US 8,474,368 · Granted 2013-07-02

The Mineral-Laced Coffee Pod That Stops Cartridges From Bursting

Imagine a coffee pod that's tougher to puncture and doesn't build up dangerous gas pressure inside. This patent describes a brewing cartridge where calcium carbonate (the stuff in antacids) is mixed into the cup, lid, or filter to either make the cartridge easier to pierce or absorb CO2 gas so pods don't explode during storage.

Curated and verified by the IsItPatented Editorial team

The plain-English version

What it protects

The claim covers a sealed beverage cartridge where calcium carbonate is embedded into at least one component—the cup, lid, or filter—in amounts large enough to either strengthen the cartridge so brewing machines can puncture it reliably, or absorb carbon dioxide gas released by the coffee grounds inside, reducing pressure buildup. What's protected is the specific combination of a compartmentalized cup with a basket-or-cone-shaped filter separating beverage ingredients, plus the inclusion of mineral composite material to solve both puncture and gas-pressure problems.

Why it matters

Single-serve coffee pods are prone to two manufacturing headaches: machines sometimes fail to pierce flimsy cartridges cleanly, and CO2 released by fresh coffee grounds builds pressure that can deform or rupture sealed pods during warehousing. By embedding calcium carbonate into the cartridge structure itself, this patent solves both problems at the material level rather than requiring expensive machine redesigns or special packaging. For companies producing millions of pods yearly, fewer defective cartridges means lower waste and faster shelf-life turnover.

Real-world use

Every time you load a single-serve coffee pod into a Keurig-style brewer, the machine punctures the top—this patent makes that moment more reliable and ensures the pod stayed intact on the store shelf without bulging or leaking.

Original USPTO abstract

A beverage filter cartridge having a cup, a filter, a lid and at least one beverage ingredient is provided where the cup and lid are sealed together to form an interior chamber which is separated into a first and second compartments by the filter, which is preferably basket or cone shaped, and a beverage ingredient such as coffee is contained inside first compartment, and at least one of the cup, lid and filter contains calcium carbonate in an amount effective to either improve the ability of beverage makers to pierce the cup or to provide a means for the cartridge to absorb CO 2 emitted by the ingredient thereby reducing the hold time to packing and reducing the number of defective cartridges.

Patent details

Publication number: US 8,474,368
Filing date: 2009-05-13
Grant date: 2013-07-02
Assignee: Curwood, Inc.
Inventor(s): KILBER STEPHEN MARK, WUEST SAM EDWARD, MELBYE MICHAEL HOLMES
CPC class: A47J31/0673

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