Domestic Coffee Maker

The present invention relates to domestic coffee makers having a cold water reservoir and a water heater housed in a casing, and tubes for feeding water from the reservoir to the heater and for feeding hot water to a discharge spout mounted above a filter which has an outflow aperture at its bottom, the filter being arranged above a removable infusion container supported on the casing.

Coffee makers of this kind are known, and the outflow aperture may be equipped with a closure valve controlled by an opening lever which is movable relative to the casing. The displacement of the opening lever is caused by the positioning and removal of the infusion container, such that removal of the container causes complete closure of the valve, thus preventing any outflow of liquid in the absence of the container. Positioning the container causes the valve to be opened such that the infusion flows into the container.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a coffee maker in which it is possible to select in a simple and convenient manner the speed of passage of the infusion in order to obtain, with the same amount of ground coffee, a stronger or weaker infusion as desired.

According to the invention there is provided a domestic coffee maker comprising a casing, a cold water reservoir housed in the casing, a water heater in the casing, first tube means connecting the reservoir and the water heater, a removable infusion container supported on the casing, a filter mounted above the infusion container, a spout mounted above the filter, second tube means connecting the water heater to the spout, and an outflow aperture at the bottom of the filter, wherein the coffee maker further comprises a closure valve for the outflow aperture and an opening lever movable relative to the casing for controlling the closure valve, the opening lever being arranged such that movement of the infusion container causes displacement of the opening lever and hence of the closure valve, removal of the container being arranged to move the opening lever into a position in which the closure valve completely closes the outflow aperture, and wherein the closure valve has an arm pivotally mounted by a pivot axis on the casing, a first part of the arm situated on one side of the axis being arranged to engage the opening lever, a second, operative part of the arm situated on the other side of the axis carrying a stopper for closing the outflow aperture, and further comprising a manual lever mounted for movement relative to the casing and arranged to control movement of the second operative part of the arm, the manual lever being movable between first and second positions, in which, on operation of the opening lever, the stopper is held respectively either in a large opening position or in a small opening position.

When the stopper is in the large opening position, rapid passage of the infusion through the filter is obtained, whereas when it is in its small opening position, the passage of the infusion is slower. Thus, the choice of the speed of passage of the infusion is simply effected by adjusting the position of the movable manual lever.

An embodiment of the present invention will hereinafter be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a vertical section of a coffee maker of the present invention with the infusion container removed such that a closure valve completely closes the infusion outflow aperture;

FIG. 2 shows a partial vertical section of the coffee maker after the infusion container has been placed in position, and shows the closure valve in a first open position for the rapid passage of the infusion;

FIG. 3 is a similar view to FIG. 2, but shows the valve in a second open position for the slow passage of the infusion;

FIG. 4 shows an elevation of the movable hand lever viewed from the interior of the coffee maker, and

FIG. 5 is a view from above of the closure valve.

The coffee maker shown in FIG. 1 comprises a casing 10 in which a cold water reservoir 12 is housed. A water heater 14 is fed with water from this reservoir 12 by way of a supply tube diagrammatically indicated at 16. The water heated by the heater 14 is fed, by way of a rising tube 18, to a spout 20. The heated water discharged from the spout 20 drips into a filter 22 which is mounted above an infusion collector container 24.

The infusion container 24 is placed on the upper face of a base 26 of the casing, the water heater 14 being disposed in this base. The filter 22 has the shape of a cone and is adapted to receive a filter paper cone (not shown) in which ground coffee is placed. The filter 22 has an outflow aperture 28 at its bottom, this aperture 28 being opened and closed by way of a closure valve 30. The valve 30 is controlled by a lever 32 which is mounted for pivoting relative to the casing about a horizontal pivot 34. The lever 32 is displaced by positioning the infusion container 24 on the base 26 and by removing the container 24 from the base. The lever 32 is arranged to move the closure valve 30 into its completely closed position shown in FIG. 1 when the container 24 is removed such that outflow of liquid from the aperture 28 is prevented in the absence of the container 24. Similarly, positioning the infusion container 24 on the base 26 causes, by way of the movement of the lever 32, opening of the valve 30 to one of the open positions shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 such that the infusion flows into the container 24.

The valve 30 is provided with an arm 36 which is mounted for pivoting about a horizontal axis 38. A first part 40 of the arm 36 situated on one side of the axis 38 comes into engagement with the lever 32, while a second, operative part 42 of the arm 36 situated on the other side of the axis 38 carries a stopper 44 for closing the outflow aperture 28. The pivoting arm 36 is returned to the complete closure position of the valve by A spring 46 is interposed between a fixed seat 48 and the end 50 of the first part 40 of the arm 36 and is arranged to return the pivoting arm 36 to its position in which the valve 30 completely closes the outflow aperture 28. The operative part 42 of the arm 36 is acted on by a manual lever 52 mounted for movement relative to the casing 10 of the coffee maker, between two positions. In the first position of the lever 52, which is shown in FIG. 2, the stopper 44 is held in a large opening position, whereas in the second position of the lever 52, which is shown in FIG. 3, the stopper 44 is held in a small opening position.

The operative part 42 of the arm 36 has, between the stopper 44 and the pivot axis 38, an elastically deformable portion 54 formed by a local reduction in the section of the arm. In the illustrated embodiment this reduction is obtained by means of a cutout 56 formed between two spaced branches 58 (FIG. 5). The free end of the operative part 42 of the arm carries a nose 60 situated above a stop 62 which is fastened to the manual lever 52 and which has two stop surfaces 68 and 70 at different levels. The lever 52 is horizontally slidable on a fixed rail 64, the lever 52 having lugs 66 arranged to grip around the rail 64 and thereby suspend the lever 52. The two stop surfaces 68 and 70 of the stop 62 are in the form of two spaced horizontal bearing surfaces connected together by an inclined surface 72, as can be seen from FIG. 4.

The nose 60 of the arm 36 comes to rest on one of the surfaces 68 or 70 of the stop 62 dependent upon the position of the lever 52. Thus, sliding the lever 52 changes the stop surface positioned beneath the nose 60. In the large opening position shown in FIG. 2, the nose 60 is supported on the lower surface 68, whilst in the small opening position illustrated in FIG. 3, the nose 60 rests on the upper surface 70.

Thus, when the lever 32 is operated by placing the infusion container 24 in position, the stopper 44 will be moved away from the outflow aperture 28 until the nose 60 abuts a surface of the stop 62 and the distance the stopper moves is determined by which of the stop surfaces is positioned beneath the nose 60. Thus, if the stop 62 is in the large opening position, the nose 60 will abut the lower surface 68, and this position enables rapid passage of the infusion through the aperture 28. If the stop 62 is in the small opening position, the nose 60 will abut the upper surface 70 and the stopper 44 will be partly engaged in the outflow aperture 28, thus causing upward flexion of the elastically deformable portion 54.

Removal of the infusion container 24 frees the lever 32 and consequently the valve 30. The valve then returns to its completely closed position shown in FIG. 1 through the action of the spring 46. It will be seen that the valve is returned to the completely closed position from both the large opening position shown in FIG. 2 and the small opening position shown in FIG. 3.