Apparatus comprising a cartridge device having a liquid inlet, a first substance-containing part downstream of the liquid inlet and for containing a first substance, a second substance-containing part for containing a second substance, the second substance being separated from the first substance, and releasing means arranged to release the first and second substances from respective first and second substance-containing parts.

A granulated nutritional supplement dispensing machine extracts single-serving doses from a multi-serving supplements cartridge for delivery as a drinkable solution. A lead serving chamber is pierced so that its powered contents drain into a mixing cup together with a metered quantity of water from an integrated water tank. A vibrator unit assists drainage of the granulated materials from the lead serving chamber. The mixing cup is rotated at high speed to blend the water and supplements into a slurry. The supplements cartridge is indexed after (or before) use so that an unopened serving chamber is presented each time for extracting its supplements. This enables partially-used supplements cartridges to be used in the machine, as is conducive in multiple-user households. The supplements cartridge is configured with read-write data capability to indicate whether or not the contents of each serving chamber have been emptied.

A food capsule has a cup-shaped capsule body enclosing a cavity with an opening at a first end, a second end including at least one outlet communicating with the cavity; an injection wall closing the opening, and at least one partition within the cavity extending from the injection wall to the second end of the capsule body. The at least one partition divides the cavity into chambers. Each chamber houses a quantity of an alimentary substance and communicates with at least one outlet including an independently-operable closure member in the second end.

A granulated nutritional supplement dispensing machine extracts single-serving doses from a multi-serving supplements cartridge for delivery as a drinkable solution. A lead serving chamber is pierced so that its powered contents drain into a mixing cup together with a metered quantity of water from an integrated water tank. A vibrator unit assists drainage of the granulated materials from the lead serving chamber. The mixing cup is rotated at high speed to blend the water and supplements into a slurry. The supplements cartridge is indexed after (or before) use so that an unopened serving chamber is presented each time for extracting its supplements. This enables partially-used supplements cartridges to be used in the machine, as is conducive in multiple-user households. The supplements cartridge is configured with read-write data capability to indicate whether or not the contents of each serving chamber have been emptied.

The invention relates to a disposable capsule for the preparation of infused beverages. The capsule has a body having a main cavity or chamber in turn having a first dispensing opening adapted to put the main cavity or chamber in fluid communication with the external environment, wherein the main cavity or chamber contains a measured dose of a first food product (FP1) in a granular form. An inner cavity or chamber is formed in the main cavity having a second dispensing opening and containing a measured dose of a second food product (FP2) in granular form. The main cavity or chamber and the inner cavity or chamber are arranged in fluid communication with one another. The disposable capsule also has closing means between the first and second dispensing openings, configured to be selectively activated upon emptying of the first or of the second food product (FP1, FP2).

A cartridge may comprise a container, a filter, and a lid. The container may comprise a pierceable bottom portion structurally configured to be pierceable by a first machine piercing element. The filter may be disposed inside the container. The filter may comprise a pre-shaped concave center portion disposed above the pierceable bottom portion. The pre-shaped concave center portion may be disposed above the pierceable bottom portion. The pre-shaped concave center portion may comprise one or more attachment portions fastened to the container bottom along a periphery of the pre-shaped concave center portion. The lid may be attached to an opening of the container.

A multi-chamber capsule system for producing a beverage has a multi-chamber capsule with an outer shell, which has an outer bottom, an outer sidewall and an outer lid, forming an overall cavity. The capsule also includes at least one inner shell, inside the overall cavity and forming a second chamber to receive a second volume of a second contained substance. A remaining cavity of the multi-chamber capsule is formed by the overall cavity minus the at least one inner shell, as a first chamber to receive a first volume of a first contained substance. The multi-chamber capsule system also includes a device to open the inner shell of the multi-chamber capsule and in order to convey the second contained substance out of the second chamber into the first chamber, to produce a mixture in the multi-chamber capsule which completely contains the first contained substance and the second contained substance.

A system for the preparation of a multi-component food product, such as coffee, tea, soup or baby food. The system comprises two or more capsules (300,400), each capsule providing a component of the multi-component food product, each capsule having an inlet region for receiving liquid into the capsule and an outlet region (330) for dispensing liquid from the capsule, wherein the outlet region of a first capsule is configured to mate with the inlet region of a second capsule, such that the first and second capsules may be connected in fluid communication.

An improved beverage cartridge is provided for use in forming a beverage in a beverage machine that provides a pressurized liquid. The cartridge includes a container having an interior space, a lid that accommodates an inflow of the pressurized liquid, and a filter arranged to contain a beverage medium arranged to interact with a liquid to form the beverage. The cartridge also includes annular disc shaped capsule configured for placement within the container. The capsule has a hollow interior chamber that contains a beverage medium and an open bottom that is sealed closed by a membrane. The membrane is configured to selectively provide fluid communication between the space inside the container and the chamber allowing liquid introduced into the container to flow into the capsule's chamber. The membrane is also pierceable by the beverage machine to accommodate an outflow of the liquid flowing into the capsule.

A capsule includes a first container provided with a first closed cavity containing a first product and a second container provided with a second closed cavity containing a second product. The first container and the second container include a first interface element facing the first cavity and a second interface element facing the second cavity, respectively. The first interface element is provided with a first connecting device having a first conduit and the second interface element is provided with a second connecting device having a second conduit. In an assembled configuration of the capsule, in which the first container is associated with the second container, the first connecting device is engaged with the second connecting device so as to couple the first conduit with the second conduit to make a flow connection between the first cavity and the second cavity and enable at least the first product to pass into the second cavity and join the second product to make a final product.