CN110589258A - Capsule and production method thereof, beverage machine and overflow prevention method - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention discloses a capsule and a production method thereof, a beverage machine and a method for preventing overflow, wherein the capsule comprises a capsule shell (1) with a capsule inlet and a capsule outlet (11), a covering film (2) for covering the capsule inlet, and a preservative film (4) for limiting a material cavity (C) with the covering film, and consumables are sealed in the material cavity. A cutting blade (61) is particularly arranged in the capsule shell, and the cutting blade (61) is used for cutting a notch on the preservative film (4) so that the fluid in the capsule can smoothly flow out of the capsule outlet after passing through the notch. Wherein the incision can be made by cutting with a jet-driven or hydrostatic-driven cutting blade by pressurized fluid injected into the cavity. The cutting blade is rotatably cut to form a circular cut. The capsule adopts the double-film fresh-keeping layer for fresh keeping, and particularly adopts a blade cutting mode to form a notch during brewing, so that the film notch is more in line with the design requirement, and the water outlet condition of the beverage can be improved.

Description

Capsule and production method thereof, beverage machine and overflow prevention method

Technical Field

The invention relates to a capsule and a preservation method thereof, in particular to a dissolving or extracting type capsule.

Background

Most capsules on the market cannot provide preservation protection, are mostly packaged for preservation, need to be removed from an external package first when the capsules are brewed, and are complex to operate.

Although a small part of capsules have a self-preservation function, the capsules have obvious defects, namely, the protein beverage powder cannot be effectively dissolved firstly, and a small amount of beverage powder cannot be dissolved after brewing; secondly, during brewing, the sealing film has poor cracking structure, the cracks at the mouth part are not uniform, so that water outlet is unbalanced, and the problems of air bubbles, splashing and the like are easily caused. For example, in conventional capsules, the sealing membrane is typically pierced with a spike positioned below the sealing membrane so that drink fluid in the capsule can flow out through the spike hole. However, the pores of the needle holes are not uniform, and the flow rate is too small and is not uniform, so that the water is not smoothly and discontinuously discharged, and bubbles, splashes and the like are easily generated.

Researchers have also made diligent research efforts on this. For example, patent document No. CN101466618A discloses a capsule for reducing dripping. Wherein, be equipped with valve device in the capsule, the outer edge of valve device is formed with flexible lip, and this flexible lip biasing is on the capsule inner wall, and under the non-brewing condition of capsule, flexible lip separation bottom beverage export and the intercommunication in material chamber realize fresh-keeping function. Upon brewing of the capsule, the beverage fluid pressure of the cavity may push the flexible lip radially inward to open the flow path. The flexible lip closes the flow path once the injection of water into the chamber is stopped. However, the flexible lip also has a bias problem, which causes different deformation amounts at circumferential positions, i.e. the size of the fluid flowing gap is not uniform, resulting in uneven water flow. Moreover, the capsule has higher assembly precision requirement and higher manufacturing cost.

Disclosure of Invention

In order to solve the problems of the defects in the prior art, the invention provides the capsule with the fresh-keeping function, which has a novel internal structure and a reasonable design and can improve the condition of the effluent fluid.

To achieve the above object, according to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a capsule comprising:

a capsule housing having a capsule inlet and a capsule outlet;

a cover closing the capsule inlet of the capsule housing;

the preservative film is arranged in the capsule shell and defines a material cavity with the covering film, and consumables are packaged in the material cavity; and

and the cutting blade is arranged in the capsule shell and used for cutting a notch on the preservative film so that the fluid in the material cavity flows out of the capsule outlet after passing through the notch.

Wherein, adopted unique cutting edge cutting mode in order to cut out the incision on the preservative film for the incision can be bigger, the position is more reasonable, more accords with out water design demand. The covering film and the preservative film can be various optional film structures such as simple sealing films, thin films or laminated thin films and the like.

Optionally, the cutting blade may be movable and/or deformable in a vertical direction, a horizontal direction, a rotational direction, or an angular direction with respect to the horizontal plane to linearly cut the cling film, the direction of movement and/or deformation of the cutting blade depending on the positioning of the capsule. More specifically, the central axis of the capsule is shown as being vertical, the preservative film has a generally horizontal film face, and the cutting blade is extendable in the direction of the central axis of the capsule and axially movable to cut the preservative film to form an axial cut. Of course, the capsule can also be arranged with the central axis in a horizontal direction or in an oblique direction with respect to the horizontal plane, so that the respective cutting direction depends on the positioning of the capsule.

