US 6,009,792 · Granted 2000-01-04

The Single-Serve Coffee Pod Patent That Sparked a Brewing Revolution

Imagine a coffee maker designed specifically for those little pouches of ground coffee and filter material. This patent covers the mechanical setup that holds the pouch, clamps it tight, and lets water flow through it to make a perfect cup. It's the kind of engineering detail that turns a clever idea into a product people actually use every day.

Curated and verified by the IsItPatented Editorial team

The plain-English version

What it protects

The claim covers a coffee-brewing apparatus with a detachable holder for filter pouches, a rotating clamping mechanism that secures the pouch and cover together, and a specific hinge-and-latch system for opening and closing. What's protected here is the exact mechanical arrangement of how the rotation element (the clamping lever) connects to the housing, how it pivots on a horizontal axis, and how it presses the cover down against the pouch holder to create a sealed brewing chamber.

Why it matters

This patent represents early innovation in single-serve coffee brewing, a category that would eventually dominate home coffee consumption. By securing both the pouch holder and the sealing cover with one rotating mechanism, the design simplifies the user experience and makes the apparatus reliable and repeatable. The patent was assigned to Sara Lee, a major food and beverage company, signaling significant commercial interest in convenient, portion-controlled coffee preparation.

Real-world use

Every time someone pops a coffee pouch into a pod-style brewer, twists the lever to lock it down, and watches hot water drip through, they're using machinery descended from this exact patent concept.

Original USPTO abstract

An apparatus for preparing coffee, with a holder arranged for receiving a pouch made of filter material and filled with a product to be extracted. The holder has at least one outflow opening and an access opening for placing the pouch in the holder. The apparatus has a cover for closing and releasing the access opening and a clamping device for pressing the holder and the cover towards each other when the cover closes off the access opening of the holder. The clamping device engages at least a position of the cover located on an external surface of the cover. The apparatus has a housing to which the holder is detachably connected, the clamping device has a rotation element with a first and second opposite ends. The rotation element is connected adjacent its first end to the housing for rotation about a horizontally directed first rotation axis between a first and second rotational position for closing the access opening in the second rotational position and releasing it in the first rotational position. The apparatus has a closing arrangement for detachably connecting the rotation element to the housing adjacent the second end when the cover closes off the access opening. The cover is connected to the rotation element such that in the second rotational position the rotation axis extends along a first side of the cover and the second end is located on a second side of the cover opposite the first side.

Patent details

Publication number: US 6,009,792
Filing date: 1998-09-29
Grant date: 2000-01-04
Assignee: Sara Lee/De N.V.
Inventor(s): KRAAN; DIEDERIK
CPC class: A47J31/4407

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