Manual espresso machine

An espresso press for forcing hot water through coffee grounds into a container, the espresso press resting on a support surface and comprising:

• a base adapted for resting on the support surface and for supporting the container;
• a stand projecting upwardly from the support surface;
• an arbor assembly comprising an arbor mount and an arbor that includes a shaft movable within an arbor aperture of the arbor mount, the arbor assembly further including a rack-and-pinion arrangement that includes a rack gear fixed with the shaft of the arbor, and a pinion gear partially projecting into the arbor aperture and adapted to engage the rack gear of the arbor when the arbor is fixed within the arbor aperture, the pinion gear rotatable with a manual lever between a raised and a lowered position corresponding to a raised position of the arbor and a lowered position of the arbor, respectively, the arbor assembly further including a spring for urging the manual lever into the raised position;
• the arbor further including a plunger slidably fixed with a bottom end of the shaft of the arbor and defining a first internal volume therebetween, the shaft including a conduit between the bottom end and a top end of the shaft, the conduit in fluid communication with the first internal volume, the arbor further including a pressure gauge at the top end of the shaft and in fluid communication with the conduit;
• a brewhead includes a brewhead mount for fixing the brewhead with the stand between the base and the arbor assembly, an espresso chamber adapted to receive an espresso filter basket, the espresso chamber open at top and bottom ends thereof, and a cylinder removably attached with the espresso chamber, open at top and bottom ends thereof to define a second internal volume therein, and adapted for receiving the hot water therein, the top end of the cylinder open and adapted to receive a piston therein, sealed against an inside wall of the cylinder;
• the cylinder and the espresso chamber including a twist-lock arrangement with an elastomeric seal, wherein the cylinder is mounted to the espresso chamber by dropping the cylinder into the espresso chamber and twisting the cylinder to compress the elastomeric seal, water pressed through the coffee grounds being forced to exit the brewhead through the coffee grounds and out of the bottom end of the espresso chamber, an outside surface of the cylinder includes ribs for facilitating the gripping of and twisting of the cylinder within the twist-lock arrangement of the espresso chamber;
• the brewhead including a track, the espresso chamber slidably fixed with the track to allow the espresso chamber to slide between rearward and forward positions, wherein the espresso chamber is loaded when in the forward position with the espresso filter basket, coffee grounds, the cylinder, the hot water, and the piston, and then the espresso chamber is slid into the rearward position below the plunger of the arbor assembly;
• at least one elastomeric O-ring fixed between the plunger and the bottom end of the shaft, wherein the first internal volume is sealed to the ambient atmosphere;
• at least one elastomeric O-ring fixed between the piston and the inside wall of the cylinder, wherein the second internal volume is sealed to the ambient atmosphere but through the coffee grounds;
• whereby with the stand set upon the support surface, the container set upon the base under the espresso chamber, the coffee grounds held within the espresso filter basket within the espresso chamber, the cylinder fixed with the espresso chamber and containing the hot water, the piston is inserted into the top end of the cylinder to position the cylinder under the plunger of the arbor assembly, whereby the lever is pulled from its raised position to its lowered position while observing the pressure gauge to ensure that the pressure within the first internal volume does not exceed a predetermined limit, the plunger pressing the piston down into the cylinder to force the water through the coffee grounds and into the container.