Abstract:
The present invention relates to an apparatus for brewing hot beverages, and more particularly to an apparatus for automated brewing of coffee or tea. The apparatus for automated brewing of coffee comprises a frame structure defining an interior space, wherein the interior space houses a ground coffee feed system, a carousel assembly, a water system, a waste system and a coffee storage and dispensing system.

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
       [0001]    The present invention relates to an apparatus for brewing hot beverages, and more particularly to an apparatus for automated brewing of coffee or tea. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    Currently, most commercial establishments selling coffee use standard commercial drip coffee machines which include glass urns that brew 59 ounces of coffee. 
         [0003]    Drip coffee is brewed manually, and every brew requires fresh ground coffee to be filled into a paper filter which is placed into a brew basket, and then mounted into the drip coffee machine. Once the brew basket is securely in place, the brewing cycle is activated by pressing a brew button. After brewing is complete, the brew basket must be removed from the drip coffee machine and the coffee grounds and filter discarded into the garbage. The brew basket urn is then rinsed and the process is repeated for another brewing cycle. 
         [0004]    This process is extremely tedious and demanding, especially during peak business hours, making it difficult to consistently control the quality level of coffee while ensuring consumers are being served in a hospitable manner. 
         [0005]    This brewing process has been unchanged for the past 30-years and is currently used today although population has increased as well as the consumption of coffee. The average amount of coffee sold at an establishment during a 17-hour day is approximately 19,353 cups of coffee (15 ounce cup), and 50% of the cups are sold within a five hour window, typically between 6am until 11am. 
         [0006]    Larger coffee brewers are available that can brew greater quantities, but due to the limited amount of space available in coffee shops this option is not generally feasible. Additional concerns, include, (1) compromised coffee quality, loss of favourable flavour, appropriate heat, and freshness during non-peak hours since the brewed coffee should be consumed within a certain amount of time to ensure a true quality of freshly brewed coffee and to avoid staleness; (2) larger brew basket present difficulties for staff to use safely, and often lead to staff getting burned from spillage of the hot brewed coffee. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0007]    The present invention has been developed in view of the difficulties in the art noted and described above. 
         [0008]    To at least partially overcome these disadvantages, the present invention provides an apparatus for automated hot beverage brewing, as for example for brewing coffee or tea. 
         [0009]    In one aspect, the present invention resides an apparatus for automated brewing of coffee comprising: a frame structure defining an interior space, wherein the interior space houses a ground coffee feed system, a carousel assembly, a water system, a waste system and a coffee storage and dispensing system. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0010]    Reference may now be made to the following detailed description taken together with the accompanying drawings in which: 
           [0011]      FIG. 1  illustrates a perspective view of an apparatus for brewing coffee in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0012]      FIG. 2  illustrates an exploded perspective of the apparatus shown in  FIG. 1 . 
           [0013]      FIG. 3  illustrates a partially exploded perspective view of the ground coffee feed system of the apparatus shown in  FIG. 1 . 
           [0014]      FIG. 4  illustrates an alternative embodiment of a portion control assembly in accordance with the present invention. 
           [0015]      FIG. 5  illustrates the ground coffee feed system, carousel assembly, water system, and coffee storage system of the apparatus shown in  FIG. 1 . 
           [0016]      FIG. 6  illustrates a perspective view of the carousel assembly of the apparatus shown in  FIG. 1  with the brew basket in an upright position. 
           [0017]      FIG. 7  illustrates a perspective view of the carousel assembly of the apparatus shown in  FIG. 1  with the brew basket in an inverted position. 
           [0018]      FIG. 8  illustrates a perspective view of the brew basket inversion process of the carousel assembly shown in  FIGS. 7 and 8 . 
           [0019]      FIG. 9  illustrates the water system of the apparatus shown in  FIG. 1 . 
           [0020]      FIG. 10  illustrates the water system and coffee storage and dispensing system of the apparatus shown in  FIG. 1 . 
           [0021]      FIG. 11  illustrates the water system, coffee storage system and waste system of the apparatus shown in  FIG. 1 . 
           [0022]      FIG. 12  illustrates a perspective of the waste system of the apparatus shown in  FIG. 1 . 
           [0023]      FIG. 13  illustrates a perspective view of the coffee storage and dispensing system of the apparatus shown in  FIG. 1 . 
           [0024]      FIG. 14  illustrates a left side exploded elevation view of the carafe of the coffee storage and dispensing system shown in  FIG. 13 . 
           [0025]      FIG. 15  illustrates a left side elevation view of the carafe of the coffee storage and dispensing system shown in  FIG. 13 . 
