Back to results
US 5,609,097 AGranted
Coffee bean roaster with visual display column
OwnerBrian D. Newnaninventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A coffee bean roaster is provided with a cylindrically shaped transparent viewing tower in which coffee beans are roasted by an upwardly directed hot gaseous stream while being fluidized into a visually pleasing ascending central and descending outside columns during the roasting cycle. A two way valve located at the bottom of the tower permits the gaseous stream to enter the tower when the valve is in a first position and the roasted beans to be diverted to a cooling chamber when the valve is in a second position.
Claims28
A coffee bean roaster apparatus including
- (a) a tower in which coffee beans are fluidized by and roasted in a upwardly directed hot gaseous stream;
- (b) a gaseous stream line connecting said tower to a blower for supplying the gaseous stream at a velocity sufficient to fluidize a predetermined quantity of beans introduced into the tower;
- (c) a heater for heating the gaseous stream to a temperature sufficient to roast the fluidized beans;
- (d) a coffee bean cooling chamber spaced from and communicating with said tower for receiving said beans following roasting and allowing said beans to cool to a predetermined temperature;
- and
- (e) valve assembly means positioned intermediate said gaseous line and said tower for allowing said gaseous stream to egress into said tower when positioned in a first position and allowing said beans to move from said tower into said cooling chamber when positioned in a second position.
3 more elements
A coffee bean roaster system for the roasting and cooling of coffee beans including
- (a) a roaster tower adapted to receive green coffee beans from a loading station positioned near the top of said tower,
- (b) a blower connected to the bottom of said tower by a line for providing a gaseous stream directed up the center of said tower, said gaseous stream provided a predetermined velocity greater than the terminal velocity of the green beans in a region of said tower extending from a bottom of said tower a substantial distance along the vertical axis of said tower thereby causing said green beans to form a column within said tower at the top of which the gaseous velocity and said terminal bean velocity become substantially equal and said beans are carried to the side of the tower and drift toward the bottom thereof,
- (c) a heater for heating the gaseous stream while within said line to a temperature sufficient to cause said green beans to change to roasted beans of a lighter density within said tower thereby causing said column of beans to progressively become higher,
- (d) a gaseous stream exhaust line connected to the top of said tower for exhausting the hot gaseous stream from said tower, and
- (e) means for lowering the velocity of the hot gaseous stream below the terminal velocity of roasted coffee beans adjacent the connection between said exhaust line and said tower thereby reducing the amount of coffee beans exhausted through said exhaust line.
2 more elements
A coffee bean roaster system for the roasting and cooling of coffee beans including
- (a) loading means for holding a volume of coffee beans;
- (b) a roaster tower adapted to receive green coffee beans from said loading means, said tower having a top wall with an opening therein;
- (c) a blower connected to the bottom of said tower by a line for providing a gaseous stream directed up the center of said tower, said gaseous stream provided a predetermined velocity greater than the terminal velocity of the green beans in a region of said tower extending from a bottom of said tower a substantial distance along the vertical axis of said tower thereby causing said green beans to form a column within said tower at the top of which the gaseous velocity and said terminal bean velocity become substantially equal and said beans are carried to the side of the tower and drift toward the bottom thereof;
- (d) a heater for heating the gaseous stream while within said line to a temperature sufficient to cause said green beans to change to roasted beans of a lighter density within said tower thereby causing said column of beans to progressively become higher;
- (e) an illumination means associated with said tower for illuminating the interior of said tower and said coffee beans when fluidized;
- and
- (f) a valve means associated with said top wall for selectively placing said loading means and said illumination means in first and second positions to respectively allow beans to enter into said tower and illuminate the interior of said tower.
4 more elements
A system for the roasting of and subsequent cooling of coffee beans comprising
- a blower adapted to provide a gaseous stream;
- a heater for heating the gaseous stream to a temperature sufficient to roast coffee beans;
- a tower adapted to receive green coffee beans and the heated gaseous stream, said gaseous stream flowing through a first bottom entrance to said tower with a sufficient velocity to lift and fluidize the beans within said tower;
- a cooling chamber for cooling roasted coffee beans received from said tower;
- a valve assembly associated with said tower at the bottom thereof and having first and second positions, said valve assembly in said first position permitting the gaseous stream to flow into said tower and in said second position permitting roasted beans to flow by gravity into said cooling chamber whereby said tower can be refilled with green beans and said valve assembly can be placed in said first position for roasting of green beans in said tower simultaneously with cooling of said roasted beans in said cooling chamber.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.