CAPSULE

Abstract

A capsule (100) for preparing a beverage is described, comprising: a containment volume (110) comprising a side wall (111) and an upper closing portion (112) which are configured so as to house a product in said containment volume (110); a projecting edge (120) configured so as to project from the lower end of said containment volume (110) along a direction that is perpendicular with respect to the axis (Ax1) of said capsule (100), wherein said projecting edge (120) comprises an upper surface (121) facing the upper closing portion of said containment volume (110); said upper surface (121) of said projecting edge (120) comprises a spiral-shaped ridge (122) which winds about the axis (Ax1) of the capsule, performing a plurality of revolutions.

Claims

1. A capsule for preparing a beverage, comprising: a containment volume comprising a side wall and an upper closing portion which are configured so as to house a product in said containment volume; a projecting edge configured so as to project from a lower end of said containment volume along a direction that is perpendicular with respect to an axis of said capsule, wherein said projecting edge comprises an upper surface facing the upper closing portion of said containment volume; and wherein said upper surface of said projecting edge comprises a spiral-shaped ridge so as to perform a plurality of revolutions about the axis of said capsule.

2. A capsule according to claim 1, wherein said spiral-shaped ridge comprises an end portion positioned along the outer edge of said projecting edge.

3. A capsule according to claim 1, wherein said spiral shaped ridge has at least 5 revolutions about the axis of said capsule.

4. A capsule according to claim 1, wherein said spiral shaped ridge has a pitch of 0.5 mm.

5. A capsule according to claim 1, wherein said spiral shaped ridge has a triangular section.

6. A capsule according to claim 1, wherein said capsule is made of compostable material.

7. A machine for making a beverage with a capsule according to claim 1, wherein said machine comprises a containment element configured so as to enclose said capsule, wherein a seal between said capsule and said containment element is made by interaction between a wall of said containment volume and said spiral-shaped ridge of said projecting edge.

8. A system for making a beverage comprising a capsule according to claim 1, and a machine for making a beverage comprising a containment element configured so as to enclose said capsule, wherein a seal between said capsule and said containment element is made by interaction between a wall of said containment volume and said spiral-shaped ridge of said projecting edge.

9. A beverage capsule comprising: a capsule having an upper closing portion and a circumferential side wall around an axis, the circumferential side wall having a side wall end opposing the upper closing portion forming a containment volume; a projected edge projecting from the side wall end of the circumferential side wall away from the axis, said projected edge having a distal end and an upper surface facing the upper closing portion; a protrusion extending from the distal end of said projected edge towards the upper closing portion; and a spiral-shaped ridge formed on the upper surface of said projected edge between the circumferential side wall and the protrusion, said spiral-shaped ridge forming at least three revolutions around the axis, whereby said spiral-shaped ridge is capable of forming a pressure seal with a containment element for the capsule.

10. A beverage capsule as recited in claim 9 wherein: said protrusion has a length in a direction along the axis greater than a length of said spiral-shaped ridge in a direction along the axis.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0020] The present invention is described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which the same reference numbers and/or marks indicate the same parts and/or similar parts and/or corresponding parts of the system.

[0021] FIG. 1 diagrammatically shows a three-dimensional view of a capsule according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0022] FIG. 2 diagrammatically shows a section view of the capsule shown in FIG. 1, along a plane passing through the axis of the capsule.

[0023] FIG. 2a diagrammatically shows a detail of the ridge shown in FIG. 2.

[0024] FIG. 3 shows a section view along the line D-D of FIG. 2.

[0025] FIG. 3a shows a detail of the ridge shown in FIG. 3.

[0026] FIG. 4 shows a section view of the capsule inserted in the containment element prior to a relative pressure between the capsule and the containment element being applied.

[0027] FIGS. 4a and 4b describe details of FIG. 4.

[0028] FIG. 5 shows a section view of the capsule inserted in the containment element after a relative pressure between the capsule and the containment element is applied.

[0029] FIGS. 5a and 5b describe details of FIG. 5.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0030] The present invention is described hereinbelow by making reference to particular embodiments, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the particular embodiments described in the following detailed description and depicted in the drawings, rather the embodiments described simply exemplify the various aspects of the present invention, the scope of which is defined by the claims. Further modifications and variations of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in art.

[0031] FIG. 1 shows a three-dimensional view of a capsule 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the drawings, the capsule 100 comprises a containment volume 110 comprising a circumferential side wall 111 and an upper closing portion 112 provided integrally with the side wall 111.

