The invention relates to a low DC voltage and optionally an AC voltage powered machine for preparing espresso coffee or other infused beverages, and of a stationary type or transportable on different positions and places, which is adapted to a quick deliver in sequence of many beverages. At the present time, the electric machines for preparing coffee or other infused beverages are installed on stationary positions, from which they cannot be easily displaced, and are supplied with AD supply voltage of 230 V only. Moreover, such machines are provided with filter supports adapted to receive some filters loaded with the powdered infused beverage to be prepared, or some filters adapted to receive a waffle or a capsule containing such powdered infused beverage.

Therefore, in the machines of this kind the filter lends itself to prepare the infused beverage by introducing the powdered beverage or the waffle of such beverage to be prepared therein, or the machine may be loaded with a capsule of the same beverage, and thus these machines aren't able to prepare the infused beverages by utilizing both the waffles and the capsules as well as the ground coffee.

Furthermore, these machines are provided with high power operated heating elements, involving considerable energetic consumptions for heating water for the infusion at the required high temperatures and for the needed time periods for preparing several doses of the desired infused beverages, and often have cumbersome dimensions.

The object of the present invention is to realize a machine with reduced and compact dimensions for preparing espresso coffee or other infused beverages, in which the above mentioned applicative drawbacks and limits of the currently used machines are deleted, and which is able to prepare the infused beverages with extremely reduced energetic consumptions, and able to be supplied with low DC voltage, and besides may be loaded with loose powder of the infused beverage and with waffles or capsules containing the powdered infused beverage and equivalent means for containing such powder, and may be installed not only on stationary positions but also on different positions and places, in an easy and quick manner.

This machine is realized with the constructive characteristics substantially described, with particular reference to the attached patent claims.

The invention will be understood better from the following description, given by way of a not limitative example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which :

- Figs, la-lc show a front view, a side view from left and a side view from right of the machine for preparing espresso coffee, respectively, on an assembled condition thereof, according to the invention ;

- Fig. 2 shows an exploded perspective view of few support and closing component of the machine of Fig. 1 ;

- Figs. 3a-3c show a front view, a side view from left and a side view from right, of the machine for preparing espresso coffee, respectively, partially disassembled and in an operating position thereof ; - Figs. 4a-4c show front view, a side view from left and a side view from right, of the machine for preparing espresso coffee, respectively, partially disassembled and in an operative position thereof ;

- Fig. 5 shows a view form the top of the disassembled machine of Figs. 3a-3c ;

- Fig. 6a shows a front view of few component parts of the machine, assembled to each other ;

- Fig. 6b shows a side vertical cutaway view of Fig. 6a ;

- Fig. 6c shows a front vertical cutaway view of Fig. 6b ;

Fig. 7 shows an enlarged portion of the view of fig. 6c.

The above mentioned Figures illustrate an espresso coffee machine or for other infused beverages, supplied with a low DC voltage and/or AC voltage (below name machine 10), and of compact and stationary type or transportable on different positions and places. This machine is able to be installed into means for inhabited uses, campers, caravans, motor-homes, different kinds of boats, commercial and industrial vehicles such as for example motor-bus, motor coaches, trains, airplanes, trucks, motor-vehicles for private or public use, for domestic and public uses, catering, vending, OCS, Horeca, and leasing to privates or Firms with or without service for supplying raw material (coffee, barley, etc..) as well as for being able to be transported on to trucks of various kind, which can be utilized on the roads, squares, parks, golf-fields, trains, airplanes etc... and other applications. In case, the machine may be also provided with systems (deconto or similar) for the leasing market (ocs and similar markets) for mechanically or electronically counting the delivered beverage. The machine 10 is arranged, in the way which will be described, for preparing coffee and several kinds of infused beverages, such as for example white coffee, barley, tea, chamomile, liquid foods etc., by utilizing the loose powder of such beverages or the waffles or the capsules containing such powder, metered and pressed in the best way.

