US 11,937,616 B2
Automated apparatus for manufacturing food tablets for hot beverage brewing
Andrea Bacchi, Correggio (IT); and Massimo Chenda, Muggia (IT)
Assigned to Luigi Lavazza—Società per Azioni, Turin (IT)
Appl. No. 17/250,255
Filed by Caffemotive Srl, Trieste (IT)
PCT Filed Jun. 24, 2019, PCT No. PCT/IB2019/055308
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Dec. 22, 2020,
PCT Pub. No. WO2020/003099, PCT Pub. Date Jan. 2, 2020.
Claims priority of application No. 102018000006618 (IT), filed on Jun. 25, 2018.
Prior Publication US 2021/0259271 A1, Aug. 26, 2021
Int. Cl. A23F 5/12 (2006.01); A23F 5/08 (2006.01); A23P 10/28 (2016.01); H05B 6/80 (2006.01)
CPC A23F 5/125 (2013.01) [A23F 5/08 (2013.01); H05B 6/80 (2013.01); A23P 10/28 (2016.08)] 21 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An apparatus for manufacturing food tablets for hot beverage brewing, said apparatus comprising:
a reservoir for feeding a loose infusible food product;
a grinding apparatus for grinding the loose infusible food product to obtain grounds with a predetermined particle size;
a moistening apparatus for wetting the grounds to impart a predetermined moisture content thereto;
a mixing and homogenizing apparatus for mixing and homogenizing the wetted grounds to obtain a homogeneous mixture;
a weighing apparatus for weighing the wetted and homogenized mixture to obtain a dose having a predetermined weight;
a forming apparatus for forming the dose into a tablet having a predetermined volume;
an irradiating apparatus for irradiating the tablet with a beam of electromagnetic waves to overheat particles of the wetted and homogenized mixture to partial baking and/or sintering and impart relative compactness and self-supporting ability thereto without requiring an enclosure; and
a control apparatus, configured for controlling operation of the grinding apparatus, the moistening apparatus, the mixing and homogenizing apparatus, the weighing apparatus, the forming apparatus, and the irradiating apparatus, in order to control particle size, moisture content, homogeneity, weight, volume and compactness parameters of the tablet, to thereby change water permeability of the tablet according to said parameters.