US 2,002,148,356 · Filed 2002-04-03

The Single-Serve Coffee Pod Holder That Locked Down a Brewing Category

Imagine a coffee maker where you drop in a small cartridge filled with ground coffee, close a lid, and hot water shoots through it to brew your drink. This patent protects the clever cup-shaped holder that keeps that cartridge from spinning around while the water does its work, using little bumps on the cartridge wall to stay locked in place.

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The plain-English version

What it protects

The claim covers a cup-shaped housing designed to hold a disposable beverage cartridge during brewing, with special locating surfaces inside that grip irregularities on the cartridge's sidewall to prevent rotation. What's protected here is the specific arrangement of these anti-rotation surfaces, combined with the inlet and outlet probes that pierce the cartridge to deliver hot liquid and extract the brewed beverage. The protection extends to the entire mechanical assembly that keeps the cartridge stable and properly positioned during the brew cycle.

Why it matters

This patent is foundational to single-serve pod brewing systems. By solving the mechanical problem of keeping a cartridge perfectly still during brewing—preventing leaks and ensuring consistent extraction—it enabled the entire category of convenient, consistent home brewing. The design allows manufacturers to create brewers that are reliable and user-friendly, which became critical to the commercial success of systems in the market. The patent's focus on mechanical simplicity through surface geometry made the technology practical for mass production.

Real-world use

Every time you pop a coffee or tea pod into a Keurig-style brewer, drop the lid, and press brew, you're relying on this cartridge-locking mechanism to keep everything aligned while pressurized water flows through.

Original USPTO abstract

A brewer operates during a brew cycle to brew a beverage by infusing heated liquid with a dry beverage medium contained in a single serve disposable cartridge. During the brew cycle, the cartridge is contained in a cup-shaped housing closed by a lid. Rotation of the cartridge within the housing is resisted by locating surfaces arranged to interengage with at least one surface irregularity in the cartridge sidewall. Inlet and outlet probes pierce the cartridge and serve, respectively, to admit the heated liquid and to remove the served beverage.

Patent details

Publication number: US 2,002,148,356
Filing date: 2002-04-03
Grant date: Application — not yet granted
Assignee: Lazaris Nicholas G. / Beaulieu Roderick H.
Inventor(s): LAZARIS NICHOLAS G., BEAULIEU RODERICK H.
CPC class: A47J31/3638

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