TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a tea making machine, in particularly to the machine for preparing tea with a boiling height level sensor and a method to operate the tea making machine for preparing the tea.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Tea as a hot beverage is the most widely consumed of all beverages. In many countries, tea tends to be brewed at home. However, there is a growing trend for consumers to consume tea outside of home in cafes and bars.
As of today, the vast majority of tea shops employ labour to carry out all steps involved in making a cup of tea, with the only technology input being the heating medium, which includes but is not limited to flame heating, heating coils, or induction heating mechanisms.
There do exist tea vending machines all over the world which may involve a variety of complicated structures such as a plurality of movable canisters for accomplishing the loading, infusion delivery and scavenger cycles for making the beverages. Some commercially available machines use milk powder, tea extract and sugar in a combination called a tea mixing powder to prepare tea. It can be argued that since the prior art process is different from the tea making process employed by a majority of Indian homes, the Indian milk tea generated from this class of machines does not have the same taste that a home-cooked or a non-machine cooked cup of chai has. There are machines on the market that claim to use liquid milk and fresh tea extract. However, these differ from the conventional home-cooking process, in that these machines do not cook all the ingredients together, or boil these together, giving these a taste that is better than conventional tea making machines, but still different from home-cooked Indian milk tea.
US 20120304868 A1 relates to an automatic tea maker comprises a water tank, a heater, a pot for tea-leaf storage, a tea-leaf transmitting mechanism and a tea making mechanism. The water tank is connected to the heater. The tea making mechanism comprises a tea making room and a tea outlet pipe. The pot for tea-leaf storage is connected to the tea making room of the tea making mechanism through the tea-leaf transmitting mechanism.
US 6324964 B1 relates to a tea strainer and propeller of a stirrer arranged in the tea-preparation chamber in a cooperating manner in such a way that the water flow minimizes the tea-brewing time. A tea-making machine fitted with such a tea-preparation chamber makes it possible for the first time to prepare any kind of tea automatically and very quickly.
Both the prior arts stated above relates to an automatic tea machine, however the components and the mechanism involved in the preparation of tea used by them varies in accordance with the present invention.
Conventional machines fall especially short in the process of making of Indian milk tea, also referred to as “chai” in the Indian subcontinent. Thus, the inventors have directed their efforts towards developing an apparatus that can be used to make “chai”, incorporating variations including, but not limited to, the various kinds of milk-water ratios traditionally used, the varying amounts and types of sugar or tea leaves deployed, a variety in the extents of brewing, and boiling and extents of boiling of the ingredients. The apparatus, however, is perfectly usable for the brewing of non-milk teas as well.
OBJECTIVES OF THE INVENTION
A primary objective of the present invention is to provide a tea making apparatus by which tea can be prepared, wherein basic ingredients (including any or all of, but not limited to tea leaves, fresh milk, sugar and spices) are boiled and cooked thoroughly to a predetermined height sensed by a particular boiling level sensor (4), or to a particular temperature, to auto-cut off the heating process.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide a tea making apparatus, particularly for making milk-tea (chai) by boiling and cooking all tea ingredients, including fresh milk, wherein said apparatus automatically receives commands and starts its operation such as pouring of fresh milk and water of a defined weight and volume using solenoid valves.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide a tea making apparatus includes a system, comprising of a hardware circuitry with suitable micro-controller of a dedicated software program towards specific operation and control of said apparatus.
Another objective of the machine is to provide a tea making apparatus which is capable of executing a uniform and standardized process of tea making in a mechanical manner, so that the taste and quality of the tea product resulting, are consistent.
Another objective of the machine is to provide a tea making apparatus which is capable of producing a customized tea product, where the customization lies in the quantities of ingredients added.
An additional and/or optional feature of the machine is its ability to dispense liquids from the storage chambers in precise quantities, even in dynamic gravitational pressure head conditions.
These and other objectives of the present invention will be apparent from the drawings and descriptions herein. Every objective of the invention is attained by at least one embodiment of the invention.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The following summary is provided to facilitate an understanding of some of the innovative features unique to the disclosed embodiment and is not intended to be a full description. A full appreciation of the various aspects of the embodiments disclosed herein can be gained by taking the entire specification, claims, drawings, and abstract as a whole.
One aspect of the present invention provides a tea making apparatus for preparing tea having a means of determining weight (1), a heating means (2), a vessel(3), atleast one boiling level sensor(4), atleast one storage chamber(5), a atleast one microcontroller and/or microcomputer and a means of transferring a plurality of ingredients. Further in the present invention the means of determining weight(1) is connected with the microcontroller or microcomputer to sense the presence of the vessel(3) and amount of the ingredients received by the vessel(3) and capable of dataflow to the microcontroller or microcomputer for switching. Further the heating means (2) is also connected with the microcontroller or microcomputer. The atleast one boiling level sensor(4) is suspended inside the vessel (3) and is capable to sense the boiling height of the tea and the atleast one storage chamber(5) store and dispense the ingredients which are assembled with the means of transferring a plurality of ingredients.
Another aspect of the present invention provides a method of operating a tea making apparatus for preparing tea having the steps of a) providing instructions by a user to atleast one microcontroller(s) and/or microcomputers, b) transferring a plurality of ingredients from atleast one storage chamber(5) to a vessel(3) regulated through a means of transferring the ingredient c) weighing the plurality of ingredients received on the vessel(3) by a means of weighing which balances the amount of ingredients to achieve the desired volume of the ingredients, d) boiling of the ingredients through a heating means(2) which is configured on a base of the vessel(3) and e) completing an electric circuit when the boiled ingredients touch atleast one boiling level sensor(4) and through the microcontroller directs the apparatus to switch off the power.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
The present invention can be more easily understood and further advantages and uses therefore can be more readily apparent, when considered in view of the detailed description and the following figures;
Figure 1 illustrates the schematic diagram of a tea making apparatus for preparing tea labeling all the major components.
Figure 2 illustrates the arrangement of housing (6) having the stands and the rods to arrange the components inside it.
Figure 3 shows a front view of the tea making apparatus for the clear view of boiling level sensor(4) which is arranged within housing(6) as shown in figure 1.
Figure 4 shows an enlarge view of boiling level sensor (4) which is fixed on a transverse bar within proximity of the solenoid valve assembly in the housing (6).
Figure 5 shows a top view of the tea making apparatus for preparing the tea.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
In the following detailed description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings that form a part hereof, and in which is shown by way of illustration specific illustrative embodiments in which the process may be practiced. These embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention, and it is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and that logical, mechanical, electrical may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. The following detailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense.

