Closed capsule with opening means and integral barrier layer

Abstract

The invention relates to a capsule (10) designed for food or beverage preparation, the capsule (10) comprising a cup-shaped base body (1), a top wall (2) and a bottom retaining wall (3) for holding food or beverage preparation ingredients, wherein the base body (1) is made of one single injection-molded piece and wherein a side wall (4) of the base body comprises at least one co-injected multilayer section (5) having two outer layers (5a) being made from a different polymeric material than a core layer (5b), and wherein the base body (1) further comprises a bottom structure (6) which is integrally molded with the side wall (4) and comprising opening means (7) allowing the capsule to be opened at the time of its use.

Claims

1. A capsule designed for food or beverage preparation, the capsule comprising a cup-shaped base body, a top wall and a bottom retaining wall for holding food or beverage preparation ingredients, wherein the cup-shaped base body is made of one single injection-molded piece, and a side wall of the cup-shaped base body comprises at least one co-injected multilayer section having two outer layers made from a different polymeric material than a core layer, the cup-shaped base body comprises a bottom structure which is integrally molded with the side wall, the bottom structure comprises an opening member configured to allow the capsule to be opened, and the bottom structure further comprises profiled portions integrally formed in the opening member of the bottom structure, the profiled portions are directed towards the bottom retaining wall of the capsule, the bottom retaining wall comprises a flat bottom, and the profiled portions have uniform height extending to the flat bottom of the bottom retaining wall, the top wall and the at least one co-injected multilayer section of the side wall are arranged with respect to each other to overlap at their interfaces, and the at least one co-injected multilayer section extends from the side wall of the cup-shaped base body to an outer annular portion of the bottom structure, the outer annular portion is connected to and extends inwardly from the side wall of the cup-shaped base body, and the bottom retaining wall and the at least one co-injected multilayer section are arranged with respect to each other to overlap at their interfaces, the bottom retaining wall is connected to an upper surface of the outer annular portion of the bottom structure, the at least one co-injected multilayer section terminates in a contact area between the bottom retaining wall and the outer annular portion of the bottom structure where the bottom retaining wall is connected to the outer annular portion, the bottom retaining wall covers the profiled portions of the bottom structure, the outer annular portion of the bottom structure comprises a first section made from a co-injected multilayer material and a second section made from a single layer material, the first section extends inwardly from the side wall of the cup-shaped base body and the second section extends inwardly from the first section.

2. The capsule according to claim 1, wherein the opening member is housed outside a closed chamber for holding the food or beverage preparation ingredients.

3. The capsule according to claim 1, wherein the opening member of the bottom structure is made from a single-layer material.

4. The capsule according to claim 1, wherein the outer annular portion of the bottom structure is an essentially planar or horizontally arranged annular shoulder portion which is situated radially outside of the opening member.

5. The capsule according to claim 1, wherein the opening member of the bottom structure also comprises at least one co-injected multilayer section having two outer layers being made from a different polymeric material than a core layer.

6. The capsule according to claim 1, wherein the top wall, the bottom retaining wall and at least the core layer of the at least one co-injected multilayer section of the side wall have barrier properties against oxygen and moisture.

7. The capsule according to claim 1, wherein the core layer of the at least one co-injected multilayer section is made from a gas barrier polymer.

8. The capsule of claim 1, wherein the top wall and the bottom retaining wall are made of a material that has oxygen and moisture barrier properties.

9. The capsule according to claim 1, wherein the bottom retaining wall and/or the top wall is a film able to be punctured.

10. The capsule according to claim 1, wherein the capsule is configured such that opening of the capsule is achieved by engagement of the profiled portions integrally formed in the opening member with the bottom retaining wall of the capsule, and the engagement is performed under the effect of a rise in pressure of a fluid in the capsule.

11. The capsule of claim 1, wherein the bottom structure comprises at least one opening.

12. The capsule of claim 1, wherein the bottom structure comprises one or more ribs.

13. The capsule of claim 1, wherein an outside of the bottom structure is flat.

14. The capsule according to claim 1, wherein the cup-shaped base body is obtainable by co-injecting molding at least two different polymeric materials from a side of a flanged rim of the capsule.

