US 11,992,149 B2
Beverage making device comprising a switching valve
Joeke Noordhuis, Groningen (NL)
Assigned to KONINKLIJKE PHILIPS N.V., Eindhoven (NL)
Appl. No. 16/615,912
Filed by KONINKLIJKE PHILIPS N.V., Eindhoven (NL)
PCT Filed Jun. 28, 2018, PCT No. PCT/EP2018/067360
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Nov. 22, 2019,
PCT Pub. No. WO2019/002438, PCT Pub. Date Jan. 3, 2019.
Claims priority of application No. 17178297 (EP), filed on Jun. 28, 2017.
Prior Publication US 2020/0138235 A1, May 7, 2020
Int. Cl. A47J 31/46 (2006.01); A47J 31/44 (2006.01)
CPC A47J 31/461 (2018.08) [A47J 31/4485 (2013.01); A47J 31/468 (2018.08); A47J 31/469 (2018.08)] 17 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A beverage making device that is designed to make a hot beverage by allowing for interaction between a beverage basic material and a hot extracting liquid in one operational mode thereof, and to froth a liquid by supplying a frothing gas to a liquid in another operational mode thereof, comprising:
a brewing unit that is arranged and configured to accommodate a quantity of the beverage basic material and to receive a quantity of hot extracting liquid;
a frothing unit that is arranged and configured to accommodate a quantity of liquid to be frothed and to receive a quantity of hot frothing gas;
a heating unit that is arranged and configured to heat a quantity of input liquid for the purpose of obtaining the quantity of hot extracting liquid and the quantity of hot frothing gas;
a pumping unit that is arranged and configured to pump the input liquid to the heating unit, and that is operable to realize one of at least two different flow rates of the input liquid;
a pressure-controlled switching valve that is arranged downstream of the heating unit, that is coupled to the heating unit, the brewing unit, and the frothing unit, and that comprises a valve body, a switching device, a position setting device and a biasing mechanism, the valve body comprising an internal switching space that is accessible from outside the valve body through at least one fluid inlet opening in the valve body, and that is associated with two fluid outlet openings in the valve body, the switching device being movably arranged in the internal switching space and comprising a first functional valve member that is arranged and configured to seal a first fluid outlet opening in a first position of the switching device, and a second functional valve member that is arranged and configured to seal a second fluid outlet opening in a second position of the switching device, the position setting device being arranged in the valve body and being coupled to the switching device, at least a functional portion of the position setting device being arranged and configured to be displaceable from a default position under the influence of fluid pressure acting on the position setting device at one side thereof, and the biasing mechanism being arranged and configured to bias the entirety of the switching device and the position setting device coupled thereto towards a position corresponding to the default position of the functional portion of the position setting device; and
a conduit system that is arranged and configured to enable fluid transport through the beverage making device, and that comprises a pumping conduit connecting the pumping unit to the heating unit, a valve conduit connecting the heating unit to the fluid inlet opening of the valve body of the switching valve, and furthermore a first conduit connecting the first fluid outlet opening of the valve body of the switching valve to the brewing unit, and a second conduit connecting the second fluid outlet opening of the valve body of the switching valve to the frothing unit, respectively, wherein one side of at least a functional portion of the position setting device of the switching valve is open to the conduit system,
wherein the functioning of the switching valve is based at least in part on the realized one of the at least two different flow rates of the input liquid, wherein the realized flow rate is one of a first flow rate used to froth milk and a second flow rate used to brew coffee.