Back to results
US 10,765,137 B1Granted
Fluid bed coffee roasting system
AssigneeASHE Industries, LLC
InventorsDavid Douglas Hart, Ernie Arquero Abdon
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A fluid bed coffee roasting system is disclosed and configured for roasting batches of coffee beans of varying sizes. In at least one embodiment, the system provides a roasting unit configured for roasting a volume of coffee beans, a chaff collection unit positioned and configured for drawing off and capturing any loose chaff released by the coffee beans within the roasting unit, and a cooling unit positioned and configured for receiving and cooling the coffee beans after they are removed from the roasting unit.
Claims20
A roasting unit for a fluid bed coffee roasting system comprising:
- a roast housing providing an at least one partition positioned within the roast housing which defines a plurality of heating chambers in serial fluid communication with one another, thereby forming an air path having an initial end and a terminal end, said heating chambers comprising:
- a vertically-oriented first heating chamber;
- a vertically-oriented third heating chamber laterally spaced-apart from the first heating chamber;
- a horizontally-oriented second heating chamber positioned proximal an upper end of the roast housing and interconnecting the first and third heating chambers;
- and
- a vertically-oriented fourth heating chamber positioned between the first and third heating chambers, with the at least one partition defining a hole which interconnects the third heating chamber with the fourth heating chamber;
- the upper end of the roast housing providing an upwardly-directed air nozzle in fluid communication with the terminal end of the air path, the air nozzle extending through the second heating chamber and connecting to an upper end of the fourth heating chamber;
- an open-ended roasting chamber configured for retaining a volume of coffee beans therewithin during use of the roasting unit, a base plate of the roasting chamber providing an inlet orifice that is removably engagable with the air nozzle;
- an at least one roasting blower in fluid communication with the initial end of the air path and configured for moving a volume of air from the initial end of the air path, through the terminal end of the air path, out the air nozzle and into the inlet orifice of the roasting chamber at a velocity sufficient for levitating the coffee beans in a bed of air within the roasting chamber;
- and
- a plurality of heating elements positioned within one or more of the heating chambers and configured for being selectively heated during use of the roasting unit, thereby allowing the temperature of the air moving through the air path to be adjusted by selectively heating more or fewer of the heating elements;
- whereby, as air moves through the air path during use of the roasting unit, the air is forced to pass over each of the heating elements in series, thereby progressively increasing the temperature of the air until the air reaches the terminal end of the air path.
9 more elements
A roasting unit for a fluid bed coffee roasting system comprising:
- a roast housing providing an at least one partition positioned within the roast housing which defines a plurality of heating chambers in serial fluid communication with one another, thereby forming an air path having an initial end and a terminal end;
- an upper end of the roast housing providing an upwardly-directed air nozzle in fluid communication with the terminal end of the air path;
- an upper end of the roast housing providing an upwardly-directed air nozzle in fluid communication with the terminal end of the air path;
- an open-ended roasting chamber configured for retaining a volume of coffee beans therewithin during use of the roasting unit, a base plate of the roasting chamber providing an inlet orifice that is removably engagable with the air nozzle;
- an at least one roasting blower in fluid communication with the initial end of the air path and configured for moving a volume of air from the initial end of the air path, through the terminal end of the air path, out the air nozzle and into the inlet orifice of the roasting chamber at a velocity sufficient for levitating the coffee beans in a bed of air within the roasting chamber;
- and
- a plurality of heating elements positioned within at least two of the heating chambers and configured for being selectively heated during use of the roasting unit, thereby allowing the temperature of the air moving through the air path to be adjusted by selectively heating more or fewer of the heating elements;
- whereby, as air moves through the air path during use of the roasting unit, the air is forced to pass over each of the heating elements in series, thereby progressively increasing the temperature of the air until the air reaches the terminal end of the air path.
5 more elements
A roasting unit for a fluid bed coffee roasting system comprising:
- a roast housing providing an at least one partition positioned within the roast housing which defines a plurality of heating chambers in serial fluid communication with one another, thereby forming an air path having an initial end and a terminal end;
- an upper end of the roast housing providing an upwardly-directed air nozzle in fluid communication with the terminal end of the air path;
- a tilt arm pivotally engaged with the roast housing and providing an aperture extending therethrough;
- an open-ended roasting chamber configured for retaining a volume of coffee beans therewithin during use of the roasting unit, a base plate of the roasting chamber providing an inlet orifice that is selectively engagable with the aperture of the tilt arm;
- whereby, the tilt arm is capable of selectively moving between one of an active position—wherein the tilt arm is pivoted toward the roasting unit so as to create a removable engagement between the air nozzle and the inlet orifice of the roasting chamber via the aperture—and an inactive position—wherein the tilt arm is pivoted away from the roasting unit, thereby disengaging the inlet orifice of the roasting chamber from the air nozzle, and subsequently tipping the roasting chamber so that the roasted coffee beans are dumped out of the roasting chamber;
- an at least one roasting blower in fluid communication with the initial end of the air path and configured for moving a volume of air from the initial end of the air path, through the terminal end of the air path, out the air nozzle and into the inlet orifice of the roasting chamber at a velocity sufficient for levitating the coffee beans in a bed of air within the roasting chamber;
- and
- a plurality of heating elements positioned within one or more of the heating chambers;
- whereby, as air moves through the air path during use of the roasting unit, the air is forced to pass over each of the heating elements in series, thereby progressively increasing the temperature of the air until the air reaches the terminal end of the air path.
6 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.