15. The capsule according to claim 1, wherein the two outer layers of the at least one co-injected multilayer section is made from a material selected from the group consisting of PVDC, PA, PLA, and combinations thereof.

16. The capsule according to claim 1, wherein the core layer of the at least one co-injected multilayer section is made from PVOH.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) Additional features and advantages of the present invention are described in, and will be apparent from, the description of the presently preferred embodiments which are set out below with reference to the drawings in which:

(2) FIG. 1 is a sectional side view of a preferred embodiment of the capsule according to the invention.

(3) FIG. 2 is a perspective sectional side view of the co-injection moulded base body of the capsule according to FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(4) A preferred embodiment of the capsule according to the present invention is now described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

(5) The capsule 10 comprises a preferably rotational symmetric cup-shaped base body 1 made of a single injection moulded piece. The base body 1 is obtainable by a co-injection moulding process of at least two different polymeric materials. The capsule 10 further comprises a top wall 2 and a bottom retaining wall 3 connected to the capsule base body 1. The top wall 2 and the retaining wall 3 preferably comprise barrier properties against oxygen and moisture.

(6) The base body 1 comprises an annular side wall 4, preferably of truncated cone shape when seen in side view. The base body 1 further comprises a bottom structure 6 which is integrally molded with the side wall 4 and which comprises opening means 7 allowing the capsule to be opened at the time of its use. The opening means 7 are preferably integrally formed with the bottom structure 6 and the side wall 4 in a single injection moulding process.

(7) The bottom structure 6 of the base body 1 preferably comprises a centre portion 6a, in which at least one outlet opening 13 is provided, an intermediate annular portion 6b, in which the opening means 7 are arranged, and an outer annular portion 6c, which is preferably a non-profiled section. In the intermediate annular portion 6b, one or more preferably cylindrical ribs 14 may be arranged which preferably protrude towards the exterior of the capsule.

(8) The bottom retaining wall 3 is connected to an upper surface 3a of the outer annular portion 6c of the bottom structure 6 in an annular contact region 9a. The top wall 2 is connected to an upper surface 2a of the flange-like rim 11 in an annular contact region 9b. The bottom retaining wall 3 and the top wall 2 may be connected to the capsule base body 1 by means of welding or adhesive. The bottom retaining wall 3, the top wall 2 and the base body 1 are connected in a preferably hermetically sealed manner.

(9) The side wall 4 of the base body 1 comprises at least one co-injected multilayer section 5 having two outer layers 5a and 5a′ being made from a different polymeric material than a core layer 5b. At least the core layer 5b preferably comprises enhanced barrier properties against oxygen and moisture. The co-injected multilayer section 5 preferably extends throughout the whole side wall 4 of the base body 1. The rest of the base body 1 which is not formed in the described multilayer arrangement is preferably formed of a single layer material. Thereby, the single layer material preferably corresponds to the material used for the outer layers 5a and 5a′ of the multilayer section 5.

(10) The co-injected multilayer section 5, the top wall 2 and the bottom retaining wall 3 are arranged with respect to each other to form a closed chamber 8 for holding food or beverage preparation ingredients therein. The closed chamber 8 is preferably hermetically closed in order to provide an optimal barrier against the ingress of oxygen and moisture into the chamber 8. The co-injected multilayer section 5, the top wall 2 and the bottom retaining wall 3 preferably overlap at their interfaces respectively at their contact regions.

(11) The co-injected multilayer section 5 preferably extends from the side wall 4 into the outer annular portion 6c of the bottom structure such as to overlap with the bottom retaining wall 3 connected to an upper surface 3a of the outer annular portion 6c. Thereby, the co-injected multilayer section 5 preferably terminates in a contact area 9a between the bottom retaining wall 3 and the outer annular portion 6c of the bottom structure 6, i.e. in an area 9a in which the bottom retaining wall 3 is connected to the outer annular portion 6c. The co-injected multilayer section 5 can also extend beyond the area 9a, that is to say, closer to the centre of the bottom structure, near the dispensing area 13.

(12) The outer portion 6c of the bottom structure 6 preferably comprises a section made from co-injected multilayer material 12a and a section made from single layer material 12b. The outer annular portion 6c may thus present an interface between a single layer material section and the multilayer section of the base body. The outer portion 6c of the bottom structure 6 is preferably an essentially planar or horizontally arranged annular shoulder portion.