[0032] A projecting edge 120 is integrally provided to the containment volume 110 and is configured so as to project from the lower end of the containment volume 110, therefore at a portion opposite to the upper closing portion 112 of the containment volume 110 along a direction that is perpendicular to the axis Ax1 of the capsule 100 (shown in FIG. 2).

[0033] As shown in FIG. 1, the upper surface 121 of the projecting edge 120 comprises a spiral-shaped ridge 122, which is shown in greater detail in the following drawings. The ridge 122 extends along the perimeter of the side wall 111 of the containment volume 110 and performs a plurality of revolutions about the axis Ax1 of the capsule 100.

[0034] In order to fully understand one of the advantages provided by the spiral-shaped ridge 122, the difference between a barrier seal and a pressure loss seal is briefly presented below.

[0035] The barrier seal is a type of seal for example, in a flat seal element comprising one or more concentric ridges. Here, the seal is obtained from the various barriers formed by the concentric ridges themselves. For example, if there are two concentric ridges, a seal formed by two barriers is involved. If the liquid passed the first barrier in a point, it will be sufficient for it to pass the second barrier in a second point for there not to be any more seal.

[0036] As is well-known from physics, a liquid under pressure tends to expand towards areas having lower pressure. Therefore, in the case of a barrier seal, the fluid under pressure creates a pressure against the wall of the barrier itself and, if it is able to pass through it, it will be pressurized against the successive wall.

[0037] Therefore, it is sufficient to have two ridges with inaccuracies to lose the seal itself. For this reason, the present invention aims to solve such disadvantage and to make a more secure type of seal.

[0038] In this regard, the pressure loss seal described in the present invention, represented for example by the spiral-shaped ridge 122 of the present invention, has a completely different concept of seal.

[0039] The spiral-shaped ridge 122 allows the fluid to be channelled between two successive walls of the ridge 122. Therefore, the fluids tends to flow along such circumferential portion without pushing on the walls of the ridge 122 due to the fact that the outlet of the channel is the area with less pressure.

[0040] In this regard, as is well-known from fluid dynamics, a liquid that flows along a channel is subjected to distributed pressure losses that are dependent on the number of Reynolds, and to concentrated pressure losses due to particular shapes of specific points of the channel itself. The overall pressure losses are therefore proportional to the length of the channel and the shape of the channel, for example narrowings, steps and similar advantageously form the pressure losses.

[0041] Given that as mentioned, the fluid is channelled into the channel formed by two successive walls of the spiral-shaped ridge 122, it is to flow along a path, losing most of the pressure thereof up to stopping.

[0042] Therefore, taking advantage of the fact that the fluid is to perform a lengthy path prior to leaving the seal, it is possible to prevent it from reaching the outlet of the seal itself due to the pressure losses to which the fluid is subjected.

[0043] FIG. 2 shows a section view of the capsule 100 shown in FIG. 1. As is shown in detail in FIG. 2a, the ridge 122 has a triangular section that extends about the perimeter of the side wall 111 and projects from the upper surface 121 of the projecting edge 120 towards the upper closing portion 112 of the capsule 100.

[0044] However, according to needs, the ridge may take on various shapes such as for example, a truncated-conical shape.

[0045] The pitch of the ridge 122 preferably is equal to 0.5 mm and the maximum width of the ridge 122 preferably is equal to 0.2 mm. The height of the ridge preferably is equal to 0.5 mm.

[0046] As shown in the drawing, the ridge 122 is integrally provided to the projecting edge 120 of the capsule 100 so as to make the capsule 100 in a single step.

[0047] As is shown in particular in FIG. 2a, the end portion of the projecting edge 120 has a protrusion 123 that extends from a radial end portion of the projecting edge 120 towards the upper closing portion 112 of the capsule 100 for a greater length with respect to the axial extension of the ridge 122.

[0048] In this regard, the distance measured along the axis Ax1 of the capsule 100 between the end portion of the protrusion 123 and the end portion of the ridge 122 preferably is equal to 0.2 mm.

[0049] The function of the protrusion 123 is the one of interacting with an inner side wall 12 of the containment element of the infusion device, as is described more clearly with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5.

[0050] As shown in FIG. 3, the ridge 122 performs a plurality of revolutions about the axis Ax1 of the capsule 100. Preferably, the number of revolutions is greater than or equal to 5, more preferably equal to 6.

[0051] As shown in the detail of FIG. 3a, the circumferential start point of the ridge 122 coincides with the circumferential end point of the ridge 122. Although it is not shown in the drawings, according to a preferable embodiment, the spiral-shaped ridge 122 may comprise an end portion positioned along the outer edge of the projecting edge 120. Outer edge clearly means the outer end portion of the projecting edge 120.

