Patent Document

[0001]    This invention is a coffee maker and, more particularly, a coffee maker having the capability of making multiple pots of coffee with minimal intervention by the user.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    In order to make a single pot of fresh coffee, consumer type coffee makers require the user to empty the old pot, remove and discard the old coffee grounds, rinse the filter holder, put in a new filter, measure the desired amount of coffee into the filter, pour a new batch of water into the coffee maker and operate a switch to turn the coffee maker on. For quite some time, consumer type coffee makers have been available that will turn on in response to a timer so the consumer can have a fresh pot of coffee at a predetermined time, usually in the morning, meaning that at least one of the necessary steps in coffee making has been automated. Typically, these type consumer coffee makers require the user to fill the coffee maker with water, remove and discard old coffee grounds, install a new filter, measure the appropriate amount of coffee into the new filter and set the timer.  
           [0003]    Commercial type coffee makers are typically automated only to the extent of having a water source permanently connected to the coffee maker so starting a brewing cycle activates a valve that delivers water to the coffee maker. Otherwise, substantially the same steps are necessary to start a brewing cycle as in a sophisticated consumer model coffee maker.  
           [0004]    A third category of coffee makers are aimed at business offices and, in terms of complexity, cost and automation, are between commercial and consumer type coffee makers.  
           [0005]    Disclosures of interest relative to this invention are found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,868,109; 4,468,406; 4,566,802; 5,001,969; 5,463,932; 5,568,763; 5,676,040 and 6,155,158.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0006]    In this invention, a coffee maker is provided that has the capability of making a series of pots of coffee with minimal intervention by the user. The coffee maker includes a series of compartments for receiving ground coffee and a water source arranged to deliver water to one of the compartments to make a pot of coffee and, after that pot is consumed, to another compartment having a supply of ground coffee to make another pot of coffee. The only required activity of the user is to empty the pot.  
           [0007]    A control circuit is provided to control the coffee maker and provides several modes of operation. One mode of operation is to make a fresh pot of coffee at a predetermined time each day or at prescribed times on different days. An override capability is provided to make a pot of coffee at other than the predetermined times. In the event the pot is not empty, the coffee maker doesn&#39;t operate to make a new batch as this would cause the pot to overflow. Another mode of operation is to make a new pot of coffee each time the old pot is empty, as may be desirable in a business office where workers are often quick to take the last cup of coffee and reluctant to do what is necessary to start a new brewing cycle.  
           [0008]    It is an object of this invention to provide an improved coffee maker.  
           [0009]    A further object of this invention is to provide a coffee maker which is operated in an automated fashion to produce sequential pots of coffee.  
           [0010]    A more specific object of this invention is to provide an automated coffee maker which is capable of making a series of pots of coffee without intervention by the user.  
           [0011]    These and other objects and advantages of this invention will become more apparent as this description proceeds, reference being made to the accompanying drawings and appended claims. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0012]    [0012]FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a coffee maker of this invention;  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 2 is an isometric view of an assembly of the coffee maker of this invention that heats the water and provides a heated station for receiving a coffee pot;  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 3 is an isometric view similar to FIG. 2 showing a rotatable coffee holding assembly on top of the assembly of FIG. 2;  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 4 is an isometric view of a water dispensing spout showing its cooperation with a trap door on the rotatable coffee holding assembly;  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 5 is a schematic view showing parts of the coffee maker of FIGS.  1 - 4  and a control circuit for operating the coffee maker of this invention;  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a flow chart depicting various modes of operation of this invention;  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIG. 1 showing another embodiment of this invention, a part of the back being broken away for clarity of illustration;  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 8 is an isometric View of a water tank used in the embodiment of FIG. 7;  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 9 is an isometric view of a water heating assembly similar to FIG. 2 placed in the water tank of FIG. 8;  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 10 is an isometric view of the coffee maker of FIGS.  7 - 9  with the rotatable coffee holding assembly in place;  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 11 is an isometric view similar to FIG. 10 showing the water delivery conduit in position;  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 12 is an isometric view of a water pump used in the embodiment of FIGS.  7 - 11 ;  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 13 is a schematic view of another embodiment of this invention;  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 14 is a schematic view of another embodiment of this invention; and  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 15 is a schematic view of still another embodiment of this invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0027]    Referring to FIGS.  1 - 6 , there is illustrated a coffee maker  10  of this invention comprising, as major components, a water handling assembly  12 , a coffee receiving assembly  14  and a control circuit  16  (FIG. 5) providing various modes of operations. The water handling assembly  12  is similar to that found in prior art coffee makers such as is available from Signature Brands, Inc. of Glenwillow, Ohio under the trademark MR. COFFEE in the sense that it accepts a predetermined amount of water from a source, heats the water to a brewing temperature, and delivers the water to ground coffee.  
