Patent Description:
Preparing beverages by introducing a capsule containing a food or beverage ingredient, such as ground coffee or instant coffee, in a beverage dispensing machine and injecting water into the capsule is known in the state of the art: the beverage or food ingredient is typically extracted or dissolved into water to form the beverage or the desired final product, which flows out of the capsule through a suitable outlet.

As such, different capsules have been developed in the past, these capsules being at least differentiated by the nature of the capsule body used for storing the food or the beverage ingredient. Whereas most of the capsules are made of a rigid body or semi-rigid body, typically made though injection moulding or thermoforming, flexible types of packs can be made out of foil materials. Flexible packs have generally the advantage to semi-rigid and rigid capsules that less amount of material is used to pack the product leading to overall less production cost, to lower life cycle impact shown in several life-cycle assessments and to advantages on the part of the user, who will need less available space for storing these packs, as they are more compact.

For example, <CIT> describes a flexible beverage-producing sachet comprising a beverage ingredient in a volume formed by bonding two laminates at their edges, having a base seam into which a conduit of rigid plastics is bonded. An inlet nozzle is provided at the top of the resulting sachet for introducing water that is mixed with the beverage or food ingredient inside the inner volume of the sachet, the beverage produced being then evacuated through a beverage outlet arranged at the bottom of the pack, where closing means are provided, such that the closing means are adapted to open under pressure when pressurized water is introduced into the sachet, allowing the beverage to evacuate through the beverage outlet. However, this configuration presents important drawbacks for the consumer: the opening of the closing means is obtained by increase of pressure inside the sachet. Yet this pressure increase is not recommended for the preparation of some beverages because it creates bubbles at the surface of the beverage, for example this would not be desired for the preparation of tea. Besides, there exists the risk for the user that the packages may not rupture at the desired pressure, and that they would finally open up in an uncontrollable explosion. For this reason the apparatus where the sachet is processed needs to comprise means for totally enclosing the sachet in the machine during beverage preparation in order to avoid risk of damages for the consumer.

Some other flexible sachets are also known in the state of the art, for example as per <CIT>, disclosing a flexible pouch or sachet for preparing a beverage such as coffee, comprising a space where a concentrated dose of the product is stored. The pouch comprises also a rigid part on one of the sides of the pouch, provided with an inlet through which water is inserted into the pouch, a tube element conveying the water towards the opposite part of the pouch, so that the mixing of the water and the ingredient is made, and an outlet through which the product is dispensed. During the preparation of the beverage the beverage outlet is positioned at the top of the pouch. Water is introduced through the inlet and through the tube element until it fills the pouch and overflows through the beverage outlet positioned at the top of the pouch too. Such a pouch is conceived for preparing a beverage by extraction of roast and ground coffee but not by dissolution of instant coffee or other soluble materials. For this reason the pouch comprises a filter at the outlet to prevent insoluble particles from being dispensed with the beverage. An inconvenient of such a pouch is that at the end of the preparation of the beverage and the introduction of water, beverage remains in the pouch which is an issue for the user who cannot properly remove the pouch from the beverage production machine. Moreover, there is no control on any preparation nor on any dispensing sequence, which makes the process not completely satisfactory.

<CIT> and <CIT> disclose other examples of packs for preparing food or beverages.

The <CIT> belonging to the applicant discloses a pack comprising a pouch formed by at least one flexible sheet folded in such a way to configure the container comprising inside one or more ingredients for the preparation of a beverage: the pack further comprises a spout or insert comprising two parts relatively moveable with respect to each other in such a way that their relative movement opens and/or closes the communication of the inner volume of the pack with the outside of the pack. A fluid is introduced in the inner volume of the pack via the insert and the beverage is delivered through the insert, once prepared. Typically, this solution is used for the reconstitution of soluble products, of the powder type: however, when beverages such as tea are prepared in this configuration, the tea leaves accumulate at the outlet of the spout or insert, therefore blocking it and avoiding a proper operation of these packs. In order to avoid such blockage, it would be necessary to use filters in the pack, and this would make the solution not competitive from a cost point of view. In some cases, when using a soluble product, a proper dissolution may not be achieved and there is the risk that insoluble particles can be dispensed with the beverage, when no filter is used. However, using a filter makes the solution more costly and more complex.

Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a solution to the above-mentioned problems. The invention also aims at other objects and particularly at the solution of other problems as will appear in the rest of the present description.

According to a first aspect, the invention relates to a pack for the preparation of a food or beverage product as defined in claim <NUM>.

In the pack for the preparation of a food or beverage product of the invention, the height (Hpipe) of the inlet channel with respect to the height of the total volume of the container (Hvolume) is preferably of at least <NUM>%, preferably of at least <NUM>%, more preferably of at least <NUM>%.

In the pack for the preparation of a food or beverage product according to the present invention, the insert comprises at least two parts moveable with respect to each other, providing open or close communication with the inner volume of the container.

Preferably, in the pack of the invention, the at least one flexible sheet is arranged overwrapping and matching the shape of the insert in its entirety except for the part of the insert in direct communication with the inner volume of the container.

According to a further embodiment, in the pack of the invention, the insert further comprises an air inlet providing air from outside of the pack and into the volume of the container.

Typically, in the pack of the invention, the insert and/or the container comprise identification means with the information on the process parameters for the preparation of the food or beverage product. The process parameters preferably comprise one or a plurality of the following: total volume of water to introduce, the temperature of the water, the time of preparation, the pressure at which the water is introduced.

According to a second aspect, the invention relates to the use of a pack for preparing a food or beverage product as it has been previously described.

Yet according to a third aspect, the invention further relates to a method for preparing a food or beverage product using a pack as the one described, the method comprising the steps of:.

In the method of the invention, the insert is configured by at least two relatively moveable parts, such that the movement of these two parts blocks or frees the communication of the inner volume of the pack with the outside of it.

Preferably, in the method of the invention, the insert is configured by at least two relatively moveable parts that move with respect to each other to their original position at the end of the preparation of the food or beverage product, blocking any communication of the inner volume of the pack with the outside of the pack, to avoid dripping.

Further features, advantages and objects of the present invention will become apparent for a skilled person when reading the following detailed description of non-limiting embodiments of the present invention, when taken in conjunction with the appended drawings, in which:.

According to the present invention, a pack <NUM> is disclosed for preparing a food or beverage product, the pack comprising a container <NUM> and an insert <NUM>. The container <NUM> comprises at least one ingredient for the preparation of the food or beverage product. The preparation of the product is made by introducing a fluid through the insert <NUM>, typically water (optionally also air can be introduced), so the fluid extracts, dilutes, infuses and/or reconstitutes the product and the beverage prepared is further delivered also through the said insert <NUM>.

The content of the container <NUM> is preferably tea leaves, that will be infused with water injected through the insert <NUM>. However, other products can also be prepared with the pack of the invention, such as roast and ground coffee, instant coffee of the brew type (like filter coffee), products in pieces that will be prepared by infusion with water (milk, cinnamon or the like), etc. Depending on the food or beverage product prepared, air will be also introduced in the pack or not; typically, when a tea beverage will be prepared, no air will be conveyed inside the container and only water will be provided, as no foaming or bubbles are desired.

<FIG> and <FIG> show in detail the configuration of the insert <NUM> in the pack <NUM> of the invention: <FIG> shows the configuration where the outlet is closed and <FIG> shows the configuration with the outlet is open for delivering a beverage or food product. The insert <NUM> of the invention typically comprises two parts, <NUM> and <NUM>, moveable with respect to each other, preferably by linear displacement. The part <NUM> is a fixed insert part, which is fixed to or by means of the beverage preparation device, and the part <NUM> is a moveable insert part, moveable with respect to the part <NUM>. The fixed insert part <NUM> is positioned in the beverage preparation device by means of positioning holes <NUM> and <NUM>. The beverage preparation device connects with the moveable insert part <NUM> through displacing holes <NUM>, <NUM>, displacing the insert part <NUM> linearly downwards by the linear paths <NUM>, <NUM>.

