US-20260123785-A1 - APPARATUS FOR MAKING ESPRESSO COFFEE

Abstract

There is provided an apparatus for making espresso coffee comprising: a cylinder defining a cavity for receiving a liquid; a plunger axially slidable within the cavity between an inserted position and a retracted position; and an actuator comprising a biasing member for biasing the plunger towards the inserted position, wherein the actuator is adapted to change a configuration of the apparatus from a resting configuration to an actuation configuration, and wherein: in the resting configuration the plunger is at the inserted position and the biasing member exerts a minimum biasing force on the plunger; and in the actuation configuration the plunger is at the retracted position and the biasing member exerts a maximum biasing force on the plunger.

Inventors

• Patrick Hunt

Assignees

• PRESSO LIMITED

Dates

Publication Date

20260507

Application Date

20231003

Priority Date

20221004

Claims (20)

1. 1 . An apparatus for making espresso coffee comprising: a cylinder defining a cavity for receiving a liquid; a plunger axially slidable within the cavity between an inserted position and a retracted position; and an actuator comprising a biasing member for biasing the plunger towards the inserted position, wherein the actuator is adapted to change a configuration of the apparatus from a resting configuration in which the plunger is at the inserted position and the biasing member exerts a minimum biasing force on the plunger, to an actuation configuration in which the plunger is at the retracted position and the biasing member exerts a maximum biasing force on the plunger.
2. 2 . The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the actuator further comprises: a compression plate; and a base plate, wherein the base plate is connected to plunger; wherein the biasing member is provided between the compression plate and the base plate.
3. 3 . The apparatus as claimed in claim 2 , wherein: in the resting configuration, the compression plate and the base plate have a maximum spacing between them; and in the actuation configuration the compression plate and the base plate have a minimum spacing between them.
4. 4 . The apparatus as claimed in claim 2 , wherein: in the actuation position, the compression plate is fixed relative to the cylinder and the base plate is moveable relative to the cylinder in response the biasing force such that the plunger is drivable towards its inserted position.
5. 5 . The apparatus as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the actuator comprises an actuation element, which is moveable to change the configuration of the apparatus from the resting configuration to the actuation configuration.
6. 6 . The apparatus as claimed in claim 5 , wherein the compression plate is connected to the actuation element.
7. 7 . The apparatus as claimed in claim 6 , wherein the actuator further comprises arm connecting the compression plate to the actuation element.
8. 8 . The apparatus as claimed in claim 7 , wherein the arm is pivotably connected to the actuation element.
9. 9 . The apparatus as claimed in claim 7 , wherein the arm is pivotably connected or fixedly connected to the compression plate.
10. 10 . The apparatus as claimed in claim 7 , wherein the actuator further comprises a housing containing the biasing member, and wherein the base plate forms a base of the housing.
11. 11 . The apparatus as claimed in claim 10 , wherein the compression plate is axially slidable within the housing.
12. 12 . The apparatus as claimed in claim 10 , wherein the housing is pivotably connected to the plunger.
13. 13 . The apparatus as claimed in claim 7 , wherein the base plate is an annular plate and encircles a shaft of the plunger.
14. 14 . The apparatus as claimed in claim 13 , wherein the compression plate is an annular plate and encircles the shaft of the plunger.
15. 15 . The apparatus as claimed in claim 14 , wherein the compression plate is axially slidable over the shaft of the plunger.
16. 16 . The apparatus as claimed in claim 5 , wherein the actuation element comprises a pivotable element pivotably connected to the cylinder.
17. 17 . The apparatus as claimed in claim 16 , wherein the pivotable element comprises a lever.
18. 18 . The apparatus as claimed in claim 5 , wherein the actuation element comprises a pair of pivotable elements or levers arranged on opposing sides of the cylinder.
19. 19 . The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the biasing member comprises a compressible element.
20. 20 . The apparatus as claimed in claim 19 , wherein the compressible element comprises a spring.

Description

FIELD The present disclosure relates to an apparatus for making espresso coffee and more particularly, to an apparatus for making espresso coffee manually. BACKGROUND Coffee is globally one of the world's most widely consumed beverages. It is normally drunk hot and it is made by extracting soluble components using hot water from ground coffee, i.e. a granular powder formed by grinding roasted coffee beans. It is well-known that the taste of the coffee varies significantly, even with identical ground coffee as the starting material, depending upon the precise conditions under which the extraction is carried out. One known widely used method is to pass a relatively small quantity of hot water through a compacted block of coffee grounds under relatively high pressure in order to force the water through the block. This results in a quantity of espresso coffee which is, or is a primary component of, the type of coffee beverage preferred by many users. In order to produce espresso coffee, for example in a cafe or restaurant, it is common to use a counter-top “espresso machine”. These machines are generally provided with a plumbed-in water supply and include means for maintaining a reservoir of water at a relatively high temperature as well as complex systems for expelling a measured quantity of that hot water through a block of compressed ground coffee. The block of compressed ground coffee is held tightly against a pressurised water outlet of the machine by means of a cylindrical metal pot in which the block of ground coffee is compressed. The block of compressed ground coffee may be of loose coffee granules put into the pot (conventionally the pot is filled to the brim, the granules then being compressed to a smaller volume before or when the pot is affixed to the machine) or may be in the form of a sachet or ‘pod’ made of water-permeable material and sized to fit snugly into the pot. The pot is provided with means to hold itself sealed tightly against the pressurised water outlet. Conventionally this is achieved by projections on the exterior of the pot engaging short thread portions on the interior of a skirt surrounding the outlet. The pot is usually provided with a laterally extending exterior handle enabling the pot to be screwed tightly into position by turning through around 90°. The base of the pot contains an aperture through which the brewed coffee may pass to drop into a cup placed below the pot during dispensing, which may be bifurcated to divide the outflow into two streams each of which then drops into a cup placed below the pot. Apparatus of this sort provided for cafe and restaurant use is of substantial size and usually requires plumbing into a water system and is accordingly not ideally suited for domestic use. Scaled down versions of these commercial espresso machines have been manufactured for domestic use for many years, but such apparatus have conventionally required an electrical supply. However, domestic espresso machines of this nature have a number of drawbacks. For example, domestic espresso machines are often provided with a small reservoir placed inconveniently, but necessarily, at the rear of the machine. Further, domestic espresso machines are often provided with relatively small and weak pumps for passing the water through the compressed block of coffee grounds, meaning that either the pump is quickly worn out in trying to achieve the pressures necessary to brew espresso coffee or that the necessary pressures are never achieved and the quality of the brewed coffee reduced. In addition, domestic espresso machines are often still bulky, taking up a significant amount of space in a domestic kitchen, and require a mains power supply in order to function, meaning that the machine is not portable and it is not possible to brew an espresso coffee outside of the domestic setting. There exist several examples of espresso machines that utilize single levers, pulled by a user, to force a quantity of water through a compressed block of ground coffee. Often these machines still require mains power and/or plumbing in order to provide the heated water for the brewing of the coffee. Further, the single lever arrangement of these machines is typically unwieldy, requires a significant amount of strength from the user in order to achieve the necessary force and requires the user to be engaged with the machine for the entire length of the brewing process. An example of an apparatus for making espresso coffee is illustrated in document EP 1509112B1, which discloses a lever operated apparatus for driving water through coffee grounds using a plunger in order to brew an espresso coffee. In this case, the user is required to provide all of the downward force in order to drive the plunger and force the water through the coffee grounds. This requires a significant amount of strength from the user in order to achieve the necessary force for brewing an espresso coffee and also requires the user to be engaged