The machine 10, as it is visible particularly in Figs, la-lc wherein it is in the assembled condition thereof, is substantially constituted externally by a box-like shaped cabinet 11 lengthened upward and with reduced and compact dimensions, constituted by section bars, made of metal or other similar material, joined removably to each other in a per se known manner, which box-like shaped cabinet has a front wall 12 provided with a first central through opening 13 of an almost square shape, and adapted to house at least a filtering, infusing and distributing unit 14 of the beverage, that will be described after, and provided with a second lower lengthened opening 15 adapted to house a removable external cup support (not shown), in turn adapted to support the cup or the glass where the distributed beverage is poured into by the unit 14, and provided with two openings 17' and 18' (See Fig. 2) in the upper part thereof, adapted to house respectively two push-buttons 17 and 18 for actuating and controlling the same machine, whose functions will be described after. A first side wall 19 of the cabinet 11 is provided lower and frontally with a through hole 20' for inserting a rotating lever 20, adapted to close and to open the filtering group 14, and with an opening 21 (See Fig. 2), which is closable and openable with a small door 22, adapted to allow the access to the inner of the machine 10 for charging the needed water for the operation thereof, as it will be described later.

Referring to Fig. 2, which shows few support and closing components of the machine 10, we can note an internal central support element 23', constituted by two shaped section bars 23 and 35 joined to each other, and a set of closing components joined to each other and to said support component 23' in a removable way with per se known methods, constituted by a set of external section bars acting as walls of the above said cabinet 11, in particular the front wall 12 comprising also the upper part 24 of the cabinet by forming an overturned L, the first side wall 19 with the small door 22, a second side wall 25 and a back wall 26, comprising also the bottom 27 of the same cabinet by forming an L.

Such an internal support section bar 23' is adapted to support all the various functional components of the machine 10, and the first shaped section bar 23 thereof is constituted by a rectangular plate bent to form a first small lower horizontal part 28 turned frontally, a second vertical part turned upward, a third horizontal part 30 turned backwardly and provided with two side recesses 31 and 32, adapted to the passage of conduits and possible electrical connections, and a last small part 33 turned upward, whereas the second shaped section bar 35, joined on the upper part and frontally to the first section bar 23, is constituted by a back vertical part 36 bent frontally with two horizontal side wings 37 and 37', identical and specular to each other, that are arranged at the same level of the third horizontal part 30 of the first section bar 23.

Such a section bar 23 is secured to the section bar 26 through the two small parts 28 and 33, on the upper and central part of the bottom 27 and the upper part of the back wall 26, respectively, thereby forming an internal cavity 34 between the back wall 26 and the vertical section bar 29, whose function will be described later.

As visible in Figs. 3a-6c, the filtering group 14 is fixed on the front part of said section bar 23, and is substantially constituted by an upper stationary part 38, constituted by a cylindrical head for delivering hot water, and by a movable lower part 39, constituted by a filter support body adapted to receive the capsule, or the like or a waffle support filter, or directly the grinded coffee or the power for the infused beverage, and is adapted to be moved in the vertical direction in the way and for the reasons that will be described, from a lowered position to a raised thereof with respect to the stationary upper part of the filtering group 14, and the movement of such a lower part from one to the other lowered and raised position thereof is determined by said lever 20, which cooperates with said movable part as will be described.

Said stationary 38 and movable 39 parts are arranged coaxially to each other.

Referring particularly to Figs. 6c and 7, we can note that, on the top of the bottom 27, a support element 40 is fixed on its front part, and is constituted by a central hollow body 41 with an almost cubic shaped, and provided laterally, both on the lower part and upper part, with four horizontal wings 42, 43, 44 and 45 turned outward and identical to each other, and each one provided with a through hole 46, 47, 48, 49 identical to each other and with pairs coaxial in the vertical direction, furthermore, said hollow body is also provided on to its side vertical walls 50 and 51 with two coaxial through holes 52, 52', adapted to house and to support in rotation a horizontal stem 53 of the lever 20, which is L-shaped.

