Patent Application
20230312196
This disclosure generally relates to beverage cans. More specifically, some embodiments relate to metal beverage cans and beverage can ends with ingredient chambers.
As functional beverages and ingredients gain popularity among consumers, it becomes desirable to create ready-to-drink beverages (RTD) with functional ingredients. However, some functional ingredients are unstable and sensitive to the environment, so their functionality may degrade within a short period after interaction with other ingredients of the beverage.
In some embodiments, the beverage can end includes a metal body, wherein the metal body has a weakened portion configured to be broken open to create a drinking opening. A tab is disposed on a topside of the metal body, configured to be actuated to break open the weakened portion. An ingredient chamber is disposed on an underside of the metal body. The ingredient chamber includes a sealed membrane containing a beverage ingredient.
In some embodiments, the beverage can end includes a metal body, wherein the metal body has a break-away flange that creates a drinking opening through the metal body when broken away from the rest of the metal body. The metal body defines a cavity with an opening on an underside of the metal body. The cavity may store a beverage ingredient. A tab is disposed on a topside of the metal body. The tab may be actuated to apply force to the break-away flange to break the break-away flange away from the rest of the metal body.
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein and form part of the specification, illustrate embodiments of the present invention and, together with the description, further serve to explain the principles of the invention and to enable a person skilled in the relevant art(s) to make and use the invention.
The present invention(s) will now be described in detail with reference to embodiments thereof as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. References to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” “some embodiments,” etc., indicate that the embodiment described may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but every embodiment may not necessarily include the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment. Further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with an embodiment, it is submitted that it is within the knowledge of one skilled in the art to affect such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodiments whether or not explicitly described.
Functional food and ingredients have potential benefits to health and wellness. Examples of such functional ingredients include vitamins, probiotics, creatine, ginseng, citicoline, and tart cherry. However, it sometimes is difficult or unpalatable to directly consume those functional ingredients because of their taste or mouthfeel. In order to help the intake of an effective amount of functional ingredients, one way to consume functional ingredients is to mix them with a flavored beverage to make a functional beverage.
As such functional beverages become popular among consumers, it is desirable to store functional beverages in traditional beverage packaging, such as beverage cans. Traditional beverage packaging provides processing efficiency, storage and transportation efficiency, and longer shelf life of the product. It therefore helps to bring functional ingredients and functional beverages to the market on a mass production scale.
However, traditional beverage packaging generally allows for only a single homogenous solution to be stored, and traditionally-packaged beverages are filled and sealed long before reaching a consumer.
Functional ingredients, on the other hand, are sometimes unstable and sensitive to the environment, and the efficacy of their claimed benefits may degrade within a short period after dissolved in another ingredient, such as an acidic solution. For example, vitamin C, probiotics, and aspartame are known to degrade in an acidic solution (pH<7). In many cases, in order to preserve high (e.g., maximum) efficacy of the claimed benefits, it is desirable to mix functional ingredients with the rest of the beverage immediately before consumption.
As a result, since traditional beverage packaging stores functional ingredient with the rest of the beverage as a single homogenous solution long before reaching a consumer, traditional beverage packaging may not be ideal for delivering functional ingredients effectively to consumers.
In order to effectively deliver functional beverages in traditional beverage packaging, there is a benefit to storing them separately from other ingredients of the beverage, to be mixed shortly before consumption. And to efficiently deliver functional beverages to consumers, there is a benefit to leveraging traditional beverage cans. In some embodiments described herein, a sealed ingredient chamber is provided underneath a can end for separately storing the functional ingredients. In some other embodiments, a can end is deformed to create a cavity that can be sealed to form an ingredient chamber for separately storing the functional ingredients. In either case, the sealed ingredient chamber is broken open when the can is opened by a consumer, at that point releasing functional ingredients from the ingredient chamber into the rest of the beverage stored in the can. In this way, a traditional can form can be used to efficiently store and deliver a functional beverage to a consumer, while maintaining the functional ingredients separate from the rest of the beverage until the can is opened by the consumer in order to preserve high (e.g., maximum) efficacy of the claimed benefits.
Embodiments described herein thus provide a separate storage for functional ingredients with minimal modification to consumer behavior. In some embodiments described herein, the separate storage for functional ingredients is provided underneath the drinking opening of the can end, such that it is broken open automatically with a traditional stay-on tab lever mechanism. This provides a separate storage for functional ingredients without requiring the consumer to perform a separate additional step of breaking open and releasing the functional ingredients before consuming the beverage. Because the mechanism for breaking open and releasing the functional ingredients does not involve deviation from current consumer behavior for opening a traditional can, there is little-to-no risk that consumers would forget to or unsuccessfully release the functional ingredient—it happens automatically upon opening.