         [0028]    To these ends, the water handling assembly  12  comprises a base  18  having an upright housing  20  inside of which is an assembly  22  for heating water and a container  24  for receiving a quantity of water from a source. Water from the container  24  passes into a tray (not shown) of the heating assembly  22  where the water is heated. Heated water in the assembly  22  produces steam bubbles which propel the hot water in a conventional manner to the coffee receiving assembly  14 . The heating assembly  22  is of any suitable design such as is currently provided in conventional coffee makers. A hot plate or heated station  26  is provided to receive a coffee pot  28  and maintain coffee in the pot at a drinkable temperature as is well known in the art. As shown in FIG. 5, the plate  26  is heated by an electrically resistive element  30 . The temperature of the plate  26  and the temperature of the heating assembly  22  are controlled in any suitable manner, such as by a temperature sensitive switches  32  or other suitable devices.  
         [0029]    A water source  34  comprises a conduit connected to a suitable water supply in the building in which the coffee maker  10  is located and is controlled by a solenoid valve  36  inside the housing  20 . In response to beginning a brewing cycle, water passes through the valve  36  into the compartment  24  in the housing  20  and then into heating assembly  22 . When the water in the assembly  22  reaches brewing temperature, steam bubbles are produced which propel the hot water through an outlet conduit  38  into the coffee receiving assembly  14  and then into the coffee pot  28  as will be more fully apparent hereinafter. It will accordingly be seen that water is supplied to the coffee maker  10  through the source  34 , heated, and then delivered to the outlet conduit  38  in response to commands from the control circuit  16 . The outlet conduit  38  may be routed from the heating assembly  22  to the coffee receiving assembly  14  in any suitable manner.  
         [0030]    The coffee receiving assembly  14  comprises a lazy Susan type tray  40  supported and mounted for rotation by a spindle  42  so compartments  44  provided by the tray  40  are advanced to a brewing position under the opening of the conduit  38  and at a location where the compartment being supplied with hot water drains into the coffee pot  28 . As will be more fully apparent hereinafter, the compartments  44  are loaded by the user with ground coffee, either in separate filter baskets or in filter paper pouches  46 . The spindle  42  is rotated by an electric motor  48  inside the housing  20  and controlled by the circuit  16  as shown in FIG. 5.  
         [0031]    The top of the tray  40  is closed by a cover  50  having a series of openings  52  corresponding to the compartments  44  as shown in FIGS.  3 - 4 . The cover  50  is releasably secured to the tray  40  in any suitable manner so each opening  52  registers with a single compartment  44 . Each opening  52  is normally closed by a flap or closure  54  mounted by a pivot connection  56  for movement between a normal position abutting the cover  50  and a position away from the cover  50  to allow water from the outlet conduit  38  to flow through the opening  52  into the compartment  44  below. The closure  54  is biased against the cover  50  by one or more springs  58  which are illustrated as being simple leaf springs.  
         [0032]    The closure  54  is opened, in any suitable manner, before the delivery of water through the conduit  38 . The closure  54  is preferably opened in response to rotation of the tray  40  at the onset of a brewing cycle. To this end, a follower  60  extends upwardly from the closure  54  to engage the conduit  38  and thereby cam the closure  54  downwardly as the tray  40  rotates to a position where the opening  52  is immediately below one or more outlet openings  62  in the underside of the conduit  38  near the end thereof.  
         [0033]    Referring to FIG. 5, the control circuit  16  includes a controller  64  arranged to control operation of the coffee maker  10  and cause each of the powered components of the coffee maker  10  to operated in a desired sequence. The controller  64  accordingly comprises suitable electronic controls, relays, memory, logic chips and an on-off switch  65  as will be apparent to those skilled in the art. An important part of the controller  64  is a weight sensor  66  set to detect whether the coffee pot  28  is present and empty. The controller  64  has the ability to accommodate operation of the coffee maker  10  in a variety of modes as shown by the flow diagram of FIG. 6. The controller  64  accordingly has a face plate  68  exposing at least one input device and preferably three actuators or buttons  70 ,  72 ,  74  providing operation in a manual mode, a programmed mode and a constant brew mode.  
