An espresso coffee machine is described, said machine comprising: a water supply; a boiler for heating the water; a pump; a dispensing group configured to cooperate with a portafilter equipped with a filter basket with a puck of coffee powder, the machine being configured to supply pressurized water to said coffee powder puck for dispensing an espresso coffee, and a water monitoring system for monitoring at least one parameter of the water used for preparation of the espresso coffee. Preferably, the monitoring system comprises a conductivity and temperature probe which provides values, continuously and in real time, of water hardness derived from information on the electrical conductivity and temperature of the water.

The invention relates to a capsule comprising an water capsule configured to contain water, a coffee capsule configured to contain coffee, and a water hole valve disposed on the water capsule, whereby the water capsule holds a quantity of water, the coffee capsule housed within the water capsule holds a quantity of coffee, and the water hole valve disposed on the water capsule is configured to release the water within the water capsule into a coffee machine. The invention further relates to a respective method for making coffee.

An espresso coffee machine including a main boiler, a dispensing group, a secondary boiler, a main water inlet circuit, hydraulically connected to the main boiler and to each secondary boiler and an electronic control unit, where the main water inlet circuit has a booster pump, the machine further includes a pressure sensor, a bypass circuit hydraulically, and a two-way proportional valve configured to recirculate a part of delivery flow of the booster pump on the main water inlet circuit and upstream of the booster pump, in order to maintain a certain coffee extraction pressure value in each dispensing group set in real time by the pressure sensor.

A control assembly of a solenoid valve for a delivery device; the control assembly comprising a first input configured to be coupled to a control device of the delivery device and to be supplied by a power supply voltage from the control device; a first output configured to be coupled to a second input of a solenoid valve; a control unit being coupled to the first input; and a drive unit coupled to the first output and to the control unit; the control unit being configured to detect a first voltage at the first input; the control unit being configured to control the drive unit so that, when the control unit detects a first voltage equal to a power supply voltage, the first output of the control assembly delivers: a rated voltage for a first period of time, and a hold voltage different from the rated voltage for a second period of time following the first period of time, and wherein the hold voltage is lower than the rated voltage.

A valve (100) comprises: a housing (110), an elastic cap (120) and a driving device (13); at least one group of ports (111) is provided in the housing, and each group of ports comprises an inlet (111a) and an outlet (111b); at least a portion of the elastic cap is provided in the housing; and the driving device is used to drive the elastic cap to undergo an elastic deformation so as to obstruct the inlet and the outlet.

A machine for preparing beverages has a hydraulic circuit including a normally open discharge valve, which comprises a main inlet connected to a fluid actuator, a main outlet connected towards a collecting space, and a valve member between the main inlet and the main outlet, for enabling and preventing a flow of fluid between the main inlet and the main outlet. The discharge valve is a hydraulically driven valve, which also comprises a driving chamber for hydraulic driving the valve member. The driving chamber has an auxiliary inlet, connected to the delivery of a pump, and an auxiliary outlet, connected to a brewing unit and to the fluid actuator, in such a way that water delivered by the pump passes through the driving chamber before reaching the brewing unit and the fluid actuator, respectively. The driving chamber has a further outlet, connected in fluid communication to a device for spillage of water from the driving chamber.

An espresso machine is provided that utilizes a mechanical valve in addition to a flow meter. This results in a low-cost espresso machine while delivering a measured volume of water for the espresso pour. The mechanical valve facilitates a machine with both selectable espresso pour and steam and/or hot water outlets. In this embodiment, the espresso machine utilizes a shared pump and water heater (e.g., a thermoblock, boiler or similar) for multiple functions and/or through different outlets. For example, water from the reservoir may be sent through the flow meter to the pump, then to the water heater, and eventually to either the grouphead or steam wand, or to a pressure release.

A system (1) for preparing beverages, in particular aromatic beverages such as espresso coffee and similar, having at least one type of brewing device (2), at least one beverage discharge disposition (3) that provides beverage discharge in a direction opposite that of the gravity force, and at least one type of beverage recipient (4), for example of the type glass, cup or similar. The system (1) presents at least one introduction opening (8) configured for the introduction of portions (7) of edible substance, arranged next to said beverage discharge disposition (3), so that both are accessible on a common exterior surface of the apparatus casing (6) of said beverage preparation apparatus (5). Also, a process for preparing beverages having a step of confirmation the correct placement of a beverage recipient (4) engaged in said beverage discharge disposition (3) and display of corresponding information.

Systems and methods are described, which relate to the control of additive dispensers to provide defined amounts of one or more additive compounds to water to produce customized water. A given additive dispenser may include multiple inputs and/or outputs. Predefined water profiles may be stored in memory. A given water profile may define the amounts of additives to be delivered by the additive dispensers to achieve desired water characteristics. A controller may determine actual water characteristics of input water based on corresponding sensor data, and may compare the actual water characteristics to desired water characteristics in order to determine the amount of additive or additives that should be delivered to the input water to achieve the desired water characteristics. The additive dispensers may be network-enabled and may include transceivers configured to receive instructions related to production of customized water from a user device.

An inlet arrangement of a beverage forming apparatus is provided, where the inlet arrangement is configured to deliver liquid to a beverage cartridge. The inlet arrangement includes a central inlet port and a plurality of inlet ports arranged around the central inlet port. The beverage forming apparatus has the ability to implement different dispensing operations in which dispensing occurs through selectable subsets of the inlet ports. A gasket arrangement may be used with the inlet arrangement.