The present invention provides a tea making apparatus for preparing tea but not limited to tea and a method thereof for operating a tea making apparatus. In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the apparatus can be used for various types of beverages like tea which may include green tea, flavored tea, herbal tea or coffee or espresso or hot flavored milk or soup but are not limited to these beverages.

One embodiment of the present invention provides a housing(6) of the apparatus having a means of determining weight(1), a heating means(2), a vessel(3), atleast one boiling level sensor(4), atleast one storage chamber(5), atleast one microcontroller and/or microcomputer and a means of transferring a plurality of ingredients.
The means of determining weight (1) is connected with the microcontroller or microcomputer to sense the presence of the vessel (3) and amount of the ingredients received by the vessel(3) and capable of dataflow to the microcontroller or microcomputer for switching. Additionally, the heating means (2) is connected with the microcontroller or microcomputer. The boiling level sensor (4) is suspended inside the vessel (3) and capable to sense boiling height of tea or beverage. The storage chambers (5) store and dispense the ingredients which are assembled with the means of transferring a plurality of ingredients.
In the preferred embodiment the vessel used either can be a fixed vessel or swappable vessel. Here the microcontroller or microcomputer used are not limited to these, other processors can also be used.
Referring to a figure 1, the schematic diagram of the tea making apparatus shows all the major components of the housing (6) as follows:
Atleast one storage chamber (5) is used in the present invention. In an example, storage chambers (5) are the GN pans available in the market which can be used in different sizes such as 3L pans. These two pans are used to store milk and water the different ingredients of the tea or beverage separately.
These pans can either be angled from front to back, the front having a rise from the range of 8 mm to 12 mm, preferably 10 mm than the back side of the pan to ensure the complete drainage of liquid from these pans. Or these can be set flat, while a hole punched closer to the center of the vessel the storage chamber, much like a standard kitchen sink. Both these embodiments have been employed and are satisfactorily successful in ensuring that the complete contents of the pans are drained. Further, the drainage hole of the storage chamber is attached to a hex nipple to configure with a solenoid valve as the means of transferring the ingredients.
Preferably, the means of transferring the ingredients used in the present invention is a solenoid valve assembly which is controlled through the microcontroller or microcomputer for opening and closing of a valve to transfer the ingredients like milk and water from the GN pans to the vessel(3). Advantageously, the ingredients from the GN pans are dispensed in multiple times with a short burst of time instead of transferring all amount of ingredient in one time. Advantageously the solenoid valve assembly dispenses the ingredients from the storage chamber (5) by dispensing fractional amounts, measuring the weight dispensed, and adjusting the next dispense. In an example- Instead of dispensing the liquid ingredient in the vessel in one time, the valve opens and close for short bursts of time until the required amount of ingredient is transferred to the vessel, and account for all of the balance liquid.
This dispensing of the ingredients is controlled through the microcontroller or microcomputer which balances the ingredient flow and in continuation the opening time of the valve is reduced when the transferring of the amount is near to the target volume. Additionally, the accuracy which is able to achieve with this is close to 3g per liquid ingredient, however the amount can be vary according to the requirement. This can be reduced further according to the requirement.
The taste of tea or beverage can be modified by adding or reducing the amount of any ingredient by the user. Moreover, the quantity of the ingredients of the tea or beverage can be easily modified to produce different types of tea such as tea having milk, black tea, flavored tea and others.