           [0026]      FIG. 16  illustrates a perspective of the dispensing valve and waste valve of the coffee storage and dispensing system shown in  FIG. 15 . 
           [0027]      FIG. 17  illustrates a perspective of the dispensing valve shown in  FIG. 16   
           [0028]      FIG. 18  illustrates a perspective view of the valve bobbins and cushioning mat shown in  FIG. 17 . 
           [0029]      FIG. 19  illustrates a front perspective view of the fill bay of the apparatus shown in  FIG. 1 . 
           [0030]      FIG. 20  illustrates a rear perspective view of the fill bay of the apparatus shown in  FIG. 1 . 
           [0031]      FIG. 21  illustrates a brewing process with the apparatus shown in  FIG. 1 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0032]    Reference will now be made to  FIGS. 1 to 21  which illustrate a preferred embodiment of an apparatus for brewing coffee  100  in accordance with the present disclosure. 
         [0033]    The coffee apparatus  100  has a box-like frame structure  110  having a base  120 . Outer surface paneling  130 , hinged front upper display bezel  140  and hinged lower door fill bay  160  are mounted to the frame structure  110  and define an interior space of the apparatus  100 . Preferably the outer surface paneling  130 , front upper display bezel  140  and lower door fill bay  160  are formed from like weight sheet metal such as aluminium. 
         [0034]    The interior space houses the ground coffee feed system  200 , carousel assembly  300 , water system  400 , waste system  500  and coffee storage and dispensing system  600  of the apparatus  100 . 
         [0035]      FIG. 3  illustrates a perspective view of the ground coffee feed system  200 . The feed system  200  includes a hopper in the form of a conically shaped funnel  210  for receiving and storing ground coffee, a shutter assembly  220  and a portion control assembly  240 . 
         [0036]    The funnel  210  define an open top  212  and an open bottom  214 . A funnel cover  216  is provided to cover/seal the open top  212  of the funnel  210  to protect the stored ground coffee from the environmental conditions, such as excess moisture in the ambient air, to retain the ground coffee aroma and quality characteristics. Preferably, a seal  213  is disposed between the cover  216  and funnel  210  which provides an airtight seal between the cover  216  and the funnel  210  when the cover  216  is installed on the funnel  210 . A sensor may be arranged to detect and recognise the presence and type of ground coffee being stored in the funnel, and coffee brewing parameters may be preset and automatically controlled based on the detected ground coffee type stored in the funnel  210 . 
         [0037]    The funnel  210  is mounted to a base  221  of the shutter assembly  220 . The base  221  defines an opening or passageway passing through the base  221 . The passageway is aligned directly with the open bottom  214  of the funnel  210 . The base  221  supports a sliding funnel shutter  222  which is movable with respect to the base  221  between an open position and a closed position. Ground coffee stored in the funnel  210  may pass from the open bottom  214  of the funnel  210  through the passageway defined by the base  221  when the funnel shutter  222  is in the open position, and when the funnel shutter  222  is in the closed position the passageway is blocked so that the ground coffee is retained in the funnel  210 . 
         [0038]    In an alternative embodiment, a bean grinder may be interposed between the funnel  210  and shutter assembly  220 . The funnel  210  may receive coffee beans instead of ground coffee, and the bean grinder between the funnel  210  and shutter assembly  220  can grind the beans to the desired grind size. 
         [0039]    The base  221  is detachably secured to a housing body  242  of the portion control assembly  240  so that the base  221  can be removed from the portion control assembly  240 . Preferably a quick release mechanical locking mechanism detachably secures the base  221  to the housing body  242 . With the funnel shutter  222  in the closed position, the shutter assembly  220  together with the funnel  210 , and any ground coffee stored in the funnel  210 , can be quickly removed from the coffee apparatus  100  and replaced by another funnel and shutter assembly. The detachably secured base  221  allows for quick changeovers between different types of ground coffee being brewed, and facilitates cleaning of the funnel  210 . 
         [0040]    The housing body  242  defines in opposing relationship, a top inlet opening  248  and a bottom outlet opening (not shown). The inlet opening  248  is aligned directly below the passageway defined by the base  221  and the open bottom  214  of the funnel  210  when the base  221  is mounted to the top of the housing body  242 . 
         [0041]    A portioning cup  244  is rotatably supported in the housing body  242  and is driven by a motor  246  through a portion coupler  252  attached to one end of the portioning cup  244 . The coupler  252  connects the rotation of the portioning cup  244  to the drive shaft  254  of the motor  246 . Preferably an indexing switch  258  monitors and provides feed back controls for the rotation of the portioning cup  244  of the coffee apparatus  100 . 