[0052] The same inventive concept, i.e. the supply of a seal ridge 122 positioned along an upper surface of the projecting edge, may also be used for reinforcing rings such as the ones described in patent document EP 3 152 134 A1.

[0053] Moreover, the capsule 100 may preferably be made of a compostable material. Therefore, also the ridge 122 is made of compostable material.

[0054] As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the capsule 100 described in the present invention may be used in dispensing devices, such as for example devices for preparing beverages such as coffee, comprising a containment element 10 configured so as to enclose the capsule 100. The containment element 10 comprises an opening 13 positioned in the upper portion of the containment element 10 so as to insert a perforating element capable of perforating the upper closing portion 112 of the capsule 100 and introduce liquid under pressure therein.

[0055] As shown in FIG. 4, during use, there is a sealing engagement between the capsule 100 and a lower wall 11 of the containment element so as to prevent liquid from leaking.

[0056] As mentioned above, the protrusion 123 allows interacting with an inner side wall 12 of the containment element 10 of the infusion device. This therefore allows adjusting the relative positioning between the capsule 100 and the containment element 10 so as to ensure that the lower wall 11 of the containment element 10 is in contact with at least one portion of the spiral-shaped ridge 122.

[0057] It is apparent from the example shown in the drawings that there is no need for the axis of the capsule to be centred with the axis of the containment element 10 because the spiral-shaped ridge 122 is in any case capable of providing a seal between the two elements.

[0058] FIG. 4 shows a status that precedes the application of a relative pressure between the containment element 10 and the capsule 100. Therefore as is shown, there is a simple support between the spiral-shaped ridge 122 and the lower wall 11 of the containment element 10.

[0059] As is shown by comparing FIGS. 4(a) and 4(b), the distance between the side wall 111 and the first ridge 122 varies between the section shown in FIG. 4(a) and the one shown in 4(b). In particular, the distance D1 between the inner portion of the ridge 122 and the side wall 111 shown in FIG. 4(a) is less than the distance D1 between the inner portion of the ridge 122 and the side wall 111 shown in FIG. 4(b). This is clearly due to the fact that the ridge 122 is spiral-shaped. Therefore, such distances continuously vary along the semi-circumference that joins the section shown in FIG. 4(a) and the one shown in 4(b).

[0060] Moreover, it is shown that in the particular example shown in FIG. 4, the lower wall 11 is in contact in three different points with the ridge 122, i.e. on three consecutive pitches of the ridge 122. Therefore, if the fluid under pressure wants to leave the seal, it is to perform at least three revolutions about the axis Ax1. This substantially is impossible due to the pressure losses in play that occur along such a long path. Thereby, a particularly reliable seal may be obtained.

[0061] FIG. 5 shows a successive state to the one shown in FIG. 4. In particular, FIG. 5 shows a status wherein there is applied a relative pressure between the containment element 10 and the capsule 100.

[0062] As shown in the drawing, due to the pressure applied, the portion of the ridge 122 in contact with the lower wall 11 was crushed, becoming deformed. This firstly results in a greater contact portion between the ridge 122 and the lower wall 11 of the containment element 10 and secondly, a deformation of the channel, which therefore becomes smaller.

[0063] As is well-known from fluid dynamics, the distributed pressure losses are inversely proportional to the Reynolds number, i.e. inversely proportional to the average diameter of the channel.

[0064] Therefore, due to the pressure applied and therefore to the subsequent reduction of the section, there is an increase of the pressure loads which therefore decreases the pressure of the fluid and accordingly increases the reliability of the seal.

[0065] It is apparent that the seal is obtained by means of the ridge 122 of the capsule 100, which ridge is placed in direct contact with a wall of the containment element.

[0066] Although the present invention was described with reference to the embodiments described above, it is apparent to an expert in the field that it is possible to make several modifications, variants and improvements to the present invention in light of the above teaching and within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from the object and the scope of protection of the invention.

[0067] For example, although a contact was shown between the lower wall 11 of the containment element 10 and the capsule 100 at three different points of the ridge 122, i.e. on three consecutive pitches of the ridge 122, it is possible to create a contact with a different number of points, i.e. of consecutive pitches of the ridge 122, for example equal to 4, 5, or 6.

[0068] Finally, those fields known by experts in the field were not described to avoid excessively and uselessly overshadowing the invention described.

[0069] Accordingly, the invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, but is only limited by the scope of protection of the appended claims.