Wherein the cutting blade is deformable in an axial direction of the capsule under hydrostatic drive of the pressurized fluid in the chamber to close the cling film and cut the incision. For example, the cutting blade is disposed above the cling film and depends downwardly from a cantilevered end, and the pressurized fluid is formed into a jet that impinges upon the cantilevered end in a jet-like manner to impart axial deforming movement to the cutting blade.

Or when the upper spacer capable of elastically deforming is arranged, the upper spacer is divided into a liquid injection cavity between the upper spacer and the film and a material cavity between the upper spacer and the preservative film; the cutting blade in the pressure applying cavity cuts the preservative film under the action of the content (such as pressurized fluid, swelling matter and the like) in the liquid injection cavity. For example, the pressurized fluid within the filling chamber causes the upper diaphragm to elastically deform downwardly to compress the chamber, forcing the cutting blade to axially cut the plastic wrap.

Alternatively, the cutting blade may be a rotatable blade and used to rotatably cut the cling film. The cutting blade is driven by the pressurized fluid injected into the material cavity to rotationally cut the preservative film to form an annular cut. The covering area of the annular cut is wide, so that the fluid in the material cavity can flow out uniformly, and the residual fluid can be discharged conveniently. As an example, the pressurized fluid may be formed as an inclined jet which forms a reflected flow via the inner peripheral wall of the capsule housing, eventually causing the cutting blade to rotate in a jet manner by the reflected flow.

The pressurized fluid injection system for injecting the pressurized fluid includes a hollow tube extending axially downward into the material chamber, the end of the hollow tube being formed with an inclined inner wall surface, the pressurized fluid within the hollow tube being directed via the inclined inner wall surface to form a directed (inclined) jet that is emitted toward the inner peripheral wall of the capsule housing.

It is contemplated that the cutting blade may have various types of mounting. In order to achieve a better cutting effect, an elastic cantilever mounting structure is generally adopted. One end of the elastic cantilever is a rigid fixed end, and the other end of the elastic cantilever is an elastically deformable cutting end, so that the cutting end can rotationally cut the preservative film around the fixed end. In the case where the rotation angle of the cutting end around the fixed end is small, that is, the amount of elastic deformation of the cutting end is small, the rotary cutting stroke is similar to a linear cut, but this cutting manner is essentially different from a piercing manner.

In one mounting structure of the cutting blade, one end of the cutting blade may be integrally connected to an inner wall of the capsule housing.

In one assembly mounting arrangement for a cutting blade, the capsule includes a blade holder and a cutting blade assembly including a pivot portion (e.g., boss) rotatably journaled to the blade holder and a cantilevered blade extending laterally from the pivot portion. The cantilever blade can be in a transverse rod shape or a fan blade shape, and the cutting blade can be mounted at the tail end of the cantilever blade in a suspending way; alternatively, the cutting blade may be formed directly radially at the end of the cantilevered blade.

In one particular construction of the outlet diversion structure, which is disposed below the cling film to direct fluid within the capsule to the capsule outlet, the outlet diversion structure includes a series of ribs or other guides that depend on the location of the cutting blades and cuts on the cling film. In one specific structure, the outlet drainage structure can comprise a plurality of circles of rib walls which are concentrically arranged, and each circle of rib wall is provided with a plurality of drainage notches which are arranged at intervals along the circumferential direction; and the circumferential positions of the corresponding drainage notches are staggered between any two circles of rib walls which are adjacent in the radial direction. Therefore, a labyrinth drainage structure is formed, so that the flow of the fluid collected to the center is increased, the fluid is more uniformly collected at the center of the capsule outlet, the outflow speed and the flow of the central fluid are more uniform, and the fluid outflow effect is improved.

On this basis, the cut out in the cling film is preferably circular and formed radially outward of the outlet drainage structure. This results in a more thorough, more uniform and more consistent outflow of fluid from the capsule.

