Foods and beverages: apparatus – Beverage – Infusors
Patent
1996-10-24
1998-02-10
Simone, Timothy F.
Foods and beverages: apparatus
Beverage
Infusors
99302R, 99415, 99418, 99322, 210455, 210477, 210481, A47J 3100, A47J 3106, A47J 3130, A47J 3700
Patent
active
057157413
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to a pot-shaped permanent filter insert for use in an espresso machine, comprising a filter base plate which substantially forms the bottom of the pot and which is penetrated by a plurality of filter openings substantially in the flow direction of the medium to be filtered and comprises a frame surrounding the filter base plate, and a pot wall which is substantially arranged on the edge of the filter base plate and transversely extends away from the filter base plate to form a coffee receiving portion, the permanent filter insert being made of a plurality of parts in that the lower edge portion of the pot wall is substantially secured to the outer edge of the filter plate.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,718,170 discloses a coffee machine which comprises a filter pot whose bottom is formed by a filter plate. The filter plate is surrounded by a frame which is supported and mounted on a surrounding collar which is provided on the lower portion of the filter pot. Such filter pots are not suited for use in an espresso machine because vapor is passed through at relatively high pressures in an espresso machine. This is the reason why in an embodiment according to U.S. Pat. No. 1,718,170 particle residues of the ground coffee would accumulate very rapidly in the contact portions between pot wall or collar and frame of the filter plate, and the espresso flavor would be impaired if the machine were not permanently and correctly cleaned.
It is therefore the object of the present invention to provide a pot-shaped permanent filter insert of improved structure for use in an espresso machine.
According to the invention this object is achieved in that the lower edge portion of the pot wall and the filter base plate are interconnected by an injection molded connection. An injection molded connection has the advantage that the connection point may have any desired shape and that open gaps are avoided. Furthermore, a frame is provided in such a case by performing an injection molding or die casting prcoess substantially around the outer edge of the filter base plate. The frame then interconnects the filter base plate and the pot wall. This ensures that the filter base plate is positioned permanently and sealingly. Furthermore, pot wall and filter base plate may be interconnected in a single injection molding process or in a die casting process.
Although FR-A-2143951 and FR-A-2417963 disclose permanent filters for use in a coffee machine whose filter plate is connected to a pot wall in a plastic injection molding process, these documents do not disclose why such a design should be usable for espresso machines at the higher pressures inherent thereto, since so far use has always been made in espresso machines of pot-shaped permanent filter inserts that have been produced by deep-drawing sheet metal, and whose filter openings are molded into the bottom of the pot by punching holes. In the opinion of the experts it has only been in this way that an adequate stability could be achieved.
In another variant, the lower edge portion of the pot wall and the filter base plate are interconnected by means of a metal die-casting connection, preferably aluminum or zinc die casting. In this case, too, the connection point may have any desired shape.
Other preferred connections of the lower edge portion of the pot wall and the filter base plate are connections by means of welding, adhesion, rolling, soldering or bending.
An especially advantageous design is obtained when the lower edge portion comprises at least one fastening element for reception in the frame. The plastic material is then flush with the fastening element, whereby the pot wall is fixedly retained by the frame. It is here of advantage when the fastening element is shaped as a collar which surrounds the lower edge portion of the pot wall and is oriented towards the axis of the pot. Especially with pot walls of metal, preferably stainless steel, such a fastening element can be produced by a simple deep-drawing process for the lower edge portion of the pot wall.
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Gasser Ruedi
Stumvoll Ernst
Maxs AG
Simone Timothy F.
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