GB2144624A - Coffee percolator - Google Patents

Abstract

The coffee percolator comprises a container for ground coffee, the bottom of which is provided with a permanently usable filter foil 9. The container is covered by a water-distributing disc, 6, which has perforation evenly distributed over its entire surface and which is located between 3 and 40 mm above the upper surface of the ground coffee deposited in the coffee container. The coffee container may be inserted in a collecting vessel having an adjustable outlet at its bottom. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION A coffee percolator with a re-usable filterfoil The invention relates to a coffee percolatorthat is provided with a re-usable or permanently usable filter foil, which forms the bottom of a coffee container adapted to receive a hot-water receptacle, in which there is a perforated water-distributing disc.

In a known coffee percolatorthewater-distributing disc is located in the upper part of the hot-water receptacle and has a perforated central part. In this type of coffee percolator the hot waterfalls onto the center region of the ground coffee with a relatively high kinetic energy and saturates or penetrates it in all directions. However, this type of coffee percolator is usable only within a limited range of the hot water quantity.

It is an object of the invention to improve the coffee percolator of the aforementioned type such that it has a high rate of flow and is usable within a relatively large range of the quantity of ground coffee.

This and other objects are achieved by the features that the perforations in the water-distributing disc are spread overthewhole of its surface and the waterdistributing disc is located between 3 and 40 mm above the surface ofthe ground coffee deposited in the coffee container.

It has been found that such a coffee percolator leads to a good extraction irrespective of whether the quantity of ground coffee is large or small, and that there is no undesirably high percolation rate when using a large quantity of coffee.

In accordance with one particular embodiment the water-distributing disc forms the bottom of the hot-water receptacle, and the ground coffee container may be attached to the bottom of the hot-water receptacle in a watertight manner. This type of percolator is easy to charge with ground coffee and is easy to clean.

In another embodiment, the unit composed ofthe hot-water receptacle and the ground coffee container may be inserted into a collecting vessel.

This collecting vessel may be provided with a central outlet and the bottom ofthe ground coffee container may have a central portion, the height of which is adjustable in relation to the collecting vessel.

This allows both the percolation rate to be controlled and the flow of the filtrate from the collecting vessel to be interrupted.

The invention is described by means of diagramma tlodrawings and two embodiments.

Fig. 1 is an axial cross-section through a coffee percolator in accordancewiththe invention; Fig. 2 shows the underside of the hot-water receptacle in a perspective view; Fig. 3 shows the underside of the ground coffee container in a perspective view, and Fig. 4 is an axial cross-section through another embodiment of a coffee percolator.

ThecoffeepercolatorshowninFigs. 1 to3 comprises a cylindrically shaped collecting vessel 1 which has a central outlet3 in its bottom 2.

The coffee percolatorfurther comprises a hot-water receptacle 4, whichfits into the collecting vessel 1 and the bottom of which forms a water-distributing disc 5, which has perforations 6 uniformly distribted over its entire surface.

The outerwall of the receptacle 4 adjacent the water-distributing disc5 is reduced in diameter relative to its upper region and forms a shoulder 7. The shoulder 7 serves as a rest and a sealing surface for a ground coffee container 8, which is shown in perspec tire in Fig. 3.

The ground coffee container 8 has a filtering surface consisting of three filter segments 9. The filter segments 9 are held bythree ribs 10 in a surface configuration deviating slightly from a plane surface and conforming to the surface of a flattetraeder.

In the central portion ofthe bottom of the ground coffee containerthere is a projection 11 ,the underside of which is fitted with a sealing ring 12 made of a soft, elastic material.

The surface of the top edge 13 is provided with three inwardly projecting protrusions, one of which is indicated by a dotted line in Fig. 3 and each of which can engage in a coordinated bayonet slot 15 located in the reduced area 16 adjacentthe shoulder 7 of the filtrate receptacle. This allows the ground coffee container 8 to be put on to the filtrate receptacle 4 in a watertight and removable fashion.

The clearance between the filter segments 9 on the one hand and the water-distributing disc 5 on the other hand when the percolator is ready for use is dimensioned such that when the ground coffee container has been filled to its maximum the surface ofthe ground coffee is at least 3 m m distantfrom the water-distributing disc 5, and when the ground coffee container is filled with its minimum quantity, the distance is not exceeding 40 mm.

Such dimensioning ensures that the very fine particles in the ground coffee are not being separated from the coarse particles and washed away, thus clogging the filter. The coffee percolator is therefore suitable to be used in a comparatively large range of the quantity of ground coffee, resulting in good extraction combined with an acceptably short filtration time.

As may be seen from Fig. 3, the surface of the shell of the projection 11 is also provided with bayonet slots 17 in which protrusioins 18 may engage (Fig. 1 ),which project radially inwardly from the inner shell surface of a cylindrical area 19thatincludesthecentral outlet 3. Turning the unit comprising the hot-water receptacle 4 and the ground coffee container 8 relative to the collecting vessel 1 allows adjustment of the distance between the sealing ring 12 and the central outlet3.

This enables the rate offlow of the filtrate to be adjusted and permits the central outlet to be completely closed.

The coffee percolator shown in Fig. 4 comprises a cylindrical container 20, the bottom of which is formed of a perforated metal filter 21, and a hot-water receptacle 22, which fits into the cylindrical container 20. The bottom of the hot-water receptacle forms a water-distributing disc 23, and its top edge 24 is U-shaped in cross-section and can rest on the upper edge of the cylindrical container 20.

The dimensions are selected such that the distance of the surface 25 of the ground coffee from the water-distributing disc 23 is between 5 and 20 mm.

The coffee percolators as described are less dependent in its filtration rate on the quantity of ground coffee put in it, in comparison to known percolators.

Claims (5)

1. Acoffee percolator comprising a re-usable filter foil forming the bottom of a ground coffee container and a hot-water receptacle holding a perforated water-distributing disc, wherein the perforations (6) of the water-distributing disc (5) are distributed overthe entire surface ofthe disc and wherein the waterdistributing disc its located 3 to 40 mm above the surface of the ground coffee deposited in the ground coffee container (8).

2. Acoffee percolatorin accordancewith Claim 1, wherein the water-distributing disc (5) forms the bottom of the hot-water receptacle, and the ground coffee container (8) is adapted to be attached to the bottom ofthe hot-water receptacle (4) in a watertight fashion.

3. Acoffee percolator in accordance with Claim 2, wherein the unit composed ofthe hot-water receptacle (4) and the ground coffee container (8) is removably inserted into a collecting vessel (1).

4. A coffee percolator in accordance with Claim 3, wherein the collecting vessel (1) is provided with a central outlet (3), and the bottom ofthe ground coffee container (8) has a watertight central area (11, 12) and is adjustable in its height in relation to the collecting vessel (1).

5. Acoffee percolatoras claimed in Claim 1, and substantially as herein before described.