CN111212794A

CN111212794A - Portioned capsules

Info

Publication number: CN111212794A
Application number: CN201880066640.9A
Authority: CN
Inventors: J·布尔厄克尔; W·鲍尔考
Original assignee: Tchibo GmbH
Current assignee: Tchibo GmbH
Priority date: 2017-10-16
Filing date: 2018-10-15
Publication date: 2020-05-29
Also published as: EP3697702A1; IL273766A; JP2020536815A; US20200239223A1; CA3078152A1; EP3470350A1; AU2018350689A1; RU2020115393A3; RU2020115393A; BR112020007478A2; WO2019076825A1; KR20200068687A

Abstract

The portion capsule comprises a cup body (2) with a lid (4) and a chamber (8) formed inside the cup body and comprising a soluble substance and a central axis (10). Furthermore, an injection piece (3) is present, which injection piece (3) delimits the chamber (8) with respect to the lid side or the bottom side and comprises at least one injection opening (7). The injection port is designed such that fluid delivered through the injection port towards the chamber is injected into the chamber as a jet, the jet extending in a plane extending through the central axis (10) and at an angle relative to the central axis.

Description

Portioned capsules

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of systems for preparing beverages by means of a fluid introduced into a beverage capsule. In particular, the invention relates to portion capsules comprising a soluble food substance from which a beverage or beverage component can be prepared by injecting water.

Background

Among the systems for preparing beverages, the so-called coffee capsule systems (also variants for preparing tea) are known, with which, as a rule, hot water is introduced substantially under pressure into the capsule to prepare the beverage, for example by extraction. Capsules compatible with, for example, coffee capsule systems are also known, wherein these capsules contain soluble substances, such as milk powder, instead of extraction material, to prepare beverage components or beverages.

In contrast to capsules filled with extraction material, in relation to capsules with soluble contents, it is not possible in a simple manner to build up a pressure inside the capsule which drops through the material contained in the capsule during the complete preparation process and ensures that the capsule contents are completely immersed by the introduced fluid. Other measures must be taken to ensure good thorough mixing and uniform dissolution of the capsule contents.

In EP1659909 it has been proposed to inject a fluid into a chamber containing a food substance at an angle to a vertical mid-plane. This is achieved by creating a swirling (swirling) motion around the midpoint of the chamber, which motion effects mixing of the fluid and substance-similar to stirring in a cup. The means to achieve such injection may be present on the machine side or integrated into the capsule. This solution can work in many situations. However, for such a regular swirling motion there is always a swirl or vortex core, wherein no stirring takes place. Furthermore, due to friction with the cup wall, the swirling motion under certain conditions cannot develop to a sufficient extent in the outer region of the chamber, which is why not a sufficiently uniform dissolution behavior is produced for all configurations (depending on the capsule geometry, material content, injection pressure and water temperature).

Disclosure of Invention

The object of the invention is to provide a portion capsule with a soluble substance which allows as good and large a dissolving of the soluble substance as possible upon injection of water.

This object is achieved by a capsule as defined in the patent claims.

A capsule according to one aspect of the invention comprises an outer cup with a lid and a chamber formed inside the cup and comprising a soluble substance. The capsule central axis extends through the lid and the bottom of the cup body, thus for example substantially perpendicular to the lid. The cup body and the lid may be substantially rotationally symmetrical around the central axis, although other shapes, such as a cubic capsule shape, are not excluded. The capsule comprises an injection member delimiting the chamber with respect to the lid side or the bottom side of the cup body and comprising at least one injection opening designed such that the fluid delivered therethrough is injected into the chamber as a jet extending in a plane extending through the central axis and at an angle with respect to the central axis (i.e. not parallel to the central axis).

In particular, the injection openings are arranged close to the central axis (for example not more than 20% of the capsule diameter, measured perpendicular to the central axis at the height of the respective injection opening) and/or are designed such that they extend in said plane towards the central axis, thus towards the middle injection.

In particular, there may be several such injection openings, wherein all of these injection openings fulfill the condition of the jet generated by them, which jet extends in a plane extending through the central axis and at an angle with respect to the central axis. In this way, the several fluid jets may be directed away from each other or towards each other upon introduction of the fluid.

Not only is particularly thorough mixing achieved by means of the jet directions, which are distributed, for example, in a uniform manner. The capsule is then also suitable for a horizontal beverage preparation module (i.e. the module, in which the capsule is guided with a central axis substantially parallel to the horizontal plane), and in particular irrespective of the orientation of the capsule about its central axis, since it is for example possible to exclude areas where only one downward jet or only one upward jet is generated and therefore does not come into contact with water.

Due to the process according to the invention, basically not laminar vortices as occur in the prior art, but turbulence occurs inside the capsule. It has been found that in this way a particularly good and thorough mixing between the fluid and the soluble substance can be achieved. The process functions in a particularly efficient manner if several injection openings are provided, in particular if these injection openings point in different directions.

In one set of embodiments, the injector is designed as a separate element from the cup and lid, so that an injection space is formed between the capsule lid and the injector or alternatively between the capsule bottom and the injector. For example, there may be an outwardly sealing lid which can be pierced to introduce a fluid, as is known from beverage preparation capsules.

However, as an alternative to the filler being designed as a separate element, the filler is not exclusively formed by the lid or the bottom of the cup.

Additionally or alternatively, the discharge of the beverage may also require piercing at the respective opposite side.

