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The present invention relates to the sector of electrical household appliances and in particular regards an apparatus designed to tear/split or divide into two or more parts the pack of the cartridge and/or capsule and consequently cause exit of the dregs of coffee so as to separate the organic part from the pack, thus guaranteeing the possibility of disposing of the organic waste separately from the waste of the pack, which is recyclable.

For brevity of exposition, in the present patent text reference will be made to capsules, but it is to be understood that the invention may be applied indifferently to capsules and/or cartridges.

According to the invention, the above apparatus can be positioned directly in domestic premises, for example, in a kitchen, or else may be installed directly inside larger coffee-vending machines (obviously, ones that use cartridges or capsules) , such as the ones installed in offices, firms, and restaurants, and in general where espresso-coffee machines that use capsules are present (such as, for example, on board trains, aircraft, cruise liners, etc . ) .

Known to the art are devices for separating the organic material contained in spent capsules from the rest of the pack, but a problem common to these apparatuses is represented by the fact that said separation is not complete, and consequently the treated packs are not completely emptied of their original organic contents. This prevents disposal thereof as differentiated waste, substantially rendering vain the treatment of the spent capsules that is carried out using said known apparatuses. The current alternative would be to subject the treated capsules to additional processes in order to eliminate from the packs the residue of organic material, with evident supplementary costs.

Another problem of these known apparatuses is represented by their very large dimensions, which render them usable only at an industrial level.

Currently, there are not known electrical household appliances or apparatuses that are able to treat coffee capsules to facilitate ecological disposal/recycling thereof, i.e., that are able to perform complete separation, collection, and storage of the various materials comprised in each capsule so as to "convert" spent capsules from undifferentiated waste (as they are currently considered) to waste that is separated, differentiated, and hence recyclable and/or easily disposable.

The above entails a series of drawbacks.

A first drawback is represented by the fact that said capsules are by now filling refuse dumps.

A second drawback, deriving from the first, is that the lack of recycling of the recyclable parts of the capsules, which are usually made of aluminium and/or plastic, renders the capsules themselves more costly .

Consequently, some firms that produce capsules are currently seeking to encourage consumers to take the spent capsules back to where they were originally purchased so that they can then treat them at an industrial level to separate and recycle the materials that make them up.

The purpose of the present invention is to overcome the above drawbacks by providing an apparatus that can be installed directly where the capsules are used in order to be able to carry out separation of the materials of which the coffee capsules are made up immediately after their use so that it will be possible to collect the recyclable materials separately from the organic ones in order to facilitate differentiated collection, which by now is increasingly widespread.

According to the invention, the foregoing has been achieved by providing an apparatus that comprises, in combination:

- a supporting structure, which can be assembled with extreme ease and is provided with a compartment for receiving and treating the capsules of coffee or some other infusion;

- mechanical means, which are pre-arranged in said purposely provided compartment for treating the capsules and are designed to tear or break the packs thereof and consequently separate the organic contents from the various materials that constitute the packs, gathering the organic contents and the packs, respectively, in a first collection container and in a second collection container, which are distinct from one another and can be emptied into the normal containers provided for differentiated refuse collection;

- an inlet opening that enables said spent capsules to enter the treatment compartment, for example by dropping by gravity or via a motor-driven system;

- means for conveying the organic material coming out of the treated capsules into the purposely provided collection container;

- a first container, designed to receive the dregs of coffee or other infusion that have been separated from the rest of the capsule and that constitute an organic waste; and

- a second container, designed to receive the remains of the packs of the capsules that have been separated from the organic materials and that constitute recyclable waste material comprising paper, aluminium, plastic, etc.

There may also be envisaged a totally or partially transparent structure so that it is possible to check whether the capsules have been completely torn and emptied.

A better understanding of the invention will be obtained from the ensuing detailed description and with reference to the attached drawings, which illustrate, merely by way of example, some preferred embodiments .

In the drawings:

Figures 1 and 2 are schematic illustrations of a preferred embodiment of the apparatus forming the subject of the invention, respectively in longitudinal sectional view and in top plan view; and

Figures 3 and 4, which are respectively similar to the Figures 1 and 2, show a variant.

With reference to the figures cited above, in the example of embodiment described an apparatus for treatment of the capsules is provided, designed for being installed inside a vending machine for coffee (or other infusions) used in firms or commercial premises that functions with capsules or cartridges in such a way that the cartridges and/or capsules will be treated immediately after their use.

Another possibility is to install the apparatus described in a stand-alone way, obviously within a purposely designed box, pre-arranged for receiving from outside the spent capsules to be treated.

