Double piston apparatus for controlling the preparation of beverages
A dispensing apparatus for hot beverages is provided with a device ( 4,5 ) to filter hot, pressurized water through ground edible ingredients such as coffee, tea or herbal remedies in a chamber, a controlling unit ( 16 ) storing data, and two pistons operated independently by two motors to control the volume and/or the position of the brewing chamber.
1. A beverage dispensing apparatus for dispensing beverages provided with means ( 6 , 7 ; 86 , 87 ) for filtering hot pressurized water through ground edible ingredients in a brewing chamber ( 2 ; 82 ), comprising
two pistons ( 4 , 5 ) independently operated by two motors, one ( 5 ) of the two pistons being provided with a beverage outlet means ( 13 ) for dispensing the beverage from the brewing chamber ( 2 ), wherein each of the two pistons ( 4 , 5 ) is movable in both forward and backward directions independently from or together with the other of the two pistons ( 5 , 4 ) to define an attribute of said brewing chamber, the attribute being selected from the group consisting of chamber volume, chamber position and both chamber volume and chamber position; and
a controlling unit ( 16 ) comprising means for storing and comparing data including one or more pre-set parameters for a brewing cycle, the pre-set parameters including the position of the outlet means and a volume of the brewing chamber during the brewing cycle, wherein a position of the outlet means provided in the piston is controlled by the controlling unit by means for adjusting length of displacement of each piston in accordance with rim height of a beverage container and maintaining at the same time the correct pressure within the brewing chamber, which is required for the brewing cycle.
2. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said two pistons ( 4 , 5 ) can move together with said beverage outlet means ( 13 ) in a height range of up to 10 cm.
3. The apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising different outlet means for dispensing one or two coffees that accessible by said beverage outlet means ( 13 ) located on one of said pistons ( 5 ).
4. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said pistons ( 4 , 5 ) are connected to blocks ( 10 , 11 ) that are connected to said motors ( 8 , 9 ) to independently move said pistons.
5. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said pistons ( 4 , 5 ) are coaxial with worm screws that are operated by said motors through shafts ( 28 , 29 ) located adjacent to said brewing chamber ( 82 ).
6. The apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising a feed-back circuit branched from the water circuit to feed water to said brewing chamber, said feed-back circuit including a valve ( 24 ), a plenum chamber ( 25 ) and a duct ( 27 ) connecting said plenum with said water circuit to modify a flow rate of hot water entering the said brewing chamber.
7. The apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising means ( 22 ) for modifying grinding parameters of the dispensed beverage.
8. The apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising means for varying at least one of the volume of the beverage chamber and a value of a flow rate of the beverage exiting said brewing chamber.
9. The apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising means for varying a height of the beverage outlet means according to dimensions of a container for the dispensed beverage.
10. The apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising a beverage container into which is dispensed the beverage, said controlling unit ( 16 ) controls displacement of said pistons ( 4 , 5 ) to maintain beverage flow rate data in line with said stored data or to maintain correct pressure of the ground edible ingredients in the brewing chamber while correctly locating said outlet means with respect to a rim of said beverage container or to one or two beverage outlet paths.
11. The apparatus according to claim 10 , further comprising means for adjusting said brewing chamber volume by operating one of the motors associated with at least one of the two pistons ( 4 , 5 ) in a manner that seals said brewing chamber ( 2 ; 82 ).
12. The apparatus according to claim 11 , wherein the two pistons are held in a pre-programmed position depending on type of beverage to be dispensed.
13. The apparatus according to claim 12 , wherein said pre-programmed position is expressed in terms of length of displacement or absorption rate of each of the two motors ( 8 , 9 ) controlling the brewing pistons.
14. The apparatus according to claim 10 , further comprising means for detecting humidity data and adjusting particle size of said ground edible ingredients.
15. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the ground edible ingredients in the brewing chamber are selected from the group consisting of coffee, tea and herbal remedies.
16. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said controlling unit ( 16 ) controls displacement of said pistons ( 4 , 5 ) to maintain correct pressure of the ground edible ingredients in the brewing chamber, while correctly locating said outlet means.
17. The apparatus according to claim 12 , wherein said pre-programmed position is expressed in terms of length of displacement of each of the two motors ( 8 , 9 ) controlling the brewing pistons.