In <FIG>, the moveable insert part <NUM> has not been displaced with respect to the fixed insert part <NUM>, and the inner outlet <NUM> is closed by the positioning of the moveable insert part <NUM>, blocking said outlet <NUM>, so no beverage can be dispensed through the beverage outlet <NUM>. A fluid, typically water, is injected through the inlet hole <NUM> typically by a water or fluid needle that is then conveyed through a small injection hole <NUM> into an inlet chamber <NUM> and, from there, into an inlet tube or inlet channel <NUM> from where it will flow into the inner volume of the container <NUM>, in order to extract, dilute, infuse and/or reconstitute the food or beverage product inside, typically in order to infuse tea leaves and create a tea beverage. When the beverage has been prepared, the device displaces the moveable insert part <NUM> with respect to the fixed insert part <NUM>, to a position as the one shown in <FIG>: the beverage prepared inside the container <NUM> can exit the inner volume through the inner outlet <NUM> (now not blocked, as the moveable insert part <NUM> has displaced) and from there goes into the beverage outlet <NUM> and is then dispensed. Also, an air conduct <NUM> can be provided in the moveable insert part <NUM>: no air can go through this conduct <NUM> in the closed position shown in <FIG>; however, when the part <NUM> has moved with respect to <NUM>, as represented in <FIG>, air from the outside of the pack <NUM> can go into the air conduct <NUM> so the beverage can be delivered with a certain degree of foaming; air is then driven to the inlet chamber <NUM>, when it is so desired.

Typically, in the preferred case where tea leaves are comprised inside the container <NUM> for infusing a tea beverage that will be delivered through an insert <NUM>, if the insert <NUM> is configured with the two moveable parts (with respect to each other) <NUM> and <NUM> but without the inlet tube <NUM>, the tea leaves tend to accumulate at the inner outlet <NUM>, blocking it, so no tea extraction is possible and causing, in many cases, inflation of the pouch that may lead to its explosion. Therefore, in order to prevent this outlet blockage, it would be necessary to add a filter or a filtering element at the inner outlet <NUM> in order to prevent this blockage. However, this solution would be costly and also more complex from a manufacturing point of view. Instead, when using an inlet tube <NUM> connected to the inlet (inlet hole <NUM> and injection hole <NUM>), in fact connected at the inlet chamber <NUM>, the blockage is avoided. Therefore, with such a simple and cost-effective solution, the above-mentioned problem is avoided and a tea beverage of high quality can be extracted in the pack <NUM> of the invention, without the need of using any filter or filtering element.

According to a possible embodiment of the invention, the inlet tube <NUM> can be made of a certain material and can then be connected at the inlet chamber <NUM> of the insert <NUM>, as described before. Preferably, the inlet tube <NUM> is made of the same material as that of the insert <NUM>, and is either conformed in the same manufacturing process or is added afterwards. Another possible embodiment, not covered by the claims, would be to conform a similar inlet tube <NUM> by bringing together the two sheets of flexible material configuring the container <NUM> (or the two sides of one flexible sheet folded over itself), typically by bonding them together or sealing them together in height to conform a similar shape and inlet tube <NUM> as the one described. It is clear that the inlet chamber <NUM> will be a bit bigger than the one in <FIG> or <FIG>, and, once the water will flow out of it, it will be conveyed into the inlet tube <NUM> configured by the vertical bonding or sealing of the flexible sheet(s) of the container <NUM> conforming the shape of the tube <NUM> or a similar channel able to drive the water to the top part of the volume of the container, to wet, infuse, extract, dissolve, reconstitute the product inside the container from the top. Another embodiment would be to have a hybrid solution, with part of the inlet tube <NUM> as a piece part and then continuing in height the tube conformed by bonding or sealing together the sheets of the container.

