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Coffee brewerRelated Patent Categories: Foods And Beverages: Apparatus, Beverage, Infusors, With Agitating Or CompactingCoffee brewer description/claimsThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20060191420, Coffee brewer. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
RELATED APPLICATION [0001] This application is a continuation (and claims the benefit of priority under 35 USC 120) of allowed U.S. application Ser. No. 10/615,254, filed Jul. 8, 2003. The disclosure of the prior application is considered part of (and is hereby incorporated by reference in) the disclosure of this application. BACKGROUND [0002] The following description relates to coffee brewing techniques and devices. [0003] Coffee may be brewed both at home and commercially by various methods including dripped and percolated. Dripped coffee may be favored, especially in commercial settings, because of preferable flavor, ease of preparation, or other reasons. In the dripped method, ground coffee may be placed in a coffee filter and the filter placed in a coffee holder. In some coffee brewers, the coffee holder may be constructed to finction as both the holder and filter. For example, the coffee holder may have a fine mesh sieve at the bottom that retains the ground coffee but permits passage of liquids. Hot water is released at a predetermined rate onto ground coffee and the coffee chemicals carried from the ground coffee by the hot water, which then seeps through the coffee filter and is directed into a coffee vessel for immediate use or storage for later use. [0004] The ground coffee may comprise a blend of two or more varieties of coffee beans. The coffee beans may be selected to provide a desired resultant brewed coffee having certain characteristics, for example, a balance of types of flavors and acidity. The strength of the brewed coffee may depend upon the length of time that the hot water is in contact with the ground coffee and the quantity of ground coffee available to provide the coffee flavoring chemicals. The rate at which water is released onto the ground coffee may be adjusted so that the hot water remains in the coffee holder long enough to brew the coffee before seeping through the filter and into the coffee vessel. The quantity of coffee in the holder may also be a factor in the length of time that the water remains in the holder. The holder flow-through rate and the water release rate are balanced so as to prepare a consistent strength of brewed coffee for a given amount of ground coffee. SUMMARY [0005] The present application describes systems and techniques relating to brewing coffee. In one aspect, brewing of coffee is facilitated by releasing water from at least one water inlet onto ground coffee in a stationary coffee filter. The ground coffee is automatically agitated while the water is being released using an agitator that is connected to an agitator motor. The agitation (or stirring) during the brewing process can promote flavor-enhancement of the coffee by helping to assure that the coffee grounds are uniformly mixed, saturated and blended with hot water. The agitation may substantially maintain an evenness of depth of the ground coffee, further aiding in the flavor-extraction process. The water extracts coffee chemicals and is collected after it has contacted the ground coffee. [0006] The release of water may be automatically stopped after a predetermined amount of water has been released onto the ground coffee. [0007] The automatic agitating of the ground coffee may be stopped a predetermined amount of time after the water has stopped being released. [0008] In another aspect, an apparatus includes a retention vessel to receive an aqueous liquid; a stationary ground coffee holder removably coupled to the retention vessel and having a bottom effective to retain ground coffee and permit passage of aqueous liquid; at least one water inlet to provide water to be released onto the ground coffee; an agitator motor; and a coffee agitator connected to the agitator motor effective to agitate the coffee grounds during the brewing process to aid flavor-enhancement of the brewed coffee by helping to assure that the coffee grounds are uniformly mixed, saturated and blended with hot water. Also, the agitation substantially maintains the evenness of the depth of the ground coffee when the agitator motor is operating. [0009] The apparatus may have a heating element in heating communication with the retention vessel. The heating element also may be arranged to heat water that is subsequently provided to the water inlets. [0010] Control elements may be included to control at least one of the (a) amount of water released, (b) the temperature of the released water or (c) the operation of the agitator motor. [0011] The coffee agitator may have protrusions to extend into the ground coffee when the apparatus is in operation. The protrusions may have a circular cross-sectional shape and may also be flared on the free end. The protrusions may have an elliptical cross-sectional shape. [0012] The systems and techniques described here may provide one or more of the following advantages. In some implementations, the method can provide for uniform wetting of the ground coffee during brewing to enhance flavor production in the brewed coffee. The device can stir the coffee grounds during brewing without substantially disturbing the evenness of depth of the ground coffee in the coffee holder. A consistent brew of coffee may be achieved helping to assure that the water released onto the ground coffee contacts the ground coffee for a consistent amount of time to extract coffee chemicals before being collected. [0013] Details of one or more implementations are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features and advantages may be apparent from the description and drawings, and from the claims. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0014] These and other aspects will now be described in detail with reference to the following drawings. [0015] FIG. 1 is an illustration of an implementation of a coffee brewer with a coffee agitator. [0016] FIGS. 2A-2B illustrates an implementation of a coffee agitator having protrusions, which have a circular cross-sectional shape. [0017] FIGS. 3A-3B illustrate an implementation of a coffee agitator having protrusions, which have an elliptical cross-sectional shape. [0018] FIG. 4 illustrates the coffee agitator of FIG. 3 wherein the protrusions are rotated about a central longitudinal axis. [0019] FIGS. 5A-5B illustrate an implementation of a coffee agitator having protrusions, which have a circular cross-sectional shape that is flared on a free end. [0020] FIGS. 6A-6B illustrate a bottom and side view, respectively, of an implementation of a coffee agitator having protrusions that are adapted to the shape and dimensions of a coffee holder. Continue reading about Coffee brewer... Full patent description for Coffee brewer Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Coffee brewer patent application. ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. Fill in the keywords to be monitored. 3. Each week you receive an email with patent applications related to your keywords. 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