The invention relates to a beverage producing machine (1) comprising a housing (3) and a connector (20) for attaching an ingredient container (C) to said housing. The connector comprises a bottom wall (23) with a passage (25) for dispensing said ingredient towards the interior of the housing and a locking seat for said ingredient container. The locking seat comprises a ridge member (29) at least partly surrounding the bottom wall, wherein at least one resilient element (47, 49) is provided in said locking seat and constrained to the ridge member. The ridge member (29) is provided with at least one tangentially extending slot (39, 41) with an edge (39A, 41A) extending substantially parallel to and distanced from the bottom wall. The at least one resilient element projects from the edge of the slot towards the bottom wall (23) and is arranged to reduce backlash between an ingredient container and said connector when said ingredient container is locked to said connector.

The invention relates to a beverage producing machine (1) comprising a housing (3) and a connector (20) for attaching an ingredient container (C) to said housing. The connector comprises a bottom wall (23) with a passage (25) for dispensing said ingredient towards the interior of the housing and a locking seat for said ingredient container. The locking seat comprises a ridge member (29) at least partly surrounding the bottom wall, wherein at least one resilient element (47, 49) is provided in said locking seat and constrained to the ridge member. The ridge member (29) is provided with at least one tangentially extending slot (39, 41) with an edge (39A, 41A) extending substantially parallel to and distanced from the bottom wall. The at least one resilient element projects from the edge of the slot towards the bottom wall (23) and is arranged to reduce backlash between an ingredient container and said connector when said ingredient container is locked to said connector.

A grinder comprises: a receiving container, formed with an accommodation space and an installation space, and the bottom end thereof being extended with a connection ring have a feeding port, and a hollow grinding seat and a fasten ring are respectively and detachably disposed in the feeding port and the connection ring; an electric driving device, detachably disposed in the installation space; and a base, detachably disposed at the bottom end of the receiving container and including a hollow grinding chamber having the interior disposed with a support member with a pivotal shaft, a passive rod is sleeved and linked with a conical grinding disk, the top end and the bottom end of the passive rod are respectively sleeved with the output shaft and the pivotal shaft, thereby allowing the grinding disk to protrude into the grinding seat and forming a gap between the above two.

A grinder comprises: a receiving container, formed with an accommodation space and an installation space, and the bottom end thereof being extended with a connection ring have a feeding port, and a hollow grinding seat and a fasten ring are respectively and detachably disposed in the feeding port and the connection ring; an electric driving device, detachably disposed in the installation space; and a base, detachably disposed at the bottom end of the receiving container and including a hollow grinding chamber having the interior disposed with a support member with a pivotal shaft, a passive rod is sleeved and linked with a conical grinding disk, the top end and the bottom end of the passive rod are respectively sleeved with the output shaft and the pivotal shaft, thereby allowing the grinding disk to protrude into the grinding seat and forming a gap between the above two.

A method of monitoring at least one characteristic of a type of coffee from a plurality of reference characteristics associated with each type of coffee, each reference characteristic being associated with a respective reference signal, said method comprising the steps of: sensing, by one or more sensors, the concentration of one or more volatile organic compounds in a mixture of volatile organic compounds released from the coffee in a sampling time interval; generating a coffee-representative sampling signal for each sampling time interval, as a function of the volatile organic compounds; comparing each sampling signal so generated to detect a change over time in one or more volatile organic compounds released from the coffee at successive sampling time intervals; generating a signal representative of the change over time in one or more volatile organic compounds released from the coffee when the change is sensed; comparing the change-representative signal so generated with the reference signals associated with each reference characteristic; generating a characteristic-recognition signal as a function of the comparison between the signal representative of the change over time and the reference signals.

A method of monitoring at least one characteristic of a type of coffee from a plurality of reference characteristics associated with each type of coffee, each reference characteristic being associated with a respective reference signal, said method comprising the steps of: sensing, by one or more sensors, the concentration of one or more volatile organic compounds in a mixture of volatile organic compounds released from the coffee in a sampling time interval; generating a coffee-representative sampling signal for each sampling time interval, as a function of the volatile organic compounds; comparing each sampling signal so generated to detect a change over time in one or more volatile organic compounds released from the coffee at successive sampling time intervals; generating a signal representative of the change over time in one or more volatile organic compounds released from the coffee when the change is sensed; comparing the change-representative signal so generated with the reference signals associated with each reference characteristic; generating a characteristic-recognition signal as a function of the comparison between the signal representative of the change over time and the reference signals.

An apparatus for preparing coffee grounds for a coffee brewing process includes a control system that receives a coffee order. The coffee order includes information indicative of a composition of coffee beans ordered, and a quantity of the coffee beans to be included in the composition. A metering device receives the coffee beans from a hopper assembly, and is controlled by the control system to: measure the quantity of the coffee beans to be included in the composition, and output the quantity of the coffee beans measured from an outlet aperture. An inlet aperture of a grinder receives the measured quantity of the coffee beans output through the outlet aperture of the metering device and grinds the coffee beans to produce ground coffee. A nozzle is arranged to introduce moisture to the ground coffee output by the grinder, producing ground and moistened coffee that is dispensed for brewing coffee in fulfillment of the coffee order.

An apparatus for preparing coffee grounds for a coffee brewing process includes a control system that receives a coffee order. The coffee order includes information indicative of a composition of coffee beans ordered, and a quantity of the coffee beans to be included in the composition. A metering device receives the coffee beans from a hopper assembly, and is controlled by the control system to: measure the quantity of the coffee beans to be included in the composition, and output the quantity of the coffee beans measured from an outlet aperture. An inlet aperture of a grinder receives the measured quantity of the coffee beans output through the outlet aperture of the metering device and grinds the coffee beans to produce ground coffee. A nozzle is arranged to introduce moisture to the ground coffee output by the grinder, producing ground and moistened coffee that is dispensed for brewing coffee in fulfillment of the coffee order.

Some examples described herein include coffee bean packaging assemblies that integrate a packaging body with a grinding mechanism (e.g., a burr grinder). The example coffee bean assemblies described provide storage advantages (e.g., coffee beans and grinders do not need to be separately stored and located when wanting to dispense freshly ground coffee), as well as travel advantages (e.g., a separate coffee grinder does not need to be remembered packed when traveling)

Some examples described herein include coffee bean packaging assemblies that integrate a packaging body with a grinding mechanism (e.g., a burr grinder). The example coffee bean assemblies described provide storage advantages (e.g., coffee beans and grinders do not need to be separately stored and located when wanting to dispense freshly ground coffee), as well as travel advantages (e.g., a separate coffee grinder does not need to be remembered packed when traveling)