(13) The co-injected multilayer section 5 preferably also extends from the side wall 4 of the base body to the flange-like rim 11 such as to at least partially overlap with top wall 2 of the capsule. Thereby, the co-injected multilayer section 5 terminates in a contact area 9b between the top wall 2 and the flange-like rim 11, i.e. in an area in which the top wall 2 is connected to the flange-like rim 11. Accordingly, the core layer 5b does preferably not extend through the exterior surface of the capsule base body 1.

(14) In one embodiment of the invention, the opening means (7) of the bottom structure (6) also comprises at least one co-injected multilayer section (5) having two outer layers (5a and 5a′) being made from a different polymeric material than a core layer (5b).

(15) The material of the outer layers 5a of the multilayer section 5 is preferably selected from a polymer group of PVDC, PP, PE, PA, PLA. The thickness of the outer layers is preferably between 5 and 50 microns, more preferably between 10 and 30 microns.

(16) The core layer 5b of the multilayer section 5 is preferably made from a gas barrier polymer, such as e.g. EVOH, PVOH, PP or PET. The core layer 5b preferably has increased barrier properties to oxygen compared to the outer layers 5a of the multilayer section. The thickness of the core layer 5b preferably lies between 0.1 and 50 microns, more preferably between 0.3 and 20 microns. Moisture barrier can be achieved by a material of the outer layers, for instance polypropylene, or another suitable moisture-barrier polymer known in the art of packaging.

(17) The bottom retaining wall 3 and/or the top wall 2 is preferably a thin film or a membrane able to be punctured. The thickness of the retaining wall 3 and/or the top wall 2 preferably lies between 10 and 300 microns.

(18) The top wall 2 and the bottom retaining wall 3 are made of a material comprising oxygen and moisture barrier properties such as EVOH or aluminium or other multilayer laminate. In a preferred embodiment, the material of the top wall 2 and bottom retaining wall 3 is chosen from the group consisting of aluminium, an aluminium/plastic composite, an aluminium/plastic/paper composite, single-layer or multi-layer plastic.

(19) The opening means 7 of the base body 1 are housed outside of the closed chamber 8 and may be situated in close vicinity and/or may be arranged to abut at the bottom retaining wall 3. The opening means 7 are preferably integrally formed profiled portions directed towards the bottom retaining wall 3 of the capsule. The profiled portions preferably constitute at least one or a plurality of puncturing elements. The puncturing elements may have any possible shape, for example points, blades, knives, needles, cone-shaped protrusions, pyramid-shaped protrusions and the like.

(20) A configuration with a plurality of puncturing elements is preferred because such a surface acts as a pressure-spreading means and has the effect of allowing the pressure of the liquid to rise sufficiently inside the capsule before puncturing occurs. Accordingly, a desired pressure is built-up within the capsule for enhancing the extraction characteristics of the beverage before opening of the bottom retaining wall occurs.

(21) The upper surface of the bottom structure 6 between the opening means 7 respectively from which the opening means 7 protrude is preferably designed to collect the beverage drained from the opened bottom retaining wall 3 and guide said beverage towards the at least one beverage outlet 13 of the capsule.

(22) In order to produce a beverage from the capsule 10 according to the invention, the capsule 10 may be introduced into a beverage preparation machine. Therein, a fluid is injected into the capsule 10 by means of dedicated liquid injection means of the beverage preparation machine. These are preferably designed to pierce the top wall 2 of the capsule and to provide a fluid under pressure into the closed chamber 8. The rise in pressure in the capsule will then press the bottom retaining wall 3 against the opening means 7 which will lead to an opening or tearing of the retaining wall 3 after sufficient pressure has been built-up within the capsule. The resulting beverage, which is prepared due to interaction of the enclosed food or beverage ingredients with the injected fluid, will then be drained from the opened retaining wall 3 and through the at least one outlet 13 of the capsule.

(23) It should be understood that various changes and modifications to the presently preferred embodiments described herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Such changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention and without diminishing its attendant advantages. It is therefore intended that such changes and modifications be covered by the appended claims.