer 62 which 
might be of paper. Coffee grounds 67 are attached to the lower layer 62 
and an upper pervious layer 64 is attached to the lower layer 62 over the 
coffee grounds 67 and the upper and lower layers 62 and 64 are sealed 
together by adhesive or other means. Perforations 66 and 68a in the layer 
64 are aligned with the perforations 63 and 63a in the lower layer 62 so 
that the sprockets 41 and 44 drive the tape with the projections 43 and 47 
which extend through the openings 63 and 66. The coffee 67 is spaced along 
the tapes 62 and 64 with a spacing interval 68 therebetween such that one 
of the encapsulated coffee packets 67 will be within the brewing machine 
after each brewing cycle. 
In operation, initially fresh coffee is in the brewing chamber and when the 
driving motor of the machine is actuated it drives shaft 18. Hot water is 
inserted into the upper brewing chamber 23 from the hot water tank 24 
through the spout 34 and funnel 36 and as the motor shaft 18 continues to 
turn, the piston 13 moves upwardly to force air through the tape 37 and 
coffee grounds 67 and then sucks the hot water from the upper brewing 
chamber 23 into the main cylinder 12 through the coffee grounds and tape 
37 so as to brew the coffee. The piston 13 continues its downward motion 
until the top of the piston 13 is below the slots 20 and the main cylinder 
so that the coffee then runs through the slots 20 into the spout 15 and 
into a suitable receptacle, as for example a cup. Then cam 21 moves shaft 
22 to separate the upper brewing chamber 23 from the main cylinder 12 as 
shown in FIG. 2. Then, the teeth 52 of the segment gear 51 engage the 
teeth of the gear 48 so as to turn the sprockets 44 to drive the tape 37 
so as to remove the used coffee grounds 67 and the tape 37 out of the 
brewing chamber so that it passes downwardly over the sprocket 44 into the 
receptacle 61. An unused packet 67 on the tape 37 will be moved into the 
brewing chamber for the next cycle. Further movement of the shaft 18 
causes the push rod 22 to move downwardly so as to seal the upper brewing 
chamber 23 to the main cylinder 12. Then the motor stops and the brewer is 
ready for another brewing cycle. 
It is seen that this invention provides a new and novel beverage brewer 
which includes a permeable tape formed of two layers of permeable material 
such as paper between which coffee packets 67 are mounted. The tape is 
formed with sprocket holes and passes over suitable sprockets which 
periodically drive the tape so as to remove the used coffee packets out of 
the brewing chamber and to move a new unused coffee packet into the 
machine. 
An alternative method is that in opposition to using a reel of tape, a 
single coffee packet is manually placed within the brewing machine at the 
start of a brewing cycle. When the brewing cycle is complete, the used 
single coffee packet is manually removed and replaced with a fresh packet 
if desired. 
Although the invention has been described with respect to preferred 
embodiments, it is not to be so limited as changes and modifications can 
be made which are within the full intended scope of the invention as 
defined by the appended claims.