Nestec S.a.

Societe Des Produits Nestle S.a.

Akos Spiegel

Jean-Luc Denisart

Nicolas Jean-Guy Bezet

Larry Sacha Baudet

Alexandre Pugliese

Michael Ayoub

Ahmed Azouz

Gerhard Pirker

John Patrick Cavanagh

The present invention is directed to a capsule () for containing a food ingredient, suitable for being inserted in a food preparation machine (), said capsule having a rigid body structure defining a closed compartment wherein said ingredient is mixed with a fluid introduced under pressure by said machine in order to produce a food product, said body walls defining an external volume V, and an internal compartment volume V, characterized in that said capsule body structure further comprises at least one portion () having a shape, dimensions and/or being made of a material such that it is elastically deformable and that Vand Vcan be reversibly reduced by at least 3% by applying an elastic compression along at least one dimension of said capsule at the time said capsule is functionally inserted within said machine, said elastic body wall portion allowing the capsule to flex back to its initial volumes Vand Vafter extraction, such that residual pressure within said capsule is reduced.

Capsule for use with a food preparation machine

A selection device () for a beverage preparation machine (), comprises a fixed selection element () and a mobile selection element (), the fixed selection element () comprising a set of marks () each corresponding to a parameter value, the mobile selection element () being movable in relation to the set of marks () for selecting a parameter value by positioning the mobile selection element () in visual association with a selected mark (). The selection device () further comprises a light-sending layer which is disposed in the fixed selection device (), a polarization layer for polarizing said sent light, and at least one polarization modifying layer able to modify the polarization of the polarized light such that the visual aspect of a selected mark () is modified when the mobile selection element () is positioned in visual association with the selected mark (), the polarization modifying layer being disposed in superposition relative to the polarization layer and relative to the selected mark ().

Simplified control panel for a beverage machine

The present invention concerns a food or beverage preparation machine (M) comprising a casing, a mineralized fluid source (), a receptacle () adapted for functionally enclosing at least one food or beverage ingredient container (C), means () for conducting said mineralized fluid () from said source () to the interior of said capsule (C), optionally a heating and/or chilling device (), and a fluid pipe system () that fluidly connects said source (), said conducting means (), said receptacle (), and said heating and/or chilling device (), characterized in that at least one portion of the fluid pipe system () and/or conducting means (), and/or heating/chilling device () is made of a smart memory alloy (SMA), or smart memory polymer (SMP) designed to reversibly expand or contract above a defined temperature threshold in order to negate the buildup of scale or other deposits on the surfaces in contact with the mineralized fluid () by mechanical action, during operation of said machine.

Food or beverage preparation machine with antiscaling pipe system

A beverage preparation system comprising: (i) a capsule () with side (), bottom () and top () walls, said capsule having a shape that is substantially symmetrical around a vertical axis, and said capsule is suitable for containing a beverage preparation ingredient to be dissolved, and/or infused, and/or extracted under pressure, by action of a fluid circulating into said capsule through said ingredient, (ii) a beverage preparation machine () suitable for receiving said capsule (), and circulating said fluid into said capsule, (iii) optionally a capsule holder () for holding said capsule (), at least at the time said capsule is disposed into said machine, characterized in that: the machine () comprises a linear barcode reader () suitable for reading a linear barcode sequence () contained in a segment S having a segment length L, said linear barcode reader () being disposed in the machine such that it can read a barcode printed on the capsule while said capsule is being inserted inside said machine, and the capsule () comprises a barcode sequence () that is repeatedly printed along a peripheral path of the capsule, each sequence being disposed in an arc having a linear projected length Lthat is inferior to Land said sequence () is composed of dots () spaced apart from one another along said arc, such that their projected point images along a linear segment are also spaced apart.

Barcode for a beverage preparation capsule

A device () for preparing a beverage from a food substance contained in a capsule () by feeding a liquid into the capsule () provided to the device (), said device comprising an extraction head () which comprises: a first and second enclosing members () delimiting a receptacle () for enclosing a capsule (); a closing mechanism () to act on at least one () of the enclosing members () in relative displacement of the enclosing members, between an open position of the receptacle () and a closed position of the receptacle () with the capsule positioned therein; the closing mechanism () further comprising a locking means (), a lever () and force demultiplying means () for transmitting a movement of the lever () into the relative displacement of the enclosing members (); wherein the demultiplying means () are designed to vary a transmission ratio of the closing mechanism () acting between the lever () and at least one () of the enclosing members ().

Growing community of inventors

Chables, Switzerland

Akos Spiegel