WO2015101394A1

WO2015101394A1 - Capsule for a beverage preparation with deformable sealing element

Info

Publication number: WO2015101394A1
Application number: PCT/EP2013/078144
Authority: WO
Inventors: David Rubinstein
Original assignee: LANDMAX Ltd
Current assignee: LANDMAX Ltd
Priority date: 2013-12-30
Filing date: 2013-12-30
Publication date: 2015-07-09
Anticipated expiration: 2016-06-30

Abstract

A capsule (10) for the preparation of a beverage, comprising a body (11), and a rim structure (12) having an edge (14) extending outwardly with respect to an outer surface of the body (11); and a sealing element (13) which protrudes from a remaining portion of an upper surface (19) of the rim structure (12) thereby forming an annular channel (18) between the outer surface of the capsule body (11) and an inner side wall (17) of the sealing element (13); the capsule (10) being configured to cooperate with a beverage preparation apparatus and characterised in that the sealing element (13) is located at a predetermined distance away from the edge (14) of the rim structure (12).

Description

Capsule for a beverage preparation with deformable sealing element

Technical field

The present invention relates to a capsule for the preparation of a beverage, such as coffee, milk, tea, etc., to a beverage preparation apparatus for use in connection with such capsule, and to a method for producing such capsule.

Background art

Capsules used in combination with an apparatus for the preparation of a beverage, such as coffee or tea, are well known in the art. These capsules offer a convenient way of making a beverage having a predetermined quality in an easy and quick manner.

An exemplified way of preparing a beverage using a capsule in combination with an apparatus is described below. The beverage preparation may start by inserting the capsule in an internal chamber of the apparatus, and further securing the capsule into the desired position by a closing mechanism of the apparatus. The beverage can be prepared inside the capsule by using a mechanism to inject a fluid, such as water, under pressure. The fluid injecting mechanism can be part of the closing mechanism and may be arranged to penetrate the capsule body at a predetermine location. The capsule may further comprise an opening, which may be closable by a thin film, e.g. aluminium foil, or a membrane. During the preparation of the beverage, the fluid injecting mechanism injects fluid into the capsule, thereby causing a pressure build up inside the capsule, which in turn may cause the thin film closing the capsule opening to expand outwardly. The thin film is arranged to erupt at a predetermine pressure either automatically or by coming in contact with another surface of the apparatus that can be arranged to penetrate the thin film in a predetermined way, thereby enabling the extraction of the beverage.

It has been found that the quality of certain beverages, such as coffee, can be greatly affected by the amount of pressure built up inside the capsule during the beverage preparation and further by fluid leaking around the capsule, which may dilute the beverage extracted. Therefore, it can be considered that the beverage quality can be considerably enhanced by maintaining a high pressure inside the capsule while ensuring that the internal chamber of the apparatus is fluid-tight, thereby preventing the dilution of the beverage.

To solve the aforementioned problems a sealing member can be provided on the capsule, which is arranged to interact with the closing mechanism so as to form a fluid-tight barrier around the capsule, thereby sealing the capsule in the beverage preparation apparatus.

EP2029457 relates to a coffee capsule with a deformable sealing element. The deformable sealing element is in the form of a rollover edge, and is arranged to deform under a predetermined amount of pressure exerted by a holding-down device and/or counterpart of an extraction device, i.e. closing mechanism. In order to achieve appropriate sealing action, the holding-down device and/or counterpart needs to have a certain shape to deform the rollover edge at a predetermine direction, as disclosed therein.

EP2489609 relates to a capsule for containing a preparation for a hot drink and comprises an annular groove, which forms the sealing element, destined to sealingly receive the upper peripheral edge of the containing wall of the internal chamber of an apparatus, i.e. the closing mechanism. The groove in this case is sized according to the peripheral edge of the containing wall of the internal chamber of the apparatus, so as to form a fluid-tight barrier. Therefore, the capsule disclosed in EP2489609 can be considered as being compatible only with an apparatus having a peripheral edge that is sized and positioned according to the opening of the groove.

In both previously described prior art documents, the seal between the capsule and the internal chamber of the apparatus is not optimal. This may lead to a drop of pressure inside the capsule during the preparation of the beverage, which may be lower than the pressure required for obtaining a beverage with a predetermined quality. This may have as an effect that the thin film closing the capsule opening may not fully deform as required, thereby causing the thin film to partially erupt or in some cases not erupt at all. As a result, due to the partial eruption the beverage extracted from the capsule may be of an inferior quality and only partially extracted.