The chamber also optionally comprises a sieve element, separate from the cup and lid, towards the other side-thus towards the bottom or lid-which delimits the chamber with respect to the side opposite the injector.

The angle of the jet relative to the central axis may in particular be ± 63 ° to 68 °, for example about 65 °, 66 ° or 67 °. It has been found that given such an angle-range, which can be defined as 45 ° -75 °, in particular 55 ° to 70 °, thorough mixing can be achieved particularly well.

The injection openings are usually small, their diameter being for example between 0.5 and 2 mm, in particular about 1 mm, so that at an injection pressure of for example 5-15 bar, which is common for beverage makers, a full jet in the desired direction is produced.

Drawings

Embodiments of the present invention are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Shown are:

figure 1 is a view of a capsule according to the invention without a capsule lid;

figure 2 shows a capsule with partially schematically illustrated elements in cross-section;

FIG. 3 is a view from above of an injector; and

fig. 4 is a cross-section along the plane a-a in fig. 3.

Detailed Description

The capsule 1 according to fig. 1 and 2 comprises a cup body 2 and a lid 4 (see fig. 2), the lid 4 not being shown in fig. 1 for the sake of clarity. The cup and lid may be made of plastic in a manner known per se. However, the invention is also applicable to capsules of other materials, such as aluminium. The fastening of the lid to the cup is similarly carried out in a known manner, for example by ultrasonic welding or possibly by adhesive bonding.

The filler 3, which is designed as an insert, is fastened to the cup 2. The fastening of the insert to the cup can be effected via a form-fitting connection (e.g. with grooves or other undercut structures in the cup), via a non-form-fitting connection (snap/friction) and/or via a material connection (welding, adhesive).

In the embodiment shown, the injector 3 is present on the lid side and delimits the chamber 8 filled with soluble substance (milk powder or the like) with respect to the lid side and thus with respect to the top in fig. 2. An injection space 5 is formed between the cover 4 and the injection member 3.

The capsule can also optionally comprise a sieve member 11 delimiting the chamber 8 with respect to the other side-thus with respect to the bottom in fig. 2, the sieve member 11 being permeable to the beverage and shown only in a very schematic and dashed way in fig. 2. In such a case, a collection area 12 is formed between the sieve element 11 and the bottom (or the inversely arranged lid), from which the beverage is drained out of the capsule.

The injector 3, which is shown in somewhat more detail in fig. 3 and 4, comprises a conical projection 6 which projects into the inside of the capsule and is centred about a central axis 10. On the one hand, because of the fluid introduction achieved in this way, the water-injected perforation tip can be accommodated in the region of the projection without damaging the injector. On the other hand, the protrusion 16 includes the injection port 7.

In the embodiment described herein, there are three injection ports whose injection directions form an angle β of 120 ° with respect to each other and are therefore evenly distributed in the circumferential direction, the angle α with respect to the plane of the lid (the angle with respect to the central axis being respectively 90 ° - (α)), is just less than 25 °, and the diameter of the injection port 7 is about 1 mm.

In fig. 4, an optional crimping region 9 can also be seen, which can be deformed radially outwards in a resilient manner and serves to secure the injection member 3 in the capsule cup.

The injection part shown is therefore designed such that the injection openings are arranged centrally with respect to the radial direction, i.e. in the vicinity of the central axis 10, and the jets produced by the injection openings are remote from one another. Such an arrangement inevitably leads to the incorporation of the injection port 7 into the protrusion 6. In particular, if the injectors are arranged along the periphery, an arrangement in which the jets extend relative to one another in the direction of the central axis is also optional.

Further embodiments are possible.

Claims

1. A portion capsule having an outer cup (2), a lid (4) and a chamber (8) formed within the cup and having a soluble substance and a central axis (10), the portion capsule comprising an injection piece (3) delimiting the chamber (8) with respect to a lid side or a bottom side and comprising at least one injection opening (7), characterized in that the injection opening is designed such that a fluid delivered through the injection opening towards the chamber is injected into the chamber as a jet which extends in a plane extending through the central axis (10) and at an angle (90 ° - α) with respect to the central axis.

2. Portion capsule according to claim 1, wherein the injection opening is at a distance of no more than 20% of the capsule diameter from the central axis and/or the injection opening is designed such that the jet extends towards the central axis.

3. Portion capsule according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the injection member (3) comprises a plurality of injection ports (7).

4. Portion capsule according to claim 3, wherein the injection member (3) comprises three injection ports (7).

5. Portion capsule according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the injection openings (7) are evenly distributed in the circumferential direction.

6. Portion capsule according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the injection piece forms a bulge (6) pointing into the capsule and the at least one injection opening is formed in the bulge (6).

7. Portion capsule according to claim 6, wherein the projections (6) are conical.

8. Portion capsule according to claim 6 or 7, wherein said projection is arranged centrally with respect to said central axis (10).

9. Portion capsule according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the angle (90 ° - α) with respect to the central axis (10) is between 45 ° and 75 °, in particular between 60 ° and 70 °.

10. Portion capsule according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the diameter of the injection opening (7) is between 0.5 mm and 2 mm, in particular between 0.8 mm and 1.5 mm.

11. Portion capsule according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the injector (3) is designed separately from the cup (2) and lid (4) and is fastened to the cup and/or lid such that an injection space (5) is formed between the capsule lid and the injector or alternatively between the capsule bottom and the injector.

12. Portion capsule according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the soluble substance is milk powder.