Patent ID: 8850957

Claim:
A process for manufacturing a beverage preparation machine which comprises: providing at least two pre-assembled modules with each module being fully automatically assembled from at least two components selected from a group of components a) to f), with the components comprising: a) a brewing unit for receiving a pre-portioned ingredient supplied within a capsule or a pod, and for guiding an incoming flow of liquid through the ingredient to a beverage outlet; b) an in-line heater comprising a thermoblock, for heating the flow of liquid to be supplied to the brewing unit; c) a pump for pumping the liquid through the in-line heater; d) one or more fluid connecting members for guiding the liquid from a source of liquid to the beverage outlet; e) an electric control unit comprising a printed circuit board, for receiving instructions from a user via an interface and for controlling the in-line heater and the pump; and f) one or more electric sensors for sensing at least one operational characteristic selected from characteristics of the brewing unit, the in-line heater, the pump, a liquid reservoir, an ingredient collector, a flow of the liquid, a pressure of the liquid and a temperature of the liquid, and for communicating the characteristic(s) to the control unit; pre-assembling at least two or three modules, wherein the modules are selected from a down-flow module comprising the in-line heater and the brewing unit, a control module comprising an electric control unit, one or more electric sensor(s) for sensing the operational characteristic(s) and rigid connectors that extend from the control unit through the housing, or an up-flow module comprising the pump and a fluid connecting member for connecting the pump to the source of liquid; and connecting components a) to f) of each module for assembling the beverage machine, wherein the components of the fully automatically preassembled modules are configured with spatial reference portions to be automatically seizable, orientable, positionable and fully connectable to each other in one or more automatic assembly steps, and wherein the components of each fully automatically preassembled module have inter-connectable rigid connecting parts that are automatically orientable and positionable and connectable during the automatic assembly step(s).