The consumable can be soluble dairy product, multi-taste beverage powder, soup powder, solid granule beneficial to human health or mixed taste powder, such as milk tea, milk coffee, hot cocoa, protein powder, Chinese medicinal granule, vitamin granule, and mixture of any two or more thereof; alternatively, the consumable may be an insoluble beverage such as coffee, tea, herbs, fiber, oats, and mixtures of two or more thereof, but the invention is not limited thereto and may be other types of consumables, either in powder form or in any other form.

According to a second aspect of the invention, there is accordingly provided a beverage machine comprising a capsule according to the invention as described above and

according to a third aspect of the invention there is accordingly provided a method of preventing spillage of a consumable from a capsule prior to extraction, comprising:

respectively sealing the upper end and the lower end of a material cavity in the capsule by adopting a covering film and a preservative film; and

when the capsule is brewed, a cutting blade in the capsule is used for cutting a notch on the preservative film, so that the drink fluid in the material cavity flows out through the notch.

Wherein the cut may be formed by jet-driven or hydrostatic-driven cutting blade cutting with pressurized fluid injected into the cavity. Alternatively, the consumable in the material chamber is compressed by the injected pressurized fluid, and the consumable pushes the cutting blade to cut to form the incision. The cuts can be made either by rotating the cutting blade to form a circular ring shape, or by moving the cutting blade in a generally axial direction of the capsule to shear the cling film to form a generally axial cut.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is accordingly provided a method of producing a capsule, comprising first manufacturing a capsule housing having a capsule inlet and a capsule outlet; then arranging an outlet drainage structure at the bottom of the capsule cavity of the capsule shell, and covering a preservative film above the outlet drainage structure; further, more critically, a cutting blade is reasonably arranged in the capsule cavity above the preservative film and is filled with consumables; finally, the capsule inlet of the capsule shell is sealed by a covering film to prevent the consumables from leaking.

In the invention, the capsule adopts the double-film fresh-keeping layer for keeping fresh, and a blade cutting mode is particularly adopted during brewing so as to form a cut which has a wider range and more balanced crevasses and better meets the design requirement of fluid outflow, thereby being beneficial to the balanced and continuous outflow of drink fluid.

Additional features and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the detailed description which follows.

Drawings

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the invention and not to limit the invention. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a schematic structural view of a capsule according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a schematic structural view of a capsule according to a first embodiment of the invention, illustrating a hydrostatically driven cutting blade deforming cutting to form an axial cut;

FIG. 4 is a schematic structural view of a capsule according to a second embodiment of the present invention, wherein an axial jet-driven cutting blade is illustrated deforming to cut to form an axial cut;

FIG. 5 is a schematic structural view of a capsule according to a third embodiment of the present invention, wherein indirect hydraulic pressure presses a cutting blade to deform and cut to form an axial cut during extraction;

FIG. 6 is a schematic structural view of a capsule according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention, wherein a reflected flow drives a cutting blade to rotate to cut to form an annular incision; and

figure 7 illustrates a schematic of the structure of the outlet drainage structure at the bottom of the capsule.

Description of the reference numerals

1 Capsule Shell 2 covering film

3 go up spacer 4 plastic wrap

5 outlet drainage structure 6 cutting blade assembly

7 knife holder 8 hollow tube

11 capsule outlet 41 cut indentation

51 rib wall 52 drainage notch

61 cutting blade 62 cantilever blade

63 pivoting part 71 center rod

Central axis of 81 inclined inner wall surface OO

Liquid injection cavity of material cavity C and material cavity B

L1 axial jet L2 oblique jet

L3 reflection flow

Detailed Description

The following detailed description of embodiments of the invention refers to the accompanying drawings. It should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating the present invention, are given by way of illustration and explanation only, not limitation.

It should be noted that the embodiments and features of the embodiments may be combined with each other without conflict.

In the present invention, unless otherwise specified, use of the terms of orientation such as "upper, lower, top, bottom" or the like are generally used in the description of the orientation shown in the drawings or the positional relationship of the components with respect to each other in the vertical, or gravitational direction; the terms of orientation such as "radial, axial" are usually in reference to the capsule body or capsule cavity.

The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the embodiments with reference to the attached drawings.

