Espresso machine with dosing mechanism
AssigneeNewell Australia Pty Ltd
InventorsTimothy Edward Gulliver, Maxim K. Guyatt, Mark James Whitcombe
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An espresso machine is provided that utilizes a mechanical valve in addition to a flow meter. This results in a low-cost espresso machine while delivering a measured volume of water for the espresso pour. The mechanical valve facilitates a machine with both selectable espresso pour and steam and/or hot water outlets. In this embodiment, the espresso machine utilizes a shared pump and water heater (e.g., a thermoblock, boiler or similar) for multiple functions and/or through different outlets. For example, water from the reservoir may be sent through the flow meter to the pump, then to the water heater, and eventually to either the grouphead or steam wand, or to a pressure release.
Claims7
An espresso machine comprising:
- a user interface for selecting a mode of operation;
- a pump;
- a water heater in fluid communication with the pump;
- a flow meter for monitoring a volume of water;
- a mechanical valve assembly in fluid communication with the water heater, the mechanical valve assembly including at least two mechanical valves for routing fluid from the water heater, wherein the at least two mechanical valves are opened and closed via a rotary valve cam shaft which is mechanically coupled to a rotatable dial which operates as the user interface, and wherein the at least two mechanical valves include two or more of:
- (a) a first valve for selectively opening and closing fluid communication to a brewing mechanism;
- (b) a second valve for selectively opening and closing fluid communication to atmosphere;
- and
- (c) a third valve for selectively opening and closing fluid communication to a steam wand or hot water outlet;
- and
- a plurality of switches and a microcontroller, wherein the plurality of switches is responsive to the rotary valve cam shaft to communicate a position of the shaft to the microcontroller, different positions of the shaft are encoded by the plurality of switches being in a particular state, and the microcontroller is adapted to distinguish between these different positions based on a previous position of the shaft.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.