The main idea of the pack of the invention consists of creating a pipe or tube around the fluid inlet that extends the height of said inlet (in the insert <NUM>) inside the container volume so that, when fluid is introduced through the inlet hole <NUM> and from there into the injection hole <NUM> and into the inlet chamber <NUM>, from there the fluid flows up the tube <NUM> and reverts over the inside volume of the container <NUM>. The tea leaves (preferred food or beverage product inside) are arranged on the lower part of the pack <NUM> and, when water flows out of the tube <NUM>, this infusion water stays above the tea leaves, preventing turbulence so the spout would not risk any blockage. Another main advantage of the configuration of the invention is that the tea leaves constitute themselves a "natural" filter at the inner outlet <NUM> of the insert <NUM>.

The inlet tube <NUM> allows driving the inlet water directly at the upper space of the volume of the container <NUM>: then, this water flows through the tea leaves, wetting them from the upper part of it and through its inside, so the tea leaves act as a filtering "material" themselves. When another food or beverage product is inside the container, such as roast and ground coffee or another soluble product, the process is still the same, water passing through the material and a beverage or food product being infused, diluted, extracted and/or reconstituted, the particles in the configuration of said product acting as a natural filter. The length of the inlet tube <NUM> needs to have a certain dimension allowing the water or infusion fluid to be driven to a place inside the container volume that is arranged above the tea leaves or the food or beverage product; thus, the tube <NUM> needs to reach a certain height in the container volume allowing the introduction of water through the upper part of the product, allowing the wetting, infusion, reconstitution, dissolution and/or extraction of it mainly from its upper part. Also, mixing or movement or turbulence of the product is avoided so that the product does not block the inlet or inner outlet in the insert <NUM>.

Looking at <FIG>, the arrangement of the tube <NUM> within the container <NUM> is schematically represented: typically, the height of this tube, Hpipe, with respect to the total volume of the container, Hvolume, is preferably of about <NUM>%. Typically, Hpipe will be at least of <NUM>% of Hvolume, preferably of at least <NUM>%, more preferably of at least <NUM>%.

Typically, looking at <FIG>, a pack <NUM> according to a possible embodiment of the invention is shown: this pack <NUM> comprises a container <NUM> and an insert <NUM> that is overwrapped by the flexible sheet configuring the container <NUM>. As shown in these Figures, typically, one flexible sheet of material is folded overwrapping the insert <NUM> and conforming to the shape of it, over the whole of its surface, except for the upper part of it which is in contact with the inner volume of the container <NUM>. In order to close tightly the pack <NUM>, the film is then sealed in several parts to configure the container <NUM>: as shown in <FIG>, lateral or side sealing <NUM> and <NUM> are provided, as well as an upper sealing <NUM> and lower sealing <NUM>, <NUM>. The film or flexible sheet is also sealed over the frontal and the rear sides of the insert <NUM>. Therefore, the injection means (fluid needle) pierce the film when connecting with the inlet hole <NUM>.

Preferably, in order to make the pack <NUM> reversible, the insert <NUM> comprises an inlet hole <NUM> that is a through hole (as represented in <FIG>) or that can be accessed frontally and on its rear side with blind holes (another option not represented in the Figures, though), still able to be accessed from both sides of the pack, frontal and rear side. Preferably, the insert <NUM> is identical on both its front and rear sides.

In the present invention fluid covers either any aqueous diluent that can be mixed with a soluble beverage ingredient to prepare a beverage, like water, carbonated water, milk, etc. (preferably, water is the preferred aqueous diluent) or any gaseous fluid such as for example air. When referring to aqueous fluid, water is the preferred fluid; when referring to gaseous fluid, air is the preferred fluid.

The pack <NUM> of the invention can be configured having any possible shape, such as a pouch (flexible, for example), a sachet, a capsule, or any other possible container shape.

Preferably, the aqueous fluid (water) is injected at a low pressure, typically not higher than <NUM> bar. No jet of fluid or turbulence jet is created inside the pack and the fluid overflows the tube <NUM> and infuses or wets the material.

The insert <NUM> is preferably rigid and is made of a rigid plastic material, preferably by injection moulding. Typically, this plastic material can be selected from the following: polypropylene, polyethylene, polyethylene terephthalate and polylactic acid. Also according to a less preferred embodiment the insert <NUM> can be made of a metal like aluminium or tin-plate.

