Food or beverage preparation machine with antiscaling pipe system
View Patent ↗The present invention concerns a food or beverage preparation machine (M) comprising a casing, a mineralized fluid source ( 1 ), a receptacle ( 10 ) adapted for functionally enclosing at least one food or beverage ingredient container (C), means ( 3 ) for conducting said mineralized fluid ( 13 ) from said source ( 1 ) to the interior of said capsule (C), optionally a heating and/or chilling device ( 4 ), and a fluid pipe system ( 2, 20, 21, 22 ) that fluidly connects said source ( 1 ), said conducting means ( 3 ), said receptacle ( 10 ), and said heating and/or chilling device ( 4 ), characterized in that at least one portion of the fluid pipe system ( 2, 20, 21, 22 ) and/or conducting means ( 3 ), and/or heating/chilling device ( 4 ) is made of a smart memory alloy (SMA), or smart memory polymer (SMP) designed to reversibly expand or contract above a defined temperature threshold in order to negate the buildup of scale or other deposits on the surfaces in contact with the mineralized fluid ( 13 ) by mechanical action, during operation of said machine.
1. A food or beverage preparation machine comprising:
a casing,
a mineralized fluid source,
a receptacle adapted for functionally enclosing at least one food or beverage ingredient container,
a member for conducting a mineralized fluid from the mineralized fluid source to an interior of the at least one food or beverage ingredient container, and
a fluid pipe system that fluidly connects the mineralized fluid source, the member for conducting the mineralized fluid, the receptacle, and a heating and/or chilling device of the machine,
wherein at least one portion of a component selected from the group consisting of (i) the fluid pipe system, (ii) the member for conducting the mineralized fluid, and (iii) the heating and/or chilling device is made of a material selected from the group consisting of a smart memory alloy and a smart memory polymer, the material is designed to reversibly expand or contract above a defined temperature threshold to negate a buildup of scale or other deposits on surfaces of the machine in contact with the mineralized fluid by mechanical action during operation of the food or beverage preparation machine.
2. The food or beverage preparation machine according to claim 1 , wherein the mineralized fluid source is a fluid reservoir.
3. The food or beverage preparation machine according to claim 1 , wherein the member for conducting the mineralized fluid is a pump.
4. The food or beverage preparation machine according to claim 1 , wherein the member for conducting the mineralized fluid is a pump actuator adapted to actuate a pump built-in the container.
5. The food or beverage preparation machine according to claim 1 , wherein the defined temperature threshold is in a range of 50° C. to 120° C.
6. The food or beverage preparation machine according to claim 1 , wherein the smart memory alloy (SMA) is selected from the group consisting of: Titanium-Nickel alloy (NiTi), copper-aluminium-nickel, and SMAs created by alloying zinc, copper, gold and iron.
7. The food or beverage preparation machine according to claim 1 , wherein the mineralized fluid is water.
8. The food or beverage preparation machine according to claim 1 , wherein the member for conducting the mineralized fluid inside the container comprises a fluid injection needle.
9. The food or beverage preparation machine according to claim 8 , wherein the needle is made entirely of smart memory alloy and/or smart memory polymer material.
10. The food or beverage preparation machine according to claim 1 , wherein internal fluid conduits of the heating and/or chilling device are made entirely out of smart memory alloy and/or smart memory polymer material.
11. The food or beverage preparation machine according to claim 1 , wherein the fluid pipe system is made entirely out of smart memory alloy and/or smart memory polymer material.
12. The food and beverage preparation machine according to claim 1 , wherein the smart memory alloy and/or smart memory polymer material return to an original shape in a temperature range of 65° C. to 80° C.