Coffee Pod Including Inner Frame

Abstract

The present invention relates to a pod constructed by inserting a functional frame between two sheets of packaging means such that it can keep various kinds of contents (material to be extracted) by a simple packaging method, and the contents 30 can be easily extracted, and a three dimensional shape of the pod is constructed by joining upper and lower portions of side margin defined by the inserted frame, and the extraction of the contents can be easily reproduced every time by using an extraction device having a cavity whose inner shape conforms to the outer shape of the pod.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a coffee pod in which contents are packaged between two sheets of packaging means, and more particularly, to an inner frame inserted into the coffee pod and a method of opening the pod and extracting the contents.

BACKGROUND ART

The present invention relates to a pod for hermetically packaging an intended content (material to be extracted) between two sheets of packaging means together with a functional structure.

It has been generalized that unitary amount of drinkable coffee is hermetically sealed into and extracted simply from a disposable packaging means. For instance, a packaging method with a pod shape is used because the packaging is available at low cost and the use is relatively simple.

The unitary amount of ground coffee is packed as a simple round-shaped pod into a filter paper sheet, and it is widely put on the market. However, due to excessive simplicity and flexibility of a coffee pod having the coffee contained therein, it was difficult to construct the extraction system using a conventional pod, to mechanize and automatize the extraction system, and reproduce the manufacturing process.

To solve problems described above, the present inventor has filed a Korean patent application No. 10-2005-0027007 entitled “A mechanically interfaceably transformed coffee pod including O-ring, a brewing method thereof, and an apparatus for brewing the same”, in which an O-ring was described in the specification, and was registered as a Korean patent No. 0561707.

DISCLOSURE

The present invention constructs the pod 10 with an inner frame 20 (this is a basic functional frame, but will be totally called “frame”) accommodated in a packaging means 12 along with the contents 30, and is directed to the opening and brewing of the pod 10.

The pod 10 of the present invention is a product, which is made by packaging the contents 30 including soluble material to be extracted, such as roasted or ground coffee, etc., (the contents 30 will be hereinafter described with respect to the coffee, the roasted coffee bean or the ground coffee is regarded as identical), and it is a packaged form made by packaging a pod encircled by the packaging means 12 in a single unit, or it is made by connecting at least one or more pods 10 with one another into “n” pieces.

Hereinafter, the extraction method and the extraction process of the present invention will be described, in which the pod 10 is opened by means of an opening means which will be described later, and an identical result is achieved every time by the extraction mechanism of an extraction means which will be described later.

The pod 10 of the present invention is intended to pack, keep, transport and drink the foods, which can be extracted or reduced by means of heated water or vaporized water.

In view of the dictionary meaning, a pod refers to a shell or legume of the peanut and the like. The pod 10 of the present invention includes a shape in which the content 30 is wrapped by two packaging means 12, and a combination of the function and roll produced from the above shape. The above pod 10 is opened by means of the opening means and brewed by means of the extracting means. The extracting means 90 comprises an exclusive cavity 91 (hereinafter, may be called “exclusive extraction device or cavity”, all of which are used as the same meaning) and an opening means attached to the cavity.

The packaging means 12 (basic constituting element of the pod) is made of a thin film with flexible property, which has an isolation feature of low permeability to oxygen or fluid and low elongation.

The contents 30 are filled in the frame 20, and the frame 20 filled with the contents 30 is hermetically sealed by the packaging means 12.

Functional Frame Hermetically Sealed by the Packaging Means:

The pod packaged by means of the packaging means 12 can be transformed into any shape from the initial form and shape by means of a physical force exerted from the outside during the transportation or the keeping thereof.

The outer shape and/or dimensional stability of the pod is very important in allowing a cavity 91 to be kept in a tightly sealed state against the outside when brewing the pod contained in the cavity 91 having a fixed shape and size.

Incompatibility of “inner shape of the cavity” with “outer shape of the pod” can be a factor causing a very serious problem such as a failure in reproduction of the identical opening and extracting process at every turn because of the leakage of the contents 30 to the outside through the clearance defined between the cavity and the pod.