The invention provides a capsule, as shown in fig. 1 and 2, the capsule comprises a capsule shell 1, a coating film 2 and a preservative film 4, wherein the capsule shell 1 is generally in a revolving body shape and is provided with a capsule inlet and a capsule outlet 11, and the coating film 2 covers the capsule inlet of the capsule shell 1; the preservative film 4 is arranged inside the capsule housing 1 and defines with the covering film 2 a material chamber C in which a consumable, such as a drink powder as exemplified below, is enclosed. Wherein in particular the capsule comprises a cutting blade 61 arranged within the capsule housing 1, the cutting blade 61 being adapted to cut a cut in the preservative film 4 such that the brewing fluid in the chamber C flows out of the capsule outlet 11 via the cut.

In the invention, a double-film sealing design is adopted, so that the beverage powder in the capsule is sealed in the material cavity C between the coating film 2 and the preservative film 4, and the effective preservation can be realized during the non-brewing period of the capsule. During brewing, a pressurized fluid is injected into the chamber C to blend or brew the consumable, thereby forming a brewing fluid. Thereafter, a cut is cut in the preservative film 4 by the cutting blade 61, through which the brewing fluid can flow out from the capsule outlet 11 at the bottom of the capsule housing 1.

In particular, the present invention innovatively employs a shearing mode to break the seal of the plastic wrap 4, facilitating the flow of the brewing fluid out of the cavity C. The cutting blade 61 may be any of a variety of sharpened blades, sharp edges, or knives, etc., by which the cling film 4 may be quickly and easily sheared to form the desired cut. Because of the cutting means, the edge of the cutting blade 61 need not be sharp, but only has a sharpened edge, and the cutting blade 61 is not limited to having a single sharpened edge, but rather, each edge may be formed as a sharpened edge.

The cutting blade 61 may be a single blade or a plurality of blades, or may have a straight blade edge or a curved blade edge. The cutting blade 61 may be a single-sided cut such as a scalpel, or a double-sided cut such as a scissors. In any case, the number, shape, cutting form, etc. of the cutting blades 61 are not limited as long as the desired appropriate cuts can be formed in the cling film 4 by cutting.

It is also emphasized that the consumable may be a soluble dairy product, a multi-flavored drink powder, a soup powder, a solid granule beneficial to human health, or a mixed flavor powder, such as milk tea, milk coffee, hot cocoa, a protein powder, a traditional Chinese medicine granule, a vitamin granule, and a mixture of any two or more thereof; alternatively, the consumable may be an insoluble beverage such as coffee, tea, herbs, fiber, oats, and mixtures of two or more thereof. In short, the present invention is not limited to the type, shape, form, etc. of the consumable. However, for the convenience of understanding and clarity, only the beverage powder is described as an example.

Not only the mode that the preservative film 4 moves close to the relatively static cutting blade 61 to cut can be adopted, but also the active cutting mode of the cutting blade 61 can be adopted. In the active cutting, the power source of the cutting blade 61 may be from various pressures, such as a fluid jet driving mode and a hydrostatic driving mode, which will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings, but the cutting blade 61 may also be cut without fluid pressure driving, for example, the cutting blade assembly 6 has a torsion spring, the torsion spring has an initial pre-restoring force through the shaping of the initial installation position of the cutting blade assembly 6 by the beverage powder pile, and when the beverage powder pile is brewed, the torsion spring is reset, and the cutting blade assembly 6 is driven to cut the preservative film 4.

Due to the diversity of the shape structure and the shearing mode of the cutting blade assembly 6, the required incisions in various shapes and positions can be realized, so that the drink fluid in the cavity C can flow out from the capsule outlet 11 more smoothly, continuously and uniformly through the incisions, and the use feeling of a user is improved.

The following detailed description is to be read in connection with the accompanying drawings.

In one possible approach, the cutting blade 61 is an axial cutting approach. As shown in fig. 3, 4, the cutting blade 61 extends in the direction of the central axis OO' of the capsule and moves axially to cut the preservative film 4. Wherein the cutting blade 61 can be disposed above the plastic wrap 4 as shown, below the plastic wrap 4, or even disposed on both the top and bottom sides of the plastic wrap 4.

