FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the technical sector of production of capsules for preparation of drinks.

In particular, the present invention relates to a method for producing a capsule usable in an automatic machine and containing a product in powder form, leaf form or the like (for example powdered coffee or tea, leaf tea, concentrates or freeze-dried drinks) which is destined to be mixed with a liquid (for example hot water or cold water at pressure) to obtain a drink.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART

A known capsule comprises: a product for preparation of a drink; a first container which contains the product and which is made of a non-woven textile (or possible a pleated filter paper) having a porosity such as to retain the product internally thereof and to enable exit of the drink which forms from the mixing of a liquid with the product; a second container made of plastic which contains the first container

Further, the known capsule comprises a closing element made of a coupled sheet of aluminium and polypropylene which: is fixed to the first container forming therewith a first chamber containing the product; is fixed to the second container forming therewith a sealed second chamber containing the first container; and is perforable for enabling entry of a liquid into the first chamber. The second container is perforable to enable exit of the drink from the second container.

The preparation of a drink by using the known capsule includes inserting the capsule into an automatic machine, which will perforate the closing element and the second container, and injecting a liquid into the first chamber which will mix with the product, thus obtaining the drink.

At this point, as the first container is made of non-woven textile (or possibly a pleated filter paper) having a porosity such as to retain the product internally thereof and to enable exit of the drink, the drink will exit from the first chamber, will reach the second chamber and lastly will exit from the second chamber.

Following the preparation of the drink, the capsule is removed from the automatic machine and disposed of in the non-differentiated refuse. In fact it is a non-recyclable refuse as it comprises different non-separable materials; the closing element made of aluminium and polypropylene coupled sheet, the organic product, the first container made of non-woven textile (or possibly pleated filter paper) and the second container made of plastic.

In order to obviate the above-mentioned problem, capsules are known in which the closing element is manually removable from the second container. However, by removing the closing element from the second container the first container made of non-woven textile (or possibly pleated filter paper) and containing the product will remain fixed to the closing element.

Therefore this prior-art capsule too enables differentiating the second container made of plastic but not the organic product, the first container made of non-woven textile (or possibly pleated filter paper) and the closing element made of aluminium and polypropylene coupled sheet.

Further, even supposing that the closing element can be separated from the first container, it will not be possible to separate the first container from the product: in fact, after the product has been mixed with the liquid it is so compact as to form a single body with the first container.

Consequently the known capsules are not a completely recyclable waste product and this leads to ecological problems and waste of raw materials.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In the light of the above, the aim of the present invention consists in obviating the above-mentioned drawback.

The above aims are obtained by means of a capsule for preparing a drink according to claim 1.

The capsule of the present invention, after preparation of the drink, is completely recyclable. In fact, owing to the fact that the first container and the second container are both made of a plastic material by moulding (for example by thermoforming or injection moulding) or of a metal material by drawing, the closing element is manually removable both from the first container and from the second container.

Further, as the first container is made of a plastic material by moulding or of a metal material by drawing, it is possible to remove the product contained therein. In fact the product, even though compacted following the preparation of the drink, does not form a single body with the first container, as instead happens with known capsules in which the first container is made of a non- woven textile (or possibly of pleated filter paper).

The capsule of the invention is advantageously completely recyclable. Consequently, the environmental impact is reduced and it is possible to recycle the raw materials.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Specific embodiments of the invention will be described in the following part of the present description, according to what is set down in the claims and with the aid of the appended tables of drawings, in which:

- figure 1 is an exploded lateral view of a capsule according to the present invention;

- figures 2 and 4 each illustrate a perspective exploded view of the capsule of figure 1 ;

- figure 3 is a section view of the capsule of figure 1 ;

- figure 5 is a section view of a further embodiment of the capsule according to the present invention;

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

With reference to the appended tables of drawings, reference numeral 1 denotes in its entirety a capsule for preparation of a drink of the present invention. The capsule (1) comprises: a product (not illustrated) for preparation of a drink; a first container (2) which contains the product; a second container (5) which contains the first container (2) and which is made of a plastic material by moulding or of a metal material by drawing.

The capsule (1) further comprises: a closing element (3) which: is fixed to the first container (2), forming therewith a first chamber (4) containing the product; is fixed to the second container (5) forming therewith a sealed second chamber (6) containing the first container (2); is perforable for enabling entry of a liquid into the first chamber (4), which liquid is suitable for mixing with the product forming a drink; and is manually removable from the second container (5). The second container (5) is perforable to enable exit of the drink from the second container (5).

