Patent · US Active

Capsule, beverage production machine and system for the preparation of a nutritional product

US9499333B2 · kind B2 · utility

7Cited by
1References
6Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateNov 10, 2011
Grant dateNov 22, 2016
Priority date
Expiry dateAug 7, 2033

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC B)Performing Operations; Transporting
  • CPC primaryB65D85/8058
  • WIPO fieldFurniture, games
  • WIPO sectorOther fields

Abstract

The present invention presents a capsule 1 having an inlet face C, which is formed by a circular section 2a and a bulge section 2b extending from the circular section 2a giving the inlet face C a not symmetric in rotation. The capsule 1 further has an optically readable code 3 on a side wall 4 of a cup-shaped body of the capsule 1 opposite the bulge section 2b. The present invention further presents a beverage production machine with a capsule holder 13 for holding a capsule 1 in such a way in the beverage production machine 10, that the optically readable code can be read by a code reader 24. Liquid can be supplied to the capsule to produce a nutritional product. The present invention provides means to prevent the optically readable code 3 and the code reader 24, respectively, from being contaminated with liquid, vapor, dirt or the like. An automatic detection of the capsule type, and a corresponding automatic setting of preparation parameters by the beverage production machine 1 becomes possible, and is more reliable than state of the art solutions.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.