The outer shape of the pod 10 including the size and height, etc., thereof should be always identical to conform to the inner shape of the fixed cavity 91 so as to reproduce the identical opening and extracting results at every turn, so that the pod is completely received in the cavity 91 to be hermetically sealed from the outside.

In order to uniformly maintain the shape of the pod 10, especially, the height and the outer dimension (hereinafter, the height and the outer dimension of the pod will be referred to as “standard”), it is required to insert a frame 20 having a desired function into the packaging means 12 as a support means for supporting the outer shape of the pod 10, to thereby achieve the pod 10 having a dimensional stability of a predetermined standard.

As used herein, the term “frame 20” refers to a functional structure inserted into the packaging means 12 for supporting the pod 10 from the inside. Examples of the terms having a meaning similar thereto include a frame, a mechanism, mold, matrix, a framework, a rib and the like.

A shape made by shearing the side of the frame 20 (side cut section 25) has a cross section with a predetermined height and width. The front and rear surfaces of the cross section, which has a uniform height and is extended in the longitudinal direction with respect to the center of the surface, are connected to each other to thereby extend in all directions including the forward and rearward, leftward and rightward, except for the upward and downward directions, resulting in the formation of a hexahedron.

The hexahedron provide a three dimensional space with upper and lower side opened, which is produced by being encircled by a predetermined height with respect to the center point. The three dimensional space is filled with the intended contents 30. The frame 20 is inserted into the pod 10 so that it can perform the following functions.

• • the frame 20 functions to support the pod so that the shape of the pod 10 is not pressed or transformed by the outer physical force.
  • the formality of the frame 20 enables the opening means 12 to be positioned accurately at the open position.
  • the formality of the frame 20 provides a function of maintaining a predetermined height and size of the pod so that the packaging means 12 can be tensely attached to a mouth lip 27 and the opening means can be inserted into the pod 10 at an accurate depth.

The height and size of the frame 20 is constructed to conform to the capacity of the contents 30 required. The plane shape 23 (plan view) of the frame 20 can be formed diversely according to the specific cavity 91 in which the pod will be received, or features required for the pod 10. In this regard, the frame 20 can be formed in a polygonal shape including a triangle, a square, a pentagon, a hexagon, a heptagon, an octagon, in addition to a round shape including an elliptical shape, and it can be formed in pentagonal star shape, hexagonal star shape, octagonal star shape, and a star shape having more than eight angles.

The concrete examples of the functional frame 20 shown in the planar spread shape 23 can include as follows.

• • circle [FIG. 2a];
  • oval [FIG. 2b], [FIG. 2e]
  • equilateral triangle or right triangle including an non-equilateral side [FIG. 2c];
  • square including regular square, rectangle, non-equilateral square, and frusto-square [FIG. 2d], [FIG. 2f], [FIG. 2g];
  • symmetrical and asymmetric pentagon [FIG. 2h], [FIG. 2i], [FIG. 2j];
  • symmetrical and asymmetric hexagon [FIG. 2k], and heptagon;
  • symmetrical and asymmetric polygon including at least eight angles [FIG. 2l];
  • symmetrical and asymmetric pentagonal star shape [FIG. 2j];
  • symmetrical and asymmetric hexagonal star shape;
  • symmetrical and asymmetric star shape including at least eight angles [FIG. 2l], and the like.

The exemplified shapes of the frame 20 as above enumerated can all be the planar spread shape 23 applicable to the pod 10 of the present invention. It will be easily understood by those skilled in the art that the shape of the frame 20 includes the above indicated examples and any particular shape can be applied to the pod 10 of the present invention.

The frame 20 having the planar spread shape 23 can exhibit a more expanded performance by diversifying the shape of the side cut section 25, and it is very important in performing the intended object.

