This invention generally relates to improvements in basket funnels for use with beverage making appliances, and more specifically with brewing appliances. The basic structure of a basket funnel for use with a beverage making appliance is well known, and is disclosed, for example, in the following patents:
______________________________________ Anson et al. 4,920,871 5-1-90 Hartley 4,765,896 8-23-88 Zimmerman 4,642,190 2-10-87 Daugherty 4,603,620 8-5-86 Stover 4,579,048 4-1-86 Stover 4,309,939 1-12-82 Stover 4,303,525 12-1-81 Martin 3,861,285 1-21-75 Martin et al. 3,610,132 10-5-71 Martin 3,374,897 3-26-68 ______________________________________
From the above prior art, it is clear that a two-part funnel, having inner and outer parts, has been in use for some time in making hot, freshly brewed beverages. However, only recently has a two-part funnel been employed successfully in making cold, freshly brewed beverages.
In this employment, disclosed fully in the patent of Anson et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,920,871, and a pending application of Brewer, Ser. No. 07/496,887, filed on Mar. 21, 1990, an inner part of the funnel retains a filter which contains brewing material, such as ground coffee, tea leaves, or the like. Hot water is sprayed into this inner part and upon the brewing material, thus commencing the brewing process. The hot, freshly brewed beverage concentrate then is discharged through an opening in the bottom of the inner part of the funnel into the bottom of the outer part of the funnel.
While the freshly brewed beverage concentrate exits at the bottom of the inner part of the funnel, cold water enters at the top of the outer part of the funnel, and travels downwardly to meet the hot, freshly brewed beverage concentrate at the bottom of the outer part of the funnel. The cold water mixes with the hot beverage concentrate to produce a cold, freshly brewed beverage. The beverage then exits the funnel altogether through an opening in the bottom portion of the outer part of the funnel, and then enters a decanter, or other container.
This type of beverage making demands a funnel with inner and outer parts having strong construction and connections. It is important that the inner part of the funnel be joined securely to the outer part of the funnel so that the two parts may be handled as a unit. This need led to funnel constructions that required tools for disassembly for cleaning. Although effective, this means of securing the parts of the funnel together resulted in heightened time consumption when cleaning was needed, due to the elaborate means employed for joining the parts of the funnel together. This increased time period is undesirable, especially considering the commercial setting in which many of these brewing appliances are employed. In that setting, every moment the brewing appliance is not capable of producing freshly brewed beverages--the appliance's down time--represents lost revenue to the operator of the appliance.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds