An apparatus for high speed continuous thermoforming of pulp materials into pulp based products including a beverage dispensing capsule comprising a body having a side wall and a base formed entirely of moulded pulp fibres, said apparatus comprising a holding tank for water and pulp fibres in suspension, a continuous feed belt of articulated mesh toolsets contoured to the preform shape of said products, said belt being inclined to allow partial immersion and partial withdrawal from said suspension by continuous rotation of said belt, vacuum means applied to said mesh toolsets to draw said pulp fibres onto said mesh toolsets immersed in said suspension to form a preform pulp mat of said product.

There is disclosed a method for forming tea using a tea material, the method includes providing a vessel comprising an internal space configured to receive a liquid, inserting a container assembly into the vessel, the container assembly configured to contain the tea material and allow the liquid to interact with the tea material when submerged within the liquid, injecting steam through a double-walled nozzle into the vessel to heat the liquid while maintaining an exterior surface of the steam nozzle below the temperature of the steam, and allowing the tea material to stew within the liquid to form the tea. There is also disclosed an apparatus for forming a tea configured to inject steam into a vessel to heat a liquid to be infused with a tea material, and a beverage cartridge for forming a tea to be deposited into the vessel.

Systems and methods have demonstrated the capability of rapidly cooling the contents of pods containing the ingredients for food and drinks.

An apparatus and method for sharing capsule image data and beverage preparation parameters, from one or more beverage preparation machines with a remote computer system via a network, such as the Internet, is disclosed. The remote computer system may process the capsule image data to determine characteristics of the capsule (e.g., a type of capsule, such as a brand, or beverage ingredients in the capsule), thereby relieving the beverage preparation from having to determine information about the capsule. The remote computer may track a user's consumption of capsules, may compare this value to the user's past capsule purchase history, and may determine if the user's supply of capsules is below a threshold value (e.g., below a week's worth of capsules).

A beverage maker includes a body and a cover movably attached to the body. The body includes therein (among other components), a hot liquid generator (HLG) having a tank, an inlet for receiving liquid into the tank and an outlet, at least one heater in thermal communication with the liquid in the HLG tank, and a discharge port in fluid communication with the outlet of the HLG for discharge of the liquid. The cover is movably attached to the body between a closed position and an open position. At least one valve permits the discharge of the liquid via the discharge port in a closed position of the cover. The at least one valve is mechanically actuated by the cover in the open position of the cover to substantially prevent the discharge of the liquid via the discharge port.

A capsule for beverage preparations in a brewing machine, the capsule including a capsule container that is filled with an extraction product and has an essentially quadratic base, and a capsule cover that closes the capsule container. The capsule has at least one first optically readable code on the base of the capsule container, the code having a two-dimensional arrangement of several first code elements, which respectively contain information from which one of several possible orientations of the code on the plane of the base can be derived in a unique manner. The invention also relates to a capsule and to an associated system including a brewing machine and to a method for identifying the type of capsule.

A capsule for beverage preparations in a brewing machine, the capsule having a capsule container that is filled with an extraction product and has an essentially quadratic base, and a capsule cover that closes the capsule container. The capsule has at least one first optically readable code on the base of the capsule container, the code having a two-dimensional arrangement of several code elements, and at least one second optically readable on the base of the capsule container. The second code has a two-dimensional arrangement of several second code elements, which are arranged radially outside of the first code with respect to a center point of the first code. The invention also relates to a capsule and to an associated system including a brewing machine and to a method for identifying the type of capsule.

A coffee capsule treatment tool comprises a cutter part having a plated body and a dent formed inwardly at a center of the plated body. At least one cutter is protruded from a surface of the dent of the plated body with sharp tip. A spoon part is optionally connected or detachable from a side of the cutter part. The spoon part comprises a spoon at its tip is extended from a side of the plate body of the cutter part connected with a spoon handle. The present invention provides a handy hand tool for the user to easily separated the coffee capsule for recycling. The present invention can enhance or raise the intention of the user to recycle the coffee capsule properly to avoid of solve the environmental problem causing by the conventional coffee capsules.

A beverage-making apparatus includes: an ingredient package accommodation portion. The ingredient package accommodation portion includes: an ingredient package accommodation body including a plurality of ingredient package receiving parts configured to accommodate a plurality of ingredient packages; and an ingredient package accommodation cover configured to couple with and cover the ingredient package accommodation body and secure the plurality of ingredient packages in the ingredient package accommodation portion. Each of the plurality of ingredient package receiving parts, which is configured to accommodate a corresponding ingredient package among the plurality of ingredient packages, includes: at least one discharge channel configured to discharge contents of the ingredient package provided in the ingredient package receiving part, and at least one water supply channel configured to supply water to the ingredient package provided in the ingredient package receiving part.

A beverage-making apparatus includes a water supply heater configured to heat water; an ingredient supplier connected to the water supply heater through a water supply channel, the ingredient supplier having an ingredient accommodation part formed therein; an air injector connected to the water supply channel; and a container connected to the ingredient supplier through a first channel.