The side cut sections 25 should be diversified with respect to the center axis of the frame 20 based on the following reasons:

• • as the frame 20 is more closely contacted with the inner wall of the cavity 91 by the outer shape of the frame 20 corresponding to the inner shape of the cavity 91 to thereby strengthen a sealibility, and
  • as the suppression for a distortion of the pod 10 shape, which is caused by the pressure of the heating water injected into the inside of the frame 20 at the time of extraction, the pressure reaching about 20 bar, can be maintained and strengthened.

The frame 20 is equipped with functions which can cope with diverse requirements such as maintaining the outer appearance of the pod and the like, in addition to the functions included in the above disclosures.

With respect to the shape of the side cut section 25, it can be diversely constructed in the shape of circle, square, pentagon, hexagon, octagon, and the like with respect to the center axis of the frame 20.

The concrete examples of the frame 20 with diverse side cut section 25 can include as follow:

• • round shape including oval [FIG. 3a], [FIG. 3b];
  • several hemispherical shapes , [FIG. 3c],
  • triangle [FIG. 3d];
  • square, rectangle, trapezoid, square including an asymmetric square (convex parenthesis type [[]], convex parenthesis type [][], and the like ] [FIG. 3e], [FIG. 3f], [FIG. 3j];
  • left and right turned frusto-conical shape [FIG. 3j];
  • shapes including at least five angles containing asymmetric side [FIG. 3g], [FIG. 3h], [FIG. 3k], and [FIG. 3l];
  • shape similar to the upper-case letter “E” and its modified shape (Ψ), (∈);
  • modification of [FIG. 3j] among letter shapes of Hangeul vowels and .

The frame 20 with such various shapes of the side cut section 25 as mentioned above can define more tightly sealed circumstance to thereby enable the extracting device to perform the complete extraction without any leakage in the extracting device having diverse shapes of the cavity 91 as mentioned above.

The frame 20 of diverse shapes provides an advantage of easily developing the extracting device with diversely shaped cavity 91 according to the individual purpose and use to thereby mass produce it.

In brief, the flexible pod 10 is transformed into a hard three dimensional cubic shaped packaging article by sealingly wrapping the outer appearance of the frame 20 with the packaging means 12. The pod 10 can be standardized according to the volume, height and shape of the inserted frame 20.

Accordingly, the frame 20 having diverse shapes can provide a completely sealed circumstance without any leakage in the extracting device with diverse shapes of the cavity 91, which corresponds to the shapes of the frame 20, to enable the more complete extraction and vice versa.

Material and Size of the Frame:

The frame 20 is made of a material such as plastic or elastomeric polymer having a physical strength and elasticity, which enable the extraction process to be progressed normally even when the pod is opened or compressed.

The concrete explanation of the plastic/polymer with the physical strength and elasticity required for the material of the frame 20 and used for packaging the foods, is omitted because they are widely put on the market.

The size and volume of the pod 10 can vary depending on those of the contents 30 to be contained.

The height of the frame 20 can be set to be 2 to 50 mm, preferably 5 to 20 mm, according to the volume of based on the capacity the contents 30 to be filled, and the width (diameter) of the frame 20 is set freely to be 10 to 100 mm according to the feature of the contents 30 to be filled. Also, the frame 20 is set in thickness to have the physical strength enough to endure a pressure of about 20 bar transferred from the extraction device, that is, it is set to be in the range of 0.5˜10 mm according to its material.

Side Margin:

The side margin 51 refers to a portion produced through a process in which the upper and lower portions are adhered to each other into one layer by allowing the packaging means 12 to wrap the frame 20 and to be extended laterally. The side margin 51 is, as shown in FIG. 1, operated to sealingly wrap the frame 20 by strongly joining the side portions of the mouth lip 27 and the frame 20 to each other by means of the packaging means 12a, 12b.

By the joining of the upper and lower portions of the side margin 51, the frame 20 is made to be projected in three dimensions to thereby form the shape of the pod 10.