Furthermore, the prior art documents discussed above are arranged to provide a sealing action only with a compatible closing mechanism. As a result, using a capsule in combination with an apparatus that has an incompatible closing mechanism would result in an inferior quality beverage due to the inferior sealing provided, as previously discussed.

Disclosure of the invention

It is an aim of the present invention to provide a capsule for preparing a beverage using an apparatus of the prior art with a sealing element which in cooperation with a closing mechanism form an effective fluid-tight barrier.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, this aim is achieved with the capsule for preparing a beverage showing the technical characteristics of the characterising part of the first claim.

More in particular according to the present invention a capsule for the preparation of a beverage is provided. The capsule comprises a body that has a suitable shape, e.g. beaker-shaped, cup-shaped, etc, for holding a dose of a beverage ingredient, such as coffee, tea, milk, and the like. A rim structure can be provided on the outer surface of the capsule body, an edge of which may be arranged to extend outwardly from the outer surface of the capsule body, thereby forming an intermediate region between the rim structure edge and the capsule body. A sealing element may further be provided on the rim structure, which protrudes from a remaining portion of an upper surface of the rim structure, i.e. the intermediate region previously described, thereby forming an annular channel between the outer surface of the capsule body and an inner side wall of the sealing element facing the outer surface of the capsule body. For the preparation and extraction of the beverage, the capsule may be arranged to cooperate with a beverage preparation apparatus. The apparatus may at least comprise an inner chamber arranged for receiving the capsule body and a closing mechanism, which secures and seals the capsule in the inner chamber by applying a predetermined sealing force on the sealing element. At least part of the sealing element can be arranged such that the sealing element under the sealing force applied by the closing mechanism is plastically deformed in such a manner that a fluid-tight barrier is formed between the sealing element and the closing mechanism of the apparatus. The fluid-tight barrier can be arranged to prevent the pressure inside the capsule, during the preparation of the beverage, to drop to a lower value than the one specified. The sealing element can be provided on the rim structure at a predetermined distance away from the edge of the rim structure.

It has been found that by positioning the sealing element away from the edge of the rim structure, i.e. in the intermediate region previously discussed, a fluid-tight barrier having high pressure resistance can be achieved more irrespective of the shape of the closing mechanism of the apparatus and more irrespective of the location of the closing mechanism. As a result, a higher pressure built up can be achieved inside the capsule, which may lead to a higher deformation of the thin film closing the opening of the capsule body, thereby resulting in a higher quality beverage.

According to one embodiment, at least the inner side wall of the sealing element can be arranged at an angle with respect to an imaginary plane, which can be positioned in contact with a proximal end of the inner side wall that meets the upper surface of the rim structure and perpendicular to the remaining portion of the upper surface of the rim structure.

This orientation of the inner side wall may enable the closing mechanism to plastically deform the sealing element more effectively, thereby achieving a higher quality fluid-tight barrier between the sealing element and the closing mechanism of the apparatus that can withstand higher pressure amounts compared with known solutions. Moreover, the angle of the inner side wall in combination with the provision of the annular channel between the outer surface of the capsule body and sealing element may allow the pressure to be uniformly distributed around the capsule body, thereby enabling the sealing element to be equally deformed around the capsule body by the force applied by the closing mechanism.

According to embodiments of the present invention, the angle of the inner side wall of the sealing element may be preferably less than 90.0 degrees. More in particular the angle of the inner side wall of the sealing element may be at least 5.0 degrees, at most 80.0 degrees, preferably at most 70.0 degrees, more preferably at most 60.0 degrees, even more preferably at most 50.0 degrees.

Although other angles may be considered, it has been found that by arranging the inner side wall at the above-mentioned angles a higher deformation of the sealing element can be achieved by the sealing force applied by the closing mechanism. As a result, a higher quality fluid-tight barrier can be achieved that can withstand higher pressure amounts. According to certain embodiments of the present invention, the sealing element may be arranged to plastically deform in the direction of inclination of at least the inner side wall, which may be preferably away from the outer surface of the capsule body. Preferably, the direction of inclination may be towards the edge of the rim structure. However, the present invention is not limited by any means to this direction and that other directions of inclination may be considered.

