US 6,606,938 · Granted 2003-08-19

The Two-Puncture Patent That Made Single-Serve Coffee Brewers Work

When you pop a K-Cup into a Keurig machine, two sharp needles punch holes in it at just the right time and place. First one needle vents air out, then another lets hot water in — and that precise order is what this patent locks down. It's the mechanical choreography that makes modern single-serve brewers actually work.

Curated and verified by the IsItPatented Editorial team

The plain-English version

What it protects

The claim covers a method and apparatus for puncturing and venting a single-use beverage cartridge in a specific two-step sequence: first, a tubular outlet probe pierces and vents the cartridge to allow air to escape; second, a separate tubular inlet probe pierces the cartridge to admit heated liquid. What's protected here is the order and timing of these two piercings, as well as the use of separate probes for inlet and outlet functions, combined with the overall system for brewing beverages from dry media inside disposable cartridges.

Why it matters

This patent was foundational to Keurig's single-serve brewing business. The two-step puncture design solved a practical engineering problem: if you tried to inject hot water into a sealed cartridge without first venting it, pressure would build up and the cartridge could burst or the water wouldn't flow properly. By patenting this specific sequence, Keurig secured exclusive rights to a core mechanism that became central to the K-Cup system's success and market dominance in home brewing.

Real-world use

Every time you insert a K-Cup pod into your Keurig brewer and press the button, the machine executes this patented two-puncture sequence in seconds — first venting, then infusing — to brew your coffee or tea.

Original USPTO abstract

In a method and apparatus for brewing a beverage from a dry beverage medium contained in a disposable cartridge, the cartridge is initially pierced and vented by a tubular outlet probe, and then pierced by a tubular inlet probe. Heated liquid is admitted to the cartridge interior via the inlet probe for combination with the beverage medium to produce a beverage, and the beverage is extracted from the cartridge via the outlet probe.

Patent details

Publication number: US 6,606,938
Filing date: 2002-04-01
Grant date: 2003-08-19
Assignee: Keurig, Incorporated
Inventor(s): TAYLOR JON
CPC class: A47J31/32

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