         [0034]    In the manual mode, pressing the button  70  simply starts a brewing cycle provided the weight sensor  66  determines that the coffee pot  28  is empty. If the coffee pot  28  is at least partially full, the controller  64  terminates operation of the coffee maker  10  and provides a message on a readable display  76 . If the coffee pot  28  is empty, a signal is sent to the valve  36  and a quantity of water sufficient to brew one pot of coffee, usually at least four cups and preferably at least six cups, is delivered to the chamber  27 . Water in the chamber  27  is admitted to the heating assembly  22  in a conventional manner.  
         [0035]    The motor  48  is energized for a sufficient time to rotate the tray  40  to a position where the compartment  44  below the discharge openings  62  contains unused ground coffee. Typically, the motor  48  simply indexes the tray  40  by an angular amount equal to one compartment. As the tray  40  rotates beneath the conduit  38 , the follower  60  runs under the conduit  38  thereby opening the closure  54  against the bias of the springs  58 . Hot water from the heating assembly  22  passes through the conduit  38 , through the opening  52  and into the compartment, mixing with ground coffee and passing into the pot  28  as liquid coffee, ready to drink. When the weight sensor  66  determines that the pot  28  is empty, operation of the coffee maker  10  is stopped, as by disconneting the coffee maker  10  from its power supply (not shown).  
         [0036]    The next simplest mode of operation is the constant brew mode which is started by depressing the actuator  74 . When the actuator  74  is depressed, the weight sensor  66  checks to see the pot  28  is present but empty and starts a brewing cycle. Whenever the sensor  66  determines the pot  28  is present and empty, another brewing cycle is started. The controller  64  counts the number of cycles brewed and, after brewing the number of pots allowed by the number of compartments  44  in the tray  40 , terminates operation of the coffee maker  10 .  
         [0037]    The most complicated mode of operation is to program the coffee maker  10  to brew pots of coffee at predetermined times on predetermined days. To this end, the user manipulates the actuator  72  to indicate the time and day when the coffee maker  10  is to brew a pot of coffee. As shown in FIG. 6, there is a capability to modify the number of cups of coffee to be brewed on each cycle. When the first time and date programmed into the controller  64  comes up, a brewing cycle starts, provided the sensor  66  determines that the pot  28  is present but empty. After the end of each brewing cycle, the weight sensor  66  determines whether the pot  28  is empty and, if so, turns the coffee maker  10  off. Each time one of the programmed times and dates appears on an internal clock (not shown), a brewing cycle starts. In the event the user wants to brew an additional pot, the manual actuator  70  is depressed. If the pot  28  is empty at the next appointed time, another brewing cycle starts. It will accordingly be apparent that the tray  40  may be divided into as many compartments  44  as is convenient. In one version, there are seven compartments so a single pot of coffee may be made on seven consecutive days.  
         [0038]    In order to clean the tray  40 , the upper end of the conduit  38  provides a swivel  78  so the upper end of the conduit  38  may be swung away from the tray  40 . The tray  40  is lifted off the spindle  42  and the spent coffee grounds in the compartments  44  discarded and the tray  40  washed and then refilled with ground coffee.  
         [0039]    As heretofore described, the coffee maker  10  is connected to a constantly available water source, typically city water. In the event the user does not want to connect the coffee maker to a constantly available water source, the coffee maker  80  of FIGS.  7 - 12  provides a tank  82  of sufficient capacity to provide as many pots of coffee as there are compartments in the tray  84 . The tank  82  is necessarily rather large, having a series of interconnected compartments  86 ,  88 ,  90  surrounding the water handling assembly  92  on a base  94 .  
         [0040]    The coffee maker  80  may be substantially identical to the coffee maker  10  but necessarily differs in the water handling assembly  92  because the tank  82  does not provide pressure to deliver water to the chamber inside the housing  96 . Referring to FIG. 12, there is illustrated a water handling assembly  98  inside the housing  96  including a pan  100  acting as a temporary water holding compartment. The pump  102  delivers water from the tank  82  into the pan  100  where it runs by gravity into a heating assembly (not shown) inside the housing  96  where the water is heated and then delivered to an outlet conduit  104 .  