By orienting the direction of inclination towards the rim edge, it may have the effect that during the deformation of the sealing element the annular channel remains unobstructed. Therefore, the pressure, as previously explained, may be equally distributed around the sealing element, thereby enabling a more uniform deformation of the sealing element, resulting in an improved sealing of the sealing element.

According to embodiments of the present invention, the sealing element is integrally formed with the rim structure, which means that the sealing element together with the rim structure may be formed as a single piece made of the same material. Furthermore, the rim structure may be integrally formed with the capsule body, which means that the rim structure and the capsule body and by extension the sealing element may be formed as a single piece made of the same material.

It has been found that using the material of the rim structure to form the sealing element has the advantage that it may eliminate the need for using secondary-based materials on the ring structure, such as rubber- based rings or membranes. Furthermore, by forming the sealing element as part of the rim structure may result in enhancing the pressure resistance of the fluid-tight barrier, leading to a higher pressure built up inside the capsule, thereby enhancing the quality of the beverage. In particular, it has been found that the formation of the sealing element using this arrangement, results in a higher quality fluid-tight barrier between the sealing element and the closing mechanism of the apparatus that can withstand pressure amounts in the range of 1 .0 bar up to and including 40.0 bars. A further advantage of using this approach for forming the sealing element may be the simplification of the manufacturing process because the need for integrating different material having different manufacturing tolerances can be eliminated or at least minimised.

According to embodiments of the present invention, the sealing element protruding from the rim structure preferably is hollow. By making the sealing element hollow, a more effective deformation of the sealing element may be achieved, thereby leading to a higher quality fluid-tight barrier.

According to embodiments of the present invention, the capsule, for example the body, rim structure and the sealing element, can be made at least in part from a metal-based alloy, such as aluminium-based alloy. However, the capsule, for example body, rim structure and the sealing element, may be further made at least in part from plastic, such as a thermoplastic material. Furthermore, the capsule, for example the body, rim structure and the sealing element, can be further made from a combination of materials, e.g. a plastic material coated with an aluminium- based alloy.

The use of metal-based or plastic materials for the production of the capsule may considerable enhance the recyclability, food safety and traceability of the capsule in comparison to the capsules known in the art.

According to embodiments of the present invention, the height of the sealing element as measured from the remaining portion of the upper surface of the rim structure to the highest point of the sealing element, can be at least 0.2 mm, at most 3.5 mm, preferably at most 3.0 mm, more preferably at most 2.0 mm, even more preferably at most 1 .5 mm.

According to embodiments of the present invention, the distance of the sealing element from the outer surface of the capsule body, measured from the highest point of the sealing element along a horizontal imaginary plane which is substantially parallel to the remaining portion of the upper surface of the rim structure, can be at least 0.1 mm, at most 2.0 mm, preferably at most 1 .5 mm, and even more preferably at most 1 .0 mm.

It has been found that the height of the sealing element and distance of the sealing element from the outer surface may enable the capsule to be used with a wider variety of beverage apparatus, each having a closing mechanism that may be different. Thereby, by adapting the height and distance of the sealing element, a high quality fluid-tight barrier may be formed between the sealing element provided on the capsule and a wide variety of closing mechanisms, in contrast with solutions known in the prior art.

According to embodiments of the present invention, the capsule body may be provided with a plurality of geometrical facets, which may cover at least part of the capsule body.

The facets may be provided to enhance the grip of the capsule body, when the capsule is manipulated or held by a user or a machine for positioning the capsule in a beverage preparation device. Furthermore, the facets may facilitate a better fit of the capsule in the inner chamber of the beverage preparation apparatus. Moreover, the provision of facets may enhance the appearance of the capsule to a potential buyer, by reflecting the light in multiple directions thereby enhancing viewing of the capsule's colour, which may indicate a particular aspect of the beverage ingredient, such as the strength or aroma of the beverage.

According to embodiments of the present invention, the capsule may be compatible with a known beverage preparation apparatus comprising at least an inner chamber receiving the capsule according to embodiments of the present invention. A closing mechanism may further be provided to the apparatus for securing and sealing the capsule in the inner chamber by applying a predetermined sealing force on the sealing element such that the sealing element under the sealing force applied by the closing mechanism may be plastically deformed in such a manner so as to form a fluid-tight barrier between the sealing element and the closing mechanism. The beverage preparation apparatus may further comprise a mechanism for injecting a fluid, such as water, at predetermined pressure inside the capsule for preparing the beverage, and a mechanism for extracting the beverage from the capsule.