The cutting blade 61 is movable toward the cling film 4 under fluid pressure to contact and progressively cut the cling film 4. Wherein the edge of the cutting blade 61 may be preferably formed as an inclined sharp edge inclined upward to facilitate rapid cutting of a desired cut. Likewise, the driving force for the cutting blade 61 may be from fluid pressure, from other forms of pressure, or cutting may be performed without pressure.

Fig. 3 and 4 show the axial cutting action of the cutting blade assembly 6. In fig. 3, the cutting blade 61 is deformed in the axial direction of the capsule under the hydraulic drive of the pressurized fluid in the chamber C to approach the cling film 4 and cut an incision. The hydraulic driving mode is hydrostatic driving brought by the increasing fluid pressure in the material cavity C. Specifically, the cutting blade 61 is disposed above the cling film 4 and depends downwardly from the distal end of the cantilevered blade 62, which facilitates the compressive deformation of the cutting blade 61 to close the cut cling film 4. When the pressure in the material chamber C (the pressure is indicated by the vertical arrow in the figure) increases gradually, the tip of the cantilever blade 62 is pressed to bend downward, and the cutting blade 61 is driven to move downward. When the amount of displacement deformation of the pressed downward bend is greater than the initial distance between the cutting blade 61 and the preservative film 4, the edge of the cutting blade 61 completely cuts the preservative film 4, forming a cut. Further, if the cutting blade 61 is rotated or moved in other directions, the cutting will be gradually enlarged to form a larger cut, so as to facilitate the drink fluid to flow out of the cavity C.

In fig. 4, the hydraulic drive is shown as an axial jet drive of the fluid jet injected into the chamber C. The pressurized fluid is formed as an axial jet L1 which impacts the tip of the cantilevered blade 62 to urge the cutting blade 61 into axial deforming movement. Likewise, when the amount of displacement deformation of the press-down bend is greater than the initial spacing of the cutting blade 61 from the cling film 4, the edge of the cutting blade 61 cuts completely through the cling film 4, forming a cut. Further, as the cutting blade 61 continues to be driven by the jet in the other direction, the cut will progressively enlarge, creating a larger cut.

In fig. 5, the way of driving the cutting by indirect hydraulic pressure is also shown. Namely, the capsule comprises an upper spacer 3 which can be elastically deformed, and a liquid injection cavity B which is positioned between the upper spacer 3 and the covering film 2 and a material cavity C which is positioned between the upper spacer 3 and the preservative film 4 are separated by the upper spacer 3; wherein, the liquid chamber B is annotated in constantly pouring into to pressurized fluid, annotates the pressure of liquid chamber B and risees fast, goes up 3 downward elastic deformation of spacer with compression material chamber C, and the drink powder pressurized sinks, extrudes cutting blade 61 axial and cuts plastic wrap 4 downwards. Wherein, the upper spacer 3 is generally uniformly distributed with through holes, so that the pressurized fluid in the liquid injection cavity B uniformly flows into the material cavity C, and the balanced extraction is realized. The pressure of the upper septum 3 against the beverage powder also aids extraction.

In fig. 5, the way that the upper diaphragm 3 is driven to be pressed down by the pressurized fluid is shown, and furthermore, an expandable object or the like can be arranged in the liquid injection chamber B, and the expandable object is expanded under the condition of injecting the liquid so as to press the stockpile in the lower stockpile chamber C.

In another possible manner, the cutting blade 61 is a rotary cutting manner, i.e., the cutting blade 61 is a rotatable blade and is used for rotatably cutting the plastic wrap 4. The cutting blade 61 may engage the cling film 4 or only a slight space therebetween during initial installation. In addition, intermittent cut indentations 41 may be provided along the pre-set cuts, as shown in FIG. 2, to facilitate the cutting blade 61 in making a regular, intended cut.

The blade rotation may be directly driven by the pressurized fluid. As shown in fig. 6, the cutting blade 61 is rotated to cut the wrap film 4 by the pressurized fluid injected into the feed chamber C to form a circular cut. Specifically, the pressurized fluid injected into the material chamber C is directed to form a pilot jet, i.e., the illustrated inclined jet L2, the inclined jet L2 forms a reflected flow L3 via the inner peripheral wall of the capsule housing 1, and the reflected flow L3 impinges on the cutting blade 61, driving the cutting blade 61 to rotate.