A plate 54 is fixed below to two horizontal wings 37, 37', and is provided with a central through hole 55, adapted to house lower the stationary head 38, and with two vertical side through holes 56, 57, coaxial with the underlying relative holes 46, 47, 48, 49, in such a way that they may be joined by two bars 58, 59, which are threaded and the end portions thereof and blcked at their lower and upper parts by external nut 59', of which the first bar 58, arranged over the lever 20, is fixed on the upper part of the horizontal wing 37 and on the lower part to the upper wing 42, whereas the second bar is fixed on the upper part of the other horizontal wing 37' and on the lower part of the lower wing 45 (See Fig. 6c). An additional plate 60 is inserted by sliding into two said bars 25, 59, through two side through holes 61, 62, possibly provided with bushings (not shown) or the like, on which upper part the movable filter support part 39 is fixed to, and on the lower part thereof leverage unit 63 is fixed to, joined in turns to the rotation stem of the lever 20, in such a way that the user may move vertically in a simple and fast way the same movable part 39.

The leverage unit 63 is constituted by a first lower element 64, preferably with a overlapped T shape, provided with two transversal through holes 65 and 66 arranged on its enlarged lower end portion 67 and its upper end portion 68, respectively, and by a second upper lengthened element 69 with a lengthened shape with its lower end portion 70 provided with two side wings 71, 72, identical, parallel and spaced away to each other, each one provided with concentric holes 73, 73', whereas its upper end portion 74 is provided with a transversal through hole 75.

The first lower element 64 is joined integral, through per se known means, with its lower hole 65 to the rotation stem 53 of the lever 20, whereas the upper hole 66 is inserted between the two holes 73, 73' of the second upper element 69, and is joined with a free rotation thereto with a pin 76 or similar means locked at its end portions.

The second upper element 69 is joined with a free rotation, with per se known means, such as for example a pin locked at its end portions, through the hole 75 of its upper end portion 74, centrally to a fork 77, which is provided with two concentric side through holes 78, 78', and is arranged and secured to the lower part of said movable plate 60.

As visible in Figs. 3a-3c, such a lever 20, in the rest position thereof, that is vertical turned upward, maintains the lower element 64 of the leverage unit 63 in a back horizontal position, and therefore the second upper element 69 is a frontally turned oblique position, and consequently the plate 60, on which the movable lower part 39 of the filtering unit 14 is assembled, is positioned spaced away vertically from the stationary plate 54 supporting on its lower part the stationary head 38, so that the capsule, the powder or waffle of infused beverage may be discharged and/or loaded. As visible in Figs. 4a-4c and particularly in Figs. 6a-6c, when the lever 20 is moved in the working position thereof, that is frontally and horizontally, it let to rotated frontally the upper end portion 68 of the lower element 64 of the leverage unit 63, by keeping it in to a vertical position, and thereby rotating frontally the lower end portion 70 of the second upper element 69, by keeping and maintaining this latter in a vertical position, and consequently the plate 60, onto which the movable lower part 39 of the filtering unit 14 is assembled, is shifted vertically upward along the bars 58 and 59, up to the same movable part 39 and the stationary part 38 are hermetically coupled to each other, so as to be able to proceed with the infusion and delivering cycle of the infused beverage, as it will be described.

For bringing back the plate 60 in a lowered position thereof, it is sufficient to rotate backwardly upward the lever 20.

Said back cavity 34 is both adapted to house the water container 79, in a position correspondent than the one of the plate of the side wall 19 provided with the small door 21, and to house the machine operative component parts that will be described soon.

Referring to Figures in which there are shown the inner component parts of the machine 10, it is noted that, as already described, the filtering and infusion unit 14 is assembled in a front space delimited between the stationary upper horizontal plate 54 and the lower movable plate 60, and may be easily reached through the opening 13 on the front wall 12 of the cabinet 11, when two movable 39 and stationary 38 parts thereof are shifted in the pulled away or pulled position to each other, in the first condition for loading the waffle or the capsule or the tablet of the powder of the beverage to be prepared, or for expelling the exhausted waffle after the infusion, and in the second condition for performing the infusion.

There now described in detail the stationary upper part and the movable lower part of the filtering and infusing unit 14, of which the stationary upper part 38 is housed below in the upper plate 54, from which it is supported, whereas the lower movable part 39 is fixed on the lower plate 60, in a position which corresponds to the one of the stationary upper part and is able to be shifted with respect to this latter during the shifting of the lower plate 60 as previously described.