According to a second aspect of the invention, a method is provided for operating a beverage preparation apparatus together with the capsule according to embodiments of the present invention for preparing a beverage. The method comprises the steps of ensuring that the closing mechanism is in the open position and that the inner chamber is empty, i.e. if it has been used before, the previous used capsule has been removed. The next step is to position the capsule in the inner chamber of the beverage preparation device and move the closing mechanism from the open position to a closed position thereby securing and sealing the capsule in the chamber by applying a predetermined sealing force on the sealing element such that the sealing element under the sealing force applied by the closing mechanism may be plastically deformed in such a manner so as to form a fluid-tight barrier between the sealing element and the closing mechanism. Once the closed mechanism is in the closed position, the mechanism for injecting fluid under pressure, such as water, is activated for a predetermined amount of time. Once the pressure in the capsule reaches a predetermined value the thin film covering the opening may be erupted automatically or by coming in contact with another surface of the apparatus and the beverage extracted from the capsule is collected.

According to a third aspect of the invention, a method for producing the capsule body according to the present invention is provided. The method includes the steps of pre-forming the capsule body and at least a portion of the rim structure from a single piece of material using a suitable forming device. The sealing element can be provided at predetermined distance from the edge of the rim structure

According to embodiments of the present invention, the sealing element may be provided on the rim structure in the form of an annular channel by applying pressure on the rim structure using an imprinter device having a predetermined shape. Furthermore, the sealing element can be formed by a separate step of the process or together with the formation of the capsule body and the rim structure.

Brief description of the drawings

The invention will be further elucidated by means of the following description and the appended figures.

Figure 1 shows a top view of a capsule according to embodiments of the present invention.

Figure 2 shows a side view cross-section of the capsule of Figure 1 . Figure 3 to 6 show different close-up views of the capsule's rim structure area according to the present invention.

Figure 7 shows an exemplified series of steps for producing a capsule according to the present invention.

Modes for carrying out the invention

The present invention will be described with respect to particular embodiments and with reference to certain drawings but the invention is not limited thereto but only by the claims. The drawings described are only schematic and are non-limiting. In the drawings, the size of some of the elements may be exaggerated and not drawn on scale for illustrative purposes. The dimensions and the relative dimensions do not necessarily correspond to actual reductions to practice of the invention.

Furthermore, the terms first, second, third and the like in the description and in the claims, are used for distinguishing between similar elements and not necessarily for describing a sequential or chronological order. The terms are interchangeable under appropriate circumstances and the embodiments of the invention can operate in other sequences than described or illustrated herein. Moreover, the terms top, bottom, over, under and the like in the description and the claims are used for descriptive purposes and not necessarily for describing relative positions. The terms so used are interchangeable under appropriate circumstances and the embodiments of the invention described herein can operate in other orientations than described or illustrated herein.

The term "comprising", used in the claims, should not be interpreted as being restricted to the means listed thereafter; it does not exclude other elements or steps. It needs to be interpreted as specifying the presence of the stated features, integers, steps or components as referred to, but does not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps or components, or groups thereof. Thus, the scope of the expression "a device comprising means A and B" should not be limited to devices consisting only of components A and B. It means that with respect to the present invention, the only relevant components of the device are A and B.

