MECHANICAL BREWING UNIT

Abstract

A brewing unit for an espresso and coffee machine includes a frame structure, a hand lever which is mounted on the frame structure so as to be rotatable about an axis of rotation, and a brewing piston element which is operatively connected to the hand lever by means of a lever mechanism, whereby the brewing piston element, coupled to the movement of the hand lever, is movable between a first position and at least one second position along a vertical axis. The brewing piston element includes a distributor sieve which, in the second position of the brewing piston element, and together with a filter support which can be inserted into a holding device, delimits a brewing chamber, and hot pressurized brewing water is able to be introduced into the brewing chamber through the distributor sieve; the brewing piston element also includes a piston rod to which the distributor sieve is connectible. The brewing unit further includes locking means which are designed to hold the brewing piston element in at least one adjustable position along the vertical axis.

Claims

1. Brewing unit for an espresso and coffee machine, comprising a frame structure, a hand lever which is mounted on the frame structure in a way rotatable about an axis of rotation, a brewing piston element which is operatively connected to the hand lever by means of a lever mechanism, whereby the brewing piston element, coupled to the movement of the hand lever, is movable between a first position and at least one second position along a vertical axis, whereby the brewing piston element comprises a distributor sieve which, in the second position of the brewing piston element, and together with a filter support which is able to be inserted into a holding device, delimits a brewing chamber, and hot pressurized brewing water is able to be introduced into the brewing chamber through the distributor sieve, and a piston rod to which the distributor sieve is connectible, and locking means are provided, which are designed to hold the brewing piston element in at least one adjustable position along the vertical axis.

2. Brewing unit according to claim 1, wherein the at least one adjustable position corresponds to the second position of the brewing piston element, in which this element is held in a pressing position.

3. Brewing unit according to claim 1, wherein the locking means is arranged to form a releasable clamping connection with the brewing piston element.

4. Brewing unit according to claim 1, wherein the locking means comprises a locking lever borne at a first end (33) and having a fitting bore through which the piston rod is guided.

5. Brewing unit according to claim 4, wherein the fitting bore closely surrounds the piston rod.

6. Brewing unit according to claim 4, wherein the locking lever is able to be brought in a pivoting direction from a horizontal position into an inclined position in which the brewing piston element is held in position.

7. Brewing unit according to claim 4, wherein the locking lever comprises two plates arranged parallel to each other, each having the fitting bore to closely surround the piston rod.

8. Brewing unit according to claim 1, wherein the locking means comprises activating means for activating and/or releasing the locking of the brewing piston element.

9. Brewing unit according to claim 8, wherein the activation means comprises an eccentric arrangement having an eccentric rotatable about a rotary shaft and having a circumferential surface, whereby the circumferential surface configures, upon rotation, a trajectory different from an arc of a circle.

10. Brewing unit according to claim 9, wherein the eccentric is able to be brought into interaction with the locking lever by means of transmission means, so that this locking lever is able to be brought into a release position and/or a locking position as a function of the rotational position of the eccentric.

11. Brewing unit according to claim 9, wherein the eccentric arrangement is able to be activated by means of a controllable drive unit.

12. Brewing unit according to claim 9, wherein the activating means comprises a spring member connectible to the locking lever, the spring member being designed and arranged to move the locking lever into a locking position, and the eccentric arrangement being designed and arranged to move the locking lever into a horizontal position.

13. Espresso and coffee machine, comprising a brewing unit according to one of the preceding claims, a holding device into which the filter support is insertable, means for generating and delivering hot pressurized water and feeding it into a brewing chamber delimited by the filter support and the distributor sieve of the brewing piston element of the brewing unit, grinder for producing coffee powder, and a dosing device for introducing coffee powder into the filter support inserted in the holding device.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES

[0028] An advantageous embodiment of an aspect of the invention will be presented in the following with reference to the drawings, which serve merely explanatory purposes and are not to be interpreted in a limiting way. Features of the invention that become apparent from the drawings should be viewed as belonging to the disclosure of the invention. Shown in the drawings are:

[0029] FIG. 1 a schematic sectional representation of a mechanical brewing unit in a first position;

[0030] FIG. 2 a schematic sectional representation of a mechanical brewing unit according to FIG. 1 in a second position;

[0031] FIG. 3 a schematic sectional representation of a mechanical brewing unit according to FIG. 1 in a third position; and

[0032] FIG. 4a detail view of the locking means of the mechanical brewing unit.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0033] FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view of a mechanical brewing unit 10, in which, for the sake of simplicity, only those elements are shown which are necessary to explain the operation of the mechanical brewing unit 10.

[0034] The mechanical brewing unit 10 comprises a frame structure, of which only a frame section 11 is shown, on which a hand lever 14 is rotatably mounted about an axis of rotation 12. The hand lever 14 can be moved from a starting position, e.g. an upper position, to a lower position, in particular against a resistance force of a return element 13 designed as a spring element. Furthermore, the mechanical brewing unit 10 comprises a brewing piston element 20, which is in operative connection with the hand lever 14 by means of a lever mechanism 16 and is coupled to the movement thereof. The lever mechanism 16 can be designed as a toggle mechanism so that a pivoting movement of the hand lever 14 about the axis of rotation 12 can be transmitted to the brewing piston element 20 via linkage elements of the toggle mechanism. In particular, the movement of the brewing piston element 20 is guided, for example by means of a slide guide 15 provided. Accordingly, the movement of the brewing piston element 20 is coupled to the movement of the hand lever 14, which can be moved accordingly between a first position, as shown in FIG. 1, and at least one second position along a vertical axis 18.