In another embodiment, atleast one screw-dispenser based canister, can be added to the apparatus to enable dispensing of other solid and semi-solid ingredients including, but not limited to tea leaves, milk, water and spices into the vessel.
In an example ingredients can be in a form of powder, semisolid or liquid. For other types of beverages ingredients may be selected accordingly. For example, (a) coffee beans/ coffee powder, water and sugar can be used for coffee with or without milk. (b) Only water and tea leaves can be used for black tea with or without sugar (c) flavored powder like ginger powder, cardamom powder, cinnamon powder, black pepper but are not limited to these along with water can be used for flavored milk with or without tea leaves, and/or (d) Soup powder with water can be used for soup. Examples used herein are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention.
Further in the preferred embodiment, atleast one boiling level sensor (4) is used which are preferably the SS304 rods.
These SS304 rods act as a switch. Whenever a boiling event happens, and the boiled tea ingredients or tea concoction touches the SS304 rods, a circuit will be completed and the microcontroller or microcomputer directs the heating mechanism to switch the power off. The boiling level sensor is primed to ensure that given the vessels every tea concoction boils to the predefined height and mixes and brews ideally.
In the preferred embodiment, the vessel(3) used in the present invention is a standard stainless steel (including, but not limited to SS304, SS202, or any other material deemed suitable for cooking pan) to receive the ingredients from storage chambers(5) such as water and milk and other ingredients like sugar, tea leaves, tea spice mixture. Further the standard pan may be made of any suitable material. In an example, the materials for the vessel may be selected from but are not limited to SS304 vessel with a tri-ply base having SS430 base, aluminium vessel with an SS202 or an SS430 base, a teflon coated vessel with an SS202 or an SS430 base, a copper vessel with an SS202 or an SS430 base.
In the preferred embodiment, the heating means (2) is a standard induction cooktop available off the shelf in the market. However other types of heating mechanisms can also be used. It is arranged at the base of the vessel (3) and provides a heating mechanism to boil the ingredients received in it.
Additionally, to control the induction cooktop, manual buttons (On/Off, Up Heat, Down Heat) are connected to the microcontroller or microcomputer. To control heating, button presses are mimicked, and the mechanism is switched on/off, or power turned up or down.
In the preferred embodiment, the means of weighing the ingredients is a standard weighing scale of suitable dimensions. This weighing scale is used to weigh the amount of ingredients falling into the vessel (3) and to check if the vessel (3) has been placed on the cooktop or not.
The weighing scale is attached using an inbuilt or external Analog-Digital-Convertor, directly with the microcontroller or microcomputer. The solenoid valves will not dispense liquid and the induction cooktop will not start heating till the weighing scale senses and informs the microcontroller or microcomputer of the presence of the vessel or cooking pan on the induction cooktop.
Further figure 2, shows a systematic arrangement of rods and stands of the housing (6) forming side walls, an upper wall and a bottom wall. Further, it has the arrangement to set all the components inside the housing (6) in a manner to operate the apparatus according to the present invention. Moreover, the attachment of these various walls of the housing (6) to each other can be obtained by any suitable means including welding, bolting, riveting, clipping, or even frictional engagement.
Referring to the figures 3 and 4, the boiling level sensors are arranged on a transverse bar above the vessel. Further their height of suspension is precise and systematically arranged so that it is suspended inside the vessel(3) with the height of 0-1” which may vary according to the apparatus height or the vessel(3) height, but is researched to be the perfect range for ensuring the right height of boiling ingredients.
Figure 5 shows a top view of the tea making apparatus. In this exemplary, two storage chambers are configured for the milk and water but even the one storage chamber for mixed ingredients or many chambers for different multi ingredients can be used.
Further preferred embodiment of the present invention provides a method of operating a tea making apparatus for preparing tea or beverages having the steps of
a) providing instructions by a user to atleast one microcontroller or microcomputer,
b) transferring a plurality of ingredients from atleast one storage chamber(5) to a vessel(3) regulated through a means of transferring the ingredient. This vessel can be swappable or fixed vessel.
c) weighing the plurality of ingredients received on the vessel(3) by a means of determining weight which balances the amount of ingredients to achieve the desired volume of the ingredients, based on preset configuration of time for opening of a valve, or time for turning of a screw dispenser;
d) boiling of the ingredients through a heating means(2) which is configured on a base of the vessel(3) and
e) completing an electric circuit when the boiled ingredients touch atleast one boiling level sensor(4) and through the microcontroller directing the apparatus to cut off power to the heating means.
In an alternate embodiment of the invention, the tea making machine is capable of making tea where milk can be added as an optional and preferential ingredient. In an embodiment, any ingredient further can be added once the tea is dispensed from the apparatus by the user.
According to another embodiment of the present invention, the tea making apparatus includes a system comprising a hardware circuitry with suitable micro-controller or microcomputer of a dedicated software program towards specific operation and control of said apparatus.
Based on the foregoing description of the invention enabling one to make and use the invention, it will also be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that any and/or all of the aforementioned method steps can be automated. The apparatus and methods of our invention have been described with some particularity, but the specific designs, constructions and steps disclosed are not to be taken as delimiting of the invention. Obvious modifications will make themselves apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art, all of which will not depart from the essence of the invention.

