Device for producing milk froth for cappuccino

#The invention relates to a device for producing milk froth for cappuccino.

#In a known device of this type (EP 0 858 757 A1), which is connected to an espresso machine and utilizes the machine's steam generator, a nozzle arrangement having a vacuum chamber is disposed downstream of a steam supply line, and a steam-nozzle opening opens into this arrangement. At the vacuum-chamber exit opposite the steam-nozzle opening, the vacuum chamber is nearly conically tapered, and terminates in a single bore serving as a calming segment. A supply line for an air-milk mixture terminates in a cylindrical segment of the vacuum chamber, between the steam-nozzle opening and the vacuum-chamber exit. The pre-mixing chamber is notably cylindrical, has a larger diameter than the supply line for the air-milk mixture, and is connected to an air conduit and a milk supply line. In this pre-mixing chamber, first an air-milk mixture is formed, which then flows into the vacuum chamber. There, steam is added, which creates the vacuum in the vacuum chamber. The resulting steam-air-milk mixture then flows through the calming segment, in which it is compressed and settled, so it exits the calming segment as milk froth, with the desired consistency.

#The diameter-to-length ratio of the single bore forming the calming segment is preferably 1:10.

#Two exemplary embodiments of the invention are explained in detail below in conjunction with a drawing having two figures.

#FIG. 1 is a longitudinal section through a first embodiment of the inventive nozzle arrangement portion of a device for producing milk froth for cappuccino.

#FIG. 2 is a view of the first embodiment from below.

#The first embodiment according to FIG. 1 includes a nozzle arrangement 1, with a cylindrical housing 2 which has a inner cylindrical space and that is initially open at a lower end 3. At an upper end 4 located opposite the lower end 3, the cylindrical space of the housing 2 is essentially closed by a cap with a nozzle opening 6, which is connected downstream of a steam supply line 5. The upper end 4 is also referred to as the first end, and the lower end 3 is referred to as the second end. The nozzle arrangement 1 having the cylindrical housing 2 and the nozzle opening 6 is essentially formed to be rotationally symmetrical about an axis 8 of rotational symmetry.

#A supply line 9 for an air-milk mixture, which has been produced in a pre-mixing chamber 25, extends from the pre-mixing chamber 25 through the wall of the housing 2 and terminates in the cylindrical space, near the upper end 4 and adjacent the outlet of the nozzle opening 6. A milk supply line 29 and an air conduit 27 end in the pre-mixing chamber 25.

#A core 10 is inserted into a portion 7, also referred to as the lower portion of the housing 2, that adjoins the lower or outlet end 3 of the housing and substantially fills the cylindrical space of the portion 7. The filling core 10 is configured with an essentially cylindrical main portion 11 and an upper, dome-shaped portion 12. A plurality, e.g., six thoroughgoing calming conduits 13 through 18 are formed on the surface of the two portions 11 and 12 of the filling core 10. These calming conduits or channels 13-18 are disposed concentrically with respect to the axis 8 of rotational symmetry, and equidistantly around the circumference as can be seen in FIG. 2. As FIG. 1 shows in detail, the flow conduits, here 14 and 17, are grooves in the surface of the core 10 and have the same radial depth over the cylindrical main portion 11, and are recessed slightly elliptically with respect to the center axis or the axis 8 of rotational symmetry over the dome-shaped portion 12. The calming conduits 13 through 18 are therefore parallel to one another in terms of flow direction and geometry.