Method and device for cleaning a steam nozzle of automatic coffee machines and coffee machine provided with such a device.

The present invention relates to a method and device for cleaning a steam nozzle of automatic coffee machines, and to a coffee machine provided with such a device.

Automatic coffee machines that are used in households, bars, restaurants or public places are normally provided with at least one steam nozzle to prepare coffee or hot drinks.

In the present description with claims, the expression "automatic coffee machines" refers to a machine in which water is continuously heated in a boiler and then sent to a filter for coffee or similar products; the machine is defined as "automatic" because it is capable of providing multiple doses of coffee (or equivalent drinks) without having to be charged with water every time.

The steam is produced in a boiler of the machine and conveyed into the nozzle by means of suitable conduits.

The preparation of drinks that need to use steam often provides that the free end of the nozzle with jets is immersed into the drink to dispense steam directly into the drink and not only on its free surface.

However, this requires cleaning the nozzle at every use, in order to avoid that rests of the drink in which it has been immersed may clog the steam nozzles or, more generally, may be dispersed in the next drink.

In fact, a cloth is normally used for cleaning, although this operation does not guarantee the elimination of deposits inside the jets of the nozzle.

In order to eliminate said deposits, during the cleaning operation the user discharges some steam in the air.

The cleaning of the nozzle is therefore impaired by some drawbacks, which are mainly related to the fact that it is rather arduous, since it requires the execution of multiple operations and is potentially dangerous because of the hot steam dispensed in the air.

In any case such an operation does not guarantee excellent results: external cleaning with a cloth is not hygienically satisfactory because possible microbes or, more generally, dirt deposited in the interstices or on the external surface of the nozzle are not efficaciously eliminated and the nozzle is not sanitized satisfactorily.

A first object of the present invention is a method for cleaning a steam nozzle of automatic coffee machines as claimed in claim 1 .

Another object of the present invention is a method for cleaning a steam nozzle of automatic coffee machines as claimed in claim 3.

A further object of the present invention is an automatic coffee machine provided with such a cleaning device.

The method of the present invention provides for using the steam generated by the steam source of the coffee machine also to clean the steam nozzle, thus guaranteeing perfect sanitization.

The device for cleaning a steam nozzle of automatic coffee machines according to the present invention comprises an enclosure adapted to house the nozzle in a sanitization chamber in communication with a steam source of the coffee machine.

In this way the method of the invention is implemented and dispensing of steam in the air is avoided.

Additional advantageous characteristics are the object of the enclosed subclaims, which are an integral part of the present description.

The invention will become clearer following to the detailed description of the enclosed drawings that illustrate an embodiment, wherein:

fig. 1 is an axonometric view of a first embodiment of the device according to the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a front view of the device of Fig. 1 ;

Fig. 3 is a side view of the device of Fig. 1 ;

Fig. 4 is a top view of the device of Fig. 1 ;

fig. 5 is an axonometric view of a second embodiment of the device according to the present invention; Fig. 6 is a side view of the device of Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a front view of the device of Fig. 5;

Fig. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the device of Fig. 5;

Fig. 9 is a top view of the device of Fig. 5.

Fig. 1 shows a first embodiment of the device of the invention, seen in different views also in figures 2 to 4.

It comprises a sanitization chamber (2) adapted to house the nozzle; the sanitization chamber (2) is defined by shell walls (3) and upper wall (7) provided with a notch (6) for insertion of the steam nozzle inside said sanitization chamber (2), which is preferably devoid of the bottom wall, that is to say the wall that is faced downwards in assembled condition.

According to said embodiment, the shell walls (3) are hollow and the internal cavity communicates with a feeding hole (5) obtained on one of said walls (3).

The sanitization chamber (2) communicates with the cavity of the shell walls (3) by means of diffusion means (4), such as for example holes, preferably microholes, provided on the side of the shell walls (3) facing the sanitization chamber (2).

The feeding hole (5) is connected, for example by means of a suitable conduit (not shown), to a steam source of the coffee machine where the steam nozzle to be sanitized by means of the device (1 ) is mounted.

Preferably, such a steam source is the same boiler of the automatic coffee machine.

Operation is as follows: to clean and sanitize the steam nozzle, for instance after use, the nozzle is inserted into the sanitization chamber (2) and steam is dispensed inside it by means of the feeding hole (5).

The steam is dispensed at high pressure by the diffusion means (4) in the sanitization chamber (2) and thoroughly cleans the steam nozzle.

The lack of the bottom wall of the device allows for discharging condensation and dirt before they are deposited in the sanitization chamber (2).

Another advantage consists in the presence of the notch (6), together with the fact that the sanitization chamber (2) is open on one side.

Typically the steam nozzle is rotatably mounted on automatic coffee machines, in such a way to be moved from use condition to non-use condition.

The presence of the opening of the sanitization chamber (2) allows for mounting the device (1 ) in fixed mode on the automatic coffee machine in such a way that when the steam nozzle is in non-use position it is housed in the sanitization chamber (2) and can be simply extracted by means of rotation.

In this way cleaning and sanitization of the steam nozzle are extremely simple and do not require any complicated maneuvers; moreover, free dispensing of hot steam in the air is avoided.

Obviously, numerous modifications of the aforementioned device are possible without leaving the scope of the present invention.

Another embodiment of the device (10) is shown, for example, in Fig. 5 and in different views in Figs. 6 to 9, wherein equivalent parts are indicated with the same referrals followed by a "0" (zero) without adding any further details.

The device (10) operates in the same way as the device (1 ), except for the fact that the shell walls (30) are solid.

In such a case, the steam diffusion means (40) comprise at least one perforated pipe that extends internally in the sanitization chamber (20) and communicates with the feeding hole (50); the latter communicates with a steam source of the automatic coffee machine where the nozzle to be sanitized is mounted.

Also in this case the steam dispensed through the holes of the perforated pipe sanitizes the steam nozzles, thus achieving the same advantages as the ones described above.

Moreover, it must be noted that, as it is described above, the sanitization chamber (20) is devoid of the bottom wall, thus being open downwards in assembled condition.

Also in this case the upper wall (70) is provided with a notch (60) for insertion of said steam nozzle into the sanitization chamber (20).

For the same reasons described above, the sanitization chamber (20) is open laterally, in such a way to facilitate the insertion of a rotary nozzle of the coffee machine.

In principle further embodiments are possible, which are not illustrated herein for the sake of brevity.

For instance, the sanitization chamber (2,20) can be closed laterally, being the shell walls (3,30) continuous; in such a case the steam nozzle will be inserted in the sanitization chamber (2,20) through the notch (6,60) of the upper wall (7,70).

According to another alternative embodiment the diffusion means (40) comprise a plurality of perforated or microperforated pipes that extend inside the sanitization chamber (2,20) in multiple directions, for example in spiral, coaxial circles or similar.

According to a further embodiment, the diffusion means (4,40) comprise both perforated hollow shell walls (3) and perforated or microperforated pipes.

According to a further embodiment, the steam used to clean and sanitize the nozzle is the same steam emitted by the nozzle: In such a case, a system of channels must be provided to connect the jets of the nozzle with the diffusion means (4,40).

According to a less advantageous embodiment, the sanitization chamber (2,20) is closed with a bottom wall.