In order to form the inclined jet L2, the pressurized fluid injection system for injecting the pressurized fluid includes a hollow tube 8 extending axially downward into the cavity C, an inclined inner wall surface 81 is formed at the end of the hollow tube 8, and the pressurized fluid in the hollow tube 8 is deflected by the guide effect of the inclined inner wall surface 81 to form an inclined jet L2 that is emitted toward the inner peripheral wall of the capsule housing 1 when flowing through the inclined inner wall surface 81.

Several embodiments of the incision cutting have been described above with reference to the accompanying drawings, but the invention is obviously not limited thereto. In addition, for a complete understanding of the present invention, a specific mounting arrangement for the cutting blade assembly 6 and an outlet flow directing structure 5 are also specifically illustrated in the accompanying drawings and are meant to be exemplary only and not limiting.

Wherein a holder 7 may be provided in the capsule, the cutting blade assembly 6 comprises a pivot portion 63 rotatably journalled in a central rod 71 of the holder 7, and a cantilevered blade 62 extending laterally from the pivot portion 63. Thus, the cutting blade 61 can be suspended at the end of the cantilever blade 62, and the cutting blade 61 can move downward to cut when the end of the cantilever blade 62 is deformed by pressure. The cantilevered blade 62 expands the radial width of the cutting blade 61 to allow a wider range of cut locations to be obtained, resulting in a larger cut.

In the present embodiment, the drink powder is instant coffee powder, but is not limited thereto, and may be extracted coffee powder or the like. Upon injection of the fluid, the coffee grounds dissolve in the fluid and do not substantially impede the passage of the jet or rotation of the blade. Thus, optionally, the cantilever blade 62 can be in a fan shape, so as to realize rotary stirring, accelerate the dissolution of the beverage powder and help to solve the problem of poor solubility of the protein beverage. In this case, the cutting blade 61 may be independently installed at the end of the cantilever blade 62, or the end of the cantilever blade 62 may be directly formed with a sharp edge as a cutting blade to rotatably cut the wrap film 4. Similarly, the number and distribution of the cantilever blades 62 and the cutting blades 61 in the capsule of the present invention are not limited to the illustrated configuration.

The capsule further comprises an outlet tapping structure 5 arranged below the preservative film 4 to direct drink fluid to the capsule outlet 11. The outlet flow guiding structure 5 in fig. 7 comprises a plurality of circles of rib walls 51 which are concentrically arranged, and each circle of rib wall 51 is provided with a plurality of flow guiding gaps 52 which are arranged at intervals along the circumferential direction; wherein, between two rings of muscle walls 51 adjacent in the radial direction, the circumferential position of the drainage breach 52 that corresponds staggers, forms labyrinth drainage structure, can slow down the fluid outflow like this, forms the confluence effect towards the central export.

More preferably, the cut made in the plastic wrap 4 is circular and is formed radially outside the outlet flow directing structure 5. In this way, the residual beverage can be efficiently delivered to the inlet of the outlet tapping structure 5 by using the centrifugal force of the vortex. The drink fluid in the cavity C flows out downwards along the circular ring-shaped cut, and then flows together to the capsule outlet 11 through each drainage notch 52 of the outlet drainage structure 5. The whole process improves the brewing capacity of the capsule. The concentric circle distribution structure can make the incoming flow of the capsule outlet 11 uniform, the fluid flow out smooth, the flow rate basically constant, the flow velocity stable, the flow interruption difficult to generate and the like.

The capsule with the structure is associated with a novel fresh-keeping method, namely a method for preventing consumables from overflowing from the capsule before extraction, wherein a water inlet and a water outlet of the capsule are respectively sealed by using a covering film to form a sealed capsule cavity, so that the consumables in the capsule cavity are prevented from leaking, namely the upper end and the lower end of a material cavity C in the capsule are respectively sealed by using a covering film 2 and a preservative film 4 which are shown in the figure; during brewing of the capsule, a cut is made in the plastic wrap 4 by means of the cutting blade 61 inside the capsule, so that the drink fluid in the cavity C flows out through the cut. In the whole process, no matter the using state or the non-using preservation state of the capsule, the capsule does not pollute the external environment, and particularly does not pollute the beverage machine.