In either case, the apparatus according to the invention comprises, in combination:

- a bottom bag container SI designed to collect the organic remains and to support basically the entire load-bearing structure of the apparatus;

- a container B located inside the previous one, which constitutes the treatment compartment and is provided with perforated walls and housed inside which is a bladed impeller 4 set in rotation by means of a shaft 5;

- a fixed conveyor D, set on the upper part of the perforated container B, in which the capsules are treated;

- a top bag container S2 for collecting and storing the packs of the treated capsules;

- an electric motor E, designed to be driven by the user to turn the shaft 5 whenever at least one spent capsule to be treated is introduced; and

- a chute H for getting the capsules to enter the treatment compartment provided in the bottom container B.

According to the invention, it is envisaged to cut up/tear the pack of each capsule via said one or more blades of the bottom impeller 4 that have different shape and size in order to obtain complete mechanical separation of the organic material from the rest of the capsule, and at the same time the organic waste is made to exit from the treatment compartment B through a plurality of self-cleaning holes or slots purposely provided on the lateral and bottom surfaces of the treatment compartment B itself. Emptying of the torn capsules is achieved thanks to the action of the centrifugal force generated by the rotary motion imparted by the blades of the impeller 4.

According to a peculiar characteristic of the invention, the inner surface of the perforated walls of the compartment B for treatment of the capsules may be provided with elements in relief or with recesses appropriately positioned to prevent the capsules from possibly remaining stuck to the blades of the impeller

4 and turning together with them without tearing.

According to the invention, a system for conveying the empty packs of the treated capsules is provided, which is basically made up of a fixed helix

5 set peripherally inside a cylinder (or a cone tapered upwards) and an impeller HI with one or more substantially vertical blades L, said impeller turning inside the fixed helix S.

It is preferable to provide, on the outer edge of each blade L, throughout its height, a sort of brush, thus enabling the edge of the blade itself to pass beyond the thickness of the fixed helix S without interfering with the latter, so making it possible to reach the surface of the wall of the cylinder itself without any risk of mechanical interference.

The centrifugal force exerted on the empty packs by the impeller HI, which is in turn fixed to the electric motor via the shaft 5, pushes each pack emptied of the organic material towards the fixed helix S so that this is traversed in a rotary direction by the empty pack until the latter reaches the exit and drops into the collection bag S2.

Introduction of the capsules to be treated may be made with the motor stationary or else with the motor running.

It should be noted that it may also be envisaged that the treatment of breaking/tearing of the capsules is obtained with the impeller 4 that turns in the direction opposite to the direction of the auger 3. In this case, after the capsules have been torn, the direction of rotation of the motor can be reversed so that the impeller can entrain the empty packs and expel them.

The entire operating cycle may be performed manually by the user, i.e., visually checking progress thereof, or else automatically under the control of an electronic card, which, by means of appropriate sensors positioned in strategic points, keeps the apparatus in safe running conditions and checks for the presence of capsules to be treated in order to activate the device when necessary.

The means designed to drive the apparatus described comprise an electrical system with at least two pushbuttons:

- a main ON/OFF switch; and

- a switch for start of the treatment cycle.

It is preferable to provide, especially in the case of automatic operation, warning lights that signal that the apparatus according to the invention is on, that capsules to be treated are present, that treatment is through, etc.

With reference to Figures 3 and 4, a variant of the invention envisages that the inlet for the cartridges and/or capsules is directly shifted on the perforated container B.

Moreover, this variant envisages also at least one mesh or sieve Rl (of variable shape and size according to the requirements in terms of percentage of organic residue with respect to the pack) set at the outlet from which the bits of the pack of the cartridges or capsules already treated exit. Operation of said mesh or sieve Rl is simple: the packs emptied of the organic part, by exiting speedily from the cylinder with fixed helix S in which the blades L of the impeller HI turn, impact against the mesh Rl, and the possible grains of the organic part pass beyond it, then dropping into a further bag S3, which collects the possible residue of organic material, like the bag SI.

In this connection, the duct provided for filling the bag S3 could be made to reach directly the bag SI, thus eliminating the need to provide said additional bag S3.

It should be noted that the presence of the sieve or mesh Rl is important because it guarantees a further separation of the two materials of which the cartridges and/or capsules are made up and enables treatment of the cartridges and/or capsules even at a rate of one per second, in any case managing to obtain a practically zero residue of organic material in the treated packs .

Figure 4 also shows the vertical brushes on the edges of the blades L of the impeller HI mentioned previously .

Finally, it should be recalled that what has been described so far as regards the present invention for treatment of capsules may be applied, without any modifications, to the treatment of the well-known cartridges made of plastic, aluminium, etc.

The present invention has been described and illustrated according to some preferred embodiments, but it is understood that modifications and/or equivalent replacements may be made by any person skilled in the branch, without thereby departing from the sphere of protection of the present industrial patent right .