US-12617604-B2 - Capsule for preparing a beverage

US12617604B2US 12617604 B2US12617604 B2US 12617604B2US-12617604-B2

Abstract

The invention relates to a capsule for containing a substance for preparing a beverage by placing the capsule in the cavity of a piston. The capsule has a body with a rim and a sealing ring which is attached to the lower wall of the rim. The sealing ring has an upper face bearing on the lower wall of the ring and a free lower face. The capsule has an inner bearing surface and an outer bearing surface each projecting from the rim forming a groove that is arranged to sealingly receive the peripheral edge of the piston during the preparation of the beverage. At least the outer bearing surface is formed on an inner wall of a ring and formed in one part on the free lower face of the sealing ring.

Inventors

Olivier BRIVOIS

Assignees

BRAIN CORP SA

Dates

Publication Date: 20260505
Application Date: 20200623
Priority Date: 20190624

Claims (20)

1 . A capsule intended for containing a substance for preparing a beverage by placing the capsule in the cavity of a piston, the capsule comprising a body with a lateral wall bordered on either side by a bottom and by a rim surrounding an opening of the body, the rim having a lower wall projecting laterally from the lateral wall, the rim is connected to the lateral wall by a rounded transition, the capsule being fitted with a single one-piece sealing ring attached to the lower wall, the sealing ring having an upper face bearing on the lower wall and a free lower face, the sealing ring also having an inner periphery which is arranged bearing against the rounded transition of the lateral wall, the capsule having an inner bearing surface and an outer bearing surface each projecting from the rim in an axial direction, forming therebetween a groove that is arranged to sealingly receive the peripheral edge of the piston in a sealing manner during the preparation of the beverage, at least the outer bearing surface being formed in one piece on the free lower face of the sealing ring.
2 . The capsule according to claim 1 , wherein the sealing ring is made based on biodegradable and/or compostable material.
3 . The capsule according to claim 1 , wherein the sealing ring is made based on an absorbent material.
4 . The capsule according to 1 , wherein the sealing ring is made based on a cellulose material.
5 . The capsule according to claim 1 , wherein the body is made from a metal material.
6 . The capsule according to claim 1 , wherein at least one of the inner bearing surface or outer bearing surface has a slope converging into the groove.
7 . The capsule according to claim 1 , wherein at least the outer bearing surface is formed on an inner wall of a crown which projects from the free lower face of the sealing ring.
8 . The capsule according to claim 7 , wherein the ring comprises two crowns, an inner crown and an outer crown respectively, each formed in one piece on the free lower face of the ring, being spaced apart radially and forming the groove between them, the outer bearing surface being formed on an inner wall of the outer crown and the inner bearing surface being formed on an outer wall of the inner crown.
9 . The capsule according to claim 7 , wherein at least one crown is formed by a thickened part in the material forming the ring.
10 . The capsule according to claim 7 , wherein at least one crown is formed by a fold made in the material forming the ring.
11 . The capsule according to claim 1 , wherein the sealing ring has a recess formed into the free lower face, at least the outer bearing surface being formed on an inner wall delimiting the recess.
12 . The capsule according to claim 11 , wherein the recess is delimited between two walls respectively forming the inner bearing surface and the outer bearing surface which are spaced apart radially by delimiting the groove between them.
13 . The capsule according to claim 1 , wherein the lateral wall of the body has an upper portion from which the rim extends laterally, the inner bearing surface being formed on an outer wall of said upper portion.
14 . A system for preparing a beverage having a capsule according to claim 1 which contains a substance for preparing the beverage, the system comprising a piston which has a cavity for receiving the capsule, the cavity comprising a device arranged to inject under pressure an extracting liquid of the beverage through the capsule, and a peripheral edge arranged to be placed in a sealed manner in the groove formed between the outer bearing surface and inner bearing surface.
15 . The system according to claim 14 , wherein the peripheral edge comprises a lip arranged to come into sealing contact with the groove at least on each of the bearing surfaces.
16 . A capsule intended for containing a substance for preparing a beverage by placing the capsule in the cavity of a piston, the capsule comprising a body with a lateral wall bordered on either side by a bottom and by a rim surrounding an opening of the body, the rim having a lower wall projecting laterally from the lateral wall, the capsule being fitted with a sealing ring attached to the lower wall the sealing ring having an upper face bearing on the lower wall and a free lower face, the capsule having an inner bearing surface and an outer bearing surface each projecting from the rim in an axial direction, forming therebetween a groove that is arranged to sealingly receive the peripheral edge of the piston in a sealing manner during the preparation of the beverage, at least the outer bearing surface being formed in one piece on the free lower face of the sealing ring; wherein the sealing ring comprises an inner periphery which is arranged bearing against the lateral wall of the body, the inner periphery has angularly distributed teeth spaced apart by notches, the teeth defining an inner dimension which is smaller than the outer dimension of the lateral wall to ensure a clamping of the ring around the lateral wall.
17 . The capsule according to claim 1 , wherein the sealing ring is joined to the rim by fusing.
18 . The capsule according to claim 17 , wherein the sealing ring comprises a fusible coating arranged on its upper face to join the ring to the rim.