Upon brewing, as previously described, the cuts may be formed by pressurized fluid injected into the material chamber C cutting the cutting blades 61 in a jet-driven or hydrostatic-driven manner. The beverage powder pile in the cavity C can also be compressed by the injected pressurized fluid, and the cutting blade 61 is pushed by the beverage powder pile to cut and form the incision. The cuts may be axial cuts formed by the cutting blade 61 moving in the axial direction of the capsule to cut the wrap 4, or circular cuts formed by the cutting blade 61 rotating. In short, the cutting and breaking ways of the preservative film 4 are various and will not be described in detail herein.

Moreover, the present invention also provides a beverage machine comprising a capsule according to the present invention as described above and a pressurized fluid injection system (not shown in the figures) which injects a pressurized fluid into the capsule. The pressurized fluid injection system may typically include external liquid chamber, fluid pump, water line, etc. functions, and the end of the pressurized fluid injection system typically has a hollow tube 8 extending into the material cavity C. According to the invention, the required notch shape can be formed on the preservative film 4 in a notch cutting mode, so that the rupture and the crack of the preservative film are more uniform, the water outlet balance is achieved, and the problems of bubble formation, splashing and the like at the water outlet are solved.

Accordingly, the production method of the capsule of the present invention is: firstly, manufacturing a capsule shell 1 with a capsule inlet and a capsule outlet; then arranging a reasonable outlet drainage structure 5 at the bottom of the capsule cavity of the capsule shell 1, and covering a preservative film 4 above the outlet drainage structure 5; in the most critical step, a cutting blade is arranged at a reasonable position in a reasonable mode in the material cavity C above the preservative film 4, and then a proper amount of consumables are filled; finally, the capsule inlet of the capsule housing 1 is closed with a cover 2 to seal the consumable. Obviously, the capsule of the invention has the advantages of uncomplicated production and assembly modes, low cost and large-scale production and application.

It should be noted that the capsule in the above embodiments with reference to the drawings is positioned vertically upwards, i.e. the capsule inlet is open upwards at the top, but it is clear that the invention is not limited thereto, the capsule may also be positioned laterally, i.e. the capsule inlet is in the form of a side opening, etc.

The preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, however, the present invention is not limited to the details of the above embodiments, and various simple modifications can be made to the technical solution of the present invention within the technical idea of the present invention, for example, specific simple modifications to the structure of the cutting blade itself, the mounting structure, the cutting manner, etc. are made for different brewing manners, and these simple modifications are within the protection scope of the present invention.

It should be noted that the various technical features described in the above embodiments can be combined in any suitable manner without contradiction, and the invention is not described in any way for the possible combinations in order to avoid unnecessary repetition.

In addition, any combination of the various embodiments of the present invention is also possible, and the same should be considered as the disclosure of the present invention as long as it does not depart from the spirit of the present invention.

Claims (22)

1. A capsule, comprising:

a capsule housing (1) having a capsule inlet and a capsule outlet (11);

a cover membrane (2) covering the capsule inlet of the capsule housing (1);

the preservative film (4) is arranged in the capsule shell (1) and defines a material cavity (C) with the covering film (2), and consumables are packaged in the material cavity (C); and

a cutting blade (61) arranged in the capsule shell (1) and used for cutting a notch on the preservative film (4) so that the fluid in the material cavity (C) flows out from the capsule outlet (11) after passing through the notch.

2. The capsule according to claim 1, characterized in that the cutting blade (61) moves and/or deforms in a vertical direction, in a horizontal direction, in a rotational direction or in an angle to the horizontal to linearly cut the preservative film (4), the direction of movement and/or deformation of the cutting blade (61) depending on the positioning of the capsule.

3. Capsule according to claim 2, characterized in that the cutting blade (61) is moved and/or deformed under hydrostatic drive of the pressurized fluid in the chamber (C) to contact the preservative film (4) and cut the cut.

4. The capsule according to claim 2, characterized in that the cutting blade (61) is a cantilevered blade (62), the pressurized fluid injected into the capsule impacting the cantilevered blade (62) in a jet to cut the preservative film (4).