Particularly, the lower movable part 39 is constituted as usually by a filter supporting body 80 with a cylindrical or polygonal form, made of plastic material or other suitable material, which is housed in the upper part of said lower plate 60 and is provided with an inner chamber (not shown) for the preparation and the passage of the infused beverage, which is communicating through an external lower curved pipe 81 with the underlying cup support element (not shown), upon which a glass, a cup or other suitable container is placed, into which the delivered infused beverage is collected. The upper part of the filter support body 39 is shaped for housing a correspondent thin cup 82 (See Fig. 6b) acting as support for the capsule which contains the metered and pressed powder of the relative beverage to be prepared, or for a filter for receiving the loose powder of the beverage to be prepared, or for a filter for receiving the paper waffle or for another support for coffee tablets.

The filtering and infusing unit thereby obtained, so, is of the versatile type and allows to prepare infused beverages in any way, by substituting form time to time a filter with another type of filter, condition that may not possible to obtain with the current filtering units, which are provided for receiving only loose powder or waffle of a beverage, or loose powder or also capsule of a beverage, and that are not interchangeable to each other. Over and in correspondence of the just described movable lower part, there is placed the stationary upper part of the filtering and infusing unit 14, which is constituted by a cylindrical head 39 and by a valve 83 positioned on the back and secured to the head 39, and both provided for delivering the hot water toward such a unit, and such component parts are communicating with an heat exchanger 84, formed by a milled and turned boxlike shaped body containing a conduit 84', which is passed through by the cold water to be heated and is realized with a good thermal conductor material, and with an elevate thermal inertia, as for example brass or aluminium for food usage, fixed in a position correspondent on the upper plate 54, which heat exchanger is heated by means of one or more electric heating elements, which are constituted by at least one DC voltage heating element (not shown), with supply voltage for example of 12 or 24 V and able to be realized with reduced power ( for example 300 W), to which additional heating elements of the same kind may be eventually added.

Such heating means may be also integrated or substituted by at least an AC voltage (for example 127 or 230 V) heating element, that is supplied directly by the voltage of the electrical grid, independently from the heating elements with DC voltage eventually installed.

Additional functional component parts are constituted by a pump 85 provided with electronic control means 86, which allow a DC input voltage supply (for example, of 12 V), which device is also adapted to stop the machine operation if the voltage level of the supply battery goes down below a determinate value, such a device being further able to be connected also to an electronic card (not shown) for controlling the different electric components and for setting the machine operative cycles. Such electronic card is able to be connected to one or more controlling and regulating electric push buttons, or equivalent technical means, for example touch screen, which in the considered example are constituted by the above said push- buttons 17, 18, provided for switching on and off and for switching over the electric supply of said first DC voltage powered heating element or said additional AC voltage powered heating element, and for providing or not providing to deliver the hot water for preparing the infused beverage.

The machine is constituted by the following electric component parts :

At least a pump of circulation 85, at least a three way solenoid valve 83 and one or more

thermostats, in the example constituted by thermostats 88 and 89, and the electronic device which is housed together the pump for circulation 85 in the inner cavity of the box-like shaped structure of the machine, opposed and spaced away with respect to the water container 79, whereas the three way solenoid valve 83 is situated rearwards of said upper plate 54 and the thermostats 88 and 89 are fixed on the heat exchanger 84. As visible in particular in Figs. 3a-4a, the pump of circulation 85 is connected in an hermetical way with its suction side, through a shaped and flexible conduit 90, to the water container 79, for sucking the cold water arriving from the same container, when the control push button 18 is actuated for delivery the beverage, for determining the turn on of the same pump, and such a pump 85 is also connected with is delivery side to a the inlet of the solenoid valve 83, intercepted by the inner valve member of the same solenoid valve, and whose outlet is linked with the inner conduit of the heat exchanger 84, by means of a suitable flexible conduit 91, of which its outlet is communicating with the delivering water unit (head 38). The solenoid valve 83 is also connected to the cup support (not shown) with an additional flexible conduit (not shown), and on the other side linked with the third inlet of the solenoid valve 83 and with the inlet of the inner conduit of the heat exchanger, for discharging the water contained into the same heat exchanger for delivering the beverage, and for avoiding in such a way that the limestone be formed.

