The present invention refers to a capsule for preparing beverages according to the preamble of claim 1. As known, the art proposes a wide variety of automatic or semi-automatic machines equipped with a preparing and delivering assembly adapted to produce an infusion through the passage of hot water through a capsule containing the essence to be infused or to be solubilized, such as for example tea, coffee, milk, chocolate, etc.

In particular, capsules of the known type are with a disposable pre-packaged dose of the substance to be infused or to be solubilized closed inside a container made of plastic material closed by a cover made of plastic or an aluminium sheet. US 2010/0068361 discloses a coffee capsule according to the preamble of the main claim. Moreover, there are different types of automatic or semi-automatic preparing machines for preparing beverages, each one of which using a different type of capsule: in general, however, the common operating principle of such machines provides for the perforation of the base and of the cover of such capsule, thereby allowing the crossing of the essence to be infused or to be solubilized contained therein by a flow of hot water delivered by an infusing assembly of the machine itself and its exit as infusion beverage.

However, depending on the particular beverage to be prepared, the amount of substance to be infused or to be solubilized which must be contained inside the capsule can change, and therefore the internal volume of the capsule itself must be adequate for keeping a substance in a suitably compressed status though keeping unchanged the external sizes of such capsule in order to be able to use it with its related delivering machine.

Object of the present invention is solving the above prior-art problems, by providing a capsule for preparing beverages, in particular coffee, equipped with reducing means which allow reducing the internal volume of such capsule to contain different amounts of the substance to be infused or to be solubilized depending on the specific beverage to be prepared, though keeping substantially unchanged the sizes and the external shapes of the capsule itself.

The above and other objects and advantages of the invention, as will appear from the following description, are obtained by a capsule for preparing beverages as claimed in Claim 1. Preferred embodiments and non-trivial variations of the present invention are claimed in the dependent Claims

It is intended that all enclosed claims are an integral part of the present disclosure.

It will be immediately obvious that numerous variations and modifications (for example related to shape, sizes, arrangements and parts with equivalent functionality) could be made to what is described, without departing from the scope of the invention as appears from the enclosed claims.

The present invention will be better described by some preferred embodiments thereof, given as a non-limiting example, with reference to the enclosed drawings, in which:

• Figure 1 is a longitudinally sectioned view of a capsule according to the present invention;
• Figure 2 shows a longitudinally sectioned view of a capsule that is not part of the present invention.

With reference to Figure 1, it is possible to note that the capsule 1 according to the present invention for preparing beverages, in particular coffee, comprises at least one containing body 3 having at least one base 5 and at least one opening 6 opposite to such base 5 and adapted to be closed by at least one cover (for example through an aluminium protective layer), such containing body 3 internally defining at least one internal volume V_I: advantageously, the capsule 1 according to the present invention further comprises means for reducing such internal volume V_I adapted to define inside such containing body 3 at least one reduced internal volume V_INF adapted to contain at least one substance to be infused or solubilized, typically in grain shape or in powder, where V_INF < V_I.

With reference to Figure 1, it is possible to note the capsule 1 according to the present invention in which such reducing means comprise at least one internal containing chamber 15 placed inside the containing body 3, such internal containing chamber 15 being overlapped in a first end thereof to the base 5 and having a second end thereof opposite to such first end closed by at least one closing layer 17 made of a micro-holed material connected to the related perimeter edge, for example through welding or gluing, of such internal containing chamber 15.

Instead, with reference in particular to Figure 2, it is possible to note a capsule in which the reducing means comprise at least one perimeter abutment edge 19 arranged inside the containing body 3, such perimeter abutment edge 19 being adapted to support the connection, for example through welding or gluing, of at least one related closing layer 21 made of a microholed material.

In particular, the capsule of above-described Figure 1 advantageously allows obtaining, in an easy, practical and cheap way, a reduction of the internal volume V_I of the containing body 3, which can be applied in particular when inside the capsule it is necessary to house a volume V_INF of substance to be infused or to be solubilized lower than the total internal volume V_I of the containing body 3 without implying the modification of the external shapes of the body 3 itself and, consequently, of the shape of the related infusion chamber of the machine inside which the capsule 1 must be inserted for preparing the beverage.

Advantageously, the base 5 is equipped with at least one nozzle 4 for exiting such beverage from such internal volume V_I, V_INF and comprises at least one internal surface at least partially equipped with at least one integrated structure with labyrinth path, having functions and shapes substantially known in the art in order to create a turbulent motion of the flow of hot water inside the substance to be infused or to be solubilized, such base 5 further comprising at least one passage opening fluid communicating such internal volume V_I, V_INF with such nozzle 4 by interposing such integrated structure with labyrinth path.

Moreover, in order to slow down the flow going towards the central area of the base 5 and make hot water diffuse inside the volume of the capsule 1 containing the substance to be infused or to be solubilized, and compelling it also to propagate towards the periphery of such internal volume V_I, V_INF before outflowing through the nozzle 4, at least one portion of the internal surface of such base 5 can be covered with at least one protecting layer, for example made of an aluminium sheet welded or glued onto such surface, arranged in such a way as not to interfere with the fluid passage through at least such passage opening: advantageously therefore, the protecting layer is arranged on such base 5 in such a way as not to obstruct such passage opening and therefore in the capsule 1 according to the present invention it is not necessary, as instead provided in prior art capsules, that the integrated structure with labyrinth path is also equipped with drilling or cutting means of such layers adapted to drill or tear the protecting layer itself in order to allow the passage of the beverage towards the delivery nozzle 4.

Moreover, preferably, such nozzle 4 comprises at least one exit cone, adapted to make laminar the flow of beverage going out of the nozzle 4 itself through the passage opening and the integrated structure with labyrinth path: in a preferred variation of the capsule 1 according to the present invention, such protecting layer has a substantially circular shape and is arranged above such superficie substantially corresponding to such exit cone.

In addition, it is possible to provide that at least one edge of at least one of such passage openings is equipped with at least one shaped deviating outline oriented at least partially in counter-current with respect to the flow direction through the nozzle 4, such deviating outline being adapted to enable bubbling of the beverage going out of the nozzle 4 itself.

In another preferred variation of the capsule 1 according to the present invention, the exit cone is radially equipped with a plurality of flexible wings adapted to pass, under the action of the pressure of the substance to be infused or to be solubilized contained in the internal volume V_I, V_INF of the capsule 1 itself and/or of the flow of hot waer crossing such substance to be infused or to be solubilized, from a first operating position in which such wings are far away from the base, to a second operating position in which such wings are at least on their perimeter in contact with such base by interposing at least one of such passage openings: advantageously, such flexible wings arranged in such second operating position are adapted to slow down the flow going towards the central area of the base 5 and make hot water diffuse inside the volume of the capsule 1 containing the substance to be infused or to be solubilized and forced to propagate also towards the periphery of such internal volume V_I, V_INF before outflowing through the nozzle 4.