WO2002102213A1

WO2002102213A1 - Food and beverage making device

Info

Publication number: WO2002102213A1
Application number: PCT/EP2002/006503
Authority: WO
Inventors: Carlo Pagani
Original assignee: Castelberg Technologies Srl
Current assignee: Castelberg Technologies Srl
Priority date: 2001-06-15
Filing date: 2002-06-12
Publication date: 2002-12-27
Anticipated expiration: 2003-12-15
Also published as: ITMI20010327U1; ITMI20010327V0

Abstract

Foods and beverages making device comprising instruments for the mixing of said foods, wherein said mixing instruments (2) have associated to them one or more soluble ingredients for the making of said foods or beverages.

Description

FOOD AND BEVERAGE MAKING DEVICE The present invention is about a food and beverage making device. In several circumstances the preparation of food or beverages requires the contemporaneous presence of different simple objects. For example, for an easy operation like the sweetening, a spoon, a tea-spoon, or an appropriate instrument fit to mix, and the sweetener itself in its various forms such as, powders, bags, lumps, tablets, etc. are needed.

Seemingly for the preparation of beverages or general lyophilized foods, the nourishment or the beverage, for example in bags, and for instance a spoon to mix the contents of such bags with water or milk are needed.

The devices today available on the market to help in the making of such foods come down exclusively and separately to food preparations (in the various forms such as, bags, sachets, cubes, tablets, etc.) and to mixers of various kinds, like electric or manual, which carry out, as previously described, the above-mentioned operations.

These methods thus solve the problem relative to the preparation of foods or beverages, but as it will be better understood later on they have some important inconveniences.

For instance, said elements for the making of foods or beverages need some minor contrivances in order to be employed, such as the aforementioned small objects must, for household use, be washed and/or put away accordingly in suitable containers, while, for an automatic machine use, they must be disposed (for example the plastic teaspoons) or kept in a proper manner (the sweetener is always separated from the various beverages). Under every circumstance there are greater impediments, an expenditure of time in order to carry out the washing procedures, and fairly significant costs for the disposal and/or storage of a set of different products.

At last, regarding the automatic, usually electric, mixers, they demand a washing at the end of their use and do not solve in any way the problems relative to the existence of several foods or beverages ingredients in separate containers.

The present invention's object is that of remedying to the inconveniences belonging to the earlier state of the art.

Object of the present invention is a practical and efficient foods and beverages making device that allows to make foods and beverages in a cost- effective and versatile fashion.

Briefly, according to the invention, a foods and beverages making device has been designed comprising instruments for the mixing of said foods, wherein said mixing instruments have associated to them one or more soluble ingredients for the preparation of said foods or beverages.

The foods and beverages making device according to the invention, is characterized in having the features recited in claim 1.

Further useful characteristics of the foods and beverages making device according to the invention are illustrated in the dependent claims.

Other advantages, details and particulars of the foods and beverages making device according to the invention, will be better highlighted through an examination of the following description, with reference to the annexed drawings wherein a preferred embodiment is shown in an explanatory but not limiting way. Figure 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of this device;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of this device;

Figure 3 is a front view of a further embodiment of the device itself;

Figure 4 is a front view of another embodiment of the device itself;

Figure 5 is yet another front view of a different embodiment of the device according to the invention;

Figure 6 is a perspective view of yet another embodiment of said device;

Figure 7 is a horizontal sectional view taken along the line A-A of Figure 6.

With reference to the previously described figures, the foods and beverages making device 1 according to the invention has spoon or teaspoon shaped mixing instruments as illustrated in figures 1 ,2 or shaped as small rods or sticks of various forms and sizes as described in figures 3-6.

Usually a small oblong rod 2 is provided with the most diverse cuts.

An ingredient needed for the preparation of foods or beverages is associated to it. More precisely, this ingredient can contain one or more kinds of portions 3 comprising sweetening agents such as sugar, saccharine, aspartame, or sweetened or sugar-free mixes for the preparation of all kinds of beverages like coffee, milk, chocolate, fruit juices, soft and alcoholic drinks, etc., and also lyophilized mixes or in other soluble forms for the preparation of different kinds of soups or merely some components of the latter ones.

Advantageously, said small rods 2 can be made of biodegradable or edible materials like chocolate, sugar, and so on in order to avoid anyway the problem of their disposal after the use. Furthermore, in order to secure the portions 3 to the small rod 2 a solution like the one described in figures 6 and 7 can be employed.

More precisely, the portion 3 needed for the making of food or beverages, could be housed in a cavity 4 obtained inside the body 5 of the small rod 2. From both sides its position inside the body 5 is guaranteed by holding means such as, for example, nets 6 them too made of biodegradable or edible material. Obviously, the portion 3, the cavity 4 and the small rods 2 can be of whatever size therefore allowing the presence of a large quantity of food compound.

With this last solution, with sure advantage for the user, the separation between the portion 3 and the small rod 2 in the event of a fortuitous collision or fall, for instance during the transportation to the vending points.

The use of the foods and beverages making device 1 according to the invention is easily understood from the previous description.

In case of use of such device as sweetener, the portion 3 will be based on sugar or another sweetener, while the small rod 2 could be made of wood or chocolate, for instance, like chocolate candies go together with coffee. The device 1 gets unwrapped from its protective cover and the extremity containing the portion 3 is placed inside the beverage to be sweetened, while the remaining part of the small rod 2 gets held by the user for mixing purposes. In the end, a perfectly sweetened coffee is obtained and the small rod 2 could be eaten as an accompanying chocolate candy.

In a different kind of use, for example, for making a beverage or a soup the procedure described in the previous case will be substantially followed. The dimensions, of course, will be different, and the small rod 2 of bigger size will act as a ladle or a spoon, the small rod itself, in this case as well, could be made of biodegradable material or of matter similar to what contained inside the respective portion 3.

It must be noticed that in some situations it can be appropriate to make the whole device 1 with the material employed for the portion 3, as for instance all sugar, in that case a regular spoon or tea-spoon will be used for the mixing operations.

Obviously, several modifications, additions, adjustments, variations and/or substitutions could be made to the illustrative embodiment previously described in an explanatory but not limiting way, without falling out of the scope of protection as also recited in the following appended claims.

Claims

1. A foods and beverages making device comprising instruments for the mixing of said foods, characterized in that said mixing instruments have associated to them one or more soluble ingredients for the making of said foods or beverages.

2. The foods and beverages making device according to claim 1, characterized in that said mixing instruments comprise a small rod (2) with a body (5) having inside of it a cavity (4) containing said ingredients.

3. The foods and beverages making device according to claim 1 , characterized in that said soluble ingredients are contained in one or more portions (3).

4. The foods and beverages making device according to claims 2 and 3, characterized in that said portions (3) are kept in such cavities through holding means.

5. The foods and beverages making device according to claim 4, characterized in that said holding means comprise nets (6) of biodegradable or edible materials.

6. The foods and beverages making device according to claim 1 , characterized in that said mixing instruments are made of biodegradable or edible materials.

7. The foods and beverages making device according to claim 1 , characterized in that said ingredients can comprise together or as an alternative sweeteners, sweetened or sugar-free mixes for the preparation of beverages, lyophilized mixes or in other soluble forms for the preparation of different kinds of soups or some components of the latter ones.

8. The foods and beverages making device according to claim 1 , characterized in that said mixing instruments are made of the same ingredient associated to them.