The first container (2) is made of a plastic material by moulding or of a metal material by drawing and comprises a plurality of through-holes (7) dimensioned such as to retain the product in the first container (2) and to enable exit of the drink obtained by the mixing of the product with the liquid. Further, the closing element (3) is manually removable also from the first container (2) (preferably, the closing element (3) is manually removable from the first container (2) and from the second container (5) contemporaneously). The capsule (1) of the invention is usable in an automatic machine that is able to perforate the closing element (3), perforate the second container (5) and inject the liquid into the first chamber (4).

The product contained in the first container (2) can be a product in powder form in leaf form or the like such as for example coffee or tea in powder form, tea in leaf form, concentrates or freeze-dried drinks).

The first container (2) can have variable dimensions. Consequently, the first chamber (4) has a variable volume and this enables varying the quantity of product which can be contained in the first chamber (4) on the basis of specific needs.

The first container (2) and the second container (5) can both be made of a plastic material by moulding, in particular by thermoforming or injection moulding.

Further the external surface of the second container (5) can be printable by screening.

The closing element (3) can be fixed to the first container (2) and the second container (5) by welding (for example radio-frequency welding).

The first container (2) and the second container (5) are preferably both made of a plastic material by moulding or both made of a metal material by drawing.

In this case, the first container (2) and the second container (5) are coupled to form a single body. After the preparation of the drink and the manual removal of the closing element (3) from the first container (2) and from the second container (5), it is possible to remove the product from the first container (2) and eliminate it in the organic refuse, and eliminate the first container (2) and the second container (5) in the appropriate bin.

It is advantageously even simpler and more rapid to differentiate the materials making up the capsule (1 ) in the appropriate refuse bin.

With the aim of removing the product from the capsule (1 ), an operator might either shake the second container (5) or impress a force on the second container (5) (for example by means of an impact or jerk). Alternatively the operator might blow air into the second chamber (6) via the perforation from which the drink has exited.

With reference to figures 1-4, the capsule (1 ) is preferably such that: the first container (2) comprises a first bottom wall (2a) which affords the plurality of through-holes (7), and a first lateral wall (2b) which rises from the first bottom wall (2a); the second container (5) comprises a second bottom wall (5a) and a second lateral wall (5b) which rises from the second bottom wall (5a); the first container (2) and the second container (5) are couplable by jointing to one another at the first lateral wall (2b) and the second lateral wall (5b).

This conformation advantageously makes it simple to remove the product from the capsule (1 ), after the preparation of the drink and to manually remove the closing element (3) from the first container (2) and from the second container (5).

In this way, supposing that the first container (2) and the second container (5) are made of the same material (for example, both of aluminium and a vegetable plastic), with the aim of recycling the materials, following use of the capsule (1 ) it will be sufficient to remove the closing element (3) from the first container (2) and from the second container (5) and eliminate it in the appropriate collection bin, dispose of the product in the appropriate bin and then dispose of the first container (2) and the second container (5) (joint- coupled) in the relative bin.

According to the embodiment of figure 5, on the other hand, only the second container (5) comprises a second bottom wall (5a) and a second lateral wall (5b) which rises from the second bottom wall (5a). In this embodiment, the first container (2) can be conformed as a half-cachet.

The second container (5) can further comprise a collar (10) which extends from the second lateral wall (5b) towards the outside of the second container (5) (figure 1-5).

With reference to figure 3, at least a part of the plurality of through-holes (7) is preferably defined by a same number of funnel-shaped elements (8) which are a part of the first container (2) and are orientated towards an inside of the first container (2) so that the relative transversal section narrows.

During the preparation of the drink, following the injecting of the liquid in the first chamber (4), the product tends to compact at the bottom of the first container (2). The fact that at least a part of the plurality of through-holes (7) is defined by a same number of advantageously funnel-shaped elements (8) prevents the through-holes (7) from obstructing the product and preventing the exit of the drink from the first chamber (4).

The closing element (3) is preferably a coupled sheet of aluminium and polypropylene (figure 2). With particular reference to figures 3 and 4, the closing element (3) comprises a tab (3a) for facilitating manual removal thereof from the first container (2) and from the second container (5).

The first container (2) and/or the second container (5) can be made of polypropylene or a plastic of vegetable origin. Alternatively, the first container (2) and/or the second container (5) can be made of aluminium. With reference to figure 4, the capsule (1 ) can comprise a transponder (9) fixed to the first container (2). The transponder (9) can be, for example, an RFID label. The transponder (9) is preferably fixed to the first bottom wall (2a) of the first container (2).

The transponder (9) enables storing information relative to the capsule (1 ), such as, for example, an identifying code and the production and use-by dates of the capsule (1 ). In this way, when the automatic machine receives the capsule (1 ) it proceeds to read the information contained in the transponder (9) and, on the basis thereof, decides whether to proceed with the preparation of the drink or not.