Electric coffee maker

Details Electric coffee maker Electric coffee maker

1986-06-23

1987-11-17

Jenkins, Robert W.

Foods and beverages: apparatus

Beverage

Infusors

99286, A47J 3142

Patent

active

047065559

DESCRIPTION:

BRIEF SUMMARY
TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to an electric coffee maker which functions to grind coffee beans and can automatically brew coffee by allowing boiled water to drip over the ground coffee.


BACKGROUND ART

Full automatic coffee makers constructed as shown in FIGS. 6 and 8 have heretofore been known which combine the functions of grinding coffee beans and causing boiling water to drip over the ground coffee, the dripping function automatically starting immediately after the coffee beans have been ground. The coffee maker constructed as shown in FIG. 6 has a vessel 1 in which a coffee grinding compartment and a filtering compartment for brewing coffee and separating the brewed coffee and coffee grounds from each other are integrally formed. Within the interior of the vessel 1 there is provided a cutter 3 rotatably driven by a driving motor 2. A filter 4 for separating brewed coffee and coffee grounds is provided at the bottom of the vessel 1. Coffee is brewed in this coffee maker in the following manner: after coffee beans have been ground by the cutter 3, water contained in a water reservoir 5 is introduced through a check valve 6 into a water pipe 8 formed integral with a heater 7, and is heated thereat. Hot water is then pumped up by virtue of steam pressure generated from the heated water to a discharge pipe 8' positioned above the vessel 1, and is poured therefrom into the vessel 1.
In a coffee maker constructed in this manner, the cutter 3 is rotated at high speed to generate a large centrifugal force at the time of grinding coffee beans. Since a filter member, if disposed on the peripheral wall of the vessel 1, is immediately damaged by this operation, such filter member or filter 4 must be disposed at the bottom of the vessel where it can be kept relatively free from the effect of the centrifugal force. In terms of the material of the filter 4, a mesh type filter 4 made of stainless wire is employed in place of filter paper which is commonly used in brewing coffee, since such filter paper would easily be damaged at the time of grinding.
Generally, in order to brew a delicious coffee, it is essential to grind coffee beans to a suitable particle size and to reduce an amount of fine powder (having a particle size of smaller than 48 mesh) in the ground coffee. Also, it is essential to brew the thus ground coffee with hot water, which has once been boiled, at a temperature ranging between 92.degree. C. and 96.degree. C. for about 3 to 4 minutes. In order to complete brewing in three to four minutes, it is a deciding factor to provide an adequate capacity for a filter member, to form an appropriate filtering layer in the ground coffee by pouring hot water on the ground coffee to swell the same well, and to gently and continuously pour hot water on the ground coffee without stirring the filtering layer. Grinding carried out in the construction described above presents a state of high speed grinding in a closed space represented in engineering of pulverization to produce a large amount of fine powder. In the construction described above, the filter 4 has a small area of filtering and ground coffee clogs the mesh of the filter 4 at the time of grinding while a large amount of fine powder fills up the gaps among particles of coffee, so that time required for filtering becomes quite long with the result that it usually takes seven to twelve minutes to brew five cups of coffee.
In the above-described hot-water supplying system, it is not possible to raise the temperature of water to an adequate degree. This system exhibits the characteristics shown in FIG. 7 and relating to temperature of hot water supplied and brewed coffee relative to. In FIG. 7, the curvatures shown by a and b denote temperatures of supplied hot water and brewed coffee while c designates brewing time.
For this reason, the coffee brewed by the coffee maker shown in FIG. 6 proves unpalatable. Furthermore, it becomes muddy because of the finely ground coffee beans contained therein.
A coffee maker shown in FIG. 8 includes a coffe

REFERENCES:
patent: 3967546 (1976-07-01), Cailliot
patent: 4172413 (1979-10-01), Roseberry
patent: 4555984 (1985-12-01), Yamashita

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