Interaction Between the Packaging Means and the Frame:

Hereinafter, the construction and operation of the pod 10 of the present invention constructed by the packaging means 12, the frame 20, and the side margin 51 and the like will be described below in detail as follows:

• • the frame 20 is inserted between the packaging means 12;
  • the side margin 51 is produced by adhering the upper and lower portions of the packaging means 12a and 12b extended to the side of the frame 20;
  • the side margin 51 functions to maintain the inside of the packaging means 12 in a tightly sealed state;
  • the side margin 51 is operated to further project the center portion to thereby form the shape of the pod 10 in three dimension;
  • the space formed by the frame 20 is proper to receive the content 30, which is a material to be extracted;
  • the packaging means 12 is formed of a composite material including flexible plastic or metal having a low permeability to fluid;
  • the content 30 contained in the pod 10 of the present invention is adapted to be extracted by means of the extracting device corresponding thereto.

The frame 20 functions to encircle the whole surfaces of the pod including 360 degree orientations of the forward and rearward, leftward and rightward directions except for the upward and downward directions. The packaging means 12 encircle the whole frame 20 so that it can achieve the complete packaging of the six sides in three dimension of the pod, although the pod 10 has a simple shape.

While the packaging means 12 was weak because it was not structurally supported upwardly and downwardly and was a two-dimensional plane shape, it becomes a three-dimensional safe physical joining shape by combining with the frame 20 in the forward and rearward, leftward and rightward, and upward and downward directions, to thereby construct the pod 10 reinforced further in all directions.

The Opening and Extraction Mechanism of the Pod:

One of methods of brewing the pod 10 of the present invention is to accommodate the pod 10 in the conventional closed-type cavity (hereinafter, referred to as “closed cavity” 91b), and hermetically seal the accommodated pod 10 entirely to thereby brew the pod.

Another method of brewing the pod is to hermetically seal only the inner portion of the frame 20 filled with the contents 30 to thereby brew the pod by using an opened-type cavity (hereinafter, referred to as “opened cavity 91a”), which is the function of the frame 20 constructing the characteristic of the pod 10 of the present invention,

As shown in FIGS. 4a, 4b, 5a and 5b, an orifice 93 is formed on the extracting means 90 in such a manner as to be arranged in upper and lower portions of the inside of the cavity 91 included in the extracting means 90.

At first, the characteristics of the closed cavity 91b and the method of hermetically sealing the pod by using it will be described. As shown in FIG. 4a, a “U”-shaped mold is disposed at the lower side of the closed cavity 91b, and another inverted “U”-shaped mold is disposed to face the mold, so that they are joined to each other to thereby define the inside space of the cavity. As shown in FIG. 4b, the above two molds accommodate the whole pod 10 including the side margin 51, and both ends thereof are joined to each other to thereby hermetically seal the cavity 91.

The opening means include the orifice 93 formed in the extracting means 90, and the orifice 93 is formed in the shape of a needle or a pipe so that it is projected to the outside. As a result, the pod can be opened by precisely perforating the packaging means 12 while aiming at the inside of the frame 20.

The packaging means 12 is tightly installed at the upper and lower mouth lips 27 of the frame 20 (uppermost and lowermost projecting portions of the frame 20, contacting with the packaging means 12) to support the pod 10 from the inside. When the orifice 93 is aimed at the inside of the mouth lips 27, it can be accurately inserted into the packaging means 12 tightly tensioned by the supporting force of the frame 20 to a predetermined depth and size so that precise opening process can be reproduced every time.

Hereinafter, the opened cavity 91a which is another means for brewing the pod 10 of the present invention and the hermetical sealing mechanism using the same, will be described below.

As shown in FIG. 5b, the opened cavity 91a is constructed of two pieces of planar cavities with its side opened. As shown in FIGS. 5b and 6, when the opened cavity 91a presses the mouth lip 27 of the frame 20, the inside of the frame 20 is hermetically sealed by the support force thereof. Dissimilarly to the closed cavity 91b, which accommodates the whole pod 10, the opened cavity 91a is characterized by hermetically sealing (intercepting or closing) only the inside of the frame 20, especially, a portion filled with the contents 30, to thereby progress the opening and extracting process.

With regard to above described two different types of cavities 91, except for a difference of the sealing method, the extracting mechanisms of the two type cavities are identically performed by means of their intrinsic function and means.