5. The capsule according to claim 2, characterized in that it comprises an elastically deformable upper septum (3), said upper septum (3) delimiting a liquid injection chamber (B) between said upper septum (3) and said coating film (2) and said material chamber (C) between said upper septum (3) and said preservation film (4);

wherein, under the hydraulic drive of the pressurized fluid injected into the liquid injection cavity (B), the upper spacer (3) is elastically deformed downwards to compress the consumables of the material cavity (C) so as to drive the cutting blade (61) to cut the preservative film (4).

6. Capsule according to claim 1, characterized in that the cutting blade (61) is a rotatable blade and is used for rotary cutting of the preservative film (4).

7. Capsule according to claim 6, characterized in that the cutting blade (61) cuts the film (4) in rotation to form a circular cut, driven by the pressurized fluid injected into the capsule.

8. The capsule according to claim 7, wherein the pressurized fluid guide is formed as a pilot jet which is reflected via an inner peripheral wall of the capsule housing (1) to drive the cutting blade (61) in rotation.

9. The capsule according to claim 8, characterized in that the pressurized fluid injection system for injecting the pressurized fluid comprises a hollow tube (8) projecting into the cavity (C), the end of the hollow tube (8) being formed with an inclined inner wall surface (81), the pressurized fluid inside the hollow tube (8) being directed via the inclined inner wall surface (81) towards the directed jet formed to be emitted towards the inner peripheral wall of the capsule housing (1).

10. Capsule according to claim 1, wherein the cutting blade (61) is integrally connected to the capsule housing (1).

11. Capsule according to any of claims 1 to 9, wherein the capsule comprises a holder (7) and a cutting blade assembly (6), the cutting blade assembly (6) comprising a pivot (63) rotatably journalled in the holder (7) and a cantilevered blade (62) projecting laterally from the pivot (63).

12. Capsule according to claim 11, characterized in that the cantilever blade (62) is formed in the form of a blade, the cutting blade (61) being formed radially at the tip of the cantilever blade (62).

13. The capsule according to claim 11, characterized in that it comprises an outlet tapping structure (5) arranged below the preservative film (4) to direct fluid from the preservative film (4) to the capsule outlet (11), the outlet tapping structure (5) comprising a series of ribs or other guiding members depending on the position of the cutting blades (61) and the incisions on the preservative film (4).

14. Capsule according to claim 13, characterized in that the cut made in the preservative film (4) is circular and is made radially outside the outlet tapping structure (5).

15. The capsule according to claim 1, wherein the consumable is soluble dairy product, multi-flavor drink powder, soup powder, solid granules beneficial to human health or mixed flavor powder such as milk tea, milk coffee, hot cocoa, protein powder, traditional Chinese medicine granules, vitamin granules and mixtures thereof; alternatively, the consumable is an insoluble beverage such as coffee, tea, herbs, fiber, oats, and mixtures thereof.

16. A beverage machine, characterized in that it comprises a capsule according to any one of claims 1 to 15 and a pressurized fluid injection system that injects a pressurized fluid into the capsule.

17. A method of preventing spillage of a consumable from a capsule prior to extraction, the method comprising:

respectively sealing a water inlet and a water outlet of the capsule by using a covering film to form a sealed capsule cavity, and preventing consumables in the capsule cavity from leaking; and

a cut is cut in the cover film with a cutting blade (61) in the capsule so that fluid in the capsule cavity can exit through the cut.

18. The method according to claim 17, wherein the cuts are made by jet-driven or hydrostatic-driven cutting blades (61) by pressurized fluid injected into the capsule cavity.

19. The method according to claim 17, wherein the cutting blade (61) is pressurized or forced by the injected pressurized fluid with a consumable in the capsule cavity to push the cutting blade (61) to cut the coating.

20. The method of claim 17, wherein the cutting blade (61) is rotated to cut to form the circular cut.

21. The method of claim 17, wherein the cutting blade (61) moves non-rotationally to shear the fresh food film (4).

22. A method of producing a capsule comprising:

the method comprises the following steps: providing a capsule housing (1) having a capsule inlet and a capsule outlet (11);

step two: an outlet drainage structure (5) is arranged at the bottom of a capsule cavity of the capsule shell (1), and a preservative film (4) is covered above the outlet drainage structure (5);

step three: arranging a cutting blade (61) in the capsule cavity above the preservative film (4) and filling consumables;

step four: the capsule inlet of the capsule housing (1) is covered with a cover (2) preventing leakage of the consumable.