         [0042]    The portioning cup  244  defines a cavity  250  which receives the ground coffee to be brewed from the funnel  210 . In operation, the cavity  250  of the portioning cup  244  is rotated into alignment directly below the passageway through the base  221 . With the funnel shutter  222  in the open position, ground coffee stored in the funnel  210  may pass through the bottom opening  214  and passageway in the base  221  into the inlet opening  248  of the housing body  242  so that the ground coffee is received in and fills the cavity  250 . Preferably, when the portioning cup  244  is positioned to receive the ground coffee, the motor  246  imparts a vibratory frequency to the portion ground coffee feed system  200  to assist the flow of ground coffee from the funnel  210  into the cavity  250 . The motor is preferably a stepper motor or servo motor with position control. Wiper blades  243  are provided about the periphery of the inlet opening  248  between the portioning cup  244  and the housing body  242  to prevent granules of ground coffee from wedging between the housing  242  and the portioning cup  244  during rotation of the portioning cup  244 . 
         [0043]    The cavity  250  is sized to provide a fixed volume of ground coffee to be brewed. Once the cavity  250  is filled, the portioning cup  244  is rotated by the motor  246  approximately 180° degrees into alignment with the outlet opening defined in the bottom end of the housing body  242 . 
         [0044]    The apportioned ground coffee stored in the cavity  250  is gravity fed from the cavity  250  through the outlet opening of the housing body  242  into a brew basket  310  of the carousel assembly  300  arranged in a ground coffee receiving position below the portioning cup  244 . Preferably, to assist in fully dumping the ground coffee to be brewed from the cavity  250  into the brew basket  310 , the motor  246  similarly imparts a vibratory frequency to the portion ground coffee feed system  200  to assist the flow of ground coffee from the cavity  250  of the portioning cup  244 . The cavity  250  is now empty and further rotated 180° degrees into alignment directly below the passageway through the base  221  and inlet opening  248  to receive the next batch of ground coffee to be brewed. This process may be repeated until the desired amount of apportioned ground coffee is dumped and received by the brew basket  310 . 
         [0045]    In an alternative embodiment of the portion control assembly shown in  FIG. 4 , the rotatable portioning cup  244  may be replaced by a rotatable auger conveyor  260  housed in the housing body  242 . The auger conveyor  260  is rotationally coupled to the motor  246  through the portion coupler  252  and rotationally monitored by the index switch  258 . The auger conveyor  260  is rotated by the motor  246  to convey the ground coffee received in the housing body  242  from the funnel  210  towards the outlet opening  262  arranged at a bottom end of the housing body  242  and into the brew basket  310  of the carousel assembly  300  arranged below the outlet opening  262 . 
         [0046]    The brew basket  310  is sized to receive the desired apportioned amount of ground coffee for the brewing process. The brew basket  310  includes a fine mesh structured bottom  310   a  having openings sufficiently sized to prevent individual ground coffee granules stored in the basket  310  to pass through the meshing. The brew basket  310  effectively functions as a reusable filter during the brewing process. Preferably, the mesh structure  310   a  is made from woven stainless steel. 
         [0047]    The brew basket  310  is supported by a carousel plate  314  which is attached to a carousel assembly frame  316 . A motor  324 , preferably a stepper motor or servo motor with position control, drives a gear  322  coupled to a carousel gear  330  by a drive belt  320 . The carousel gear  330  is attached to the assembly frame  316  so that the motor  324  rotatably turns the carousel assembly frame  316 , and in turn, rotates the carousel plate  314  and brew basket  310  counter clockwise 360° degrees about shaft  325  in the direction shown by the arrow. Preferably an indexing switch  326  monitors and provides feed back controls for the rotation of the carousal gear  330 . 
         [0048]    The brew basket  310  is rotated between the ground coffee receiving position, a first brewing station for brewing coffee, a second brewing station for brewing coffee, and a basket rinse station as will be more fully detailed below. 
         [0049]    The water system  400  provides hot water to be used to brew the apportioned ground coffee received by the brew basket  310  and to rinse the coffee grounds from the brew basket  310  after the brewing process. Preferably the water system  400  is connected to a main water supply line (not shown) of a building. The water system  400  includes a boiler  402 , preferably an in-line boiler, which supplies hot water through a solenoid manifold  403  which selectively distributes the hot water between a first brew nozzle  404  arranged above a first coffee catchment funnel  406 , a second brew nozzle  408  arranged above a second coffee catchment funnel  410 , and a basket rinse nozzle  412  arranged above a coffee grounds waste chute  414 . 
