An automatic pod conveyor and brewer assembly for fresh hot beverage where the brewing material is contained in single inverted pod

摘要

An automatic pod conveyor and brewer assembly for fresh hot beverage comprises a pod conveyor sub-assembly 200, a brewer sub-assembly 100 and an electronic processor. The pod conveyor sub-assembly 200 comprises a pod-conveyor 210 rotatable in a horizontal plane on an integral shaft within the space between a base plate 220 and a chute supporting plate 270, drive means to impart oscillatory rotational movements to the pod-conveyor, and a plurality of chutes 280, 290 fitted in vertical alignment with apertures 275, 276 over the chute supporting plate 270. The pod-conveyor 210 is configured to convey by its oscillatory rotational movement a single serving pod 160 from the chutes 280, 290 to a filter disc 135 over a filter disc holding plate 140 in the brewer subassembly 100 and to dispose of the used single serving pod 160 after brewing into a disposal bin 196. The brewer sub-assembly 100 comprises a brewer chamber 150 having the filter disc holding plate 140 at the upper end and brewer base 195 at the lower end having a liquor outlet port 190, a brewer plunger 130 and an injection nozzle 180. The filter disc holding plate 140 is mounted on a plurality of springs through an aligned aperture in the base plate and is capable of uninterrupted movement up and down into the body of the brewer chamber 150 and has an aperture aligned with the filter disc 135. The brewer plunger 130 is fitted to means to move it downwards thereby moving the single serving pod 160 kept on the filter disc 135, down into the body of the brewer chamber 150. The injection nozzle is detachably mounted on the brewer base and protrudes upwards through it's underneath surface and into its body. The nozzle is further connected to a boiler tank of a water heating system by a connecting tube and is capable of puncturing the porous membrane of the single serving pod upon downward movement of the brewer plunger.