초록 ▼

A coffee and/or tea disperser having a cold water reservoir connected to a water heater which is connected in turn to a spray head. Below the head is a container for a bed of coffee grains or tea leaves and below which again is a tank for the infused beverage. Cups of freshly infused coffee or tea c

A coffee and/or tea disperser having a cold water reservoir connected to a water heater which is connected in turn to a spray head. Below the head is a container for a bed of coffee grains or tea leaves and below which again is a tank for the infused beverage. Cups of freshly infused coffee or tea can be metered from the tank by a dispensing valve. In order to ensure that the amount of coffee dispensed does not vary by any significant amount as the head of liquid in the tank varies, the tank is disposed above the surface on which the cup rests by a distance, measured from the maximum head of liquid in the tank to said datum, which is at least six times the maximum displacement of liquid in the tank. Moreover the tank is wide and low. The tank is preferably dismountable for easy cleaning and level probes normally protruding into the tank are arranged to be swung out of the tank to assist dismounting. The dispensing valve is preferably formed with a flexible liquid conduit squeezed between three abutments so that the tube is not clamped but rather distorted into a closed state.

대표청구항 ▼

Apparatus for making a beverage such as coffee and tea and dispensing a predetermined quantity thereof, said apparatus having a casing and comprising: a cold water reservoir having an inlet and an outlet and a predetermined capacity; a spray head; hot water means for supplying hot water to said spra

Apparatus for making a beverage such as coffee and tea and dispensing a predetermined quantity thereof, said apparatus having a casing and comprising: a cold water reservoir having an inlet and an outlet and a predetermined capacity; a spray head; hot water means for supplying hot water to said spray head, said means for supplying hot water drawing the contents of the cold water reservoir and comprising: a continuous-flow instantaneous-acting water heater having a water inlet and a water outlet, a first conduit communicating directly between said water heater inlet and said reservoir outlet, a second conduit communicating directly between said water heater outlet and said spray head, energizing means for energizing said water heater in response to water flowing therein, and means for disabling said energizing means when there is no water in the reservoir; a beverage grain bed supporting means, mounted below said spray head so as to receive a water spray therefrom; a support surface defined by said casing for supporting a dispensed-liquid container for receiving dispensed beverage therein; a beverage retaining tank mounted below said bed supporting means and above said support surface so as to receive infused beverage from said bed, said tank having a bottom outlet, said tank having an operating displacement capacity at least equal to the capacity of the said cold water reservoir; and a dispensing conduit means communicating with said bottom outlet of the tank, said dispensing conduit means including a dispensing valve means operable for a predetermined period to allow a discrete portion of said beverage to be dispensed from said tank into a beverage receiving container which has been placed upon said support surface, said beverage retaining tank being spaced above said support surface at such a distance that the maximum head of beverage in the tank relative to the support surface is at least equal to a predetermined multiple of the maximum displacement of beverage in the tank, whereby the quantity of beverage dispensed through said dispensing valve is between predetermined maximum and minimum limits.