Figure 1 and 2 show different views of the capsule 10 according to embodiments of the present invention. The capsule 10 may be provided with a body 1 1 , which has a suitable shape for holding a dose of a beverage ingredient(s). For example, the body 1 1 may be beaker-shaped or cup-shaped provided with a cavity (not shown) for holding the dose of the beverage ingredient(s). The outer surface of the capsule body 1 1 when viewed from the top may be substantially circular. However, other shapes known in the art, which are compatible with beverage preparation apparatus, may also be considered, such as elliptical, conical, square, etc. Furthermore, the outer surface of the body may be provided with a plurality of geometrical facets covering at least part of the capsule body 1 1 . The geometrical facets 16 may radiate from a top portion 15 of the capsule body 1 1 towards the base of the capsule body 1 1 . At the base of the capsule body, which may be located at the opposite end with respect to the top portion 15 of the capsule body 1 1 , an opening (not shown) may be provided for supplying the beverage ingredient(s) to the cavity of the capsule body 1 1 . The opening may be closable by a thin film or a membrane, which during the beverage preparation may be arranged to erupt due to the pressure built up inside the capsule, thereby enabling for the extraction of the beverage from the capsule. The outer surface of the capsule body 1 1 may be further provided with a rim structure 12 may having an edge 14 extending outwardly in substantially perpendicular direction with respect to the capsule body 1 1 . As shown in Figure 1 , the rim structure 12 may be provided continuously around the capsule body 1 1 , thereby forming an intermediate region between the rim structure edge 14 and the capsule body 1 1 , which may act as a support surface for the capsule 10 when placed in a beverage preparation apparatus.

Figure 2 presents a cross-sectional side view of the capsule 10, which may help in further describing certain features of the capsule 10. As shown in Figure 2, the rim structure 12 may further be provided with a sealing element 13 on the intermediate region formed between the rim structure edge 14 and the capsule body 1 1 . The sealing element 13 may be arranged to protrude from the intermediate region.

The sealing element 13 and further features of the rim structure 12 may be further described with references to figures 3 to 6, which show a close-up cross-sectional view of the region around the rim structure 12. According to some embodiments, the rim structure edge 14 may be arranged in the form of a rollover edge, which may be formed by rolling part of the rim structure 12 thereby leaving a remaining portion of the intermediate region for providing the sealing element 13. The sealing element 13 may be arranged to protrude from an upper surface 19 of the remaining portion of the intermediate region of the rim structure. In this orientation, an annular channel 18 may be formed around the capsule body 1 1 between the outer surface of the capsule body 1 1 and an inner side wall 17 of the sealing element. Therefore, it can be said that the sealing element 13 may be arranged such that a gap is formed between the outer surface of the capsule body 1 1 and the inner side wall 17 of the sealing element 13. Furthermore, the sealing element 13 may be located at a predetermined distance from the rim structure edge 14. As previously discussed, the location of the sealing element 13 with respect to the rim structure edge 14 may be influential in forming an effective high pressure resistance fluid-tight barrier in cooperation with a closing mechanism 20 of a beverage preparation apparatus.

The sealing element 13 may be further arranged to protrude from the remaining portion of intermediate region of the rim structure at a predetermine angle. As shown in figure 5, the inner side wall 17 of the sealing element 13 can be arranged at an angle (Θ) with respect to an imaginary plane (shown with a dotted line), which is positioned in contact with a proximal end of the inner side wall 17 that meets the upper surface 19 of the remaining portion of the rim structure 12 and perpendicular to the upper surface 19 of the rim structure 12. According to preferred embodiments, the angle (Θ) formed between the imaginary plane and the inner side wall 17 of the sealing element 13 may be preferably less than 90.0 degrees. More in particular, the angle (Θ) of the inner side wall may preferably be at least 5.0 degrees, at most 80.0 degrees, preferably at most 70.0 degrees, more preferably at most 60.0 degrees, even more preferably at most 50.0 degrees. As previously discussed, positioning the sealing element 13 at an angle (Θ) may lead to a higher deformation of the sealing element 13 by the sealing force applied by the closing mechanism 20, which in turn may lead to a higher quality more fluid-tight barrier between the closing mechanism 20 and the sealing element 13. It should be understood, although not shown, that also the outer side wall 25 of the sealing element may be arranged at an angle (Θ) with respect to an imaginary plane, which can be positioned in contact with a proximal end of the outer side wall 25 that meets the upper surface 19 of the remaining portion of the rim structure 12 and perpendicular to the upper surface 19 of the rim structure 12. Furthermore, both the outer side wall 25 and the inner side wall 17 can be arranged at an angle (Θ).

Figure 6 shows an example of a closing mechanism 20 of a beverage apparatus (not shown) in cooperation with a sealing element 13. The closing mechanism 20 can be arranged to secure and seal the capsule 10 in the inner chamber of a beverage preparation apparatus (not shown). The sealing of the capsule can be achieved by applying a predetermined sealing force to the sealing element, thereby causing at least part of the sealing element 13 to deform such that a fluid-tight barrier is formed between the closing mechanism 20 and the sealing element 13. The higher the quality of the fluid-tight barrier, the higher the quality of the beverage extracted, as previously discussed.

According to embodiments of the present invention, in order to make the capsule 10 compatible with a wide range of beverage preparation apparatuses having different closing mechanisms 20, the height and distance of the sealing element may be adapted. As shown in figure 4, the distance of the sealing element 13, measured from the outer surface of the capsule body 1 1 to the highest point of the sealing element 13, may be preferably at least 0.1 mm, at most 2.0 mm, preferably at most 1 .5 mm, and even more preferably at most 1 .0 mm.

Furthermore, the sealing element 13 can be provided to have a predetermine height, which is measured from the upper surface 19 of the rim structure 12 to the highest point of the sealing element 13, as shown in figure 4. The height of the sealing element 13 may be preferably at least 0.2 mm, at most 3.5 mm, preferably at most 3.0 mm, more preferably at most 2.0 mm, even more preferably at most 1 .5 mm.

The capsule according to embodiments of the present invention has the advantage that it may be used with a variety of beverage apparatuses known in the prior art due to the high quality fluid-tight barrier formed between the sealing element 13 and the closing mechanism 20, which can withstand pressure amounts in the range of 1 .0 to 40.0 bars irrespective of the shape and dimensions of the closing mechanism of the beverage apparatus.

Figure 7 shows the steps of an exemplified method for producing a capsule body 1 1 according to the present invention for use in beverage apparatus known in the art. The exemplified method may start by providing a preformed capsule body 1 1 , as shown in step a). As shown therein, the rim structure 12 can be integrally formed with the capsule body 1 1 . For example, the capsule body 1 1 and the rim structure 12 can be made as a single piece from the same material. In general, a wide variety of materials may be used for making the capsule body, and by extension the rim, which may include but not limited to metal based materials, such as Aluminium-based alloy or plastic-based, such as thermoplastic and the like. Also, the capsule body 1 1 , and by extension the rim structure 12, may be made by a plastic-based material coated with a metal-based alloy, such as aluminium. The second step (step b) of the exemplified method may be to provide the sealing element 13 on the rim structure 12 at a predetermined location away from the rim structure edge 14. According to one embodiment of the present invention, the sealing element 13 can be provided by applying a predetermine pressure on the rim structure 12 using an imprinter device having a first counterpart 21 and a second counterpart 22. The two counterparts 21 and 22 can be arranged to move towards one another thereby producing by means of pressure on the rim structure 12 the sealing element 13 as shown in step c) of the exemplified method. As can be seen, using this exemplified method, the sealing element 13 may be provided as a hollow structure integrally formed with the rim structure 12, i.e. as a single piece made from the same material. Therefore, according to embodiments of the present invention the capsule body, rim structure and sealing element can be made from the same material as a single piece.

It should be noted that other manufacturing methods known in the art can be employed for producing the capsule body.

Claims

1 . A capsule (10) for the preparation of a beverage, the capsule (10) comprising :

a body (1 1 ) having a shape suitable for holding a dose of a beverage ingredient, and a rim structure (12) having an edge (14) extending outwardly with respect to an outer surface of the body (1 1 ); and a sealing element (13) which protrudes from a remaining portion of an upper surface (19) of the rim structure (12) thereby forming an annular channel (18) between the outer surface of the capsule body (1 1 ) and an inner side wall (17) of the sealing element (13) facing the outer surface of the capsule body (1 1 );

the capsule (10) being configured to cooperate with a beverage preparation apparatus comprising at least an inner chamber arranged for receiving the capsule body and a closing mechanism (20) which secures and seals the capsule (10) in the inner chamber by applying a predetermined sealing force on the sealing element (13), at least part of the sealing element (13) is arranged such that the sealing element under the sealing force applied by the closing mechanism (20) is plastically deformed in such a manner that a fluid-tight barrier is formed between the sealing element (13) and the closing mechanism (20);

characterised in that the sealing element (13) is located at a predetermined distance away from the edge (14) of the rim structure (12).

2. The capsule (10) of claim 1 , wherein at least the inner side wall (17) of the sealing element (13) is arranged at an angle with respect to an imaginary plane, which is positioned in contact with a proximal end of the inner side wall (17) that meets the upper surface (19) of the remaining portion of the rim structure (12) and perpendicular to the upper surface (19) of the rim structure (12).