Since the packaging means 12 is adhered to the mouth lip 27 tightly, it is possible to insert the orifice 93 accurately by an intended depth and size to thereby open the pod precisely, so that the opening process can be reproduced without any error every time.

The opening of the pod 10 is initiated when the pod 10 is received in the cavity 91 and then the cavity is closed, and the opening is accomplished when the cavity 91 is hermetically sealed from the outside. As the pod 10 is supported at the upper and lower surfaces thereof by the planar cavity 91, and is supported at the side surface thereof by the frame 20, so that the frame 20 can be isolated from the outside.

When the pod 10 is opened by the penetration of the orifice 93, the orifice 93 at the upper cavity 91 becomes a passageway for forcibly injecting the heated water supplied from the boiler installed at the extracting device, and the orifice 93 at the lower cavity 91 becomes passageway for discharging the extracted solution, which is connected with the extraction exit 95.

When the heated water is injected into the pod 10 opened by the orifice 93, the contents 30 are extracted so that it can be discharged to the outside through the extraction exit 95.

As shown in the attached drawings, the pod 10 of the present invention can be received in the opened cavity 91a by using the feature of the frame 20, and can be completely extracted from the opened cavity 91a. FIG. 6 shows the frame 20 cut from the side, which was received in the opened cavity 91a, more concretely in an enlarged state.

Also, only the pod 10 with the frame 20 of the present invention inserted can be completely brewed from the opened cavity 91a. As a result, it has been proved that it is possible to brew the pod 10 from the opened cavity 91a, which is simpler in the structure, contrary to the conventional concept that the pod could be only extracted from the closed cavity.

As described above, the closed cavity is different from the opened cavity in that while the closed cavity 91b receive the whole pod 10 including the side margin, the opened cavity 91a presses the mouth lip 27 of the frame 20 to thereby hermetically seal only the inside of the frame 20.

Extraction Using the Mechanically Interfaceable Means;

As described in the previous application filed by the same inventor, the mechanically interfaceable means can be provided at the side margin 51. Accordingly, it is possible to achieve the effect of automatic extracting function by using the “mechanically interfaceable means” and controlling it mechanically.

With regard to the functions and actions required for the automatic extraction, it requires a transporting mechanism for moving the pod 10 and controlling the position thereof, an opening means and an opening mechanism, and an extraction mechanism for extracting the contents 30. Detailed description about their processes is omitted because they were described in the specification filed previously.

As described in the specification, the pod 10 in which the frame 20 of the present invention is inserted can be formed to be close contacted correspondingly with the cavity 91 having an arbitrary shape, so that it is possible to design a cavity 91 having diverse inner shapes. Also, in case where the pod 10 is used, following advantages can be achieved:

• • Various contents 30 can be packaged simply at low cost;
  • It is possible to preserve and transport the pod 10 for a long time period without any additional outer package;
  • It is possible to design the extracting device with various functions;
  • It is possible to open the pod 10 mechanically even without opening the pod manually every time, so that all the extracting processes can be mechanized.

Therefore, the manufacturing, keeping, transportation, use, extraction, and disposal of the pod 10 and the extracting device of the present invention are made remarkably simple and at low cost.

The pod 10 of the present invention includes an opening means of the contents 30 filled in the frame 20, and the application of the above functions.

As described above, the packaging method is simple, and it is possible to reproduce the identical process every time in keeping, transportation, opening, extraction, and disposal of it.

Thus, it is possible to provide a very expedient system in the packaging, transportation, opening, extraction, and disposal of the pod by employing the above functions of the pod 10 by using the functions of the pod. Accordingly, it becomes possible to maintain the surrounding circumstances of the extracting device soundly and sanitarily.

The pod 10 of the present invention made by improving the construction described previously in the fore-mentioned application produces a synergy effect by combining the two inventions to effect a further enlarged functions. In other words, the pod 10 including the functional frame 20 of the present invention, which is achieved by enlarging the functions of the mechanically interfaceably transformed pod 10 of the prior application, is a continuous invention of the prior application, and increases completeness in the use of the pod 10 by combining the characteristics of the two inventions.