When the pump of circulation 85 is turned on, by actuating the control push button 18 in the position of insertion of the pump, the cold water contained into the container 79 is sucked by the same pump through the flexible conduit 90 and conveyed directly into the heat exchanger 84, and at the same time the discharging outlet of the vale is closed toward said flexible conduit connected to said cup support, so that also the solenoid valve 83 is actuated at the same time of the pump 85, and in such a heat exchanger the water is warmed in a quick time and then it is delivered through the head 83 into the underlying filter, wherein the infused beverage is produced that is then collected into the underlying container through the external conduit 81.

When, at the end of the delivering cycle, the delivery push button of the beverage is actuated for stopping the delivering and turning off the pump 85, the solenoid valve 83 is actuated at the same time for opening the discharging way the conduce to the flexible conduit connected to the cup support, therefore the remaining water present in the heat exchanger 84 is discharged into the same removable cup support, by avoiding in this manner the risk that limestone be formed into the system and thereby ensuring a greater life of the same system. Finally, the thermostats 88 and 89 are provided for safety reasons and for controlling the temperature of the relative heating elements, and calibrated for turn on or turn off them hewn the pre- set heating temperature is reached, with the aim to maintain the heat exchanger always warm, and thereby to heat quickly the water during each delivering cycle of the desired infused beverage. In the machine so realized, before to start a preparation cycle for a type of beverage, it is necessary to establish if the machine must be loaded with loose powder, or with a waffle or a tablet or a capsule containing the beverage in powder, or equivalent means. To the aim, under this start condition the movable part 39 of the filtering unit 14 is shifted by the lever 20 in the lowered position thereof and pull away with respect to the overlying movable filter support 39, and so with the capsule support cup or the waffle support filter or the powder support filter or the tablet support, in adherent contact with the stationary head 38.

So, the infusion cycle is started as previously described, for a duration such to deliver into the underlying glass or container the desired quantity of selected beverage. Finally, when the infusion cycle is ended, the lever 20 is raised up, and with the consequently extraction of the exhaust element from the capsule of filter support cup, or the waffle or the powder or the tablet, and by prearranging the machine for performing a subsequent infusion cycle with the same described modality. The machine so constituted may be manufactured with more reduced and compacted dimensions, by dimensioning adequately all the cited component parts and the water container 79, and also may be operate also with an electric resistance with very reduced power (for example 100 W), thereby for being installed in very restricted spaces and be also used for example with a suitable car cigarette lighter socket.

Finally, the machine 10 may be equipped with one or more supplying cable 92 that are supplied by the DC voltage, for example of 12 V or 24 V, and/or AC voltage, for example 127V or 230 V, for determining the supply of the various electric components of the machine with a low DC voltage, for example 12 V or 24 V, and/or AC voltage, for example 127 or 230 V, therefore the present machine may be connected electrically to a domestic electrical grid or the like, or to a battery (not shown), which may be fixed into the cavity 34 or rearwards to the back wall 26. The invention is applicable also to other machine for preparing coffee with different chassis/shape, accessories and infusion units. Substantially, one of the characteristic of the present invention, as seen above, is the combination of a pump 85 operating with AC voltage (for example 230 VAC) + a depowered resistance (not shown) (for example of 100 W) operating with low DC voltage (for example 12 VDC) also manufactured in a different manner and inserted or included into a heat exchanger (also manufactured in a different manner) and eventually coupled to other resistances with different voltage and power + an electronic component (inverter) supplied with low DC voltage (for example 12 VDC) able to convert the needed electric current for supplying the pump from DC voltage, for example 12 VDC, to DC voltage, for example 230VDC.

As said pump has also a reduced power, the above said electronic component (inverter) may be very little and with reduced power and may be easily assembled not only into the chassis of the machine here illustrated but also it may be included or coupled to machines having different chassis, heating blocks or infusion units and accessories, established that the heart of this kind of machines for preparing coffee is always a pump + a heating block or a boiler with resistance + one or more thermostats + a solenoid valve.

The machine 10 may be fixed to walls through per se known means, as for example hooks, or laid on a plane though little legs adjustable in height 93, place externally on the lower part of the cabinet 11.