CA2400134A1 - Apparatus for brewing and dispensing coffee - Google Patents

Description

This invention relates to apparatus for brewing and dispensing coffee and more par-ticularly to an apparatus which brews and dispenses coffee of uniform strength and which is suitable for installation in a vehicle.
The strength of coffee can vary considerably depending on the point at which it is produced in the brewing cycle. Coffee produced early in the cycle tends to be stronger than coffee produced later. Where relatively little coffee is produced at a time, such as in a small automatic coffee maker, the difference in strength is usually not detectable but where large quantities are produced, such as in a coffee urn, the strength can vary considerably.
I have invented an apparatus which dispenses relatively large quantities of coffee of uniform strength no matter at what point the coffee is produced in a brewing cycle. The apparatus consists of a brewing vessel in which coffee is produced and an urn in which coffee is dispensed.
Coffee flows from the brewing vessel to the urn but only after a brewing cycle is complete. Thus the coffee dispensed from the urn is not coffee produced at that time. Rather the dispensed coffee is the coffee that is in the brewing vessel after the brewing cycle is complete. Such coffee is of uniform strength and is more commercially acceptable where uniformity of the quality of the product is demanded by the consumer.
Briefly, the apparatus of my invention comprises: a brewing vessel having means for brewing coffee; an urn for holding brewed coffee; a first conduit through which coffee brewed in the brewing vessel flows to the urn; a valve for controlling the flow of coffee through the conduit; means for causing the valve to open when the brewing vessel contains a predetermined amount of brewed coffee; and a tap for dispensing brewed coffee from the urn.
The apparatus of the invention is described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
Figure 1 is a perspective view of the components of the apparatus;
Figure 2 is another perspective view of the components of the apparatus;
Figure 3 is a simplified diagram of the electrical circuit of the apparatus;
and Figure 4 is illustrates schematically the components of the apparatus.
Like characters refer to like parts throughout the description of the drawings.
With reference to Figures I and 2, the coffee brewing and dispensing apparatus of the invention, includes a first container 12 in which coffee is brewed and a second container 14 to which coffee is transferred after the brewing cycle is complete in the f rst brewing vessel.
The first container contains the conventional components of a coffee maker including a coffee brewing vessel 16 and a basket 18 for coffee beans. Water is heated in a water jacket 20 in the second container and flows through a hose 22 to the first container. A
spigot 24 is provided for drawing hot water from the water jacket for making tea, for cleaning the apparatus or for other purposes.
A tap (not illustrated) within the first container controls the flow of hot water from the first hose to a second hose 26. Water flows through the latter hose to a filter 28 which removes

2 ', ~ CA 02400134 2002-08-29 solid impurities from the hot water. The filtered water then flows to a sprinkler head or rose 30 and discharges into the top of the basket where it flows downwardly through the layer of coffee beans, as is conventional, and emerges as brewed coffee. The coffee flows downwardly into brewing vessel 16.
The quantity of water which flows into the basket during each cycle of the brewing operation is controlled according to the capacity of the brewing vessel and the amount of coffee beans in the basket. Such control is conventional and the means for achieving it is not described since various well-known means are suitable for doing so.
A conduit 32 extends between the two containers and carries coffee from the brewing vessel to one or more urns 34 in the second container. A valve 36 controls the flow of coffee through the conduit. The valve is normally closed so that no coffee flows until the valve is activated.
When the brewing cycle is complete, the valve is activated to open so that coffee will flow from the brewing vessel to the urn. The words "brewing cycle" in this context and elsewhere in this application are intended to mean the brewing process from the beginning when hot water begins to flow onto the layer of coffee beans to the end when the flow of water ends.
There are various means for activating valve 36. The valve can, for example, be a float valve which is activated by a ball floating in the coffee to open when the level of coffee within the brewing vessel reaches a given level. That level will be reached when the brewing vessel

3 contains all the water that flows into it during a brewing cycle.
Another means for activating the valve is a timer 38 which is connected to and activates the valve. The timer is set by hand to measure the time required for completion of the brewing cycle. When that time has elapsed, the timer activates the valve and causes it to open.
The time required to complete the brewing cycle will depend on a number of factors such as the capacity of brewing vessel 16, the rate of flow of water into it and so on. That time can be determined simply by observing a brewing cycle and measuring the time required for it to complete.
Coffee that flows into urn 34 is kept hot by hot water in water jacket 20 which surrounds the urn. Alternatively the contents of the urn can be kept hot by an electrical heating element (not illustrated). One or more spigots 40 are provided at the bottom of the urn for discharging the coffee.
With reference to Figure 3, the electrical components of the circuit of the apparatus of the invention include a source of power, such as one or more batteries 41, in circuit with a circuit breaker 42, an on-off switch 44, a timer 46, a voltage regulator stabilizer 48 and a pump 50.
Switch 42 is also in circuit with a heater 52 for the urn and a pump 54 for causing the coffee in the brewing vessel to flow to the urn.
With reference to Figure 4, hot water from source 60 is caused to flow through filter 62 by means of pump 64. The water flows through rose 66 and into brewing vessel 68. After the

4 brewing cycle is complete, pump 70 is activated to cause the coffee to flow to urn 72. Coffee from the urn is dispensed by means of tap 74.
It will be understood of course that modifications can be made in the apparatus described herein without departing from the scope of the invention.

Claims (2)

I claim:

1. A coffee brewing and dispensing apparatus comprising: a brewing vessel having means for brewing coffee; an urn for holding brewed coffee; a first conduit through which coffee brewed in said brewing vessel flows to said urn; a valve for controlling the flow of coffee through said conduit; means for causing the valve to open when the brewing vessel contains a predetermined amount of brewed coffee; and a tap for dispensing brewed coffee from said urn;

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said first brewing vessel includes: a source of hot water;
a basket for ground coffee beans, a hose through which hot flows to said basket, and a filter interposed in said third hose for filtering water flowing therethrough.