         [0050]    In the first brewing station the brew basket  310  filled with ground coffee to be brewed is rotated to a position between the first brew nozzle  404  and the first coffee catchment funnel  406 . Preferably, the first brew nozzle  404  includes a number of sprinkler heads or orifices which distribute a fixed amount of hot water evenly through the brew basket  310  to wet and brew the ground coffee. The brewed coffee drips from the brew basket  310  into the first coffee catchment funnel  406 , which is positioned within a brew plate  416  directly beneath the first brew nozzle  404 . The brew plate  416  functions to catch any over flow of fluid and directs the over flow towards the waste chute  414 . The brew basket  310  remains between the first brew nozzle  404  and first coffee catchment funnel  406  for a predetermined set amount of time required to fully brew the coffee, according to the specific requirements of the ground coffee being brewed, including heat, time, temperature, volume and flow rate of water to ground coffee. 
         [0051]    The second brewing station is of a similar construction as the first brewing station. Depending on where the brewed coffee is required, the brew basket  310  filled with the ground coffee to be brewed can instead be rotated past the first brewing station and into the second brewing station to a position between the second brew nozzle  408  and the second coffee catchment funnel  410 . The second brew nozzle  408  likewise preferably includes a number of sprinkler heads or orifices which distribute a fixed amount of hot water evenly through the brew basket  310  to wet and brew the ground coffee. The brewed coffee drips from the brew basket  310  into the second coffee catchment funnel  410  positioned within the brew plate  416  directly beneath the second brew nozzle  408 . The brew basket  310  similarly remains between the second brew nozzle  408  and catchment funnel  410  for a predetermined set amount of time required to fully brew the coffee according to the coffee specifications. 
         [0052]    Once the coffee has been brewed, the coffee grounds remaining in the brew basket  310  are disposed of through the waste chute  414 . To dispense the coffee grounds, the brew basket  310  in the first brewing station or the second brewing station is further rotated about the carousel shaft  325  into a rinse station where the brew basket  310  is arranged between the basket rinse nozzle  412  and the waste chute  414 . 
         [0053]    Affixed to the bottom of the carousel shaft  325  is a stationary basket indexing gear  340 . The indexing gear  340  has a number of downwardly extending gear teeth  315  arranged on only a partial portion of the bottom surface of the indexing gear  340 . The indexing gear  340  is fixedly secured to the carousel shaft  325  so that it does not rotate with the carousel plate  314 . As the brew basket  310  rotates towards rinse nozzle  412 , a bevelled gear  312  arranged on one end of the brew basket  310  engages with the teeth  315  of the indexing gear  340  so that the brew basket entering into the rinse station is inverted upside down directly below the rinse nozzle  412  and above the waste chute  414 . Preferably the rinse nozzle  412  includes a number of sprinkler heads or orifices which distribute a fixed amount of water at a predetermined flow rate evenly over the brew basket  310 . 
         [0054]    The rinse nozzle  412  is arranged to be positioned directly above the fully inverted brew basket  310  and sprays water into the inverted brew basket  310  to rinses the brew basket  310  and discard any coffee grounds remaining in the brew basket  310  into the waste chute  414 . 
         [0055]    Once the brew basket  310  has been rinsed, the brew basket  310  in the rinse station is further rotated about the carousel shaft  325  into the ground coffee receiving position to receive the next apportioned ground coffee from the cavity  250  of the portioning cup  244 . 
         [0056]    The waste chute  414  extends downwardly into a removable waste storage box  510  of the waste system  500 . A bottom surface of the waste storage box  510  includes a meshing structure preferably made out of stainless steel which allows for the separation of solid waste from liquid waste. The solid waste is retained inside of the box  510  while the liquid waste drains into a drain plate  520  positioned below the waste storage box  510 . A drain opening is connected to the drain plate  520  to drain the liquid waste from the plate  520 . 
         [0057]    The waste storage box  510  is provided with handles  512  so that the box  510  can be slidably removed from the coffee apparatus  100  to dispose of the coffee grounds. The solid waste particles may be composted while the liquid waste drains into the draining system. Sensors are provided to confirm the presence or absence of the waste storage box  510  in the coffee apparatus  100 . If the waste storage box  510  is removed from the coffee apparatus  100  or is not properly received by the coffee apparatus  100 , an alarm, such as an audible sound or visual indicator, may be activated to indicate the absence of the waste storage box  510  and the coffee apparatus  100  may default to an off condition. First and second removable carafes  610  and  620  are arranged below the first coffee catchment funnel  406  and the second coffee catchment funnel  410 , respectively. The following descriptions will be restricted to the second carafe  620  but should be understood as being equally applicable to carafe  610 . 
