The present invention generally relates to a capsule for preparing a beverage, and in particular to a capsule with a barrier-layer for preventing oxygen from penetrating the capsule before use.

BACKGROUND Beverage capsules are very popular because they provide a fresh-tasting beverage relatively quickly in a single cup saving time and avoiding waste of beverage produced in prior art beverage machine systems. Therefore, a beverage capsule for the making or production of coffee in e.g. a coffee machine system, like the Nespresso © machine system are configured to extract coffee liquid from coffee ingredients enclosed in the capsule that is opens under adequate pressure when a sufficient amount of coffee enters the capsule. Hence, the pressure of liquid increases in the capsule before the lid or wall of the capsule opens or is perforated to enable good quality of extraction of the coffee. Is should be noted that instead of coffee, tea ingredients maybe used. Referring to Figure 1 there is illustrated a capsule according to prior art (EP 2230195 A1 ). The capsule 1A comprises a cup-shaped body 2 with a bottom wall 3 intended for the injection of water into the capsule, a sidewall 4, a rim 5 extending outwardly and terminated by a curled end 6. The body can be made of aluminium and/or plastics and is relatively stiff to not collapse when perforated by blades of the coffee machine. The capsule also shows where blades of the coffee machine may perforate the bottom wall 3 of the body to enable hot water, under pressure, to enter the receptacle or chamber of the capsule. Hence, when the capsule is in the cage of the

l machine and activated, hot water enters the chamber, traversing the coffee ingredients inside the chamber to produce coffee liquid which is extracted from the delivery wall which has a network of channels through which the coffee liquid is evacuated uniformly to fill a cup. Figure 2 illustrates a cross section of a capsule 2 according to prior art. As shown in section A- A, the cup-shaped body wall comprises 3 layers, one inner-layer 2A made of e.g. PE plastics, an inner-layer 2B acting as a barrier and an outer layer 2C which may be made of aluminium and/or plastics. The lid 2D or delivery wall 2D which may be made of the same material as the outer wall of the capsule is also shown.

A drawback with such a capsule is that when the lid 2D is sealed to the body 2F, a relatively large opening is created in the intersection between the lid and the body enabling oxygen, air and other gases to penetrate the coffee inside the capsule making the coffee tasting bad. In other words, the quality of the coffee which was fresh when put in the capsule gets affected by oxygen, air and other gases prior to brewing.

There is therefore need for a new capsule that obviates the above stated drawback.

SUMMARY

The present invention provides a capsule for preparing a beverage with a cup-shaped receptacle for use in a beverage production machine comprising a capsule holder

According to an aspect of embodiments herein there is provided a capsule for preparing a beverage with a cup-shaped receptacle for an extractable liquid substance, for example coffee, the cup-shaped receptacle is formed by a multilayer film comprising at least one outer layer and an inner-layer, the capsule further comprising a delivery wall having an outer and inner surface which are flat and wherein the inner surface of the delivery wall is sealable to a rim of the receptacle, characterized in that the inner-layer of the receptacle including the rim comprises a barrier-layer configured to prevent oxygen from penetrating the intersection between the inner surface of the delivery wall and the cup-shaped receptacle.

An advantage with the present embodiments is to prevent oxygen to penetrate the receptacle and hence avoiding contamination of the coffee ingredients provided in the receptacle. Other advantages of the present embodiments will be clear for a reader of this application/invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 shows a perspective view of a capsule according to prior art.

Figure 2 depicts a cross section of a capsule according to prior art

Figure 3 depicts a cross section of a capsule according to the present invention.

Figure 4 shows a perspective view of a capsule according to the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to Figure 3 there is depicted a cross-section of a capsule according to the present invention.

As shown, the cross-section B:B of a capsule 3 for preparing a beverage with a cup-shaped receptacle for an extractable liquid substance, for example coffee, is formed by a multilayer film 30 comprising at least one outer layer 3C and an inner-layer 3A, the capsule 3 further comprising a delivery wall 3D having an outer and inner surface which are flat and wherein the inner surface of the delivery wall 3A is sealable to a rim 31 of the receptacle. What characterizes the inner-layer 3A of the receptacle including the rim 31 is that is comprises a barrier-layer 3B facing the inner-surface of the receptacle of the capsule 3, and said barrier- layer 3B is configured to prevent oxygen (as shown) from penetrating the intersection between the inner surface of the delivery wall or lid 3D and the cup-shaped receptacle. The barrier-layer 3B is fix-molded to the inner-part of the receptacle i.e. to the inner-layer of the receptacle facing the inner-part of the receptacle. The barrier-layer 3B is further configured to receive a high pressure when brewed i.e. when activating the coffee-machine incorporating the capsule according to the present invention.

The barrier-layer 3B which may also be referred to as oxygen-barrier-layer 3B is thin enough to make sure that oxygen (O2), air and other gases do not penetrate the inner parts of the capsule so the coffee ingredients do not get contaminated or affected. The barrier-layer 3B has two properties. One is to prevent oxygen to enter the capsule, as previously described. The other one is to resist to water pressure when entering the bottom face of the capsule 3.

Figure 3 also shows indentations 3E. More details on the indentations 3E will be described in conjunction to Figure 4. The capsule 3 is made of a biodegradable material or a recyclable plastics material. The material used to make the capsule acts as a static frame that is resistant to pressure and heat. As previously disclosed, the barrier-layer 3B is molded to the inner part of the receptacle of the capsule 3. The barrier-layer 3B is configured to resist to a pressure which is at least 9 bar and is resistant to heat during brewing. The delivering wall or lid 3D is sealed to the rim 31 of the receptacle making sure that the intersection between the barrier-layer and the lid prevents the oxygen to penetrate the intersection. Referring to Figure 4, there is illustrated a perspective view of the capsule 4 of figure 3 according to the present invention. As shown the outer layer 4C of the body of the capsule is made of a biodegradable material or a recyclable plastics material (PLA plastics). The figure also depicts the oxygen-barrier layer 4B provided at the inner-surface of the receptacle facing the inner-parts 4F of the capsule 4. The figure also shows the lid or delivering wall 4D of the capsule. The delivery wall or lid 4D comprises two layers, one inner-layer surface 4Da and one outer-layer surface 4Db. The outer-layer surface 4Db may be made of Aluminum (ALU) wherein the inner-surface layer 4Da be made of biodegradable material or a recyclable plastics material e.g. PE material.

The Figure further shows the capsule 4 provided with as previously described with indentations 4E which are shown running substantially in the longitudinal direction of the cup-shaped receptacle. At least one indentation is configured to be thicker than at least another indentation. The number of indentations 4E is a design parameter. However, the indentation that is thicker is configured with a thickness that resists to higher pressure that the capsule experiences, whereas the thinner indentation is configured to resist to lower pressure. The indentations 4E are also made of a biodegradable material or a recyclable plastics material.

According to an embodiment herein, the inner-part of the indentations 4E facing the outer- surface of the receptacle are provided with small air-holes (not shown). This has two advantages. One is to reduce the amount of plastics material and the other is to isolate to heat during operation, which makes the plastics material more form-stable during operation of the machine. The foregoing description of the exemplary embodiments of the present invention has been presented only for the purpose of illustrations and description and is not intended to limit the invention in the form described. Alternative modifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains without departing from its spirit and scope, the Scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims rather than the foregoing description and exemplary embodiments described therein.