The expiration of a patent last year has boosted business at HM company that designs and builds a wide range of coffee capsule  filling and sealing machines for the packaging industry.

HM Machinery Manufacture CO.,LTD company has grown 50 percent every year since its founding in 2005, said Peter, president of the company.

This year, Peter expects growth of 100 percent, and it's due in large part to the company's filling and sealing machines for K-Cups, individual portion packs that are used with Keurig or other single-cup brewing systems for coffee, tea or other hot drinks.

Patents on the original K-Cup design expired last fall, and other coffee companies are now producing their own versions compatible with Keurig machines. What was once the sole domain of Green Mountain Coffee is now loaded with competitors such as Starbucks, Dunkin' Donuts and a variety of other roasters.

"This is certainly a big part of our growth this year," Peter said as he looked over the k cup filling and sealing machines that will pump out up to 240 K-Cups a minute for a well-known specialty coffee company that Peter is prohibited from identifying.

It's so big, he added, that the sale of the machines will count for about 30 percent of the company's revenues this year.

"The K-Cup is a big growth area," he said. "There are about 12 million to 14 million Keurig machines on the market, and that's estimated to go to 35 million in the next four years."

HM machinery and its 14 employees reach far beyond K-Cups to serve small- to mid-sized companies primarily in the food packaging industry. The company makes filling and sealing machines for products ranging from k cup to lavazza,nespresso,docle gusto. All meet strict federal guidelines for food handling.

From a base of about six designs, the company hand-manufacturers each machine, primarily using stainless steel, aluminum and plastic precision cut on a large water jet cutting machine.

The machines are assembled with the latest electronics and touch-screen interfaces. They are sold around the world, primarily through a network of sales representatives.

Peter said there are about five major players in the food packaging industry, as well as five or six other regional companies.

He said his small company—two consignment shops just America—has built a solid reputation for quality, cost and customer service.

"There's an awful lot of craftsmanship and art in what we do," said Peter, who graduated in 1982 from what was then JIAOTONG Technical Institute with a degree in mechanical design.

"We've developed a very good system, and, as we've done that, word has spread. You're only as good as what you've done, and we're pretty proud of what we've done."