The present invention relates to a process and a system for the production of a coffee drink with a plurality of temperatures and volumetric flow rates that can be used for each step of the preparation of A drink.

Documents US-A1-2018/192812, W0-A1- 2014/177925, US-A1-2006/005712 and US-A1- 2010/043647 disclose systems for the production of a coffee drink according to the preamble of Claim 1.

Object of the present invention is solving the aforementioned prior art problems, by providing a process and a system for the production of a coffee drink with a plurality of temperatures and flow rates, which allow to: a) optimize the delivery, during the pre-infusion/infusion, with the use of a temperature several degrees higher than that used for the rest of the delivery, and with an independently adjustable flow rate; and b) avoid weakening the first layer of the coffee, by using supply water with a temperature of several degrees lower than the pre-infusion/infusion temperature and with independently adjustable flow rate, so as not to over-extract the coffee.

Furthermore, the system according to the present invention provides that different temperatures and water flow rates are used, suitable for the different stages of the preparation of the coffee-based beverage.

The aforementioned and other objects and advantages of the invention, which will emerge from the following description, are achieved with a process and a system such as those described in the respective independent claims. Preferred embodiments and non-trivial variants of the present invention form the subject of the dependent claims.

It is understood that the attached claims form an integral part of the present description.

The present invention will be better described by some preferred embodiments thereof, provided by way of non-limiting example, with reference to the attached drawings, in which the only Figure 1 is a schematic view of a preferred, but non-limiting, embodiment of the system of the present invention .

Referring to Figure 1 , a preferred embodiment of the system of the present invention is shown and described . It will be immediately obvious that innumerable variations and modi fications ( for example relating to shape , dimensions , various colors and parts with equivalent functionality) can be made to what is described, without departing from the scope of the invention as appears from the attached claims .

The system for the production of a cof fee drink with a plurality of temperatures and flow rates of the present invention, is composed of at least two separate circuits for managing the temperatures and flow rates of water as well as the temperature of the cof fee dispensing unit , and basically includes : at least one first tank 1 designed to contain, for the pre-infusion/ infusion step, water arriving from a boiler (not shown) or other source ;

- at least one first heat-regulator 2 designed to heat-regulate water in the first tank 1 to which it is operatively connected; means for regulating the volumetric flow rate 10 , 11 operatively connected to the tank 1 ; at least one first solenoid valve 3 operatively connected to the first tank 1 and designed to obtain the pre-infusion/ infusion of water through its opening/closing; a panel 4 containing cof fee powder, operatively connected to the solenoid valve 3 and contained in a cof fee dispensing unit 9 ; at least one second exchanger tank 6 designed to contain, during delivery, water arriving from a boiler (not shown) or other source ; at least one second heat-regulator 7 designed to heat-regulate water in the second tank 6 to which it is operatively connected;

- means for adj usting the volumetric flow rate 12 , 13 operatively connected to the second tank 6 ; and at least one second solenoid valve 5 operatively connected to the second tank 6 and designed to obtain the supply of water through its opening/closing, the second solenoid valve 5 being operatively connected to panel 4 .

Optionally, at least one third heat-regulator 8 is also provided operatively connected to the dispensing group 9 , near the hooking area of a filter holder (not shown) , in order to keep the temperature of the dispensing group 9 constant.

The process for the production of a coffee drink with a plurality of temperatures and flow rates, obtained using the system described above of the present invention comprises the following steps : pre-infusion/infusion, in which water arriving from the boiler, or from another source, is conveyed into the tank 1 of adequate capacity and is heat-regulated with the heat-regulator 2 to the necessary temperature, as well as adjusted to the correct volumetric flow rate. The pre- infusion/infusion, with predetermined temperature, time and volume flow, is managed by the opening and closing of the solenoid valve 3; wetting, using the pre-infusion/infusion water, through a separate circuit, of the coffee powder panel 4, in which the correct combination of time, flow rate and temperature for that type of blend, makes soluble the fats and the other components of the blend, thus creating the best organoleptic and visual value of the coffee-based drink (as a non-limiting example we can consider a phase time of about 3"-10", a temperature of about 90°-110° and a volume of water of about 10-50 ml) ; cof fee dispensing, m which the second solenoid valve 5 opens to allow the flow of the supply water, coming from the second exchanger tank 6 , which is also heat-regulated by the second heatregulator 7 , with time , flow rate and temperature customi zed according to those of the mixture ( as a non-limiting example we can consider a phase time of about 10"-50" , a temperature of about 80 ° - 100 ° and a volume of water of about 20- 100 ml ) . The supply water is trans ferred to the cof fee panel 4 through a separate circuit from the pre- infusion/ infusion one ; and optionally, further regulation of the temperature by means of a third heat-regulator 8 operatively connected to the dispensing group 9 , in the vicinity of the attachment area of the filter holder, in order to keep the temperature of the group constant .

In the event that the pre-infusion/ infusion system and the delivery system are constructed in such a way as to form, even only partially, an integral block, the individual systems can be thermally and physically separated by an insulating barrier 10 .

The inventive system and method, as described above, allow obtaining the following advantages:

1) the pre-infusion/infusion and dispensing steps take place with the variation and customization of different temperatures and volumetric flow rates for each step of the beverage production process, also depending on the type of coffee blend;

2) water required for pre-infusion/infusion is heat-regulated by an independent system;

3) water required for supply is heat-regulated by an independent system;

4) the pre-infusion/infusion and delivery circuits are independent and separate;

5) the pre-infusion/infusion and dispensing circuits can be mechanically separated by a thermal barrier .

Some preferred embodiments of the present invention have been illustrated and described above: obviously, numerous variants and modifications, functionally equivalent to the previous ones, which fall within the scope of the invention as highlighted in the attached claims, will be immediately apparent to those skilled in the art .