[0035] The brewing piston element 20 comprises a piston rod 22 and a distributor sieve 24. The distributor sieve 24 is detachably connected to a lower end of a piston rod 22 and is arranged in such a way that, at least in the second position of the brewing piston element 20, it delimits in a sealing way a brewing chamber (not shown) with a filter support inserted in a holder, whereby corresponding, for example radially acting, sealing means are provided. In the so-called brewing position, hot, pressurized brewing water passes through the distribution sieve 24 into the brewing chamber, where it is forced through the ground coffee filled into the brewing chamber, which is able to be filled into the filter support in the open position.

[0036] Furthermore, locking means 30 are provided, which are designed to hold the brewing piston element 20 in an almost continuously adjustable position along the vertical axis 18. This is advantageous if, for example, prior to the actual brewing process, the coffee powder filled into the filter support is tamped or compacted with a definable tamping force.

[0037] The locking means 30 are configured to form a releasable clamping connection with the brewing piston element 20. Thus, the brewing piston element 20 is freely movable along the vertical axis 18 in a release position of the locking means 30 and blocked in a position of the locking means 30 referred to as a clamping position.

[0038] The locking means 30 comprise a locking lever 32. The locking lever 32 is mounted at a first end 33 on a shaft 31 and has a free second end 35, so that it can be brought out of a horizontal position into an inclined position. In particular, activation means 40, described below, engage a second free end 35 of the locking lever 32.

[0039] A fitting bore 34 is provided on the locking lever 32, through which the piston rod 22 of the brewing piston element 20 is guided. In the embodiment according to FIG. 1, the locking lever 32 is formed by two plates 32.1, 32.2 parallel to each other, which can each form a clamping connection with the piston rod 22 in the region of the fitting bore 34. As a result of this multistage feature, multistage locking and resetting is possible.

[0040] Activation means 40 are provided for moving the locking means 30 into an inclined position or into a release position. In the embodiment shown, the activation means 40 comprise a spring element 50 which engages the second end 35 of the locking lever 32 and is arranged to move the locking lever 32 into an inclined position by means of its spring force. Accordingly, the brewing piston element 20 is always locked.

[0041] An eccentric arrangement 60 is provided for releasing the locking position. In the embodiment shown, this eccentric arrangement 60 comprises an eccentric 64 which is arranged rotatably about a rotary shaft 62 and comprises a circumferential surface 65. The circumferential surface 65 configures, upon rotation about the axis of rotation 62, a trajectory deviating from a circular arc. In the embodiment shown, the circumferential surface of the eccentric 64 is in operative connection with the locking lever 32 by means of a rocker element 66 and a transmission element 68 arranged thereon. Depending on the position of the eccentric 64, the locking lever 32 is moved against the spring force of the spring element 50 into its horizontal position, in which the brewing piston element is released, i.e. the piston rod 22 is freely movable in the fitting bore 34.

[0042] In the embodiment shown, the spring element 50 is configured and arranged to immediately place the locking lever 32 in an inclined position when the operative connection between the eccentric 60 and the locking lever 32 is interrupted.

[0043] In FIG. 2, the mechanical brewing unit 10 is shown in a second position, whereby it can be seen that the hand lever 14 has moved downwards from the start position and, correspondingly, the brewing piston element 20 has been moved towards the filter support. Also in FIG. 2, the locking means 30 are in a release position in which the piston rod 22 is slidably received in the fitting bore 34. For this purpose, the eccentric arrangement 60 counteracts the spring force of the spring element 50 in such a way that the locking lever 32 is in a horizontal position.

[0044] In FIG. 3, the mechanical brewing unit 10 is represented whereby the hand lever 14 is shown in a lower position, whereby the brewing piston element 20 has moved sufficiently into a filter support such that a sealed brewing chamber has been formed with the filter support for the actual brewing operation. In this brewing position, the activating means 40 are activated in such a way that the locking lever 32 is brought into an inclined position and forms a friction lock for the piston rod 22. It can be seen that the eccentric 64 of the eccentric arrangement 60 assumes a rotational position about the axis of rotation 62 in which there is no immediate interaction with the locking lever 32. The spring force of the spring element 50 thus pulls the second free end 35 of the locking lever 32 upward and thus the locking lever 32 assumes an inclined position.

[0045] FIG. 4 shows a detailed view of the locking means 30 in a locking position. Here, the spring element engaging the locking lever 32 brings it into an inclined position, whereby at the same time the eccentric 60 is not in operative connection with the locking lever 32. The piston rod guided in the fitting bore 34 is in clamping connection with the first locking plate 32.1 and the second locking plate 32.2, so that a multi-stage clamping effect is achieved.