We claim:
1. A tea making apparatus for preparing tea wherein the apparatus comprising:
a means of determining weight (1); a heating means(2); a vessel(3) wherein said vessel is a swappable vessel ; atleast one boiling level sensor(4); atleast one storage chamber(5); atleast one microcontroller; and a means of transferring a plurality of ingredients wherein said means of determining weight(1) is connected with said microcontroller to sense the presence of said vessel(3) and amount of the ingredients received by said vessel(3) and capable of dataflow to said microcontroller for switching, said heating means(2) is connected with said microcontroller; said atleast one boiling level sensor(4) is suspended inside said vessel (3) and capable to sense boiling height of the tea and said atleast one storage chambers(5) to store and dispense the ingredients which are assembled with said means of transferring a plurality of ingredients.

2. The tea making apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said microcontroller can be a microcomputer.

3. The tea making apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said vessel (3) used is a fixed vessel.

4. The tea making apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said means of determining weight (1) is a standard weight machine configured with said atleast one microcontroller using an analog to digital convertor wherein said standard weight machine determines the weight of the plurality of ingredients received in said vessel (3) to balance the amount of ingredients to achieve the desired volume of the ingredients.

5. The tea making apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said heating means(2) is an induction cook top which is placed at the base of the vessel(3) and connected with said atleast one microcontroller.

6. The tea making apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said means of transferring the tea ingredients is a solenoid valve assembly wherein said solenoid valve assembly is connected with said means of determining weight to ensure drainage of the ingredient of the preset amount to the vessel(3).

7. The tea making apparatus as claimed in claim 6 wherein said solenoid valve assembly dispenses the ingredients from the storage chamber(5) by dispensing fractional amounts, measuring the weight dispensed, and adjusting the next dispense.

8. The tea making apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said atleast one boiling level sensor(4) is fitted on a transverse bar above the vessel and suspended inside the vessel(3).

9. The tea making apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said atleast one storage chamber (5) is having a hole which is attached to a hex nipple configured with said means of transferring the ingredients.

10. A method of operating a tea making apparatus for preparing tea, comprising the steps of :
a) providing instructions by a user to atleast one microcontroller;
b) transferring a plurality of ingredients from atleast one storage chamber(5) to a vessel(3) regulated through a means of transferring the ingredient wherein the vessel (3) is a swappable vessel;
c) weighing the plurality of ingredients received on the vessel(3) by a means of determining weight (1) which balances the amount of ingredients to achieve the desired volume of the ingredients based on preset configuration of time for opening of a valve, or time for turning of a screw dispenser;
d) boiling of the ingredients through a heating means(2) which is configured at the base of the vessel(3); and
e) completing an electric circuit when the boiled ingredients touch atleast one boiling level sensor(4) and through said atleast one microcontroller directing said apparatus to switch off the power.

11. The method as claimed in claim 10, wherein said vessel (3) used is a fixed vessel.

12. The method as claimed in claim 10, wherein said means of determining weight (1) is a standard weight machine configured with said atleast one microcontroller using an analog to digital convertor wherein said standard weight machine determines the weight of the plurality of ingredients received in said vessel (3) to balance the amount of ingredients to achieve the desired volume of the ingredients.

13. The method as claimed in claim 10, wherein said means of transferring the tea ingredients is a solenoid valve assembly wherein said solenoid valve assembly is connected with said means of determining weight to ensure drainage of the ingredient of the preset amount to the vessel(3).

14. The method as claimed in claim 13 wherein said solenoid valve assembly dispenses the ingredients from said atleast one storage chamber (5) by dispensing fractional amounts, measuring the weight dispensed, and adjusting the next dispense.

15. The method as claimed in claim 10 wherein said atleast one boiling level sensor(4) is fitted on a transverse bar above the vessel and suspended inside said vessel(3).