WO2001045538A1

WO2001045538A1 - Manual coffee maker

Info

Publication number: WO2001045538A1
Application number: PCT/AU2000/001169
Authority: WO
Inventors: John Charles Maynard
Original assignee: John Charles Maynard
Priority date: 1999-12-21
Filing date: 2000-09-26
Publication date: 2001-06-28
Also published as: AUPQ476599A0

Abstract

A manual coffee maker to be used by people who appreciate the special flavour of a beverage produced by the high pressure hot water percolation method. It is a compact, portable, kitchen utensil comprising three containers. A water holding pot, a finished beverage collector tube and a ground coffee bean holder. The beverage preparation can be described as follows: a quantity of fresh water is filled into the pot [1, 2] placed on a gas or electric cooker and brought to the boil. The finely ground roasted coffee beans are placed into the holder [4, 5, 7, 8, 9] and pressed inside it to a dense layer. The holder is then inserted into the pot, together with the receiving tube [3, 10, 11, 12] which is attached to it. The twisting down of the holder into the hot water will make the water pass through the grounds and collect in the receiving tube as an espresso beverage.

Description

Manual Coffee Maker

This invention relates to the preparation of beverages by people who appreciate the special flavour of coffee.

The coffee brewing apparatus constructed in accordance with this invention will be a 5 percolator, utilising a mechanically pressurised, hot water system.

It will be compact and portable and will enable its users to prepare a hot drink for their immediate consumption.

The quality of a coffee beverage generally reflects the quality of the coffee ingredient used for its preparation and particularly the percolation method of the Coffee Maker. id This manual coffee maker is designed to enable the user to achieve an optimum quality by facilitating the following procedure :

A quantity of pure water , filled into the coffee maker can be heated to the optimal temperature by placing it on an electric or gas cooker.

A chosen quantity of ground coffee can be placed into the Coffee Makers Grounds iS compartment and be mechanically compressed to form a dense layer.

The hot water can be forced by the user to percolate through the layer of ground coffee by the twisting of the Grounds Holder.

The correct extraction of the flavourings from the coffee grounds depends on the temperature of the water and the speed of its flow.The user can control both. The 2 temperature by bringing the water to the boil, and the timing of the percolation by rotating the Grounds Holder in a stepwise manner with pauses between steps.

The design of this percolator will let the user feel the water pressure buildup. A low resistance and the resulting low pressure will be a warning of the changed percolation conditions. 25 To assist with the understanding of the invention and to help the description of its parts reference will be made to the accompanying drawing.

In the Drawing :

Fig. 1 is the Top View of the Coffee Maker

Fig. 2 is the Side View of the Coffee Maker. o Fig. 3 is a PartSection of the Coffee Maker

The parts of the CoffeeMaker can be divided into two groups.

The bottom stationary parts [ 1 , 2 , 10 ]

The top rotating parts [ 3 , 1 1 , 12 ] & [ 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 ] The following is a description of the parts :

The Pot [ 1 ] at the base of the coffee maker , is to hold the water for the coffee making. It is a cylindrical vessel with an open top. Four slots cut into its top edge will hold the Bush [ 10 ] in a way that allows the easy insertion and removal of the bush together with the parts that rotate inside it, into the pot.

The Carrying Handle [ 2 ] is attached to the wall of the Pot. This Handle is of an extensible type and is long enough, when extended to rest against the body of the user during the percolation and, in this way, prevent a rotation of the Pot. The Coffee Holder Cup [ 4 ] will be a cylindrical container fitting snugly inside the Pot O To prevent the water escaping past the Cup during its descent into the hot water it will be fitted with a piston type Seal [ 5 ] The bottom of the Cup will consist of a porous Disc [ 7 ] which will hold back the coffee grounds during percolation. It will have a threaded stud projecting past the coffee grounds. A removable porous Lid [ 8 ] will slide on the stud and inside the cup. A Winged Nut [ 9 ] with a thread matching the thread on the Stud will be used to tighten the Lid onto the the coffee grounds inside the Cup [ 4 ] and in this way create a densely packed layer. The Cup is attached to an externally threaded Tube [ 3 ] . This tube will be the Beverage Holder. The beverage emerging from the Cup will be guided into the Tube by the Spout [ 6 ] . The Spout will also promote the frothing of the beverage which is a desired feature of good percolation. The Tube [ 3 ] fits snugly into the internally threaded Bush [ 10 ] so that a rotation of the Tube will make the tube and the Cup [ 4 ] descend into the Pot and exert pressure onto the hot water in the pot. It is this pressure that forces the hot water to penetrate the compacted, ground coffee and by doing so start the process of percolation, which is the extraction of the flavourings of the roasted coffee bean. The 5 water pressure needed for this operation is so high that the user needs to exert his force, for the rotation of the tube, through the use of levers. These are provided by the Twist Arms [ 12 ] projecting from the Collar [ 11 ] which is attached to the top end of Tube [ 3 ]. The Twist Arms can be folded down, when not in use, to reduce the space taken up by this Coffee Maker. Similarly, the pot handle is to be removable and not stay projecting from the side of the Pot.

Claims

The claims defining the invention are as follows :

1 . A manual coffee maker using a mechanical force to press a quantity of hot water through a layer of roasted finely ground coffee beans held compacted between porous plates.

2. The coffee maker of claim 1 . wherein the grounds holder is capable of compacting less than a full portion of beans when a smaller size beverage is wanted.

3. The coffee maker of claim 1 . wherein the force pressurising the water can be applied progressivelly by the user and in this way regulate the time taken by θ the coffee maker to complete the percolation of the chosen quantity of beverage.

4. The coffee maker of claim 1 . wherein a change in the resistance of the coffee grounds to the flow of the hot water can be felt by the user so that he can be aware of the change in the percolation conditions.

5. A manual coffee maker substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawing.