Coffee maker

Claim 1

A coffee maker comprising a circular brewing chamber having a cup-shaped lower member and an upper member formed with a central opening and at least one discharge opening, a filter element disposed in each of said discharge openings for preventing the passage of coffee grounds therethrough, said upper member being rotatable in a fixed vertical position and said lower member being adapted for downward movement from a position of sealing engagement with said upper member to define a separation therebetween, a coffee hopper means having a depending chute for feeding a measured amount of coffee grounds into said chamber through said central opening and a heater means for gravityfeeding a measured amount of heated water into said chamber through said central opening, means for rotating said chamber whereby the coffee grounds and the heated water combination is forced to the periphery of said coffee maker comprising a sleeve which supports said upper member, a shaft rotatably coupled to said sleeve and slidably disposed within said sleeve and secured to said lower member, a first gear secured to said sleeve and an electric motor means including a worm gear in driving engagement with said first gear and driven by said motor means for rotating said shaft and said sleeve, means for separating said upper and lower members to discharge said coffee grounds through said separation while said shaft is rotating including a toggle means for moving said shaft with respect to said sleeve to effect said separation when coffee grounds are dispelled from said chamber and to close said separation so that said upper and lower members are in sealing engagement when coffee liquid is dispelled through said discharge openings as said shaft rotates, said upper and lower members being shaped to provide a deflection path for said coffee grounds to deflect said coffee grounds against said filter elements with a force sufficient to clean said filter elements when said coffee grounds are discharged through said separation following the discharge of said coffee liquid through said discharge openings, said upper member having an annular rim extending vertically and radially outside of said discharge openings so that the coffee liquid passing through said discharge openings feeds vertically along said rim and is released outwardly from the edge of said rim remote from said discharge openings whereby the liquid is released from said chamber in a plane spaced vertically from the plane in which the coffee grounds are discharged, an annular ring disposed around the release end of said rim for collecting the coffee liquid thrown outwardly from said chamber, said ring having its bottom inclined and leading to a spout whereby the liquid collected in said ring flows by gravity through said spout from said coffee maker and a basin spaced vertically from said annular ring and positioned around said separation defined between said members for collecting coffee grounds when said chamber is opened to discharge said coffee grounds.