DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE
VARIATIONS SHOWN
The present invention is useful for a machine 1 for brewing uespresso?, type coffee consisting of several coffee preparation posts, for example 2, 3, 4, with corresponding injection groups 5, 6, 7 as shown in FIG. 1.
This type of machine has a body 8 with a lower support plate 9 for holding cups such as cups 10 placed beneath the injection groups, a front portion 11 with a lower base plate 12 traversed by the blocks of the injection groups, each supporting a coffee brewing unit.
The machine also comprises a frame 13 surrounded by a case 14 and an upper plate 15 for maintaining the tempera¬ture of coffee cups 16, 17 on the upper portion 18, as well as one or two plungers 19 and their controls, which supply hot water and steam for other purposes, for example, pre¬paring infusions or heating milk.
The interior of the machine has a central heating unit 20 for hot water and steam used for other purposes, and a general water supply 21 with a main water supply valve 22, a water softener 23 and an injection pump 24. According to the invention, each central heating unit 20 is connected only to the plunger-spout or spouts 19 through various safety and control devices (FIG. 6) and is used only for this purpose.
It is important to note that the central heating unit 20 is the only heating unit in a conventional coffeemaker. In such a coffeemaker, it is used for preparing both hot water for coffee, and steam and hot water for other purposes.
As is seen in FIG. 2, showing the circuits of a conven¬tional double unit machine, and in FIG. 3, in a conventional system the water is heated in a single heating unit 25 with an immersion heater using the double-boiler principle, with cartridges 27, 28 submerged inside the heating unit, which holds a larger volume of water maintained under pressure at a constant temperature close to the boiling point.
More specifically, water proceeds through the main valve 22 and the water softener 23. The circuit then branches into supply line 29 to the heating unit 25 with an insulating valve 30 and a branch 31 for supplying water for coffee prepara¬tion through injection pump 24, and two conduits 32, 33 supplying cold water to the two hermetically sealed heating cartridges 27, 28.
Depending upon the design of the circuit shown, the cold water supply lines 32,33 each extend into annexed branches
4
34, 35 as far as the thermostatic mixers 36, 37, the main branch of which receives the water heated by cartridges 27, 28 through hydraulic connectors 38, 39. Water proceeds to the corresponding injection groups 40, 41 through conduits in electrovalve controls 42, 43. Coffee is poured into the cup or cups through a single or double spigot 44, 45.
In a machine constructed of a plurality of functionally independent inpidual units according to the invention, the single heating unit 25 of prior art machines is replaced by central heating unit 20 designed specifically for the produc¬tion of hot water or steam for purposes other than uespresso?, coffee preparation, for example, tea or milk.
A machine constructed in this fashion comprises a plu¬rality of inpidual heating units such as unit 46 specific to each preparation post 2, 3, 4, each connected to the corre¬sponding injection group 5, 6, 1 by a flexible hydraulic connector such as connector 47, which may be made of flexible material such as thermally insulated plastic, through an electrovalve control 48, as shown particularly in FIG. 6.
Each inpidual heating unit 46 is associated with an injection group. The heating units are all supplied in parallel through the single injection pump 24. They are of the instant heat type and are economical so they can be thrown away during maintenance or if the inpidual heating unit mal-functions.
For a better appreciation of the simplicity of the invention, first one of the injection groups of a conventional machine will be examined in detail, with reference to FIG. 4. 咖啡机英文文献和中文翻译(3):http://www.youerw.com/fanyi/lunwen_34033.html