Materials to be Packaged in the Pod:

Extractable or reducible materials which is soluble in water can be packaged in the pod 10.

An example of the foods includes, especially, roasted coffee bean, and the pod is appropriate for the extraction thereof. The coffee, which is one of the contents 30 to be packaged in the pod 10, is used after roasting the green bean, ground it into a size conforming to the feature of an intended beverage, and then packaging it.

With regard to the contents 30 to be packaged in the pod 10, as described above, the ground coffee can be packaged in the pod 10 which will be in turn used as a coffee pod 10. Meanwhile, in addition to this, soluble coffee, beverage mixed with the coffee, tea, herb, chocolate, edible materials made by dewatering or concentration, wheat flour, substitute foods, milk, soft milk, dry milk, milk substituting foods and the like can be packaged in the pod 10 for use.

In addition, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that various materials such as functional materials with arbitrary purpose are packaged in the pod 10, and are used in a circumstance where the user can acknowledge it as beverage and easily access it with usual mind as is for the daily necessaries.

ADVANTAGEOUS EFFECTS

According to the pod having an inner frame of the present invention, it is advantageous that various materials to be extracted can be simply packaged to thereby provide substantial convenience in the transportation, storage, and use of the contents.

According to the pod of the present invention, it is possible to manufacture the extracting device with a cavity shaped diversely due to diverse shapes of the inserted frame. Also, it is possible to design the pod which can endure the maximum pressure by using a minimum amount of materials because the shape of the side cut section of the frame is diversified and optimized.

Furthermore, it is simpler to manufacture the opened cavity, which is one feature of the present invention, rather than the closed cavity. Also, in the opening and the extraction of the pod, the extraction can be accomplished very simply and precisely by using the function of the frame to thereby make it easy to design and produce the extracting device.

Also, those skilled in the art will easily appreciate that the extraction system using the pod of the present invention can be applied conveniently to the household, the official use, and the automatic sale machine, and can be modified and changed for various uses.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an exploded view of a pod 10, in which a frame (as an O-ring) 20 is inserted between two sheets of packaging means 12;

FIG. 2 shows planar spread shape of several type of frames;

FIG. 3 shows side cut section of several type of frames;

FIGS. 4a and 4b show a vacant status of closed cavity 91b, a cavity 91b filled with a pod 10, a cavity with orifices 93 installed at upper and lower portions thereof.

FIGS. 5a and 4b show a vacant status of open cavity 91a, a cavity 91a filled with a pod 10, a cavity with orifices 93 installed at upper and lower portions thereof.

FIG. 6 show enlarge view of a cavity filled with a pod 10, inserted frame 20, mouth lip 27 and side cut sections thereof.

<Brief Explanations on the principal elements of the Drawing>
10: pod                  12: packaging means(12a, 12b)
20: frame                23: in planer spread shape
25: side cut section     27: mouth lip
30: contents
50: mechanically interfaceable means
51: side margin          53: through-hole
55: shear line           57: cut line
70: transportation means 71: hook
73: slide                75: rotary shaft
90: extraction portion/extracting means
91: cavity               93: orifice
95: extraction exit

MODE FOR INVENTION

Hereinafter, the opening and extraction mechanism of the pod 10 according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention will be hereinafter described in detail with reference to the appended drawings.

Embodiment 1

When the pod 10 is progressively extracted, the opening step is performed as follows:

• • primary transportation step: as shown in FIG. 4b, the pod 10 is received in the cavity 91.
  • secondary loading step: the pod 10 is accommodated in the inside of the cavity 91 and the cavity is engagedly closed.
  • tertiary perforating (opening) step: as shown in FIG. 4b, the cavity 91 is closed so that it is isolated from the outside to thereby define a water-tightly sealed circumstance and concurrently the pod 10 is penetrated to be opened by means of the orifice 93.
  • quaternary extraction step: the heated water supplied from the device is injected into the pod 10 through the orifices 93, and the extraction solution flowed out from the contents 30 due to the heated water is, as shown in FIG. 4b, discharged to the outside through the orifice 93 and then the extraction exit 95.

