Patent ID: 7270050

Claim:
Apparatus for brewing beverages by supplying a liquid under pressure to an infusible material, said apparatus comprising: A) infusion chamber means for receiving the infusible material including a side wall, an open top and a perforated bottom, and B) piston means for compacting the infusible material and dispersing the liquid, said piston means including piston head means for forming a brewing chamber in said infusion chamber means and piston rod means for moving said piston head means past said open top, said piston head means having an active peripheral sealing means including: i) first means fixed to said piston rod means for forming a rigid structure, ii) second means for compacting the infusible material and dispersing the liquid and including: a) means for forming a labyrinth facing said brewing chamber, and b) perforated disk means overlying said labyrinth for distributing the liquid under pressure evenly over the infusible material during brewing, iii) sealing means attached to each of said first and second means for suspending said second means from said first means, and iv) spring means intermediate said first and second means for separating said first and second means when said piston head means is spaced from the infusible material whereby said seal means contracts from said side wall of said infusion chamber means, said second means overcoming the bias of said spring means during compaction of the infusible material whereupon said seal means expands into a sealing engagement with the side wall and said piston head means and said infusion chamber means form the brewing chamber.