The pack <NUM> can also comprise an excrescence enabling the handling of the pack by the user or consumer: this has not been shown in the Figures attached, though.

According to the invention, either the insert <NUM> and/or the container <NUM> preferably comprise identification means with the information for fluid or fluids supplied in the inner volume of the container <NUM> from the inlet hole, such as for example the total volume of fluid to introduce, the temperature of said fluid, the time of infusion, or the pressure at which the fluid is introduced, among others. Such identification means can comprise any kind of recognition means such as, for example, mechanical codes, optical codes, RFID tags, bar codes, magnetic codes, detection holes or the like. Typically, the device will then comprise a control unit that will retrieve the information on the process parameters by reading the identification means on the pack, and will apply these parameters when preparing the corresponding food or beverage product.

Preferably, as shown in the Figures attached, the pack <NUM> of the invention presents a plane shape oriented along a plane essentially vertically oriented during beverage production and the water is driven out of the tube <NUM> in a direction comprised in said plane.

According to the invention, the container is arranged essentially vertically during the production and dispensing of the food or beverage product, and the insert <NUM> is arranged in such a way that the water and/or air coming from the inlet hole and through the inlet chamber is supplied into the container in an upward direction.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, typically a flexible sheet is folded so as to conform a pouch therefore configuring the container <NUM> comprising inside the food or beverage product to prepare the corresponding product out of it. Also preferably, this flexible sheet is further overwrapped around the insert <NUM> therefore hygienically protecting and isolating it.

Preferably the pack itself is substantially flexible and looks like a pouch or sachet. By flexible, it is meant that the sheets can be bent easily. The resulting pack <NUM> can be bent also, as being soft and can be deformed contrary to rigid containers. The flexible sheet material can be plastic laminates, metallised foil or alufoil or fibre base material, or a mix of these, further possibly being coated. According to the invention the two flexible water impermeable sheets can be formed of one single flexible water impermeable sheet folded in half and joined at its free edges.

According to a second aspect, the invention further refers to a method for preparing a food or beverage product using a pack <NUM> as previously described.

Claim 1:
Pack (<NUM>) for the preparation of a food or beverage product comprising an insert (<NUM>) and a container (<NUM>),
the container (<NUM>) being configured by at least one flexible sheet folded in such a way to configure a container where ingredients for the food or beverage product are stored, the insert (<NUM>) being overwrapped by the at least one flexible sheet configuring the container (<NUM>), and the insert (<NUM>) comprising at least two parts (<NUM>, <NUM>) moveable with respect to each other, providing open or close communication with the inner volume of the container (<NUM>).water to extract and/or infuse and/or dissolve and/or reconstitute the ingredients in the container (<NUM>) and to prepare the food or beverage product can be introduced through the insert (<NUM>) through an injection hole (<NUM>) and into an inlet chamber (<NUM>), the food or beverage product once prepared being also dispensed through this insert (<NUM>),
the pack (<NUM>) presenting a generally plane shape and being essentially vertically oriented during food or beverage production with the insert (<NUM>) arranged at the lower side of the pack (<NUM>) so the water is supplied into the volume of the container in an upward direction;
characterized in that :
the pack (<NUM>) further comprising an inlet channel (<NUM>) arranged at the inlet chamber (<NUM>) and extending vertically inside the volume of the container (<NUM>) in such a way that the water introduced via the insert (<NUM>) is conducted by the channel (<NUM>) and enters the inner volume of the container (<NUM>) through this channel (<NUM>), and the inlet channel (<NUM>) comprises an essentially vertical tube of a certain length (Hpipe), the height (Hpipe) of the channel (<NUM>) in the volume of the container being such that it is arranged above the ingredients in the container and allows the water exiting the channel (<NUM>) to wet the ingredients from the upper part of these, avoiding turbulence, and , and
- the tube configuring the inlet channel (<NUM>) is made of the same material as the insert (<NUM>).