COFFEE GROUNDS AND/OR EXHAUSTED COFFEE POWDER

The present invention relates to a "smart" scale, connected to a device designed to create the vacuum in containers or vessels preferably made of stainless steel and associated therewith, which is used for weighing the grounds and/or the exhausted coffee powder stored inside the container or vessel.

The scale also allows remote transmission, via Wi-Fi, to a server of a company specialized in the collection of waste, related to the amount of powder present in the storage vessel, in order to plan the collection and subsequent processing to recycle the contents.

The binomial "smart" scale and stainless steel container or vessel associated with it, is intended to be proposed to public establishments (such as bars) for the collection of coffee grounds and/or exhausted coffee powder produced by them during the activity.

More specifically, the scale is composed of an external structure in stainless steel, and an inner part, designed to receive the container or storage vessel, which includes a weighing platform and a projecting insert, which is inserted in a counter-seat present in the storage container or vessel; at insertion of the insert, a vacuum motor is started ("vacuum" motor), which allows extracting the air present in the container, while a suitable electronic system manages both the vacuum function and the weighing system , as well as sending data remotely. The container is composed of a cylindrical component, preferably made of stainless steel, closed in the lower part and equipped, always in the lower part, with a counter-seat able to accommodate a protruding insert of the "smart" scale to start the function of vacuum-sealed, and by a removable cover, always preferably made of stainless steel, adapted to close the container; moreover, the aforementioned container is distinguished by an RFID TAG for its association with the "smart" scale.

The cylindrical container or vessel can hold various sachets in plastic with the coffee grounds and/or the exhausted coffee powder, resulting from the production of coffee with espresso machine.

The dimension is calculated for a volume of about 35/40 Kg of coffee grounds and/or exhausted coffee powder (on average the quantity produced in a week by a bar located in the urban areas), which will then be collected by the specialized company, to be processed and reused. The function of the binomial "smart" scale and container is to allow a selected withdrawal of the coffee grounds and/or the exhausted coffee powder, produced in very sensitive quantities, to then dry them and reuse them to create electric or thermal energy or pallets to power heating plants, in order to reduce the present environmental pollution. There are various types of digital scales and "smart" scales on the market, such as personal scales in the fitness sector, which have a wireless connection to one or more smartphones, which, in addition to weighing the person, are able to measure factors that can indicate heart and circulatory diseases, such as Fitbit®, Xiaomi®, Withings®, Beurer®, iHealth®, Garmin®, etc .; the aforementioned scales also provide for the possibility of data transmission via Wi-Fi.

In addition, digital scales are already available on the market for commercial and industrial weighing operations, or with PC or printer connections via an RS-232 connection interface. In any case, there are no scales on the market equipped with a system to create a vacuum in an associated component and with a contemporary data transmission system remotely via Wi-Fi.

The problem we want to solve with this type of "smart" scale, equipped with a data transmission system with a remote server via the Wi-Fi included and also having a system to create the vacuum in a container associated with it, where to deposit and store coffee grounds and/or exhausted coffee powder produced in public establishments (such as bars), precisely that of having a container for the collection of coffee grounds and/or exhausted coffee powder, without causing the formation of microorganisms inside the container, as the first element of a process and/or industrial protocol, whose purpose is the disposal of this waste (present in very significant quantities) and its reuse to create electric or thermal energy or pallet in order to feed heating systems. The coffee is the second product, per quantities after oil, used and/or consumed in the world.

Only in Italy, a country among the main consumers in the world, between 5.6 kg and 6.2 kg of coffee per year are consumed using the moka coffee pot, single-dose capsules, espresso machines and vending machines. Currently, the coffee grounds and/or the exhausted coffee powder are collected as wet waste and are then transformed, in most cases, into compost; this practice, if not well done, produces methane, which disperses in the atmosphere, increasing the environmental damage of the greenhouse effect. The binomial represented by the "smart" scale with data transmission to a remote server via the Wi-Fi included and from the system to create the vacuum in an associated container where coffee grounds and/or exhausted coffee powder produced in public establishments ( such as bars) can be deposited, which is the object of the present invention, represents the first link of a procedure and/or protocol already defined, which involves the use of different machines in the successive phases, in order to achieve the purposes of intelligent reuse of the exhausted coffee powders.

The object of the present invention is therefore to obviate the aforementioned technical and environmental drawbacks and, in particular, to provide a scale for weighing containers for the collection of exhausted coffee powder (also suitable for transmitting the relative data to a remote server via the Wi-Fi included and equipped with a system to create the vacuum in the container, preferably made of stainless steel, which is associated with it) to be offered to the public establishments with bar, which allows an easy and organized collection of exhausted coffee powders, which can then be collected by a specialized company and then be destined for subsequent re-use activities, in order to create electrical or thermal energy or pallets to power heating systems, as required by appropriate procedures and/or protocols designed for this purpose.