         [0041]    Accordingly, instead of the control circuit  16  controlling the amount of water delivered to the coffee maker  10  by controlling the valve  36 , the control circuit controls the amount of water delivered to the outlet conduit  104  by controlling the time operation of the pump  102 , or in response to the weight sensor, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Power to the coffee maker  10  is provided through wiring (not shown) extending through a passage or tunnel  106  under the tank  82  as shown in FIG. 7.  
         [0042]    It is recognized there are two theoretical disadvantages of the coffee makers  10 ,  80 . First, there may be some objection based on freshness to leave ground coffee in the compartments of the tray for extended periods before brewing. Second, there is a reduced ability to vary the amount of liquid coffee made because the amount of coffee in the compartments of tray of the embodiments of FIGS.  1 - 12  are loaded far in advance. The coffee maker  110  of FIG. 13 addresses both of these concerns and comprises a water handling assembly  112 , a coffee handling assembly  114  including a tray  116  similar to the tray  40  of FIGS.  1 - 4 , a coffee bean storage bin  118  and a coffee mill  120  for grinding coffee beans in response to commands from a control circuit  122 .  
         [0043]    The tray  116  includes a lid  124  providing a series of openings  126  and a closure  128  for each opening, the lid  124  and closures  128  being conveniently identical to the lid  50  and closures  54  of FIG. 4. Upon initiation of a brewing cycle, the tray  116  rotates to pass a follower (not shown) against an abutment of the coffee mill  120  to open the closure  128  beneath or otherwise in coffee receiving relation to the coffee mill  120 , a door or valve  130  on the bottom of the storage bin  118  opens to deliver a quantity of beans into the coffee mill  120  which grinds the beans and delivers fresh ground coffee into the compartment  132  immediately below the mill  120 .  
         [0044]    The tray  116  indexes again in response to a command from the control circuit  122 . Several things happen. As the follower (not shown) moves away from the coffee mill  120 , the closure  128  moves to abut the lid  124  thereby closing the opening  126 . As the lid  124  rotates further, the closure  128  of the loaded compartment  132  approaches the outlet conduit  134  so the follower (not shown) on the lid  128  abuts the conduit  134  thereby opens the closure  128  in the manner shown in FIG. 4. The tray  116  stops rotating in a position where the loaded compartment  132  is beneath the discharge openings of the outlet conduit  134 . Hot water is then delivered from the water handling assembly  112  into the conduit  134  in response to a command from the control circuit  122 . Hot water then passes into the loaded compartment  132  and produces a fresh pot of coffee. It will thus be seen that the tray  116  is emptied after all of the compartments have been used. The compartments of the tray  116  are loaded with freshly ground coffee only at the time a new brewing cycle is started. This also gives the coffee maker  110  the flexibility to produce pots of coffee of different capacity, e.g. four, six or eight cups, because the correct amounts of water and ground coffee can be delivered to the compartments in response to commands from the control circuit  122 .  
         [0045]    Referring to FIG. 14, another coffee maker  140  of this invention is illustrated. In the embodiments of FIGS.  1 - 13 , the coffee holding tray is moved and the conduit delivering hot water to the coffee holding tray is stationary. It is apparent this relationship may be reversed. To this end, the coffee maker  140  includes a stationary coffee tray  142  having a plurality of compartments  144  for receiving ground coffee. The compartments  144  discharge hot liquid coffee into a manifold  146  above a coffee pot (not shown) on a hot plate  148 . A hot water conduit  150  above the tray  142  is movable by a mechanism  152  to position the discharge outlets of the conduit  150  in sequential brewing relation with each of the compartments  144  in response to commands from a control circuit (not shown) as previously described.  
         [0046]    Referring to FIG. 15, another coffee maker  160  of this invention is illustrated. A coffee maker  160  of this invention includes a stationary coffee tray  162  having a plurality of compartments  164  and a plurality of hot water conduits  166 , each equipped with a valve  168  controlled by a control circuit (not shown). The control circuit independently operates the valves  168  to deliver hot water sequentially to the conduits  166  and thus to the compartments  164 . The compartments  164  drain through a manifold  170  into a coffee pot (not shown) on a heated station  172 . It will be seen that the coffee maker  160  has the capacity for brewing sequential pots of coffee in response to commands from a control circuit as previously described.  
         [0047]    Although this invention has been disclosed and described in its preferred forms with a certain degree of particularity, it is understood that the present disclosure of the preferred forms is only by way of example and that numerous changes in the details of operation and in the combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.

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