Embodiment 2

When the pod 10 is extracted from the opened cavity 91, the opening step is performed as follows:

• • primary transportation step: as shown in FIG. 5b, the pod 10 is received in the cavity 91.
  • secondary loading step: the pod 10 is accommodated in the inside of the cavity 91 to be held in place and the cavity is compressed while being engaged with the mouth lips 27 to the maximum.
  • tertiary perforation (opening) step: as shown in FIG. 5b, when the cavity 91 presses the mouth lip 27 of the frame 20, the inside of the frame 20 is isolated from the outside to thereby define a water-tightly sealed circumstance and concurrently the packaging means 12 is penetrated to be opened by means of the orifice 93.
  • quaternary extraction step: as shown in FIG. 5b, the heated water supplied from the device is injected into the pod 10 through the orifice 93, and the extraction solution flowed out from the contents 30 due to the heated water is discharged to the outside through the orifice 93 located at the lower portion and then the extraction exit 95.

Embodiment 3

In case where the pod 10 of the present invention is continuously extracted by using an automatic extracting device together with the functions described in the previously filed specification, the extracting step is performed as follows irrespective of the kind of the cavity:

• • primary waiting step: the extraction instruction is awaited at the initial state in which several pods 10 are arranged to wait for in sequence;
  • secondary cut step: if the extraction instruction is received, a shear line is cut between the first pod 10 and the second pod 10 among the plurality of pods 10 waiting in a state arranged in parallel, so that the pod 10 can be transported to the extraction portion 90;
  • tertiary transportation step: the transportation mechanism is transported to an accurate extraction position along the slide or the rotary shaft and is held in position together with the engagement opening of the pod 10 being engaged with the hook, while counting the number of the sensed openings by means of the mechanically interfaceable means positioned at the side margin 51 of the pod 10, especially by the sensing mechanism.
  • quaternary loading step: the transportation and loading steps of the embodiment 1 are performed.
  • quinary perforation (opening) step: the perforation (opening) step of embodiment 1 is performed. As shown in FIG. 4b, the cavity 91 is closed so that it is isolated from the outside to thereby define a water-tightly sealed circumstance and concurrently the pod 10 is penetrated to be opened by means of the orifice 93.
  • senary extraction step: the pod 10 is positioned at the extraction means 90 and then heated water is injected into the cavity 91. The contents 30 is solved and brewed instantaneously by the heated water injected into the inside of the pod 10 through the orifice 93, and is flowed out to the outside through the extraction exit 95 disposed at the lower of the cavity 91 to be collected in the external cup, and the like;
  • seventh disposal step: the pod 10 maintains its packaging shape of the initial pod 10 with minimum extraction remainders, especially, coffee ground residue, and it is removed simply by moving the pod 10 from the cavity 91 to the disposal position, to thereby make it possible to maintain the sanitation around the extracting device;
  • septenary initialization (original position-reset) and waiting step: all the extraction processes are completed and then the program returns to the initial step of the first waiting step, and wait for next instruction.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

As described above, present invention is interconnected with the previously filed application, and is an improvement of the previously filed invention.

Thus, the pod 10 inserted with the frame 20 of the present invention, can be made into tight contact correspondingly with the cavity 91 having an arbitrary shape, so that it is possible to design the cavity 91 having diverse inner shapes.

Furthermore, if the pod 10 is used, following effects will be achieved.

It is possible to package diverse contents 30 simply at low cost, to keep and transport the pod 10 for a long time period without applying any additional outer package, to design the extracting device with versatile capacities, and to automatically open the pod mechanically even without opening manually every time, so that entire extraction processes can be automatized, resulting in remarkable simplicity of use and reduction in manufacturing cost in the manufacturing, keeping and transportation, use and extraction, and disposal of the extracting device associated with the pod 10 of the present invention.

Also, it will be easily understood by those skilled in the art that diverse materials can be packaged in the pod 10, and it can be diversely modified for use.