         [0058]    A top surface of the carafe  620  defines a downwardly tapered opening  612  which funnels the brewed coffee received from the catchment funnel  410  into the carafe  620 . A heat retention cap  613  may be provided to cover the opening  612  to retain the heat of the brewed coffee stored in the carafes. A coffee outlet nozzle  614  is defined by a bottom surface of the carafe. The carafe  620  is supported on a carafe plate. A front end of the carafe plate is hinged mounted or supported by a frame support  623  of the apparatus  100  while the back end is arranged to sit on top of and be supported by a load sensor  622  which detects a change in the weight of the fluid contained in the carafe  620 . The load sensor  622  monitors and provides feed back control signals for the apparatus as the weight of the fluid stored in carafe  620  changes. The water system may also further include rinsing nozzle extending in the respective carafes  610 ,  620 . Preferably the nozzles are arranged to direct water flow tangentially towards an inner circumferential surface of the carafes  610 ,  620  from a top portion to direct the flow in a spiral like manner from the top towards the bottom to clean the surfaces of the carafe interior. 
         [0059]    The coffee outlet nozzle  614  is sized to be received by an associated carafe coupler  630 . Arranged on opposing sides of the coupler  630  and in fluid communication through fluid tubes  632  are a dispensing pinch valve  652  and a waste pinch valve  654 . The waste pinch valve  654  is in fluid communication with the drain plate  520  and operable to direct the flow of brewed coffee from the carafe  620  into the drain plate  520  to dispense of the coffee stored in the carafe  620 . The dispensing pinch valve  652  is in fluid communication with a dispensing nozzle  650  to dispense the coffee to coffee cup  700 . 
         [0060]    The following description will be restricted to the dispensing pinch valve  652  but is to be understood as being equally applicable to waste pinch valve  654 . The dispensing pinch valve  652  includes a pinch valve motor  669 , a pinch valve housing  670  which houses a roller sleeve  671  extending between rotatable valve bobbins  672   a,    672   b,  and a cushioning mat  673 . The pinch valve housing  670  defines openings for the fluid tube  632  to pass through the housing  670 . The fluid tube  632  is guided through the housing and arranged in abutting contact below the cushioning mat  673 . In operation, the pinch valve motor  669  rotatably drives the valve bobbins  672   a,    672   b  to pinch the fluid tube  632  between the cushioning mat  673  and roller sleeve  671  to close the valve  652 . The cushioning matter provides an optimized seal and better pinching at lower torques. Preferably, the fluid tubes  632  are sufficiently resilient and flexible to be fully pinched and close the valve  652 . 
         [0061]    The flow rate of brewed coffee dispensed by the nozzle  650  is controlled by the dispense valve  652 . Preferably the nozzle  650  is partitioned vertically in half to separate the coffee flowing from the individual carafes  610 ,  620 . The nozzle  650  may also include downwardly extending substantially vertical flutes which provide laminar flow of the coffee being dispensed from the nozzle  650  to prevent splashing during dispensing. 
         [0062]    The coffee is dispensed into the cup  700  which is received in the fill bay  720 . The cup  700  is arranged to sit on top of catchment grill  722 . The catchment grill  722  is supported by a vertically displaceable arm  726  which is supported by a load sensor  728  that detects a change in the weight of the fluid contained in the cup  700 , and height sensors  724  detect the size of the cup  700 , as for example small, medium or large, arranged in the fill bay  700 . The load sensor  728  and height sensor  700  monitor and provide feed back control signals for the apparatus to automatically dispense the correct amount of coffee to the cup  700 . 
         [0063]    Although this disclosure had described and illustrated certain preferred embodiments of the invention, it is to be understood that the invention is not restricted to these particular embodiments. Rather, the invention includes all embodiments, which are functional, electrical or mechanical equivalents of the specific embodiments and features that have been described and illustrated herein. 
         [0064]    To the extent that a patentee may act as its own lexicographer under applicable law, it is hereby further directed that all words appearing in the claims section, except for the above defined words, shall take on their ordinary, plain and accustomed meanings (as generally evidence, inter alia, by dictionaries and/or technical lexicons), and shall not be considered to be specially defined in this specification. Notwithstanding this limitation on the inference of “special definitions,” the specification may be used to evidence the appropriate, ordinary, plain and accustomed meanings (as generally evidenced, inter alia, by dictionaries and/or technical lexicons), in the situation where a word or term used in the claims has more than one pre-established meaning and the specification is helpful in choosing between the alternatives.