3. The capsule (10) of claim 2, wherein the angle of the inner side wall (17) of the sealing element (13), measured from the imaginary plane, is preferably less than 90.0 degrees.

4. The capsule (10) of claim 3, wherein the angle of the inner side wall (17) of the sealing element (13) is preferably at least 5.0 degrees, at most 80.0 degrees, preferably at most 70.0 degrees, more preferably at most 60.0 degrees, even more preferably at most 50.0 degrees.

5. The capsule (10) of claim 4, wherein the inner side wall (17) of the sealing element (13) is arranged to be deformed in the direction of inclination.

6. The capsule (10) of claim 5, wherein the direction of inclination is away from the outer surface of the capsule body (1 1 ) and towards the rim structure edge (14).

7. The capsule (10) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the sealing element (13) is integrally formed with the rim structure

(12).

8. The capsule (10) according to claim 7, wherein the sealing element (13) protrusion is hollow.

9. The capsule (10) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the rim structure (12) is integrally formed with the capsule body

(1 1 ).

10. The capsule (10) of claim 9, wherein the capsule body is made at least in part from metal.

1 1 . The capsule (10) of claim 10, wherein the capsule body (1 1 ) is made of an Aluminium-based alloy.

12. The capsule (10) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the capsule body (1 1 ) is made at least in part from plastic.

13. The capsule (10) according to claim 12, wherein the capsule body (1 1 ) is made from a metal coated plastic based material.

14. The capsule (10) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the height of the sealing element (13), measured from the upper surface (19) of the rim structure (12) to the highest point of the sealing element (13), is at least 0.2 mm, at most 3.5 mm, preferably at most 3.0 mm, more preferably at most 2.0 mm, even more preferably at most 1 .5 mm.

15. The capsule according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the distance of the sealing element (13) from the outer surface of the capsule body (1 1 ), measured from the highest point of the sealing element (13), is at least 0.1 mm, at most 2.0 mm, preferably at most 1 .5 mm, and even more preferably at most 1 .0 mm.

16. The capsule (10) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the sealing element (13) is arranged to maintain a fluid-tight barrier in cooperation with the closing mechanism (20) at fluid pressures ranging between 1 .0 and 40.0 bars.

17. The capsule (10) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the capsule body (1 1 ) comprises a plurality of geometrical facets

(16) on the outer surface of the capsule body (1 1 ).

18. A beverage preparation apparatus comprising at least an inner chamber receiving the capsule (10) according to claims 1 to 14; a closing mechanism (20) for securing and sealing the capsule (10) in the inner chamber by applying a predetermined sealing force on the sealing element (13) such that the sealing element (13) under the sealing force applied by the closing mechanism (20) is plastically deformed in such a manner so as to form a fluid-tight barrier between the sealing element (13) and the closing mechanism (20); and a mechanism for injecting fluid at predetermined pressure in the capsule for preparing the beverage, and a mechanism for extracting the beverage from the capsule.

19. A method for using the capsule (10) according to claims 1 to 14 together with the beverage preparation apparatus according to claim 15 for a beverage preparation, the method comprising the steps of :

ensuring that the closing mechanism (20) is in the open position and that the inner chamber of the beverage apparatus is empty; positioning the capsule (10) in the inner chamber of the beverage preparation device;

moving the closing mechanism (20) from the open position to a closed position thereby securing and sealing the capsule in the chamber by applying a predetermined sealing force on the sealing element (13) such that at least part of the sealing element (13) under the sealing force applied by the closing mechanism (20) is plastically deformed in such a manner so as to form a fluid-tight barrier between the sealing element (13) and the closing mechanism (20);

activating the mechanism for injecting fluid under pressure; and collecting the beverage extracted from the capsule.

20. A method for producing a capsule body (1 1 ) according to claims 1 to 14 for use in the beverage preparation apparatus according to claim 15, the method comprises the steps of :

preforming the capsule body (1 1 ) and at least a portion of the rim structure (12); and

providing a sealing element (13) on the rim structure (12) ;

characterised in that the sealing element (13) is provided at predetermined distance away from the rim structure edge (14)

21 . The method of claim 20, wherein the sealing element (13) is formed by applying a predetermined pressure on the rim structure (12) using an imprinter device (21 , 22) having a predetermined shape.