19 . The capsule according to claim 1 , wherein the sealing ring comprises a self-adhesive strip arranged on its upper face to join the ring to the rim.
20 . A capsule intended for containing a substance for preparing a beverage by placing the capsule in the cavity of a piston, the capsule comprising a body with a lateral wall bordered on either side by a bottom and by a rim surrounding an opening of the body, the rim having a lower wall projecting laterally from the lateral wall, the rim is connected to the lateral wall by a rounded transition, the capsule being fitted with a single one-piece sealing ring attached to the lower wall, the sealing ring having an upper face abutting the length of the lower wall and a free lower face, the sealing ring also having an inner periphery which is arranged bearing against the rounded transition of the lateral wall, the capsule having an inner bearing surface and an outer bearing surface each projecting from the rim in an axial direction, forming therebetween a groove that is arranged to sealingly receive the peripheral edge of the piston in a sealing manner during the preparation of the beverage, at least the outer bearing surface being formed in one piece on the free lower face of the sealing ring.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims the benefit of International application number PCT/EP2020/067532, filed Jun. 23, 2020, Luxembourg patent application number 101279, filed on Jun. 24, 2019 and Luxembourg patent application number 101633, filed on Feb. 3, 2020, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. TECHNICAL FIELD The invention relates to a capsule intended for containing a substance for preparing a beverage. It also relates to a system for preparing a beverage by using such a capsule, said system comprising a piston which has a cavity in which said capsule is intended to be placed to allow the preparation of said beverage. BACKGROUND Such capsules are intended in particular for the preparation of a hot beverage such as coffee, tea or an infusion. For this purpose, systems are known in which the cavity of the piston is fitted with a device which is arranged to inject under pressure an extracting liquid for the beverage, for example hot water, through said capsule and the substance contained therein, in particular by piercing said capsule by means of pins for injecting such a liquid provided for this purpose in said cavity. During the preparation of a beverage, the piston device injects about 50 millilitres of extracting liquid into the cavity, and about 45 millilitres of this liquid are actually used for this preparation. Thus, following this injection, about 5 millilitres of extracting liquid remain in the cavity and may possibly leak out. In order to limit the leakage of extracting liquid from the cavity, a capsule is known from documents EP-2 966 006 and EP-2 951 108 which has an upper rim with an upper wall on which a lid is intended to be attached after charging with the substance for preparing a beverage, as well as a lower wall which is fitted with a sealing structure comprising inner and outer crowns with a substantially triangular cross-section, between which a sealing lip extends, also of triangular cross-section. Thus, when the capsule is placed in the cavity of the piston, the peripheral edge of said cavity is positioned between the outer and inner crowns, crushing the sealing lip, the combination of the piston, crowns and lip forming a sealing baffle for limiting leakages during the injection of the extracting liquid into the capsule. In particular, the capsules described in these documents comprise a body made from a plastic material, and the sealing structure is formed in one piece with said body. Advantageously, the body is made by injection moulding a plastic material, which makes it possible to easily form the sealing structure at the same time as said body. Since plastic materials can be relatively difficult to recycle it is desirable to limit their use. For this purpose, capsules made of metal material are also known, in particular based on aluminium. These capsules have the advantage of being easy to manufacture, in particular by stamping a metal sheet, and also being easy to recycle, the metal forming the body being in particular recoverable by melting said body, once the residues of the substance that it contained have been extracted. However, it is problematic to form a sealing structure as described above on such capsules, as the very fine dimensions of the crowns and the sealing lip do not allow them to be produced by stamping. To overcome these disadvantages, document EP-1 816 935 describes a capsule, made in particular of aluminium, in which a silicone-based sealing ring is applied, in particular by moulding, onto the lower wall of the rim for receiving the lid. Thus, when the peripheral edge engages under the rim, it exerts local compression on a free lower face of the ring, which makes it possible to limit the leakage of liquid. This solution poses a problem with regard to the recycling of the capsule. Indeed, before melting a used capsule to recover the aluminium, it is necessary to remove the silicone ring by burning it, as its mechanical extraction from said capsule is impossible to perform. However, as silicone is of petrochemical fossil origin, its combustion generates fine particles that are harmful to health and the environment. Document EP-1 839 543 describes a capsule fitted with a ring made from an absorbent material, for example paper and/or cotton-based, said ring having a radial portion bearing on the lower wall of the rim and an axial-radial portion bearing around an upper portion of the lateral wall of the body. However, this solution is also unsatisfactory, in that the sealing is achieved by deformation of the ring under the effect of pressure from the extracting liquid injected into the cavity at the time of preparing the beverage. Thus, there is still a significant risk of liquid leaking out of the cavity. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The objective of the invention is to improve the prior art by proposing in particular a capsule which is arranged to ensure a good seal of the cavity of the piston so as to a