	US 12,232,518 B2
	Apparatus and method for roasting coffee beans
Flavien Dubief, Champagne (CH); Stefano Ceccaroli, Chavornay (CH); and Nicolas Bigler, Morrens (CH)
Assigned to Societe des Produits Nestle S.A., Vevey (CH)
Appl. No. 17/416,576
Filed by SOCIETE DES PRODUITS NESTLE S.A., Vevey (CH)
PCT Filed Dec. 19, 2019, PCT No. PCT/EP2019/086214 § 371(c)(1), (2) Date Jun. 21, 2021, PCT Pub. No. WO2020/127668, PCT Pub. Date Jun. 25, 2020.
Claims priority of application No. 18215331 (EP), filed on Dec. 21, 2018.
Prior Publication US 2022/0079205 A1, Mar. 17, 2022
Int. Cl. A47J 42/52 (2006.01); A23F 5/04 (2006.01); A23N 12/08 (2006.01); A23N 12/12 (2006.01)

CPC A23N 12/125 (2013.01) [A23F 5/04 (2013.01); A23N 12/08 (2013.01); A47J 42/52 (2013.01)]

9 Claims

1. An apparatus for roasting coffee beans, the apparatus comprising:

a vessel to contain coffee beans;

a heating device to heat coffee beans contained in the vessel; and

a control system operable to control the heating device and configured to apply a roasting recipe providing the temperature T_@t1, T_@t2, . . . to be applied at discrete successive times t₁, t₂, . . . , respectively,

wherein, for a customised quantity m of coffee beans introduced inside the vessel,

the control system is configured to obtain at least the quantity m of coffee beans introduced inside the vessel, and

the control system is configured to get access to at least one series of roasting recipes (R_i, R_i+1, . . . ) adapted to the roasting of different successive pre-determined quantities (M_i, M_i+1, . . . ) of beans of same type and to the pre-determined quantities Mi, Mi+1, . . . , and

based on the accessible series of roasting recipes (R_i, R_i+1, . . . ) adapted to the roasting of different successive pre-determined quantities (M_i, M_i+1, . . . ) of beans of same type and based on the obtained quantity m of coffee beans introduced inside the vessel, the control system is configured to determine the roasting recipe to be applied on the obtained quantity m of coffee beans introduced inside the vessel,

wherein the control system is configured to determine the roasting recipe to be applied on the quantity m of coffee beans introduced inside the vessel from one or two recipes of the at least one accessible series of roasting recipes (R_i, R_i+1, . . . ), each of the one or two recipes being adapted to the roasting of one pre-determined quantity of beans respectively and the pre-determined quantity or quantities of beans presenting the smallest difference(s) of quantity with the obtained quantity m.