Claims

1. A pod for packaging contents such as foods, coffee, herbs and the like, which comprises:

a packaging means for encircling the contents; and

a frame inserted into the packaging means for defining a three dimensional shape of the pod, receiving the contents in an inside space of the frame, and maintaining the initial shape of the pod,

wherein upper and lower portions of the packaging means, which encircle the frame and extend around the frame are joined to each other to thereby define a side margin.

2. A pod for packaging contents such as foods, coffee, herbs and the like, which comprises:

a packaging means for encircling upper and lower portions of the contents; and

a frame inserted into the packaging means encircling the upper and lower portions of the contents for defining a three dimensional shape of the pod,

wherein upper and lower portions of the packaging means which encircle the frame and extend around the frame, are joined to each other to thereby define a side margin; and

wherein the shape of the frame is any one selected from the followings:

circle,

oval,

equilateral triangle or right triangle including an non-equilateral side,

square including a regular square, rectangle, non-equilateral square, and frusto-square,

symmetrical and asymmetric pentagon,

symmetrical and asymmetric hexagon and heptagon,

symmetrical and asymmetric polygon including at least eight angles,

symmetrical and asymmetric pentagonal star shape,

symmetrical and asymmetric hexagonal star shape,

symmetrical and asymmetric star shape including at least eight angles and the like.

3. The pod according to claim 1, wherein shape of a side cut section of the frame is selected to be any one from the followings: modification of [FIG. 3j] among shapes of Hangeul vowels and.

round shape including elliptical shape;

several hemispherical shape,,

triangle;

square, rectangle, trapezoid, square including an asymmetric square (convex parenthesis type [[]], convex parenthesis type [][], and the like);

left and right turned frusto-conical shape;

shape including at least five angles containing asymmetric side;

shape similar to upper-case letter λE″ and its modified shape (Ψ), (∈); —

4. The pod according to claim 1, wherein the pod can be extracted from an opened cavity by means of the frame inserted into two sheets of the packaging means.

5. The pod according to claim 1, further comprising a filtering means disposed at upper and lower portions of the frame for preventing remained residual contents except for the extracted solution from being discharged to the outside at the time of the extraction,

wherein the packaging means functions to hermetically seal again the outside of the frame hermetically sealed by the filtering means so as to further protect the contents till they are used, and

wherein the filtering means and the packaging means construct a double packaging structure with respect to the frame.

6. The pod according to claim 2, wherein shape of a side cut section of the frame is selected to be any one from the followings: modification of [FIG. 3j] among shapes of Hangeul vowels and.

round shape including elliptical shape;

several hemispherical shape,,

triangle;

square, rectangle, trapezoid, square including an asymmetric square (convex parenthesis type [[]), convex parenthesis type [][), and the like);

left and right turned frusto-conical shape;

shape including at least five angles containing asymmetric side;

shape similar to upper-case letter λE″ and its modified shape (Ψ), ∈; —

7. The pod according to claim 2, wherein the pod can be extracted from an opened cavity by means of the frame inserted into two sheets of the packaging means.

8. The pod according to claim 3, wherein the pod can be extracted from an opened cavity by means of the frame inserted into two sheets of the packaging means.

9. The pod according to claim 2, further comprising a filtering means disposed at upper and lower portions of the frame for preventing remained residual contents except for the extracted solution from being discharged to the outside at the time of the extraction,

wherein the packaging means functions to hermetically seal again the outside of the frame hermetically sealed by the filtering means so as to further protect the contents till they are used, and

wherein the filtering means and the packaging means construct a double packaging structure with respect to the frame.

10. The pod according to claim 3, further comprising a filtering means disposed at upper and lower portions of the frame for preventing remained residual contents except for the extracted solution from being discharged to the outside at the time of the extraction,

wherein the packaging means functions to hermetically seal again the outside of the frame hermetically sealed by the filtering means so as to further protect the contents till they are used, and

wherein the filtering means and the packaging means construct a double packaging structure with respect to the frame.