This and other purposes are achieved by a scale for weighing containers for the collection of used coffee powder according to the attached claim 1 ; other detailed features are contained in subsequent dependent claims,

Advantageously, the present invention has the purpose of allowing the following activities:

1 . insert the coffee grounds and/or the used coffee powder previously collected in plastic sachets into the storage container or vessel;

2. collect, through the scale, the data related to the quantity inserted in the storage container or vessel and communicate this quantity daily to a remote server (located at a company specialized in the collection of waste), where these data are reprocessed to organize travels collected in an intelligent manner, minimizing the operating cost and energy consumption;

3. subsequently, to work in an industrial way the exhausted coffee powders with dedicated machinery, designed to dry out the exhausted coffee powders to obtain electric or thermal energy or pallets, in order to feed heating systems.

Further characteristics and advantages of the scale for weighing containers for the collection of exhausted coffee powder, according to the present invention, will be more evident from the following description of a preferred and exemplifying but not limiting embodiment and from the attached tables of drawings, where :

- figure 1 shows an overall perspective view of the scale associated with a storage container or vessel for the exhausted coffee powder, according to the present invention;

- figures 2A and 2B represent two perspective views of the scale shown in figure 1 , from which the various technical components of the weighing system, the vacuum creation system, the management electronics and the transmission via Wi-Fi of the data to a remote server are visible according to the present invention;

- figure 3 is a perspective view of the container for the storage of the coffee grounds and/or of the exhausted coffee powder associable with the scale of figure 1 , according to the invention;

- figure 4A shows a first step of storing the plastic sachets for the collection of the coffee grounds and/or the exhausted coffee powder by a user and/or assigned to the bar inside the container associated with the scale of figure 1 , according to the invention;

- figure 4B shows a second step of withdrawal of the coffee grounds and/or exhausted coffee powder from the container by the specialized company, according to the invention.

With reference to the aforementioned figures, 10 indicates a "smart" scale, according to the present invention, associated with a cylindrical container 50, preferably made of stainless steel and usable for storing coffee grounds and/or wet coffee powder.

The scale 10 presents a base in stainless steel, on which a weighing platform 1 1 is positioned for the positioning the storage container or vessel 50 for the coffee grounds and/or the exhausted coffee powder; inside the platform 1 1 an insert 16 is obtained, which is connected to a motor 15, which realizes a depression inside the container 50 up to a vacuum condition; the "vacuum" motor 15 is located in the rear part of the scale 10, where the electronic control system 14 of the weighing platform 1 1 , the electronic circuit 12 with relative dedicated firmware and the Wi-Fi antenna 13 for remote transmissions, is also housed. The storage container or vessel 50 presents a respective cover, which is also preferably made of stainless steel and which is subdivided into two parts or portions 52, 53 held together by two hinges 56A, 56B; the portion 53 has a handle 54, a button 55 for releasing the pressure inside the container 50 and a belt 60 formed with steel, with a relative internal elastic seal 61 which can be opened by means of two hinges 63A, 63B and a hinged articulated pin 62 adapted to fasten the cover to the container 50; in the lower external part of the container 50 there is an RFID TAG 20 usable for the association of the container 50 to the scale 10 and a counter-seat 51 is provided to accommodate the insert 16 of the scale 10 for the activation of the "vacuum " motor 15 adapted to make the vacuum in the container 50.

The operation of the scale, object of the present invention, is substantially the following.

The user (assigned to the bar), after making coffee with an espresso machine, opens the part 53 of the cover of the storage container 50 by first unlocking the internal pressure by means of the button 55 and then acting on the handle 54, in order to free a space for depositing the plastic sachets 100 containing the wet grounds and/or the exhausted coffee powder; when the operation is completed, the user closes the part 53 of the cover.

The container 50 is placed above the "smart" scale 10, which, at certain times and on average every 2 hours, is activated to create the vacuum inside the container 50 by activating the "vacuum" motor 15.

Therefore, normally every hour, the waste within the container 50 is weighed, thanks to the electronic management system 14 of the weighing platform 1 1 , which is connected to the electronic circuit 12 with relative dedicated firmware and with a Wi-Fi antenna 13.

The weighing data is immediately sent to the remote server for the management of the subsequent collection activities to determine the mode of the same.

In this regard, the company specialized in the collection of the specific waste will inform the user (assigned to the bar) of the execution of the collection (which normally occurs in the early hours of the day) and, therefore, the user (assigned to the bar) will place the storage container 50 in the collection area where the collectors will open the container 50 by acting on the formed steel belt 60 and, once the cover has been released, they will be able to extract the plastic sachets 100 with the coffee grounds and/or the wet exhausted coffee powder inside.

The invention thus conceived and illustrated herein is susceptible of numerous modifications and variations, all of which are within the scope of the inventive concept expressed in the appended claims; furthermore, all the details may be replaced by other technically equivalent elements and, finally, the components used, so long as they are compatible with the specific use, as well as the dimensions, may be any according to the requirements and the state of the art.

Where the characteristics and techniques mentioned in any claim are followed by reference marks, such reference marks have been attached for the sole purpose of increasing the intelligibility of the claims and, consequently, these reference marks have no limiting effect on the claims, interpretation of each element identified by way of example from these reference marks.