Patent ID: 8807018

Claim:
A beverage forming capsule comprising a compartment containing ingredients for producing a beverage and having a beverage outlet, the compartment comprising a peripheral wall and a lower face in contact with the compartment peripheral wall which the lower face is designed to initially support the ingredients at ambient pressure while preventing flow of the beverage therethrough, and thereafter to release the beverage from the compartment along a flow path that is directed first towards the peripheral wall of the compartment and then towards the beverage outlet when pressure in the compartment increases to cause the lower face to be permanently opened; and valve means operatively associated with the peripheral wall of the compartment and having a peripheral portion that is movable under the effect of pressure inside the capsule, with the valve means being arranged and positioned for selectively blocking the flow path such that the beverage is allowed to flow first towards the peripheral wall of the compartment, then between the peripheral portion of the valve means and the peripheral wall of the compartment under the increased pressure after the lower face is permanently opened, and then through the beverage outlet, with the peripheral portion of the valve means then closing the flow path from the compartment to the beverage outlet to prevent flow of the beverage after the increased pressure is reduced back to ambient pressure, wherein the valve means includes a valve member comprising a contoured plate that includes perforation means for permanently opening the lower face, and the peripheral portion comprises a flexible peripheral lip for blocking the flow path in an airtight fashion at ambient pressure by engaging the compartment peripheral wall at the periphery of the contoured plate and to open the flow path by inward movement of the peripheral portion only when the pressure inside the compartment is higher than ambient pressure, wherein the valve member is positioned below the lower face and the perforation means includes contours for perforating the lower face such that the lower face is permanently opened by engagement with the contours due to the increased pressure in the compartment.