In order to leverage the efficiencies and established process of existing can and can end manufacturing, it can be beneficial to minimize disruption attendant to adding steps or processes in the manufacturing process. Therefore, according to some embodiments described herein, the separate storage for functional ingredients can be formed in a traditional can end through a simple and quick process, or can be formed as a separate self-contained sealed cavity, manufactured independently from the can end, and attached to the can end after the can end is has been manufactured.
A beverage can 1 as shown in
Membrane 182 may be made of a material breakable under a pressure exerted by a flange 160 when an opening 170 is created, as shown in
Ingredient chamber 180 formed by membrane 182 may have a capacity between 0.1 cc and 65 cc, (e.g., between 0.1 cc and 3 cc, between 1 cc and 3 cc, between 7 cc and 9 cc, or between 55 cc and 65 cc). In some embodiments, such capacities may pertain to a 12-fluid-oz beverage can 1. However, the capacity of ingredient chamber 180 may be proportional to the capacity of beverage can 1. For example, ingredient chamber 180 may have a capacity between 0.03% and 18% of the capacity of beverage can 1 (e.g., between 0.03% and 0.8% of the capacity of beverage can 1, between 0.3% and 0.8% of the capacity of beverage can 1, between 2% and 2.5% of the capacity of beverage can 1, or between 15% and 18% of the capacity of beverage can 1). For example, smaller capacities may be used for ingredients that are effective in smaller amounts (e.g., orange essence in a chamber having a capacity between 0.1 cc and 3 cc, or between 0.03% and 0.8% of the capacity of the beverage can), moderate capacities may be used for ingredients that are effective in moderate amounts (e.g., creatine in a chamber having a capacity between 7 cc and 9 cc, or between 2% and 2.5% of the capacity of the beverage can), and larger capacities may be used for ingredients that are effective in larger amounts (e.g., protein in a chamber having a capacity between 55 cc and 65 cc, or between 15% and 18% of the capacity of the beverage can).
On topside 122 of metal body 120, as shown in the top view of
In order to ensure that flange 160 pierces through and breaks membrane 182 automatically when weakened portion 150 breaks away from metal body 120 to create drinking opening 170 and flange 160, membrane 182 may be disposed across weakened portion 150 and extend beyond weakened line 152. The top view of can end 100 as shown in
This embodiment offers minimum disruptions and modifications to traditional can and can end manufacturing processes. Because self-contained ingredient chamber 180 is sealed by membrane 182 and top layer 186, it may be manufactured separately from can end 100 and can body 200 and does not disrupt the established process for either can end manufacturing or can body manufacturing. The only additional step is to attach the self-contained ingredient chamber 180 to underside 124 of metal body 120 after can end 100 has been manufactured and before can end 100 is sealed with can body 200.
The capacity of deformed cavity 192 is accordingly determined by the size of opening 194 and a height (h) of deformed cavity 192. In some embodiments, height (h) of deformed cavity 192 may be between 1 mm and 2 mm.
In order to ensure that seal 198 breaks open or detaches from underside 124 automatically when weakened portion 150 breaks away from metal body 120 to create flange 160 and drinking opening 170, seal 198 may be extended beyond weakened line 152, as shown in
Ingredient chamber 190 also provides a benefit in the ease of manufacturing. Deformed cavity 192 may be created through a punching process after can end 100 has been manufactured and before it is sealed with can body 200, in order to minimize disruptions and modifications to traditionally established can manufacturing and can end manufacturing processes.
It is to be appreciated that the Detailed Description section, and not the Summary and Abstract sections, is intended to be used to interpret the claims. The Summary and Abstract sections may set forth one or more but not all exemplary embodiments of the present invention as contemplated by the inventor(s), and thus, are not intended to limit the present invention and the appended claims in any way.
The foregoing description of the specific embodiments will so fully reveal the general nature of the invention that others can, by applying knowledge within the skill of the art, readily modify and/or adapt for various applications such specific embodiments, without undue experimentation, without departing from the general concept of the present invention. Therefore, such adaptations and modifications are intended to be within the meaning and range of equivalents of the disclosed embodiments, based on the teaching and guidance presented herein. It is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation, such that the terminology or phraseology of the present specification is to be interpreted by the skilled artisan in light of the teachings and guidance.
The breadth and scope of the present invention should not be limited by any of the above-described exemplary embodiments, but should be defined only in accordance with the claims and their equivalents.
